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Promposal

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An overachiever must decide if risking her heart by working with her former crush turned enemy is worth the reward in this snappy rom-com, perfect for fans of Tweet Cute and Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry . 

High school senior Autumn Reeves has been waitlisted at her dream school. Determined to move to the top of the list, she must find a way to stand out. When a promposal she planned for a friend has half the senior class asking for her help, a brilliant business idea that will look great on her application is Promposal Queen. 
 
Autumn has no clue how to start a business, so she joins the Young Black Entrepreneurs group and finds herself face-to-face with Mekhi Winston, the boy whose unexpected freshman-year kiss—a kiss that meant everything to her and nothing to him—cost Autumn her best friend. He’s the only person with the experience to help her, but how can she possibly trust him?
 
With her dreams on the line, Autumn’s willing to risk it. After all, Mekhi could be a good business partner without being a guy she would ever let near her heart again.

But when working with Mekhi jeopardizes her only chance at rekindling a friendship with her ex-best-friend, and secrets long buried threaten to ruin Promposal Queen, another broken heart may be the least of her worries--her entire future is on the line.

368 pages, Hardcover

First published April 4, 2023

19 people are currently reading
4773 people want to read

About the author

RaeChell Garrett

2 books41 followers
RaeChell Garrett is the author of the young adult rom-coms Promposal and The Boyfriend Launcher (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers). She lives in Michigan, where she enjoys writing about the ups and downs of carefree girls finding their way in the world.

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5 stars
95 (23%)
4 stars
168 (41%)
3 stars
116 (28%)
2 stars
23 (5%)
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4 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 116 reviews
Profile Image for Rosa.
Author 8 books24 followers
January 17, 2023
Sometimes I have these moods when I want to fall in love with a YA story that feeds my inner teenage spirit again and this was one. This was so cute, so sweet, so fulfilling.
Profile Image for Ayushi (bookwormbullet).
820 reviews1,246 followers
February 11, 2023
Thank you so much to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I literally inhaled this book in one sitting--it was such an amazing debut from RaeChell Garrett! I adore YA romances where the characters already have an unresolved conflict at the start of the novel, as it makes for amazing tension, and that is exactly what was delivered with Autumn and Mekhi's relationship. As individual characters, I loved how determined Autumn was to make PROMposal Queen succeed and to get into Mercer. Seeing that drive in a young Black girl was awesome, and I know she'll be a great role model to young readers. The friendship among Jordyn, Reese, and Autumn was also really great to see and I'm so glad that Jordyn and Autumn reconciled by the end of the book.

Additionally, I love how bubbly Mekhi is and how his golden-retriever personality perfectly balanced Autumn's sarcastic nature. He's so fine-tuned to her needs and how she's feeling, and it was adorable watching him quietly fall for her. Their banter and moments where they spent time on FaceTime and each other's houses were so cute! I wish that we got to see a little bit more of Mekhi and Autumn's relationship after prom, but it was still a very sweet ending.

Overall, this was an excellent YA Black romance and I can't wait to read RaeChell's future work! I'd rate this 4.5 stars, rounded up.

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Profile Image for Andi ♡.
405 reviews8 followers
April 30, 2023
Autumn Reeves has just been waitlisted at her dream school. To top it off, her boyfriend breaks up with her, calling her average of all things! She has to think of a way to get off the waitlist and fast. When she joins a business focused group of her peers, her promposal business is born. When she has no other choice but to enlist the help of the boy who ruined one of her closest friendships and her heart, she tells herself it’s all for Mercer College. It turns out that Mekhi might not be as bad as she thought, but can she let all of her stubbornness go and let him in?

I loved the idea of a promposal business and the name, PROMposal Queen is perfect! The proposals were cute and thoughtful and that’s exactly what a promposal should be. Autumn was annoying at times-took the stubbornness to a whole other level. I didn’t understand why she hated Mekhi so much. A kiss when they were younger leading to a friend breakup sounds like she was to blame for some of it. However, the public way he embarrassed her, I guess that’s hard to forget.

I enjoyed seeing the growth and relationship between not only Autumn and Mekhi, but her and her best friend, Reese as well.

