Meg Cabot - Proposal

Happy Valentine's day!

"IT WAS VALENTINE’S DAY, and where was I?
Freezing my butt off in a cemetery, that’s where. Romantic, right?"

The souls of the deceased don't stop vexing Suze Simon even on Valentine's Day! Not that she'd care, for she and Jesse have been dating for 4 years now, they came to terms and drew a conclusion that it's merely "a stupid holiday named after some martyred saint to tell them when to say I love you." But still. Is she really doomed to persuade all dead dudes to be so nice and move on to their next lives or whatever they're condemned to do, but please don't hover around the livings for the rest of her life on Valentine's Day? Man, it sucks.

May I present to you the bullet-headed but all-commissioned attendant of specters who kicks ghost-butts relentlessly until their bare spiritual presence is literally jostled into the afterlife. Suzannah Simon is back, ladies and gentlemen! And I'm high over heels right now.

She's twenty-one, college girl, psych major, currently in a permanent realationship with Jesse, a century-and-a-half-ago-deceased-but-formerly-brought-back-to-life spanish male hotness. In a nutshell, life cannot be more perfect.

Unless an NCDP—­Non-­Compliant Deceased Person, as those in her trade refer to those who refuse to cross over to the other side —­bust up her idyll. Such an ungrateful fate awaits those who work in the ghost-busting business for some decades now. Not exclusively a prosperous profession. Bet on starvation if you tried to make a living out of it.

“What are you—­how can you—­who are you?”
“I’m Suze Simon,” I said. “And you thought being dead was bad? Buddy, your eternal nightmare’s only just begun.”

The scientific community has declared her secret “incompatible with the well-­established laws of science,” and therefore nonexistent. But it doesn't explain the fact that she has to sit on an ice-cold granite headstone on Valentine's Day just to ogle a spook who supposedly killed his girlfriend and himself as well, just because the love of his life refused his proposal. It's her job to convince him or —if it's not working— make him leave once and for all, for he has no place among the livings. Especially for a murderer.
At the point of resorting to more violent means (Suze's patience runs low—her type first hits then asks questions usually), the guy disappears into the night leaving a soaking downpour behind in his rage.

"I threw open the door to my room and found six feet or so of unadulterated Spanish-­American male hotness stretched out on my bed."

After re-evaluating the situation she's headed back to her dorm where she finds Hector "Jesse" de Silve a future-to-be-doctor but still having post-­traumatic stress from being dead plus he has been still warming up to the modern world for four years. It's quite obvious from the words like "miniature refrigerator" and “Good morning, ma’am” slip out of his lovely curvy mouth from time to time. He's adorable!

Even though they’d agreed they weren’t going to contribute to the mass hysteria surrounding Valentine’s Day, since they loved each other unconditionally every day, Jesse was all prepared for Valentine's Day. How he was! He was ready to take the next level in their committed relationship (it was high time after four! years) and make a proposal to Suzannah. All the details planned: on the beach, at sunset while drinking champagne. But it wasn't for her if she wouldn't have discovered the ring first by pulling the box out of his boyfriend's pants. So awkward...

"I just can’t deal with this right now.”
“Can’t deal with what right now? The man who loves you asking you to spend the rest of your life with him?”

Instead of saying "Yes, Jesse, I will be Mrs. de Silva" she starts babbling about the time not being right. And it isn't. They have to stop the dead guy to avange on a boy who's all responsible for the young couple's death out of jealousy. But things are not cut short there.

To sum up, justice will be served with the influence of superior powers. (And with the assistance of Jesse who always has to look after Suze to keep her from biting the dust.)

Make the run one more time

“So will you, Susannah Simon, kindly do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
And yet, suddenly, I felt like the luckiest girl alive.
I sank down into the sand beside him.
“Yes, Jesse de Silva,” I said, throwing my arms around his neck. “I will.”

Seriously I love you guys!

Rating

5 out of 5