First loves and true love, this summer read is the perfect beach date and a welcome escape during the colder months.

Split between “then” and “now,” each chapter of Fortune’s debut follows the summer exploits of teenaged Percy and Sam interspersed with their reconnection more than a decade later at Sam’s mother’s funeral. Their fast friendship and burgeoning romantic relationship as teens gives weight and an underlying charge to their reunion, but most of the novel’s many conflicts could have been solved by having honest conversations. While Fortune eventually reveals the reason why Percy and Sam stopped speaking, the payoff is drawn out and, ultimately, uninspired. Set against gorgeous scenery and closely following two people as they fall in and out of love, Every Summer After works best when its leads are dramatic, hormone-filled teens but is overblown when they’re adults. Readers seeking a drama-free romance should look elsewhere but hurt/comfort fans will eat it up. For fans of Sarah Dessen and K.A. Tucker.

Great debut novel! A love story taking place on the past and present with a heartwarming ending….love always wins out in the end.

I really enjoyed this book and keep thinking about it. I loved how the romance grew from childhood into adulthood, and the depiction of teenage awkwardness and longing, coupled with all the raging hormones, was great. I was really rooting for the characters to put their past behind them and stay together, and I was very happy with the ending of the book. I also really enjoyed the deciption of lakeside life, the way that Carley described those holidays really brought it alive to me.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a fast read and made me want to keep reading to find out what happened to the characters. I enjoyed how the story alternated between the past and present so the reader could see what events led up to present time. In the book, Percy and Sam meet as kids at their lake houses. Every summer after Percy comes to her family's lake house where Sam lives next door. The two become best friends and over a few summers fall in love. We find that something happened and they stop talking for a decade.

Just a lovely coming of age story! This book had me captivated from the first chapter. Percy and Sam were young, in love and each had such a different set of issues that ultimately impacted their relationship. The summer setting, the back and forth from 13 years ago and present day all worked so well. What an emotional last few chapters!
I look forward to reading other novels by this author, great debut novel.

An epic romantic story that spans multiple summers. I absolutely loved this book. I was completely rooting for the main two characters to get together the entire novel.

This book was marketed to me perfectly, “You may have grown up reading books like Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen or The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han; or maybe you’ve recently fallen in love with Emily Henry…”

Honestly this book was absolutely all those things rolled up into one. The summer nostalgia, found family, love, loss. I loved this book soooo much and I wish there were more from this author. This is the feeling I am always chasing in romance books, but young adult no longer fulfills that feeling because I am no longer a young adult.

Please read this if you loved Sarah Dessen but those books just don’t do it for you anymore!

Thank you Netgalley for sending me this early copy, I will be recommending this all next summer.

A lovely read. I adored this coming of age novel. We see Percy and Sam evolve from best friends to lovers as the story unfolds through their adolescent years. The characters develop beautifully as the author alternates between past and present POV over the course of many years. I was completely immersed in in the book and didn’t want to put it down. I highly recommend! Thank you Netgally for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this novel - good character development with time shifts from the past to the present. I liked how characters perspectives changed with maturity and time. The brother dynamic was realistic and the setting was lovely.

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune, for release May 10

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

Every Summer After hooked me from the first page and now I blame Carley for my severe book hangover 😅. I’m a massive sucker for an angsty contemporary romance/WF that flashes back and forth between the past and present. This book was exactly what I needed to end the warm weather with.

🍃As a Canadian who grew up in Northern Ontario, I felt such a personal attachment to the setting in Barry’s Bay and all the Canadian references. The Hudson’s bay blanket, Ontario cottage country, kids playing hockey, Tim hortons, and even peeing in the woods at bush grad parties (honestly, SAME 🙈).

🍃Percy’s character is complex and well developed from the very beginning. I understood her throughout, and felt as though I was growing up alongside her.

🍃Sam - what can I say about Sam? He was the perfect mixture of smart, nerdy and yet incredibly sexy. I loved him so much. You’ll have to read to find out why!

🍃The cozy cottage setting and dual timeline reminded me so much of one of my all time favourites, Love & Other Words by Christina Lauren.

🍃This is the perfect summer read if you’re looking for a romance/WF with some angst that will make you feel ALL the nostalgia of first loves and summer’s past.❤️

Thank you Carley for writing such a compelling read and Berkley for the ARC 🥰

This was a very cute book! I can't wait to recommend it as a good beach / summer read. I loved both characters and loved the back and forth between "now" and their growing up!

When I read the synopsis of this book I knew it was going to wreck me in the best way. From the first chapter I was lost in Carley’s writing. She captured my heart from chapter one and I was not able to put this book down until I was done.

In a way it was a coming of age story that spans 12 years and goes back and forth between the past and the present. From the beginning we know something big happened to separate Percy and Sam and to get to those answers the author will unravel a love story full of angst, friendship, betrayal and so much love.

I would have liked to see more character development for Sam. A dual POV would have been perfect for this book. I felt that so much of Sam was still a mystery by the end.

Overall this was a gripping story that captivated my whole heart.

