January 23, 2025

This Summer Will Be Different

This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune

This Summer Will Be Different is a modern romance novel by Carley Fortune that is set on Prince Edward Island. The book was published in 2024 by Berkley Romance, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

I read the novel over Christmas vacation. It's a breezy, happy, and light read, well suited for a summer holiday. Each part of the novel begins with a quote from L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series.

Along with being a love story, Fortune explains that her novel is also a love letter to Prince Edward Island and the land of Anne. Lucy Ashby, the main character shares her name with Lucy Maud Montgomery. When we first meet Lucy, she's dressed as a modern Anne with her hair braided and wrapped as a crown around her head. Lucy thinks,

"When I planned my holiday wardrobe, I thought the dress was appropriately pastoral—an off-the-shoulder number in oversized red-and-white gingham. Anne Shirley with a modern twist. But maybe the puffed sleeves were a little on the nose."


Lucy's romantic interest, Felix, is an Island boy like Gilbert Blythe. She shares a closeness with her best friend Bridget like that between Anne and Diana. During the course of the story, Lucy and Felix visit Green Gables Heritage Place and walk along Lover's Lane, and through the Haunted Wood. They have fun quoting lines from the novel to one another. The characters also talk about Sullivan Entertainment's Anne of Green Gables miniseries and the magic of Jonathan Crombie.

At the end of the book, Carley Fortune elaborates on her novel saying,

"I've known that I wanted to set a book on PEI since I began writing fiction. It's a truly special place, and of course, I have a deep love of Anne of Green Gables, both the book and the CBC movies, starring Megan Follows, Jonathan Crombie, Colleen Dewhurst, and Richard Farnsworth. When my husband and I began dating and he told me he'd never seen them, I went straight to the video store to rent the first. He applauded at the end, and in that moment, I knew he was the man for me. There is no improving upon Anne and my writing cannot compare to Lucy Maud Montgomery's, but I liked being able to look at the island through a contemporary point of view. I also got a kick out of writing my steamiest romance in the place famous for such a wonderfully chaste one."

I thought it was fun to read a book set on PEI by an author who loves Anne Shirley and Lucy Maud Montgomery's works.


Here is the description of the book:

THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

A glorious and tantalizing new escape from #1 New York Times bestselling author Carley Fortune.

This summer they’ll keep their promise. This summer they won't give into temptation. This summer will be different.

Lucy is the tourist vacationing at a beach house on Prince Edward Island. Felix is the local who shows her a very good time. The only problem: Lucy doesn’t know he’s her best friend’s younger brother. Lucy and Felix’s chemistry is unreal, but the list of reasons why they need to stay away from each other is long, and they vow to never repeat that electric night again.

It’s easier said than done.

Each year, Lucy escapes to PEI for a big breath of coastal air, fresh oysters and crisp vinho verde with her best friend, Bridget. Every visit begins with a long walk on the beach, beneath soaring red cliffs and a golden sun. And 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.

When Bridget suddenly flees Toronto a week before her wedding, Lucy drops everything to follow her to the island. Her mission is to help Bridget through her crisis and resist the one man she’s never been able to. But Felix’s sparkling eyes and flirty quips have been replaced with something new, and Lucy’s beginning to wonder just how safe her heart truly is.

ISBN: 978-0593638880

Image credit:
Book cover of This Summer Will Be Different.

Purchase and read This Summer Will Be Different:

This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune

Created January 23, 2025.
© worldofanneshirley.com

January 08, 2025

Broadway-Aimed Anne of Green Gables: A New Musical Acquired by Broadway Licensing

Cast of Anne of Green Gables: A New Musical featuring Juliette Redden as Anne Shirley. Photo by Diane Sobolewski

Broadway Licensing has added Anne of Green Gables: A New Musical to its catalogue. The musical is a contemporary adaptation of L.M. Montgomery's novel Anne of Green Gables by Matte O’Brien and Matt Vinson. Broadway Licensing Global plans to bring the musical to Broadway and to introduce the show to audiences worldwide.

