I have a collection of manga in my room (you can see it once you enter my room). Sometimes in collecting manga, I don't shop for manga-ka or titles specifically. If a title interests me, I grab it, read the synopsis and, if it's interesting, I tack it on to my manga purchases for the day. I came across Matsuri Hino's work in this manner.

So far, I have Meru Puri (4 volumes) and the first volume of Captive Hearts. I've also watched the entire series of Vampire Knight. From those works, Hino has proven to be a worthwhile gem in a sea of counterfeit pearls. On the surface, Hino's stuff seem cliche, but once you jump into a manga or anime, there's a little more depth to it all, especially in the characters.

I think I've pinned down who Matsuri Hino wishes she was (if she isn't) in her works. All of her stories evolve around a single somewhat clueless girl who everyone likes or admires. There's always something odd about the love interest. In Meru Puri, the girl's love interest was a couple years younger than her who matured into a teenager whenever he was plunged into darkness. In Vampire Knight, the girl's love interest was actually her vampire brother. In Captive Hearts, the love interest was her cursed man-servant. 

Does Hino want to be the admired girl who seems normal (whatever that it), or is she writing from experience?

Also, her stories deal a lot with curses. In Meru Puri, the love interest's brother puts a curse on him that goes awry. In Vampire Knight, the undead villain in the story is cursed by the love interest's parents. In Captive Hearts, the thieving ancestor of the love interest causes his lineage to be cursed into servitude. The curses are probably something in Hino's real life that she has made into an on-going theme in her works. It may represent her resentment towards her family members somehow. After all, the curses in her stories are caused by family members of the love interest.

And, of course, she takes a swing at romance. I don't know if she's married or not, but I imagine these stories to be reflections of her youth and love. The love interests all have strong personalities while the main girl is unsure and indecisive. Plus, the love interests are always different ages from the girl. In Meru Puri, the girl was 15 and the boy was 11. In Vampire Knights, the girl was seemingly 17, but her love interest was at least 5 years older (you don't know because he's a vampire). In Captive Hearts, the girl is in high school and the guy is in college. I'm guessing Hino didn't like to date guys her own age. 

Through her works, Hino is an indecisive chick looking for a boyfriend who isn't her age while cursing the part of her family responsible for doing something bad to her or the rest of her family.