Love Carley Fortune’s emotional romances? These eight books may be your next favorite.
Carley Fortune has a way of writing romance that feels wrapped in memory. Her stories bring together summer settings, complicated history, missed chances and relationships that continue to matter long after the characters believe they have moved on.
After finishing one of her novels, it can be surprisingly difficult to find another book that captures that same mix of nostalgia, longing and emotional depth.
These eight romances are not copies of Carley Fortune’s books. Each offers something different, but they share at least one of the qualities that make her stories so memorable: first love, second chances, years of shared history, meaningful settings and characters learning how to move forward without forgetting where they began.
What Makes a Book Feel Like Carley Fortune?
Readers drawn to Carley Fortune’s stories are often looking for:
- Childhood friends or first loves reunited as adults
- Second chances complicated by years of shared history
- Lake houses, beaches and nostalgic summer settings
- Romance woven together with family and personal growth
- Emotional stories that still leave room for hope
If You Love Carley Fortune, Read These Next
1. Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren
For readers who especially love childhood friends-to-lovers stories, Love and Other Words is a natural place to begin.
Macy and Elliot form a close friendship when they are young, bonding over books and the private world they create together. When they unexpectedly meet again as adults, both must face the love they once shared and the painful reason they lost each other.
The story moves between the past and present, gradually revealing how one relationship shaped both of their lives. It carries the same sense of memory, longing and unfinished love that draws so many readers to Carley Fortune.
Try this one if you love: childhood sweethearts, dual timelines, bookish characters and emotional second chances.
2. Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan
Same Time Next Summer blends a beach setting, first love and the uncomfortable realization that the life you planned may not be the life you truly want.
Sam returns to the Long Island beach town where she spent her childhood summers and fell in love with Wyatt. She arrives with a dependable fiancé and a carefully organized future, only to discover that Wyatt is back too.
The setting is warm and nostalgic, but the story also explores growing up, finding your way back to yourself and recognizing that some relationships remain part of us even after we believe we have moved on.
Try this one if you love: beach-town nostalgia, childhood first love, second chances and emotional self-discovery.
3. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
Poppy and Alex could not be more different, yet their friendship survives years of shared summer vacations. After one trip changes everything, they stop speaking.
Two years later, Poppy convinces Alex to take one more vacation with her. What follows is a gradual unraveling of everything they have avoided saying about their friendship and the feelings beneath it.
This one is lighter and more banter-filled than some of Carley Fortune’s novels, but it carries the same pull of a relationship built over time. The past and present timelines show how ordinary moments can become the foundation of an unforgettable love story.
Try this one if you love: best friends-to-lovers, vacation memories, witty banter and years of unresolved feelings.
4. Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez
Justin and Emma believe they share the same strange problem: everyone they date seems to find their true love immediately after breaking up with them.
Their solution is simple. They will date each other, break up and finally cancel the curse. Naturally, the arrangement becomes much more complicated once real feelings enter the picture.
The summer setting and playful premise make this an inviting read, but Abby Jimenez also brings emotional depth through difficult family relationships, painful history and characters learning what healthy love should look like.
Try this one if you love: summer romance, emotional healing, complicated families and humor mixed with heavier moments.
5. You, with a View by Jessica Joyce
Noelle is struggling with grief and uncertainty about where her life is headed when she discovers old photographs connected to her late grandmother’s unfinished love story.
Her attempt to retrace that history leads to an unexpected road trip with Theo, her former high school rival, and Theo’s grandfather.
The romance develops alongside a deeply personal journey involving family memories, old dreams and the pressure to have life figured out. Although the central trope differs from Carley Fortune’s books, the story offers a similar emotional warmth and reflective quality.
Try this one if you love: road trips, family history, grief, rivals-to-lovers and finding your way back to yourself.
6. The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
Clementine is grieving a devastating loss when she discovers that her late aunt’s apartment occasionally slips through time.
There she meets Iwan, a man living seven years in the past. Their connection feels immediate, but loving someone separated from you by time creates an entirely different kind of missed chance.
The magical element makes this recommendation different from Carley Fortune’s contemporary romances, yet the emotional heart will feel familiar. It is a story about grief, timing, memory and allowing yourself to imagine a new future.
Try this one if you love: emotional romance, magical realism, grief, missed timing and hopeful new beginnings.
7. Wild Love by Elsie Silver
Wild Love offers a Canadian setting, a close-knit community, complicated attraction and the kind of emotional small-town atmosphere that may appeal to Carley Fortune readers.
The story centers on Ford, a successful businessman trying to build a quieter life in Rose Hill, and Rosie, his best friend’s younger sister. Their history and attraction bring a different energy from Carley Fortune’s lake-centered romances, but both authors create characters whose lives are more complicated than they first appear.
This is one of the spicier recommendations on the list and leans more fully into contemporary romance, while still offering vulnerability, family connections and meaningful character growth.
Try this one if you love: Canadian settings, small towns, found family, strong chemistry and emotional romance with more heat.
8. Always You and Me by Dani Atkins
Always You and Me is a thoughtful choice for readers drawn to emotional stories about friendship, love and the different paths our lives might have taken.
Dani Atkins writes romances that sit close to women’s fiction, with relationships shaped by difficult choices, personal loss and powerful emotion. Her reflective storytelling may appeal to readers who appreciate the quieter, more emotional side of Carley Fortune’s novels.
It may not offer the same sunny summer atmosphere as some of the books on this list, but it delivers a heartfelt story about relationships that continue to influence us through the years.
Try this one if you love: emotional women’s fiction, friendship, life-changing choices and love stories with depth.
Start with These Three
Not sure which book to choose first? These three offer some of the closest connections to the feelings readers often love in Carley Fortune’s novels.
For childhood friends and an emotional second chance:
Love and Other Words
For beach-town nostalgia and first love:
Same Time Next Summer
For summer romance with humor and emotional depth:
Just for the Summer
More Carley Fortune on Forever Book Lover
I have also reviewed two Carley Fortune novels on Forever Book Lover. Both offer the memorable relationships, summer atmosphere and complicated emotions that made me want to create this list.
Our Perfect Storm
A romance shaped by years of friendship, complicated timing and feelings that have been waiting beneath the surface.
Read my review →
One Golden Summer
A heartfelt summer story about love, family, memories and seeing your life from a different perspective.
Read my review →Final Thoughts
No author writes exactly like Carley Fortune, and that is part of what makes her books special. Still, these romances capture pieces of what readers often want more of: first love, years of shared memories, summer settings, emotional family stories and relationships that never feel completely finished.
For the closest match to the childhood friends-to-lovers feeling, I would begin with Love and Other Words or Same Time Next Summer. Readers who want heartfelt emotion with more humor may prefer Just for the Summer, while The Seven Year Slip is a lovely option for anyone open to a touch of magic.
Join the Conversation
Which book has given you the same emotional feeling as a Carley Fortune novel? I would especially love to hear your favorite childhood friends-to-lovers recommendation.
Happy Reading.
0 comments
Thanks for being here! I love hearing from readers, so please leave a comment below.