I really enjoyed Meet Me at the Lake by Fortune, her newest novel, so I was excited to finally read her debut that everyone has been raving about! Once again this contains a love story set around a cottage in a small holiday town, and I would honestly read Fortune's books in these settings forever - I think she portrays the small-town tight-knit communities so well, and I've enjoyed the whole back and forth between present-day and the beginning of these lost loves in both of her novels so far, with Percy and Sam's relationship going all the way back to their friendship as teenagers. Fortune creates such a strong sense of these characters and how they have grown and changed since their younger years, and also how family plays a massive role in shaping you as people. I've really enjoyed both of her novels and the similar feelings they evoke, and I can't wait for no. 3!

Well, it's official... I am a Carley Fortune stan!

Every Summer After is a warm hug in a book, filled with a second chance romance set over 6 summers and the 'now' with flawlessly executed dual timelines!

Beautifully raw in it's writing, even with initially young characters you aren't made to feel like it's a YA romance.

One of the first thing Persephone sees when she arrives at her new summer home are the boys next door. Jumping into the water without a care in the world looks very appealing. From then on Sam and Charlie are always in Percy's life..until they aren't. Years later she gets a phone call and she races back to Barry Bay without hesitation but then all the memories come flooding back.

After seeing nothing but rave reviews for this book I am going to out on a limb and say I thought it was ok. From the cover to the synopsis plus hearing nothing but good about this book I thought it was right up my street and perfect for enjoying out in the sun. It started off well and Percy and Sam's major break up is alluded to throughout so I was looking forward to reading about what led up to this but then I only had 40 minutes left to read and we find out and I was left thinking is that it? Even Percy and Sam's relationship throughout the years, their friendship worked and was interesting but any romance I felt was forced and flat. I did fall in love with Barry Bay and it's residents, especially Sue the hard working single mum to Sam and Charlie and would have liked to follow her life instead. I don't even think it was because I went in with high expectations of what this book would be that it didn't work for me I just think there was very little to it. I am all for a slow burn emotional story but this never ignited at all and I doubt I will remember Percy and Sam next Summer.

A beautiful debut with a gorgeous cover ! It was the cover which drew me to Every Summer after, the debut novel from Carley Fortune. It's set primarily in a lakeside town in Ontario and the author really brought Barry's Bay to life and I longed to be there. It's the story of the romance between Percy (Persephone) and Sam who meet age 13 when Percy's parents purchase a lakeside holiday home next door to Sam's family. We see how their relationship develops and falls apart over the course of 5 years and it's not until the death of Sam's mother 12 years later that they meet again.

This was a gorgeously written debut, the author evokes youthful summers beautifully and portrays Percy and Sam's relationship sensitively. For me, this brought to mind the work of the wonderful Jill Santopolo and I'd highly recommend it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

Every Summer After, the stunning debut from Carley Fortune, has to be my new favourite romance of all time. It’s clear to see why it’s popping up everywhere and deserves all the hype. I loved it so much, that by only 40% I’d ordered myself a physical copy. This is definitely a book that I will re read.

Every Summer After is the story of Percy and Sam. They meet at 13 when Percy’s family by the holiday cottage next to Sam’s home. Over the course of five summers they fall in love, but one moment leads to everything falling apart and it takes another twelve years and a funeral to bring the pair back into each other’s orbit. But is one long weekend enough to find out if their love is bigger than the biggest mistake of their past?

I loved how Fortune told Percy and Sam’s story, alternating between the present day and building up their history as we observe the holidays they spent together from ages 13 to 18, it worked so well. Whilst we didn’t find out what tore them apart until very late in the novel, I did have an inkling of what it was and yet that didn’t spoil the story for me at all.

The past narratives were oozing in beautiful nostalgia. I loved the friendship bracelets, all the swimming and the old horror movies. Percy and Sam’s developing relationship was so special and the all the angst and longing was brilliantly portrayed. I also adored the lake setting, it really felt like you were there with them.

As for the characters I adored them all. Not one of them was perfect, they’re all messy and very human, and all very well developed. I of course loved Percy and Sam, but I also adored Sam and Charlie’s mum Sue and the evolving relationship between Percy and Delilah. I also liked Charlie, Sam’s brother, the eternal flirt who had a much deeper side than first thought.

