Melissa de la Cruz is taking her Blue Bloods series to a whole new level with her new novel, Vampires of Manhattan, which is out today.
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De la Cruz is transitioning the series from the Young Adult genre — traditionally for a more teen audience — to New Adult. The move is bold, since the New Adult genre is relatively new and still breaking into the book market. Novels of this genre typically follow characters in their early 20s and explore elevated themes, especially sex. Vampires of Manhattan won’t disappoint on that front.
De la Cruz said her favorite scene in the book happens when “Mimi and Kingsley reunited, because it’s so electric! Those two have so much chemistry!”
While the love story and sex is a big part of what makes Vampires of Manhattan part of the new adult genre, that isn’t all. The novel explores story lines with heartbreak, career challenges and death with paranormal characters.
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“I think maybe the hardest part was letting go of their teen selves,” de la Cruz says of transitioning the characters from Young Adult to New Adult, “especially for Oliver, who’s changed a lot. He had transformed so much that, at some point, I was really worried about him. But he’s the Oliver we know and love in the end.”
With New Adult, de la Cruz was also able to create a different level of excitement around her characters and delve deeper into their personal lives as they become adults.
De la Cruz explained that she started writing the book exactly as readers will see in the opening chapter with Ara. “I wanted to create a new badass vampire character and she sprung to mind immediately.”
Vampires of Manhattan tells Ara’s story, beginning 10 years after the Blue Bloods defeated Lucifer. In the new peace and prosperity among vampires, coven leader, Oliver, holds the Four Hundred Ball, with all of society in attendance. And then we discover that things may not be as peaceful and prosperous as we thought as all hell breaks loose.
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De la Cruz said the book’s big twist came as a surprise to even her. “Let’s just say the twist came very late in the writing of the book. I had a different ending, but once I stumbled upon this plot twist, I liked it so much I rewrote the book to match.”
Aside from Vampires of Manhattan, de la Cruz has several other projects in the pipeline. She told us she’s working on “a new book set in the world of Witches of East End that I can’t talk about yet as it hasn’t been announced.”
De la Cruz also teased what’s to come on the Lifetime series based on her Witches of East End books. “I can’t spoiler anything! But there is a really fun Freya and Killian plot in the 1800s that’s coming up and I was there when they filmed it. Also, the season finale is amazing and heartbreaking. The show just keeps getting better and better.”
The author is also already working on Vampires of Manhattan 2, among a handful of other titles, though she didn’t say when she expected the novel to be released.
“I just couldn’t let go of my Blue Bloods,” de la Cruz explained, “I love them. I grew up with the characters and I wanted to see what happened to them after the great finale.”
Fans and new readers will agree: Vampires of Manhattan definitely fills the void and then some.
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