Watching Willow Watts [Kindle Edition]

Talli Roland (Author)

Book Description

A Top 100 Amazon Customer Favourite for 2011.

Chosen as a Favourite Romantic Novel of 2011 by Romantic Fiction Online.

PRAISE FOR WATCHING WILLOW WATTS:

"Light-hearted, humorous, and a sweet happy ending made me a happy reader!" --Chick Lit Plus.

"Wonderful, warm and wicked! . . . Sassy, original and great fun." --High Heels and Book Deals.

"A fresh and well-thought-out narrative, likeable characters, dry wit and an interesting perspective on overnight fame." --Chick Lit Club.

"It's hilarious, emotional and heart-warming, and the best part is that you won't be at all disappointed with the ending." --Kim the Bookworm.

DESCRIPTION:

For Willow Watts, life has settled into a predictably dull routine: days behind the counter at her father's antique shop and nights watching TV, as the pension-aged residents of Britain's Ugliest Village bed down for yet another early night.  But everything changes when a YouTube video of Willow's epically embarrassing Marilyn Monroe impersonation gets millions of hits after a viewer spots Marilyn's ghostly image in a frame.

Instantly, Willow's town is overrun with fans flocking to see the 'new Marilyn'. Egged on by the villagers -- whose shops and businesses are cashing in -- Willow embraces her new identity, dying her hair platinum and ramming herself full of cakes to achieve Marilyn's legendary curves.

But when a former flame returns seeking the old Willow, Willow must decide: can she risk her stardom and her village's newfound fortune on love, or is being Marilyn her ticket to happiness?

Editorial Reviews

Review

Talli Roland has definitely found her niche in writing chick lit with an edge that is fun, modern and romantic, and I'm already looking forward to her next book!" 

--One More Page

About the Author

Bestselling novelist Talli Roland has three loves in her life: chick lit, coffee and wine. Born and raised in Canada, Talli now lives in London, where she savours the great cultural life (coffee and wine). Her debut novel, The Hating Game, was shortlisted for Best Romantic Read at the UK's Festival of Romance, and her second, Watching Willow Watts, was selected as a 2011 Amazon Customer Favourite. Build A Man is her latest release.

Product Details

• File Size: 489 KB
• Print Length: 313 pages
• Publisher: Prospera Publishing (August 25, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005JE2IJI
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #45,700 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Willow August 29, 2011

By Margo Benson

Format:Kindle Edition

I loved Talli Roland's enchanting new book, having adored The Hating Game. I was drawn in straight away and couldn't put the book down!

Willow Watts, a gifted florist beginning to make a success of her business in London, has returned to the weary village she hails from to care for her widowed father and his ailing antique shop. Life for her and the village takes a bizarre turn when the ghostly image of Marilyn Monroe is seen in an otherwise embarrassing YouTube video of Willow, performing at the local fete. Events move quickly to transform Willow into the new Marilyn, make her a star and save the shop.

Talli Roland has written a wonderful cast of characters, from a devoted best friend, a ruthless charmer, a warm and loving Texan, to an eccentric band of elderly locals and we see Willow fighting to find herself in the midst of both adoration and exploitation. The parallels with Marilyn herself are worked in beautifully.

An aspect of Talli Roland's writing that I love is that, amongst the pace and frivolity, is pure pathos and heart. Characters overcome past hurts and discover inner strengths and talents they didn't know they had.

I highly recommend this book and can't wait to read more Talli Roland.

On a Kindle note - this is well formatted, which is very welcome as so many Kindle books have appalling formatting!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A fun read for chick lit fans December 28, 2011

By Rachel Morgan

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This may sound weird, but the first thing I enjoyed about this story was the fact that it was written in British English (same as South African)! Silly, I know, but I read so much American English, that it was refreshing to read the British version of words :-)

What I remember most from reading THE STORY BOOK, by David Baboulene, is knowledge gaps - and Talli does this excellently. She jumps from one character's perspective to another, so that you, the reader, usually know what's going on, but the characters may not always have a clue. Which ramps up the tension!

WATCHING WILLOW WATTS (and I like the alliteration!) was a fun read :-)

(P.S. The only reason this book didn't get more stars from me is that this isn't my favourite genre. It doesn't mean that this book is bad in any way. Because it isn't! It was lots of fun! And if you like chick lit then you will totally enjoy this book!)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Watching Willow Watts September 7, 2011

By Leah Graham

Format:Kindle Edition

The plot of Watching Willow Watts is something else entirely. It's just as brilliant as The Hating Game as Willow Watts dresses up for Marilyn Monroe for a joke at her village's fete and the subsequent YouTube video ends up going viral as people proclaim Willow is the `New Marilyn'. Soon, Willow's little town, Belcherton, is over-run with Marilyn fans clamouring for a piece of Willow, including supposed uber-agent Jay and Marilyn obsessive Betts. And as Willow sees her being the `New Marilyn' as a way to make money for her heart-broken dad, well, what's a girl to do? I thought Talli executed the main plot perfectly. I loved Willow's ascent to fame (and, be warned, you will have to suspend your beliefs when reading the novel!) and I liked that Willow was so selfless that she really only wanted to do it to save her dad's antique business from failing. It's a brilliant plot, and one Talli had thought out perfectly.