This was a cute, feel good story, but it wasn’t jaw dropping in any way. The ending was really cute!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for providing me with an ARC of this book!
619 reviews53 followers
February 21, 2023
3.5 rounded down. Why was this so cute 😭 this whole idea was genius, but at a certain point you really have to yell at the kids for their lack of communication. It was really shaping up to be such nonsense and the ending was so rushed! I would’ve loved a real conversation about it and a little less of an abrupt ending but truly, Autumn was a badass and I was rooting for her and she and Mekhi have my heart.
Profile Image for Michaela William.
29 reviews9 followers
March 10, 2023
First and foremost, thank you so much to ​​​​Little Brown Books for the ARC. This was such a fun and cute read. I absolutely loved it and can't wait for what Garrett has in store next!
Profile Image for Violet ♡.
325 reviews17 followers
May 8, 2023
4.5 ✨ so darn cute! Loved this one!
Profile Image for Stéphanie Louis.
235 reviews44 followers
June 18, 2023
3.5/5

Autumn Reeves – who is our Main Character in “Promposal” – has been waitlisted at her dream college. Which is something that doesn’t sit well with her. So she needs to stand out more to be accepted into her (hopefully) new school. Something that doesn’t look easy at first until an idea hits her mind: Promposal Queen. And Mekhi, her sworn enemy/former crush, is the only one who can help her…
You need to know that “Promposal” is a slow-burn YA romance novel before starting your read. Autumn’s determination throughout the story is really admirable. You can see that she wants to be accepted into her dream school and how she is crushed when she finds out that she has been waitlisted by Mercer.
Something that troubled me the most in the read was the miscommunication. I don’t know if this was made on purpose or not by the author but I found it really troubling and it kind of disturbed my reading of the book. Other than that, “Promposal” is a cute and quick read and definitely something for YA and Adult readers to identify themselves with the main plot lines (senior/graduating high-school student, love and relationships in school, applying to uni/college,…).
Profile Image for Taylor Wilson-West.
Author 13 books127 followers
April 7, 2023
Unfortunately this book wasn’t a hit for me. The build up was long and unnecessary. The main FMC is too stubborn to be believable, unlikeable, and kind of mean.

Now, I totally understand this is a 17 year old character and no one at 17 has life figured out. But really the whole premise of her problem could have been solved if she just applied to other colleges. Which really frustrated me.

The MMC, Mekhia was AMAZING. He’s level headed, kind, and a wonderful business man. He really made this book more enjoyable. I loved his truth telling and his composed manor, yet he’s also still just a teenager, his character was more believable.

This story just feel flat for me. Nothing special stood out. The ending is rushed, after ALL that build up, the characters didn’t really do much growing. I’m really disappointed, because it’s potential was incredible.

Thank you TBRandBeyondTours and Poppy Books for sending me an advanced copy. This review is being left voluntarily. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Profile Image for renee ♡.
118 reviews149 followers
June 1, 2023
Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

4⭐️

let’s start this up by saying that this book helped me get out of the big reading slump i was in. it was easy to read it while i also simultaneously studied for my finals.

i thought that i would hate the idea of promposals and was scared that i would die of cringe but it wasn’t the case at all. the ideas for the promposals were actually not that bad. matter of fact, the final one was my favorite.

the characters were all good. in my opinion autumn was a great fmc. i loved her determination to get into her dream college after being waitlisted.

i would absolutely recommend this book if you’re looking for a quick and easy read!
61 reviews
May 26, 2024
This is a semi cute read. When I first started it I didn’t like the authors craft and actually stopped reading it. But I picked it back up and it turned out pretty cute! My biggest thing is that the ending didn’t feel ‘enough’. I felt like there should’ve been something more. I don’t think I would recommend it.
Profile Image for Lovely Loveday.
2,866 reviews
Read
February 11, 2023
Promposal by RaeChell Garrett skillfully balances romance, friendship, and self-discovery, with the underlying theme of second chances running throughout the story. It offers an entertaining and unique twist on the college admissions process, exploring the complexities of relationships and the power of self-discovery.
Profile Image for Raaven&#x1f496;.
876 reviews43 followers
March 20, 2023
Y’all. This book was SO CUTE!! I died a little with happiness reading it. My eyes watered at the end. I just loved everything about it.

This has an enemies (?) to coworkers to friends to lovers trope I adored. Autumn didn’t want anything to do with Mekhi until he becomes her business partner and then they find out how compatible they are. I loved them together so much. Mekhi is so sweet and seemed to actually care about Autumn and listen to her about her dreams and interests.

One of the peeves I had with Autumn was how when Maddie was all over Mekhi and he said he didn’t like her she wanted to push her closer to him. He made it clear a million times that he wanted nothing to do with her and she creepily draped herself all over him. I know Autumn was hurt by what he did in the past and thought he was playing another girl, but you could tell Mekhi was uncomfortable.

