Every Summer After by Carley Fortune will have you reminiscing about summer's youthful love while reminding you that not only does love at first sight exist, but so does that once in a lifetime love. Fortune draws you into the lives of Percy, Sam, Charlie, and Sue in such a way that you feel as though you're their neighbor privy to their deepest secrets. The story both hugs and tugs at the emotions of love and regret, and like a cup of hot tea, you don't want to chug this book down but rather savor every word. I'm looking forward to seeing what Fortune has up her sleeve for her second novel.

-- Heather Hummel Gallagher, Award-Winning Author of Call it Kismet and Whispers from the Heart

There is something so endearing and sweet about reading about first loves and this one follows Sam and Percy from the time they meet at thirteen until the present day. Both of them as teenagers were awkward and slightly nerdy and I instantly fell in love with them. This one had all the teenaged angst but also some adult angst too and the author tugged on my heartstrings in the best way. I went through all of the emotions throughout reading this one and was dying to know why they fell out and weren’t close anymore because you just know these two are totally meant to be. At times this felt like a sweet friends to lovers story and then at others it felt like a complex and emotional love story and the best part of this one was that it was both. I tend to gravitate towards more fun and light rom coms but I’m so glad I tried this one because I really adored it and am impressed it was a debut. All the summer romance vibes here, definitely add it to your beach bag this summer!

Just thinking about writing this review makes me want to reread this book all over again. I was lucky enough to receive an arc of this book thanks to Netgalley, Berkley and Carly Fortune herself. I picked up this book on my kindle one evening, and proceeded to read this whole book, in one sitting. I was entranced by this story from the very beginning and could not bring myself to put it down.

This book has it all, second chance romance, friends to lovers, and of course, all of the summery lake house vibes. Percy and Sam’s story is told in alternating timelines of then/now, while reading the “now” chapters I couldn’t help but wonder what happened back then to lead
Sam and Percy to the point that they were now at. I absolutely flew through the story, desperate to know how Sam and Percy’s story would end.

This book hit me really hard in the feels and made me feel so nostalgic for my teenage years. I thought that Carley was able to so accurately portray teenage love, and all the confusing and messy firsts that come along with it. She wrote their love story so beautifully, no it wasn’t perfect, but when you’re young and in love, you often don’t know how to handle your feelings and things get messy. Sam and Percy’s story really hit home for me, and this book has truly found a special place in my heart. I also really loved how important friendship bracelets were in this book, I used to make them all the time for my friends when I was younger.

Please do yourself a favour and read this book, its the perfect summertime read, and I can already see myself bringing this book to the beach with me in the summer to reread it. If you liked Love and Other Words, People We Meet on Vacation, or The Summer I turned Pretty I am confident you will like this book too! They all have really similar vibes. Is there such thing as a summery, beachy romance sub genre?? If so, I think its one of my favourite sub genres. Give me more books like this one please.

I loved this summer romance! It reminded me a lot of Love and Other Words (another romance that I adored) as it goes back and forth from the past to the present. You get to see the love grow between the two main characters, and that growth, that depth of emotion is always what pulls me in a romance. Of course it can't be without its main conflict, and you see the struggle of both characters with acceptance and forgiveness. This is what makes this such an amazing read-- it's not perfect, the characters are not, and the love story isn't, but the imperfections and flaws are what makes this love story all the more amazing. Highly recommend!

Very good rom-com. I loved Sam and Percy’s relationship. I cou,d feel the love between them. Also could feel the lake and the cold water when they went swimming. I highly recommend this boo.

He was her person, her first love, but Percy hadn’t spoken to Sam since her “big mistake”. Summoned back to the lake for Sam’s mother’s funeral, Percy has a chance to mend that broken bridge. To do so, she must confess what happened that last summer, but will the truth sever her ties with Sam for good?

This book was near flawless for me. Fortune did an incredible job capturing the rollercoaster of emotions Percy was experiencing. I felt her loneliness, the pangs of first love, the regret, the shame, the joy, the pain. Every one of those emotions poured out of Percy and into me. There were bouts of sobbing on the train as I read, along with tears of joy. There was only one thing that I didn’t like – “the mistake”. That said, because everything else was so wonderful and the resolution had me walking on sunshine, I easily overlooked the one thing I didn’t like.

Alternating between past summers and the present, Fortune painted a full picture of the life these two shared together and apart. Percy and Sam built a solid friendship in those early summers. The bond they built was indisputable. My heart filled with warmth and joy as I watched their relationship grow and change along with them, and my heart broke when their friendship was fractured. I also appreciated how much they grew over those summers, and later as adults. This was a relationship that really shaped who they were, and definitely a case of better to have loved and lost than to not loved at all.

