This Summer Will Be Different Summary: A Sizzling Forbidden Romance on Prince Edward Island
TL;DR
The forbidden love trope meets the Canadian Maritimes in Carley Fortune’s third romance novel.
Lucy Ashby travels to Prince Edward Island for a girls’ trip.
She meets a local man.
The connection is immediate.
Then comes the complication: he is her best friend’s brother.
What follows spans five years of secrets, summers, and choices neither of them expected.
- Lucy Ashby, a Toronto florist, has a one-night stand with a man on Prince Edward Island who turns out to be her best friend Bridget’s younger brother, Felix.
- They establish rules: no telling Bridget, no sleeping together again, and no falling in love.
- Over five summers, they repeatedly break those rules while keeping their relationship a secret.
- The present timeline unfolds over nine days before Bridget’s wedding, forcing secrets to surface.
- The book weaves together themes of female friendship, grief over a lost mentor, and the pull between career ambition and personal fulfillment.
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The Big Ideas
| Theme | How The Book Presents It |
|---|---|
| Forbidden Love | Lucy and Felix maintain a five-year secret relationship because acting on their connection would violate Bridget’s explicit rule against dating her brother. |
| Female Friendship | The bond between Lucy and Bridget forms the emotional core of the story, with Bridget serving as the “safety net” Lucy fears losing. |
| Grief and Loss | Lucy’s inability to process Aunt Stacy’s death manifests in workaholism and emotional withdrawal, shaping her decisions throughout both timelines. |
| Career Versus Autonomy | Lucy must separate her genuine love for floristry from the coping mechanism her work became after Stacy’s death. |
| The Definition of Home | Prince Edward Island represents belonging for Lucy in a way Toronto never does, despite her established life and business there. |
This Summer Will Be Different Summary: The Complete Story
SPOILER WARNING: This section recounts the full plot, including the ending.
Five years before the main events, Lucy Ashby arrives alone on Prince Edward Island. Her best friend and roommate Bridget Clark misses her flight.
Lucy stops at Shack Malpeque, where she meets Felix Clark, an oyster shucker with iceberg-blue eyes. The attraction hits her like electricity.
They spend a passionate night together at a house with yellow doors and cedar shingles. The next morning, Lucy discovers Felix is Bridget’s younger brother, nicknamed Wolf. Bridget’s cardinal rule echoes in her head: don’t fall in love with my brother.
Lucy and Felix agree to three rules. They will not tell Bridget. They will not sleep together again. Lucy will not fall in love with him.
The rules fail. Over the next five summers, whenever Lucy visits the island, they gravitate back to each other. Their connection deepens through a secret language of books and flower seeds.
Lucy sends Felix modern classics. He sends her seeds for the flower farm she dreams of owning.
Back in Toronto, Lucy runs In Bloom, the flower shop she inherited from her Aunt Stacy. After Stacy dies of cancer, Lucy buries her grief in work. She becomes a micromanager who rarely takes vacations.
Nine days before Bridget’s wedding to Miles Lam, everything shifts.
Bridget calls Lucy sounding broken. She has fled Toronto for her family’s PEI home. Lucy drops a major meeting with a hospitality group named Cena and flies to the island.
Felix meets her at the airport. The tension between them is immediate. Bridget refuses to discuss her crisis, insisting they spend the week revisiting their favorite island spots.
The National Oyster Shucking Championship in Tyne Valley becomes a turning point. Felix places third. Afterward, he publicly kisses Lucy’s hand. The gesture signals he no longer wants secrecy.
Bridget’s secret emerges: Miles received a promotion in Australia. She plans to move there with him in October. The news devastates Lucy, who fears losing her only safety net.
Lucy confesses her five-year history with Felix to Bridget. The revelation falls flat. Bridget and most of the Clark family already knew or suspected the truth.
Lucy and Felix admit they are wildly, deeply, unrelentingly in love. Still, Felix refuses to let Lucy move to the island simply to escape her life. He wants her to choose him with full certainty.
Lucy returns to Toronto. She begins delegating work at In Bloom to her employee Farah. She starts viewing her flower farm as an achievable goal. She and Felix maintain a long-distance relationship, cooking together over FaceTime and continuing their book-and-seed exchange.
Eventually, Lucy buys land near Point Prim Lighthouse. In March, she returns to the island, shows Felix the property, and tells him she is ready to build a life there.
The epilogue jumps to the following summer. Lucy and Felix live in their new home, Primfield House. Lucy runs her flower farm while co-owning In Bloom with Farah.
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Summary by Chapter
SPOILER WARNING: This section groups the book’s chapters into narrative phases.
The Inciting Incident and The Rules (Prologue – Chapter 4)
A chance encounter at Shack Malpeque leads to an electric night between two strangers. The next morning reveals their shared connection to Bridget, making their attraction strictly forbidden.
To protect the person they both love most, Lucy and Felix establish rigid rules to ensure their encounter remains a one-time event.
The Emergency Trip and The Reunion (Chapters 5 – 10)
Five years later, a panicked phone call from Bridget forces Lucy’s return to the island days before the wedding. She must navigate the discomfort of the space where the secret began while facing Felix again.
