Same Author Different Book | Shan, Cate, Kim, & Stephanie

There's something beautiful about a summer read. When you're lying on the beach or sitting by the pool, you want a novel that draws in you without asking too much of you. Summer reads require a perfect blend of vivid settings, steamy romance, and effortless pacing; the reader should feel like they're on their own mini-vacation with each turn of the page. In today's episode, Shan sits down with Kim, Steph, and Cate to discuss an author who has mastered the summer-read recipe, Carley Fortune. They'll dive into character development, the power of place, and challenging plot lines. Before the season comes to a close, pick up one of Carley Fortune's novels and escape into a summer romance you won't soon forget!

Book Recommendations 

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune

One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune

Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune 

Intro Music by nikitsan

Transcript

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Same Author Different Book

Shan: [00:00:00] Cheers. Welcome to Top Shelf with the librarians of Russell Library. Stephanie, Kate, and Kim, thank you for joining us today. 

Kim: Hi. Hey. 

Shan: Hey, guys. On Top Shelf, you'll hear about compelling reads from the people who know books best. Our librarians will share titles that connect to a unique theme each episode.

Shan: We'll offer glimpses into what we're doing here at Russell Library and hopefully spark inspiration to bring to your community. We are very excited to turn the page with you. The focus of today's show is a little bit different. We decided on discussing a specific author. Each of us have read a different book by this author and wanted to come together to see what we found similar, different, what we liked and didn't like, the kind of writing, and the plots played out.

Shan: The author we chose is Carley Fortune. Carley Fortune is the perfect author for summer. She is your go-to beach [00:01:00] read. Her novels are light and fun, but well-written. She isn't cheesy, but just the exact rom-com you need when you're heading on your vacation this summer. I'm excited to discuss the novels brought here today, and I have read every single one of them, but they're just too good.

Shan: And on a side note, one of Carley's novels is now a television show on Amazon Prime, and she has a brand-new novel out this summer, which we will be discussing. And if you love Carley Fortune as much as I do or are interested in finding out more about her, us librarians are here to help and are excited to discuss.

Shan: So to begin with, what did everyone think of Carley's book? And can you tell us which one you read? Steph, you wanna start? 

Stephanie: Sure, I'll start. Um, so I read "Every Summer After," which is the one that did just get adapted, which, um, is Carley's debut. Uh, unfortunately, I did not like this book, which, um, I will expand more on as we go, but this is actually the se- the prequel to the one that [00:02:00] Kate read.

Stephanie: So Kate, what was the name of yours? 

Cate: Yes. So I read "One Golden Summer," and I did enjoy my book very much. 

Kim: Mm-hmm. Kim? And, um, I read "Our Perfect Storm," which is set in Tofino, a seaside town on the west coast of Vancouver Island in Canada, and let me tell you, I would love to go there. 

Shan: Mm. I think all of Carley's books take place in Canada.

Shan: Yes. 

Stephanie: Yes. She's a Canadian author, 

Shan: I believe. She's a Canadian author, so because both of yours are by the lake in Canada too. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

Stephanie: Yep. 

Shan: Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. So how much did you guys know about Carley's books? Was this your first one you read, or have you read her before? And if not, did you know what you were getting yourself into, or were you surprised?

Kim: Yeah, this, this author was not on my radar at all. Um, so I had no expectations going in. And, um, yeah, I was pleasantly surprised. 

Shan: Yeah. 

Stephanie: I was aware of her. Uh, my niece actually gifted me one of her books for Christmas, and I just never got around to reading it. Mm-hmm. But I've been aware of these books. The covers are kind of everywhere- Mm-hmm

Stephanie: especially [00:03:00] this time of year. Um, I know that Shannon had read some and that Brianna had read some. This is my first one that I had picked up, and when Shannon said, "Let's do a episode and we're all gonna read the same author," at first you were like, "Hey, how about John Grisham?" And we all looked at you like- 

Shan: Mm.

Shan: Shannon, no. 

Stephanie: And then you were like, "Maybe John Irving." And I was like, "Ma'am." Even worse. But then you were like, "No, no, no, it's summer. We'll do Carly Fortune," and I was like, "Okay, I'm in." Yeah. That sounds like a good plan. 

Shan: Yeah, 'cause I thought with these books you can read them in a day if you need to. Mm-hmm.

Shan: Mm-hmm. And they're just, like, fun, relaxing if you went and had a beach day- Yeah ... go and read them at the beach. Yeah. And you still feel something with it, though. Mm-hmm. Yeah. You know? 

Cate: I had never read Carly Fortune before- Mm-hmm ... so this was a totally new experience for me. I anticipated sort of a steamy summer romance, and that's exactly what I got.

Cate: Yeah. So I was... Yeah, it was spot on for me. 

Shan: Well, it's funny because Brianna turned me on to her at first, [00:04:00] and I actually gave... We were giving One Golden Summer away, like, for summer reading last year- Oh ... as one of our book giveaways. And so my sister stopped in with her two girls, and being a mom and working full time and having two young children, you don't get to read that often.

Shan: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So she was like, "Shan, this book got me to love reading again." Mm-hmm. Aw. And she is, like, an avid reader, so I was like, "Okay, let me pick this up," and I fell in love with it too. Mm-hmm. So, and it's funny 'cause we've all discussed a little here and there about the characters mingle in between some of these stories, and yours is a totally new one.

Cate: It is. 

Shan: And I did just sit and read it at a beach one day. 

Cate: Mm-hmm. 

Shan: I'm not gonna lie. Mm-hmm. And I loved it, and it was just wholesome and cute. But it really was. After reading one of her books, would you guys have read another one? 

Kim: Oh yeah, I plan to read all of them now. 

Shan: You do? 

Kim: And part of it is because she's a Canadian writer, and you know, I think with beach, beach novels or beach [00:05:00] reads, I think the beach is very important.

Kim: Mm-hmm. 'Cause some are very Cape Cod, and some are like more like- Mm ... Hilton Head, North Carolina. And, um, I've always wanted to go to Prince Edward Island. Like that's- Yeah ... one of my dreams. And so, um, she really connects with place- Yeah ... very, very well- Mm-hmm ... in her, in her novels. And so, yeah, I absolutely intend to like take a little Canadian tour and read more of her books.

Shan: I love that. Yeah, because with Stephanie's book, and you can delve further if you want- Mm-hmm ... a little, um, Every Summer After, because she was going back to there every summer, and it was her special place at 

Stephanie: the lake. Which I loved that part about it. Like- Mm ... I grew up going to the lake in the summer. Yeah.

Stephanie: So I was like, this feels very nostalgic to me. I feel tied to this place. Like it's a good sense of place- Mm ... which I don't always look for in a book, but I always l- appreciate when it's there. Mm-hmm. And I'm like, I feel like I'm there. I can see everything. I can feel everything. The place is there. 

Cate: Yeah.

Stephanie: And so Kate, I'm sure yours kind of felt similar. 

Cate: Yeah. Place in a book is very important to me. Like I will specifically seek out a [00:06:00] book if I'm curious about the place. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Especially I have found with summer reads. Mm. If it's like, if it's set on an island- Mm-hmm ... you know, by the sea, it y- you know, at the seaside, by a lake, I will, I will seek that out for sure.

