Anchored - Brigitte Quinn

Barbara King is currently the anchor at her local news station in Phoenix, however she dreams of being promoted to a prime time show so she can be the next household news anchor. Barbara is happy at work, she has a husband and a child at home and everything seems to be going ok for her until Jack Stone is brought to the station to be her co-anchor. They have an undeniable chemistry and despite them both being married it doesn’t take long before co-workers start gossiping about what exactly is going on between them. 

I had a real love hate relationship whilst reading Anchored. When I started reading it, I just couldn’t get into the book at all. Some evenings I had to really push myself to pick up my kindle and read another chapter. Then at some point around 50% - 70% of the way through the book I started to really love reading it. I couldn’t put it down then before I knew it, it was the end of the book and I was complaining to anyone who would half listen to me that I needed a sequel to this book already. The way it ends certainly is crying out for a sequel to be written.

The descriptions about what life inside the Phoenix Network seems so realistic. So much so it doesn’t come as a surprise to me that the author once worked as a television anchor herself. Its a fascinating insight in what goes on inside a network station. I’m quite intrigued as to how much is made up and how much is perhaps exaggerated from the truth. If you’re interesting in working as an anchor I feel like this book, although being fiction, would be an interesting insight.

Personally I didn’t really gel with the characters. I completely understand Barbara’s ambitions to be anchor but she and her husband don’t spend much time together, thanks to their busy lives. So of course when Jack comes along I didn’t really care if she left her husband or not to be with him. Perhaps if more was wrote out Barbara’s husband and home life I may have been more interested in what happened to them. 

Anchored hasn’t been my favourite book I’ve read but it did manage to grip me towards the end. Life on the newsroom is fascinating to read and you really feel like you’re actually working with these people and experiencing the same dilemmas as Barbara at times. Truthfully I can really see Anchored working well as a film or a television series one day – a fact I’m sure Barbara (if she were real!) would be most happy about.   

Synopsis –

How do you stay anchored when you’re attracted to your co-anchor? 

Barbara King’s dream is to become the next Barbara Walters. But for now, she’s anchoring at the fledgling Phoenix news channel, covering car chases and interviewing drunken showbiz has-beens. If she can just out-fox the conniving anchors at her cable channel and move up to its prime-time line-up, she’ll be able to fly the coop and ascend to a real news network. 

Enter Jack Stone, Barbara’s dynamic, witty—and did she mention sexy?—new co-anchor. Another potential competitor, Jack’s attitude is chilly toward Barbara at first, but it’s not long before a genuine friendship forms. Soon they find themselves finishing each other’s sentences, discovering all they have in common and, ultimately, attempting to ignore how wildly attracted they are to each other. Meanwhile, on the set, under television’s bright lights, they sit just inches apart, their chemistry even apparent to the quirky cast of characters in the gossiping newsroom. 

Will Barbara give in to her attraction to Jack and betray her husband, Ben, her sweet-souled moral compass? When a life-altering news event propels the Phoenix to the #1 news channel in the nation, will Barbara sell her soul to become a prime time star? 

How do you stay true to yourself when you’re being seduced by stardom—and your co-star? 

Dream A Little Christmas Dream - Giovanna Fletcher

If like me when you read Dream A Little Dream a few months ago you almost threw your kindle/book out the window in a strop over how it ended then you must read Dream A Little Christmas Dream. If you've not read Dream A Little Dream yet I'll put the link to my review at the bottom of this post, I would highly suggest reading that book prior to this one. Dream A Little Christmas Dream is a short story that follows where Dream A Little Dream left off. It is still following the story of Sarah and her boyfriend Brett who she once dreamt about. Life seems be going perfectly for them both, that is until Brett starts acting strangely around Sarah. Sarah has a dream that Brett breaks up with her so it's no wonder that when he starts working late and hanging out with friends she'd never heard of, alarm bells start ringing in her head. 

Giovanna Fletcher has such a wonderful writing style and her books never fail to capture my attention. Sarah and Brett are such likeable characters and it's so great to have closure to their story in this book. I still absolutely love the way that Sarah's dreams are mixed with the telling of her real life. I think it's an absolutely brilliant idea for a book and it works so well.

