Books: "The Birthday Girl" By Melissa de la Cruz

The Birthday Girl
By Melissa de la Cruz
Dutton; hardcover, 288 pages; $27.00; available Tuesday, August 6

Melissa de la Cruz, how is beloved by so many young readers for her fifty novels of magic, fantasy, and contemporary realism, now makes her triumphant return to fiction for grown-ups with The Birthday Girl.


In this intense novel, de la Cruz takes on domestic suspense with a thriller centered on a glamorous woman's fortieth birthday party in Palm Springs, and what it means when the birthday girl is forced to confront the dark secrets of her youth.

Ellie de Florent-Stinson lives a fabulous life, with everything she ever wanted. She has a handsome husband; an accomplished college-age stepdaughter; a beautiful ten-year-old girl; two adorable and rambunctious six-year-old twin boys, gorgeous 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.

Ellie is determined that her fortieth birthday party at her new and century-modern pad be absolutely perfect, down to the last detail. However, her carefully laid plans seem to keep going awry - the hydrangeas are wilting in the desert heat, her husband is yelling at the waiters, and her best friend can't make the party at the last minute.

This is not the first time one of Ellie's birthday parties that has not gone as expected, and as this one is about to start, she receives a text that causes long-buried memories of a toxic Sweet 16 birthday to come back.

The Birthday Girl is told in two timelines, as it reveals the shocking details of Ellie's past as it collides with her present. This is an unforgettable and powerfully told story that is perfect to read on vacation or during a day at the beach.

About the Author: Melissa de la Cruz is the #1 New York Times, #1 Publisher's Weekly, and #1 IndieBound bestselling author of many critically acclaimed and award-winning novels for readers of all ages. Her fifty books have also topped USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Los Angeles Times bestseller lists and been published in over twenty countries.

Melissa de la Cruz.

De la Cruz's novel The Isle of the Lost, which is the prequel to the Disney Channel Original Movie Descendants, spent more than fifty weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, fifteen at #1, and has over a million copies in print. The series' subsequent books, Return to the Isle of the Lost and Rise of the Isle of the Lost, were also New York Times bestsellers for multiple weeks.

De la Cruz is also known for the Blue Bloods series, which has three million copies in print, and the Witches of East End series, which was turned into a two-season drama series on Lifetime Television.
Recent releases by de la Cruz include Alex & Eliza, which was a New York Times bestseller for over 20 weeks, as well as Something in Between, and Someone to Love.

Love & War, the sequel to Alex & Eliza, was an instant New York Times bestseller, and the last book in the trilogy was All for One, which was published this past April.