Overall, this was a beautifully told story of friendship, love, family, and forgiveness which held me in its grips from beginning to end. I may have been on emotional overload at times, and there were tears, but it was worthy of every tear I shed.

Every Summer After is a fantastic debut novel filled with all the mistakes of young love, forgiveness, and second chances.

It took six summers and one unforgettable weekend to change Persephone’s life forever. No matter how hard she tried, she never got over her first big love. When tragedy strikes, Persephone finds herself returning to the place she never thought she’d step foot in again. Suddenly Persephone is forced to confront the ghosts of her past…

Every Summer After is a beautiful story of young love and the mistakes we make trying to find our way. I fell instantly in love with Persephone and Sam. Their story hit me with all the feels and left me hanging on each and every word. The road to happily ever after for these two is not an easy one. It’s filled with longing and regret. It’s filled with mistakes and betrayal. It’s filled with hope and second chances. Persephone and Sam’s story took me on one heck of an emotional journey. I loved the push and pull, the will they/won’t they moments. And I just loved every second of it.

Every Summer After is well-written, engaging, and will easily consume your afternoon. This book gave me all the feels and checked off all the boxes for this reader. I’m blown away by the fact that this is Carley Fortune’s debut novel and can not wait to read more from this author in the future.

I can’t believe how much this book has a hold on me. I don’t know why, but all I got to say is that this book made me feel all the feels - heartbreaking, swooning, betrayed, and emotionally a mess.

Let’s backtrack on how this book will make you feel all the feels in a second chance romance book. I usually don’t like to read second chance romance books because I find betrayal hard to forgive, but Every Summer After made me rethink my opinion.

Persephone is such a messy yet complex female character that I wanted to know more about her when I started reading her POV. And I got to say that I’m right about her being messy but that usually happens when you lose a part of yourself. We don’t know what she lost but we do know it has something to do with her former love, Sam. They were always meant to be with each other ever since they met during the summer. But something happens that hold them back until they reunite again.

It may shock you but they were always meant to be with each other. You can just tell when they get emotional when they see each other after so many years. It may be a shock to them, but their love is always there. It may not be the best since there are a lot of things they need to discuss with each other. Get ready for the tissues because their talk is going to be explosive. I will say that I wish they would have been clear in their communication because they could have avoided the betrayal.

Unfortunately, it felt as though this storyline has been recycled so many times that I have completely lost interest in it.

Initially, I though it would offer up some variant of the "go back to my roots and love" byline, but it really did not.

Very reminiscent of Christina Lauren’s Love and Other Words, Every Summer After is a story of friendship and second chances. After an unexpected tragedy, Persephone (Percy) returns to the town she spent every summer at in her teenage years and is immediately faced with her first love Sam Florek. It’s told in a dual timeline—one is the teenage years as the two meet and then there’s the present, 12 years after they broke up. The writing is beautiful in this. It captures the angst of a breakup, the tension of first crushes, the hopefulness of falling in love and second chances, and every emotion in between. I read this in a day, I was so into this story. I loved Sam and his brother Charlie and their banter with Percy. Percy is sharp with such raw emotions. She is so genuine and endearing. Sam too is such a wonderful friend and is so charming, Charlie too. I will say the twist, the reason they broke up, wasn’t my favorite spin. It didn’t seem fully fair to the characters. But still, I loved this emotional read. I thought the teenage years were captured so well and the writing was just so well done throughout! The dialogue is fresh and witty, and I loved the dynamics of these characters. This feels like a great summer read and I just adored these characters and their story.

Simply remarkable This is her first book ? Wow I can’t wait for more.

For this book the angst is present from the first chapter. I was wondering about the reasons behind not speaking to your best friend for so many years. So Percy and her family buy a lake cabin on the water in Barry's Bay. The author does well with descriptions and scenery for this area.

Their neighbor happens to own the popular pub and restaurant in town. Sue is the mother next door to 13 year old Sam and 15 year old Charlie. Charlie is having friends over and pawns Sam off next door on Percy. She is sort of shy as is Sam but they evolve into being best friends. Sue lost her husband Chris to a heart attack and she works long hours at the pub. Everyone helps out at the restaurant and she has kids that don't run amuck.

