This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune Book Review
“Some of my happiest memories are on this gorgeous crescent of green land. Some of my biggest mistakes too. But I won’t repeat them. Not this time. For once, this summer will be different.”
(pg. 31)
About
Author: Carley Fortune
Genre: New Adult Romance
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Synopsis
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.
Review
Spoilers Contained Below
To the ones we always find ourselves coming back to,
There are certain authors you read during the summer—Jenny Han, Sarah Dessen, Morgan Matson, Emily Henry, and Carley Fortune.
Carley Fortune perfectly captures the feeling of what is summer with the first rays of sunlight beaming on golden sand and crystal waters all while the taste of romance permeates the air.
Just an incredible summer vibe all around, that makes you wish summer were longer or that you could have had the kinds of summers she writes about. I also felt like This Summer Will be Different was much stronger than her last book, Meet Me at the Lake. No dislike for Meet Me at the Lake because I enjoyed reading that book, but This Summer Will be Different just felt different. This Summer Will be Different felt like Carley Fortune who just had an incredible summers day at the beach with great company and wanted to capture the feeling of being in love and being in love with life. I also loved how in the acknowledgements, Carley Fortune wrote how This Summer Will be Different was born out of wanting to have fun with her writing, and I could really feel that through her words and her characters actions. I love the thought of an author having fun with what they are writing because I could understand how hard it can feel to follow up a debut novel that we kind of lose ourselves to thinking what would readers want to read or is this good enough. But when we let go of what other people think and do what we love for ourselves, there’s a completely different energy and I felt that. I felt like Carley Fortune recaptured the love and fun that was Every Summer After and amplified that feeling in This Summer Will be Different.
Can I also just say, I don’t know if I’m remembering correctly because sometimes you read a book and love it and then forget most words from that book, but I believe that This Summer Will be Different is Carley Fortune’s best written work so far 🥰. I genuinely mean that. I had to constantly stop while I was reading to gawk at the amazing lines she wrote—very literary and appreciated. The way Carley Fortune captured a feeling rather than telling what that feeling was was incredible. I loved her use of extended metaphors and similes that made me know exactly what she meant but it was so beautifully put that I wish I had thought of saying those emotions that way.
I mean,
“My mind has been stretching, bending, performing acrobatic feats on a balance beam, twisting to process the evident discomfort with me and Bridget’s runaway bride act.”
(pg. 60)
Banger.
“It felt like after the clammers of the summer high season, the island began to flat out brag.”
(pg. 131)
Stunning.
“I felt like an everlasting sparkler, sizzling and sparkling in the dark, no end to the burning.”
(pg. 141)
Electric.
“His words were gas to a flame.”
(pg. 143)
Imprint this on my brain.
His words were gas to a flame 👏🏼.
I don’t know, I just feel like when reading a multitude of romance books, it is easy for a writer’s voice to sound the same as another writer’s voice because of the romance formula and sequence of events. But when a writer has a distinct voice and style to how they write, the story truly feels like magic and feels refreshing that it is so different. I don’t know, this book just felt so refreshing in its structure and intrigue and the literary way the story played out. I just have come to really appreciate romance stories that are different because too many romance stories sound the same these days 🙈. Sorry. Don’t get me wrong, I love a high and true romance book, but after a while I just want something that feels different, and this was it 🧡.
Lucy Ashby is someone who was bold but subtle—bold in dress, but subtle in demeanor. She wasn’t the person to dance without inhibitions in a crowd, but she was someone who would dance on the side with a friend or so in a striking outfit. I loved that her personality wasn’t brazen because sometimes we are not these strong, courageous characters, but just normal people who don’t want to draw attention or fight great battles for glory.
I found Lucy’s home life very interesting and relatable in the sense that she never quite felt accepted in her family. She had brother, Lyle, who was six years years older than her, which is quite an age gap. Her parents never really expected to have another kid after trying for many years, but were blessed with Lucy. However, because they had tried for many years and faced hardships in that trial, they focused all their attention on Lyle and his hockey endeavors, which meant that when Lucy came into the world, they still put more attention to Lyle’s hockey. Lucy’s parents still cared for Lucy, but treated her like glass because she was a miracle baby to them, however, I don’t think she ever felt loved by her parents in the way she wanted to be loved. I believe that’s tough because there was this huge age gap between her and her brother and that must have felt like she couldn’t relate to him, and we all know how sometimes older brothers want nothing to do with their younger sister (spoken from a younger sister herself 😅).
Whenever Lyle would have hockey games, Lucy would stay with her Aunt Stacy.
Gosh, I loved loved LOVED Aunt Stacy 🧡. What a gem!
Aunt Stacy was the fire to Lucy’s spark in how bold she was. I loved how she would always wear statement red and she ingrained in Lucy to always have a pop of red; I loved the mention of how Lucy remembered her Aunt Stacy having children’s books about wearing red. Aunt Stacy treated Lucy like her own and showed her compassion and love when Lucy didn’t really feel like she has any. Aunt Stacy also taught her how to pick flowers and arrange them, which sparked Lucy’s interest in flower arrangement. Aunt Stacy owned a shop called In Bloom where Lucy took to working there as she got older, and eventually took over ownership when Aunt Stacy wanted to sell the shop. But taking over the shop meant following her heart rather than doing what her parents wanted. So five years ago, Lucy quit her PR job and decided to fully work at the flower shop. I know Lucy’s parents were worried about Lucy quitting her “stable” job and were disappointed with her for doing so, but they should have come around after some time and understood that if Lucy’s passion was flower arrangements and she loved what she did, that’s all that really mattered. I think far too often, which I understand, parents harp on their children for not choosing a stable path, but I think at the end of the day that we have to understand that this is their life and what they are choosing to do with what they love, and if what they love does not seem the most stable, then to love them through that. Let them try, and support them as you can, whether that means being the first person at their grand opening or game or to pick up the pieces when things get heavy. We can’t shelter what people want to do, but be there for them for when it works out or when it doesn’t because how else will we truly learn?
Anyway, quitting her job five years ago was what really started Lucy down a significant path that would change her life forever.