As the group gathers, the label of just friends proves impossible for either of them to maintain.
A History of Summers (Chapters 11 – 22)
Flashbacks reveal the intervening years and moments where the rules were repeatedly tested. These chapters detail the evolution from a physical spark to a deeper connection sustained through secret book and seed exchanges.
The dual timelines show how their lives changed in their respective cities while their hearts stayed anchored to the island.
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The Breaking Point and The Truth (Chapters 23 – 32)
During the oyster shucking championship, public and private tensions erupt. Bridget’s revelation about moving to Australia forces a confrontation about loyalty and the fear of being left behind.
Long-held secrets surface, misconceptions clear, and the characters must decide whether to risk their established lives.
The Wedding and The New Beginning (Chapters 33 – Epilogue)
The story concludes with a major life event in Toronto, followed by a difficult separation. Lucy embarks on months of self-discovery and the patient work of building a future that is not merely an escape.
The narrative returns full circle to the island, where a whispered dream becomes a permanent reality.
Characters In This Book
| Character | Role |
|---|---|
| Lucy Ashby (Bee) | A Toronto florist and owner of In Bloom who becomes entangled in a secret romance with her best friend’s brother. |
| Felix Clark (Wolf) | Bridget’s younger brother, a competitive oyster shucker and co-founder of Salt Cottages on Prince Edward Island. |
| Bridget Clark (Bee) | Lucy’s best friend, a high-achieving PR professional whose wedding drives the present timeline. |
| Miles Lam | Bridget’s fiancé, a polished real estate developer and chef originally from Australia. |
| Farah | Lucy’s second-in-command at In Bloom, a poet who eventually becomes co-owner of the shop. |
| Aunt Stacy | Lucy’s late mentor and original owner of In Bloom, a former actor who lived life on her own terms. |
| Ken Clark | Bridget and Felix’s father, a retired history teacher and the resident DJ of Summer Wind. |
| Christine Clark | Bridget and Felix’s mother, a retired large-animal vet and avid gardener. |
| Zach | Felix’s childhood best friend and business partner at Salt Cottages. |
| Joy | Felix’s ex-fiancée and Bridget’s former best friend whose betrayal created lasting family tension. |
| Lyle Ashby | Lucy’s older brother, a dentist and former hockey player. |
| Carter | Lucy’s ex-boyfriend in Toronto who ended the relationship because she prioritized work. |
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Frequently Asked Questions
How does This Summer Will Be Different end?
Lucy buys land near Point Prim Lighthouse on Prince Edward Island and tells Felix she is ready to build a life with him. The epilogue shows them living in their new home, Primfield House, with Lucy running a flower farm while co-owning her Toronto shop with Farah.
Is This Summer Will Be Different a standalone novel?
Yes, Carley Fortune’s third novel is a complete standalone story with its own characters and setting, unconnected to her previous books Every Summer After and Meet Me at the Lake.
Where does This Summer Will Be Different take place?
The novel is set primarily on Prince Edward Island, Canada, with significant scenes in Toronto. The PEI setting features red sandstone cliffs, oyster shacks, and the Clark family home, creating a distinct Maritime atmosphere.
Does Lucy end up with Felix in This Summer Will Be Different?
Lucy and Felix confess their love but do not immediately move in together. Felix insists Lucy must choose him with certainty rather than as an escape. After months of long-distance work on herself, Lucy returns to the island, and they build a life together.
What is the secret in This Summer Will Be Different?
Lucy and Felix keep their romantic relationship hidden from Bridget for five years. When Lucy finally confesses, she discovers that Bridget and most of the Clark family already knew or suspected the truth.
What role does Aunt Stacy play in This Summer Will Be Different?
Aunt Stacy was Lucy’s mentor and the original owner of In Bloom flower shop. Her death from cancer before the main events leaves Lucy grieving and emotionally stuck, heavily influencing Lucy’s decisions throughout the novel.
Does Carley Fortune’s This Summer Will Be Different have a happy ending?
The novel ends with Lucy and Felix living together on Prince Edward Island in their custom-built home. Lucy successfully runs a flower farm while maintaining co-ownership of her Toronto shop, achieving both personal and professional fulfillment.
Similar Books
Every Summer After by Carley Fortune — A dual-timeline romance set in Ontario’s cottage country featuring long-term yearning and a central secret between childhood friends turned lovers.
Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune — A second-chance romance set between Toronto and a lakeside resort, dealing with grief, career pressure, and parental legacy.
Happy Place by Emily Henry — A group of best friends gathers for their annual summer vacation, exploring friendship dynamics and the fear of changing life stages alongside a central romance.
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett — A mother tells her daughters about a past summer romance in a lyrical narrative that shares the emphasis on setting and nostalgia found in Fortune’s work.
Beach Read by Emily Henry — Two writers with opposite styles spend a summer in neighboring beach houses, combining witty banter with emotional depth and a strong sense of place.
The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo — A decades-long love story tested by distance and life choices, mirroring the emotional weight and star-crossed feel of Lucy and Felix’s secret history.
