Exclusive Interview
Carley Fortune Dives Into ‘One Golden Summer’ & How It Was Almost a ‘Completely Different Book’ (VIDEO)
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for One Golden Summer.]
Charlie Florek steps into the sun in Carley Fortune’s latest romance novel, One Golden Summer. The charming and larger-than-life older brother of Sam Florek was first introduced in Every Summer After and caused quite a stir among readers.
In One Golden Summer (a perfect beach read), Charlie becomes the leading man in his own love story when Alice Everly, a talented photographer, shows up in Barry’s Bay for the summer. The spark between Charlie and Alice ignites like a firework, but their relationship is far from a summer fling. One Golden Summer unravels the layers of Charlie Florek, a man who has had to overcome profound losses and feels as if he doesn’t deserve true happiness. As for Alice, she’s never broken outside of her comfort zone, but her feelings for Charlie make her feel like she could take on the world.
Turns out, One Golden Summer almost went down a totally separate path. Fortune told Swooon that she had initially written a different love interest for Charlie. “I ended up writing 11,000 words of a completely different book that I ended up trashing because she just wasn’t right, and eventually, I found Alice,” the author revealed.
That version had “no sparkle,” according to Fortune. For a character like Charlie Florek, Fortune knew she had to craft the perfect leading lady. “One of the characters I had come up with was a singer-songwriter, and she had spent a summer at the lake when she was a teenager and created an album out of it,” Fortune said.
The Canadian author ultimately scrapped the singer-songwriter and honed her focus on creating Alice, a character who has “spent her life behind the camera and is uncomfortable being at the center of her life.” Fortune felt Alice was “such a good match for Charlie, who is so good at seeing people and being the center of attention.”
Fortune fully acknowledged that readers “walked away from Every Summer After pretty polarized” about Charlie. “Some people loved him. Some people were thought he was despicable, and I truly love him. He’s my favorite character to write, and I really empathize with him,” she added. (Spoiler alert: In Every Summer After, Charlie and Percy, his younger brother’s one true love, sleep together.)
The author didn’t feel like she had to “redeem” Charlie by any means. She just wanted to “show readers who he really is” with One Golden Summer. She added, “People make mistakes, and they particularly make mistakes when they are young, and I think he had a very confusing time.”
Sam and Percy are featured briefly in One Golden Summer, and Fortune gives an exciting update about their future. “So many people wanted another book about Sam and Percy, which I was not wanting to do because I feel like I left them in a nice spot, and to write another book about them, you have to put them through another ordeal,” Fortune explained to Swooon. “I didn’t want to do that to them.” However, a new hardcover collector’s edition of Every Summer After features a bonus chapter for Sam and Percy fans. Plus, there’s the Prime Video adaptation that’s in the works!
With One Golden Summer, Fortune’s time in Barry’s Bay is over—for now. “It’s hard for me to close a chapter on Barry’s Bay because it’s where I’m from,” the Canada native said. “I’m not closing it, but I don’t know what another chapter would look like.”
The bestselling author is already hard at work on a new book. She’s submitted her first draft, and there’s title and a cover in the mix. The book will be released in 2026. She told Swooon that the new book is “not connected” to her previous novels. “It’s a new story, new characters, new world,” she teased. Watch the full video above to get more scoop about all things One Golden Summer.
