I was immediately drawn into the book because of the cover and seeing that emily henry liked it so of course I had to request an arc and I got it! I was really hoping to love this book and it was everything and more. This book includes the tropes childhood friends to lovers, second chance romance, and small town.

Percy (persephone) and her parents moved into a cottage in a small town when she was 13 to get away from the city during summer. Her neighbors were charlie, sam, and their mom. They quickly became friends but, she was closer with sam. Percy spent each summer with them for years but, when she was 18 something happened between her and sam and she left the town and never came back. 12 years later she finds herself back in that town after receiving an unexpected call.

I really love when books have past and present chapters because I can really connect with the characters better and see how they have grown. This book captures the summer vibe very well and got me excited for summer. Sam omg I love him so much he is so perfect and respectful. I was not prepared for how sad this book was I on the verge of tears with some of the chapters but none the less this book was amazing and i’m so glad I read it and I hope other people enjoy just as much if not more. This book is a mix of the summer I turned pretty and people we meet on vacation. I recommend this book to everyone it really is the perfect summer read:)

4.5 stars!

This book was so wholly unexpected and I’m glad I was able to read it before I read more reviews so I could have a wholly unadulterated experience with it.

When Percy’s family buys a lake house, she never expects to find deep abiding friendship and love with the boy next door. This book is so immersive, and is the perfect summer read full of dips in the lake, wind in the pines, friends to lovers with electric chemistry, heartache, betrayal and ultimately forgiveness.

What I love about this book is the romantic tension and growth. The small glances and brushes of hands reel you in like a fish on a line and I was hooked from page 1 to the finish. This was fantastic friends to lovers romantic development and I loved watching Sam and Percy become one another’s person.

What I didn’t love about this book I actually thought was really well done (this makes no sense I know) BUT When the bombs drop and the betrayal is revealed (which I called) but I also felt like it was handled in a really great way that made sense to the characters involved…especially with that beautiful ending.

This is a journey full of growth, and learning about what is worth fighting for and it is complicated and MESSSSY. It gave me all the emotional angst I enjoy in a romance that left me a little teary eyed at the finish.

Definitely will go on to pick up more of this authors books! A highly impressive debut!

*this is not a sweet romance. I think it falls into the slightly open door category without getting explicit (again this is subjective) also has a light to moderate amount of language and adult content.

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune

I love the cover of this book because that's how it starts, a boy and a girl, thirteen years old, meet and become best friends, spending holidays and summers together, thinking of each other when they aren't with each other. They even wear friendship bracelets that Percy made, Sam never takes his off. I felt like their two houses, next door to each other, were real places that I could actually visit. That I could walk out of either door and walk down to the docks and jump into the lake.

Sam and Percy meet when Percy's parents buy the lake cabin next door to the house where Sam lives year round, with his mom and his brother, Charlie. Percy wants to be a writer someday and Sam reads what she writes and encourages her to keep on writing. Sam wants to be a doctor someday, driven by the cardio problems that caused his father's early death. Then there is Charlie, two years older than Sam, always wise cracking, always with a girlfriend or two or three.

But something happened when Sam and Percy were eighteen and they never spoke again. Now, twelve years later, Sam and Charlie's mom has died and Charlie has asked her to come to the funeral. Percy loved their mother, she was like a second mother to her, so she goes back to Barry Bay, despite the fact that she is going to see Sam again. She needs to apologize to him for what she did that caused her to walk away from him. The guilt has been with her all these years and she knows she needs to confess to him what she's done.

The story starts with the present and then takes us back over the six years that Sam and Percy had together as best friends and more. We go back and forth from the present to those six years where we watch their relationship evolve, until it falls apart, leaving Percy shattered and unable to have a meaningful relationship with anyone else. Sam, Charlie, and Percy seem so real and my heart ached for them. The alternating timelines worked very well here and I didn't even mind that there was this big secret of Percy's that isn't revealed to us until almost the end of the story. This is about friendship, romance, and family and about not ever being able to let go. It's a very satisfying story and it felt so very real.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for this ARC.

