TWO friends have teamed up to pen a racy book which they hope will become a hot bestseller.

Imelda Doherty, 46, a great-grandmother-of-one, of Barry, and Deborah Rich, 62, of Newport, hope their book – The Gospel of Eve – will be a hit with readers following their book launch at the British Heart Foundation shop, in Holton Road, Barry, on Tuesday, November 5.

Ms Doherty, a former mental health worker who herself suffered a breakdown, said she had started writing after coming out of a refuge.

But her first book, The Holy Rose, remained unpublished.

But the pair, who met at a party where Enzo Calzaghe was playing the guitar, clicked as friends and decided to write together.

The tale surrounds Lucy Thornton who appears to be an unremarkable suburban housewife whose life is stuck in a rut in South Wales.

The 47-year-old finds herself divorced and facing the prospect of her two grown-up daughters leaving home.

With the encouragement of her unlikely two best friends, a charismatic blogger and an eccentric, daring Lady of the Manor, Lucy dives into the world of internet dating.

Ms Rich, a former estate agent with Pink Move, in Newport, said “We’ve known each other six years and we started talking about the book 18 months ago

“We’ve got humour in it because life isn’t all EastEnders and murder and mayhem.

“It’s not all Fifty Shades of Grey.

“It’s a lot like Coronation Street.

“You laugh and cry in life.”

The paperback book, costing £8.99, is available from Amazon.

It will also be available from Kindle.