I have to be honest and admit that normally I’m not the biggest fan of the miscommunication trope as the barrier between couples and yet it worked so perfectly in the context of the novel. Given Percy and Sam met as young teenagers it’s not really a surprise that they weren’t always the best at communicating how they felt to each other. Though the consequences were heartbreaking at times, it felt so much more authentic. As Fortune acknowledges in her end note, she wanted to explore the joys of finding your person, whilst also acknowledging that people screw up and try to do better.

I feel like we also need to take a moment to appreciate just how beautiful the book’s cover is. The artwork by Elizabeth Lennie is just stunning and has been so well chosen, capturing so much of the spirit of the novel.

I cannot praise this book highly enough!

Firstly, I’d like to say a big thank you to NetGalley and Piatkus - With Love for allowing me to read an advanced copy of Every Summer After.

“I fell in love with you when I was thirteen, and I never stopped. You’re it for me.”

This is THE book of the summer. Every Summer After is a childhood sweetheart, friends to lovers, second chance romance told through alternating timelines, during Percy and Sam's teenage years when they met and fall in love, and then years after the end of high school, when a huge mistake drove them apart.

If I could give this book one thousand stars, I would. Wow OH WOW this book. I’ve been excited/nervous for this one ever since I first read the first review for it. It sounded like my kind of book and wow was it, I loved every second of it. I couldn’t stop reading but also wanted to savour every page.

I adored the setting of this book, @carleyfortune really captured my heart with this summery romance and made me feel like I was right there on the Canadian lake with Percy and Sam. I fell head of heels in love with these characters. I loved how we got to see their tender friendship grow and turn into something more. Their shared passions of swimming, reading, writing and horror movies was so heartwarming. The friendship bracelets will forever hold my heart 🥺🫶

The angsty, awkward, teenage romance made me feel ALLLLL the feelings and the author did an amazing job at keeping the reader engaged with the past and present chapters, making me fall in love with their friendship and relationship over the years.

Some people may not like the conflict in this one but to me, it was messy yes but it was raw and real, particularly for how young the characters are which is worth taking into consideration. Make sure you read the author’s note at the end ❤️

In case you hadn’t realised already, this book is easily one of my top books of the year so far. I am totally in awe of this book and Carley Fortune, I don’t know how this is a debut novel but I NEED MORE BOOKS FROM HER IMMEDIATELY.

Every Summer After - Carley Fortune
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

LIKES
☀️ Pretty much my favourite trope ever ever ever childhood friends to lovers done impeccably well.
☀️ Realistic teen behaviours that properly reflected the silly decisions and mindset everyone has around that age. Sure it can seem frustrating, but it’s also REAL.
☀️ The beach summer vibes were immaculate.
☀️ All the messy drama literally had me screaming. Like I was not OK in the best way possible.
☀️ While I found one character super creepy, I love how it was addressed how uncomfortable it made others so it felt purposeful.
☀️ I literally could not put it down. If someone had try to pry it from my hands they would have got a death glare ✋🏻

DISLIKES
🌙 Not really a dislike, but I do wish we’d seen more of Percy’s parents at it felt a bit odd that they were never really present!

I find it interesting that people have compared this to Love & Other Words, as aside from a couple of loose similarities I don’t really see it 🤷🏼‍♀️

To me it’s much more like the grown up version of The Summer I Turned Pretty, so if you liked that, I’d definitely check this one out!

Is this one on your radar? If not this is your sign to add it to that TBR pile - you won’t regret it!

A magazine writer has to make a choice when she returns to the lake she grew up on, and to the man she thought she'd never have to live without. Beautifully written, with such heart. Not only did it make me cry, it made me see the world in a different way. A beautiful and delightful book to read, one I really just wanted to spend my time reading and savoring the experience.

Every Summer After has to be my favourite book of the year. I devoured every page of Percie and Sam’s epic coming of age love story. Fortune’s portrayal of the characters complex relationships felt genuine and and I felt immersed in the idyllic setting of the cottage by the lake. The switch between the past and present worked really well building up to the key moment in the book. A stunning debut and an author I will certainly look out for in future,

This is the perfect summer read, a second chance romance and very sweet. A great read with loveable characters 3/5 stars