Every Summer After
Carley Fortune, 2022
A sharp, warm second-chance romance about the summers that make us and the one person we never quite leave behind. A warm, aching summer romance that moves between longing and easy freedom, with a nostalgic, memory-soaked voice.
Feels like longing, nostalgia and hope. About freedom, memory and time.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy second-chance romances built on long summers, old friendships, and the quiet pull of what might have been. The story leans on nostalgia and moves between past summers and the present, so it may feel slow if you want one steady timeline.
Why read it
It gives you a warm, aching look at first love, missed timing, and the summers that stay with you; the pull of memory keeps the present tense alive.
A page from the book
How a wine list can expose a person's entire character.
It’s not that I’m still in love with my ex; I’m not. I never was. Sebastian is kind of a snob. An up-and-coming corporate lawyer, he wouldn’t have lasted one hour at Chantal’s party without scoffing at her choice of signature drink and referencing some pretentious article he read in the New York Times that declared Aperol spritzes “over.” Instead, he would pretend to study the wine list, ask the bartender annoying questions about terroir and acidity and, regardless of the answers, go with a glass of the most expensive red. It’s not that he has exceptional taste or knows a lot about wine; he doesn’t. He just buys expensive stuff to give the impression of being discerning. Carley Fortune.Carley Fortune was an award-winning journalist and editor before writing fiction; Every Summer After became a bestseller and a BookTok favorite.
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One Golden Summer
Carley Fortune, 2025
A drained photographer, the grandmother who gave her a camera, and the lake summer that started everything.
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Questions readers ask
- Is Every Summer After for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy second-chance romances built on long summers, old friendships, and the quiet pull of what might have been. The story leans on nostalgia and moves between past summers and the present, so it may feel slow if you want one steady timeline.
- What is Every Summer After like?
- A warm, aching summer romance that moves between longing and easy freedom, with a nostalgic, memory-soaked voice. Feels like longing, nostalgia and hope. About freedom, memory and time.
- What should I read after Every Summer After?
- If you liked Every Summer After, try Malibu Rising (Taylor Jenkins Reid), One Day in December (Josie Silver) and Love and Other Words (Christina Lauren).
A taste of the feed
Ask four siblings about their parents' marriage and you get four different books.
The story of June and Mick Riva seemed like a tragedy to their oldest child, Nina. It felt like a comedy of errors to their first son, Jay. It was an origin story for their second son, Hud. And a mystery to the baby of the family, Kit. To Mick himself it was just a chapter of his memoir.
Malibu Rising · Taylor Jenkins Reid
What you do when the chance is pulling away without you.
No! No! Oh God, don’t you dare drive away from this stop! It’s Christmas! I want to yell, even as the bus pulls out into the traffic and gathers pace, and outside he is breathless standing in the road, watching us leave. I see defeat turn out the light in his eyes, and because it’s Christmas and because I’ve just fallen hopelessly in love with a stranger at a bus stop, I blow him a forlorn kiss and lay my forehead against the glass, watching him until he’s out of sight.
One Day in December · Josie Silver
What it sounds like to wait eleven years without making it an accusation.
I’ve been waiting for you to come home for eleven years. I’ll go anywhere you go.
Love and Other Words · Christina Lauren
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