Category Archives: Stand Alone Books

The Five-Year Hitch

When Harry Met Sally meets One DayThe Five-Year Hitch is the story of two friends who have known each other all their lives – falling in and out of love. Sam and Miles belong together, except every five years, there’s a hitch and they don’t end up together. Now, as they tell their story to a reporter at a momentous occasion, will they finally break the five-year curse? Can these two friends and lovers find their happily ever after?

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Cinder and Glass

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: the Road Trip

Join everyone’s favorite Wildcats from the Disney+ smash hit original series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series in this novel by New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz.

On the heels of their wildly successful run of High School Musical, the gang learns of a can’t-miss opportunity―a High School Musical convention in the next state. There’s something for everyone: panels about mounting your next hit show, cafeteria-tray-dance workshops, Wildcat cosplay, and even a special appearance from the pooch who played Sharpay’s dog (well, one of her puppies, that is).

Ready to hit the road, the crew immediately begins making plans. Nini can’t wait to use the weekend to show how much she cares for Ricky (especially since they just got back together). Kourtney debates signing up for a singing workshop (especially if she’s maybe, just maybe, considering auditioning for the next show), and Gina and Ashlyn decide it’ll be the perfect trial run for living together (especially because Gina has never actually had a friendship last this long). Carlos can’t wait to help Miss Jenn prep for the spring musical, even if Seb has to stay behind to help with the family farm. But car breakdowns, late starts, and a lost E.J. throw a wrench in their plans.

Will the East Highers get the weekend getaway of their dreams? Or will the bumps on the road get the better of them?

Jo & Laurie

Gotham High

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Alex and Eliza and The Witches of East End comes a reimagining of Gotham for a new generation of readers. Before they became Batman, Catwoman and the Joker, Bruce, Selina and Jack were high schoolers who would do whatever it took—even destroy the ones they love—to satisfy their own motives.

After being kicked out of his boarding school, 16-year-old Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham City to find that nothing is as he left it. What once was his family home is now an empty husk, lonely but haunted by the memory of his parents’ murder. Selina Kyle, once the innocent girl next door, now rules over Gotham High School with a dangerous flair, aided by the class clown, Jack Napier.

When a kidnapping rattles the school, Bruce seeks answers as the dark and troubled knight—but is he actually the pawn? Nothing is ever as it seems, especially at Gotham High, where the parties and romances are of the highest stakes…and where everyone is a suspect.

With enchanting art by Thomas Pitilli, this new graphic novel is just as intoxicating as it is chilling, in which dearest friends turn into greatest enemies—all within the hallways of Gotham High!

The Birthday Girl

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Alex & Eliza comes a return to adult fiction, centered around a mysterious woman’s birthday celebration—and what it reveals about her past.

Ellie de Florent-Stinson is celebrating her fortieth birthday with a grand celebration in her fabulous house in Palm Springs.

At forty, it appears Ellie has everything she ever wanted: a handsome husband; an accomplished, college-age stepdaughter; a beautiful ten-year-old girl; two adorable and rambunctious six-year-old twin boys; lush, well-appointed homes in Los Angeles, Park City, and Palm Springs; a thriving career as a well-known fashion designer of casual women’s wear; and a glamorous circle of friends.

Except everything is not quite as perfect as it looks on the outside—Ellie is keeping many secrets. This isn’t the first birthday celebration that hasn’t gone as planned. There’s a certain sixteenth birthday that she’s tried hard to forget.

But hiding the skeletons of her past comes at a cost, and all of Ellie’s secrets come to light on the night of her fabulous birthday party in the desert—where everyone who matters in her life shows up, invited or not. Old and new, friends and frenemies, stepdaughters and business partners, ex-wives and ex-husbands congregate, and the glittering facade of her life crumbles in one eventful night.

Beautifully paced and full of surprises, The Birthday Girl is an enthralling tale of a life lived in shadow, and its unavoidable consequences.

Events for The Birthday Girl

Tuesday, August 6, 2019                                                                                                    7:00 PM                                                                                                                    BOOK SOUP                                                                                                                8818 Sunset Blvd.                                                                                                        West Hollywood, CA 90069

Thursday, August 8, 2019                                                                                              7:00 PM                                                                                                                        MYSTERIOUS GALAXY                                                                                            5943 Balboa Ave. #100                                                                                                    San Diego, CA 92111

Friday, August 9, 2019                                                                                                  7:00-9:30 PM                                                                                                                CREATING CONVERSATIONS Book Launch Party                                                2850 Artesia Blvd. #101                                                                                        Redondo Beach, CA 90278

Friday, August 16, 2019                                                                                                    7:00 PM                                                                                                                        THE LAST BOOKSTORE, Zara Libson in Conversation with Melissa de la Cruz      453 S. Spring Street                                                                                                        Los Angeles, CA 90013

29 Dates

How many dates will it take to find The One? 

