Sugar And Spice

While her second book, Sweet Little Lies may have been slow and uneventful, Lauren Conrad returns to serve up some juicy drama with Sugar and Spice, the third and final book in the LA Candy series.

The novel begins with the four stars of LA Candy at the season 2 premiere party. Jane and Scarlett have worked out the kinks in their friendship and are as close as ever, Gaby is...Gaby - naive, cute, and clueless, and Madison is still her fame-seeking, manipulative self. Although Madison seems to be intent on ruining Jane's image even more than she already has (with leaked pictures to tabloids), Jane tries her best at taking the high road; she is on the track to taking control of her life, ignoring Madison, and putting herself through a Boy Detox.

But things aren't that easy when you're a national reality TV star. The LA Candy production staff makes sure that Madison and Jane have more scenes together than ever before, and as for the Boy Detox... Jane finds herself juggling her high school sweetheart, Caleb, her friend turned sort-of boyfriend, Braden, and her ex-boyfriend who is in and out of rehab, Jesse.

Although Jane's plotlines could easily fill the pages of the teen novel, Conrad gives the show's supporting cast storylines of their own - Scarlett must choose between love, college, and the TV show, Gaby's new publicist wants to give her a new image...and a new bra size, and Madison is busy finding ways to keep her blackmailer quiet.

While the series may have started out as a Beginner's Guide to The Hills that was not-so-loosely based on Conrad's time on reality TV, this book breaks the mold. Instead of simply changing names and details of those around her, she fills this book with original plotlines and twists that keep readers turning the pages until the very end.

This is arguably the best book in the series, and although the ending seems a bit rushed, it does find ways to show how much most of the characters have grown during their year on the show. However, with such a quick wrap-up, readers are left wanting more. Even though Jane (like Conrad on The Hills) has no more connections to her reality show, perhaps Conrad will one day sweeten the pot with a Gaby or Madison spin-off.