Sometimes dual time books don't work for me because I either only enjoy the "then" chapters or the "now" ones but Fortune managed to keep me fully engaged in both!

The glimpses into the summers Percy and Sam spent together were so enlightening. Their school year lives were so different but once they were together it was like they were their best selves. I loved watching them grow up together. The now chapters were definitely more emotional due to their content - but that is probably what got me so engrossed in them. I really thought the grief was very well written as were other pivotal parts of their reunion.

Grief is messy and emotional and it is well portrayed in this book. But not just grief from a death but other types of grief as well. I was very impressed.

No spoilers but check trigger warnings and DM me if you have questions.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.

Percy and Sam's friends to lovers to strangers and back to lovers again story really hooked me from the first page - this book broke my heart in a million pieces before it put it back together again.. I am not a great believer in destined love, but the author made me fully believe Sam and Percy were meant to be together from the moment they met. The emotional and physical intimacy between these too really hit me in the feels and I loved the angst. The anatomy lesson scene (iykyk) had me screaming in my pillow.

Carley Fortune really has an incredible talent with words - I am definitely putting her on my auto-buy author list and sincerely hope she writes more books. Thank you @netgalley for the gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

Short synopsis: Percy and Sam fell in love over the course of 6 summers spent together, now they’ll have one weekend to repair all the misunderstanding and mistakes from so many years ago.

My thoughts: Told in multiple timelines, now and through the 6 childhood summers. Percy and Sam are such well developed characters we really get to know how they are as they get to know each other. I also thought the side characters were so well developed. Loved the second chance romance and teenage sweethearts. And how they were best friends then lovers. I thought the writing was so atmospheric, i could vividly picture the scenes as they played out. This is a great story with love and forgiveness and amazing summer beach read vibes.

Read this if you’re a sucker for:
* Coming of age stories
* Second chance romance and teenage sweethearts
* Atmospheric writing
* Perfect beach read

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune is an emotional and beautifully written coming-of-age story that I simply loved. The story is a dual timeline that covers six years in the past and one weekend in the present.

The summer after Persephone Fraser (Percy) turns 13, her parents buy a cottage on a lake in a rural town to spend the summers and holidays. Percy discovers the boys next door to the cottage, Sam aged 13, and his older brother, Charlie, 15. Sam and Percy form a bond that first summer, and as time goes by, the bond of friendship turns into more.

Now Percy is 30 years old and working in Toronto as a senior editor for a popular decor magazine. She recently broke up with her corporate lawyer boyfriend of seven months, the longest relationship she’s had in a while. The longest relationship since Sam. She gets a call from Charlie, telling her that his mother, Sue has passed away, and the funeral will be this weekend. Percy hasn’t been back to the lake since she destroyed her relationship with Sam, twelve years ago. She’s not sure she can handle seeing Sam again, but she knows she must go to Sue’s funeral.

First love is such a powerful emotion, and in Every Summer After, we get a wonderful story about Percy and Sam and how they go from awkward friends to lovers over the course of six summers. I enjoyed their easy friendship and their mutual love of horror stories and swimming at the lake, and how this friendship eventually developed into a powerful love.

Their love, being first love was full of that passion and uncertainty that young lovers seem to possess wherever they live. Their breakup was so realistic that I felt their heartache as I was reading the pages, and just couldn’t wait to see if they would figure out their issues and forgive each other.

I highly recommend Every Summer After by Carley Fortune to anyone who loves a great romance. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Book Review:
Every Summer After by Carley Fortune

I'mma need a minute to process all my feelings after this one.....

So this is a really adorable friends to lovers, second chance romance. Percy meets Sam as a kid and they become the absolute best of friends even though they really only get to spend the summers together each year, as time goes they both realize that it’s more than just friendship but they are still young and trying to figure out their feelings. Flashforward and Percy and Sam haven’t spoken in 12 years, but Percy has to figure out how to handle their reunion as she goes back to the lake for his mother’s funeral.