Ji-su’s traditional South Korean parents are concerned by what they see as her lack of attention to her schoolwork and her future. Working with Seoul’s premiere matchmaker to find the right boyfriend is one step toward ensuring Ji-su’s success, and going on the recommended dates is Ji-su’s compromise to please her parents while finding space to figure out her own dreams. But when she flubs a test then skips out on a date to spend time with friends, her fed-up parents shock her by shipping her off to a private school in San Francisco. Where she’ll have the opportunity to shine academically—and be set up on more dates!

Navigating her host family, her new city and school, and more dates, Ji-su finds comfort in taking the photographs that populate her ever-growing social media account. Soon attention from two very different boys sends Ji-su into a tailspin of soul-searching. As her passion for photography lights her on fire, does she even want to find The One? And what if her One isn’t parent and matchmaker approved?

Someone to Love

EVERYONE IS LOOKING

Olivia “Liv” Blakley knows how important it is to look good. Her father is running for governor, and Liv will be making public appearances with her family. Liv has an image to uphold—to her maybe boyfriend, to the new friends who suddenly welcome her into their circle and to the public, who love to find fault on social media.

Liv’s sunny, charming facade hides a dark inner voice that will settle for nothing less than perfection. No matter who she has to give up to get there. No matter what she has to lose to do it. Liv is working for the day when what she sees in the mirror is worthy…worthy of confidence. Worthy of success. Worthy of love. But as the high price of perfection takes a toll, placing her body and soul at risk, Liv herself has to realize what she has to live for.

Melissa de la Cruz’s powerful new novel depicts one teen’s battle with self-doubt and an eating disorder, and shows that the struggle to find someone to love starts with oneself.

Because I Was a Girl

Because I Was a Girl is an inspiring collection of true stories by women and girls about the obstacles, challenges, and opportunities they’ve faced…because of their gender. Edited by #1 New York Times-bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz, the book is the perfect gift for girls of all ages.

The collection includes writings from an impressive array of girls and women who are trailblazers in their fields, including bestselling authors Victoria Aveyard, Libba Bray, and Margaret Stohl; industry pioneers like Dolores Huerta, Trish McEvoy, and Holly Knight; renowned chef Katie Button; aerospace and mechanical engineer Emily Calandrelli; and many more.

Because I Was a Girl features powerful stories from:

Elizabeth Acevedo
Katrina Adams
Victoria Aveyard
Bonnie Bartlett
Brenda Bowen
Libba Bray
Katie Button
Emily Calandrelli
Babette Davis
Williabell Jones Davis
Melissa de la Cruz
Abby Falik
Jena Friedman
Joan Hanawi
Jane Hawley
Tina Hay
Jody Houser
Dolores Huerta
Zareen Jaffery
Anjanette Johnston
Mattie Johnston
Holly Knight
Jill Lorie
Zoey Luna
Trish McEvoy
Loretta Miranda
Gloria Molina
Susan Morrison
Anna Ponder
Margaret Semrud-Clikeman
Rebecca Soffer
Cheri Steinkellner
Margaret Stohl
Noor Tagouri
Tillie Walden
Quvenzhane Wallis
Francesca Zambello
Lenore Zion

Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe

Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe from New York Times bestselling author, Melissa de la Cruz, is a sweet, sexy and hilarious gender-swapping, genre-satisfying re-telling, set in contemporary America and featuring one snooty Miss Darcy.

Darcy Fitzwilliam is 29, beautiful, successful, and brilliant. She dates hedge funders and basketball stars and is never without her three cellphones―one for work, one for play, and one to throw at her assistant (just kidding). Darcy’s never fallen in love, never has time for anyone else’s drama, and never goes home for Christmas if she can help it. But when her mother falls ill, she comes home to Pemberley, Ohio, to spend the season with her family.

Her parents throw their annual Christmas bash, where she meets one Luke Bennet, the smart, sardonic slacker son of their neighbor. Luke is 32-years-old and has never left home. He’s a carpenter and makes beautiful furniture, and is content with his simple life. He comes from a family of five brothers, each one less ambitious than the other. When Darcy and Luke fall into bed after too many eggnogs, Darcy thinks it’s just another one night stand. But why can’t she stop thinking of Luke? What is it about him? And can she fall in love, or will her pride and his prejudice against big-city girls stand in their way?