Remembrance by Meg Cabot

All Susannah Simon wants is to make a good impression at her first job since graduating from college (and since becoming engaged to Dr. Jesse de Silva). But when she’s hired as a guidance counselor at her alma mater, she stumbles across a decade-old murder, and soon ancient history isn’t all that’s coming back to haunt her. Old ghosts as well as new ones are coming out of the woodwork, some to test her, some to vex her, and it isn’t only because she’s a mediator, gifted with second sight.

What happens when old ghosts come back to haunt you?
If you’re a mediator, you might have to kick a little ass.

From a sophomore haunted by the murderous specter of a child to ghosts of a very different kind—including Paul Slater, Suze’s ex, who shows up to make a bargain Suze is certain must have come from the Devil himself—Suze isn’t sure she’ll make it through the semester, let alone to her wedding night. Suze is used to striking first and asking questions later. But what happens when ghosts from her past—including one she found nearly impossible to resist—strike first?

I adored the Mediator series, it was so very funny and what originally drew me to paranormal books, so I was beyond excited to see how Suze had grown up. This time around, nearly ten years later, Suze has another ghost to wrangle, this time of a little girl clinging to her best friend, harming anyone who would hurt her, all the while trying to keep her job and plan her wedding to the gorgeous and very much alive Jesse de Silva.

Jesse was as cool and kind and handsome as I remember! Being bought back from the dead has clearly done wonders for him! Training to be a doctor, what he wanted to be if his father hadn't stopped him, Jesse had embraced modern life and his future with Suze. I mean, he still has old-fashioned values pertaining to certain intimacies that drives Suze bonkers, but apart from that, their life together is shaping up quite nicely. Until the devil returns.

Paul is back in Suze's life and she is not happy about it. I don't know how I feel about the fact that he hasn't changed much; when he was a teenager and all moody and self-obsessed, we could blame hormones, but as a mid-20 year old, he's just obnoxious and dangerously narcissistic. When he says that he'll help Suze with the so-called demon living inside Jesse but only if she sleeps with him, I practically shouted at the book. That's blackmail and not to mention a horrible thing to do! Paul really needs some help learning a little empathy.

I'm not going to talk about the plot too much, because in true Cabot fashion, the two sides of the story intertwine a bit. Plus I really wouldn't want to spoilt anything! I will say, however, that it definitely lives up to the rest of the series. I could tell how much time had passed, and although Suze still had her sarcastic voice and liked to punch first, talk later, she had definitely grown up. She was training to be a child psychologist, meaning she could help the living and the dead better, and for that I was beyond proud of her.

This was such a great read, both new and nostalgic, and full of Cabot's trademark wit and drama. A great ending to what will always be one of favourite series.

Published 2nd February 2016 by William Morrow Paperbacks.