Lauren Conrad: Orlando Book Signing

Lauren Conrad does not disappoint her Central Florida fans. The star of MTV’s reality shows Laguna Beach and The Hills is at Borders Books in Winter Park this evening, signing copies of her novel Sweet Little Lies, the second in her L.A. Sweet series.

Dressed in a chic charcoal-gray jacket, tailored short-shorts and black pumps with towering heels, her short nails painted wine-red, the diminutive star enters with little fanfare, takes a seat at a small table on a raised platform, and reaches for a pen.

I expect the 450-or-so fans to errupt in applause, cheers and whistles. Instead, they greet Conrad’s arrival with a kind of awed silence. Then a murmur of excitement ripples down the long, long line snaking among the bookshelves.

“It’s really her,” breathes a young woman in skinny jeans and boyfriend sweater standing behind me, her cell-phone camera trained on Conrad.

And so the signing begins. With a smile, a comment and a quiet, “Thank you,” the 24-year-old author signs books for the fans, mostly young women in their early 20s, who line up for more than two hours for about 30 seconds of the actor/writer/designer’s time.

“I love your show, Lauren.” “I’ve watched every show, Lauren.” “I’m wearing your sweater, Lauren.” (Conrad designs the popular LC Lauren Conrad junior clothing line sold exclusively at Kohl’s.”

Credit: Orlando Sentinel