Dessen's books are always fun to read and the sneak peak for Once and For All does not disappoint. In this novel Louna is the daughter of a wedding planner and in this role she has seen a lot of train wreck romances. There is an allusion to a failed romance in Louna's past and a set up of a quirky best friend. The sneak peek promises another delightful book by Dessen.

3.3 stars This is an excerpt from Dessen's latest YA romance to be published in June. I enjoyed the drama of the protagonist's job assisting her mom as a wedding planner, but the out of sequence backstory was confusing. The focus on weddings with well developed adult characters might appeal more to 20-somethings than to teens. Her earlier novels had stronger openings so I'm not sure if I'll read more. I usually love the way Dessen writes YA. Thanks for allowing me to preview this title!

A link will be provided on Monday May 8th, 2017 for a compilation wrap up of recent sneak peeks I've read through here. But I vastly enjoyed this sneak peek. It was my first Dessen novel and I can't wait for the full novel to come out :)

From the Publishers:
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.

My Thoughts:
This is just a sneak peek so know that I am just providing my thoughts on the excerpt provided, but before I say that, let me tell you a little bit about why I am even willing to read excerpts.

1. I have read Dessen before and think that she is an easy airplane read. Those kinds of reads are great to give my students who like to read fast and dirty, immerse quickly and then go searching hungrily for the next "ride." In other words, Author Recognition.

2. I live here:

Not literally homeless on the beach at Makena on Maui, but I live in Hawaiʻi. In fact, I live on the outer islands (outer islands just mean any of the islands that are not Oahu). What we lack on the outer islands are chain bookstores like Barnes and Noble. We had a Borders in Hilo, but you know how that story ends. Yes, we have multiple public libraries that offer both e-books and book books, but do you know how we get to live here? We work all the time. Availability.

3. Don't you miss the days when you could read for pleasure, under a tree or a large red umbrella and no one would look for you or bother you? Yeah, I don't have those days anymore and you would think that after my doctorate I could read for pleasure because my formal education is done, but no. That is not how it works. No one told me that being a lifelong learner and reader does not mean that you actually are given time to read what you want to read. What I have learned, though, is that the flight from Honolulu (Oahu) to my home in Hilo (Big Island) is 40 minutes long. With the new regulations that allow passengers to keep their electronics on as long as they are on airplane mode, I find that I can actually finish an excerpt on one leg of a trip. Instead of playing games on my iPad, I now read. Effective Use of Captive Time.

Back to my thoughts. The main character, Louna, has a summer job working for her mother and her mother's partner as part of a three person wedding planner team. Something happened to Louna's first love but it's not in the excerpt. The result is she acts young, as in not confident and she acts old, as in bitter towards love. This is the biggest issue I have with a story that I really want to get into except for this one flaw. I don't know if I was reading too fast and missed it but I cannot settle on an age for this character. She is both immature or girlish and old and jaded at the same time. If she is right out of high school, is this first love tragedy really a tragedy? Even if she is in college, is this first love tragedy really a tragedy? I am not sure and of course the excerpt ends before anything gets revealed.

What is going for this book though is that it will suck readers in. Dessen has a writing style that is easy on the eyes (and the brain) so the immersion into these people's lives are swift.

Would I read it when it comes out? Probably. I wouldn't write about it if I did not think I would continue reading.

Publication date: June 6, 2017

Excerpt provided by Net Galley and the publisher Penguin Young Readers Group

I like most of Sarah Dessen's books, and I think I'm going to like this one. However, her long winded backstory detail at the beginning just really annoyed me, for some reason. Can you not spread all that info out during the story itself? But whatever. I hope Louna and William - or at least one of them - starts to believe in love again. And that whatever happened to Louna is actually a legit, life-altering "I'm never dating again" thing, not some stupid bitter and cynical teenager thing. But maybe I'm just being bitter and cynical. Several of Dessen's books have made me believe in love in the best way possible though, and maybe this one will too.

Although it kind of annoys me that I have no idea if I'm pronouncing 'Louna' correctly. Loo-nah? Lao-nah? I just don't know.

My first experience with the world that Sarah Dessen has created was during the summer before my freshman year of high school. "The Truth About Forever" was the beginning of my reader love and Dessen has not disappointed me yet in any of her books. So when, even as an adult, I saw that there was a preview of her next book, "Once and For All", I jumped on the chance to read even just the brief snippet.

There isn't enough in this preview to form too much of an opinion but we are introduced to Louna and the work that she does within her mother's wedding planning business. We also can tell that she is on the path of being jaded by the idea of love, or at least a love that will last. Her father left, a boy she had feelings for seems to have broken her heart and she works alongside the cynical remarks made by her mother and her mother's business partner.

There is a spark of interest though, in the potential of a boy not okay with being rejected and not given a chance. Will something happen between the two or is there someone else yet to be introduced in the following pages? What lies in store for Louna?