Shan: Mm-hmm. Yeah, 'cause it just, it sets the tone because it sets the tone, I think, where y- maybe you wanna be. Exactly. Instead of where you are right now. No offense. But does Carly's books remind you of any other author that you've read? 

Stephanie: For me, absolutely. Yeah. But I read a lot of Sarah Dessen when I was growing up.

Stephanie: I don't know if you all know who that is. Mm-mm. I know Sarah Dessen. I'm familiar, yeah. Yeah. Uh, she's Along for the Ride, Dreamland, Just, Just Listen. She, she was, like, very prolific when I was in high school and becoming a young adult, and she's still writing now. She's writing a little bit for adults, but she's still writing young adult.

Stephanie: But, like, I read almost every single one of her books, and that's what these books, this book felt like to me. Mm-hmm. Like I'm on summer vacation, I'm 16, I'm just, like, laying outside, I'm reading a book. I'm fully immersed in the [00:07:00] love story 'cause I'm like, "Oh, this could be me." Mm. That's what this felt like to me, at least part of this book.

Stephanie: I felt like I was back in that, like, high school nostalgia. Um, but we'll get to this too, but, like, my book read very differently- Mm. Mm-hmm ... because the one that I read every summer after goes back and forth between this teenage storyline and the adult storyline. So large portions of this book felt like a young adult novel, which that's the part I really resonated with.

Stephanie: Mm. Um, so in that I was like, "Oh, this feels like the, the first, like, traipsing into reading romance that I was having- Mm-hmm ... at, like, 16." Mm-hmm. And my sister, who's not as avid a reader as I am, texted me one day and was like, "Carley Fortune is like reading those romance novels we were reading in high school."

Stephanie: I was like- ... "Welcome to reading adult romance, babe." Yeah. Like, welcome. Yes. That's, that's- Yes. These books are for those of us who were reading Sarah Dessen in high school. Mm-hmm. 

Cate: Yes. 

Stephanie: Yeah. 

Cate: Yeah. 

Stephanie: Yeah. Mm-hmm. 

Cate: This, this author, so Carley Fortune, she kind of reminds me of Elin Hilder- Hilderbrand. Yeah. Oh. Am I saying that right?

Stephanie: Yeah, yeah, 

Cate: yeah. Because both authors really focus on summer f- like, summer fiction. [00:08:00] Mm-hmm. The books are emotional, romantic, they're set along, along the water, and I would only pick these types of books up in the summer. Mm. Oh, yeah. And I kind of like that niche- Yeah. Yeah ... because it's so, it's so seasonal, and it's exactly what I'm looking for in a hot weather read.

Cate: So- 

Stephanie: And then you know it's always gonna be there for you. Listen- When July rolls around, you know there's always gonna be another beach book 

Cate: for you. Yes. Mm-hmm. And all of them are at a place, and that is... It's not like you're, you're traveling to various lakes- Mm. Mm-hmm ... or various, you know, seaside towns.

Cate: You're in one place and you feel like even if you've never been there, you've, you kind of know what it's about. Yeah. Yeah. And I like that. 

Shan: It's like a sense of, like, nostalgia in a way. 

Cate: Yes. 

Shan: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And a sense of home. Yeah. Mm-hmm. And comfort. Yeah. Yeah. 

Cate: Yeah. 

Kim: Yeah. And I would definitely put her in the category of romance novelists who really know how to write.

Kim: Yes. I put Emily Henry in that category. Yeah. Diana Gabaldon, although- Oh, okay ... what they're writing about is different. Different, yeah. 

Shan: Yeah. 

Kim: You know, 'cause her writing is descriptive, but it's not overwrought. 

Shan: No, exactly. Mm-mm. Her, 

Kim: her language is simple and [00:09:00] clear and, um, very evocative, again, of place- Yeah

Kim: and of relationships. I think she, she writes really intelligently- 

Shan: Yeah ... 

Kim: um, about emotions- Mm-hmm ... which is not, not easy to do. 

Shan: Now, 'cause that kind of leads us a little bit, Kim- Yeah. 

Kim: You're 

Shan: just, like, smoothing into the next question. Mm-hmm. 'Cause I do think these are, like, well-written for the types of books that they are.

Shan: 'Cause some of this could be done and it could be done really cheesy, and you're like, "Oh, come on. Ew." But you grow to, like- ... really care about these characters. Mm. And she does a good job of character development, which as a reader, I absolutely love. And, like, we do say these are, like, the perfect quick fun beach read, but they also provoke emotions, which Kim- Yeah

Shan: was alluding to. Yeah. So Kim, how did you feel about your book? Like what emotions came out? 

Kim: Yeah, it was interesting because I was definitely pulled in by the location and the central romantic story. Yeah. But, um, I also ended up really connecting with the family- 

Shan: Mm-hmm ... 

Kim: in this book. [00:10:00] Um, Frankie has really complicated feelings about her own mother's career pursuit as a marine biologist and where that took her.

Kim: And so I thought the way that the mother-daughter relationship evolved over the course of the book was really satisfying. 

Stephanie: Mm-hmm. 

Kim: And it also includes the story of a whale also named Francesca. 

Stephanie: Amazing. Um, 

Kim: and it was just... It, it was particularly moving. I actually cried. Yeah. I thought it was so, like, just well said and well earned and said something...

Kim: said a lot about not only, um, the mother's relationship to her career but also to her daughter and, and the passage of time. Yeah. It was just really well done. 

Shan: Well, because that's so important to what happens to that character and what she decides to do with her life- Yes ... because of the relationship she has with her mother.

Shan: There might be spoilers. 

Stephanie: I was 

Shan: gonna say- Thank you for saying 

Stephanie: that. 

Shan: Yeah ... this is, this is the point where we have to say- This is like, I think spoilers are gonna come in because- Yeah, I was gonna 

Stephanie: say it when you came to me, so yeah. 

Shan: Yeah. Me too. Because, Kim, with your characters it's like she didn't know how to have a real relationship, [00:11:00] like with, um, a partner in life.

Shan: Mm-hmm. Because the one partner she was gonna have, what did he do? 

Kim: Oh, he, um, wrote her a note the night before her, their wedding and said, "I can't do this. I love you, but I can't do this." Oh. Yikes. 

Stephanie: Damn, not even to her face. 

Shan: Not even to- It was 

Kim: awful. 

Shan: Well, she never really showed who she really was the entire time, and her best friend who's been traveling the world and like- Mm-hmm

Shan: he was a journalist, right? Yes. Yeah. And doing all these things, it was the one person she could really be herself with, and she didn't have to put her guard up with... You know, 'cause her mom made her put her guard up 'cause she's supposed to be this and that and the other thing. It really made her, um... He made her vulnerable, and what did they do?

Shan: Did they go on vacation together? I'm totally like just- 

Kim: This is the part of the setup that I just thought was really funny. So, you know, the, the man, like, cancels their wedding, but the honeymoon has been paid for already. 

Stephanie: Yeah. 

Kim: And so he's like, "You should, you should go. You should go on the honeymoon." 

Stephanie: I love that setup.

Stephanie: Mm-hmm. 

Kim: Yes, by yourself to [00:12:00] this, you know, exotic location. Yeah. And she's like, "Sure, I'll go." Um, but she goes with her best friend from childhood, George. Mm-hmm. And it's really interesting 'cause George is a journalist, and so he has... He's done this like meticulous research to create a plan- To help her get through- Mm-hmm

Kim: you know, this breakup and to kind of get to the other side of it. Um, but things don't go according to plan. 

