Meet Carley Fortune TONIGHT!
Weekly News from Friends & Fiction—April 30, 2025
Tune in at 7pm ET for TONIGHT’s episode!
Join us Wednesday, April 30th at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as Kristy Woodson Harvey & Patti Callahan Henry welcome #1 New York Times bestselling author Carley Fortune to discuss One Golden Summer, a radiant, new escape to the lake which has already been named a Most Anticipated Book of 2025 by TODAY, E! News, Buzzfeed, Us Weekly, and The New York Post.
Carley is the #1 NYT and Globe and Mail bestselling author of four novels including This Summer Will Be Different and Meet Me at the Lake. Her books have sold more than 2 million copies worldwide and have been translated into 30 languages in over 50 territories. An award-winning journalist, Carley has worked as an editor at some of Canada’s top publications, including The Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, and Toronto Life, and oversaw the launch of Refinery29 Canada. Carley spent much of her youth in the tiny lakeside rural Ontario town of Barry’s Bay which inspired the setting for several of her novels. She joins us from her home in Toronto to discuss One Golden Summer (May 6, Berkley) which centers Charlie Florek, a beloved character from Carley’s debut novel Every Summer After. Abby Jimenez says this new book “was everything I wanted for Charlie and more! Alice and Charlie’s chemistry is an absolute bonfire, the banter is perfection, and Nan is a treasure.” We can’t wait to talk to Carley all about it!
Watch the video broadcast of this interview as it airs Wed 4/30 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 5/2.
Order Carley’s book on Bookshop.org!
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Latest News from the Fab Four!
PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY had an amazing week at her alma mater, Auburn University, talking to a creative writing class (co-ed Patti as a nursing student could never have imagined this), and speaking to a few gatherings. Wandering the streets of Auburn without a sporting event was glorious and she felt 18, (until she didn’t). She wrote an Instagram post about how it all felt and you can read that HERE: She sent out a NEWSLETTER with her favorite reads and a recap of the tour (so far) along with the silly things she’s learned. This week she is back at the desk and excited to be working on her next project!
KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY had the best, best Spring Break with her family and is home and back to reality. She’s so excited that A HAPPIER LIFE released in paperback yesterday. She’s obsessed with the new cover with Salt, her dog, on it!
KRISTIN HARMEL had a wonderful weekend in Windsor, Colorado, speaking to a great audience (including a Friends & Fiction member who’d driven seven and a half hours from Kansas!) about The Book of Lost Names, her 2020 novel, which was their Clearview Library District’s community read. What a great time! She’s looking forward to celebrating her birthday (and watching the Kentucky Derby!) this weekend, and then next week, on May 9, she’s off to Charleston for the Post & Courier Spring Author Luncheon. (Come join her if you’re in the Charleston area!) She’s looking forward to meeting up with Friends & Fiction cofounder Mary Alice Monroe while she’s there for a long overdue catch-up dinner!
MARY KAY ANDREWS ran away from home—all the way to Tybee Island, Georgia, to hide out and work on her novel-in-progress, part of which is set in Savannah. Plans for son Andrew’s June wedding (at MKA’s home!) are humming along, and she and granddaughter Molly have been busily polishing dozens of vintage silver candlesticks that will be used for the big day.
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Upcoming Events
View Patti’s full 2025 book tour for The Story She Left Behind HERE.
View Kristy’s full 2025 book tour for Beach House Rules HERE.
View Kristin’s full 2025 book tour for The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau HERE.
See MKA’s upcoming events HERE.
Friday, May 30, 2025—Friends & Fiction Live in Myrtle Beach to celebrate the launch of Beach House Rules by Kristy Woodson Harvey. Meet all four Friends & Fiction host authors! Hosted by Litchfield Books at 21 Main At North Beach in North Myrtle Beach, SC. The event begins at 10:45AM. Tickets are $80 and include a signed copy of Beach House Rules, a special gift, keynote presentation delivered by the Fab Four (plus Meg & Ron!), author Q&A, plated lunch & dessert, meet & greet, photo opportunity, and admittance to the private restaurant. Couples of the same household may exchange one event book for another title in the bookstore. Additional books by all four authors will be available for purchase at the event. GET TICKETS!
