Carley Fortune Is Having One Golden Summer

Growing up in a tiny lake town in Ontario, Carley Fortune dreamed of being an author, but it always seemed like a long shot — a path that felt neither accessible nor financially realistic. “It didn’t seem like something a girl from Barry’s Bay could do,” she says.

Safe to say, she was wrong. After a 14-year career in journalism, the Toronto-based Fortune is now the reigning queen of sun-soaked romance novels. She’s sold 3 million copies across her four titles, according to her publisher (Berkley, a Penguin Random House imprint), and has racked up more than 1.5 million Goodreads ratings.

She’s brought her hometown, where she rents a cottage every summer, into the spotlight along with her. A fictionalized version of it serves as the setting both for her debut, Every Summer After, and its newly-released spinoff, One Golden Summer. Soon, the lakeside hamlet will come to life on screen, too: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s production company, Archewell, is adapting Every Summer After into an Amazon Prime series (titled as Every Year After).

When I meet Fortune, 41, for lunch on a drizzly May day at Café Cluny, a buzzy French bistro on a cobblestoned street in New York’s West Village neighborhood, she’s fresh off filming Good Morning America and two days out from the launch of One Golden Summer. Soon, it’ll debut at No. 2 on the New York Times Best Seller list. With flowing beach waves and a black ruffled blouse by Horses Atelier (a line designed by two fellow Toronto-based novelists), she looks the part of a glamorous author. But scratch the surface, and glimmers of a small-town girl still peek through.

“It’s definitely rustic,” Fortune says over a Niçoise salad, describing her annual Barry’s Bay retreat. “There’s no WiFi, no TV, the water isn’t drinkable. But I love it.” The charm and beauty of lake life make the inconvenience more than worth it. It’s easy to imagine her sipping wine on a quiet dock at sunset.

In Fortune’s literary world, it’s always summer. The relationships are slow-burning, the sex scenes scorching hot. Readers come for the picturesque waterfront settings and stay for the emotional heft. Her characters are loyal, passionate, and bring out the best in each other. No wonder she’s gained legions of fans, many of whom are freaking out about the new release and the upcoming adaptation.

“I don’t think the audience in Brazil had heard news of the adaptation, and when I mentioned it, the whole room started screaming,” she says in a matter-of-fact tone. (Happily.) “This woman was crying. She was like, ‘I am hurting.’”

It’s been a lot for Fortune to take in. “I had all this time alone writing, and then suddenly, I’m about to go in front of hundreds of people who have connected with my books and are taking time out of their evening to come see me. That’s so wild,” she says, bewildered.

It causes her nerves to get the best of her on occasion. Last year, on the first night of her tour for This Summer Will Be Different, she spoke with fellow author Annabel Monaghan in front of a crowd; after it was over, she couldn’t remember a single thing from their conversation. “My brain just shut down,” she says.

But author life has also had its deeply moving moments. Fortune was particularly touched by the responses to a storyline about postpartum OCD in her second novel, Meet Me at the Lake, which was inspired by her own experience. Many readers have reached out to thank her for writing about it, including one who only realized she’d had it as a result of reading the book. “Those messages were very meaningful to me,” she says.

In fact, Fortune wrote her latest novel in part to satisfy her fans. Since the 2022 release of Every Summer After, which followed Percy Fraser and Sam Florek’s romance, countless fans demanded a happy ending for his younger brother, Charlie Florek — an investment banker-slash-handyman dripping in BDE. Once, two women waited in line at a book signing for 90 minutes to argue their case. “They were like, ‘We have a bone to pick with you. Justice for Charlie,’” she says.

The new book sees Charlie woo Alice Everly, a shy photographer. He smolders, skinny-dips, and handles cucumbers with ease (there’s a grocery store meet-cute). But he also whips up nostalgic family recipes and carries Alice’s grandma down to the lake after hip surgery. Though his confidence occasionally veers into arrogance, you can’t stay mad at the flirtatious king; his blush-worthy banter is irresistible. Much of it centers on one theme: He worships Alice. As one Goodreads user wrote, “My pupils are permanently dilated because of Charlie Florek.”

In a particularly memorable scene, Charlie says unspeakable things while undressing Alice in her high school’s dark room. It was inspired by a friend’s real-life hookup, Fortune says, and set at the author’s alma mater. “She says the chemicals really add to the effect,” Fortune says. “I don’t know what the high school administrators will think.”

She doesn’t seem too concerned — fitting, given that protecting her peace is one of her goals going forward. “I’m trying to be better about breathing and staying present because it’s so cool,” she says. She hired her best friend from college to handle her many publicity and marketing demands, and even zooming with Markle wasn’t as nerve-wracking as she’d thought it would be. The pair bonded over the book, parenting, and Toronto, where the actor filmed Suits. “I felt like I was with friends,” she says. “It was surreal but so joyful.”

There’s plenty of joy in store for readers, too. She’s already written her 2026 novel, a story about lifelong friends-turned-lovers. “It’s a bit moodier,” she says. And after that?

“I had an idea the other morning for a book,” she says, lowering her voice. “I got up early and started writing it down. I was like, ‘I’m just so alive and full of energy.’ And then, of course, later in the day, I’m trash. I’m so tired. But it’s such a great feeling. I love it.”