Some Nice Reviews/Fashion Frustration

Found this nice review of Blue Bloods from the Herald-Mail newspaper. The text is below.

Sink Your Teeth into this coming-of-age book
by Christine Burgh
Herald-Mail.com

Set in dramatic New York City, Melissa de la Cruz’s “Blue Bloods” puts a different spin on the vampire novel.

Schuyler Van Alen is a 15-year-old girl descended from the rich and powerful of New York. With her mother in a mysterious coma and an absent father, Schuyler is taken care of by her elderly grandmother.

But things soon start to change. When Schuyler receives an invitation to “the Committee,” a club Schuyler is sure she isn’t meant for, her first reaction is to decline. But her grandmother has different ideas. Schuyler reluctantly attends the meeting and discovers a startling truth: She is a blue blood, an immortal vampire. Even worse, something is killing her kind.

This book has a great story line, incorporating the dilemmas of teenagers into the life of a vampire. The story is told through the viewpoints of different characters, giving the novel unexpected twists.

I would recommend this 302-page book not just to vampire novel fans but to anyone who enjoys a great story.

Look out for the next book in the series, “Silver Bloods.”

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Only the sequel is called “Masquerade” not “Silver Bloods”. Not sure where the reviewer got that info.

Also, TeenReads.com reviews Sun-Kissed!

And here’s an excerpt from the very nice review from Amy Alessio!

“Au Pairs fans will enjoy reading about where these three friends are heading. While the clothing and party descriptions add ambience, the strength of this series has always been the friendship among the girls. The problems are real, and although many storylines are tied up neatly yet satisfyingly, there are surprises in this installment.”

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Also wanted to say that I will be posting “Advice for Young Writers” on my website and a “F.A.Q.” page very soon… I get so many emails from you guys asking how to start out, and so I have collected my thoughts together and have posted the kind of advice I wish I had been given when I was starting out…

Still working on rewrites for Masquerade, and beefing up the second half of the book. I’m hoping to be done by mid-August so I can have a bit of a vacation before gearing up for the next two books I have due! And then the baby comes! Aaah! Craziness.

What can one do when one is so busy??

Why, spend all your time FANTASY SHOPPING of course. I am officially kind of sick of maternity clothes. Yes, they were fun for a while. And I’m having a fun time trying to be “Angelina Jolie pregnant” (lots of empire-waist Theory dresses) or “Gwen Stefani pregnant” (fun kimono tops). But seriously, ENOUGH.

I have been drooooling over all the new clothes in Vogue and Bazaar and W… and I really really want a great new winter coat. Every year when I lived in New York I would buy a new winter coat (or two). It was one of the funnest parts of living in the city– because you know, we don’t have cars, in the city, so your coat and your handbag equals your luxury SUV. I would buy sumptous tweed and fur and velvet coats from Valentino, Michael Kors, Viktor & Rolf, Veronique Branquinho, vintage suede Pauline Trigere… every season DEMANDED a new coat.

But now I live in LA and really, I cannot justify buying a new winter coat because we don’t have winter here. Yes, I know, it does get “cold” in L.A. Otherwise known as sixty degrees. But seriously, when you’re just running from your car to the restaurant, there is no need for a coat. So I’m bummed. I loved buying coats, they were one of the highlights of my fall fashion spree.

The funny thing about all the summer sales going on right now in LA is that all these clothes that are on sale can still be used for at least four more months… the weather really does not change from August to December. (It actually gets more pleasant, because 100 degrees is awful, but 80-85 is great pool weather.) So I should just stock up on all these summer clothes since I can wear them anyway…

I am OBSESSED with the empire-waist dress from T-Bags. It’s sooo gorgeous. Everyone in LA is working this whole long-dress thing right now. Last summer it was strapless and empire and long and jersey, this year it is halter and printed and long and jersey. I just came back from Montana Ave and was so sad that none of the stores (not even Planet Blue) had this T-Bags dress. I asked and they said they are sold out! So now I have to pre-order it at Shop Intuition. Which is a pain, I’m all about instant gratificiation. Who even knows if I will want this dress when it finally arrives? Also, just to complain–at Planet Blue this dress was only $110. (They had the size smalls but I’m pregnant and need the large!) But for some reason it is $200 on Shop Intuition. Wassup with that? I really want this dress because it is a) not a maternity dress and b) tres fabulous.

I also want this Rachel Pally caftan dress that Sarah Jessica Parker was wearing in the pages of US Weekly. Doesn’t it look sooo comfy? Although again, it is sold out everywhere and the only version available is the long one. Which will be great for the fall but right now it is just too hot to wear kimono sleeves AND a floor-length hem in LA.

In other news, I visited the Eagle Rock Target on Friday, and lo and behold – they had the Paul and Joe for Target line already!!!!! SOOO EXCITING!!! I’m such a huge Paul and Joe fan! And their clothes are SO expensive, I bought a cute caftan top of theirs from Barneys and it was friggin’ $600! For a top! But they are worth it because they are so, so cute and they look so individual and no one else will be rocking that top since they don’t make very many of them. So, you can imagine my extreme happiness at seeing the Target version for $40!! Alas, they did not have my size. (The racks were CLEANED out my friends). But I did manage to get a really cute silk kimono top $39, cute green silk dress $49, really cute plaid shorts $29, and ultra-cute plaid hoodie-caftan $59 and adorable peach lace-trimmed camisole $29. Almost nothing fits right now except for the kimono top, so I have to wait until I have the baby and get back to pre-preggers size before I can wear these clothes. They also had a really cute white leather jacket for $149, but I’m going to think about that one first. I still haven’t even worn the Luella one that I bought last season!

It’s really so heartening to see designerwear at such cheap prices, so accessible. I can’t wait for the Nine West Sophia Kokosolakai, Vivienne Westwood and Thakoon line, and Viktor and Rolf at H&M! Woo hoo!

I always talk so much about how you can get all this great stuff from Target, but when Mike or my mom points to one of my clothes and asks, “That’s nice, is it Target?” I get really annoyed! Because more often than not, it is NOT Target, it is from Barneys and costs a fortune. Just because I have SOME stuff from Target does not mean EVERYTHING is from Target.

The coolest would be to wear that great Balenciaga cape coat (you know the one that makes you look like a lampshade) with the Paul and Joe shorts from Target. Fashionista, baby!

Ok, now back to BB2: Masquerade…which is chockfull of fabulous, fabulous outfits for the most fabulous teen vampires evah!!!

xoxo
Mel