The past/present narrative is paced really well and the stories match up so well to help the reader understand Percy more as an adult as we see her as a child. I loved that the big reveal of what happened between them was pretty late, and while not a complete shocker, made things so much clearer. I also really loved the contrast and similarities between Sam and his brother Charlie. There’s just something about that childhood soulmate's story that is so good, but I really liked that things weren’t easy for them, they really struggle to be together and what that means for their friendship because they make each other better.

Thanks to @netgalley and @berkleypub for this Advanced Reader!!

Every Summer After releases May 10th, make sure to add it to your summer reading list!!❤️

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YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK. Omg. One of my top favorites ever!!! If you liked “The Light We Lost” (Jill Santopolo) or “Love and Other Words” (Christina Lauren) you will be obsessed with this one too! 😍😍😍😍

Percy’s family buys a lakeside cottage in a sleepy Summer town when she’s thirteen. 🏡 Next door is Sam and Charlie, two brothers full of mischief and fun. Percy and Sam quickly become inseparable and spend every Summer and holiday together. ☀️ But as they get older, their friendship turns into something more. ❤️

Now Percy is headed back to where it all began. She’s going to see Sam for the first time in twelve years and she’s not sure if her heart is ready. The last time she saw him everything fell apart because of a huge secret that stood between them. 💔 But deep in her bones, she knows she never got over her “Summer boy.”

This is such an epic love story. 😍 It’s told in alternating timelines shifting between now and Summers past which I really enjoyed. Honestly, I loved everything about the book. I cared about all of the characters and friendships, and I didn’t want it to end. Read it. You won’t be disappointed. And then message me so I can talk about it some more! 😂😍 Here’s hoping we get Charlie’s story next. 🙏🏼

Every Summer After is a great debut from Carly Fortune. Told in dual timelines, this is a nostalgic coming of age/second chance romance with characters that you will root for. Overall an enjoyable book that I read in one day. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

Every Summer After is a nostalgic bittersweet second chance romance about love, loss, and plenty of firsts, including first loves, kisses, and heartbreak.

Growing up, Percy spent her childhood summers at the lake, sunbathing, swimming, and hanging out with the two charming boys next door. As the years go by, she realizes her developing feelings for her best friend Sam are slowly becoming romantic, and she is unsure how to move forward. In the present, twelve years have gone by since she’s seen or heard from her childhood best friend and sweetheart, but what happens when a devastating event leads her back into his path? Will their complicated past come back to haunt them, or will their lingering feelings force them to move on?

I just loved this book! It was so reminiscent of those fun summer days, full of endless sun and possibilities. One of my favorite tropes is a second chance romance where readers learn about the relationship with all its ups and downs between chapters set in the past and the present. To me, this always brings the story to life and makes me as a reader so much more invested. And I was completely enthralled by this compelling story. The love and endearing friendship the two share was undeniable, and their chemistry just made my heart MELT. I adored seeing them grow up and discover their love for the other. It was very, very sweet!

Overall, if you want a quick beach read with a small-town, summery setting, lots of angst and tension, a bit of heartache, and, of course, all the romance, definitely pick this one up! (Especially if you enjoyed Love and Other Words!)

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.*

Beautiful friends-to-lovers beach read perfect for romance lovers...

Carley Fortune pens a heartwarming and at times heartbreaking novel of two people destined for each other. Not many people can say they met their soulmate at 13 years old, but for Sam and Percy it's magic from day one. Told in alternating time periods, readers will get to watch them instantly become summertime best friends at Percy's family lake house, returning to their friendship each summer like they were never apart. But as we see them in the present day, something has clearly driven them apart for the last twelve years. When Percy returns to the lake after a tragic loss, she and Sam will have to learn each other all over again and figure out if they truly are soulmates or if their childhood romance has suffered too much heartache to repair.

