Nelson has a problem that most fourteen-year-old boys would dream about: two attractive girls who don't know each other are interested in him. This is a sudden change from his reality as a small-town loser where his crush firmly turned down his advances.
Thanks to Nelson's parents scoring a job running a ski lodge every weekend over the winter, Nelson's second life in a mountain resort where nobody knows him gives him the opportunity to reinvent himself.
This is a sharp contrast to his lonely life during weekdays at school. Nelson's best friend has recently moved away and the bullies consider him a soft target.
On the mountain, he is free to ski all day and mingle with guests in the evenings.
Two families regularly stay at the lodge. As it happens, each visit alternate weekends, and each has an attractive daughter about Nelson's age.
Nelson doesn't set out to have a relationship with either girl.
In fact, he's surprised that either of them seem interested in him.
Why should he put a stop to that and choose one girl? It's not as if he's doing any harm, and besides - the girls won't ever meet.
But the most insidious lies are the lies we tell ourselves. Nelson avoids any responsibility for his actions and decisions, but he can't escape the eventual consequences.
Overall, this is a sweet-level love-triangle romance told from the point of view of the boy. Bergomser makes Nelson a sympathetic character, without shirking the issue that even nice people make poor decisions.
And if they happen to be adolescents, the quality of these decisions plummets even further!
Title: The True Colour of a Little White Lie
Author: Gabriel Bergmoser
Publisher: Harper Collins, $19.99
Publication Date: 7 April 2021
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781460759097
For ages: 14+
Type: Young Adult Fiction