With "Heated Rivalry" and "Off Campus" both winning the hearts and minds of audiences, it’s clear that fluffy romantic novels are having an especially successful moment on the small screen. So it makes sense that Carley Fortune's beloved bestseller "Every Summer After" would be adapted as a series on Prime Video.
The show (renamed "Every Year After") stars Sadie Soverall and Matt Cornett as Percy and Sam, a pair of childhood friends who are united every summer in Barry’s Bay and whose relationship slowly blossoms into young love. But life has a way of separating people, and they eventually become estranged. Until Percy returns to Barry’s Bay years later, and the two get a second chance to be together.
Every Year After" is now streaming after its release on June 10. If you’re looking to keep those sun-drenched, nostalgic vibes going as we head into summer, here are five other shows to check out.
'The Summer I Turned Pretty'
We start the list with the show that's also on Prime Video and shares the most similar DNA with "Every Year After." Like Barry’s Bay, the beach town of Cousins in "The Summer I Turned Pretty" turns summer vacations into magic, setting the scene for the evolving relationships of the main characters. Belly (Lola Tung) has spent every summer of her life in Cousins, together with the Fisher brothers, Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno).
And although she’s always nursed a private crush on Conrad, as she careens towards adulthood, Belly finds herself entangled in an extremely messy love triangle with both brothers. Over the course of the show’s three seasons, she becomes the queen of making bad decisions — but this is a YA romance, after all, so things are bound to work out for her in the end. If for no other reason, "The Summer I Turned Pretty" is worth a watch for the chemistry between its star-in-the-making leads.
Watch on Prime Video
'Dawson’s Creek'
There’s no series that delves into the complicated ramifications of when old friends start to catch feelings for one another better than "Dawson’s Creek." Set in an idyllic seaside town in New England, it revolves around the (admittedly self-involved) exploits of Dawson (James Van Der Beek), a teenage boy with dreams of becoming a film director. For as long as he can remember, he’s been best friends with the girl next door, Joey (Katie Holmes), and his wise-cracking, perennially underachieving sidekick Pacey (Joshua Jackson).
But as their teenage years roll on and hormones take over, the relationships between all three become decidedly more complicated. "Dawson’s Creek" has rightfully earned its reputation as a classic teen drama of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Even if you’ve already seen it, the show is well worth a rewatch.
Watch on Netflix
'To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before'
OK, this is a film series, but we'll count it for the vibes. Whereas "Every Year After" chronicles the unique relationship between a pair of childhood friends who eventually find love, "To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before" takes a different approach. Although at its heart, it focuses on the budding romance between sweet cinnamon roll jock Peter (Noah Centineo) and Lara Jean (Lana Condor), it also saves space for all the guys that Lara Jean has carried a torch for over the years. She’s made a habit out of writing a letter to each of her crushes as a way to get closure, never intending for them to actually be sent out. That is, until her younger sister puts them in the mail, and Lara Jean is left scrambling.
A fake relationship with Peter — one that becomes disconcertingly real – is the result. "To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before," based on a novel by Jenny Han, is just the first in a beloved series, but it’s arguably the best of the bunch.
Watch on Netflix
'One Day'
The main characters in "One Day" may not have had a shared childhood, but their history is on full display over the course of the show’s 14-year-long romantic saga. After meeting at the very end of college, Emma (Ambika Mod) and Dexter (Leo Woodall) share an undeniable spark. But it’s hard not to feel like they missed their chance, and after grad night, they go their separate ways. Still, they can’t help but find ways back to each other.
"One Day" charts their evolving relationship from friends to something more over the course of a decade and a half, making this the ultimate slow burn. What they mean to each other is different at each stage of their life, but with crackling chemistry, they leave us in no doubt of the power of their bond. "One Day" was only a single season long, but it packs a whole lot of living in that short amount of screen time.
Watch on Netflix
'Tell Me Lies'
Another series based on a popular romance novel, "Tell Me Lies" is a little less fluffy than "Every Year After." (OK, a lot less fluffy.) In it, we follow the intense romance that develops between two college students, Lucy (Grace Van Patten) and Stephen (Jackson White), as they transition into adulthood.
And there’s no real way to sugarcoat this: Unlike the other series on this list, Lucy and Stephen share nuclear levels of toxicity. Yes, they have an invisible tether that keeps drawing them back to each other, but there’s no universe in which they should actually be together — unless it’s to protect the rest of the world from dating them. If you’re looking for a series that follows a similar narrative structure to "Every Year After," charting the evolution of a relationship over the course of several years, "Tell Me Lies" is a gripping pick. Just don’t expect to actually like the characters.
Watch on Hulu