The novel's downfall, for me, was Jay. It began and it ended with Jay, the agent who sees Willow and decides she'll be his ticket back to the big time. Him coming into the novel didn't exactly ruin it for me, but it did send the novel onto a track well-rehearsed. There was an exchange mid-way through the novel where Jay hit on Willow's best friend Paula, not knowing they were best friends and whilst he was sleeping with Willow. Paula told Willow, but because Jay had told Willow Paula would probably be jealous, Willow believed Jay and not Paula. It wasn't necessarily all downhill from there, but it was like a familiar record had come on and I knew exactly how it was all going to pan out. It saddened me. I'm sorry but if there's one thing I HATE in Chick Lit it's when supposedly sane women choose their new man over their best friends of many years. It drives me nuts.... Plot device or not, I truly hate it. Because in real life that just wouldn't happen. I couldn't perceive any time in my life that I would ever believe a boyfriend over a best friend and it keeps happening in Chick Lit and I keep rolling my eyes.

I liked the majority of the characters. Willow, it has to be said, was absolutely nothing like Mattie, Roland's heroine from The Hating Game. Mattie would eat Willow for breakfast, frankly. I must admit, I was expecting another Mattie-type character because there's a big, big lack of female characters like Mattie, most are Willow prototypes all meek and mild and although it's good and it works... It does get a bit boring after a while and I thought Roland had tapped into a wonderful character in Mattie and wished she had done the same to Willow. I mean, Willow wasn't horrible, she was rather lovely, but her gullibility and her naivete bit. I liked her but I also wanted to give her a clout. I loved Paula, Willow's best friend, she was very forthright and I was inexplicably sad when Willow shut her down. I also really liked Willow's dad, along with Betts, the American Marilyn-obsessive. I couldn't stand Jay, the agent, I wanted to make him disappear. I hated him and it's rare I say that.

Watching Willow Watts was infinitely different to The Hating Game and for me it just wasn't as good. The whole idea was there and most of it was executed perfectly, but the colour-by-numbers with Jay/Willow/Paula was just horrible for me. When I'm reading a book it's never a good sign when I'm thinking of how I would do it differently and after the whole incident with Willow and Paula I was consistently wondering how I'd have done it, personally. I was also surprised at the lack of romance. The synopsis mentions Willow's ex coming back, but he's featured in about 10 pages total, most of them coming near to the end with just one solitary appearance somewhere in the middle. I know why that was - it was part of the plot, but the synopsis was rather misleading there as I was expecting more. I did enjoy the novel, don't get me wrong but it wasn't as good as The Hating Game. It didn't have the same oomph. I wanted it to blow me away like The Hating Game did, but sadly it didn't. The first half of the novel was excellent and then it all just descended into a type of Chick Lit novel I've seen time and time again, which made me sad. Talli is a brilliant novelist and has some wonderful book ideas and I will be on the lookout for her next novel but Watching Willow Watts wasn't as good as her debut novel. Read more ›

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Willow's Worth Watching August 30, 2011

By Jen Daiker

Format:Kindle Edition

Talli Roland is adorable with this wonderful new novel. Even if you aren't a fan of Marilyn Monroe you'll be rooting for Willow Watts all the way.

Willow is so relatable right from the opening scene - trying to be nice to neighbors, leaving something behind she loved to take care of her dad, the obstacles we experience in life that are brought to life. So when Willow is given the opportunity to save her dad's shop she takes on the challenge, even if she's the farthest thing from Marilyn Monroe.

From beginning to end you'll be rooting for each character and the struggles they're looking to overcome. With so many wonderful characters Talli is amazing at intertwining each one of them together in rough situations as you watch it all unfold. Belcherton may have, at one point, been the ugliest village, but that's all about to change as Willow goes on the adventure of a lifetime all to save the predicament her family is in.

Watching Willow Watts will leave you empowered, ready to take on the world, and know that happiness is sometimes found in the most unexpected places.

If you're looking for fun, flirty, and full of laughs Roland is your go-to-gal! So get your cocktails ready because you're sure to join in on the fun with Willows journey.

More About the Author

Talli Roland writes fun, romantic fiction. Born and raised in Canada, Talli now lives in London, where she savours the great cultural life (coffee and wine).

Despite training as a journalist, Talli soon found she preferred making up her own stories--complete with happy endings. Talli's debut novel The Hating Game was short-listed for Best Romantic Read at the UK's Festival of Romance, while her second, Watching Willow Watts, was selected as an Amazon Customer Favourite. Her novels have also been chosen as top books of the year by industry review websites and have been bestsellers in Britain and the United States. Build A Man is her latest release.

To learn more about Talli, go to www.talliroland.com or follow Talli on Twitter: @talliroland. Talli blogs at talliroland.blogspot.com.