From the publisher:
A glorious and tantalizing new escape from #1 New York Times bestselling author 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.
“The leads have undeniable magnetism, and Fortune avoids the pitfalls of a typical Hallmark ending, instead delivering a truly satisfying happily ever after. Romance fans will devour this.” —Publisher’s Weekly, starred review
https://amzn.to/3wnl8cI
This was a good romance if you can deal with jumping back and forth to different years, which, to be honest, I found a bit confusing at times. But I liked these characters so much that I put that very minor annoyance aside, not to mention I loved the setting – mostly Prince Edward Island, the setting of Anne of Green Gables (and on my bucket list to visit,) with brief forays to Toronto.
Bridget and Lucy are best friends since they met several years earlier. Bridget’s family has a home on Prince Edward Island, and she can’t wait to show Lucy her favorite place, but it comes with a warning – do not fall in love with Bridget’s younger brother, Wolf.
Their first trip there has a bumpy start when Bridget has to leave a day later. She sends Lucy to the island, tells her where to find the hidden key, and plans on meeting her the next morning. Except when Lucy gets to the island, she stops off for a drink and something to eat. There is a gorgeous man shucking oysters at the bar, and their chemistry is off the charts. Lucy ends up going home with Felix and has the best sex of her life. But when she gets up in the morning, she quickly realizes that she is in Bridget’s family home and yep, Felix may be his real name, but everyone calls him Wolf. Lucy is upset and swears Felix to keep it to himself, and he understands.
Felix lives on the island all year round, but his parents have retired and are traveling for most of the time. Eventually, he builds his own home and along with his best friend, builds several cabins to rent out for the summer to the tourists that flock to the island. Meanwhile, Lucy and Bridget come back to the island fairly regularly, and even though Lucy tries to keep her distance from Felix, they inevitably fall back into bed again and again and again. Lucy feels guilty keeping it from Bridget, but she and Felix have an understanding. They both see other people when Lucy is in Toronto, but after a while it just isn’t working for her.
Things come to a head a week before Bridget’s wedding when she runs away to the island. Lucy is a florist whose business is doing her best friend’s wedding, but when Bridget calls, Lucy goes. Hoping she can spend the weekend and then go home to Toronto and get back to work, those plans quickly fall by the wayside. Something is going on with Bridget, but she’s not talking and it’s driving both her brother and her best friend crazy.
Lucy and Felix end up spending quite a bit of time together, and Lucy realizes that she is in love – the one promise she made to Bridget has gone up in flames. But Bridget is so deep into her own issues, she barely notices. With Lucy’s business in Toronto, and Felix’s in PEI, there doesn’t seem to be a way for them to find a future together.
I don’t want to give away any more than to say everyone finds their happy ending here, and it wasn’t altogether unexpected. I really enjoyed this story, and I highly recommend it!
5/2024 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
THIS SUMMER WILL BE DIFFERENT by Carley Fortune. Berkley (May 7, 2024). ISBN: 978-0593638880. 368p.
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