Five summers ago, Lucy’s friend Bridget sent her to Prince Edwards Island (PEI) in Charlottesville, Canada to getaway and decompress from all of the stress of the city life and the pressures her family put on her. If I’m being honest, as someone who knows jack shiz about geography 🙈, I had no idea what PEI was. I thought that was an English country or something, sorry 😂. I’m from a small Island, so I don’t know much about where are other places or countries. I mean, I could tell you where the main countries or well-known places are, but other places, I do not have a clue. That’s not me trying to be rude, that’s just my education. Not trying to blame my education system 😂, but when you’re from a small area, they don’t really teach you about different countries and places except those around you or those well-known. I digress, so I had to look up where PEI was and what it looked like. And can I say, BEAUTIFUL. I need to book a trip to Canada and visit these Maritime Provinces. Not going to lie, I read about the three Maritime Provinces and not me always thinking Nova Scotia was also in Europe. I mean, Nova Scotia means New Scotland, so I wasn’t far off with my European viewpoint.
Besides my severely lacking geography skills, I loved the setting of the story. I feel like the setting was it’s own character, and I loved that 🧡. I loved the way Carley Fortune described PEI and what it is well-known for for uncultured geography slackers like me 😅. I also loved being taken around the entirety of PEI because sometimes in books, we just barely touch the surface of a unique place, but Carley Fortune made me feel like I would know PEI if I travel there. I also liked how we saw PEI through different seasons—summer and autumn (do you call it fall or autumn)?
Honestly, authors are out here feeding the part of my that wants to go on vacation but can only afford the $20 it took to buy this book 😂.
You know, when I’m I going to go on a slu**y little vacation and meet a hot man with tousled brown hair, oceanic eyes with a splash of brown, and a chiseled chin? And who also gives me the time of day 😂????
Is that too much to ask?
I guess, I need to go to PEI.
It’s almost unfair how unrealistic my standards are 😂.
Thanks a lot, Carley Fortune.
I’m joking 🤪!!!
Not really, but truly, I wish vacations worked that way where you sit at a bar and a handsome (not creepy) man flirts with you and shucks some oysters and gets so distracted by your beauty that he accidentally nicks himself. Never ever do I think that I will experience that. I loved and laughed with how Felix teased Lucy for looking like a tablecloth.
“‘And it’s hard to resist a woman in a tablecloth who tells you she’s wide open.'”
(pg. 173)
There was this guardedness to Felix in the sad looks that Lucy glimpsed the first time she met him that made me wonder what he was trying to push down and forget as well. I mean, they both had their reasons for letting their inhibitions go and sleeping with each other that very first time they met. But what?
I knew from the second that Lucy mentioned that Bridget had a brother who lived on PEI who wasn’t texting back was that the man at the bar was her brother 😁👍🏼. I mean, it was obvious that the hot man that Lucy would chose to let go with would be the brother. He mentioned he forgot his phone in his buddies truck, which was why he wasn’t responding and his house had food that she liked almost like if by magic. It was almost painful watching that realization dawn on Lucy who was like, “How did I not notice the toad statue by the sliding door?” I don’t know, maybe it’s because you were smushing your face to Felix’s on his way up to his bedroom 🤪?
One of Bridget’s three rules though when on PEI was to not fall in love with her brother.
Hey, she didn’t say anything about sleeping with her brother, right 😂.
HAHAHA.
When Bridget finally got to the island after missing her flight for a job interview for a hospital, I loved how Felix and Lucy pretended that nothing had happened. But in the back of Lucy’s dirty little mind, all she could think about was her brother. YIKES. I mean, she had to tell her friend what happened, especially with the rules that Bridget had in place. I wondered a lot as the book progressed, why did Bridget have this last condition? Why was she so adamant that no one date her brother? Was her brother that bad 😂? You know like how some girls will say don’t date my brother because they are like the bad boy and wouldn’t want that for their friend. I didn’t get that vibe from Felix because he seemed like such a nice boy-man. Gosh, I thought it was endearing when he created this tap, tap, pause, then tap special knock for Lucy and him that summer. I also liked how they created their own set of rules after sleeping together. But also, I was like, they’re going to absolutely, 100000000% break these rules, especially the last one. Not fall in love with each other, yea right 🤪.
But the reason Bridget enacted that last rule was because Felix was engaged to Bridget’s best friend, Joy, until Joy called off that engagement. I loved uncovering the whole mystery of what happened with Felix and why he was sad. That summer eh hooked up with Lucy was when Joy called off their engagement, so it made sense that Felix was looking to forget his sorrows. Dude dated Joy for seven years, which in high school feels like a lifetime. Joy was originally Bridget’s friend first from elementary school, but Joy started to like Felix and they started dating each other. Felix would work at Joy’s family oyster shack or something, and Joy’s family adored him. Joy and Felix seemed geared up for marriage, so Felix proposed and Joy said yes. But then she broke their engagement off a few days later because she wanted to find herself. I mean, when you’re young and twenty-something, of course, you’re going to have reservations about getting married if you feel like you haven’t really experienced what you wanted to. Some people can get married that young, and I have nothing against that, but for others, they need time to figure out who they are or what they want to do. Both are fair choices. I just wish that Joy was honest in saying no when Felix proposed rather than getting his hopes up and then letting him down. Either way, his heart was going to break, but I would rather my heart break without false hope. But also if I was in Joy’s shoes and everyone was watching someone propose to me, the instinct is to say yes to make the guy and yourself not look foolish—difficult situation, for sure. But I felt awful for Felix because his heart did break.
But I don’t think his heart was irreparable. I think he just felt hurt by being with someone for so long and having these close bonds with Joy’s family and all of a sudden losing that. Also, he was single for the first time in years; I bet a big part of him also felt terrified about not really knowing what being single or being himself meant either. Rejection sucks either way, but I think part of him knew Joy wasn’t the one if he mentioned how he always felt like the relationship was too quick and like his path was going to marry her. I think part of him felt trapped in that path, and that path would have been wrong for him, so Joy did him a solid by calling their engagement off. I liked that Felix and Joy were able to be amicable after everything because gosh knows dating someone that long and breaking off an engagement can be AKA-awkward.
