Book adaptation lovers, get ready for your next favorite project: Netflix is officially adapting Carley Fortune's This Summer Will Be Different, with Sophie Nélisse already confirmed to star.
If you are not sure where you've heard of Fortune before, the Canadian author is beloved for her summer-themed books. Her debut novel, Every Summer After, was recently adapted for TV by Prime Video as Every Year After. The streamer has since confirmed a second season for the show, based on Fortune's fourth overall book, One Golden Summer, released in 2025, which so far completes the Barry's Bay series.
This Summer Will Be Different, released in 2024, is Fortune's third book and is set in another idyllic Canadian setting: Prince Edward Island. The TV adaptation of the book is being brought to life by creators and showrunners Dane Clark (Suze, One More Time) and Linsey Stewart (Workin’ Moms, North of North). It will also feature Fortune herself, alongside others, as executive producer.
“I fell in love with Prince Edward Island first in the pages of L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables and again when I visited with my best friend in my early 20s,” Fortune told Netflix's Tudum. “That vacation, the beauty of the island, the warmth of its people, and the friendships that sustain us are the foundation of This Summer Will Be Different. I’m thrilled to bring this sweeping love story to the screen with Netflix and to transport audiences to the glittering shores and windswept beaches of PEI.”
If you want to know more about Netflix's This Summer Will Be Different, we've gathered all the information we know so far below.
What will Netflix's This Summer Will Be Different be about?
Netflix's This Summer Will Be Different is based on Carley Fortune's best-selling novel of the same name and is expected to follow the same plot, albeit with some creative differences, as with most book adaptations.
Netflix describes the upcoming project as “a simmering, sun-soaked romance set across multiple summers on Prince Edward Island,” one of eastern Canada's maritime provinces, which Fortune fell in love with during a trip with a friend that inspired the book. (Seriously, she even has a full PEI travel guide on her website!)
This Summer Will Be Different centers on Toronto city girl Lucy, “a young woman navigating her 20s and her first real love with her best friend’s brother, the one person she was never supposed to fall for.”
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In the official book description provided on Fortune's website, Lucy is described as a “tourist vacationing at a beach house on Prince Edward Island” while Felix, her love interest, is “the local who shows her a very good time.” That's where the two, who share undeniable chemistry, first meet, without her knowing Felix is her best friend Bridget's younger brother.
The book follows Lucy every summer as she returns to PEI and tries to keep her attraction for Felix hidden. Fortune writes: “Every visit, Lucy promises herself she won’t wind up in Felix’s bed. Again. If Lucy can’t help being drawn to Felix, at least she’s always kept her heart out of it."
So, how do we end up entangled once more? Bridget flees Toronto for PEI just before her wedding, and Lucy, as her best friend, of course, leaves everything to follow her. But Felix will have a new allure when she arrives, which will leave “beginning to wonder just how safe her heart truly is.”
Over on her Instagram, Fortune listed all the tropes present in This Summer Will Be Different, confirming that it includes forbidden romance, lovers-to-friends-to-lovers, and forced proximity, among many more, so buckle up. (Also, if you don't want to wait until the adaptation comes out and are looking for your next beach read for this summer, I think you just found it!)
The show will film on Prince Edward Island and in Toronto, the book's real-life locations.
Who is in the cast of Netflix's This Summer Will Be Different?
So far, Netflix has only made one casting announcement, and it's for French-Canadian actress Sophie Nélisse in the lead role of Lucy. The 26-year-old is best known for her roles as Shauna Shipman in Yellowjackets and Rose Landry in Heated Rivalry. The streamer teased that more casting announcements are coming soon, so keep an eye out as we learn more.
When is Netflix's This Summer Will Be Different coming out?
At the time of writing, Netflix has not announced a tentative release date for This Summer Will Be Different. That said, since the project does take place during the aestival season, we have a feeling it will be sometime around summer 2027 at the earliest.
How many episodes will Netflix's This Summer Will Be Different?
We might not have a confirmed release date yet, but we do know how long the series will be. Netflix has confirmed that the upcoming This Summer Will Be Different will feature 10 episodes in total. TBD on length.
Is there a first look for Netflix's This Summer Will Be Different?
Since the project has yet to begin production, there's currently no first look at Netflix's This Summer Will Be Different. However, stay tuned in case that changes and we get some behind-the-scenes peeks soon.
This post will be updated as news about Netflix's This Summer Will Be Different breaks.
