This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune

This summer they’ll keep their promise. This summer they won’t give into temptation. This summer will be different.

Lucy is the tourist vacationing at a beach house on Prince Edward Island. Felix is the local who shows her a very good time. The only problem: Lucy doesn’t know he’s her best friend’s younger brother. Lucy and Felix’s chemistry is unreal, but the list of reasons why they need to stay away from each other is long, and they vow to never repeat that electric night again.

It’s easier said than done.

Each year, Lucy escapes to PEI for a big breath of coastal air, fresh oysters and crisp vinho verde with her best friend, Bridget. Every visit begins with a long walk on the beach, beneath soaring red cliffs and a golden sun. And every visit, Lucy promises herself she won’t wind up in Felix’s bed. Again.

If Lucy can’t help being drawn to Felix, at least she’s always kept her heart out of it.

When Bridget suddenly flees Toronto a week before her wedding, Lucy drops everything to follow her to the island. Her mission is to help Bridget through her crisis and resist the one man she’s never been able to. But Felix’s sparkling eyes and flirty quips have been replaced with something new, and Lucy’s beginning to wonder just how safe her heart truly is.

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Friends and family have been raving about Carley Fortune books for ages; their watercolor-esque script and sunsetish covers have been top of mind for me, especially in the wake of her newest May 2024 release, This Summer Will Be Different. It was an instant no. 1 New York Times bestseller, by the way. I figured it would be good, but that I'd find it a little boring, and I was gloriously happy to be proven wrong. Its sense of place, crackling chemistry, and plotline satisfied a beach read craving I thought only Emily Henry could fulfill.

First, the sense of place was phenomenal—the number one indicator as to whether I'll love a book. I define my reading taste as seeking out books with a vivid sense of place; I love atmospheric, detailed, vivid, and I want to be swept away. In adulthood, I've realized that my travel obsession and books obsession complement each other in this way. Give me a setting that's a full-on personality and I want to sink into it.

Personally, I spend most of every July in Canada, and have every summer since I was a baby. I've never missed a year, excepting COVID when the border was closed. "Cottage country Ontario" is absolute bliss for me, so my twin sister told me I'd love the familiarity of This Summer Will Be Different. I've never been to Prince Edward Island, but this book makes me want to go.

The story is told in the present, with slices of the past interspersed—a structure familiar to those who've read People We Meet on Vacation. The past chapters gradually meet up with the present day; we flash back to five years ago, Lucy's first visit to the island. Then four summers. Then three, etc,. etc,.

The NOW section of the story focuses on Lucy prepping for her best friend Bridget's wedding. Bridget's capable, at home with a spreadsheet and a mission. So when Bridget misses a meet-up at Lucy's flower shop—then calls her from home, in PEI, begging her to join—Lucy knows that something's wrong. Although she never takes vacation, and has a huge life-changing contract looming on the horizon, Lucy packs her bags and heads to take care of her friend. The only problem? She'll definitely run into Felix, a.k.a Wolf, the brother she's sworn to stay away from, but can't seem to resist.

Flash back five summers ago. Lucy waltzed into an oyster shack wearing a red-and-white patterned dress he called a "tablecloth," indulging her tourist daydreams and a whirlwind one-night stand. The sexy bartender shucking oysters was just supposed to be a fling before Bridget arrived, a vacationer's greeting to a luxurious two weeks of vacation. Drinking vinho verde, eating oysters, sunbathing, all of it? Dreamy.

Instead, they wake up together and make the devastating connection: he's the brother Bridget warned her to stay away from. After losing a best friend to his charms already—and the resulting breakup from the entire family—Bridget doesn't want to risk that again. So she doesn't need to know.

Unfortunately, their chemistry is irresistible. No matter how Lucy tries to stay away, they end up hooking up every summer. But throughout the years away, it's still only him. While Lucy and Felix attempt to decode why Bridget's being so weird (and whether there will even be a wedding in five days), they might not be able to resist finally giving into their feelings for each other.

I was really pleasantly surprised by the writing, which goes to show that occasionally I'm a brat about an illustrated cover and familiar name. I think it's just usually, my default for any sort of contemporary romance is expecting to enjoy the storyline and be fine with the prose. So when any book (any book, really, regardless of genre) shows up with a colorful, vivid setting and language to match, I'm immediately happy as a clam. Or an oyster, I guess. I've realized my preference for writers is giving "very specific human details" that show a lot of observation and really fleshed-out worldbuilding. I love to be surprised by the specificity, and Carley Fortune excelled at that quality.

My affection for a brisk, sensory island setting is unmatched, so I savored every chapter. It wouldn't have even mattered if the plot were good (which it was.) I adore when a book feels like a love letter to a specific spot, especially if it touches on how that place changes or retains its essence over time.

Of course, the romance also blew me away a little. My usual response to a book like this is, "Cute. I like them." But I couldn't get enough of Lucy and Felix. Fortune did a phenomenal job making him sexy and sweet. (The man renovates seaside cottages, carries a paperback in his back pocket, and shucks oysters, and the choice constellation of character attributes was somehow very up my alley.)

The major keeping-from-my-friend conflict didn't feel like it was there just to be an obstacle, but rather an actual risk thanks to how Fortune fleshed out the fallout between Bridget and her previous best friend. The stakes felt like they matched the plot, bringing tension and relief into the storyline when they needed to be there. I didn't notice the pacing at all, which was perfect. It meant I was sucked in enough that the story never dragged or felt like too much. The ending conflict like it was there just to provide an obstacle, but I loved the other ninety-five percent of the book so much that I gave it a singular eye roll and headed on my way.

Instead, This Summer Will Be Different was both well-balanced and evocative, a prime combination for me. It took me by surprise in a triumphant way, and I'll absolutely have to inhale the rest of Carley Fortune's backlist for more. I completely understand why it gets the praise it does, and now I'm itching for a trip out East. There's nothing better than a book that fully transports you.

Overall, I loved This Summer Will Be Different and will undoubtedly read it again.