This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune Summary
Escape to Prince Edward Island in Fortune's #1 New York Times Bestseller, where summer romance blooms against red cliffs and golden beaches. With three million copies sold across thirty languages, discover why readers worldwide are saying this summer truly will be different.
About the author
Carley Fortune is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of This Summer Will Be Different and a leading voice in contemporary romance fiction. With 15 years as an award-winning Canadian journalist, she worked as an editor at The Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, Toronto Life, and as Executive Editor of Refinery29 Canada before leaving journalism in 2021 to write full time.
Her romance novels explore love, loss, and women's journeys through themes of grief, family relationships, and personal growth. Fortune's distinctive style weaves love stories across multiple timelines, set against vivid Canadian backdrops from lakeside Ontario to Prince Edward Island. Her previous bestsellers include Every Summer After, Meet Me at the Lake, and One Golden Summer.
Fortune's books have sold over 3 million copies worldwide and been translated into 30 languages across 50 territories. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle partnered with Netflix to option the film rights for Meet Me at the Lake.
FAQs About This Book
This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune is a contemporary romance novel set in Prince Edward Island and Toronto that explores forbidden love, enduring friendship, and second chances. The book follows a twisty-turny narrative about lust and complicated relationships against the backdrop of summer landscapes. Fortune delivers her signature blend of emotional depth, sun-kissed settings, and romantic tension that made her previous novels bestsellers.
Carley Fortune is a #1 New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling author who has sold more than three million copies worldwide across her romance novels. Before becoming a full-time novelist in 2021, Fortune was an award-winning journalist and editor who worked at prestigious Canadian publications including The Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, Toronto Life, and served as Executive Editor of Refinery29 Canada. She holds a Bachelor of Journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University and lives in Toronto with her husband and two sons.
This Summer Will Be Different is perfect for fans of contemporary romance who enjoy emotionally complex love stories with rich settings and character-driven narratives. Readers who appreciated Carley Fortune's previous bestsellers Every Summer After and Meet Me at the Lake will love this book's exploration of forbidden attraction and friendship dynamics. It's ideal for anyone seeking a compelling beach read that balances steamy romance with deeper themes of loyalty, desire, and personal growth during summer escapes.
This Summer Will Be Different is absolutely worth reading, particularly for romance enthusiasts who appreciate well-crafted emotional narratives. The novel led the Canadian fiction bestseller list upon its Fall 2024 release, continuing Carley Fortune's remarkable track record of delivering compelling summer romances. Fortune's ability to blend vivid settings, authentic relationships, and page-turning plots has resonated with millions of readers globally, making this another must-read addition to contemporary romance shelves.
This Summer Will Be Different stands out through Carley Fortune's journalistic precision combined with emotional storytelling that explores the complexities of forbidden love within friendship groups. Unlike typical romance novels, Fortune incorporates twisty-turny plot elements alongside sun-kissed Prince Edward Island settings that create atmospheric depth. Her background as an award-winning editor brings polish and sophistication to the narrative structure, while maintaining the escapist appeal that romance readers crave in summer beach reads.
This Summer Will Be Different follows Carley Fortune's signature style established in Every Summer After and Meet Me at the Lake, featuring emotionally rich romances set in beautiful Canadian locations. While her first two novels focused on lakeside Ontario settings, this book explores Prince Edward Island's coastal charm and Toronto's urban landscape. Fortune maintains her hallmark themes of second chances, deep friendship bonds, and passionate relationships while introducing new narrative complexities around forbidden attraction and loyalty conflicts.
Prince Edward Island serves as more than just a backdrop in This Summer Will Be Different—it becomes a character itself that shapes the romantic tension and emotional atmosphere. The island's sun-kissed beaches, coastal beauty, and summer cottage culture create an intimate setting where forbidden feelings intensify and relationship boundaries blur. Carley Fortune uses PEI's distinctive landscape to mirror the protagonists' emotional journeys, making location integral to both plot development and thematic exploration of escape versus reality.
This Summer Will Be Different explores themes of forbidden love, friendship loyalty, personal desire versus social expectations, and the transformative power of summer romance. Carley Fortune delves into the moral complexities that arise when attraction conflicts with existing relationships and commitments. The novel examines how enduring friendships can both support and complicate romantic possibilities, while questioning the boundaries between appropriate longing and betrayal in close-knit social circles.
This Summer Will Be Different showcases Carley Fortune's polished writing style honed through fifteen years of award-winning journalism and magazine editing. Her prose balances literary sophistication with accessible storytelling, featuring vivid sensory descriptions of settings, authentic dialogue, and emotionally resonant character development. Fortune's journalistic background brings clarity and precision to her romantic narratives, while her recent immersion in contemporary romance ensures she delivers the emotional payoffs and steamy scenes readers expect from the genre.
Forbidden love creates the central tension in This Summer Will Be Different, forcing characters to navigate attraction that threatens existing relationships and friendship bonds. Carley Fortune constructs a morally complex scenario where desire conflicts with loyalty, pushing protagonists to question their values and priorities. The forbidden nature intensifies romantic chemistry while raising genuine stakes about potential consequences, betrayal, and the cost of pursuing happiness when it requires hurting others or breaking unspoken rules within tight social circles.
Carley Fortune's romance novels succeed through her combination of emotionally intelligent storytelling, vivid Canadian settings, and authentic character development that resonates with millions of readers. Her journalistic training brings structural sophistication and polished prose to genre fiction, while her genuine passion for romance ensures she delivers satisfying emotional arcs. Fortune's books balance escapist summer atmospheres with real relationship complexities, creating stories that feel both aspirational and relatable while avoiding common romance clichés through nuanced character psychology.
This Summer Will Be Different places friendship dynamics at the heart of its romantic conflict, exploring how close platonic bonds complicate forbidden attraction. Carley Fortune examines the delicate balance between personal desire and loyalty to friends, creating tension through relationships that pre-exist and outlast romantic entanglements. The novel questions what friends owe each other, how attraction can test even the strongest bonds, and whether pursuing love justifies risking cherished friendships that have defined characters' identities and support systems.
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"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
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12117"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."
"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
12108"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
25417"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
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"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
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