Thoughts: I don't know any eloquent way to say how beautiful this story was and how much I loved it. The friendship between Percy and Sam as young teens is so sweet and readers will see that even at a young age they already loved each other despite not knowing what that really meant. They are the epitome of soulmates. And the realism of what begins to cause cracks in their young budding love could happen to even the closest of relationships, so adults and "new adults" alike can appreciate this plotline. There was a bit of soap-opera-level drama that ultimately ended their relationship 12 years prior to the first chapter that I really thought would doom them, but Fortune finds an interesting way to resolve the issue without completely glossing over it as the story concludes. The entire journey was amazing and I would highly recommend it to fans of Nicholas Sparks, Rebecca Yarros, and Kristan Higgins.

**Thank you NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.**

Thank you Berkley for my early copy! All thoughts are my own.

This book stole my heart in the best way. I don’t know what I was expecting going in, but it completely swept me away. It was a “can’t put it down” type read. A “stay up past your bedtime, quietly sobbing into your pillow” kind of read. In all the best ways.

I’m no stranger to the summer read and wow, is this a summer read. Not because it’s easy or light but because it truly feels like those endless summer days when you’re young. How every feeling is so impossibly intense and HUGE as you’re discovering who you are, who you love, and where you belong. I’ll be thinking about this book for a very, very long time.

And bonus, it’s a Lake Read! It is written by a Canadian author and takes place in a small lake town north of Toronto. I could feel the sun soaking into my skin while I was reading.

Synopsis:
“They say you can never go home again, and for Persephone Fraser, ever since she made the biggest mistake of her life a decade ago, that has felt too true. Instead of glittering summers on the lakeshore of her childhood, she spends them in a stylish apartment in the city, going out with friends, and keeping everyone a safe distance from her heart.Until she receives the call that sends her racing back to Barry’s Bay and into the orbit of Sam Florek—the man she never thought she’d have to live without.For six summers, through hazy afternoons on the water and warm summer nights working in his family’s restaurant and curling up together with books—medical textbooks for him and work-in-progress horror short stories for her—Percy and Sam had been inseparable. Eventually that friendship turned into something breathtakingly more, before it fell spectacularly apart.When Percy returns to the lake for Sam’s mother’s funeral, their connection is as undeniable as it had always been. But until Percy can confront the decisions she made and the years she’s spent punishing herself for them, they’ll never know whether their love might be bigger than the biggest mistakes of their past.Told over the course of six years and one weekend, Every Summer After is a big, sweeping nostalgic look at love and the people and choices that mark us forever.”

What I LIked:

Everything—I know, this is slightly obnoxious. But I ate this book UP. It pulled me into the story unapologetically and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. From the setting to the story, everything was chef’s kiss perfection when it comes to a summer romance for me.

The Tropes—Childhood friends to strangers to lovers/second chance romance?! GIVE IT TO ME LIKE CANDY. This was set up in dual timeline, from when our main characters meet at 13 to the funeral of the MMC’s mother when they are 30.

The Tone—I’m going to dub this a RomDram. It will make you FEEL. I swooned, I gasped, I ugly cried. I raged. But I also felt so deeply the emotions in this story.

The Imperfect Characters—These characters are not perfect. But who is in real life? I keep referring to this book as “raw” because that’s how I my heart felt when reading it. We see our characters struggle with trust, anxiety, lust, and communication (but not in the miscommunication trope kind of way). We see them make big mistakes. We see them hurt and cause hurt. I could relate so deeply to Percy’s desires to be wanted and the trouble that can cause.

What Didn’t Work:

One line that read as Fatphobic/Unnecessary—There’s a line where the FMC, Percy, says to another character, “Oh, now I see where your dates go: you fatten them up and then eat them dinner” (paraphrased) and it just didn’t feel necessary.

Character Authenticity: 5/5 Steam Rating: 2.5/5 Overall Rating: 5/5
Content Warnings:

Panic Attacks/Anxiety Disorder, Grief, Cancer, Death of a Parent, Infidelity

I had a feeling when I first saw the cover for this, I was going to love it. I wasn’t prepared for just how much! I think I left a piece of my heart on every page!

Breathtaking, emotional, vulnerable, tender, intense, beautiful, funny and oh so REAL - those are just some of the words I’d use to describe this stunning debut novel from Carley Fortune, and even then I can’t do it justice. I felt every moment of this book. I smiled, I laughed, my heart raced, sometimes it truly hurt, but at every single moment I was experiencing this book as if I was there, and it’s such a rare book that takes me to that place.