I can't wait to find out... how far away is June 6th? Too far, if you ask me.

I have recently come to realize that wedding planners and interior designers are two of my favorite character occupations to read about. For some reason, they engage and fascinate me like no other! Louna is a high school girl working for her mother's wedding planning company and she has seen firsthand the beauty and the stresses of the happiest day of a bride's life. None is more cynical about marriage, however, than Louna's mother and she passes this down to Louna. The same attitude comes from her business partner, William as well. Louna has been burned once before, but will Louna prove her mother wrong and find true love for herself? If anyone can write a beautiful, heartfelt story, I believe it is Sarah Dessen. I've read her books before and I believe this book will not disappoint!

Sarah Dessen's latest takes us into the world of wedding planning. Louna has been raised in the wedding business, and this has maybe given her a slightly cynical take on the magic of love. Well, that and also heatbreak she suffered a year ago. She's still not over Ethan. And given that I was only given a peek of the first three chapters I can't tell if Ambrose Little is going to be important or not. But I'm intrigued to see where this goes. I'm expecting some wonderful insights on love and romance and heartbreak and loss. It's what Dessen does best after all.

First line: <i>Well, this was a first.</i>

After reading the chapter one excerpt available on Netgalley, I am 100% convinced that this book is a requirement for me to read! I can't wait for it to be published so that I can get my hands on it.

What first drew to the book was that involved a teen girl helping plan weddings. Loved the sneak peek and can't wait to read the rest of the book. Great book!

This sneak peak of Once and for all was amazing we meet Louna who is preparing to take over her mother's wedding business some day. We join Louna, her mother Natalie and her mother's business partner William as they see through a wedding with a bride who has cold feet and the eventually aftermath of this. We also learn of Louna`s upbringing and childhood, at the time of her birth Louna`s parents where both hippies but eventually her father Louis left leaving Natalie to raise Louna by herself.

Louna is quite jaded and cynical for someone in the wedding planning profession but her best friend Jilly provides a great contact their as she is a huge optimist constantly trying to pull Louna from her unsociable shell. During another wedding scene which I feel are going to be a key desire of the book she meets Ambrose Little, who off arrogant, slightly selfish and he completely gets on Louna`s nerves. Despite this we can see the similarities in their personalities although there are some major differences between the pair as well.

We also see Louna`s worry about college and work especially concerning whether or not she will take over the family business. While not a lot happened in this sneak peak I will definitely be buying the book just to see what happens next.

I've been reading Sarah Dessen books since high school, and seeing the cover of this one got me so excited. Reading this sample made me want to read the book even more. I'm all for a wedding planner style, coming-of-age YA book with feels and fun.

I am a huge fan of event planning, so this book being about the daughter of a wedding planner interested me right away. I love all of the information Louna gives about helping plan weddings at her mother's company. Louna has such a great relationship with her mother and William (the other owner of the business). I very much enjoyed Louna's friendship with Jilly. I'm left wanting to know more about the romance that went south for Louna and am eager to find out what happened. I will definitely be checking out the full book ASAP.

What first drew to the book was that involved a teen girl helping plan weddings. Loved the sneak peek and can't wait to read the rest of the book. Great book!

I really enjoyed reading a sneak peek of this book. Louna is my type of girl. She is a hard worker and enjoys spending time by herself. I am enjoying learning more about the behind the scenes of wedding planning since I just recently got married. I love Dessen and have read all of her books. This one is shaping up to be one of my favorites by her. If a full version of this book becomes available before the release in June I would love to review it.

I had no idea that Sarah Dessen was a rock star in the young adult fiction genre, but after reading the first few chapters of Once and For All, it’s easy to see why. Her characters are so real that they fairly walk off the pages and into your living room. Louna doesn’t sound like a teen written by an adult, she sounds like a real teenager, with an average amount of angst, a normal relationship with her mother, and a romantic history doled out in tantalizing crumbs Hansel and Gretel style. Her mother and William are imbued with all the detail that make characters feel real. The scene where they kick back with a glass of wine after one of their weddings, and predict the end date of the couple’s marriage? Not only did it make me laugh, I’m laughing again just thinking about it. In fact, now I’m wondering if this is something that wedding planners actually do. Now that’s good writing. No, it's great writing.

Now I have to check out the rest of Dessen’s books. Because, clearly, I’ve been missing out.

Note: This is based on a SNEAK PEEK, as I wasn’t lucky enough to score an Advanced Readers’ copy.

this is just a sample of this book,not the whole book. This makes it hard to review with out the full story

I'm a huge Sarah deaden fan! I can't wait until I have this book in my hand and read it through completely!!!

This is only a sneak preview so won't be added to any platforms until I have the full copy. I really enjoyed this and cannot wait to hear what happens next. I hope the publoshers grant me the wish to read full novel.

Thanks goes to net galley and the publishers for this sneak preview.

I enjoyed the sample and am looking forward to reading the full book.