Ashlee Simpson is joining the cast of Melrose Place.  Jessica Simpon's lil' sister is returning to series television seven years after landing her breakthrough role on the WB's 7th Heaven. 

On Melrose, Ashlee Simpson will play a bright-eyed but shrewd small-town girl and recent L.A. transplant who has come to town with a secret. Her character draws parallels to the original series' blond, budding-Southern-belle starlet, Sandy Harling (played by Amy Locane).