Shan: Yeah. 

Kim: Um, because, you know, she starts to realize that she has feelings for George, and then she realizes George might have feelings for her. So- But they knew this 

Shan: already. 

Kim: Yeah, but you know, the setting sort of brought it out because they're- Hmm

Kim: you know, n- not in their regular routines anymore. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Um, so yeah. Yeah. I- I'm sorry. Her, her ex, her ex is just such a... He's so weak. I mean, I'm sorry. 

Shan: He's a nimwit. 

Kim: Yeah. 

Shan: He's a nimwit. 

Kim: He really is. He's a knucklehead. And so- 'Cause he, you know- 

Shan: No, no. Knucklehead's a good thing ... knucklehead's too nice.

Shan: Knucklehead's a good thing. Yeah. He's a nimwit. Okay. 

Stephanie: Okay, he's not. I take that back. Sorry, knucklehead is complimentary. 

Kim: This man is not deserving. Yeah, his brothers, his brothers are knuckleheads- [00:13:00] Okay ... and we love them. 

Shan: Oh, yeah, totally. Yeah. 100%. 

Kim: Yeah. Yeah. 

Shan: No, 'cause that's what I love that Carly does, like, the- there's so much complexity there- Mm-hmm

Shan: and simplicity. 

Kim: Mm-hmm. 

Shan: You know? Yes. And Steph, your book- 

Stephanie: Mm-hmm ... 

Shan: is, I think, complex in different ways. Mm-hmm. So what, um, what emotions did you get? How did you feel to- ... lay it out? 

Stephanie: We talked about this a little bit several times already. Um, I would rather feel big, strong negative emotions than no emotions at all.

Stephanie: Mm-hmm. And, um, this book evoked strong emotions in me, but I cannot say they were all positive. 

Shan: Okay. 

Stephanie: Um, I actually had really strong passionate reactions to what I did not like in this story. This book made me feel really strong things. Um, they were just not strong in the way that I was hoping. 

Shan: But you know, if a book's making you feel the way it- 

Stephanie: Yeah

Shan: that it's making you feel that much- Yes ... isn't it doing its job in a way? 

Stephanie: It is. It, it's better- It is ... than 

Kim: having a meh book. 

Stephanie: Right. Exactly. Yeah. Like, I would rather have [00:14:00] gotten so frustrated with this book, which I did- Mm-hmm ... than get to the book and be like, "I felt nothing." 

Shan: You know, it's so funny. I just finished a book the other, other day, and I was like- Meh.

Shan: Yeah. 

Stephanie: Yeah. I 

Shan: need to forget about this. It also, it was like a bunch of cheating. Everyone was cheating on each other- Right ... too. Oh, I don't like that. And I was like, eh. 

Stephanie: Meh. You'll- we'll come back to that. 

Shan: We're gonna circle back. 

Stephanie: Yeah. 

Shan: Yeah. In office terms, we'll circle back to, to that. 

Stephanie: Yeah. But we did- But when we talked about this a couple days ago, Kate made the, that point to me, that while my emotions were strong in a negative way, it elicited a strong reaction from me, which actually made me reflect back on reading this book in a different way.

Stephanie: Mm-hmm. Yeah. 'Cause when I finished this book, I was so frustrated, and I really needed time and space to, like, get, work through those feelings. But yeah, Ka- to Kate's point, this book made me feel very strongly. 

Shan: But do you think maybe- Yeah ... Carly wanted you to feel frustrated? 

Stephanie: Yes, because- ... right before we recorded this, we heard a clip of an interview with Carly- Yeah

Stephanie: and she alluded to something along the lines of, sorry, this is a spoiler for my book- Spoiler ... but we're getting there. [00:15:00] Um, cheating in a book sometimes makes people feel worse than murder. And I was like, oh, she knew what she was doing. Mm-hmm. And I'm one of those readers that got so triggered by the cheating in this book- Mm

Stephanie: that I was mad. Yeah. 

Kim: Yeah. 

Stephanie: And a lot of other people read this book and were not- frustrated by that or didn't feel emotions in that same way. I was so frustrated at that's how this played out, that she got what she wanted, but it ended up leaving me with a kind of a bad taste in my mouth versus like having a really strong, passionate reaction in a positive way.

Shan: Yeah. Mm-hmm. So would you read another one of her books? 

Stephanie: I would not have said that until we were just talking about this. Mm. I actually, if you'd asked me that question literally any time before like 20 minutes ago- ... I would've said absolutely not. But the way Kim is talking about her book- Mm-hmm ... I'm like, I think I would give it a shot.

Stephanie: Knowing that Carlie knew what she was doing emotionally with the one that I read- Mm-hmm. Yeah ... I think I would maybe try one of the adult books because- Mm-hmm ... as I alluded to earlier, [00:16:00] Every Summer After is written in these two timelines. Mm-hmm. And I thought Carlie's writing was much stronger in the YA timeline than it was in the adult timeline.

Stephanie: Mm-hmm. Um, and maybe that's just debut author, she was really trying to figure out where she was going. Could've been. Mm. But now I'm like, okay, I think I would read one of her adult books and maybe have a better experience. 

Cate: Hm. 

Shan: Yeah. I think, 'cause I do totally agree with you. 

Stephanie: Yeah. 

Shan: And I think that's what she was probably trying to do in Every Summer After.

Shan: Mm-hmm. Because she was hitting a point where it's like you as the reader are the adult reading it- Mm-hmm ... but you were once that person before. 

Stephanie: Yes. 

Shan: Yeah. And you, it felt when you're that young and you have those emotions, they're so much stronger than they are, say you're having them when you're 30 or 40 or 50.

Shan: I 

Stephanie: felt 

Shan: like it happened to 

Stephanie: me. 

Shan: Yes. In which- 

Cate: Because you may not have, you know, worked through the things that you felt at 16 or 17- Yeah. Yeah ... and you thought you were over it- Yes ... they're in the past, and then all of a sudden it stirs it up again. It 

Stephanie: stirs up again. 

Shan: And 

Stephanie: so in that way- Yes ... she did a good job- And it looks to the- Yeah

Stephanie: and it worked as, as the writer. Yeah. It didn't work plot-wise for me as

Stephanie: the reader. Yeah. Yeah. Which doesn't mean she [00:17:00] didn't do a good job with it as the writer. Yeah. Mm. So I will give her credit for that, that she elicited a very strong reaction in me, even if it wasn't the one that I was expecting. 

Shan: Yeah. 

Stephanie: Mm-hmm. Interesting. Yeah. That's a good way of putting it. 

Shan: Well, and then Kate read the sequel to that.

Shan: Yeah. So One Golden Summer. What were, uh, the emotions that came out in you when reading Carlie's book? 

Cate: So sometimes I steer away from this type of novel- Mm ... because I find the characters can be a little bland- Mm-hmm ... leaving me emotionally dissatisfied. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised with this cast of characters.

Cate: Um, I really like Nan, the grandmother- Mm-hmm ... of the main character Alice. Mm. She was having a very honest experience of aging that I felt the author portrayed really, really well. Oh, okay. Um, and I also like Charlie, who has this laundry list of qualities you're really supposed to dislike, but he also had many traits that I found endearing And an unexpected emotional response, which was only, was kind of unique to me, happened at the end of the novel.

