News & reviews

This section contains reviews, information, collaborations and sponsored posts, and anything else that doesn’t fit into my primary categories.

The Yoto Player for older kids: Audiobooks for 7-10 year olds

Kids' stuff, Toys & games /

Disclaimer: This post features Yoto Cards we were sent free of charge for review, alongside cards we bought ourselves. Words, opinions and photographs are mine. This post contains affiliate links; you can read my disclosure policy here. Updated October 2026: This article is based on our experience with earlier Yoto Players and the audiobooks my children enjoyed when they were

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LELO toys - best sex toys for women over 40

Best sex toys for women over 40: Life is too short for bad vibrators

Health, fitness & beauty /

Fran’s note: I’ve handed the blog over to Tammy from SexToyReviews.uk for this one. She spends an alarming amount of time testing sex toys and writing about which ones are actually worth buying. I’ve edited her contribution about the best sex toys for women over 40 slightly, because this is still my blog and apparently I can’t help myself. If

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guide to selling clothes on Vinted

Clearing out your wardrobe? A guide to selling clothes on Vinted

Clothes, shoes & jewellery, Making & saving money /

This guide to selling clothes on Vinted contains affiliate links. Ebay used to be the place for buying and selling on unwanted second hand clothes, but in more recent years it became saturated with cheap Chinese tat. With all the fees, scammers and cheeky buyers pushing their luck, I just couldn’t be bothered with it any more. I either sent

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Yoto Player (3rd Generation)

Yoto Player 3rd Generation review (with Yoto discount)

Kids' stuff, Technology /

Disclosure: I was originally sent the Yoto Player 3rd Generation free of charge for review. The opinions and photographs are my own. This article contains affiliate links, which may earn me a commission if you buy through them. You can read my full disclosure here. I have a lot of time for Yoto Players. Of all the gadgets we accumulated

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The Jacket Maker leather jacket (15)

The Jacket Maker: Zenna Leather Bomber Jacket Review

Clothes, shoes & jewellery, News & reviews /

I was gifted the Zenna Black Leather Bomber Jacket by The Jacket Maker in exchange for an honest review. Get 10% off at The Jacket Maker with the code FRAN10. I have always been a leather jacket person. Not necessarily a fashionable leather jacket person, but I’ve owned enough of them over the years to know what I like. There

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Cala Millor review

A week in Majorca where almost nothing went wrong

For adults, Holidays & staycations, Parenting, Politics and Life, Things to do, days out & travel /

I went to Majorca for a week and accidentally came back healthier, which was not the plan at all. The plan was to lie in the sun, read books, eat far too much and drink enough wine that I could win the All Inclusive. Instead, I couldn’t poo and I didn’t like the wine, so I spent a week eating

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3 FLEXISPOT furniture ideas for a more comfortable home

Dog & pet, Home & Garden /

This is a sponsored post in collaboration with FLEXISPOT. There comes a point in adulthood when your idea of luxury changes quite dramatically. Once upon a time, luxury meant going out. New shoes, new clothes, new handbag. Fancy cocktails, and staying awake past midnight without needing three business days to recover. Now? Give me a comfortable chair, somewhere to charge

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Combe Martin John Fowler Holiday (140)

John Fowler Combe Martin: Dog friendly holiday park review

Dog & pet, Holidays & staycations, Parenting, Politics and Life /

We have just returned from four nights at John Fowler’s Combe Martin Beach Holiday Park in North Devon, which cost less than £400 for a Gold caravan and a dog and because I have a whole travel category on this site, and barely go anywhere these days, I’m going to tell you all about it. I found a £50 discount

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Back to school: Secondary school & the ridiculous passage of time

Clothes, shoes & jewellery, Collaborative posts (#AD), Kids' stuff /

This post is a paid collaboration with Very.co.uk. Images feature gifted items from Very.co.uk. Words are my own. I distinctly remember writing about both of my children starting primary school – the super-ready oldest followed by the not-quite-sure youngest the following year – which cannot possibly have been long enough ago for my youngest to now be heading off to

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Naked Creatine

Why is everyone suddenly telling women over 40 to take creatine?

Health, fitness & beauty /

This is a collaborative post with Naked Nutrition, who also sent me Naked Creatine to try. As ever, all thoughts, whinging and general suspicion about wellness trends are my own. There comes a point in a woman’s life when the internet stops trying to sell her glitter eyeshadow and crop tops, and starts trying to sell her joint support, pelvic

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