Dream A Little Christmas Dream is the sequel I'd been dying to read since the moment I finished Dream A Little Dream and it doesn't disappoint. I read this book in an hour so it's a fast read but it leaves you with warm and fuzzy feelings and I can guarantee it'll put you in the festive mood. Personally Dream A Little Dream is my favourite book by Fletcher so I can highly recommend picking up a copy of both the original novel Dream A Little Christmas Dream.

Synopsis -

Sarah's doing great. Okay, her dreams might still be totally bananas but real life is definitely back on track. She's got a fantastic job, amazing friends and plans to spend all Christmas wrapped up with Brett, her handsome boyfriend. 

But after another night of increasingly bizarre dreams, Sarah wakes to find her housemate suddenly announcing she's moving out. And later that day Brett begins to act strangely. He's clearly hiding something - but what? 


Soon Sarah can't help but wonder if she's living in a festive nightmare. Will any of her dreams come true for Christmas?

Click here to read my review of Dream A Little Dream - Giovanna Fletcher

Click here to download the kindle edition of Dream A Little Christmas Dream

Coronation Street The Tour

I'm pretty sure that if you live in the UK you'll have heard of the very popular Manchester based British soap opera, Coronation Street. Since the show moved over to new premises over at MediaCity back in 2013, the shows old filming location at Granada Studio's have been open for the public to visit. Personally, I've never actually seen a full episode of Coronation Street so this post is coming from someone who knows the bare minimum about the show.

The tour begins in the actors green room. This is the place in the studios which the cast members were able to socialise and relax between takes. Its a nice sneak peak at how actors days would begin before you're led down a corridor of dressing rooms then onto the wardrobe and make up room just like an actor in the soap would have done on their working day. The wardrobe room is full of iconic costumes from the shows history. Our guide also filled us in with information about how the characters get the clothes. For example how the younger characters clothes are mainly from high street stores whereas a character like Roy's come largely from eBay and charity shops.

From there you're moved into Studio One where filming took place and shown a short film showing some of the highs and lows of Coronation Street from over the years. It is from here where fans of the show will be in their element as you walk around sets from the show including Carla's flat and the Platt's living room. Although I didn’t recognise any of the sets, you're told secrets of the sets which is fascinating to hear as although I don't watch the show it was interesting to discover how and why certain things are done which interests even people who don’t know the set. The highlight of this section of the tour without a shadow of the doubt it getting to sit inside the Rovers Return pub. It is here that you're able to pretend to pull a pint behind the bar and get a souvenir photo taken. The photos are then available to buy for £7.50 or two for £10 later in the tour but it really is no obligation at all to buy your photo so it's worth doing regardless.

The next and final section of the tour isn’t guided so you are free to spend as long as you like roaming around and take as many photos as you want. It is the section when you are let loose onto the Coronation Street cobbles. It’s surprisingly smaller than expected and it’s fascinating that this was the actual street that they once filmed the show on. You can overhear many people on the tour pointing out the houses that their favourite characters live in or even excitedly explaining a scene that happened in a certain spot.

Although I am not a fan of Coronation Street in the slightest I still found the tour highly enjoyable. However, if you’re a fan of the show this tour is definitely a must visit for you. It’s situated just a 10 minute walk from Manchester town centre and a free bus runs from Piccadilly Station so it is highly accessible for visitors. For more information about how to visit the tour before it permanently shuts in December click here.

Deal Breakers - Laura Lee

Oh my goodness I am obsessed with this book, I stayed up until some insanely early morning hour last night reading and then all day today it's all I've been able to think about. Deal Breakers tells the story of Devyn and Riley. Riley instantly spots Devyn at college and knows he wants to get to know her better, sort of love at first sight. He tries to work his charm on her but Devyn is having none of it and firmly insists that they stay friends. During their time together at college they become best friends so much so that Riley is the one that Devyn wants to help her become an adult by taking her virginity. It is that night when everything changes between the pair. Five years on and neither have spoken since that night but now Riley is determined to hunt Devyn down and rectify the mistakes that he made with her.  The only difference is now Devyn has been hiding a secret from Riley and that neither can deny the attraction between them both.

When I read the blurb I knew that it sounded just like the kind of book I'd enjoy reading but didn't anticipate liking it quite as much as I do. I found the entire story from start to finish engaging and if I was to complain about it the only thing I can say is that I wish Deal Breakers could have been longer! The story is told from both Devyn and Riley's points of view giving you the opportunity to experience the story from either side. They both have different reasons for their actions so having two perspectives makes it so engaging, you truly see how deep the feelings are between them for example.