Percy (Persephone) Fraser and Sam Florek meet when they’re 13-years old and her family buys a summer lake cottage in Barry’s Bay next to the one he lives in year-round with his mom, Sue, and older brother, Charlie. They become best friends, spending summers and holidays together each year until Percy returns to Toronto for school. Her independence and wit complement Sam’s intelligence and sensitivity, and together they bond over her writing and love of horror movies, swimming, working together at Sue’s restaurant, and their ritual “three updates” they offer one another every time they talk after an absence. For six summers their friendship evolves and deepens until their future looks clear … until something happens and it isn’t. Now, Percy, who’s returned to Barry’s Bay 12-years after last seeing Sam, wonders if she’s destroyed that future forever.

This is a story about love, friendship and all the messiness that comes with it. Because it switches back and forth between the past and present, and a large chunk of the book is retelling the events of those six summers as teenagers, you might wonder if it reads YA. It doesn’t, even though there’s a coming of age element. It’s refreshingly mature, and I ADORED Percy and Sam, both as teens and as adults. Their friendship was so utterly charming, and I wanted all the good things for them both! The past timeline captures the curiosity, confusion and hunger of being young and seeing friendship become something more, and the present one explores what happens when love has to find its way back. I’ll give fair warning that the story doesn’t hold back on the ‘relational’ details, so you might be blushing your way through parts!

If you love a character-rich, emotionally evocative, BEAUTIFULLY written story that explores what love feels like, both good and bad, this is one you won’t want to miss! It will definitely be in my all-time favorites, and there would have to be something truly stellar to surpass it as my favorite book for this year!

★★★★★ (5 glowing, heart-quivering stars) ❤

Thanks to Berkley Publishing Group, NetGalley, and author Carley Fortune for this ARC. My opinions have been given freely and honestly. This will be published May 10, 2022.

This is a second chance romance with dual timelines. We simultaneously get to see Persephone and Sam meet and spend their adolescence together and get to see them encounter each other again as adults. As teens, they spend their summers together when she and her family visit their lakeside cabin. As adults, she returns for his mom's funeral.

I found it such an engrossing read and could not put it down. The writing was phenomenal and pulled me in. I liked both characters so much. I think it made sense that the story was from Persphone's perspective, as she felt guilty for their break-up. But I often wondered what Sam was thinking and would love a few bonus scenes from his POV.

The ending was a bit too abrupt for me. I was shocked when I realized I was 90% through because it felt like there should be a lot more story left. Aside from that, I would say this is the best story of this type (second chance romance with them and now) that I have read. I highly recommend it if you enjoy this genre of angsty friends-to-lovers trying again.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.

4.5 stars rounded up

Thank you @berkleyromance for a copy of Every Summer After. This is such a beautiful story between Percy and Sam who meets as neighbors at a lake house. Percy visits every summer since 13 and her and Sam's friendship blossoms from there. I love how it is told in past and present and not knowing what tore them apart.

I received a gifted galley of EVERY SUMMER AFTER by Carley Fortune for an honest review. Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review!

EVERY SUMMER AFTER follows Persephone Fraser. Years ago, when Percy was growing up, her family owned a lake house and this is where she met her best friend Sam. Spending her summers next door to Sam and his older brother Charlie, Percy lived life to the fullest. Their friendship developed into romance as the years progressed, but something went very wrong and Percy hasn’t seen or talked to Sam in twelve years.

When Percy gets a call from Charlie to let her know that their mother has passed away, Percy immediately knows she must head back to Barry’s Bay even though it will mean seeing Sam again. The story is told in alternating past and present passages, covering six summers and the present day weekend visit as Percy confronts her past.

I didn’t know what to expect from this book going into it, but I was immediately sucked into the story. This author does a fantastic job of painting a picture of childhood friendships and schools out summer times. The anticipation of what happened to break up Percy and Sam was well done as well. I had my suspicions, but I hadn’t figured out all of the complications along the way.