In a press release, Broadway Licensing Global announced the following:

Broadway Licensing, the dedicated musical imprint of Broadway Licensing Global, proudly announces its acquisition of Matte O'Brien and Matt Vinson's Anne of Green Gables: A New Musical. Also home to play imprints, Dramatists Play Service and Playscripts, BLG is currently represented on Broadway by Oh, Mary, recently featured by Water for Elephants, and soon to be represented by the highly anticipated productions of Eureka Day and John Proctor is the Villain.

L.M. Montgomery's, Anne of Green Gables, is one of the best-selling books of all time, with more than 50 million copies sold in over 50 languages. The definitive classic follows the imaginative and fiercely independent Anne Shirley, whose life takes an unexpected turn when she is sent to live with Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert at their farm, Green Gables. Anne navigates her place in this close-knit community, ultimately learning what it means to truly belong. With a clever book and a contemporary score, O'Brien and Vinson faithfully adapt this beloved story for today's modern landscape of theater.

"Our entire team is captivated by this vibrant and new adaptation" says Ted Chapin, Chief Executive Officer of BLG. "Welcoming Anne of Green Gables: A New Musical into our catalogue allows us, alongside lead producers Eric Cornell and Jack Sennott of Cornice Productions, to introduce this exciting new piece to audiences worldwide."

Christopher Arnott of the Hartford Courant calls Anne of Green Gables: A New Musical, "a sharp re-thinking of a timeless coming-of-age tale." In kind, Ariana Straznicky-Packer of BroadwayWorld raves that the musical exudes, "the sharp wit and stylistic speed of Gilmore Girls, nods to award-winning Broadway musical favorites Wicked, The Bridges of Madison County, The Drowsy Chaperone, and more; all blended together into something entirely new and exciting."

"There is genuine excitement for a new stage adaptation of Anne of Green Gables: A New Musical and we have already received a number of licensing requests. We are thrilled to strategically partner with Broadway Licensing to meet this demand as part of our Broadway, touring, and international planning," says Cornell.

Anne of Green Gables: A New Musical was originally produced and presented as a World Premiere at Goodspeed Musicals in 2022. It was earlier developed and produced by Justin Nichols and The Rev Theatre Company (Brett Smock, Producing Artistic Director) in 2018. A Concept Recording was released in 2020 on Broadway Records.

"Anne Shirley has always been a 'Different Kind of Girl' and ahead of her time," Chapin adds. "At BLG, 'different' is our specialty."

Follow Anne of Green Gables on all social media channels: @aoggmusical or visit www.aoggmusical.com for more information. The Concept Recording can be found on Spotify.

Learn more at: broadwaylicensing.com.

ABOUT BROADWAY LICENSING GLOBAL

Broadway Licensing Global and its family of imprints (Dramatists Play Service, Playscripts, Stageworks, and Broadway on Demand) is the global leader in theatrical licensing and distribution. Representing an astonishing 40 Tony Awards® and 49 Pulitzer Prize-winning iconic works, BLG titles epitomize the greatest collection of authors, composers, lyricists, and underlying rights holders across the globe, including Stephen King, Alan Menken, Arthur Miller, Lynn Nottage, Elvis Presley, Paula Vogel, Tennessee Williams, the Beatles, the Bee-Gees, and Harry Potter Theatrical Productions.

MEDIA CONTACT & ASSETS
For Broadway Licensing Global:
Hannah Thulin & Lindsey Rathjen | Account Director, Interdependence | broadwaylicensinggroup@interdependence.com


Official Site:
Anne of Green Gables: A New Musical

Image Credit:
Cast of Anne of Green Gables: A New Musical (Goodspeed Musicals, 2022) featuring Juliette Redden as Anne Shirley. Photo by Diane Sobolewski.

References:
Logan Culwell-Block. (December 10, 2024). Broadway-Aimed Anne of Green Gables Musical Joins Broadway Licensing Catalogue: The adaptation of the L.M. Montgomery book made its world premiere at Goodspeed Musicals in 2022. Playbill. Retrieved from: https://playbill.com/article/broadway-aimed-anne-of-green-gables-musical-joins-broadway-licensing-catalogue.

Broadway-Aimed Anne of Green Gables: A New Musical Joins Broadway Licensing. (December 10, 2024). PR Newswire. Retrieved from: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/broadway-aimed-anne-of-green-gables-a-new-musical-joins-broadway-licensing-302325776.html.

Created January 8, 2025.
© worldofanneshirley.com