Cate: Again, [00:18:00] this is a spoiler, but when we learn about Charlie's heart condition, because it was noteworthy for me because it's almost the exact heart condition that my husband was born with. Oh, wow. And it's pr- it's quite rare. 

Stephanie: And you would never know that picking the book up. 

Cate: No. No. You, you never would think something like this would come up, and my husband's had two open heart surgeries for this particular, um, condition, and so the fact that that came up, I- the whole book I'm like, "He's got something going on with his heart.

Cate: He's got like..." I just, it, it kept- I could feel it ... kind of coming up in these- I knew ... subtle ways. And, and then when they, she actually said the condition, I was like, "Holy crap." Yeah. That's like what the- Yeah, that's cool. I actually said to my husband, "Listen to what I just read." So that was a real surprise.

Cate: So that was an emotional response that wouldn't have maybe been typical for, for most people. 

Stephanie: I love that. 

Shan: Yeah. 

Cate: Yeah. Yeah. It was really weird. 

Shan: That's like weird and cool at the same time. 

Stephanie: Yeah. Yeah. Like, I don't 

Shan: even know. I know. I said that and then I 

Stephanie: was like, "Is that the right word?" 

Shan: Yeah, yeah. But like, no, it 

Cate: was.

Shan: But Carly's good at like sprinkling- Mm-hmm ... the, the buildup. 

Cate: Mm-hmm. 

Shan: Yeah. She sprinkles the [00:19:00] buildup. She's putting little things in. What I like actually liked about what you both said, you didn't really talk about... You talked about the relationship between the mother- Mm-hmm ... and the main character, and you talked about Nan.

Shan: Yeah. I like that you guys focused in on like the sub characters rather than like- Not the main couple ... the main couple. Yeah. Yeah. But it was hard for you to do that in yours because- Because 

Stephanie: the entire- Entire- ... story was- 

Shan: Is so focused ... Percy 

Stephanie: and Sam. 

Shan: Yeah. 

Kim: Yeah. Which is interesting because I read a nov- so, so this book has been, it's now a mini-series, right?

Shan: Yes. It's 

Kim: on Amazon. So, and, uh, and so I read an interview about that, and she talks about how one of the, the things about- Taking the book and bringing it to screen was the fact that it is so intently about these two people- Yes ... that they had to open it up- Yeah ... and really explore some of the other characters.

Kim: Mm-hmm. So I think that's an interesting point. 

Stephanie: And again, this is kind of another commentary on, like, an author's debut writing. Like, her debut book, she had these tightly woven characters, and you were so focused- Mm-hmm ... on just the relationship. But it sounds like as she's grown as an author, you get to see these other characters, you get to [00:20:00] see plot lines outside the relationship, which sounds really cool.

Stephanie: Mm-hmm. And not that there aren't other characters in Every Summer After, there are, but the story's not about them. The story is- Yeah ... about Percy and Sam, and only Percy and Sam. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Which didn't bother me because I-- that, that was the story, but I also do really like when you get attached to these side characters and these- Mm-hmm

Stephanie: other relationships. So I mean, I... Kim, you're really selling me on your book. 

Shan: Yeah. 

Kim: Oh, well. Yeah. Yeah. It was a-- 

Shan: it was 

Kim: great. And I say- Yeah ... I was pleasantly surprised. I mean, it really... Not only do the, um, the tangential characters have interesting and full stories- Mm-hmm ... but they, they have an impact on her- Yeah

Kim: and how she... And, like, and so things that, you know, she saw one way, by the end, she's seeing very differently- Mm-hmm ... because of the interaction she has, for example, with her mother. Um, and I thought it was-- because-- and that could've been done in a really shortcut, cheesy, "I have issues"- Mm-hmm ... because my mom, you know, left the family to pursue her career temporarily and then came back.

Kim: But it's a lot more nuanced than that. I, again, [00:21:00] speaking to just, like, the way she, Carly Fortune, brings it throughout the book, I, I, I felt like it was really satisfying and earned. 

Cate: That's how I felt about- You know? ... the, the character in my book, Nan. It-- she-- there was a lot of history that they were sort of...

Cate: And, you know, relationship she had with a, a close friend, and, like- Mm-hmm ... she just developed it throughout the, throughout the book, and I-- She could-- Like you said, she could've brushed right over it. 

Shan: Yeah. She breadcrumbs it- Yeah. Mm-hmm ... within the main plot line. Mm-hmm. And, like- She allows the characters to grow.

Kim: Yes. 

Shan: Yeah. Which is, I think is really cool. Yeah. 

Kim: Yeah. And I, I do wanna be clear, I, I liked the romantic pairing in my story very- Oh, yeah ... very much as well. I just, um, it was just a fuller experience, and I really 

Shan: appreciated that. 

Cate: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And for Steph, you should know, so Percy and Sam were, like, the main characters in your book.

Cate: Yeah. And they were very much side characters in mine. Yeah. So side. Yeah. So I, I do think it would-- it might be worth you reading this one too. 

Shan: I think you should. 

Stephanie: Which is so funny because, uh, Shannon and I have talked about this. The character of Charlie, who was the main character [00:22:00] in One Golden Summer, I hated him- Yeah

Stephanie: in Every Summer After, which is probably the point, but also, like, I found his character so hard to read. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Like, not, not difficult to read as a, like, like I don't know his motivations- ... no, like hard to physically read his character beats because he made me so uncomfortable. Mm-hmm. Because I've known guys like that.

Cate: Yeah. Mm-hmm. 

Stephanie: And so Shannon was like, "Well, read the second one." I was like, "Well, why would I read the second one if I don't already like this character?" But I think that the style of this book, you don't get that character growth because they are essentially children. 

Cate: Exactly. 

Stephanie: You just, there's not room for that.

Stephanie: And so- 

Cate: And I think you'll have more of- Yeah ... and you-- there's still gonna be things you dislike about him. Yeah. Fair. That's sort of the point, right? Yeah. But there's gonna be a level of empathy and understanding- Yeah ... I think that comes through that you'll appreciate. 

Stephanie: Yeah, you don't have as much space in that, like, YA portion of this book- No

Stephanie: to get that character growth, and that's normal in a story about people of that age. 

Cate: Exactly. 

Stephanie: Um, and I think that's one of the things that [00:23:00] frustrated me about this book is because it was part YA and part adult, those two parts didn't mesh well for me- Mm-hmm ... as a reader. Mm-hmm. I would've actually enjoyed this story had it just been a YA book, and then with, like, an epilogue.

Stephanie: So sorry, Carly, just, uh, maybe write YA. 

Shan: Is that the question you would ask Carly? 

Stephanie: Yes. I-- my question would be, have you considered writing YA? Because I think she would be very good at it. Mm-hmm. 

Shan: I have a question for Carly too. Yeah. In regards to your books. Yeah. I just wanna piggyback. Yeah. Did she actually like the Amazon Prime series and how they adapted it?

Shan: Ooh. I'd 

Stephanie: be so curious 'cause people are very mixed on it 'cause they changed a lot of things. 

Shan: They changed very significant things that happened- Yeah ... within the story- Mm-hmm ... and characters- Hmm ... and roles that they played. Hmm. And I'm curious to see if she had the authority to do that. Yeah. And she wanted to see it played out differently because- Right

Shan: maybe when she wrote this, it was her debut, and she didn't have that growth that we're- Right ... talking about. 

