Every Summer After by Carley Fortune Book Review

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using one of my links, I may earn a very small commission, at no additional cost to you. For more information, please read my disclaimer.

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

They say you can never go home again, and for Persephone Fraser, ever since she made the biggest mistake of her life a decade ago, that has felt too true. Instead of glittering summers on the lakeshore of her childhood, she spends them in a stylish apartment in the city, going out with friends, and keeping everyone a safe distance from her heart.

Until she receives the call that sends her racing back to Barry’s Bay and into the orbit of Sam Florek—the man she never thought she’d have to live without.

For six summers, through hazy afternoons on the water and warm summer nights working in his family’s restaurant and curling up together with books—medical textbooks for him and work-in-progress horror short stories for her—Percy and Sam had been inseparable. Eventually that friendship turned into something breathtakingly more, before it fell spectacularly apart.

When Percy returns to the lake for Sam’s mother’s funeral, their connection is as undeniable as it had always been. But until Percy can confront the decisions she made and the years she’s spent punishing herself for them, they’ll never know whether their love might be bigger than the biggest mistakes of their past.

Told over the course of six years and one weekend, Every Summer After is a big, sweeping nostalgic story of love and the people and choices that mark us forever.

Every Summer After Book Review

Sometimes you pick up a book and know it will stay with you forever—that’s how I feel about Every Summer After. This was a re-read for me, and it was just as magical, if not more so, the second time around. Carley Fortune has quickly become a favourite, and this story is one I know I’ll revisit again and again.

Every Summer After follows Persephone, who spends six summers falling in love with Sam before one mistake tears them apart. A decade later, she returns to Barry’s Bay for a single weekend that forces her to face the past—and discover if second chances can rewrite their story.

Percy and Sam are truly everything. Their slow-burn connection, as they grow from friends to something deeper, is incredibly satisfying to watch unfold. The alternating timelines make their relationship feel layered and authentic, and I loved seeing how their past choices shaped their present. And I can’t go without mentioning Charlie—funny, charming, and lovable, even when he’s being a little mischievous. The side characters are great, but this specific trio feels alive in a way that makes it impossible not to root for them with every turn of the page.

While there’s drama and sadness woven into Percy and Sam’s story, it never feels overwhelming. Instead, it adds just enough tension to keep the pages turning, while the romance remains the true heart of the book. Growing up with a cottage in Muskoka myself, I felt an instant connection to the setting. Carley Fortune perfectly captures the serenity of lake life—the traditions, the stillness of nature, and the joy of summers spent by the water. That element made the story especially personal for me.

I can’t forget to mention that Carley Fortune’s writing is stunning—it flows so effortlessly, I swear I’d happily read her grocery list.

I loved Every Summer After the first time, but this re-read has solidified it as one of my all-time favourite books. It’s heartfelt, nostalgic, and incredibly romantic. I can see this becoming a yearly tradition for me—reading it dockside at the cottage, especially now that I own the collector’s edition. If you love second-chance romances, heartfelt summer stories, or want to be swept away by incredible writing, this is a book you won’t want to miss.

Rating: ★★★★★

About Carley Fortune

Carley Fortune is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After, Meet Me at the Lake, and This Summer Will Be Different. She is an award-winning Canadian journalist who’s worked as an editor for Refinery29, The Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, and Toronto Life. She lives in Toronto with her husband and two sons.