*This is a book review of Every Summer After by Carley Fortune.
Quick Facts
Author: Carley Fortune
Release Date: May 10, 2022
Genre: Contemporary romance, Coming-of-age
Main Characters: Percy Fraser & Sam Florek
Number of Pages: 320
SJ Rating: 89%
The Synopsis
Persephone “Percy” Fraser has spent a dozen years repressing the fall out from the biggest mistake she made in her young adult life. Tragedy strikes, and before she knows it, Percy is back in the town she ran away from, in the presence of the one true love she ran away from—Sam Florek.
The Good
Carley Fortune capitalized the “B” when describing a Black woman, and I have nothing but maaaad respect for her. She’s very blunt with the description instead of describing her as a variation of chocolate; that’s the way to do it. It’s the little things that make a huge difference.
Sam openly talking about menstruation was the sexiest thing I’ve ever read. Not a lot of men want to have the discussion, and he was so comfortable talking about it at fourteen. He called periods “The foundation of human life.” Gentlemen, take notes.
I want to give Percy a hug that lasts forever and continuously remind her she is so worthy of all the love Sam has to give. Plus, you never want to see the main character be a jerk, but I like how self-aware Percy is when she is one.
Once we got to the halfway point of the book, it was extremely difficult for me to put it down. The build up to the swoon-worthy first kiss was perfection. I got literal tingles reading it; my body was buzzing.
This is another book that starts every chapter on an odd-numbered page, and I think this might be a new book kink of mine (Are book kinks even a thing? Did I just make that up?).
To end the book with the female lead breaking gender norms and being the one to propose… period.
The Bad
This book has a pretty slow start. It doesn’t really capture your attention.
For as beautifully detailed as this story is, I had such a hard time imagining it.
For the physical book, the font size compared to the size of the margins is a little weird to see visually. Furthermore, the chapters were a bit long; I could definitely see points where a chapter could’ve been cut in half.
The Overall
Every Summer After is What People We Meet on Vacation had the potential to be, but it’s more elevated and enticing.
This is by no means a bad book, but I could see myself forgetting about it, picking it up, and falling in love all over again.
For this being Carley Fortune’s debut novel, it’s pretty dang good. The reviews for her second book, Meet Me at the Lake, aren’t the best. I think I’m going to bask in the love glow of this one for a while before I think about giving her second one a shot.
Next book to be read and reviewed: Love & Other Words by Christina Lauren
“I wanted to be wanted so badly.”
– Percy
