L.A. Candy

Though she’s been starring on reality shows since 2004, the most interesting parts of Lauren Conrad’s life—a sex tape scandal, designing her own fashion line, becoming a bona fide celebrity—have taken place off-screen. But L.A. Candy, Conrad’s new teen book, doesn’t leave out the good stuff. A thinly veiled fictionalization of her life, L.A. Candy is about Jane, a cute blond girl who moves to Los Angeles with her BFF to intern for an event planner. Sound familiar? Their lives are turned topsy-turvy when they’re asked to appear on a reality show billed as a PG version of Sex and the City. Girls who consider The Hills appointment television will relish L.A. Candy for the potential behind-the-scenes dirt it dishes—producer-mandated dates, production-approved apartments, tension and scene-stealing between the show’s four stars, the complexities of putting a mic on someone whose outfit doesn’t allow for a bra. Mercifully, the book doesn’t allow for the “meaningful looks” that seem to fill most episodes of The Hills.

Maybe it’s the influence of her “collaborator,” Nancy Ohlin, but Jane is a lot more interesting than Conrad was on The Hills—funnier, smarter, not nearly as dull. And she would never sign a contract without letting her dad’s lawyer OK it. She indulges in some boozing and bad boys, but those maladies are practically pandemic in 18-year-olds. OK, the book offers about as much nutritional value as its name suggests. Still, beach reading, anyone?

Fear Factor: (no drunk driving, no drug use, not even much body fixation)
Heart: (The relationships are pretty shallow.)
Attitude: (Jane and co. may roll their eyes at their bosses, producers, parents, and teachers, but they keep it at that.)
Psst: Non-Hills fans shouldn’t bother. Half the fun is trying to figure out who each character is based on.
If you like this: Read The Real Real, by Emma Mclaughlin and Nicola Kraus.