Spotlight on... Melissa de la Cruz!

I was looking around and thought it was time for another spotlight post. I was browsing through my books and I noticed I've read many books by Melissa de la Cruz. She has many books coming up and is an author with amazing range. For all of you new to Tantalizing Illusions, Spotlight on is a feature where I basically gush about one author/cover/theme, etc. It's also a great way to get information on your favourite authors and  to see what I've read and loved in the past.







Melissa de la Cruz is the New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of many critically acclaimed and award-winning novels for teens including The Au Pairs series, the Blue Bloods series, the Ashleys series, the Angels on Sunset Boulevard series and the semi-autobiographical novel Fresh off the Boat. 

She has worked as a fashion and beauty editor and has written for many publications including The New York Times, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Allure, The San Francisco Chronicle, McSweeney’s, Teen Vogue, CosmoGirl! and Seventeen. She has also appeared as an expert on fashion, trends and fame for CNN, E! and FoxNews. 

Melissa grew up in Manila and moved to San Francisco with her family, where she graduated high school salutatorian from The Convent of the Sacred Heart. She majored in art history and English at Columbia University (and minored in nightclubs and shopping!). 

She now divides her time between New York and Los Angeles, where she lives in the Hollywood Hills with her husband and daughter. 


Bio courtesy of Goodreads


Melissa's Website
Melissa's Twitter

Books by Melissa de la Cruz:
The Blue Bloods Series

(lost in time hasn't been released yet)

(Novella)

(a kind of guide book with more information on the world of Blue Bloods)
The Au Pairs series:

The Ashleys series:

Angels on Sunset Boulevard series:

 The second novel is called Angels Lie but I couldn't find the cover. It was released in 2009
Wolf Pact series:
Wolf Pact, being published in 2012, no cover yet. This series follows Bliss from Blue Bloods.
The Beauchamp Family series:

(this is an adult level book to be released on June 21 2011)


Melissa de la Cruz has written more books but they are adult books so I chose not to include them. For a full list of all her books, click here.


I've started many of her books- Blue Bloods (which I've read all of except Bloody Valentine which is on my shelf), The Ashley's (book 1), Angels on Sunset Boulevard (book 1) and it's apparent to me that Melissa is a very fluent and varied writer. She can write about any character realistically. Her books do tend to have a bit of glamour in them and she does that with a flair. Every story is different and every character, even the annoying mean girl has weaknesses. Her books are addictive and easy to read. Once you start them you're trapped in that world and will constantly be awaiting the next book in the series. She's written many books and I plan on reading as many of them as I can get my hand on.

Have you read a book by Melissa de la Cruz? What did you think of it?