The pacing in this book is superb. It really was effortless to read. You got plenty of details but time consistently moved but not once did you feel like it was too fast. The author's writing style is captivating and she wrote such great lead characters whose story seems realistic.

I honestly loved this book. Although I may have read Deal Breakers in one reading session and so desperately want to read more books about the pair, I can highly recommend that you read it. The story line was wonderful and the characters likeable.  It provides sad moments, moments where you’re angry and real butterflies in your stomach romantic moments. Deal Breakers is a must read in my opinion and I cannot suggest that you buy this book as your next to read enough.

Synopsis -

How were they supposed to know that one night would change everything?

Devyn has life all mapped out. She just needs to accomplish one more thing before graduating college and becoming a full-fledged adult—lose her virginity. And who better to assist her than her best friend, Riley?

Riley is the self-proclaimed king of fling. His college years have been filled with meaningless hookups until the one night that ruined him for all other women. The one night he spends with his best friend, Devyn. Right before he screws it all up.

Balls to the wall, baby!

Now five years later, Riley is determined to atone for his mistakes and prove that he can be the man that Devyn deserves. Little does he know that Devyn’s been keeping a secret from him all these years. A big secret. Now he has to figure out how to win back the only girl he’s ever loved while navigating the pitfalls of her unexpected revelation.

Deal Breakers is filled with lots of laughs, a sexy romance, and an overflowing swear jar. 

Click here to download the kindle edition of Deal Breakers by Laura Lee from Amazon

Team Niklas - Ally Adams

Team Niklas by Ally Adams, is book number three in The Saints Team book series. However, I didn't actually know it was a series until after I'd finished reading so I read it as a standalone book with no problems at all. Niklas, who is also known as the Kaiser, is The Saints new star player from Germany. It doesn't take him long to catch the attention of the clubs media officer Sasha. From the minute they meet they have an undeniable spark which neither can resist despite Sasha's initial reluctance for a relationship to develop.

Team Nikas is one of those books that you just makes your heart flutter when reading it. From spontaneous date weekends to New York, to taking Sasha to upmarket restaurants, to the steamy nights they spend together - everything about this book is just perfect. Niklas is such a great male lead with his gentlemanly ways and is instantly likeable which only makes the book even easier to read.

My only gripe about Team Niklas is that I found that some of the things in this book were a little too quickly skipped over such as Sasha's relationship status, Niklas' backstory and drama with the press. It has a lot of twists and turns but all of them seem to resolve and perhaps be glossed over a little too quickly for my liking. Despite this, I was really interested in reading about how Niklas and Sasha's relationship blossomed and as it was wrote so wonderfully, this didn't really bother me at all. Sometimes I love just reading about relationships without too much outside story going on and this book is exactly that, it really isn't a bad thing!

I loved the way in which Team Niklas was written so I'm very interested in checking out the other books in this series. The author has a way of making you experience every emotion possible - a sign of a good book in my opinion! I can only imagine that the previous two books in the series are as enjoyable.

Team Niklas is one of those books that just can't help make you cheesily grin to yourself when reading it. I can guarantee when you finish this book you'll want a Niklas in your life! Which is exactly why you need to make Team Niklas the next book you read.

Synopsis -

In his hometown of Berlin, Germany, Niklas Wagner is a super star and when the Saints’ pay the big bucks to sign him up and bring him to Santa Ana, California, Nik takes a shine to his new life. When he meets the Saints’ media officer, Sasha Saxon, sparks fly literally. 

But Sasha is not your average girl—by day she is a journalist who looks after the media for the national champion soccer team and at night she designs for her personal fashion label. She had big dreams and they don’t include a boyfriend. Nik has never had to chase the girls but now he has met his match—Sasha is about to lead him on the biggest chase of his life.

VIP Carnivore Tour - Yorkshire Wildlife Park

If you’ve read my blog before you’ll know that I really enjoy visiting the Yorkshire Wildlife Park. I’ll put the links at the bottom of this post to my other two posts that I’ve done about the park in case you've missed them. Well this week, it was finally time for me to do the VIP tour with focus on carnivores that I’d had booked for a few months now. 