Joy and Bridget’s friendship felt like more of a loss than Felix and Joy’s.
“The twin breakups–Joy’s with Felix and Joy’s with Bridget–brought us closer together. A good friendship origin story involves a villain. Ours was Joy.”
(pg. 135
Best friend relationships can be more personal in that way. I think what was difficult was how Joy was Bridget’s friend first and yet Joy mended things with Felix before Bridget. From Joy’s perspective, understandably so, she broke Felix’s heart, so she wanted to ensure things were okay with him first. I don’t know if Joy never reached out to Bridget, or if she tried and Bridget didn’t want to accept that at first, but I know they had a tense relationship. From Bridget’s perspective, I would feel betrayed if my best friend cared more about my brother to talk to him first. I get it. But also, Joy was in a relationship—intimate relationship with Felix and she owed him an explanation.
I liked how we got to see how Bridget and Joy’s relationship evolved and that there was no hostility between them anymore.
“‘No guy is worth losing a friend over.'”
(pg. 194)
No person is worth losing a friend over.
Bridget was hurt by what happened in the past with Joy and how Joy seemed to choose her brother of her. So Bridget didn’t want a repeat of the past, so she created rules or boundaries so she never lost a friend again. I understood why Bridget held rule number three close, but if your best friend actually was the love of your brothers life and vice versa, what then 😩?
I loved how Carley Fortune alternated between Now perspectives and what happened after that summer five years ago—counting down to last summer and what happened. Doing so build suspense and intrigue of wondering what happened all those summers ago to effect how Lucy and Felix were acting now. I also loved getting to relive all the summers that Lucy and Felix fell in love.
The summer of four years ago, had me gushing and screaming—–sooooo sweet!
I loved how welcoming and accepting the Clarks were of Lucy being there because they knew she had a tense/weird relationship with her family. I loved that whole thoughtful commentary of how Lucy felt her family differed from the Ashbys because sometimes I also look at my friends families and think how different—in a good way—their family is and how I wish I had a bit of the magic their family had. But it’s just nice to have people who welcome you and make you feel like family when your own family never really felt like family.
I loved how Felix and Lucy went grocery shopping together and how Lucy squealed over the Cows Creamery butter and was like “I need this in my life,” and Felix was like “I can make that happen.” And he did for years after 🥺🧡. Always stocking her fridge with that dang butter! A thoughtful king, the nerve! Or how he blatantly tried to guide her hand when she was cutting green beans in the kitchen—-what a move 😉. I laughed when Bridget called Felix out for flirting with Lucy so obviously. I loved that Bridget noticed the flirting because I think it would be unrealistic of her not to notice her brother ogling Lucy or trying to touch her. I also loved how he was her partner for that sand castle competition, and when her bridge went down, he held it together until he couldn’t. I loved that they had these moments together that emphasized the growing emotion that went beyond their physical connection last summer. I also loved how Bridget asked how he got the nick on his thumb, and Felix mentioned that someone distracted him all the while looking at Lucy 😫. ScreAmING.
I also freaking laughed with how Lucy would say in her head, two more days, one more day to get herself through her time there because she was losing her resolve to not want to sleep with him. That resolve didn’t last two days. When she literally pulled Felix into the bathroom with her half-naked and him half-naked. Gosh, I was like, the family is home, I don’t think this is a good idea!!! The bathroom mirror scene?????? OH MY GOSH. I’m watching season three of Bridgerton, and I must say, I guess mirror scenes are all the rage 🙈. I hope to high heck they were quiet about their endeavors.
I also just loved how with each summer, Lucy could see Felix becoming more confident and assured in himself. I loved the descriptions of Felix’s appearance and disposition because the descriptions reflected the change over time and how people do grow into themselves as they grow up, so it was so nice to see Felix become this lively man who grew a beard and who walked with a certain swagger or rizz as they call it now. Gosh, that sounds weird.
The third visit to PEI was during autumn/Thanksgiving time.
Felix’s flight got canceled and was moved to the day after Lucy and Bridget left. However, he surprised everyone with an early flight in. I literally screamed when Lucy used their tap—their tap—to knock on the TV room door for a late night booty call of sorts 🙈!!!! SIS, doing it in front of the bathroom mirror is risky, but doing it in a full hose at night is RISQUE!!!! A FULL HOUSE. Now that was just asking for people to find out they were sleeping together!! Oh my gosh, not when the bed literally creaked!!! I was like, you’re so dumb but also the tension between them was so electric. There was something different between this time though, and I liked how Carley Fortune made you feel the difference; it was the way that Felix cared for Lucy this time and had more tenderness in the way he looked at her. There was that moment that was different and you could feel like this was no longer some fun, exploitative fling for Felix, but he cared about Lucy.
“‘Don’t fall in love with me, Felix Clark,’ I whispered. ‘Rule three.’
‘I wouldn’t dream of it.'”
(pg. 146)
Oh he was a goner for her 🥺🧡.
And the way she was a goner for him from that summer five years ago???? 🥺🧡. Oh my goooshness.
The way her heart continually screams to want more of him and more from him—I cannot!
Two autumns ago was very different for them, which I really loved 🧡.
I thought it was nice to see them not hook up for once and actually have a sort of friendship with each other in Lucy’s world. I liked how for this autumn, Felix visited Bridget in Toronto—we took the small-town man and put him in the city. During this time, Bridget had moved out of the apartment Lucy and her shared and moved in with Miles. Lucy had a difficult time when Bridget moved out because she felt this loneliness and craved companionship. Living alone, especially after living with someone, can be gruesome—for the noise to be replaced with silence, for the space to be replaced with dust. There’s definitely a missing puzzle piece taken out of your heart when you suddenly find yourself with just four walls and your thoughts. Lucy started dating this tech guy named Carter who didn’t really give her a spark.
I loved how Aunt Stacy even told Lucy that Lucy could do better than Carter. I also loved how Aunt Stacy hosted weekly dinners with Bridget and Lucy and had all these bits of wisdom of being with someone who made you feel fireworks. She didn’t believe in long term romance for herself, but she believed in someone who you felt like a sunburst about. I loved that.
