Synopsis:
The last place Suze Simon expects to find herself during Valentine’s Day is a cemetery. But that’s what happens when you’re a mediator – cursed with the “gift” of communicating with the dead.
That’s how Suze has ended up at the graves of a pair of NCDPs – Non-Compliant Deceased Persons – whose drama didn’t end with death. It’s Suze’s job to make sure they move on—for good.
But the NCDPs aren’t the only ones with problems. The reason Suze is spending her Valentine’s Day with the undead instead of her boyfriend, Jesse, is because he’s having so much trouble adjusting to life after death . . . not surprising, considering the fact that he used to be an NCDP himself, and now his girlfriend busts his former kind for a living, while he tries to cure his kind of what used to ail him.
Can Suze use her mediating skills to propose a mutual resolution, and bring all these young lovers together – including Jesse and herself – especially on the night Saint Valentine declared sacred to romance?
Or will she end up alone—and possibly undead—herself?
Review:
I was ridiculously excited to hear that Ms. Cabot was giving us a prequel novella to tide us over until Suze and Jesse’s new novel, Remembrance, comes out next month. Since the semester is still six days away, I dropped everything to read Proposal today.
(Fangirl moment: NEXT MONTH! It’s almost here! It seems like ages ago that Mini Moe #2 and I met Meg Cabot at the Baltimore Book Festival and she told us there was going to be a new Mediator book. It was all we could do to keep our cool and not start jumping up and down in excitement right there on the pavement like we really were inside. And now it’s just DAYS away! Woot!)
Proposal did not disappoint–Suze and Jesse are back, and they’re just as adorable together as always. Suze hasn’t changed all that much, though she’s gotten older–she’s still a bit too impulsive and quick to jump to conclusions, though I suppose she wouldn’t quite be Suze if she weren’t. Once again, though, it’s getting her into trouble. Jesse’s still not going to let her get away with much, and fortunately, he also still knows when it’s time to step in and help save her butt.
Even more fortunately, now he’s corporeal. 🙂
It was fun to catch a quick glimpse into what the rest of Suze’s family is up to–I can’t say that I ever really thought much about what her three stepbrothers would be doing now (okay, maybe David. David was freaking adorable from his first scene to his last), but have to admit that where they all end up makes perfect sense from what I remember of them. I can’t wait to actually “see” them back on the page, along with her mom, stepdad, and Father Dom.
Proposal does a great job of setting up Remembrance, giving us a taste of what it’ll be like to be back in Suze and Jesse’s world, and hinting at some of the drama that is to come in the full-length installment. If you haven’t read the first six books in the series yet, no worries–as she did in each of the other series books, Suze gives a quick recap of what her life as a mediator is like; it should allow you to navigate her world without too much confusion.
Though you know, the quick fix to that situation is to read the first six books, pronto. You’ve got, oh, just under two weeks to get it done 😉
Rating: 4 stars / B+
