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Surviving High School: A Novel

Surviving High School: A Novel

Vine superstar Lele Pons—“one of the coolest girls on the web” (Teen Vogue)—teams up with #1 New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz (The Isle of the Lost) in this lovable debut novel about the wilds and wonders of high school that’s as laugh-out-loud addictive as Lele’s popular videos.

Ten million followers and I still sit alone at lunch. Lele is a bulls-eye target at her new school in Miami until, overnight, her digital fame catapults the girl with cheerleader looks, a seriously silly personality, and a self-deprecating funny bone into the popular crowd. Now she’s facing a whole new set of challenges—the relentless drama, the ruthless cliques, the unexpected internet celebrity—all while trying to keep her grades up and make her parents proud.

Filled with the zany enthusiasm that has made Lele into Vine’s most viewed star, this charming novel is proof that high school is a trip. From crushing your crushes (what’s up with that hot transfer student Alexei??) to throwing Insta-fake parties with your BFFs and moaning over homework (GAH) with your frenemies, high school is a rollercoaster of exhilarating highs and totally embarrassing lows. Leave it to Lele to reassure us that falling flat on your face is definitely not the end of the world. Fans of Mean Girls will love this fun and heartwarming fish-out-of-water story.

Posted on January 14th, 2016

The Ashley Project

The Ashley Project

Think you know mean girls? Meet the Ashleys in this start to a fashion-savvy series from bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz.

Meet The Ashleys. Ashley Spencer, Ashley “Lili” Li and Ashley “A. A.” Alioto are the queen bees of Miss Gambles Preparatory School for Girls. They have it all: they’re rich, gorgeous, impeccably fashion forward, and everyone wants to be them.

And then there’s Lauren Page. Former loser, she’s changed her ways now that her father’s company went public last month. Lauren’s upgraded to a mansion in Pacific Heights with a view of the marina and a Bentley with a driver named Thomas. Last year she was a nobody, but this year is going to be totally different. Lauren’s gone from geek to goddess, bargain-basement cast-offs to off-the runway couture… and she’s had enough of the current regime. Her parents tried, but they got it wrong: her name is Lauren, but she’s so obviously an Ashley.

[The Ashley Project was originally published as The Ashleys and now features a new cover and title.]

Posted on April 7th, 2008

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.

Posted on May 25th, 2019

The Encanto’s Daughter

Posted on January 26th, 2024

The Fashionista Files

The Fashionista Files

Adventures in Four-Inch Heels and Faux Pas

A fashionista is a girl who always looks current and cutting edge, even when her clothes are vintage 1975. A fashionista can tell her Pucci from her Gucci and her Blahniks from her Choos, but she’s as comfortable in Kmart as she is in Chanel. She wears what she likes and always looks fantastic. She’s a clothing chameleon: a sharp tweed suit and ladylike driving gloves one moment, a punk rock T-shirt and studded belt the next. She’s a gypsy, a princess, and a diva. She’s fashion-forward, shopping-addicted, and full of fun. And you can be her, no matter your size, style, or budget.

Authors Melissa de la Cruz and Karen Robinovitz are fashionistas who share a love for impractical shoes, small dogs that fit in designer handbags, and wearing white after Labor Day. They eat, sleep, and breathe fashion. And they’ll teach you how to

• Make a whole new wardrobe out of the awful duds that lurk in the back of your closet
• Use the words “postmodern” and “ironic” to fake your way through pseudo-intellectual cocktail conversation (really—it’s easy, and so postmodern and ironic!)
• Score big with chic and cheap finds at thrift stores, consignment shops, and discount designer outlets
• Live like a socialite on a shoestring budget

In two weeks or less, you’ll be living the lush life, from the brim of your Eugenia Kim fedora to the tip of your pointy Christian Louboutin pumps!

Posted on May 31st, 2005

The Five Stages of Courting Dalisay Ramos

Evan Saatchi can’t keep his eyes off his new co-worker, Dalisay Ramos.