I also LAUGHED when the Aunt took one look at Felix when she met him, and knew Lucy had slept with him 😂. I guess, the sparks be sparkin. But I think it’s always more obvious to others when someone loves you. The Aunt could see how Felix looked at Lucy and the way he listened to her and talked of the things Lucy loved—like he really knew her. Aunt Stacy and I know a spark when we see one 😁. I mean, how cute that he used their knock to tell Lucy that he did come after she nonchalantly invited him to visit In Bloom, which she now owned. He came after hours, but he still came because he remembered.
I loved loved loved the whole moment where they go out on the town in Toronto. I loved how as they made their way to get dinner, they stopped by a bookstore—my kind of store—and they browse books. I loved that this was the moment where Lucy opened up to Felix about her dream of one day having a cut flower farm where people could cut their own flowers on a farm she owned and she could arrange the flowers; they were looking at a book with a cut flower farm. In one section of the book was a picture of a woman walking through a field of dahlias, and in that moment blossomed Lucy’s biggest dream. ANd I loved how much Felix didn’t diminish her dream as being silly, but said:
“‘Dream big with me, Lucy.'”
(pg. 171)
Dream big with him 🥺. Together. EEEK.
Eww, did I just type that.
Gross, but truly, find you a person to dream big with.
I also just really loved their dinner conversation that felt more intimate than the intimacy they usually had. I loved how Felix opened up about how he came to love reading. Felix never went to college, but he would ask Zach for the reading lists he got from class, and Felix fell in love with books. He fell in love with the feeling of getting lost in a story and being transported somewhere.
If a man told me he loved books because he loved getting lost in a story and being transported somewhere, instant hand in marriage. Down on one knee 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼.
That’s exactly the reason we book girilies be out here reading.
They also talked about how he would love for Lucy to visit the Salt Cottages next summer. I loved that Felix had a passion project he was making come to live with his best friend—-Felix had ambition, drive, and passion. Maybe also a big wallet to buy land and build four cottages and personalize them 😂. I mean, I can barely afford my groceries, so how is this man buying land and building houses? Does shucking oysters really make that much money? If so, I’m in the wrong business. What I loved the most out of their conversation was how much closer they were because they understood each other’s innermost dreams. And when Lucy received a seed packet in the mail???? 🥺 SPARKS. Felix sending her seed packets was the equivalent of him telling her that he believed in her dreams and that here are some seeds to start growing those flowers for your farm 😭🧡. And not Lucy sending him books about gardening as her way of saying I see you too.
She put more thought into that one gesture than she ever did with Casper, oh sorry, Carter 😂. Who was Felix’s girlfriend at the time? Sorry, but your man’s is not in love with you.
I was so interested in wanting to know what happened last summer because Lucy kept alluding to how this was the summer shiz went down.
I felt awful for Lucy because last summer for her did feel shizzy. If someone broke into my shop, my mans broke up to me, and someone I loved was sick, I would have wanted to skip the season altogether.
The break-up with Carter must have sucked, but also to me, it wasn’t as big a deal because gosh knows she didn’t really love Carter. I felt like she only liked what Carter stood for–companionship—and he didn’t want to feel like a couch that he could sit on or forget at the end of the day. I don’t think Lucy’s a bad person, but I do feel like she wasn’t the best girlfriend to Carter because she didn’t love him the way he was asking to be loved in the relationship; He wanted to be the one Lucy prioritized or gave affection to, but it always felt like she was working or making excuses. He also felt like Lucy never opened up to him, which was hard because she was going through a lot and she didn’t like him, but I understood Carter. He deserved someone who wanted to be with him for him and would make time for him in a relationship, and I could respect that. I think hearing what Carter said about their relationship was jarring for Lucy because she didn’t feel like she treated him horribly, but I think she could also understand that she didn’t treat him with love either.
But Aunt Stacy 😭.
Okay, that one broke my heart! How could Lucy’s heart not also feel like a dropped vase?
There was this moment Lucy mentioned of her mom visiting Aunt Stacy in the hospital, and it was the first time she ever saw them laughing together and the mom was like, “I wish you told me sooner.” Apparently, Aunt Stacy didn’t see sparks in Lucy’s parens relationship and she didn’t tell her sister until her wedding day. The disapproval of the sister’s husband created a rift between the mom and sister, and the husband and Stacy, which I could understand.
“‘Do you think your mom forgave her?’ Felix asks me.
‘She did,’ I say. ‘In the end. But they let this one thing come between them and they lost so much time. It wasn’t soon enough.'”
(pg. 261)
In this moment, I couldn’t help but think of Lucy and Bridget. Lucy feared losing Bridget if she told Bridget about sleeping and possibly loving her brother. I would also be terrified to share my feelings to my best friend if she made it clear to not love her brother—to let something come between them. But it’s better to be honest earlier on, and to remember to not let anger and resentment build because you will lose time to all that anger when you could have been creating memories instead. This quote reminds me of something I read in Chain of Thorns in how unhappiness poisons your life; if you spend all your time being unhappy with someone or something, you’re just letting the negativity grow with little room for anything else.
With Lucy’s Aunt passing away four weeks after being diagnosed, Bridget had Lucy go to PEI to getaway. It sounds like PEI was a form of escape.
Felix was there to pick her up by Wowie the cow. I loved the way he held her hair back when she threw up on the side of the road, and he did not judge her for it. I also loved how Felix saw how shattered and fragile Lucy was and gave her space while also being there for her. He looked out for her in such a tender way that went above just being a good brother, but he truly cared about Lucy. I loved how he bought her foods that she liked because he knew her so well. I loved the impromptu stick-shift drive to Prim Point to take her mind off things and to enjoy the beach. I loved how he went shirtless in the water and Lucy ogled him there. I think that they were both so terrified to admit the feelings between them after they both tried and failed at dating; that they kept ending back with each other and that scared them more than it scared them being alone.
The “I want yous” they said on the beach was much different than a suggestive knock or a bathroom release. It was a clear directive.
MY GOSH, how sweet was Felix that he displayed all of the books Lucy sent him liked prized possessions! And not only that, he ANNOTATED the books 😭🧡.
“I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be.”
(pg. 223)
A Great Expectation indeed.