Persephone (Percy for short) meets Sam during summer vacation when she is 13 and they soon become best friends. Over the next few summers, they slowly fall in love even though they don't have the courage to tell one another. Twelve years ago they stopped speaking for unknown reasons when they were 18. Now 30, Percy returns to town for Sam's mother's funeral. Told in alternating chapters between when they were young and now, we learn about their relationship. I loved this love story. Percy and Sam don't have a fairy tale relationship, it is real and complicated. The chapters when they were young reminded me of when I was their age and dealing with unrequited love, mean girls and an uncertain future.

There's something evocative about this novel. On the one hand, I needed a book that'd hit me right in the feels. This one definitely delivered in that department. On the other hand, I have conflicting feelings about the existing relationships.

Every Summer After tells the story of how Percy Fraser and Sam Florek meet as a kid, become childhood best friends and eventually, lovers. But it has been 12yrs since Percy broke Sam's heart and they lost all forms of communication. When Percy learns of Sam's mom's passing, she took the drive north back into Barry's Bay to revisit the cabin where she used to live next door to Sam's and face whatever mistakes she had to fix.

Told in alternating past and present povs, readers will see the two slowly grow up, fall in love, and then drift apart. What I loved about this book is, it felt like I was there with the characters, watching as different events unfold. I was there when Percy made an initials bracelet for Sam, when Sam told her she was weird but that he'd take her kind of weird any day, when they met at the dock every morning and swam in the lake at sunset. Everything felt so wired: the accidental touches, the subtle glances, the unspoken promises and silent declarations. And I drowned in those moments of rawness and at times, toxicity. Because this too has its own set of trigger warnings.

Overall, Every Summer After is a book that I may have hated some aspects of, but would also recommend for the exploration of young love—unrequited ones included, spur of the moment decisions and above all, forgiveness.

Told over the course of six years, Persephone "Percy" comes face to face with the mistakes of her past. She has been living in limbo for almost a decade while regretting one fateful night that changed her life forever. She once loved Sam Florek more than she thought possible, but now hasn't spoken to him in 10 years. When she learns of his mother's passing, she finds herself back "home" and back in touch with Sam. Percy has spent years punishing herself for the decisions she made and is now coming face to face with them. She has to decide if her love for Sam is worth fighting for or if it's time to let him go.

Every Summer After is a story of young love, deep emotions, and second chances, I loved reading about Sam and Percy's relationship and the way they "grew up" together over the years. It was a coming of age story as well as a story of finding your place - and your person- as an adult. When you're forced to face your mistakes, is it possible to make peace with them? Every Summer After is a story of forgiveness... and the difficult task of forgiving yourself.

A great novel from Carley Fortune and one that I would highly recommend! Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I read the first 12%. Should the book continue as it is, this is solidly the easy read of the summer that will be enjoyed by many of our visitors, and will likely be a very easy 3 stars with many leaning to 4. Will likely add copies throughout our libraries. While it didn’t hook me in, it has the feel of the comfortable sweater you love to snuggle into.

From the moment that I saw the cover and read the synopsis of Every Summer After, I knew that this was the book that I had been waiting for. This book is everything that my Northern Ontario loving, Southern Ontario city living heart has ever wanted. No other book has ever been this perfect and I’m going to be honest I cried because I was just overwhelmed. I had joked earlier that I needed this arc to keep breathing, well I’ve read it and can confirm. I did in fact need this book.

This book felt like a hug. I don’t even know what else to say, but I’m going to do my best to say it all. I’m so freaking emotional about it. I want it in every single way that it will be published. I want to hold it and never let it go. Every Summer After by @carleyfortune releases May 2022 so this is the most advanced review I’ve ever given or will ever give a book but I’m just at a loss. I can’t move on. This book felt like home to me and I felt safe within its pages. I have never had this reaction to a book before and I can’t imagine that I ever will again. I could smell the cottage, feel the lake, hear the very heartbeat of this book. Because I know it. I have been Percy, staring at the other side of the lake and dreaming of swimming to it. I’ve swam in those northern waters every single summer for my entire life. I understand the burn of arms and legs in that open water swim. I know what a cedar cabin smells like, because for me, it’s within nearly identical walls, I’ve done the work of attempting to figure out who I want to be. I’ve cried on cottage docks under one of the most breathtaking sunrise or sunset. In my little overactive imagination, I dreamed up a world where my lake crush became more.

Every Summer After was hard to read at times, it was real and raw, and inherently human. It’s childhood friendships and first loves. It’s finding who you are and struggling with your place in this world. It’s desire and longing. It’s growth - painful, slow and necessary. It’s second chances and forgiveness. It’s coming home.

The content warnings for this book are rather intense: death of a parent, grief, on page panic attacks, anxiety cheating. I’ve said many times over that I would never recommend a book with cheating, but this book has made me a liar. It was not a frivolous plot point but carried immense weight. It was inevitable and handled with immense care. It didn’t feel wrong, in fact, it felt necessary.

I hope that when it comes time, you’ll give this book a chance. Because it deserves it. Carley, I hope you write a thousand more books because I already know I’ll never get enough: of Sam and Persephone or anything else you’ll write. Thank you for this book.

A million thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for the advance e-copy of Every Summer After. I guarantee that this is the most honest review I’ve ever given to a book. All options are very much my own.