The VIP tour that I did focussed on the parks carnivores which included meerkats, painted hunting dogs, leopards, tigers and of course the parks famous lions. Like with the polar bear experience the day starts before the park opens making the experience feel more special than if it happened during park hours. 

My first stop of the day was to feed the meerkats, an animal which I didn’t associate with being a carnivore. Truthfully the meerkats are an animal that I don’t really look too much as I’m too busy looking at the lions and heading towards the polar bear enclosure. Getting to go into the enclosure and feed them breakfast whilst hearing about each meerkats personality was a surprise but a great addition to the tour.

Next on the tour was a trip to see the lions. The Yorkshire Wildlife Park’s lions were rescued back in 2010 from a zoo in Romania where they were kept in extremely small cages. It was a national campaign to raise money to rescue these lions to bring them over to the wildlife park where they have significantly more space to roam around in now. On my tour I got to get up close and personal and feed two of the lionesses, Julie and Carla. It is very surprising just how big these lions are, yet both were unbelievably gentle taking the food from the tongs. Being able to feed a lion is something I never thought I would be able to do so was the highlight of the tour for me.

Julie waiting for her food!

If you don’t know the Yorkshire Wildlife Park recently saw the birth of three Amur tiger cubs named Harley, Hope and Hector, who are ridiculously adorable. It was such a wonderful experience to get the opportunity to feed Hope and Hector. Unfortunately Harley and mum Tschuna were too full from yesterdays dinner so didn’t come over for our offerings of more food. Like the lions, the tiger cubs were so gentle in taking the food from us. I’d only seen the cubs from afar so it was incredible to have them right at the other side of the fence to me.

Feeding Hope - an Amur Tiger Cub

Personally, I preferred my polar bear experience; however that may be due to the fact that I just really love polar bears. I know for a fact that if you really love the big cats of the park you will absolutely love this experience. Its worth remembering that the animals are not trained so for example, Drake the leopard is extremely shy so he wasn’t having been coaxed over for food one bit so depending on what mood the animals are in you may not get to feed every carnivore in the park but you will get up close to them and get a glimpse at behind the scenes. Personally at £150.00 for two people (including park admission) I think it is worth every penny. It truly was an unforgettable experience. 

Click here for more information about all the VIP tours that the park offer

Click here to read by blog about the Yorkshire Wildlife Park

Click here to read by blog about my polar bear experience

The Pigeon Detectives

Although I was late in discovering The Pigeon Detectives music, they are a band that I used to really love. Then for some reason I just didn't realise they were releasing new music and I seemed to just forget about them. When I saw that they were performing in my hometown earlier in the week I couldn't resist getting a ticket to the concert.


When I saw them back in 2008 at Glastonbury Festival, I went on a whim really as I only knew a few songs but the performance completely captured my attention. The lead singer gave the most high energy performance I've ever seen and to be honest I didn't know if I ever did see them perform again if the show would be as good. Truthfully, if anything seeing them doing a headline show was even better.


When the band first came on stage, although the energy was high I didn't know the first couple of songs that they performed. From where I was stood it was painfully clear that a large proportion of the audience were like myself and my have lost track of the bands music over the years. However, the set list was full of fan favourites such as Keep Your Dress On, Take Her Back and This Is An Emergency which quickly got the crowd in high spirits. The hits really got the crowds attention and for the few not so known songs they performed the audience were so hyped up from the hits they started to really enjoy the less popular songs too. The band themselves are the most energetic band that I've ever seen live. The lead singer, Matt, just doesn't keep still. If he's not throwing countless water bottles in the crowd, he's climbing up the stage and if he's not doing that he was walking down the bar into the crowd. It's so clear they love what they do and it really does make the show even more enjoyable.


As the concert was running extremely late they skipped the technicalities of an encore instead telling the crowd to pretend they'd just been off stage instead. The final song of the night was I'm Not Sorry, which is arguably The Pigeon Detectives biggest hit to date, before they left the stage to the loudest cheer.


For the £10 admission price I think it was worth every penny. Maybe I just went originally for nostalgic reasons but its recaptured what I liked about them and I've now downloaded the albums that I didn't own. If you like even just a couple of The Pigeon Detectives songs, I must urge you to go and see them live. What a concert!