Cover Image: Every Summer After

Every Summer After

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Member Reviews

I really loved this book! It was the perfect throwback, love story and I could 100% picture that as my teenage self. The character were likeable and I found myself wanting to keep reading until the wee morning hours. Devoured it!

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I thought this was such a cute contemporary romance, and I was routing for them to come together the whole time. I really liked the second chance aspect. The ending was surprising to me (when the root of their distance was finally revealed) but I was glad they were able to work through it and come together in the end.

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This book starts with a boy and a girl who become best friends when Percy's parents buy the lake cabin next door to the house where Sam lives all year. They spend all their summers together becoming closer friends and wear matching friendship bracelets that Percy makes. The cottages in this book remind me of my summers Up in Northern Ontario (where this book is set). Soon Percy's parents and Sam's mom and brother, Charlie become like family. They start celebrating holidays together.

When Sam and Percy turn eighteen there is a disagreement and they never speak again especially since Percy's parents need to sell the cottage for financial reasons.

Years later Percy receives a late night call from Charlie telling her that his mom has died and he asks her to come to the funeral. Percy loved their mother, Percy decides to go and figures it would be a perfect time to apologize to Sam for their rift.

This book is written where you go back and forth between their relationship 12 years ago and what is happening in the the present. I am usually not a fan of books that jump around but this author did a great job with it and made the transitions work.

These characters were so real to me they made me feel their pain and sorrow. It was a very good heartfelt story about friendship and romance.

Pub May 10th 2022

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for this ARC.

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Another great Canadian alert! 🇨🇦 Kudos to Carley Fortune and her debut novel.

This is the perfect summer read that will bring out nostalgic memories for some. I just love this particular cover (although both covers are fab!) ☀️

This is a coming-of-age type of romance novel. Did it feel a bit YA?...yes in parts but it worked for me.

Persephone Fraser (otherwise known as Percy) and Sam Florek meet at 13 years of age when Percy's parents purchase the cottage next door to Sam's home. The story goes back and forth in time from the past to the present. In the past time setting we see how Percy and Sam meet and spend 6 summers together falling in love. Something happens when they are 18 years old and they no longer speak to each other. In the present time Sam's mother has died and Percy is called back to the lake town for her funeral. They have not seen each other for 12 years at this point.

What a refreshing change to read about a Canadian setting in Eastern Ontario's cottage country. I want to visit Barry's Bay in the summer and find a tavern that serves homemade pierogis! 😋 The author grew up in the area and now spends some time there every summer with her family. The nostalgia and love comes alive vividly in her writing. The twist was a little predictable but still a very enjoyable and entertaining book.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for granting me access to this Advance Reader Copy.

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Every Summer After

What It's About:

Percy spends every summer from the time she’s 13 to 18, at her family’s cottage in Byron’s Bay. And every summer she spends with Sam, over the years her and Sam become inseparable, they do everything together, swim, read, work. Eventually, it becomes clear that Sam and Percy have developed feelings for each other, but with months spent apart and each of them going away to different schools, having a relationship seems impossible. While they try in vain to make it work the relationship dies out and thats where we meet Percy, 12 yrs later, ignoring her feelings and still desperately in love with Sam.

When Percy is called to return to Byron’s Bay to attend a funeral she finally comes face to face with Sam, we learn more about there relationship through an alternating timeline and we learn what exactly happened to cause them not to speak for years and lose touch. We also learn that neither of them has moved on. Is this the opportunity they need to make things right?

How I Discovered It:

I received this as an e-arc from Penguin Random House Canada and Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

What I Liked About It:

Takes place in Ontario Canada - with lots of Canadian references

Has that bit of early 90’s nostalgia in there that makes you crave the days you used to call someone on a landline, watched movies on vhs in your basement and took family vacations to the lake.

Pure summer vibes

How sweet Sam and Percy’s relationship was growing up, how kind, gentle and respectful he was with her. How he rooted for her and truly was her best friend.

How Carley gave them common interests and made them work together, and gave them parents that cared about their relationship, made it feel more authentic and real.

How Percy wasn’t the classic pretty popular girl but she wasn’t the ugly girl either, she was always just herself.

How we’ve all had a friend like Delilah and Chantal

What I Didn't Like About It:

I hate when characters aren’t true to their feelings or hide them because they feel they are protecting themselves or others, when in reality they are only hurting themselves. Especially when you believe that if they had just been true and honest about the way they feel everything would have worked out better, but then again this would leave for zero plot of the book, so… lol

It was a little predictable, but I still wanted to know how it would turn out regardless

How Percy loses her friendship with Delilah, but the circumstances around why they stopped being friends was very realistic and we’ve all been this delusional asshole once or twice in our lives

Who Would Like It?