Stephanie: And that's absolutely n- like, a normal response to have, like, s- a couple years of distance from your characters, and you have new thoughts on them. 

Shan: Yeah. [00:24:00] But- Mm-hmm ... or maybe she didn't have any, like, autonomy.

Shan: I don't know. Yeah. 

Kim: Okay. Okay. I just, I remember reading- From the interview ... an article about-- yeah, the interview. Yeah. And she, she did have some input, but she really trusted- The showrunner, because the showrunner was such a fan of the, the story itself- 

Shan: Yeah ... 

Kim: that she was like, "Okay, I'm gonna give this some air and let it, let her really take the lead on certain things."

Shan: Okay. That's like pretty true of her, though. 

Kim: Yeah. '

Shan: Cause it's like, you know, you're taking your piece of art, somebody's taking their adaptation of your- Yeah ... piece of art into something else. Yeah. Pretty cool, but Kim, what would you ask 

Kim: Carley? Oh, I would ask her, um, to plan a trip for me to, throughout Canada.

Kim: I love it. I would like to- Oh, that's great ... you know- Please 

Stephanie: be my travel agent. 

Kim: Oh my God. Or at least, you know, I, I would love to go to Prince Edward Island. What, you know, where do you recommend- 

Shan: Mm-hmm ... 

Kim: that I stay? I love that. And where should I eat? Because one of the things about, uh, my book was Frankie, the main character, is a chef, and so the [00:25:00] descriptions of food are just- Oh

Kim: luscious and wonderful. And I'm like, "Okay, this woman clear- this author clearly knows how to eat, so- 

Shan: Mm-hmm ... 

Kim: help me eat my way through Prince- ... Prince Edward Island- I love that ... Toronto." Sounds lovely. All of Canada. 

Shan: Sounds lovely. Kate, do you have a question for Carley? 

Cate: I do. 

Shan: Yeah? 

Cate: Yeah. I would ask- It's making this- Oh.

Cate: Oh, it's gonna get real. I don't know where this is 

Shan: going. 

Cate: No, it's so random. I would ask her if she prefers fresh water or salt water. Ooh. 

Shan: Ooh, 

Stephanie: that's a really good question. No, that's a great question. Yeah. 

Cate: That's 

Shan: a really good question. 

Cate: I have big feelings about this, and- Okay ... because our books were set on a lake- Are at the lake

Cate: and that was, yours was set at the ocean. Yeah. Right? 

Kim: Yeah, they talk about the Pacific Ocean. 

Cate: So I didn't know that. I wasn't sure where yours was set, but I was like, "Is she a lake girl?" Like, what, what is it? Mm-hmm. Apparently both. Right, a- apparently both, but I wanna hear her opinion on that. She could just be a 

Shan: water girl.

Shan: Yeah. I 

Cate: love that question, though. 

Shan: Maybe she's a water girl. 

Stephanie: Maybe she's 

Shan: a 

Stephanie: Pisces- Yeah ... and just, 

Shan: like, loves 

Stephanie: water. 

Cate: That could be it. Yeah. Like, I'm 

Shan: a mermaid, but that's a different story. 

Cate: Yeah, I love 

Stephanie: it. You know what I think. I think that's a good question. [00:26:00] Yes. 

Shan: That is my question. 

Stephanie: Yes. I love it. 

Shan: Uh, well, you guys kinda talked about- how you liked the author's writing- Yeah

Shan: and how you didn't like the author's writing, which is totally okay. Mm-hmm. And I think people who've read her latest one to the mid one to the beginning, from this discussion you can see how I think her storylines are evolving. 

Cate: Mm-hmm. 

Shan: And I think even her characters are evolving- Mm-hmm ... and growing even further.

Shan: So what I love what Steph was pointing out, it's like it was between Percy and Sam the whole time. Mm-hmm. We bring in characters like Nan in One Golden Summer, but repeat Charlie. Mm-hmm. But then Kim goes in and you get a little bit more of a development between the relationship between her mother and her.

Shan: Mm-hmm. Sh- her father, and then like the father and mother's dynamic. Yeah. Right? Yeah. And then her having the best friend, so it gets more, characters are getting more and more. 

Stephanie: And that's a natural progression of writing. 

Shan: Which I love. Yeah. 

Stephanie: Mm-hmm. 

Shan: Um, do you think the voices portrayed fit the [00:27:00] tone of each of these books?

Shan: Do you think things will change, and I'm excited to see what she has next? I know this is- Yeah ... like a loaded question all in one, but we kind of have been discussing a little bit of that, and I'm curious to see next summer what it's gonna be. 

Kim: Yeah, 

Shan: exactly. Is it gonna go like a next step higher? 

Kim: It's gonna- 

Stephanie: Oh, yeah, like where do you go from here?

Shan: Where do you go from here? 

Kim: Well, it's interesting 'cause it also sounds like her characters are, are aging up. So you have- Yeah ... the teenagers who, you know, then you revis- you know, who are also in adulthood. I don't ... And so then that's the continuation 'cause- 

Cate: So, so by the time- ... Charlie and Alice meet ... they're in their 30s- Yep

Cate: by the time, so I think she's a f- she's like 32 or something like that. Yeah. And he's like mid-later 30s, like 36 or 38, something like that. Mm-hmm. I wanna see these characters in their 40s. 

Kim: Yeah. 

Cate: I think they'll get more interesting. But that's just- I think so 

Shan: too ... 

Cate: my humble opinion. 

Kim: I love that. Yeah. No. Yeah.

Kim: And, and my protagonists are in their 30s, um, as well, but then again, there's this, this [00:28:00] really satisfied ... Like, her mother is, I guess, in maybe in her f- 50s, probably- 

Shan: 60s. 

Kim: Yeah, early 60s. Yeah. And again, just has such an interesting and, like, full point of view. And I-- And the mother gets to talk about her relationship from her point of view, and- Ah

Kim: and Frankie has made a bunch of assumptions up to this point. Mm. So when, when, um, her mom actually gets to say, "Well, no, this is, this is what was happening from my point of view," it's just, it's really well done. I'd love a whole, I'd love a whole story, a book about Rebecca. Yeah. I think she's really interesting, yeah, the mom.

Stephanie: Well, I was gonna say, Carley, give us, like- Yeah ... a second chance at love, like 65-year-old protagonists. Yes. 

Shan: Right? Well, I wonder- Yes ... is Carley really writing from her own experience? I 

Stephanie: don't know, 'cause she-- I don't know how old she is. I don't know how old she is. Yeah. I assume she's a little older than me.

Shan: Yeah, I think she's probably like in her 30s. Probably mid-30s? Yeah. So, 

Stephanie: you know- Oh, 

Shan: wait, I'm 

Stephanie: 36 now. 

Kim: I keep forgetting I'm not 32 anymore. You know, you know, she- I wasn't gonna tell you, Steph ... she had a whole career. So she- Okay ... she was, Carley Fortune was a journalist- 

Shan: Okay. 

Kim: Mm-hmm ... [00:29:00] um, before she became a novelist, and she actually, um, was, became a novelist, um, she wrote her first novel when she was pregnant with her first child.

