Kate Tough

Kissing Lying Down Kate Tough

Navigating the online and offline worlds of pairing up, this spiky collection of short stories delves deep, with dark humour, into what it takes to strap on a smile through thirty-something failure and make human connections in the modern age.




Gordon knows what Gabby wants but he hates to do what he's told; Chrissy stalks the internet to find what her fiancé wouldn't give her; three friends reunite during a heatwave and their evening gets better and better, until it doesn't...




While one woman wonders if passing strangers have a better sex-face than her boyfriend, another's birthday meal goes sour at the offer of no-strings dessert. In these relationship tales, many are burned by their pasts while scanning their horizons.




"Outstanding. Great humour, wonderful observations and delivers a powerful kick."

Helen Sedgwick

"Elevates the stuff of everyday life. Tough is a unique writer."

Laura Waddell

"A balmy golden evening turns into something much darker ... Great details, for good and ill."

Mary Paulson-Ellis