Welcome Ms. Cruz!

*The photo was borrowed for her own website and is copyright of Denise Bovee*

Ms. Cruz has been kind enough to answer some of my questions as well as write a little guest post!! Thank you so much Ms. Cruz!

Her own website is here.

My questions for her are in GREEN.

1) Why focus on these three people?

I wanted to tell the stories that mattered a lot, but also could stand alone. I was curious about how Oliver would get over Schuyler, and I had the idea from a long time ago that a new girl cures him, and allows him to experience love again, but it's more of a... I don't want to use the term "rebound" but I guess I just did! You know when you have a long dramatic love affair that ends badly, how a short fun one kind of "cures" you of the old one? And you don't end up with that "rebound" person but you're kind of grateful to have had that experience - it gets you back on your feet. And Oliver really needed Freya's magic.

I'd planned to include Allegra's story in Misguided Angel but the book already had too many plots and I feared it would get lost. This is just the first part of the story, there is more of her and Ben (who is Stephen Chase, by the way, readers of Keys to the Repository know that Stephen is his first name and Bendix is his second) in Lost in Time (book six). It was fun to see Allegra as a young teenager, I like her spirit a lot. She's very different from Schuyler. I was the shy daughter of two very popular, very outgoing, social people, and it always fascinated me how my parents, when they were my age, probably would not have been my friend ;). You know, how does that happen? So I'd always wanted to write about Schuyler's parents, these two kind of ideal high school types, who created a daughter who was a wallflower.

Schuyler and Jack's story is the main focus of the Blue Bloods series, and if they're going to get bonded, everyone's going to be invited to witness it! It was terrifically fun to write, and I love weddings. Especially ones with a lot of action and heartache in them.

2) Why did she decide to start the book with Oliver?

It was a fun way to begin - with a heartbreak and healing. Also we don't see that much of Oliver's POV in Misguided Angel, so it was fun to see it here.

3) Why did she have Allegra fall in love with a Red Blood (over numerous times) if she knew it was wrong?

I don't think authors "make" their characters do anything. There is a lot in Charles and Allegra's past that led to the end of their bond. I'm just starting to reveal what happened. I've known from the beginning why she did it and readers will find out in the next couple of books as the story becomes clearer.

Below is her guest post!

I like a love story as much as anyone, but Blue Bloods while it has several great love stories, doesn't really focus on it, more like the terrible things that happen when love goes wrong (ie Charles and Allegra--what did they do in the past?). So I thought it would be fun to concentrate on the romantic part of the stories for once and focus on three characters and their tumultuous love lives. It was a nice treat for me to write, since Oliver's story really has no bearing on the overall series plotline, but it's nice to see him happy, Allegra, it was great to finally see her in her youth, and of course, Sky and Jack, because, who doesn't love a wedding? I get a lot of fans saying waiting a year between books is torture, so I thought it would be a nice treat to have something right after finishing Misguided Angel.

I would like to thank Mr. Wiley from Authors on the Web and Ms. Melissa De La Cruz for this wonderful oportunity. I hope everyone gets a chance to check out Bloody Valentine, it is a wonderful book.

Blood Valentine

The Ancient Greeks feared love because they knew how powerful it was. It was and is a force that cannot be stopped. As one famous saying goes, the heart wants what the heart wants.

Bloody Valentine opens with our friend Oliver, fresh in the grasps of the ugly side of love; the love that is painful and deadly. Every waking second stings with the love that is lost, gone forever. Every scent, sight, sound reminds him of the one that is no longer there. He enters the local pub Holiday to ease his aching heart. He has become a regular there, a place where underage drinking is allowed. He tries to lessen the painful memories of Schuyler by knocking back shot after shot. He then forms an idea in his head - one that might help erase her completely from his memory. As he is leaving for the night the bartender gives him on quick warning, "Whatever you are about to do, please don't. Because it's not going to help." (Cruz p 10)

Next we meet up with Allegra Van Allen years before she is in a coma. She is a young teenager in 1985 and fully of life and happiness. She goes to Endicott and is on the field hockey team. While at the hospital recovering from a nasty hit to the head (one that would've injured any Red Blood) she becomes friendly with Bendix Chase the hottie of the school. Once Allegra and Bendix (who shared the same room in the hospital) are back in school they become closer than ever, much to the ire of Charles Van Allen (who remember is really Michelle). She has a dream that spooks her to the core - if she stays on the path that she in on only destruction will occur.

Finally we see Schuyler. She is looking for the prefect bonding dress, in Florence. It hasn't been easy because the Venerators are always hot on their heels. After trying on dress after dress she almost gives up hope, but a small little fabric store saves her from loosing completely. She finds her dream fabric, a silk blue hue, and goes home and begins to fix her dress. Suddenly she is under attack from a Venerator. He tells her that she must place a cursed ring on Jack or lose her best friend Oliver. She must chose between Jack's love or the love she has for Oliver.

Bloody Valentine is a companion novella to her Blue Blood series and I LOVE IT! Of course, I love all of her Blue Blood book. I do not know how I will be able to wait till October to read her sixth Blue Bloods book, Lost In Time.

My favorite section in this book dealt with Allegra. I really enjoyed getting some of Allegra's history: who she was before she became the living dead. It was really fun to see how more human she was, and less angelic/Queen and saviour. She really struggled with teenage wants/needs vs what she knew she had to do. I know I've been there. I also enjoyed how Melissa introduced a new character (which will be in a completely different series!) in such a way that leaves the reader begging for more.

Bloody Valentine by Melissa De La Cruz. New York (c) 2010

*This book was given to me by Hyperion.

Special Offer

David Vann author of the new book Caribou Island (coming out VERY soon) is giving away a FREE e-novella thanks to HarperCollins Publishers!

There are some links right below!! I highly recommend you check them out!!

Some quick information about his e-novella Sukkwan Island,

• David Vann is on The Daily Beat's "Most Anticipated Books of 2011"!
• It won France's most prestigious Prix Medicis award for best foregin novel
• Was once published in the US as part of the Legend of a Suicide Collection

This is the link for the Amazon Kindle.

This is the link for Sony e-reader.

This is the link for Kobo e books.

Both the Kinddle and the iBook (Apple's iTunes) will have this book soon.