NEW RELEASE
One Little White Lie - Pricilla Bleik (2014)
Despite suffering crippling anxiety disorders, India's younger sister Cylia has decided to audition for STAR, the world's biggest televised talent show. And India's mother has ordered her to accompany Cylia to make sure nothing goes wrong. When Cylia bolts just before her moment in the spotlight, India steps in, pretending to be her sister. And somehow she makes it through to the field of international finalists selected for the live shows. With Cylia still missing, and her husband Phil having run off with another woman, leaving her and their young twins in debt, India desperately needs to stay on the show - the brainchild of American producer David Harnet - long enough to score some of the lucrative prize money. Meanwhile, despite being barred from the set, reporter Lucas Edison is investigating the show after the near-death of a contestant the year before and allegations the results are rigged. Often stories centred around reality television offer disappointingly scant behind-the-scenes details. This one, however, raises the bar as it creates a well-devised talent quest format, laying bare the rivalry between contestants and the machinations of an ambitious producer. The dysfunctional family relationship is also a highlight, making this story a lot darker than your usual chick lit fare.
One Little White Lie by Pricilla Bleik is being promoted by publisher Prospera as "chick lit noir". It's a dark tale of a dysfunctional woman who steals her much younger sister's identity to take part in a worldwide X Factor-type show. The summary says: "India Roman has always come second best. Growing up with a clinically depressed sister, overbearing mother and then settling for a controlling marriage to a much older man, India is used to accepting what little life throws at her. When her husband leaves her with two young children and a mortgage, on the same day her sister goes missing after successfully auditioning in the first round for the world's premier talent show, India decides to take a chance on herself. Taking her sister's place on the talent show, India lies about her age and pretends to be her sibling to make it through to the finals. But there is more than one dark secret in her past, and just when it seems that India might finally come first, a shocking revelation rears up to steal the limelight once more."