Percy was a great character to follow, though she was not without her frustrations! There were definitely times with both Percy and Sam that I wanted them to make better choices. Still, I think the character development was really well done and you could see the growth in the characters between the different time periods!

This would make a fantastic beachy read as the weather warms out outside! I would definitely recommend it!

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune is a wonderful debut about second chances, forgiveness, and love!

Percy and Sam spent their childhood summers at the small lake town of Barry’s Bay. After spending six summers together, Percy and Sam’s friendship developed into love, but then they had a falling out that caused them to cut ties. Twelve years later, Sam’s brother, Charlie, contacts Percy to let her know his mom passed away. When Percy returns to Barry’s Bay for the funeral, will she finally have to confront the biggest mistake of her life?

Fortune took me on an emotional and heartfelt journey with Percy and Sam! I adored the friendship they formed during their summers at the lake. They both made mistakes later on, and I think their biggest mistake was not communicating with each other. Miscommunication is a big pet peeve of mine, but Percy and Sam were young and it was nice to see how much they matured. I would have liked to get Sam’s POV, but the dual timelines were perfect to show not only what led to the end of their relationship but also how much both characters had grown since that time in their lives. I loved that they were able to reconnect, and their relationship in the past and present was so sweet and heartwarming. This was a beautiful story with a very satisfying ending!

I found myself surprisingly devouring Every Summer After by Carley Fortune. It is a beautifully written, dual-timeline novel of Percy and her life, as she prepares for the funeral of Sam & Charlie’s mother, a woman she considered family.

Percy has her life in Toronto with her parents, University of Toronto professors, and then he has her alternate life at Kamaniskeg Lake.

The dual timelines BOTH worked well for me and that says something! Usually I like one over another, but I truly enjoyed both Percy’s youth, which begins as a 13 year old, struggling without her friends, just trying to find the ones who understand her. Enter Charlie and Sam as her family invests in a lake home and the world she creates here is just quite frankly the dreams of youthful freedom. It is lovely, reminiscent, and I suspect many of us may see gimmers and glimpses of our own youthful adventures in these years for Percy. This timeline is told as a chronological flashback, so each year grows closer and closer to current time.

The second timeline of the storyline is truly heartbreaking for me. So many moments between Percy and Sam (and at times with Charlie as well) that my heart literally shattered for these two characters. They have a mysterious moment “twelve years ago” that hasn’t been answered for the reader [ news flash: you go basically the WHOLE novel before it comes to light] from which every life event is marked: before 12 years ago and after 12 years ago.

I loved watching Percy grow as a young woman, navigating the middle school years [ughhh, so traumatic!] and seeing her reflect on life as a 30 year old woman.

Sam was amazingly wise, witty and yet at times so dumb, LOL I seriously wanted to shout at teenaged Sam so many times!

This story is all about navigating the uncertainty of distance, youth, futures and second chances to do what you know is right.

If you like youthful summer love (from afar), trials, heartaches, pierogies, and lake swimming, you will love this one.

As always, my gauge of a good novel is how late I stay up to finish it- last night was 2am, so y’all know what that means!

I love my Berkley romances, so when I saw this one as an option, I couldn’t wait to fall in love myself with Percy and Sam’s summer love story. Alternating between past and present timelines, we learn how Percy and Sam met and fell in love summer after summer up to the present day where things are left a bit messy and unresolved between them. After reading it in practically one sitting I have to say, I absolutely loved this book!

A friends to lovers trope is one of my favorites and who can resist a summer love story about young love and all of the firsts that come along with it. The lake town setting was dreamy and reminded me of so many years of my own childhood spent at the lake during the summer. I also loved the supporting characters and their contribution to this wonderful story. It had the perfect balance of emotional depth and was everything I could have asked for in a summer romance!

If you are looking for a nostalgic summer love story that will have you in envisioning yourself reading on a dock, feet dangling in the lake, as you devour Percy and Sam’s story, then look no further! I can’t recommend this one enough!

Thank you so much to Berkley Romance for this gifted ebook!