The story is told first person both past/present but it works to intensify the angst. As this group grows up together you meet a few sub-characters, not as important as Delilah. She is the popular best friend of Percy who I liked to hate more than I liked her. It details how the home relationship between Delilah and Percy is so different to the lake relationship she has with Sam.

This is not really a YA book, so don't let the ages fool you. The author attacks a lot of relevant issues in a subtle way. The way that there is a small story of bullying, loss of friendship and teen angst brings the present part of the book into focus.

The plot is well written, it hides the secret and when it is revealed, you will lose your mind. I did not see it coming. Available May 10th https://amzn.to/3DI6MCX

"The voice is deep and soft. It's one I haven't heard in more than a decade, but so familiar I'm suddenly thirteen years old and slathered in SPF 45, reading paperbacks on the dock. I'm sixteen and peeling off my clothes to jump in the lake, naked and sticky after a shift at the Tavern. I'm seventeen and lying on Sam's bed in a damp bathing suit, watching is long fingers move across the anatomy textbook he's studying by my feet."

I was elated to receive an ARC of Carley Fortune's debut novel Every Summer After. When I first read the synopsis I knew that I would love this book.

Every Summer After follows, Persephone 'Percy' Fraser, who used to spend her summers by the lake in Barry's Bay with her summer best friend, Sam Florek, and Sam's older brother Charlie. Sam and Percy form an unbreakable friendship, spending their days together; Sam reading medical textbooks, dreaming of being a doctor someday and Percy spending hours working on horror short stories, the two fall into a comfortable pattern of closeness and genuine friendship, that slowly overtime begins to transform into something much more. But, one tragic mistake causes Percy to turn her back on Sam and Barry's Bay.

Now, grown up Percy is adulting in the big city of Toronto and her memories of the Florek brothers and her time spent on the lake are a distant memory until a phone call sends her back to Barry's Bay after years away. Back on the lake and face-to-face with her past love, Sam, Percy is forced to revaluate her life choices. Percy must decide if the mistake she made years ago is worth shutting out Sam and Barry's Bay forever.

I absolutely loved the story. The story was woven perfectly between past and present and the characters were solid, well-developed and unforgettable.

Overall, Every Summer After is about choices, betrayal and forgiveness, friendship, adolescence, first loves and the importance of second chances. It gave me that nostalgic summer feeling of long days on the lake, the smell of sunscreen on damp lake-kissed skin, sun burns, and the unbridled joy that comes with hours spent in the water on hot summer days.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

CW: anxiety, panic attacks (on page), death of a parent (past, cancer, a major plot point), grief, cheating (physical and emotional)

I would recommend if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-m/f second chance romance
-childhood best friends
-dual timeline
-close-proximity
-Dawson's Creek vibes
-mutual pining
-first love

This book is a mess and I mean that in the best way. All about those messy feelings when you're a teenager, figuring yourself out, your hormones, and does the person you have a crush on like you back. This book primarily takes place in the past showing how Pers and Sam become best friends shift to a crush and then become lovers. I would have loved to see more of them as an adult, the way they've changed, grown, still want to be together.

There is cheating in this book and while I mostly think it is handled well, Sam and especially Pers aren't as aware about other people's feelings as they try to figure their own out. But I found it very authentic, wanting attention when your crush sin't giving it to you, again just figuring yourself out. The writing was lovely but I would have loved a bigger dive into what drove them apart, the ending felt a bit rushed after such a big build up. I loved all the lake vibes, teen angst. I'd almost call this a NA book, and I'm not sure if I'd consider it a genre romance but I think there's room for debate. There were love triangle vibes at times which I'm not sure were necessary especially as they weren't fully dealt with.

If you are looking for angst, mess, the hormones of first love I think you'll love this.

Steam: 3

Thank you to Carley Fortune, NetGalley, Berkley and Penguin Random House for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I binged this book in a day. I was obsessed from the very first chapter. Persephone gets a phone call from someone in her past about an important person she considered family has passed away. So she heads back for the funeral to where she spent her teenage summers at a cottage with her summer boys.

If you enjoyed Love and Other Words - you’ll love this one. I’ve mentioned before friends to lovers trope doesn’t really do it for me, unless done right and Fortune blew me away. It was beautifully done watching Percy and Sam’s friendship blossom over the summers they spent together to now as they try to repair the damage done over a decade ago.

Told in dual timelines, this is a summer romance, a friends to lovers, second chance trope, a little spice and finding forgiveness. I loved the small town feels, the side characters - especially Charlie. His commentary had me LOLing and the banter was refreshing

And the anatomy book - phew. I’m blushing thinking about it.

