"L.A. Candy" by Lauren Conrad: A Review

Sweet, sexy, and fun! "L.A. Candy" is a perfect read to get your mind off of taxes, health insurance, and your current bank account. Whether you have watched reality TV or not, this book will still keep your interest and will probably only take you 2 hours to complete. The perfect spring read!

I have spent more hours than I usually care to admit watching "The Hills" and "Laguna Beach" on MTV. During my college years, I fell hard for Lauren Conrad. She was accessible, the pretty girl next door, and you felt like she was the only one who might be nice to you if you ran into her in public. I routed for her through every relationship, every new job, and clothing line. I can't help it. Once I'm on your side, I am relentless. Therefore, it is no surprise that when she took her plunge into writing, I am right there with her. Do I think she had a ghost writer? Absolutely NOT! Don't say that about my girl Lauren! Actually, say what you want, she is a New York Times best selling author, she doesn't care what any of us say.

Surprisingly, I found "L.A. Candy" to be a fun, cute, beach read for the Bahamas. Mind blowing? Life changing? Of course not! It's easy and accessible just like Lauren herself. The story fictionally follows Jane and Scarlet who have just moved to L.A. (where else) for their careers and college, respectively. Immediately, as a reader and "Hills" viewer, you try to figure out which fictional character represents who. I came to the conclusion that other than Jane being Lauren, all the other characters are definitely fictional. At the most, Scarlet dresses similarly to Audrina's style, but without the make up, and with a 100 point IQ upgrade. Perhaps Lo and Audrina combined?

When Scarlet and Jane are discovered by a shmarmy TV producer in a night club, you get flashes to Lauren being discovered herself in a high school parking lot. At first, the girls are pumped to sign on to being on television. Why not!? Neither girl assumes that their show will be a success and are definitely not ready for what fame brings. They learn the show will include two other girls, Madison (think Heidi, if Heidi was who she is RIGHT now when the show started) and Gaby (who has Audrina's IQ and is also funny.) They find out about their new friends on the scene of taping when they realize they also have mics and cameras following them.

This is what makes "L.A. Candy" intriguing. We get to find out what goes on behind the scenes to everything "The Hills" refused to show us. I still believe they should do a season now of all the behind the scenes stuff that I'm sure they got on tape but didn't show. I want to know about putting the mics on, re-taping scenes, and lives being edited to push a story forward. I like knowing what happens when the cameras aren't rolling. I would assume, there is barely a person who will read this book who did not watch "The Hills."

Jane is totally on board for making the show work and Scarlet does not feel the same. She doesn't want to fake hang out with Madison and Gaby and doesn't trust the new man in Jane's life. Jane is a mess with boys, which is pretty applicable to Lauren who actually dated Jason. (Jason has had a myriad of DUIs and trips to jail) I won't give too much away, but there is lying, back stabbing, gossip columns, alcoholism, and more! You'll route for Jane just like we've been routing for Lauren Conrad. In "Hills" tradition, the book ends on a cliff hanger that will have you looking up when the next book in the series comes out.

Considering this book is aimed at young adults, I think it is respectfully written for that age. The girls still party and make mistakes, but there are clear consequences to the characters choices. Nothing is candy coated (no pun intended), but considering some of the "Gossip Girl" series, where even negative consequences seem to be somehow positive, this is a much better read for your 13-16 year old. It's also one you could read along with them and have a conversation.

If you did not check this book out when it came out last year, this is the spring beach read you've been waiting for. Don't be embarrassed! You can take off the cover if you have too. Throw it in your beach bag and sip on a frozen margarita as you get lost in the behind the scenes of what happens when your life goes from obscurity to America's new it girl. Your so late on the game you can even check out "L.A. Candy: Sweet Little Lies" while your at it, for 3 hours of beach reading fun! If you can't make it to the Bahamas, just have your margarita at home. We all deserve some mindless reading and I'm glad Lauren decided to write some fluff for her fans young and old! Heck, I'm such a fan I'll probably be first in line when they make it into a movie!