Meet and Delete — Pauline Lawless

“No more meeting crappy men in crappy pubs! Online dating is the modern way to meet Mr Right,” declares Viv to her two friends and housemates. All three are in their mid-thirties and have been unlucky in love. “Out of every ten replies I'll probably get two perverts, two nerds, two frauds �" usually married �" and four genuine guys. Not a bad percentage really.”

Claire is apprehensive about it and Megan downright sceptical but Viv, with her usual joie de vivre, takes to it with gusto. Many men and many dates later �" from the boring to the bizarre �" Viv thinks she has found her Mr Right. But does the course of true love ever run smooth?

Meanwhile she coerces a doubtful Claire into joining the dating site too. Add to this mix Claire's nasty sister Sarah who, bored with marriage, embraces online-dating with even more enthusiasm than Viv. Not to mention Megan's thrice-married mother who's looking for a toy boy not a husband . . .

Is online dating the answer for all these women?