This book comes out May 10th and I highly recommend adding this to your shelf. It’s a quick easy read. It’s the perfect book to bring on vacation, to the beach, and it’s like coming home to going back to your favorite vacation spot. I think you’ll enjoy this as much as I did.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book except that there would be some romance involved. In a nutshell, it is told over many years, alternating between the present and past summers. Sam and Percy (Persephone) meet at a lake where her parents buy a vacation cottage. Sam lives next door with his mother and brother. They soon become best friends, and when Percy heads home after the summer, they remain in contact and develop a deep, close friendship. As they get older, they tiptoe around their romantic feelings for each other until something happens and they lose touch with each other. It isn’t until many years later that a call from Sam’s brother sends Percy back to the lake to confront the issue between her and Sam.
While this description may sound easy enough, it gets a little frustrating, at least for me. While I wanted to root for young love prevailing, I generally am not a fan of such intense relationships at such a young age. Also, the issue that tore apart their relationship was skirted around for so long; I just wanted to scream, “Just tell us already!”
Parts of this book reminded me a little bit of Judy Blume’s “Forever” and Chistina Lauren’s “Love and Other Words.” While there are no clear-cut, straightforward paths in love, I felt these two characters didn’t have many of the communication skills necessary to navigate a relationship. Of course, I have more perspective because I’m older, but I also now get why people say it is better not to date just one person when you’re so young.
Overall it is a good book, but it was a little more intense than I thought it would be.

Every Summer After
by Carley Fortune
Berkley Publishing Group, Berkley
Pub Date: May 10

The romantic in me was thrilled by Every Summer After, an assured debut by author Carley Fortune that tells the tale of Percy and Sam, great friends and more over six summers until their spectacular breakup occurs.

They remain out of touch for a decade, until Percy gets the call that Sam's mother has died, leading her back for the funeral to Barry’s Bay, where they'd once spent so much time together.

You know they're still inexorably drawn to each other, but can Percy forgive herself for what happened and open her heart again to the man she truly loves?

I won't spoil the heart-tugging story except to say this is a must-read for anyone who adores romance and believes in lovely second chances.

Thanks to the author, Berkley Publishing Group, Berkley, and NetGalley for the ARC. Opinions are mine.

#EverySummerAfter #CarleyFortune #berkleypublishinggroup #NetGalley #romanticfiction #secondchanceromancestories #greatdebutfiction #bookstagramcommunity

An instant classic! Every Summer after had the perfect location and set of characters. Second chance romance, friends to lovers, all the angst you could want. It broke my heart but ended up putting it right back together. Their friendship had me pulling for them the entire time. This is definitely a read for anyone that loves Emily Henry and Emily Wimberly.

"𝘚𝘪𝘹 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵. 𝘈 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵."

The cover caught my attention first, but that tagline sealed the deal. I immediately requested 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑, a debut novel by Carley Fortune, and thanks to Netgalley and Berkley I read an early copy. (PUB 05.10) I'm usually particular about what I request, but I'm so glad I threw caution to the wind with this book because I loved it! To be clear- it broke my heart, and put it back together again- but I loved it.

Coming-of-age & second chance romance
Friendships and family
Nostalgia
Friendship bracelets & first love
Two timelines- then & now
Summers as neighbors at the lake (Canada)
Betrayal & forgiveness
Big "𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘖𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴" vibes

From the first page the story and characters were nestled into my heart. In my mind was a vivid amalgam of every lake/cottage/cabin that has been part of my life. I could picture Sam & Percy on the dock. I could feel the angst and messiness that comes with a complicated, established friendship turning into more. All those chaotic, unfamiliar "firsts" and the desperation to right wrongs.

Thank you Netgalley and Berkley publishing group for the ARC!

I must start with I absolutely love the cover, and it’s just so so perfect for the book!
Congrats to the author for writing her debut novel.

The book had a lot of great parts, the summer days spent at the lake and the cottages were probably my favorite part. I enjoyed reading the “past” parts better than the “now” parts. I had a lot of problems with the ending of the book. It was frustrating and honestly, I didn’t like “the big twist” as you might want to call it.
I did not like the female character, she absolutely annoyed me to no end, especially on the “now” parts. She didn’t handle anything the right way, I honestly don’t think she deserved Sam, he was too good for her.

I wish I liked it more.

I really enjoyed this book. The author handled the dual timelines well, and the character development was excellent. The lake setting was so well described and integrated into the story. I think this will be a great summer/vacation /beach read, and I look forward to recommending it to our patrons.