Sweet Little Lies by Lauren Conrad | Rating: ★★★☆☆

Fame and style, scandal and gossip, Lauren Conrad is at it again with her bestselling drama L.A. Candy.  Sweet Little Lies follows the introduction to the trilogy quite well and showcases a tale of fluffy goodness, rivaling the novels Gossip Girl and The A-List in terms of guilty pleasure enjoyment. Because of Conrad's start on MTV with a hugely successful spin on reality television with Laguna Beach and The Hills, L.C. knows her stuff when it comes to unexpected fame and a sultry backdrop.

Not everything is as it seems and who can you really trust when it all boils down to fame? Jane Roberts' world was thrust into chaos after she and best friend, Scarlett, are approached to star in a reality series. Now, a scandal has sent her into hiding with her new, untrustworthy, friend and co-star Madison. After news leaks of Jane having cheated on her delicious, celebrity boyfriend (with his best friend, no less) and unbecoming photographs of her begin popping up in the tabloids, the series is hotter than ever. Nothing beats a good scandal in Hollywood and Jane has just provided one for the ages.

Desperate to get away from everything, Jane is swept up by Madison for a little vacation. Little does she know that Madison is the one who betrayed her and caused the storm to materialize.


Leaving behind her best friend, Jane tries her best to move forward and avoids a good chunk of people for the holidays. But you have to face your future someday--and Jane's holiday ends sooner rather than later. Strangely enough, Jane is comforted by the fact that her ex-boyfriend (the one she was totally hung up on at the start of L.A. Candy) has reached out to her. Maybe there's a bright side to all of this drama.


Determined to win her boyfriend back and keep the friendships she has formed, Jane makes it her goal to set things right in the new year. She also finds herself feeling distant from Scarlett, when Scar makes her suspicions about Madison known. Jane has no idea she is playing with fire when it comes to her newfound closeness to Madison but boy, is she close to the flames. Madison is plotting every last move to steal the spotlight from Jane--even though, at times, she seems fond of the girl--and is keeping secrets beyond her ulterior motives.

What is Madison keeping secret, anyways? Boy, will readers be surprised...

While the drama is on the back burner and waiting for just the right moment to flame up, there have been a few changes on the show. With Jane's scandal, and the potential demise of Scarlett and Jane's friendship, the format is bound to change. And boy, does it. Not only does Jane's coworker manage to get a bit more screen time, Jane and Madison move in together.

Scarlett, meanwhile, is feeling the absence of Jane in her life. But things just aren't clicking between the two of them anymore and it's striking how lonely it makes her feel. Luckily, Scar finds a brief bit of comfort in the fact that she is finally--finally--finding herself falling for a boy in more than just an attraction sense. The bad news? He totally works as a crew member--and a huge rule on reality T.V. is that the crew and talent aren't meant to mingle in romantic ways.

But a little danger can be fun, right?

And rules are so made to be broken.

Overall, Sweet Little Lies is fun and flirty, a completely dishy novel that is perfect for the summer. It is, sadly, not as good as L.A. Candy, and certainly far from the best release in fiction, but it's still a blast to read and will keep readers intrigued from start to finish.

I can't wait for the third!