This was a really cute and uplifting book about being proud of your achievements and working hard for your goals and for your prom date. I honestly hated my prom night and didn’t care about being there at all but this universe made it seem like fun. This book comes out April 4th so everyone should add it to their TBR
Profile Image for Jet Divine.
30 reviews
March 1, 2024
"I like it when you smile that. I wish I could make you smile like that".

Omg, I love this book I am in love with this book. Everything I read so far is so adorable. I'm on the last 20 pages. I can't wait to see how the ending plays out, probably might finish this tonight.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, the ending was so adorable.

I knew Mekhi was going to ask Autumn out, but the way he did was so cute. Simple yet cute and rememberable, that's the way Autumn likes it.

Brandon is such a Jerk.

All the other characters were a vibe.

All in all, this book was a 5/5 would 10% read again.
Profile Image for Qua'Tesha Ratliff.
300 reviews15 followers
March 16, 2024
This was a super cute YA book! Sometimes we just need something sweet and cute. This book did not disappoint. Now I’m mad promposals weren’t a thing when I was in high school 😂😂😂!
Profile Image for vy (laufey’s version).
447 reviews4 followers
August 12, 2023
“i like it when you smile like that. i wish i could make you smile like that.”

3.9 stars rounded up — whoa my gosh. this was adorable. i’m so obsessed with high school romance novels and it might be a problem, but they’re sososososooo cute wahhh. props to henriette zoutomou’s fucking relaxing narration. she needs to narrate more audiobooks in the future; i don’t care if the content is absolute shit, i will absolutely listen.

mekhi and autumn 🫶 this slope is treacherous, but i, i, like it. the pantry scene had me shitting giggling kicking my feet because the tension was so goddamn palpable. their chemistry >>>>> their personalities complement each other really well and having them be business partners in promposal was not disappointing and so well-executed. reading about them happening felt very euphoric? i don’t know if it makes sense, but it just makes me want to go out and give back some goodwill to the world while also doing stupid high school teenager shit with the people i love.

isn’t it so pretty to think, all along there were some ~ JALAPEÑO CHIPS ~ tying you to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Profile Image for Quinci.
83 reviews10 followers
May 12, 2024
Promposal was such a fun, cute, creative book that I really enjoyed. The characters were innovative and a good match, but the lack of communication was slightly irritating. However, I loved seeing their character growth and how eventually, both the friendships and romances in this book can be saved. The romance was sweet, but I felt the ending was slightly rushed. My favorite part aside from the character growth was the business idea! It was so creative and really inspiring to read about the promposals, and how much effort Autumn put into her ideas. It was so innovative and really fun part of the novel. For a debut, I think it was a success and I give Promposal a 3.75 for the creativity and sweetness.
Profile Image for Meredith.
773 reviews33 followers
February 18, 2023
If you are into potato chips, college admissions, BIPOC representation, friendships, enemies to more, second chances, misunderstandings, light romance, dummy ex boyfriends and cute endings, I would definitely recommend this one.

Thank you, @netgalley for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
Profile Image for Sierra Livengood.
117 reviews1 follower
June 7, 2023
I would like to thank Little Brown Young Readers for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I thought it was cute quick read. I do have to admit that I got second hand embarrassment a few pages in when she got rejected and email the school saying their system was hacked.
Profile Image for Cynthia T.
283 reviews10 followers
February 10, 2023
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, thank you for the chance to read Promposal. I enjoyed this book very much. I felt it started a little slow but half way through as more information was given about the two main characters past, it moved smoothly. I wish in high school I knew someone to perform a Promposal.
Profile Image for Allie Sarah.
Author 4 books47 followers
January 30, 2023
This was actually such an adorable read! The romance was fabulous and so well written. It went by a bit slowly at first, but quickly picked up.

Ugh I was so annoyed by a certain decision Autumn makes before the book begins (iykyk) anyway so just wanted to add that RaeChell did a fantastic job really making me feel for the characters. And that last promposal? SO PERFECT
Profile Image for Anna Jason.
1,188 reviews13 followers
May 11, 2025
This is a very sweet YA book. I quite enjoyed reading it even if it was a very slow burn.
Profile Image for D.A. Henneman.
Author 18 books73 followers
April 19, 2023
Adorable! Loved this story and the final promposal still has me smiling from ear to ear. 💕 Delightful read and wonderful characters. Be sure to say yes to this sweet debut!