Anyone who’s looking for a good summer/beach read
Anyone who’s into childhood friends to lovers tropes
Anyone who’d get a kick out of the Canadiana

Related Books:

Carley Fortune has a reading list at the back of the book and it’s very clear some of these inspired her. One that stood out in particular was Summer Sisters by: Judy Blume, I really enjoyed this book when I was younger and can definitely see a lot of similarities between them

I was actually kind of happy to see it on there because its one I never hear people talk about and it used to be one of my favourite summer reads.

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Every Summer After is the perfect summer romance.

Reconnecting friends and rekindling romance, set against summers spent in Ontario’s cottage country.

Going into this one, I liked that the story was Canadian, taking place in cities and places I’m familiar with. Not knowing much about it, it didn’t take me long to get hooked.

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Today I’m sharing what an absolute nostalgic delight it was to read EVERY SUMMER AFTER by @carleyfortune 🇨🇦 thank you @netgalley and @penguinrandomca for my e-arc! This one publishes May 10!

“I’ve tried to forget about you for more than 10 years, but I don’t want to try anymore.”

Welcome to the latest book added to my favourites shelf, a summertime reread, and a book filled with all the nostalgia for cottage days and being by the lake!

I just loved this book so much. The relationship that Sam and Percy have is like none other I have read before.

I loved that this book took place just a few hours from where I live. I used to spend a week plus a weekend or two at my family’s cottage every summer, so I could literally picture and feel everything described in this book. It felt so nostalgic Redding this book, bringing back all the happy memories of my childhood and teen years being at the cottage and on the lake.

The way in which Percy and Sam found their way back to each other was heartbreaking, and messy, but that’s life right? I loved every single second of them getting reacquainted. I also loved all the flashback chapters to each summer they spent together growing up, until they went their separate ways for 10 years.

If you have read this one and loved it, here are some recommendations on books you should also read that are similar, and that I also loved!

⭐️Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren
⭐️ People we Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
⭐️ Say You Still Love Me by K.A. Tucker
⭐️ The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

I have a new favourite summer book to reread every year, and I’m so happy it’s by a Canadian author! Also a new book boyfriend 😍Carley, I cannot wait to see what you write next! ❤️

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Thank you to Carley Fortune and Penguin Random House for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a childhood friends-to-strangers-to-lovers romance novel set in Canadian cottage country (Ontario, Canada to be specific). This book takes place over a 15 year period where the chapters alternate between the present and various points in time during the teen years of the main characters, Persephone and Sam. While it was an easy and quick read, it was a bit too reminiscent of another popular book of this genre ('Love and Other Words') that I was not 'wow-ed' by it. Without spoiling anything, I also found this as problematic as I did 'Love and Other Words' for several reasons. Even though this is meant to be a love story about flawed characters, I would have appreciated a more realistic take on the flaws and mistakes the characters make. I felt that the mistakes were just ultimately glossed over. Overall, it was a fast read but I don't think this would be something I would re-read.

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Every Summer After is everything you want in a beach read. It has flawed characters with secrets amidst of young summer love. The Canadian backdrop is perfect in its own right. Ontario cabins, Tim Hortons, and poutine makes you feel immersed in the novel. Despite the flawed characters, they were likeable; such that, I was still rooting for them. Despite the ups and downs, the characters learned and grew along the way. This novel reminded the reader of their own teenage crushes, and summers spent outside in nature/cabins/lakes/camping. This book is an amazing summer escape, and needs to be in your 2022 summer beach bag. Great debut novel. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

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Read this if :
You love a slow burn
You love coming of age stories
You love good books


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

Persephone spent her summers in Barry’s Bay with her best friend Sam. Slowly falling in love as they went from children to adults.
So why does this story open with Persephone alone in Toronto.
When Sams mother passes away, Persephone is called back to Barry’s Bay, back to Sam and back to the mistakes that ended it all.

I loved this book. I loved watching Percy and Sam fall in love. And my heart ached knowing something fractured that love and friendship.
The dual timeline gave a good view of how Persephone changed over the years, closing herself off, giving up her passions and friends.
I could not put this book down.
Highly recommend !

Thank you NetGalley, Berkley Publishing and Carley Fortune for this ARC.

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Thank you to Carley Fortune and Penguin Random House for the eARC in exchange for an honest and reliable review.

I really enjoyed this book.

The beginning was SO much like Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren that I kept getting them confused (friends to lovers, young love, then/now timelines, cottage lovers) but as the story goes on they distinguish themselves from one another.

Sam is one of my new fav book boyfriends and Percy and Sam’s love from a young age is a delight to read about. I’m not crazy about what ends up happening between Charlie and Percy but I love Sam and Percy’s love enough to get over that aspect of the book.

Ultimately, Percy and Sam are two flawed protagonists who fell in love at a young age and waded through real life problems and obstacles to end up together. Their happy ending was hard earned.