But what are you supposed to think about that??????!?!?!?
“I knew Felix at twenty-three–brokenhearted, putting his life back together–and I knew him now, at twenty-seven—determined, solid, the kindest man I knew..”
(pg. 223)
Lucy was petrified of her very real feelings.
“There were two pillars in my life that I needed to guard, In Bloom and my friendship with Bridget.”
(pg. 224)
What about your heart 😭?
Don’t ruin a good thing by saying something hurtful you don’t mean just so you can push him away! Thank goodness she just bolted out of their instead, but still. When she saw Felix standing in a home he built, taking care of her, she saw every moment where she wanted more with him and every moment she grew to love him from the books, the seeds, their beach days—she felt like her feelings were too real and they needed to stop. She couldn’t break rule number three because she already lost her aunt and couldn’t lose her best friend either. I think Felix played their situation off as their usual “good time” but to him, it meant more, and that’s why Zach drove Lucy to the airport the next day; driving Lucy would have been too difficult for him when he wanted something he thought she didn’t want.
Felix, trust me, she wanted more!!!
So that’s why there was this tension in the beginning when Lucy arrived to PEI eight days before Bridget’s wedding to Miles. Bridget—who never asks for help—asked Lucy to join her in PEI when Bridget didn’t show up to her final dress fitting. As the best friend, Lucy went without question.
I haven’t talked about Lucy and Bridget’s friendship as much because I wanted to do so when I got to the now perspectives, but I loved loved loved the way that we got to know the history of their friendship and the depth 🧡.
I loved hearing about the first time they met. Lucy broke her heel at a party, and was ambling home when Bridget rode by on her bike. They recognized each other from a class they had, but never really spoke to each other because Bridget always came late. However, Bridget offered Lucy a ride home on her bike, and Lucy rode on the handlebars. That night they talked about everything and anything and became fast friends from there. I just loved the serendipity of the moment, and how sometimes we might see people but if we gave them a chance, who knows? Maybe they will become our lifelong best friend. I know I was that kind of person who always thought I would find another best friend in college or as I got older. I am very grateful for my friends now, but sometimes I wonder about who would be friends with the me I am now because gosh knows I’m not entirely the same person I was in elementary school when I met some of my closest friends.
I loved the stories of of Lucy and Bridget moved in with each other. If I’m being honest, I don’t know if I could move in with my best friend because we’re so different and I don’t know if she would get annoyed with me 😂. I’d like to think we could live together. But I loved the stories of how they would watch movies and cook together, or how Bridget shucked an oyster their first night and was surprised Lucy had never eaten an oyster before. I felt sympathy for Lucy when Bridget moved out because going from being with a person you love everyday to a barren, quiet place is uncomfortable. It’s a difficult change to adapt to and Lucy missed her best friend.
I also adored the way that Lucy and Bridget spoke about each other. I don’t know if I just don’t hear friends say this enough or I don’t have many friends to have said this, but I don’t think many friends outright express admiration for each other. But I loved the way Lucy saw Bridget and supported her, and vise versa.
“[Bridget’s] cheeks were pink, her freckles darkened by the sun. She looked like part of the island—someone born of soil and sea and wind. So beautiful, my best friend.”
(pg. 89)
Get you a best friend who looks at you like THAT 🧡.
I did find it odd that Bridget called her best friend and roped her brother into being on PEI a week out before her wedding. Gosh knows if I were Bridget I would have been stressed the moon and over so close to my wedding to pull a sudden trip. You know, the second Bridget said how she pulled this sudden trip to spend time with her loved ones in her hometown, I knew that that wasn’t the true reason. I mean, I understood she was overwhelmed and getting married can cause you to want to retreat to familiar ground, but I never thought for a second that she would ask her best friend to drop everything and be with her just for nostalgia sake.
There was the initial moment where Lucy asked Bridget what was wrong when they walked on the beach, and Bridget said that she felt like everything was slipping away like that cliff they were looking at. Given how quickly her life was going to change in a couple of days, I could understand her high-strung emotions and her tears. But it is jarring when someone who doesn’t usually cries, breaks out in tears. It’s almost like watching a fish climb a tree. I also understood why Lucy never pushed Bridget about what she was hiding because the harder Lucy pushed, the more Bridget would play defense and retreat; they fought like sisters. I think that’s hard though because when they want to address something with each other, they had to skate around each other until someone else was ready to give in. However, I must say little Miss Lucy also had her secrets, so they were both hiding something from each other, which obviously, secrets create rifts. I didn’t like the fact that they were both holding back because they were scared what the other would think or say because if they were best friends, they should feel comfortable sharing news with each other and should accept what the other person had to say.
I never guessed what Bridget was hiding until the last few pages leading up to Bridget talking to Lucy. I kept wondering what did Miles do that would have changed Bridget’s mind because she was obviously dodging his calls and was upset with him. However, the way Lucy and Felix spoke about Miles made him seem like a stand up man who was the epitome of nice. I was thinking maybe Bridget cheated on him and she feels guilty? She was pregnant? I didn’t quite know what would garner such a reaction from her or for Felix to say, “You’re kidding.” Kidding about what? It wasn’t until Miles flew to PEI and Lucy took one look at Bridget and Miles that I knew that they were still going to get married, but maybe Bridget was going to move.
I felt it then because of how Bridget felt like everyone was slipping away, and how this trip felt like a last PEI hurrah before everything changed. I also thought that the only thing that would make Bridget this conflicted to tell Lucy was because the news would affect her, and knowing Lucy, Bridget was always there for her and it would hurt her if Bridget left. So I thought, “Oh, she’s going to Australia.” Bridget was moving to Australia in October because Miles got offered a good job there, and he had to take it. Bridget didn’t want to tell Lucy because she felt like Lucy already lost so much the past year, she didn’t want Lucy to feel like she too were leaving her. I understood that. But Bridget had to follower her husband, but her heart was aching to leave her second love.
“I turn to her, ‘Bridge you’re my everything.’
‘I love you,’ she tells me. ‘But I can’t be your everything. Nobody can.'”
