Every Summer After by Carley Fortune

A New York Times bestseller and the book behind the upcoming Prime Original series Every Year After—this is a tender, nostalgic, can’t-stop-reading romance about first love, second chances, and the one mistake that changes everything.

Persephone Fraser hasn’t been back to her lakeside hometown in ten years—not since the moment she wishes she could undo. Instead of sun-soaked summers in Barry’s Bay, she’s built a polished city life: good friends, great nights out, and emotional distance from anything that could break her.

Then a phone call pulls her straight back into the place she’s been avoiding… and into the orbit of Sam Florek—the person she never thought she’d have to face again.

For six summers, Percy and Sam were everything: afternoons on the water, late nights at his family’s restaurant, and quiet hours side-by-side with books—his medical textbooks, her horror stories-in-progress. Friendship became love… and then it all fell apart.

Now Percy is back for Sam’s mother’s funeral, and the connection between them is still there—undeniable, aching, and complicated. But if Percy can’t finally confront what happened all those years ago, they’ll never know if their love is strong enough to outgrow the past.

Told across six years and one life-changing weekend, Every Summer After is a sweeping, bittersweet story about the people who shape us—and the choices we spend a lifetime trying to forgive.

Perfect for readers who love:

• Second-chance romance
• Small-town/lake-life nostalgia
• Friends-to-lovers (with real emotional stakes)
• Dual timelines (then vs. now)
• Big feelings, tender healing, and a satisfying payoff

Praise: “A radiant debut.” — Emily Henry

As featured in Today, Parade, PopSugar, USA Today, SheReads, BuzzFeed, BookBub, Bustle, and more.