The ending of this book was what made the book what it is. I didn’t feel that the ending was rushed and ending with the dispersing of Sue’s ashes was so sweet. I loved Sue’s character and she deserved that kind of recognition in the end.

Overall, loved the emotional romance, the characters, the setting! I really enjoyed reading about the Muskokas as I’ve been there many times and love that this is a Canadian author. The perfect summer read.

4.5/5

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Every Summer After • Carley Fortune ⭐️ - 4.5


Finding out that this book was set in Canadian cottage country made me so much more excited to read it! While reading it, it brought me right back to that week I would spend at the cottage we rented and time spent out on the lake! Which makes it a prefect summer read! The back and forth between past summers and present were a perfect pace together giving enough information to tie them both together. I really felt connected to Percy and Sam’s storyline as I also met my person young in life, mind you it didn’t come with such a roller coaster that they went through.
I really enjoyed this book for many reasons. Carley brings you through all the emotions! I definitely recommend!


Thank you to @NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review

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As regular readers of my reviews know, romance is not my usual genre so they may be surprised that I’m reviewing a romance novel. I requested a digital galley of Every Summer After because it is set in Barry’s Bay, my hometown and the place where my husband and I rent a cottage every fall. I was interested in how the town would be portrayed in the novel.

The book has a dual timeline: Now and Then. In the sections set in the past, Percy (Persephone) Fraser starts spending summers in Barry’s Bay when her parents buy a cottage there. She meets their neighbours: Sue Florek and her two sons, Charlie and Sam. Percy and Sam, both 13 years of age when they first meet, quickly become inseparable for six summers. Friendship turns to romance.

In the present sections, Percy is now 30, and she hasn’t spoken to Sam for twelve years. Charlie calls to tell her that Sue has died so Percy travels north from Toronto. A meeting with Sam is inevitable. Will they be able to move past the rift that tore them apart and to find their way back to each other?

As a romance, this novel is totally predictable. It certainly uses several common romance tropes: soul mates, friends to lovers, and second chances. I guessed what would cause the rift as soon as all the main characters were introduced. The ending is equally predictable. Lovers of romances will be pleased that familiar, tried-and-tested scenarios are used throughout. Unfortunately, I dislike formulaic books with predictable plots. I skimmed through some reviews of the novel and found so many comparisons to other authors, especially Emily Henry and Christina Lauren. I guess this is not surprising since they probably all follow the same romance conventions; in fact, the author even mentions these romance writers in her Author’s Note.

Percy and Sam’s relationship when they are teens is convincing. Teenage love is exactly like Percy describes it: “plotted, dreamed, obsessed.” Hormones affect decisions, and drama usually ensues. Their relationship as adults, however, is less credible. I found it overwrought. Percy seems in a constant state of nervous excitement or anxiety. Her hands are always shaking and she is often on the verge of a panic attack. Surely, in 12 years, the two of them would be better able to communicate and behave with less adolescent rashness.

I appreciated that the characters are so distinct. Delilah and Charlie in particular stand out in this regard. Their personalities are clearly described, though being able to predict how they will react and what they will say every time they appear becomes somewhat tedious. As an adolescent, Sam seems a bit too mature and perfect, though there is bias because we see him from Percy’s perspective. Percy’s portrayal as a teenager is very realistic, especially in terms of her insecurity and desire to fit in, but I did find her rather immature as an adult. After a dozen years, she still hasn’t moved on? She doesn’t apologize to a friend for over a decade?

I wish a different event had been used to bring together Sam and Percy. A death and funeral work well, but Sue’s funeral is so obviously just an inciting incident. Sam and Charlie have no tasks to take care of in terms of funeral arrangements so Sam is able to spend virtually all his time with Percy? And no one seems especially sad. Percy says “Sue was like family” and Sue “treated me like a daughter” yet she is so unemotional throughout?

The book is well-written in terms of grammatical correctness; I would expect nothing less from an editor with a Bachelor of Journalism. The casual style makes for an easy read, but I was annoyed with the repetition. For instance, some form of groan is used 16 times, and do we really need to be reminded again and again of the crease in Sam’s bottom lip?

So back to why I wanted to read this book: its setting. I couldn’t believe that a writer for Refinery29, a digital media and entertainment website which the author helped launch in Canada, referred to Barry’s Bay as being in northern Ontario (https://www.refinery29.com/en-ca/2021/12/10776418/every-summer-after-carley-fortune-excerpt)! Like many people who enjoy recognizing locales with which they are familiar, I enjoyed the references to life in Barry’s Bay. I used to get ice-cream cones at the Dairy Bar, and I guessed correctly that the Tavern was modeled on the Wilno Tavern. I smiled at mentions of Kamaniskeg Lake and the description of Stedmans: “It was half general store, half dollar store, and it had a little bit of everything, but there was no guarantee they’d have what you were looking for.” I chuckled at the comment “who wears dress pants and a matching silk top on a Thursday night in Barry’s Bay? Or any night in Barry’s Bay?” I could relate to Sam’s feelings of claustrophobia living in a small rural town and his desire to get away, just as I understood Percy’s desire to return to a place which seemed idyllic. Thank you, Carley Fortune, for the trip down memory lane.