(pg. 267)
Lucy had relied on Bridget for so long for company and her happiness, that Lucy couldn’t fathom letting Bridget go for fear of being all alone. And I think that’s really tough when Lucy never really felt loved growing up by the people she thought would love her, so she created this found family that was slipping between her fingers with time. But I partially agreed with Bridget, that it wasn’t fair to Bridget to be Lucy’s everything because Lucy had to be everything for herself. I know people always say that you are all you have, and there’s a lot of truth in that, but I also believe that it’s okay to have someone to lean on when you can’t be everything for yourself. No, don’t depend on others to be your crutch through life, but yes, you should have someone there who will catch you when you fall. I think it’s a false narrative to say that you can’t have help in life because you have to be your own happiness or your own cheerleaders. Yes, you can’t expect anyone to make you happy or to be there for you the way you can for yourself. However, I think it’s unfair to never think that you can’t have support or people around you to be part of that happiness or love. I don’t know. I just believe in loving yourself and fighting for your happiness but also knowing it’s okay to have help.
Bridget got her news off her chest, but Lucy still had to tell her how she fell in love with her brother.
I LIVED for the initial tension between Felix and Lucy when she arrived there. I mean, I loved the way Felix stocked up on granola bars for the car ride knowing Lucy got car sick and how he got Lucy her favorite foods including the butter. I loved loved loved the way Lucy acted like a shaken soda can around him with wiping the already clean counters and then the whole bathroom thing where Felix was half naked and she spilled water on him, so she bent down in front of him and started to wipe the water. I CRIED 😂 laughter because, he was in a towel and she’s at her knees wiping, again. Can someone say MOrtiFieD? I would have been mortified. I bet Felix was eating this up. I laughed with how Bridget also picked up the awkward vibes between them because Felix always asked about Lucy or fawned over her, but he was keeping his distance.
“‘The Clark family theory is that Wolf made a move on you, and you turned him down.’
‘Is that so?’
‘Yup. It would explain why he’s not at your feet like usual.’
I roll my eyes. ‘The Clark family,’ I tell Bridget, ‘needs to find a bigger island so they have something else to gossip about.'”
(pg. 103)
Or, the Clark family is not that off 🙈.
One of my favorite now scenes between Felix and Lucy was when Zach came over and then there was the whole Bridget argument. I liked how Felix and Lucy spoke under the moonlight of the beach with the candor of the night between them.
“Sometimes I worry that as I’ve got older, I’ve shrunk my world instead of making it grow.”
(pg. 126)
I feel personally affronted 😂.
I could have not related to Lucy or understood her more in that moment. Growing up, I always knew I wanted to do what I loved because if I was going to do something for a long time for most of the day, then I wanted to do something I loved. I was fortunate enough to have an idea of what I wanted to do, but I know a lot of people will tell you to choose a hobby and make that your work because you already enjoy it anyway, but I always questioned that if you make your hobby your work, does it lose it’s effect of being something you love? Not that I’m trying to say a hobby can’t be a career, but I can say that sometimes a hobby becoming a career can addle the feelings you once felt with that hobby. That’s how Lucy was feeling—she loved arranging flowers and didn’t enjoy the business/management side of her work because that’s not what she enjoyed doing but had to do with her business. Over the years, focusing so much on running the business, made Lucy’s enjoyment of her work dwindle because her hobby no longer felt like the hobby she once loved—it was work. I also think it’s just sooooooo difficult to balance work and life.
I feel like as I’ve gotten older, my world’s gotten smaller in the sense I’m so caught up with the minute details of work that I don’t go out as much as I would like to.
And it’s hard when your work demands so much of you, but you know that work doesn’t matter so much as living life. But you still have to work, and then on top of that you have to cook, clean, go out with people, pay bills, wash the car, buy groceries, and on and on and on, that I feel like my world has shrunk to what I have to do rather than I want to do. And I never wanted to be that adult who hated their job or hated doing the same thing everyday and never changed anything about it. But somehow I’ve become the adult who gets tired from working all day and wishes I gave myself more time for me and for the things I love. It’s a harrowing fear that my world has not grown as much as I would have thought it would with age.
Lucy’s dream also took a back burner, and that broke my heart. I feel like our dreams should never ever take a back burner to life because if we still have a passion and love for what we dream, then that deserves the utmost thought. I loved that he remembered her dream 🧡.
I felt like Lucy was so hard on herself with work because she always felt the need to prove herself like the job she had was a real job; her parents always patronized her and asked, “when she was going to get a real job?” I didn’t like that they made her feel like her work was invalid just because it wasn’t a six figure job. Being a florist is a job, and if she was happy, why are they harping on her? I think they needed to suck some toes and swallow some humility. I also felt like Lucy worked so hard because she felt this inner pressure to not let her Aunt’s business down—that she lost her Aunt and had to do her proud by keeping the business going. That’s hard 😐. I wish she didn’t put that sort of pressure on her shoulder, but I understood after losing her aunt, In Bloom was her one connection to her and she couldn’t lose that too.
But Lucy also needed to give up her fortifying grip of In Bloom and trust Farah and others wanted to help. GOSH, I LOVED Farah! Hilarious, sassy, spunky, and kind when she wanted to be. “You look like an anal gland” (pg. 292) 😂. Love the honesty. But I also loved how Farah was there and she always wanted to contribute more than Lucy was letting her.
But going back to Felix and Lucy, they just had a flame that was too big to smother. I loved the constant reference to sparks and electricity whenever they saw each other—love at first, second, third, endless sight. Their connection just seemed ceaseless no matter how hard they tried to fight it.
I loved loved loved when they went to the Anne of Green Gables museum/site, and volleyed quotes to each other. Honestly, the fact that Felix was a reader was already saying hand in marriage. I don’t make the rules 🤪. I also could not when he straight up just casually took Lucy’s sore feet in his lap and started rubbing it without her asking or making her feel gross about her feet, but because he wanted to ease the pain she felt. I mean, get you a partner who rubs your feet without preamble 👏🏼. I just thought what a sweet and cute moment between them 🥺—-not the feet rubbing, but the whole adventure together.