Kim: Oh. So she has two children. Um, and it was a really big deal for her to, like, become a full-time author just because, you know, she, she's like, "I live in the real world. I had a lot of anxiety about not, you know, being able to financially"- 

Shan: Yeah ... 

Kim: uh, "do this for my family," 'cause when you're starting a family, that's a very- That's a lot of change.

Kim: Um, so yeah, I, I would guess that she's, she's gotta be mid-30s. 

Shan: And that's what I'm thinking. I think maybe she's writing with what she knows. Yeah. You know, as writers we write- That's what they tell you to do ... that's 

Kim: what they tell you to do. Well, I think, I think her family actually did have a house on a lake.

Stephanie: There, 

Kim: there you go. And so, and I think it actually at one point it was an inn. Mm-hmm. Oh, 

Shan: interesting. 

Kim: So yeah. Which I 

Stephanie: think Meet Me at the Lake is loosely based on. 

Shan: Okay. 

Kim: That's- Yeah. I think- Yeah ... I think she's drawing from her personal experience- Mm-hmm, mm-hmm ... um, with that. 

Cate: That makes sense [00:30:00] though, because I feel like there is that level of familiarity or something.

Cate: Mm-hmm. I think it doesn't feel like she's trying to write about something she hasn't somehow lived- Mm-hmm ... or experienced in some way. 

Shan: Her books feel like home. 

Cate: Mm-hmm, 

Shan: mm-hmm. They feel very homey. So maybe she was Percy, who knows? Or maybe she saw for her sister was Percy, or she saw it from afar- Yeah ... or she had some type of experience like that, and then she could relate to maybe Charlie later on- Mm-hmm

Shan: because she saw it in a different viewpoint. And now who knows what her dynamic with her mother is. Yeah. You never know- Yeah, I know ... but people write what they know 

Kim: usually. Or and also her becoming a mother. 

Shan: Yeah. 

Kim: I mean, that really, you know, makes you see the world differently. 

Shan: So I'm curious to see what next summer will bring if she has another book.

Shan: Yes. 

Kim: I hope 

Shan: so. And, you know, what kind of, what characters that will come with it, um, the age, the type of love story- Yeah ... if there's a love story. Yeah. 

Stephanie: Mm-hmm. 

Shan: Probably, but you never know. You never know. You never know. Um- So we've discussed so many great things. Um- 

Stephanie: We've bounced around. [00:31:00]

Shan: We've bounced around- Yeah

Shan: everywhere. Um, can anyone... I know, Kate, you've relate- you've discussed about relating to parts of your book, and Stephanie, you've related to parts of your book. And Kim, you were like, "Uh, g- plan my trip to Canada, please, Carly." Yes. Um, can you guys talk a little bit more about how you relate to those, like, each of the books you read, and was there any character action or plot or anything that was what brought that out?

Cate: I could actually relate to Alice, the main character, in terms of her nostalgia for an earlier time of life. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. She's at this point where things haven't gone exactly as planned, which often happens when you hit, you know, your 30s, and she's left wondering if she zigged when she shoulda zagged.

Cate: And so she's reflecting on the ways that she's also kept herself small and hidden, and really trying to r- kinda reckon with that, which I, I can, I can get behind. She's also motivated to create photography that aligns with her deeper values, and I can fully [00:32:00] relate to the process of trying to put something creative out into the world that doesn't compromise what feels right and true in your gut, even if it's not the most popular or lucrative choice.

Cate: So she really comes upon that. You know, she gets the opportunity to do these, this swimsuit series- Mm-hmm ... of, of women in all different bodies and ages- Mm-hmm ... and she takes the assignment because she's finally allowed to photograph something that feels real. Hmm. And they immediately come back and want her to just touch them up a little.

Cate: You know, just make those real bodies look a little less- Hmm ... real. Mm-hmm. And she, for the first time in her career, really says no, and, and starts to, while she's at the lake, starts to reconnect with why she even fell in love with photography in the first place. Mm-hmm. So that part, I'd... At first I wasn't thinking I really related to her, but as I thought about that, I was like, "Oh, no, I actually related to her quite a bit."

Cate: So... 

Stephanie: Love that. That's awesome. So 

Shan: well said. Yeah. 

Cate: Thank you. 

Stephanie: Yeah. I mean- I [00:33:00] touched on this a little earlier, but Percy being the main character, I was like, "Oh, I feel this girl." I have been this girl at, in various iterations. Um, I mean, I grew up going to the lake. I didn't have a lake house like that. We rented a house.

Stephanie: But, um, I grew up going to the lake, reading my book on the dock. When she's just like laying on the dock with her towel reading her book, I was like, "Yes, girl." She's obsessed with horror movies, and I'm like, "Okay. Okay." And I wasn't that at that age, but like, that's like a part of who I am now. There were specific moments in the flashback chapters where I was almost painfully relating to her.

Stephanie: Oh. That reading it was so visceral. There's this scene where she and Sam decide that they are gonna have a long-distance relationship, and I was like, "Oh my God, I have been in this situation." She calls him up on the phone, a girl answers the phone. Mm-hmm. He's drunk in the background, and I was like, "My God.

Stephanie: I have been this girl." Mm. I'm like, I have chills right now thinking about this scene, 'cause I'm like, I have lived this scene. I know what this feels like. I know exactly what she's going through, and it was like my, my skin was [00:34:00] almost crawling reading it. Yeah. 'Cause I was like, "How do you know? How did you know?"

Shan: God, the step- That's why you were so upset. I felt the same way a little bit. Yeah. That happened to me, too. 

Stephanie: That's why when you find out that she has cheated on Sam with Sam's brother- Charlie ... I was, Charlie, I was especially betrayed because I was like, "That could have happened to me." 

Shan: Mm-hmm. 

Stephanie: And maybe did happen to me and I didn't know it.

Stephanie: And so that's part of why I think I reacted so strongly to this book, because I was like, I have been in this position, and it- Yeah ... sucks. It sucks. Yeah, 

Kim: it's painful. 

Stephanie: So I was like, "Yeah, girl, I feel all those-" Big feelings. You're good. I'm good. Girl, I know these big feelings 'cause I have felt these big feelings.

Stephanie: Mm-hmm. And so when those plot lines played out, I got extra frustrated 'cause I was like, "That could have been me." 

Kim: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 

Stephanie: Good job, Carly. Good job. Good job on making me feel upset at a character who felt like me. 

Kim: Yeah. 

Cate: She nailed it. 

Stephanie: So she did a good job. She 

Shan: did. 

Stephanie: She- She did a good job ... she really did.

Stephanie: Even though I [00:35:00] didn't like it, she really did nail it. 

Shan: Yeah. 

Kim: Yeah. 

Stephanie: So. 

Kim: Yeah. Her relationships are complex. 

Stephanie: Yeah. 

Kim: Mm-hmm. They really are, and she, she writes compellingly about them. I, I... You know, Frankie, um, is coming from a period where she, uh, she's a chef, and so she really wanted to be, like, head chef in a restaurant, really go with that career trajectory, and she was working crazy hours and didn't have time to, like, recuperate or nurture herself creatively, um, and she burns out.

Kim: And so part of the reason she turns to her fiancé or the man who became her fiancé was she just, she just wanted something peaceful. She just wants so- wanted something grounded. Mm-hmm. And I really related to that. Mm. I was very... I was... I, I always say I'm a, a reformed workaholic. Mm-hmm. And I did get to a similar point where I was just working all the time, and I just, uh, you know, it's like I didn't have...

