review: stay tuned by lauren clark

When one anchor punches her co-anchor during a newscast, producer Melissa Moore is forced to intervene. She ends up delivering the on-air good-bye despite not being camera ready, but it her quick-thinking impresses her boss. As a result, Melissa ends up filling in as anchor until replacements can be found for the two fired anchors. Melissa struggles to balance an already strained home life with her additional job responsibilities, but finds that sitting behind the news desk is something she really wants.

I’m far more critical of books revolving around the TV news industry because of my own line of work (which is in TV news). Although Lauren Clark once worked in TV news herself, some elements of Stay Tuned just didn’t work. Some of this may be because the industry has changed significantly in the past few years due to technological advances and budget cuts. But some things never really change such as the relationships between departments. Melissa feels alienated when she switches from producer to anchor, but there really shouldn’t have been much of a difference as Melissa would’ve already had strong relationships with the rest of the talent given that she was in a position that works closely with the talent. Furthermore, Melissa simply has too much time on her hands. Some days are fairly laid back, but Melissa and her co-anchor take it the extreme by leaving work in the middle of the day for a picnic. Other things were accurate such as the strain on personal relationships; however, in the case of Stay Tuned, it seemed the problems were really because Melissa’s husband preferred to communicate via post-it note.
3/5
Review copy provided by Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours.