Sarah Dessen
Viking Books
June 6, 2017
Blurb from Goodreads:
From Sarah Dessen, the beloved New York Times bestselling author of SAINT ANYTHING and JUST LISTEN, comes a new novel set in the world of wedding planning!
Is it really better to have loved and lost? Louna’s summer job is to help brides plan their perfect day, even though she stopped believing in happily-ever-after when her first love ended tragically. But charming girl-magnet Ambrose isn’t about to be discouraged now that he’s met the one he really wants. Maybe Louna’s second chance is standing right in front of her.
Sarah Dessen’s many fans will adore this latest novel, a richly satisfying, enormously entertaining story with humor, romance, and an ending that is so much more than happily-ever-after.
SASCHA DARLINGTON’S REVIEW
Books like Once and for All remind me why I wanted to be a book blogger. In just a few hours, it made up for some of the books that have crossed my path in the past year that made me want to and actually stop (reader’s block victim for several days) reading. Thank you, Sarah Dessen!
Louna has always been a bit wary about falling in love. Maybe it’s because her parents’ marriage didn’t work out so well or that the two adult figures in her life, her mother and her mother’s business partner, William, are so cynical about love despite the fact that they are wedding planners. But when Louna falls, she falls big. When tragedy strikes, Louna doesn’t see how she could possibly love like that again. How many chances does a person have at something like that?
Enter Ambrose. Okay, I have to tell you I adored Ambrose. His brand of humor might be the kind that puts some people off, but he had me laughing out loud. Beneath it all though, he’s kind. He’s the kind of guy who would steal a dog from an abusive man, who flirts with girls so that there is always that “first” feeling, the promise feeling. He’s the kind of guy who seems like a train wreck, the bad boy, the player, but who his actually something wonderful.
How could Louna have something with Ambrose when he is so very different from Ethan, the boy she loved? How could Louna have something with Ambrose when he is so very different from her? She is pathetically mired at times in the past and in her own ability to move on. It felt like she didn’t want to be happy.
One of Sarah Dessen’s virtues as a writer is to create these fully developed characters who feel like they’re flesh and blood, who do things or react in ways we would rather they didn’t. But they do because they are human. She has insight and gracefully writes about people we come to care about. And, Once and for All is no different. I didn’t always like Louna’s behavior because it felt like she was shooting herself in the foot. But then again, it’s very difficult to take real risks in life, especially if deep hurt could be involved.
Once and for All has the ability to make you laugh broadly in one instance and then bring you to tears in the next. And the writing? It’s like poetry, beautifully woven.
I highly recommend Once and for All.
From Amazon: Once and for All
source: the lovely public library
rating: 
5 out of 5 butterflies
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