MAY 10, 2025

Dear reader,

Nothing marks the end of winter quite like the arrival of the year’s beach reads. Last week, Toronto’s very own queen of romance, Carley Fortune, released her latest novel, One Golden Summer. This is Fortune’s fourth book in as many years, and anticipating her wildly successful cottage-country page-turners has become something of an annual tradition.

Fortune, whose work regularly dominates the New York Times bestseller list, has sold more than a million books worldwide, making her a household name. Her second blockbuster, Meet Me at the Lake, was even optioned for Netflix by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (no big deal).

As her new novel hits shelves, we’re revisiting our in-depth interview with Fortune from last year, “Bawdy Language.” Below, she dishes on reinventing the bodice-ripper and navigating her stratospheric rise to celebrity author status. 

For more great long-reads from Toronto Life, subscribe to our print edition here.

—Maddy Mahoney, features editor

In just two years, she’s published two runaway bestsellers, sold film rights to Prince Harry and Meghan, finished a third book—which hits shelves this month—and is well into her fourth. How Carley Fortune is reinventing the bodice-ripper, one blockbuster at a time

BY ARISA VALYEAR | MAY 2, 2024

Carley Fortune spent 15 years climbing the ranks at various magazines (including Toronto Life, where she worked as a digital editor) before ditching journalism to write romance novels full time. Despite being an unknown quantity, Fortune’s first book cracked the New York Times bestseller list and stayed there for 13 weeks. Its wild popularity helped her second novel debut in the top spot. The author’s latest twisty-turny beach read, This Summer Will Be Different, is a sun-kissed tale of lust, forbidden love and enduring friendship set in Prince Edward Island and Toronto. On the eve of its release, Fortune weighs in on anti-romance snobbery, what makes a good sex scene and how sudden fame has changed her life.

In the latest issue: true tales from Toronto’s brain gain. Plus, a Q&A with David Cronenberg, the rise and fall of the 21st century’s most wanted bank robber, and more. Still not receiving Toronto Life at home? Subscribe today.

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