Sweet Little Lies (L.A. Candy, #2)

by Lauren Conrad

[Leah]

After the tabloids get hold of compromising photographs of LA Candy star Jane Roberts, she flees to Cabo with co-star Madison in a bid to forget about her troubles. Whilst there, though, the paparazzi manage to find her and Jane realises she has to get back to LA and face the music. Jane's life is made all the more difficult when best friend Scarlett tries to blame Madison for leaking the photographs to Gossip magazine which Jane refutes angrily - just why is Scarlett so against Madison? It seems as if there's more drama off-screen than there is on-screen and Jane soon learns that being a reality TV star is hard work - the question is, does Jane enjoy the perks of being a celebrity or is it all too much too soon?

When I heard Lauren Conrad was writing a series of books I was totally sceptical about her writing abilities but after enjoying LA Candy, I was pleased that I'd decided to buy the first two books in the LA Candy series at the same time as it meant I could get stuck straight into Sweet Little Lies. Get stuck in I did and I am very surprised at the writing talent of Ms. Conrad.

Sweet Little Lies picks up immediately after LA Candy ended and picks up with Jane in Cabo with Madison. As the continuity of the book is so full on, then reading LA Candy first is an absolute must. Everything is explained - in the way of the beginning of a TV episode - but you still feel as I think you'd still feel as if you've missed something. We're thrown right into the deep end with Sweet Little Lies and it's just as full on as LA Candy.

Because the books follow on so closely from each other it means storylines can continue throughout all of the books in the series. All of the storylines from LA Candy carry over to Sweet Little Lies, with a few new ones thrown in. If you haven't read my LA Candy review then Jane and Scarlett are BFFs who get the chance to star in a reality show called LA Candy along with two girls called Madison and Gaby. It all kicks off from there with Madison scheming to take Jane's place as the star of the show, Jane trying to handle the bad publicity as well as deciding just which guy is for her - Braden, Jesse or old boyfriend Caleb - whereas Scarlett has her own secret: she's fallen in love with someone who is off limits. The entire plot may sound convoluted and sensationalist but it was actually hugely enjoyable. The horrible Madison also appears to be getting strange text messages saying that the person in question knows who "the real Madison is" which, although I hated Madison, is very very interesting and I can't wait until the third book delves into that a bit more.

The characters are all the same from LA Candy: Jane, Scarlett, Madison, Gaby, Jesse, Braden, Hannah and Caleb as well as those who work on the show. I have to admit that I didn't like Jane in Sweet Little Lies as much as I did in Sweet Little Lies. As Sweet Little Lies progresses Jane and Scarlett's friendship begins to disintegrate - with a lot of help from the ever-scheming Madison - and because we, the reader, knew what Madison had done and what Scarlett was trying to say, made me incredibly frustrated that Jane just couldn't see what Madison was trying to do. I actually loved Scarlett as I did in LA Candy. She stands out compared to the other characters because for her it's not about being on reality TV, it's about being her own person and saying what she thinks. After reading LA Candy, I didn't think Madison could get any worse. I was wrong. She was just plain evil in Sweet Little Lies and I hated her. There is nothing redeeming about her at all. Gaby is easily forgettable but is funny enough. I made mention of the love triangle between Jane/Braden/Jesse in my LA Candy review and the triangle kind of continues in Sweet Little Lies. Jesse is in the book more than Braden and although I liked Jesse in LA Candy, I went off him as Sweet Little Lies progressed. He definitely shows his true colours as the book wears on and I went completely off him. Braden was missing for most of the book but when he did appear I quite liked him and can't wait to see how everything will pan out in book three.

Lauren's writing doesn't seem to be any better or worse than the first book and both books are very readable. They're obviously very Americanized - Lauren is American after all - so some could find that a bit off-putting but I am actually starting to love the way Americans write; it makes a change from the British way of writing. As Lauren was a reality star herself she obviously has insider knowledge of how "reality" shows work and she manages to input a lot into Sweet Little Lies. Lauren writes the book in the third person giving us perspectives from everybody bar Gaby and the boys. As we also get a perspective from Trevor, the producer of LA Candy, we get to see what he thinks and how he wants to twist things to make LA Candy have the best ratings it can get. I assume everything in the book is somewhat autobiographical of Lauren's time spent on The Hills so I also assume some of the things that come across as real on the TV are somewhat twisted.

After reading both LA Candy and Sweet Little Lies, I'm rather desperate to watch an episode of The Hills just to see if they're anything alike. I absolutely cannot wait for book three to be released, too, to see how everything is wrapped up. I actually have no idea if the LA Candy series will end at three or if three is just the number Lauren initially signed up for with the chance to write more if she wanted/if the series sold well. I for one have enjoyed getting to know Jane and Scarlett and, more importantly, being transported into the world of reality TV and life as it really is in Hollywood. It was huge fun to read and I can't wait for #3!