Carly Fortune 'Talks Every Summer After', THAT Big Twist & Worst Ways to Breakup With Someone

July 13, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Carly Fortune on Writing Friends-to-Lovers, the Gut Punch Twist, and Why Setting Comes First

When Carly Fortune sat down to write Our Perfect Storm, she knew one thing from the start: the setting came first. Not the trope, not the storyline, not even the characters. "The setting always comes first for me," she tells host Olivia Ponton. "Then the protagonist, the female character. And then the relationship, the emotions, the kind of arc that I want to tell. I don't think about tropes until I'm like, oh, therefore it would be this kind of trope."

That approach produced a book where Frankie and George—best friends since age eight—find themselves on a honeymoon trip to Tofino, a remote town on Vancouver Island, after Frankie's fiancé Nate leaves her a note on the morning of their wedding saying he can't go through with it. George, who has been drifting apart from Frankie after a big fight, shows up to accompany her on the trip Nate insisted she still take. The book unfolds over seven days, each with a theme for healing a broken heart, and each day ends with a flashback to a pivotal moment in their twenty-plus years of friendship.

The Twist That Had to Be Forgiven

Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.

Read Full Summary →

Free • No credit card required

Listen to Audio Summary Open in App

Never miss an episode of Booked, Blonde & Busy w/ Olivia Ponton

Get every new episode summarized in your inbox — free, ~5 minutes to read.

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

What you'll learn

1 (02:01) **Book Synopsis: "Our Perfect Storm"** - Carly Fortune summarizes her upcoming novel about Frankie and George, best friends for 20+ years, where Frankie is dumped via letter the morning of her wedding by her fiancé Nate.
2 (04:18) **George’s Intentions: Love Confession or Pure Friendship?** - The host asks whether George knew he would confess his love to Frankie before the trip, and Carly explains his character’s motivations.
3 (05:29) **The Gut Punch: George’s Role in the Breakup** - The discussion reveals that George told Nate “I’ll love her and know her in a way you never will,” which led Nate to call off the wedding.
4 (07:40) **Creating 20 Years of Chemistry on Paper** - Carly describes her method for building a long history between characters in a short novel.
5 (10:13) **The Breakup Plan Structure** - Carly explains the complex structure of the honeymoon, where each day has a theme for healing Frankie’s heart, followed by a flashback.
6 (12:11) **Setting the Scene: Tofino, Canada** - Carly describes the remote town on Vancouver Island that inspired the novel’s setting, a place where rainforest and beach collide.
7 (14:38) **Surfing and Whales: Real Experiences in the Book** - Carly shares how her own surfing and whale watching trips made it into the novel.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Olivia Ponton

Show Notes

Hi angels!! 🎀🪽Today I am joined by the CEO of beach reads, the one and only Carley Fortune! We are diving into her brand new book Our Perfect Storm (avail now!) and what it's actually like watching Every Summer After come to life on screen (Every Year After started streaming on Prime starting June 10th). And because we couldn't help ourselves... we also ranked the best and worst ways to break up with somebody... This one is so fun! Grab a drink and get your bathing suits on because it's time for a beach read! xoxo, Olivia Grab your copy of 'Our Perfect Storm!'https://go.shopmy.us/p-70324612❤︎ Join The Conversation→ Patreon (it's free!): https://www.patreon.com/cw/OliviaPonton→ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/olivia.ponton→ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@iamoliviaponton→ Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/add/olivia_ponton12Timestamps:00:37-1:28 Intro/Bev of the DayChapter 11:30-03:47 Our Perfect Storm03:48-07:09 Best friends to lovers?07:10-10:40 Building real people with backstory10:41-13:06 What is Tofino? 13:07-18:29 All of those whales?18:30-23:43 Tropes - and writing a beach read.Chapter 223:45-27:44 Every Summer After!!! 27:44-29:21 When Carley thought of the Every Year After casting29:22- 31:17 Building real words from the page Chapter 331:19-36:37 How to break up with someone, Carley Fortune style36:38-37:02 What's next for Carley?#booktube #bookish #bookreview