Newly arrived from Manila to lead their travel app’s Asia division, nothing matters more to Dalisay than tradition and family. When Evan asks her out, she soundly rejects him for his cheek.

Evan learns from his Filipino friends that Dalisay expects more from potential suitors. If he wants a chance with her, he’s going to have to go through the Five Stages: the courtship ritual that lovers in the Philippines have performed for generations.

At first, Evan is skeptical—what, exactly, does “servitude” entail? And he has to sing?! But when Dalisay bets Evan that he doesn’t have the nerve to make it through the stages, the game is on.

As Evan attempts to prove to Dalisay that he can win her heart—and the bet—Dalisay is driven to distraction by Evan’s sexy labors, and soon their “courtship” turns into a sizzling secret.

But when modern love and family expectations collide, Dalisay and Evan must find a way to carry a rich history into a shared future.

Posted on January 18th, 2024

The Five-Year Hitch

When Harry Met Sally meets One Day, The 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?

Listen on Audible

Posted on August 2nd, 2021

The Headmaster’s List

Four students. A fatal car crash. Three come out alive – and they will do anything to bury the truth.

One of them was driving.
One of them was high.
One of them screamed.
And one of them died.

When one of their own is tragically killed in a car crash, Argyle Prep is full of questions. Who was at the wheel? And more importantly, who was at fault?

But in a place ruled by pedigree and privilege, the answers can only come at a price.

Set against the glitz and glamour of an elite LA private school The Headmaster’s List, Melissa de la Cruz’s first YA thriller, is an addictive whodunit perfect for fans of Gossip Girl and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder.

Posted on March 30th, 2023

The Isle of the Lost: A Descendants Novel

The Isle of the Lost: A Descendants Novel

Evil tree. Bad Apple?

Twenty years ago, all the evil villains were banished from the kingdom of Auradon to the Isle of the Lost–a dark and dreary place protected by a force field that makes it impossible for them to leave. Stripped of their magical powers, the villains now live in total isolation, forgotten by the world.

Mal learns from her mother, Maleficent, that the key to true darkness, the Dragon’s Eye, is located inside her scepter in the forbidden fortress on the far side of the island. The eye is cursed, and whoever retrieves it will be knocked into a deep sleep for a thousand years. But Mal has a plan to capture it. She’ll just need a little help from her “friends.” In their quest for the Dragon’s Eye, these four kids begin to realize that just because you come from an evil family tree, being good ain’t so bad.

Posted on May 5th, 2015

The Lily and the Cross

The glamour and enchantment continues in the sequel to bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz’s The Ring and the Crown.

After a wild season of ballroom dances, magic, high treason, and wars abroad, Marie-Victoria Grace Eleanor Aquitane, Princess Dauphine of the Franco-British Empire, joins in matrimony with the Kronprinz of the Prussian Empire, Wolfgang Friedrich Joachim von Hohenzollern. “Wolf” for short. On the night of Wolf and Marie’s wedding, her mother, Queen Eleanor, dies suddenly and ends a centuries long reign.

Bound by blood magic, the Queen’s mage, Merlin, gives up his own mortal form. His passing leaves daughter, Aelwynn Myrddyn, as the most powerful magician and new Morgaine of the Realm.

Set to ascend the Lily Throne, Queen-Designate Marie needs all the help her magical confidant Aelwynn can provide, but malevolent forces seek to tear them apart. A spectral fog brings ships of war. Isabelle of Valois, Lady Orleans, fights for her own kingdom now stripped away. A mysterious first cousin twice removed, Henri de la Rouchefort, seeks the services of Ronan Astor a beautiful, American socialite and fine milliner, to make a new royal crown, but for whom?

The fate of the empire and even the world is as stake in this dazzling continuation of the Ring and Crown series.

 

About this Edition

This book is an unedited first draft of the previously unpublished sequel to The Ring and the Crown. Proceeds from the sale of this title will benefit the YALLWEST book festival and its school outreach programming, bringing books and authors to underserved communities.

Posted on November 13th, 2017