Every Summer After

On the surface, this may seem like a formulaic romance you’ve read a million times. The kind of story you see on the Hallmark channel regurgitated over and over. It’s not. Simply put- it’s brilliant and heartfelt.This story is filled with nostalgia, romance, yearning, heartbreak, passion, redemption and love. I was so impressed at how well the author developed these characters. Their personalities really come to life on the page. You feel like you want to be in the cabin next to Percy and her parents, and Sue with her boys Sam and Charlie.They’re all layered and beautifully flawed at times, but the love they share is palpable.I loved that this story didn’t follow the usual romance formula. I wasn’t bored, and I didn’t know what was going to happen 40 pages in like a lot of summer romance novels.Reading this book brought me an immense amount of joy. I’m confident you’ll love it as much as I did.Cheers!

Every Summer After is a coming-of-age and second chance romance, but it's more than that.It's full of hope, love, and bittersweet heartache. It's reconnecting with your soul.It's coming home. ˊˎ-Told in alternating timelines between six years (past) and one weekend (present), this story focuses on Persephone (Percy) and Sam's early years and their reunion after more than a decade. They spent six summers filled with lakeside swims, watching old school scary movies, eating ice cream, and hanging out at Sam's mother's restaurant. I loved the chemistry of these characters, how much they trusted each other, and how they understood each other better than anyone else. I was drawn to their world with my heart falling in love and breaking along in this emotional journey. These two were torn apart from the past, but glued back together by the future. Sam had my heart from the first time he entered the story, and Percy made me want to jump into this book and give her a big hug.Carley Fortune's writing and storytelling is impeccable - I can't believe this is her debut novel! The characters are relatable and lovable (yes, even Charlie and Delilah). The atmosphere is enchanting and nostalgic. I wasn't a fan of the third-act reveal and the ending felt rushed, but it was still a fantastic summer read.Read this if you like:— Summer vibes at the lake— Childhood friends to lovers— Second chance romance— Alternating timelines— Friendship bracelets— Nostalgic happiness— Perogies

Persephone is thirty years old and she just got dumped. She didn’t really care, he didn’t mean much to her and she never really let him in, even after seven months. She gets a phone call that has her racing back to her past, the small town of Barry’s Bay, and back into the life of the one who got away… Sam Florek.For six summers Percy and Sam were inseparable. The friendship naturally blossomed and grew into something more and he became the man she never wanted to live without, until it fell apart in a splash.Percy returns for Sam’s mothers funeral and all the feelings come rushing back, their connection burning as brightly as it had twelve years ago. But Percy has a secret, a reason for why she broke up with him, and until she tells him, they can never be together.Told in dual timelines, we unravel the mystery of the once in a lifetime love story between two people who were as fated as a couple could be.First and foremost, there are not one but TWO John Candy references in this book. He is a late Canadian actor who was popular in the 80s. Most will know him as the Polka Player from home alone but I know him from so much more. Trust me, he deserves this paragraph of recognition and I praise the author for including him as he is slowly being forgotten.Now onto the story.I loved it. No ifs ands or buts about it. I absolutely love this story. It is a dual timeline, second chance romance and I think it got me out of my reading slump. I finished it in less than 2 days and couldn’t put it down.The history of the characters, watching them slowly fall in love and come to terms with their feelings. Seeing how they struggle over the long distances and other romances that pop up. It was so well written and it felt like I was watching two people I knew in real life fall for each other. It was so realistic , even the lows had me tearing up but remaining hopeful.The twist, the reason why they broke up, was predictable. I saw it coming not long into the book but it didn’t take away from the heartache I felt when it was revealed.I enjoyed that we also got to explore relationships outside of the main love interest. We got to know Percy’s friends and how they interacted with Sam too which was a nice break from the romance and gave depth outside of the love interest.Great book and I’m so thankful it got recommended to me.

The book came perfectly intacted. There were no missing pages or no dents, etc.I loved this book, it's a great read and a great love story. I finished it within two days so it's a page turner for sure. I definitely recommend.