Genre: Romance
Publisher: Viking
Pages: 355
Release Date: May 7, 2024
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 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.
This Summer Will Be Different is EASILY making my favourite books of 2024. It’s a story about female friendship, romance, growing, and healing. The Summer Will Be Different follows Lucy in the past and present as she visits her best friend’s, Bridget, hometown on PEI and fights her attraction to Bridget’s brother, Felix. On the surface This Summer Will Be Different seems like a simple summer romance, however it’s so much more. It’s a love letter about female friendships wrapped in a story about falling in love and growing as an individual.
Honestly, Lucy and Bridget’s story had me laughing and crying more than Lucy and Felix, though that isn’t to say Lucy and Felix’s chemistry and tension wasn’t perfection. Readers watch Lucy and Bridget go from friends to best friends to sisters. Lucy and Bridget balance and compliment each other. This Summer Will Be Different addresses the intensity and ever adapting nature that is female friendships. Your best friend is your everything, but as you age and find a romantic partner and start a family, your best friend is still your best friend but the relationship is different. Lucy and Bridget’s story embodies this transition and had me in tears.
Lucy and Felix’s chemistry was electric from the first page until the last. Their interactions were fraught with tension and angst that was so thick you could cut it with a knife. This Summer Will Be Different is Fortune’s spiciest book.
I absolutely loved PEI as the setting. Road trip soon? In all seriousness, Fortune’s descriptions of PEI were magical and transported me to the island. I could smell the salt in the air and feel the breeze on my skin. The island itself was very much a living and breathing character.
Overall, This Summer Will Be Different will easily make my top books of 2024. It’s a story about female friendship, romance, growing, and healing. Lucy and Felix’s chemistry is Fortune’s best so far.
Have you read This Summer Will Be Different? What did you think?
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