Regina Black’s debut novel The Art of Scandal will get a television adaptation. Universal Television and Julie Plec’s My So-Called Company acquired the production rights.

The Art of Scandal tells the story of a woman who receives an explicit text from her husband that she quickly realizes he intended for someone else.

Plec (The Vampire Diaries) will executive produce the series alongside Emily Cummins. Black will also serve as a consulting producer.

“I feel like I’ve been waiting for a book like this to come around for years. Regina really knocked this out of the park, allowing me to indulge in my favorite kind of television: a sexy, smart, multi-generational, multi-cultural soap,” Plec said in a statement.

Here’s a synopsis for The Art of Scandal:

On the night of her husband Matt’s fortieth birthday, Rachel Abbott receives an explicit text from her husband that she quickly realizes was meant for another woman. Divorce is inevitable, and Rachel is determined not to leave her thirteen-year marriage empty handed.

Meanwhile, Matt, a rising star mayor with his eye on the White House, can’t afford a messy split in the middle of his reelection campaign. They strike a deal: Rachel gets one million dollars and their lavish house in the wealthy DC suburb of Oasis Springs, as long as she keeps playing the ideal Black trophy wife until the election.

Then Rachel meets Nathan Vasquez and their connection makes Rachel forget about being the perfect politician’s wife. As Rachel reawakens Nathan’s long-dormant artistic aspirations, their attraction becomes impossible to resist. But secrets are hard to keep in a town like Oasis Springs, and Nathan has a few of his own. With the risk of scandal looming and their hearts on the line, they’ll have to decide whether the possibility of losing everything is worth taking a chance on love.

Plec currently has an overall deal with Universal Television. 

For more updates on this project, check back to THS.

Source: Deadline

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