Ingredients: 1 man, 1 woman, 1 sizzling romance, 1 happy ending, 1 tempting recipe from your favourite author

Method: Combine all ingredients together, season with a dash of seduction, add a sprinkling of passion, print carefully, read with relish.

       I hate Sunday mornings with a passion.

       Most people have a thing for Monday mornings, but not me. Mondays are just fine. At least on Monday mornings I don't have to make awkward small talk-or worse, make breakfast for my oversexed flatmate's latest conquest.

       Sunday mornings should be reserved for sipping steaming mocha lattes, rich in mouth-watering chocolate and aromatic coffee beans.

       Sunday mornings should involve slow strolls down to the milk-bar to pick up the newspaper jam-packed with colourful additions like the travel section and glossy mag, and an even slower perusal in the mid-morning sunshine on our tiny rooftop balcony garden.

       Instead, my Sunday mornings are spent dodging naked men dashing from my bathroom, being forced to put clothes on when I'd otherwise quite happily walk around my apartment in my underwear and often sharing breakfast with some sleazy stranger who finds nothing wrong with chatting up the flatmate of the girl they'd shagged the night before.

       I could've protested.

       I should've.

       Instead, I bit my tongue, made desultory small talk and even forced the odd smile all in the name of keeping Mandy happy.

       Man-hunting Mandy, my average flatmate with an above- average income, the only reason I put up with her crap.

I loved having a harbour view but my lowly paying part-time job didn't match my high standard of living, so Mandy was a necessity.

       'Why don't you come out tonight, Millie? It'll do you the world of good.'

       I glanced up from Gray's Anatomy, a bit of light Saturday night reading. (Did I mention I really, really wanted to pass these final exams, qualify as a doctor and earn enough of the green stuff to live on my own?)

       'Thanks, but I can't. Big exam Monday.'

       Mandy rolled her heavily kohled eyes. 'How are you ever going to meet anyone if you don't get out there, have a little fun?'

       'No time at the moment.'

       And considering the quality of men she dragged back to the flat on a weekly basis, I seriously doubted I'd go for the type of guy who frequented the same dives as Mandy.

       'Sure? It's been ages since you've had a date.'

       I could've said the same about her. Since when did a one- night stand qualify as a date?