Kim: I just didn't ha- my... I had lost my center. I had lost control of my center, and so I really related to th- [00:36:00] that. I mean, and, and you know, let's be very clear, she doesn't find her center through her relationship. Nope. That is, uh, you know, a j- you know, like, it's related, but it's a journey that she's taking.

Kim: That's a separate part of the journey or related part of the journey, and so I really appreciated that because I, again, I viscerally knew how that felt and how you just, you, you don't know why you're doing what you're doing anymore. Mm-hmm. You, you know, you just can't... It, it's no longer sustainable. I really liked that.

Kim: Now, I'm a little bit older than the protagonist, so I'm kind of looking back on that and I'm like, "Yeah, that, that was," y- well, like you said, "really painful." 

Stephanie: It's that universal experience that, like, fiction- Yes ... hits on, and when it hits, you're like, "Oh." 

Kim: Mm-hmm. 

Cate: But that's a sign of a good writer. Yeah. Right? It really is.

Cate: Because she hit all of us at slightly, you know, different points in life- Mm-hmm ... and, and we still could either reflect back to when we were teens- Mm ... or when we were, you know, just starting out in our careers or when we were, you know, had [00:37:00] a relationship hiccup, let's say. Yeah. And I, I feel like that is a sign of somebody that knows what they're doing.

Shan: Yeah. 

Kim: Yeah. Yeah. 

Shan: Well, since rom-coms are supposed to have happy endings, were you guys satisfied? 

Kim: Oh, yes. Yeah, I was- ... satisfied not only with where Frankie, um, ended up as a person- 

Shan: Yeah ... 

Kim: but just, like, I thought she and George were really charming together, and their families knew each other, so there was this really sen- the sense of this just larger community, you know, kind of in a really happy- 

Shan: I liked what you said because Frankie was doing this journey for herself.

Shan: Yeah. And she wasn't doing it for a relationship. What she does well, Carly, is that George is Frankie's partner. 

Kim: Yeah. 

Cate: Mm-hmm. 

Shan: And really in life, you need more of a partner than, like, the, uh, "Oh my God, I'm head over heels in love." Mm. "Kiss me, 

Cate: Prince 

Shan: Charming." Mm-hmm. 

Kim: Yeah. 

Shan: And, um- 

Kim: Yeah, George has his own baggage too, which he is working through.

Kim: And 

Shan: he is 

Kim: working 

Shan: through. 

Kim: And has been working through. 

Shan: Yeah. Because [00:38:00] you get that differently in some of the books. So Kate, how are- 

Cate: Yeah. I felt similarly to Kim, actually. I felt like it ended with a, a sense of larger community. 

Shan: Yeah. 

Cate: And I was satisfied because all the characters had growth, every single one.

Cate: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Um, including Nan. Even though she's, you know, in her 70s, she, um, she was still growing just as much in her 70s- Yeah ... as someone, you know, in their early 30s, and so that I appreciated because that's really what I look for. If the, if the reader... Uh, sorry. If the, if the characters don't change from start to finish, I'm like, "What was the point?

Cate: Why did I even read that?" 'Cause I don't wanna be around people that are stuck- Yeah ... and not changing. Yep. So why would I wanna read about characters that are stuck and not changing? So I was satisfied. 

Shan: That's so good. 

Stephanie: I mean, I- no one's gonna be surprised. I was not satisfied by the ending of this book. But it comes back to that same thing for me.

Stephanie: The plot point, that betrayal for me was so deep, I could not have forgiven it. Mm-hmm. So for [00:39:00] Percy, as a 30-year-old woman, to go back and forgives... Or, or, sorry. For Percy as a 30-year-old woman to reveal what she had done to Sam, for Sam to have said, "I have known what you did for 12 years, and I can overlook that," did not work for me as a reader.

Stephanie: And other readers, it might. I know Kim, you just made a face. I- If I was in that position, I could not have gotten past this. So for me, I was like, they didn't deserve a happy ending from my personal perspective, so I didn't think it worked, but I know in a, in a romance novel, a happy ever- happy ever after is the default.

Stephanie: That's the structure. But I just, as a reader, I was like, it didn't work for me. 

Shan: Mm-hmm. Yeah, but you still... The book provokes so much emotion out of you- Yeah ... and you were able to connect with it in such a way that I think even though you can say, "Well, I don't like this ending," whatever- Yeah ... I think that says way more about the author and their writing rather than- I didn't like the ending.

Shan: Yeah. I think you, you felt [00:40:00] something. Yes. A book made you feel. That's, like, my favorite thing to say. Like- Yeah ... "No, this book made me feel." A 

Stephanie: lot... But I love big feelings books. Yeah. And the thing is, I went in knowing this was a romance novel. Mm. I read a lot of romance novels. I know the formula. The formula is comforting.

Stephanie: It's there for a reason. So I knew they were gonna make it work in the end. Mm-hmm. I wasn't mad about the fact that it was a romance novel. Yeah. I was frustrated at the fact that I didn't think it was deserved- Mm-hmm ... in this situation. Mm-hmm. 

Shan: Yeah, and that's fair. 

Cate: And that's why I think- Yeah ... you should definitely read the one that I read.

Cate: Yeah. Yeah. Because I think you're gonna look at their relationship in a whole different- Yeah ... way. 

Shan: Yeah. Perspective. 

Cate: Yeah. Mm-hmm. And, and have a lot of respect for Sam in, in that. 

Stephanie: And I really liked Sam as a character. 

Cate: Yeah, me too. Sam 

Shan: is the best. 

Stephanie: Like, and I don't say this often- Percy's not as cool as 

Shan: Sam. 

Stephanie: I didn't say...

Stephanie: I don't say this often, but, like, he's a very well-written male character. Yep. You can tell he was written by a woman- ... which is a very high compliment because sometimes the men in these romance novels are either- Yes ... they're not well-written- Mm-hmm ... they're just a himbo or- ... they're, [00:41:00] like, they have so much baggage.

Stephanie: She wrote him to be, like, generally likable and complex, and his struggles felt really authentic. I really liked him as a character. 

Shan: Yeah. 

Stephanie: Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

Shan: She writes authentic characters. She writes real people. Yeah. 

Stephanie: Yes. 

Shan: Mm-hmm. And you're like, "Oh, okay, somebody would make that stupid decision," and it's not perfect, but they, like, recognize their faults 

Stephanie: with it.

Stephanie: And a lot of people have made this exact decision in real life, and that's fine. Just, I didn't like it in the book. Oh, 

Shan: and that's- Yeah ... perfectly fine. 

Kim: Well, you know, and it's interesting 'cause you're talking about teenagers who become adults. Yes. I mean, I have made my share of stupid- Mm-hmm ... like, cringey decisions-

Kim: in romantic relationships- Yeah ... in my teens. And you know, part of it is you make the mistake, you live with it, and then you go to the next relationship knowing you're not going to make- Right ... that mistake again. You'll make a new one. So- Yeah. Yeah. But so, you know- And you keep making them. Mm-hmm ... the idea that you kind of go back to the person- 

Stephanie: Yes

Kim: that you made the teenage mistake with as adults, and you've moved... Like, that kind of doesn't ring true to me. 

Stephanie: Right, and that, that was the [00:42:00] thing with this. The structure did not work for the plot. 