Again, I had no shucking 😉 idea oysters were a thing in PEI, but now I know. The oyster shucking competition was so fun. I loved the build up and sense of community Carley Fortune created. This was the first time I also realized that Lucy only really knew Felix from summers and autumns, that she didn’t really know him for a continuous amount of time. But he had a whole life in PEI—a history and future—one that she didn’t know about or was a part of. I admired the fact that Felix did the oyster shucking competition year after year for his community and to make Ray proud; I admired the way he loved his community to represent each year. There was such an electric excitement I wouldn’t have thought possible for oyster shucking, but I stand corrected. What an event. When Joy wrapped her legs around Felix to hug him after he won third place, I was like, no no no, sis, you had your chance, you better unhook them legs. BUT GOSH, when Felix went to Lucy and kissed her knuckles in front of everyone . . . I’m going to need a foam mat to fall on because I’m going down 😩🧡. STOP. SO CUTE. Also, I was like, what’s Bridget going to think? Nothing could have been more obvious than kissing Lucy’s knuckles so intimately 🥺.
I freaking loved Zach and the way he would nonchalantly say, “So what’s going on there?” or “Hmm,” or, “Interesting.” He knew 😂. I loved that he knew and gave Lucy shiz for it 😂.
“‘But it looks strange—tides shouldn’t come together like that.’ It’s like an optical illusion.
‘And yet, they do.'”
(pg. 229)
We were not talking about the ocean anymore 🙈.
When Lucy got out of the car after trying to confront Bridget for what secret she was witholding, I knew Felix was going to follow her. And I LOVED the dramatic RAIN👏🏼. Cue Taylor Swifts “That’s the Way I Loved You.” I loved an angry Lucy 😅; She sure let her emotions out. Gosh, I just knew they had to kiss in that rain. Kiss those frustrations out 😂. I’m never not going to be a sucker for the passionately kissing in the rain trope.
I loved loved loved the little love bubble that Felix and Lucy were in after finally confessing that sleeping together wasn’t all they wanted anymore. I loved how they woke up next to each other and he made her coffee. I loved the domesticity of him cooking Lucy her favorite breakfast all while trying to control his impulse to flirt right back with her in that kitchen. I loved the way they eased naturally into what had been building all these years. I don’t know why ketchup also made me so emotional for Lucy; just the fact that Felix knew Lucy so well to know how she liked her ketchup and her knowing how he liked his; it’s truly in the little details that people know about you that shows you they love you. When he braided her hair???? STOP. SO CUTE 🥺. Where’s my mans to braid my hair? Oh yea, nonexistent at the moment 😭. Someone play *All by Myself*. Don’t worry, I’m not usually this self-deprecating.
What really got me was that Felix picked all these flowers for Lucy to arrange. Just the joy of Lucy arranging the flowers, brought a smile to my face because she didn’t have expectations of pressure on her. She could just do what she loved because it made her happy and I feel like we forget how important it is to do something just because it makes us happy.
I loved how they had a getting to know you moment and how Felix said his favorite color was Lucy pink 😂. I’m sorry, that’s the only correct answer from now on: (insert my name here) pink.
Also, I CACKLED when they were cooking dinner for when Bridget and Miles came, and Felix was like:
“‘He blinks. ‘You’re so f***ing hot. That’s the sexiest plate of tomatoes I’ve ever seen.'”
(pg. 263)
Oh my gosh 😩🧡.
When I’m cooking, that’s the kind of energy I need.
I wished they could have stayed in this magical, wholesome bubble, but they had to tell Bridget at this point because they were in love. Rule number three.
After Bridget shared her news about Australia, Lucy finally told Bridget she liked her brother. HAHAHA, more like love, sis. I did not expect Bridget to be so nonchalant about Lucy telling her! I was shocked! But I also laughed because Bridget knew that Lucy and Felix slept together all those years ago—since three summers ago—- when Lucy door was open and Bridget heard a load creak from the TV room. What do you mean Bridget knew!?!??! If she knew, why didn’t she say something or get mad at Lucy? I’m glad Bridget wasn’t upset because losing Bridget was Lucy’s biggest fear, but why not say anything? Also, in my mind I was thinking maybe Bridget wasn’t totally upset because she was leaving Lucy and now Lucy had Felix and wouldn’t be completely alone; Bridget was like I’m leaving you, so I can’t be upset if you’re in love with my brother. But deep down, I felt like Bridget didn’t want a repeat of what happened with Joy—to lose another friend. I also loved how Bridget was also more concerned with Felix breaking Lucy’s heart than the other way around.
The wedding was as STUNNING as any wedding could be. I just adored the way I envisioned the flower arch Lucy created because she wanted to make something out of love and gratitude for Lucy. Carley Fortune must have not put Lucy’s whole speech because she knew we’d all sob. I mean, calling your best friend the love of your life, had my eyes watering already. But also not Miles going to town on the song Bridget would belt in the shower 😂. Miles was a cool dude.
Here’s the thing, I didn’t think Lucy was in the right mind to have this whole let-me-move-in-with-you conversation with Felix when she was riding the high and the inebriation of the night. I thought their disagreement was valid in the sense that Lucy was 1) drunk and 2) wasn’t being fair to Felix. I mean, saying that she wanted to move to PEI with him to escape her job and take some time to “find herself.” OOOOOH, wrong words!!!! A slap to the face words!!!! A ghost-of-ex-fiancé-words!!!!
I agreed with Felix that she shouldn’t use moving in with him and going to PEI as a form of escapism because she was scared of being alone because Bridget was moving and she didn’t like her job as much anymore. He felt like an out rather than a choice. He wanted to know Lucy wanted to be with him for him—for love. I don’t blame him for that. I wouldn’t want to feel like the main reason someone wants to be with me is to leave somewhere else—running away. I want to be with someone who loves me for me and wants to be with me because they love me. But gosh, after not fully giving into their feelings for five years and then calling a pause after a drunken conversation, that felt rough 😕. I know Felix still loved her, but he had immense strength to say let’s pause because he wanted her to be okay for herself. Also, I understood he didn’t want a repeat of Joy where he said yes to someone only for them to not choose him in the end because they didn’t know themselves.
You know how The Fault in Our Stars had okay? okay?, I relish you was Felix and Lucy’s okay 🥺.