Though, as I indicated at the beginning, romance is not my genre of choice, I will recommend the book as an easy summer read. Anyone who has spent time at a lakeside cottage or cabin in a small town will identify with the activities described. Most people will remember the magic of a summer romance or the angst of first love. Pick this one for reading on a dock or beach or in a comfortable chair in the backyard or on a deck.

Note: I received a digital galley from the publisher via NetGalley.

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I was approved for this ARC and then life got busy so I’m pretty sure it was published before I could read- I saw it mentioned in a couple groups and decided it would be my next read. I wasn’t disappointed! I loved the Canadian content, the format, the characters- I felt like it was super relatable. That feeling of going away to university and navigating long distance relationships at such a long age was very familiar! Definitely recommending this to everyone for their summer reading list.

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Thank you to Penguin Canada and NetGalley for my gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

Things I didn’t love: that the book ended. Reading about the love Sam and Percy had for each other was equivalent to a, “find someone who looks at you the way he does” comment. There was steam, there was wit, there was love, and Tim Hortons.

I’m so grateful to hear from Carley Fortune herself on her live with @bookrecsbymel. Thank you for keeping this book in Ontario. Although I’m not an avid cottage country go-er, I’ve made the journey before and the “escape from the GTA to cottage country” is a truly unique Ontario experience and it was so special to see it captured in a book, along with a romantic story🥺

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This book was incredible. It was such a beautifully written nostalgic coming of age story and I loved it so much. The storyline developed at a perfect pact, and overall this was a really binge-worthy read. Percy and Sam’s story is heartbreaking but endearing, and the Canadian setting was phenomenal. The dual timelines also worked super well with the singular narrator. I haven’t read anything by Carley Fortune previously but will keep my eyes peeled.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title!

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this book was phenomenal!! i loved every page and i fell in love with the story and characters. it’s told in past and present timelines over the course of six summers and one weekend 12 years later. you get small town, second chance romance, childhood best friends to lovers to strangers to lovers, and more! some of my fav tropes in one book <3 i love the parallel events between the past and present chapters, seeing how percy and sam grown and matured but also stay the same throughout the years (iykyk - the friendship bracelets, “swear on it”, ice cream). their attraction and connection are undeniable! the book perfectly captures friendship, teenage angst, first love, loss, mistakes, and forgiveness. it’s also about finding your person, someone who understands you like no other.

the writing was spectacular - it was so magical and enchanting as it encapsulated summer nostalgia at a lakeside cottage. i felt like i experienced every summer with percy and sam. i love how real and relatable the characters are. percy and sam are two flawed characters that let their fears get in their way, but they try their best to repair what they broke. i adore sam so so much, he’s the sweetest and kindest guy who loves really hard. the sarcasm and banter between the two were soo good too, i loved how we get a glimpse of what they were like at 13 and then at 30.

this is the PERFECT summer read (it might just be this year’s summer book! 🤞🏼), i highly recommend it!! i promise you’ll love this if you love ‘love and other words’ by christina lauren! i didn’t think i’d find a book like laow that hits the same, but reading this book made my lil LAOW heart so happy 💞 i’m blown away by the fact that this is carley fortune’s debut novel and i hope there is more to come!

thank you @netgalley, @penguinrandomca, and @penguincanada for the free copy!

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I’ve seen this one all over Bookstagram and I know why now! It was everything I needed in a summer read so add this to your pool side list.

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I really enjoyed this book! Not the usual type of book I read but I am glad I did. I will definitely re read this over the summer! Thank you for the opportunity and I will recommend this to all of my friends!

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Every Summer After
For Persephone Fraser life became perfect after her parents bought a summer cottage east of Toronto. There , the summer she was about 13, she began her friendship with teens Sam and Charlie Florek, who had the cottage next door with their widowed mother.

This is a coming of age story. Every summer for six years Sam and Percy became close and eventually realized it was love. They decided they should spend the rest of their lives together. As Sam proposed to Percy, something she had longed to hear, she surprisingly refused.

What happened that she refused something so important to her? Why did she leave and never return for 12 years? Why did she finally return?

I enjoyed this book from start to finish. The characters come to life and one feels the love between Sam and Percy grow from friendship to passion.

Many thanks to Penguin Random House for allowing me to read and review a sweet story.

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