Tuesday, June 17, 2025—Friends & Fiction Live at the Jersey Shore to celebrate the launch of The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau by Kristin Harmel. Meet all four Friends & Fiction host authors! Hosted by Booktowne at the Algonquin Arts Theatre in Manasquan, NJ. Doors open at 6:00PM. The show begins at 7:00 PM. Tickets are $45 and include a signed copy of The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau, lively keynote presentation delivered by the Fab Four (plus Meg & Ron!), and live audience Q&A session—plus sips & nibbles, meet & greet, book signings, and photo opportunities in the courtyard after the show! Additional books by all four authors will be available for purchase at the event. GET TICKETS!
Want to know what our F&F Live events are all about? Watch this video compilation!
In Case You Missed It
On last week’s episode of The Friends & Fiction Show, Mary Kay Andrews & Kristin Harmel welcomed New York Times bestselling author Jasmine Guillory to discuss Flirting Lessons, her “sexy-sweet, opposites-attract, friends-to-lovers romance, enriched with found-family vibes…an absolute delight” (Booklist).
You can WATCH that episode on Facebook or YouTube, or LISTEN to it on our podcast.
Coming Up on The Friends & Fiction Show
All shows can be watched on Facebook & YouTube each Wednesday evening at 7pm ET, and listened to on our podcast each Friday, all year long.
Already aired: F&F March Pick of the Month: Patti Callahan Henry, The Story She Left Behind
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Already aired: Emma Donoghue, The Paris Express
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Already aired: Emilia Hart, The Sirens
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Already aired: Nita Prose, The Maid’s Secret
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Already aired: Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Happy Land
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Already aired: F&F April Pick of the Month—Jeneva Rose, The Perfect Divorce
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Already aired: Jasmine Guillory, Flirting Lessons
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Carley Fortune, One Golden Summer
Watch April 30 | Listen May 2
Mary Alice Monroe, Where the Rivers Merge
Watch May 7 | Listen May 9
Ruth Reichl, The Paris Novel
Watch May 14 | Listen May 16
F&F May Pick of the Month—Kristy Woodson Harvey, Beach House Rules
Watch LIVE May 21 | Listen May 23
Kristina McMorris, The Girls of Good Fortune
Watch May 28 | Listen May 30
Summer Kick-Off Beach Party with Mary Kay Andrews, Annabel Monaghan, Meg Mitchell Moore, Martha Hall Kelly, Wendy Francis, Amy Mason Doan & Brooke Lea Foster
Watch June 4 | Listen June 6
F&F June Pick of the Month—Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Collette Marceau
Watch LIVE June 11 | Listen June 13
Julie Clark, The Ghostwriter
Watch June 18 | Listen June 20
Jess Walter, So Far Gone
Watch June 25 | Listen June 27
F&F 2025 Subscription Box with Oxford Exchange
The 2025 FRIENDS AND FICTION Subscription Box is available for purchase now, exclusively from our friends at Oxford Exchange.
This subscription includes three separate shipments:
1. MARCH 18th: A hardcover, signed, first edition of Patti Callahan Henry’s forthcoming book THE STORY SHE LEFT BEHIND with an exclusive Friends & Fiction friendship bracelet and car magnet
2. MAY 27th: A hardcover, signed, first edition of BEACH HOUSE RULES by Kristy Woodson Harvey!
3. JUNE 17th: A hardcover, signed, first edition of THE STOLEN LIFE OF COLETTE MARCEAU by Kristin Harmel!
*Optional add-on: A paperback, signed, first edition of SUMMERS AT THE SAINT by Mary Kay Andrews (coming in paperback June 3)!
Get your subscription NOW from Oxford Exchange!
F&F Merch Store
We have a Friends & Fiction merch store with t-shirts, sweatshirts, coffee mugs and a book bag on Bonfire. We also have other items like wine tumblers, reading journals, and our original white v-neck logo tees available through Oxford Exchange.
F&F Official Book Club & 2025 Reading Challenge
Join Brenda Gardner & Lisa Harrison for monthly book club picks and live online author chats on the Facebook page for the F&F Official Book Club with Brenda & Lisa, where they’ve amassed 35,000 of their own members. You can also follow the Book Club on Instagram and subscribe to their YouTube channel where you can catch past discussions, including their most recent chat with Patti Callahan Henry about her novel, The Story She Left Behind. Mark your calendars for May 19th for their next author guest, Viola Shipman, when they’ll discuss her new novel, The Page Turner. The Book Club is also hosting the 2025 F&F Reading Challenge. Join them for a different category prompt each month to read outside your comfort zone. The April prompt is to read a book with a question as its title and for May it’s to read a book with water on the cover.
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