The Quick Answer
Is Every Summer After part of a series? Mostly no. It is her debut, published in twenty twenty two, and it stands on its own. But there is one companion novel that follows a character from it, and that is the book people ask about. Here is the order, with what I could verify and what I could not. Facts about other books are as of November twenty twenty six.
What Is Official
Reported by several reading order guides, Carley Fortune’s novels in publication order are these. Every Summer After, twenty twenty two. Meet Me at the Lake, twenty twenty three. This Summer Will Be Different, twenty twenty four. One Golden Summer, twenty twenty five. And Our Perfect Storm, reported for May of twenty twenty six.
One guide notes that the author database FictionDB says she does not write series. I could not find a publisher page that uses the word series for these books, so I will call them standalones, with one exception.
The Exception
That exception is One Golden Summer. According to a TV Insider interview and a SuperSummary overview, it is a companion novel. Charlie Florek, Sam’s older brother, is introduced in Every Summer After and leads the sequel. Sam and Percy appear in it as minor characters.
If you read Every Summer After first, you will know who Charlie is, and you will understand why he matters. That is why I would read them in publication order. You can read One Golden Summer without it, because it has its own love story, but you would miss some context.
What You Need to Know About Charlie
I will keep this spoiler light. In Every Summer After, Charlie is Sam’s older brother, a restaurant kid who grows up to work in finance. He is the one who calls Percy in chapter one. He is also central to the book’s big secret, which I cover in the ending video.
So when a book puts him in the lead, readers feel curious about him.
The Other Standalones
Meet Me at the Lake, This Summer Will Be Different, and Our Perfect Storm are described by the sources I found as independent stories. You can read them in any order. Many readers say they share a tone with Every Summer After: a lake or summer setting, a slow burn, and a heroine with something to prove.
I have not read these, so I will not rate them.
The Reading Order I Would Use
If you want the cleanest path, read Every Summer After first. Then read One Golden Summer if Charlie caught your attention. After that, pick the others by setting or mood, because the publishers do not link them.
If you only have time for one, Every Summer After is the book most people recommend as her starting point.
Is There a Book Two for Sam and Percy?
Not that I could find. The epilogue of Every Summer After ends one year later, and Sam and Percy appear again only in the companion book. The screen version, which I cover in another video, uses a different title, Every Year After.
Where It Sits
Here is my own view, and a draft for the owner to check. If you like the idea of a romance with a long, painful gap in the middle, start here. If you want the full plot, I have a summary and an ending video. If you want to see the show, read the book first.
Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time.