I have seen some authors do this where the female lead is given time to figure out themselves before gracing back into the relationship with the one they love. I love when authors deviate from the traditional romance plot even if I’ve seen this idea executed before. I just like the idea of a woman choosing to know herself a bit more before she chooses love. I liked how Lucy learned to let go of responsibility over In Bloom. I loved how she signed up for the gym because she wanted to do something for herself. I loved when she started eating out or going to movies/shows by herself for herself. I know as a single woman, it’s difficult for me to “date myself” because I feel awkward going places by myself. But I should date myself and do things for me without caring what other people might think as long as I’m happy doing it. I loved how Lucy spent her thirtieth birthday as thirty-flirty-and-thriving in her robe and face mask in front of a TV. I loved how she was okay with that simplicity. What I enjoyed the most was how once she gave up control and did more things for herself, was that her world reopened—it was growing again. She spent time with her brother and family. I cheered when she told her mom to not call her Goose—a childhood nickname for being clumsy. But yea, Lucy was an adult and if she didn’t want to be called Goose, you tell em’. And she did. She was no longer a kid, and Felix reminded her to not let anyone make her feel like one.Cooking via FaceTime with Felix was cute. I loved how cooking with him felt like a callback to how he told her to practice her cutting skills. But how fun that she had someone to be there with her to try something new but ultimately learn a skill for herself. I also thought how sweet it was that she sent him seed packets and Felix sent her cookbooks and gardening books— a callback to two autumns ago. I loved how she was learning to be okay for her again.
The part of Lucy’s self-love journey I enjoyed the most was that she finally had the courage to make her dreams come true. Bridget found a spot of land on PEI that was available, and Lucy took a chance. When Lucy visited PEI the next summer, she showed Felix the land she bought on Prim Point Road.
“‘I love Prince Edward island more than I love anywhere else, and I want to make it my home one day. I want to build a life here. I want to grow flowers here. Even if Felix doesn’t want to do it with me, this is where I want to be. “
(pg. 312)
She knew what she wanted of herself.
When Lucy took out Anne of the Island—I was done, done 😭. She got him a book about Anne of the Island. Anne as in Anne the museum they visited? Island as in PEI? I have never read the Anne of Green Gables series, but the Anne of the Island synopsis we got, had me in tears because that story resembled Lucy and Felix’s story—a second chance love on an island where she ends up marrying the love of her life. I’m sorry. Felix better be getting on a knee at this point! Gosh, Felix’s whole speech about every detail he loved about Lucy—the pretty and not so pretty—is why I have such unrealistic standards for men 😭. I mean, I will not accept anything less than that level of love.
“I am so in love with you. Wildly. Deeply. Unrelentingly in love with you.'”
(pg. 316)
Unrelentingly in love??!?!?!? 😭
Where’s the hospital??????????????
I need CPR.
Or a higher ladder for my expectations.
The parallel at the end where Lucy ends up at Felix’s house and she’s looking at his bookshelf again and sees Great Expectations. Instead of running away, she stays and calls him my love 🥺. I loved that. The epilogue was immensely sweet with Felix and Lucy eventually settling down in PEI after doing the whole back and forth thing because Lucy knew what she wanted. She gave up more responsibility at In Bloom and hired more staff so she could live her dream now. I don’t think her aunt would be disappointed, but proud that Lucy followed her heart. I loved the glimpse of Lucy and Felix’s life with what they were building on Prim Point with the farm and greenhouse. I mean, she had just the man who knew how to create something out of nothing. I also thought maybe they should use the seed packets she sent him to plant in the greenhouse.
“‘It’s so wild, the things, we do for love . . . sometimes where we find it is even wilder.”
(pg. 329)
Bridget’s surprise speech paralleled Lucy’s in its love and joy. When Bridget cheered to Felix and Lucy’s new home, saying it’s about time, my heart swelled. Lucy always wanted to find a sense of home within herself and people she loved. Now she had someone to share a home with, and a place that felt like home 🧡.
“‘I didn’t know it would feel so nice.’ I say to Bridget now.
‘What’s that?’
‘Having a partner.’ I used to think doing things on my own was the highest of achievements, and it is fulfilling, but asking Felix for help doesn’t make me feel smaller. When I’m with him, anything seems possible. It’s almost drugging, how powerful I feel. How sacred and adored. On the evenings when we’re so tired all we can do is curl up on the couch in silence, Felix reading while I watch TV, I don’t worry that we’re tiptoeing toward monotony. I don’t feel like a piece of furniture. I just feel luck. “
(pg. 330)
I love love love that 🧡.
I have never been in a romantic relationship, but I could only imagine the sense of love and safety to have someone by your side without judgement who you could grow through life with. I think finding the right person is so special in knowing you could do the most mundane things and the connection still feel as alive as it was when you first met or kissed—-that that magic never fades with time.
The ending of the book felt satiating and wholesome with how the entire time Lucy wanted more from Felix, and heck, just wanted him, and he was finally hers. I just adored their electric romance that was built over years. I also loved the strength of friendship between Lucy and Bridget—how they felt like sisters more than friends. I also appreciated how there was no drama and pettiness between Lucy and Bridget when Bridget found out Lucy loved her brother. They were mature about the relationship and supportive. There were just so many cute moments that were perfect and I soaked all of them up like summer itself.
Anyway, what was your favorite part of the book? Least favorite part? What did you think of the book? What is your favorite flower? I love peonies and yellow tulips and roses.
Let me know below in the comments as I love hearing from you all 💕
I hope you have a beautiful day whenever and wherever you might be reading this 😊.
And as always, with love,
5 Full Bloom Flowers
Characters: I loved the growth of Lucy and steadfast nature of Felix. They had such a spark from the moment they met, that kept growing into a full on blaze. I also loved Lucy’s friendship to Bridget and the way they always had each other.
Plot: I am always looking for romances that are different, and This Summer Will Be Different, was exactly what I needed to read—it had intrigue, adventure, friendship and love.
Writing: Carley Fortune knows how to bottle up the feeling of a warm, nostalgic, magical summer 🧡
Romance: I loved how I felt like Felix and Lucy’s love grew stronger as they grew into themselves and with each other.