(EVENT) "Candyland"

Take Showtime's "Entourage" ... mix it with "Shameless" ... add a dash of "How to Get Away with Murder" and sprinkle lightly with "Empire" - or heck, even baste with "Bates Motel" - and you have "Candyland", a one-of-a-kind novel that you read, in weekly installments, like one of those night-time TV soaps that so easily suck you in.  And, thanks to a special promotion, through March 25th it's only $9.99 to subscribe and get all 36 episodes of season one, starting with the pilot episode April 10th!  (official site: read-tv.blogspot.com, includes "Dream Cast"!)

It all kicks off with the mysterious CANDACE GRAY, a raven-haired beauty who owns and operates The Gray Group, one of Beverly Hills' top talent agencies.  Candace's roster reads like a who's who of the hottest young actors and artists in Hollywood right now - and even if you're a rising star or starlet with another agency, don't be surprised if Candace finds her way to you, too.

Known for her shark-like tenacity, as well as her ability to step on whatever and whomever she has to in order to get what she wants, Candace is constantly followed around by her faithful watchdog of an assistant, OSCAR YAMADA (the only person privy to most - though not exactly all, as he will learn - of the lady's secrets), and though only in Hollywood for just under three years (having relocated from Miami after the suicide of her insanely-rich, much older husband), she's already a powerful player in the industry ... only no one seems to be able to find out that much about Candace prior to her life in Miami ...

Which is the current #1 obsession of NOAH SANDERSON, head of Sanderson Talent and Candace's biggest rival.  He's lost enough clients to Candace, and is determined that if he can't find out how she's stealing them, he's going to find out what she's hiding and take her down.  With the help of former girlfriend, tabloid journalist EDEN JAMES - herself with a Candace-ax to grind and a motive for revenge - along with sleaze-bag paprazzo LEON AGUILAR, the trio start snooping into the powerful woman's past, not realizing some of the secrets they uncover may be worth killing to keep.

Something top Gray Group agent TEAK DIXON could relate to, as well.  A former NFL player sidelined by an injury in his first year, Teak originally nursed his wounds by flying from Colorado to Los Angeles to hang with some cousins ... and there discovered that good looks, a chiseled physique, and smooth talk could open more doors, much faster and with nowhere near the work, than years of torn rotator cuffs or a blown-out knee from being banged around on the field.  Getting a few small gigs as an actor, Teak disliked the feeling of never having control that most actors go through when auditioning, so instead took that control; he now runs the On-Camera division at Gray Group, responsible for the careers of the agency's biggest and best talent.  It's a huge, important, even unheard-of position of power for a 28-year-old to have - even one with an agenda - so it's also probably fortunate for Teak that only he, Candace, and Oscar knows how he got the job.

So far.

Not known as a month for Oscar-bait films, June's Chasing Atlantis blew away critics and audiences alike thanks to its lead performance by HUNTER WEST, star of tween comedy TV series "Sick for 10 Days".  On the show Hunter may play "best friend" second-lead Cody Taylor, but Chasing Atlantis and Hunter's good looks, sending social media and the press into a frenzy and pushing the 22-year-old to #1 in the eyes of millions - including Candace Gray, especially when she learns the young star isn't too happy with his current agent: his mother.  And though she's a bit distracted right now, hoping to also add a bright new ingenue named ZOE COOPER - gaining publicity and critical praise as the new darling of indie cinema - to her roster, when Candace digs deep enough to learn some very interesting, very private information on Hunter, she's confident in sending Oscar to sign up the potential Oscar nominee by any means necessary.

All the threads of this crazy quilt - and more - come together at Candyland, a private, members-only nightclub Candace opened only a year ago that's already become the hottest spot in town, thanks to its guarantee of confidentiality via tight-lipped patrons (it's rumored that much of the behavior in Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street was "lifted directly from a single Sunday afternoon" at Candyland).  The paparazzi may be able to catch the arrivals and departures of the rich and famous (most choose not to use the back exit, as even being seen at Candyland can boost your STARmeter rating), but what actually goes down behind Candyland's closed doors is the stuff of legend.  Like a series of mischievous nesting dolls, however, within the walls of Candace's club yet another darker, even more exclusive membership exists; one available, granted only as the result of the rarest of invitations.  A membership laced with benefits so sweet, you can't resist it - though its price is so high, most who pay it and enter never come out quite the same again.

Love and betrayal, decadence and seduction, mystery and murder, secrets and lies - it all leads up to a season finale, late on Christmas Eve, that finds a woman with a gun sitting alone in her car, broken and with nothing left to lose.

Subscribe TODAY, before the special $9.99 promo ends on March 25th!