Thank you for the ARC!
Profile Image for sel.
72 reviews9 followers
March 7, 2023
First off, I want to thank Netgalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for sending me an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Now, this book is a book I’d recommend to get out of a reading slump. It’s a quick, cute read that I think if I hadn’t been so busy with school, I could’ve finished in one sitting. Right from the start, you get invested in Autumn’s story.

Autumn Reeves is determined to get into Mercer and has done everything right to be the perfect applicant, so she’s shocked when she’s waitlisted. In order to set herself apart, she starts her own business: Promposal Queen. Autumn is very creative with how she thinks up of her promposals, always trying to tailor it to the couple’s story. It makes me wish we got to see even more promposals! The first official promposal for her business was amazing, and the couple's story left me wanting to learn more about them. I felt myself getting as invested as Autumn. She did start this business to make her application look better, but she does truly care about creating the best promposals and making her customers happy.

Her business partner is Mekhi Winston, who she has history with and now hates…except you can’t help but see the chemistry that the two have. Garrett did a great job at writing their banter, and this definitely delivered on the romance! It was so cute and sweet. Despite their history, Mekhi really did want her to believe in herself and succeed. Autumn saw that, and she started to change her opinion of him as the story went on. As they grew closer, we got to see them really open up to one another.

Eventually, we learn what really happened back in freshman year that led to them not wanting to be near each other. With so much buildup, the ending felt a little anticlimactic. It was still cute, but it felt a little rushed how it all wrapped up. However, I still really loved the book!

Overall, I give it 4.5/5 stars!
Profile Image for Caru.
2 reviews
June 7, 2025
I ate this book up SOOO BADD! I love it so much. The narration, the lines of the characters were ALLL SO ON POINT.

There was little flirting but the tension was soooo HIGH. You could feel the genuineness of the characters (ahem, ahem— Mekhi everytime he asks about Autumn’s feelings— ahem!). I literally could not stop highlighting & annotating paragraphs over paragraphs LOL 😭

I love how Mekhi was a talkative, cheerful man. It was such a fresh read because MMCs nowadays are nonchalant and cold (no hate tho). I’D LIKE TO SEE MORE GOLDEN RETRIEVER MMC MA’AM RAECHELLLL 🙏🏻🙏🏻 Also our girl, Autumn— the bestest girl. She had such an amazing character development throughout the book. Her reflections and monologues were so relatable.

Also, it’s not just about the romance between our cute main characters but also the reality of upcoming college students (i relate since i’m about to be one in a year) and the importance of family and trust 🥹 I love the Reeves family 💞

It was a beautiful reading experience. One of the best & unique debut books I’ve ever read 💗
64 reviews
February 14, 2024
A cute romance. It's young adult and it's the senior year. So the major topics are prom and what are u doing after high-school. You know who's getting with who but the journey to get there is fun. Promposals we're not big were I came from but I see that it's becoming more of a thing based on social media. So to have it as a part of the plot is good thinking and something I haven't seen yet. I will always love to see black people represented in a positive light and to show we do not all have the same life experience. What this book gives is young adult romance appropriate for the age group and you can have a good time reading it.
I can't wait to see what RaeChell Garrett comes out with next.
Author 18 books5 followers
December 5, 2023
This book was a fun and heartfelt tale with a kind and human protagonist that I felt for, including in her recurring struggle to overcome imposter syndrome and low self-esteem and to not just be seen as "average" or not good enough. It is so hard to try to figure out how --- and if --- "good person" and "passionate" fit into the academic and professional worlds.

It's an easy read, has a cute romance and entertaining plot and premise, and has a happy ending, which although I can read sad or compromise-like endings, I have to admit I'm a sucker for happy ones like this one.

I overall really enjoyed it and look forward to reading more from RaeChell Garrett!
Profile Image for Sammy.
55 reviews2 followers
August 17, 2023
I will admit I did throw this book across the room more than once, that’s how into it i got! Such a unique and fun idea for a ya romance! I just love Autumn and Mekhi’s characters but omg it was such a slow burn it was hard to not skip to then end haha. I only gave it 4 stars cause it was a little slow at the beginning and I really didn’t like Brandon but other than that it is all i’m looking for in a ya romance book!
Profile Image for Nikki.
1,757 reviews64 followers
April 5, 2023
This pains me to say this. I expected this to be a 5 star read. The main character was not my favorite and there was no character development for the MC. Like she had absolutely no change at all. The promposals and the MMC were what still made this a cute story. Real review to come.
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