Lauren Conrad - Sweet Little Lies - An LA Candy Novel

First published in hardback in the USA by HarperCollins Publishers Inc in 2010

First published in hardback in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2010

HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd,

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London, SE1 9GF

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Copyright © Lauren Conrad 2010

Lauren Conrad asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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Source ISBN: 9780007181056

Ebook Edition © FEBRUARY 2010 ISBN: 9780007367955

Version: 2018-12-03

To my dear friend Sophia. Your friendship and support have meant so much to me. I love you, big sister.

Cover Page

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

GOSSIP

1 YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN THERE MIGHT BE A PHOTOGRAPHER AROUND

2 JUST ANOTHER GUY

3 IS THAT THE GIRL FROM THAT SHOW?

4 YOU’RE DOING THIS FOR A GOOD REASON

5 CHRISTMAS EVE WITH THE HARPS

6 CREATIVE EDITING

7 IT’S KINDA COMPLICATED

8 YOU’RE TWO OF MY BEST FRIENDS

9 CRAZY GIRL

10 WHAT I NEED IS THE TRUTH

11 MY IMAGE NEEDS TO BE SAVED NOW?

12 NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS OR SOMETHING

13 YOU’RE PERFECT JUST THE WAY YOU ARE

14 CAN U EVER 4GIVE ME?

15 LIE UPON LIE

16 FIFTEEN MINUTES

17 HOW TO ACT FOR THE CAMERAS

18 WHO SAYS WE’RE DATING?

19 CD U AND HANNAH PLZ TALK ABOUT SOMETHING????

20 POISON APPLE

21 I DON’T EVEN KNOW YOU ANYMORE

22 MOVING DAY

23 REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST

24 BE GOOD

25 SOMEONE LIKE HIM

26 IT WAS GREAT SEEING YOU

27 HANGOVER

28 LIAR

29 TIME BOMB

30 I DIDN’T MEAN ANY OF IT

31 BEST FRIENDS ARE FOREVER

32 JANE WHO?

33 THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH

34 LUCKY SKIRT

35 PLEASE DON’T GO

36 I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’D DO WITHOUT YOU

37 LOVE IS CRAZY

38 BFFC

39 COSMIC SHIFT

40 SEASON TWO

41 A FAN LETTER

42 A BREAK FROM BOYS

GOSSIP

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

BOOKS BY LAUREN CONRAD

About the Publisher

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PopTV’s newest hit series is all about good friends living the good life in L.A.—right? Last we checked, friends don’t lie to each other—or stab each other in the well-dressed back. On famed reality TV producer Trevor Lord’s sugarcoated confection, it’s hard to tell who’s really friends and who’s just making nice for more airtime. But one thing’s for sure: This candy isn’t as sweet as it appears to be. In fact, it just might be toxic.

Jane Roberts sat up on her white chaise longue and gazed at the horizon between the vast blue ocean and the vast blue sky. She could hear the distant cries of seagulls and the roar of the surf as it curled in, approaching high tide. The breeze, dry and warm for December, stirred her long, wavy blond hair. She reached for the cactus-pear margarita on top of the small hand-painted table next to her and took a long sip.

It was a perfect day on a perfect beach in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. But not for Jane, who felt perfectly awful.

“Another margarita, sweetie?”

Jane glanced over her shoulder and saw her friend Madison Parker walking toward her. Despite her mood, Jane had to smile. Madison was wearing a bronze bikini that barely covered her size-zero figure, along with five-inch wedges and full makeup, including bright coral lipstick. But that was Madison. She never went anywhere, not even to the beach, without spending an hour and a half getting ready.

“I’m good, thanks. Where’s your Gucci purse? And your gold jewelry?” Jane teased.

Madison slid onto the chaise longue next to Jane’s. “Hey, a girl’s gotta look her best, right? You never know when there might be a photographer around. Or a hot guy.” She lowered her massive Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses to stare at a nearby lifeguard with an impressive six-pack. “Like him. Hmm, I call dibs!”

“He’s all yours,” Jane said. After the boy drama she’d been through lately, she really wasn’t interested. She was in Mexico to get away from her disastrous love life and the media circus, not to scope out guys. “Anyway, I thought you said this was a private resort and that photographers couldn’t get in.”

“Yeah, I meant like other guests with cameras,” Madison replied, still staring at the lifeguard. “I’ll see if he has a friend for you. Back in a sec.” She rose to her feet, fluffed her long platinum-blond hair, and struggled through the sand in her heels.

Jane had to laugh. Poor guy has no idea what’s coming.

Jane and Madison had been at Madison’s parents’ condo for the last five days, doing not much besides swimming, tanning, drinking, and checking out guys. Well, Madison had been checking out guys. Jane couldn’t stop thinking about what she had done to her boyfriend (now ex-boyfriend), Jesse, back in L.A., and how she had run away when everything had gone so wrong. A guy was the last thing she needed right now. Unless he had a PhD in psychology, he was of little use.

Jane leaned back and tried to relax. The sun felt so nice, and the sound of the waves in the background should have been calming. But her mind still raced with worries. Her life used to be so normal. A little boring, but wonderfully normal. When she and her best friend, Scarlett Harp, had moved to L.A. from Santa Barbara after high school, it was so Jane could pursue an internship with Fiona Chen, one of the top event planners in the business, and Scarlett could attend USC. They’d hoped to add a little excitement to their lives by meeting new people and experiencing L.A. nightlife. But they’d never planned on meeting Trevor Lord at Les Deux.

Jane still couldn’t believe that out of a roomful of pretty girls Trevor had asked her and Scar to audition for L.A. Candy , the new reality show he was producing for PopTV. And that he’d actually cast them .

As Jane sat there on that beach so far away from everything, she wished she could go back in time to that night in August and say, Thanks, but no, thanks. Although it’s not like she could’ve predicted what was about to happen to her. She and Scar had figured the show would flop but they’d get some fun nights from it. Of course, the show ended up being a hit, and soon after the series premiere in October, Jane found herself unable to walk into a restaurant or down the street without someone recognizing her. Magazines called her “America’s sweetheart.” Blogs called her…well, other things. Her face was everywhere.