Kim: Right. 

Stephanie: And that's fine. That's just my personal taste. 

Kim: Mm-hmm. 

Stephanie: But yeah, the, the ending did not work 

Kim: for me. Well, and I'm with you.

Kim: Yeah. I mean, like, I'm, I'm one of the people that, like, I, I... You know, infidelity, especially if I am invested in the relationship- Mm-hmm ... especially if I care about the characters- Yes ... it is like a death. Mm-hmm. And it's very hard for me to get over. 

Stephanie: Yeah. 

Kim: So. Mm-hmm. 

Stephanie: And if I had known that was in this book, I don't know I would've picked it up.

Kim: Mm-hmm. 

Stephanie: Right. And I could feel it was coming, and a friend of mine, I was, like, live texting, and she- ... and I was like, "I feel a cheating plotline coming. I feel it." She breadcrumbs it. "I feel it." And she goes, "Just keep reading." And I got to the end, and I was like, "Allie!" And she's like, "I couldn't deal." Like, it was like, "No, you did the right thing."

Stephanie: "You did the right thing." Yeah. But also, Carly, you devil, didn't reveal it- 250 pages in, so you like knew it was coming, but you didn't know for sure, and then she dropped it and I was like, "There's literally 50 pages left of this book." 

Cate: That's why you ended on such a heated note. 

Stephanie: Yes. '

Cate: Cause you didn't even have time to process it.

Cate: That too, I 

Stephanie: think. Yeah. That too. I [00:43:00] didn't- I think I kept quiet. Yeah. By the time I- She breadth it ... found out I was like, "Wait, no. No." Yeah. "We're not... We haven't worked through it. No." 

Kim: Yeah, the characters had a decade off, uh, off book. I had 50 

Stephanie: pages. 

Kim: Right. Yes. 

Cate: That's, that's a lot. But that's also very realistic.

Cate: Yes. Like one wouldn't get over an infidelity in an afternoon. No. No. You know? So you're supposed to be left with that feeling of like, "How am I ever gonna get over this?" 

Shan: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. 

Cate: Yeah. Yeah, so I think- Yeah ... 

Kim: she, 

Cate: she, she 

Kim: hit the- She puts- ... 

Cate: hit the right note. She did. 

Kim: She puts real stakes in the relationship.

Kim: She did a great job. There are 

Stephanie: true obstacles. It still pissed me off, but she did a great job. That's okay. And that is fine. That's- 

Shan: I think an author wants to hear that though, that it's like- Yeah ... they provoked that emotion in you. 

Stephanie: I think Carly would rather hear that than- Yeah ... me just trashing a book, which is not what we're here to do.

Stephanie: No. And I didn't... I'm not here to trash this book. I had issues with it, but I don't think this book is garbage. I think it's worth reading. 

Shan: I think you connected it, connected with it- 

Stephanie: I did in a 

Shan: way that I was not expecting ... so deeply that you didn't know. 

Stephanie: Yeah. 

Shan: And I would love for you to read One Golden Summer and then come back to [00:44:00] me.

Stephanie: We'll see. 

Shan: Okay. 

Cate: She might need a, might need 

Stephanie: a year in between. Guys, I might need three years to 

Cate: get over 

Shan: Charlie. Okay. Read Our Perfect Story. I might read that one first. There you go. 

Kim: It's, yeah, it's v- it's very different. It's got the family- And it has different characters- ... dynamic going on ... that I don't already 

Shan: dislike.

Shan: And then next year read One Golden Summer and get back to 

Kim: me. 

Shan: We'll 

Kim: see. We'll see. When you've had time. 

Shan: Yeah. When I've read 100 books in between, it's fine. Yeah. There you go. So would you guys recommend her? 

Cate: I would certainly recommend her for anybody looking for a good summer read. Okay. When you feel like, "I need a summer read.

Cate: I'm going to the beach. I'm going on vacation," or, "I'm gonna sit by the pool. I just need something that isn't gonna tax me too much- Mm-hmm ... but that is not fluffy." 'Cause I really, really- Yes ... hate fluffy books. I agree. Yes. Um, and a lot of, to me, summer reads or romance can be very fluffy- Yes ... and I'm turned off immediately.

Shan: Yep. 

Cate: So if they're looking for that, then I think... If they're not looking for fluff and they're looking for something a little more substantial, but still isn't gonna leave them like exhausted, then yes. Yeah. I would. 

Kim: It's a romance that you can read and you won't hate yourself in the morning. 

Cate: Yeah. 

Shan: There you 

Cate: go.

Cate: Okay. [00:45:00] Okay. 

Shan: Kim, mic drop. Bam. 

Cate: I love it. 

Stephanie: I mean, I kind of can and can't recommend. It's tough. Um- No, that's okay if you wouldn't ... I'm not sure, I'm not sure I would recommend starting with this book. 

Shan: That's 

Stephanie: fair. I would say maybe try one of the ones that you all read instead. Yeah. 

Shan: Yeah. 

Stephanie: Just because I think the Every Summer After is a little hard of a, harder of a sell for an adult reader because it does have that, like, two-thirds YA feel to it.

Stephanie: It 

Shan: totally does. 

Stephanie: Um, which was easier for me to get into 'cause I read so much YA, but I think as an ad- for adult readers, I would try one of the other books. 

Kim: Yeah. Yeah. 

Shan: Yeah. 

Kim: If I had started with that book, I don't think I would've f- I, I don't think I would've investigated further for the reasons- 

Stephanie: Thank you for validating me.

Kim: No, for the reasons- Yeah ... that you're saying. Yeah. And again, it doesn't make her a, a bad... I mean, like, that would be a mistake because it- Yeah ... she is a good writer. Yeah. She knows how to write relationships. Mm-hmm. She knows, you know, how to build realistic stakes, but that would have been too jarring for me.

Stephanie: And Kim and I talk about this all the time, not every book is for every reader, and that's great. [00:46:00] Yeah. Yeah. This book was not for me. That's okay. But it was for so many other people, and I st- I don't think it's a bad book. I just had a very visceral experience with it- Mm-hmm ... that wasn't my favorite. 

Shan: Yeah.

Cate: Yeah. 

Shan: That's fair. That's fair. 

Cate: And another one of her books might be 

Stephanie: very much- 

Cate: Might work for me ... up your alley. 

Stephanie: Um, Kim and I both listen to the Reading Glasses podcast, so- Yes ... um, one of the things on their book challenge this year is try an author again or give an author a second try. Oh. Like, one of their challenges this year is, like, if you've liked an author or not liked an author, try them again.

Stephanie: Mm-hmm. You don't have to even finish the book, but try one of their books a second time and see how you feel. Try it with 

Shan: Carly. 

Stephanie: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So could be an experiment. Good. 

Shan: Do it. Okay, ladies. It's time to close the book on today's episode. If you like what you've heard here, please subscribe to the show.

Shan: This ensures that you won't miss any episodes. And if you have a moment, kindly rate and review the podcast. This helps other bookish people like yourself find the show. Tune in till next time to find out what [00:47:00] else is on the shelf. Bye. Bye. Bye.

Shan: It's time to close today's book. Today's episode 

Cate: I was like, I kinda like that but I'll give it a five Ooh, 

Shan: that was a good one, Dylan, keep that 

Kim: Okay