There's a gem waiting in the junkyard: ONCE AND FOR ALL.

Once and for All by Sarah Dessen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Louna is the daughter of a single mother, Natalie Barrett. Natalie runs a famous wedding planning business with her friend William. Together--often with Louna's help--they help frantic brides have the perfect day. But Louna, Natalie, and William are a cynical trio: so much that they even take bets on the success of each wedding after every affair is over and they're cleaning up. Louna has another reason to be cynical: she met her true love the previous summer, but it ended tragically. After graduating high school, she's just trying to get through her last summer and head off to college. Standing in her way: charming Ambrose, the brother of one of her mother's clients. Natalie takes on Ambrose as an employee to appease her client, so Louna is stuck with cheery, serial-dater Ambrose. But the more time she spends with him, the less he starts to bother her...

I was surprisingly charmed by this novel. It's predictable, but in a good way. You know what you get with a Dessen novel, and this book came along at a good time for me. It's more serious than expected (I won't spoil that plot twist for you) but also breezy and sweet at times. Louna is a likeable heroine--flawed, complicated, real. The supporting cast of characters is humorous and realistic: Louna's best friend Jilly, whose parents have a food truck business and saddle Jilly with her many younger siblings; William, with his bride-whisperer tendencies; Natalie, and her rigid obsession with her business; and girl-crazy Ambrose, who verges on stereotype, but manages not to. The book also gives you a fun look into the wedding business, which is sort of enjoyable and lets you see how most of our characters deal with stress.

Overall, this is an engaging novel, with serious undertones. It's a quick read, powered by an enjoyable cast of characters. While there are some dark moments that may surprise you, the romance probably won't. But there's nothing necessarily wrong with that sometimes. :)

My review of Dessen's novel SAINT ANYTHING can be found here.



Blog ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Google+ ~ Instagram




View all my reviews