Every Summer After by Carley Fortune: Audiobook Review

Every Summer After is a lovely coming of age romance told over dual time periods: over the course of six summers and one weekend. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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From The Publisher:

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.

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed Every Summer After. The characters were well-developed and likeable. The dual timelines worked well and provided the insight needed to bring context to the weekend story.

The story begins with Percy’s family spending their first summer in the newly-acquired cottage in Barry’s Bay. Percy is 13 as is next-door neighbour Sam. His brother Charlie is 15. The boys live full-time in Barry’s Bay with their recently widowed mother. Percy has had a difficult social year in school and by the end of the summer, she and Sam have built a wonderful relationship.

This relationship gets stronger throughout the years as Percy and her family visit the cottage for holidays and summers. Percy and Sam’s relationship changes into a romantic one and the reader cannot help but root for this young couple. As the two head to different locations for college, for the first time, the relationship becomes strained and communication breaks down. A mistake made has detrimental effects on the relationship.

Percy’s parents sell the cottage and the family doesn’t return to Barry’s Bay. A dozen years later, Charlie calls Percy to tell her that their mother has died. Percy knows she must attend the funeral and face the truth of what happened years before.

This is a lovely debut novel of first love. The story is compelling and emotional. Not only did I enjoy the nods to this time in history but I appreciated the fact this novel is written by a Canadian and has Canadian references. The banter between Percy and Sam felt natural and was fun to witness.

I listened to the audiobook version of the book which was narrated by Aj Bridel who gives an excellent performance. The diversity for each character throughout the book and her enthusiasm made a lovely book even better. I have no problem in recommending the audiobook to those that enjoy this format.

I recommend Every Summer After to those readers who enjoy Women’s Fiction and Romance. I look forward to reading more from the author.

What I Liked:

• The well-developed, likeable characters
• The natural banter between Percy and Sam
• The cottage country in Canada setting

Acknowledgments:

Thank you to my local library from acquiring the audiobook format of this book.

Similar Books I’ve Reviewed:

28 Summers by Elin Hildebrand

This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle