From http://www.teensreadtoo.com

ANGELS ON SUNSET BOULEVARD by Melissa de la Cruz
Category: Mystery/Thriller
Age Recommendation: Grades 9+
Release Date: 2/07
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Reviewed by: Randstostipher “tallnlankyrn” Nguyen
Rating: 5 Stars

TAP, The Angels of Practice, is all everyone can talk about. This website/drink/drug is intoxicating and no one can get enough of it. No one can explain what TAP really is, since it is all around them and they are so dependent on it. The company that owns it holds the most exclusive parties, grants everyone’s material wishes, provides all the gossip and promotes the biggest rock star that everyone loves, Johnny Silver.

But then strange things begin to happen. Kids all over Sunset Boulevard are beginning to disappear, including Johnny Silver. No one knows why this is happening, and others are too busy with TAP to worry about what is going on. Everyone except for Nick and Taj, who are the only ones that don’t buy into the whole TAP industry.

Before they know it, Taj and Nick find themselves together, trying to solve the mystery of what is happening and even developing a strong relationship with each other. Unfortunately, it may be too late for them to actually do anything about it.

Told through Nick and Taj’s points of view, Melissa de la Cruz takes us into a world that is far from the AU PAIRS. ANGELS ON SUNSET BOULEVARD captures the reader from the very first page with its unusual uniqueness. Each character brings a certain atmosphere that captivates the audience into wanting more. The reader becomes so involved in the story that they will soon become disappointed when the book has to end.

Now the only thing left to do is wait for the next novel, which may be a long wait (well, for me that is).

____

Awesome! So stoked, man! I have been saying ‘man’ a lot lately. Also ‘dude man’. Like the other day, I was like, to my husband. “Dude, man, isn’t it so great to have a house?” And he just looked at me like I was crazy. I guess part of my personality has always wanted to be Sean Penn in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

Anyway, I am in SUCH a good mood today. There’s nothing like finding a great review of your last book while work is going well on the book you’re currently writing. I speak of course, of THE ASHLEYS. S&S just sent over the cover and it looks soooo cute. I will be posting it up soon so you can all drool. Hee hee.

THE ASHLEYS is my tribute to HEATHERS that fabulous seminal 80s teen movie with the immortal line, “well fuck me gently with a chainsaw.” Snarf!

It’s always great when the writing is going well. It takes a WHILE for it to kick in. I had to write fifty pages, tear them out and start all over before I could get into a good groove.

So here’s what else is contributing to my good mood…

THE HILLS: I never watched Laguna Beach (just didn’t have the time). But I am LOVING The Hills. I love how everyone is so pretty and rich. It’s like one of my books come to life. Like, in the episode where Heidi takes Spencer back and she’s all decked out in a fabulous sexy black dress and he picks her up in his BMW convertible? Um, that could be straight out of THE AU PAIRS, man. (See, there I go with “man” again.) I LOVED it!

The only things I don’t like about it, is that the boys just aren’t cute enough for the girls. Does anyone else think this? I mean, Lauren, Heidi and Whitney are all so cute, so blonde, so decked out. And the boys they go out with are all gelled-up poser wannabes. Ick. I’m sorry, Brody, Spencer and Jason (Lauren’s old flame) are just too slick to be cute. I prefer the shaggy slim boho type. All the boys are too cheesy.

The other thing I don’t like about it is the whole “reality” angle. As in, these kids are supposed to be living such rich lives. I loved all the wealth and glitz of rich characters in 90210 and The O.C. because it was supposed to be fiction, but if Lauren and all these kids are actually as rich as they are, it’s all kind of gross.

But I am addicted to the show nevertheless. And can we have Emily the super-genius New York intern back??? She’s so pretty and passive-aggressive fabulous! I love how her “East Coast smarts” contrast Lauren’s laid-back Los Angeles vibe.

ANNA DAVID’S PARTY GIRL: My dear friend Anna David just sent me her book to blurb, and I have to tell you to order it now! It’s sooo fun and fast-paced and bitchy and hilarious. Scathing Hollywood dish served up with a poignant ending. It’s a coke and rehab novel, like Bright Lights Big City meets Sex and the City set in L.A. I love discovering a new novelist, even though I’ve been a fan of hers for years (her blog is addictive), I’m so happy to find out her fiction is just as fab. I’m looking forward to Anna’s next book!

What else. I’ve done a bit of shopping…took the baby for her second Barney’s outing in her bugaboo. She was soo good and fell asleep in her stroller so she let Mommy shop for a long time. I only got two things: a Paul and Joe Sister batwing silk top ($250) (in yummy yellow and bright blue floral print, great with skinny white jeans) and a bib-front trapeze Philip Lim dress ($500) in black, which I plan to wear with my patent leather Louboutin platforms. Both for the book tour. And the skinny white jeans I got from H&M for like, $20!

Is it just me or does anyone else have It Bag Fatigue? I love having THE HANDBAG OF THE MOMENT. The Mombasa, The Paddington, The Jackie, The Motorcyle Classic. But I am also kind of sick of it. It used to be that only the coolest girls would be trucking their stuff in a voluminous Fendi Spy bag. Now it seems even girls with no fashion sense are carting Jimmy Choo Ramona bags.

Ok, so I’m a bit snobby. You know how when you’re a kid and you love some obscure band because it means you are cool and hip and edgy and then everyone else discovers it and starts playing those records on the radio (does anyone even listen to the radio anymore?) and then you stop liking that band because now they’re not special?

I feel that’s what’s happening to handbags. Yes. They are getting way too overexposed. And now everyone has them. And once even Sally-Next-Door thinks it’s ok to spend several thousand dollars on a purse, it’s kind of over for me. Right?

But now my dilemma is what handbag to carry that says, I am cool and hip and rich, without resorting to the mega-brand names? Or is it too much to ask that a handbag communicate all these things?

In any event, the last two handbags I bought were from Target. Rafe, a dear friend and fellow Filipino fashion person (an FFP!), has designed a fabulous line for the store. I bought the straw tote bag and the linen shoulder bag. They are gorgeous! And only $40 each. Not $400. Or $1400. Even though they LOOK like they could cost $1400.

Or maybe I’m just cranky because my Hermes bags haven’t arrived yet. Damn that waitlist!

And on V-D day, I didn’t get the Cartier bracelet. I got a perfectly nice, stylish and comfortable sleeper couch from Crate and Barrel for my office that cost as much as a gold bracelet. Not a very romantic present, but I’m excited to be able to have a place to nap that is only a few feet away. It arrives in May. As does our torrent of houseguests. Hee.

Wishing everyone a warm weekend.
xoxo
Mel