Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy and to PRH Audio for the complimentary audiobook. These opinions are my own.

Meet Me at the Lake is a second chance romance with dual timelines. Despite that similar description, it has quite a different feel to Carley Fortune's first book, Every Summer After.

Fern Brookbanks has returned to her family's resort after her mother's death. She had never intended to take it over and now faces a dilemma about what to do with the failing resort much sooner than she ever expected. Will Baxter shows up as a business consultant, but he has a ten-year-old history with Fern. Only that history was just a single day together.

I really liked Fern and could relate to so many of her feelings. There was a lot going on in the story with the two timelines and then the the addition of her mom's journals as essentially a third timeline. I felt we didn't get to know Will or understand his motivations and transformation nearly as well as Fern. That made it harder to relate to him.

Carley Fortune is a great author with fabulous prose and amazing lines. I often felt I was at a lakeside resort in Canada and could see everything so clearly. For me, the best parts of this book focused on Fern in her journey with her mother, rather than on the romance either past or present.

I recommend reading this over listening to the audiobook. I didn't love the narrator's voice for Will.

After reading and loving Every Summer After last year I was super excited to dive into Carley's next book - Meet Me at the Lake. I love a second chance romance and especially one with flashbacks, so I was really looking forward to reading Meet Me at the Lake.
I got up to about 40% before I decided to put the book down. I tried really hard to feel the connection between Will and Fern, but I honestly couldn't find it. The book wasn't holding my interest and the present/past/and the incorporation of Fern's mother's diary was all getting confusing and messy.
While this book didn't work for me - I look forward to reading the next book by Carley Fortune!

✨ Book Review ✨

A big thank you to @berkleyromance @netgalley for the #gifted ARC #MeetMeAtTheLake !! Available 5/2!

⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖 Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune

A random connection between Fern and Will leads to a daylong adventure and a missed meet up that has life-changing effects.

What it has to offer:

⏳ Dual Timelines
💋 Romance
❤️‍🩹 Second Chance
❤️‍🔥 Slow Burn

Quick thoughts:

✨ A bit of a love triangle.
✨ I wasn’t feeling the chemistry.
✨ Well developed character growth.
✨ Wanted to like it more than I did.

Overall thoughts:

📝 I loved the writing style. The chapters were the perfect length and I liked the cliffhanger style chapter endings.

⏳ Dual timelines shift focus back and forth throughout the story. I thought they were well executed. Although, I did enjoy the now timeline more than the past timeline.

💋 The romance aspect is where things get tricky for me. There was kind of a love triangle playing out which I didn’t like. In the past timeline Fern has a boyfriend named Jamie when she meets Will. I liked Jamie a lot which made it hard for me to buy into her infatuation and insta love situation with Will. Jamie is also still around in the present timeline. I found myself wanting Fern to end up with Jamie even though I knew it wasn’t going to happen.

❤️‍🩹 I usually enjoy the second chance trope but with Jamie lingering in the background I wasn’t invested in it. I also thought the reason Will missed their meet up date was a bit underwhelming.

❤️‍🔥 This is a slow burn romance but it moved at a good pace. There was also some mild spice.

💔 Unfortunately, I just couldn’t get past the Jamie factor! The potential between Jamie and Fern tainted the way I saw Fern and Will’s relationship. I just wasn’t feeling the chemistry between them.

💜 My favorite part was definitely the character growth. It was easy to see how the characters changed from the past timeline to the present timeline.

If you don’t mind a bit of a love triangle and insta love give this one a try!

4.5 Stars

Fern has returned home to her mother’s lake side resort. Her mother has recently passed away and she’s left running the resort. Unexpectedly Will shows up. Will, a man that she spent 24 hours with 10 years ago, a man that broke her heart and changed her life.

This is a story of love, second chances and forgiveness, set in a Dirty Dancing vibe lakeside resort. Told in two timelines of the present and the day 10 years ago that Fern and Will spent together. It was a heart felt read full of emotion with Fern dealing with the death of her mother and trying to navigate her new role at the resort, a job that she never wanted. Will is dealing with his own issues with his past and family. Their romance was sweet and special. It was a great love story with the perfect happily ever after.

4.5 !!

SO GOOD. i loved every summer after & this was just as good.
i did feel like it felt a little like every summer after, but it was still really good.
i loved the romance between the characters & carley just has a way of making summer feel real in books.
loved loved loved

“You remember that?” Will’s eyes search my face. Out here, the espresso brown is more like a glass of Coke held up to the light. “I remember everything.”

Fern & Will. One day together. 24 hours. And it completely changes their lives. An idea to meet at her families resort in one year. A Dirty Dancing style resort. Only he’s nine years late. Your heart will be sure to do a rockette kick!

“His voice is quiet. “I’ve never wanted anything for myself the way I want you. I’m completely in love with you.”

✨ THINGS AND STUFF ✨
-dual timelines
-family owned resort in Canada
-second chance romance
-burning CDs
-that man can wear an apron
-art & graffiti
-interlocking pinkies
-nobody puts baby in a corner
-#IsThisAKissingBook: open door. It’s like a boop but a kiss. And lots of Eskimo kisses.

Thank you Berkley Romance for an advanced reader copy (ebook).

🎶 Song: every single night by Fiona Apple 🎶

Meet Me By The Lake was well written. If romance is your genre, you should pick it up. I suspect you will love it as it is a good mix of story and spice with good writing.

The storyline annoyed me to no end. Ladies, if a man tells you he is going to meet you at the lake and doesn’t show up, he’s not someone to pine over. Next. And if he shows up 10 years later in your life by seeking out your mother and offering to help her, maybe that’s cute. Seems a little passive aggressive to me, but Ok. No spoilers here, but the love interest has a serious lack of commitment/ emotional IQ problem. This is a story for folks who like romantic escapism, but I can’t help but be a realist. The problem here is me.


Thank you to the publisher for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are honest and my own.

I loved Carley Fortune’s sophomore novel. Fern and Will were a great couple and I enjoyed the dual timelines which help the reader see how they first connect and then their reunion 10 years later. This would be a great summer read!

3.5 stars

Another past and present timeline from this author. While it worked well for me in the author's first book, it didn't in this book. Too much past chapters for me. And I get it--the whole premise is Fern and Will meeting and spending the one day together ten years ago and then him not showing up a year later at their scheduled meeting date.

What also really didn't work for me was the fact that it was insta-love. (not a fan) Will and Fern only spent ONE day together in ten years. They really didn't know each other to have such strong feelings in the present.

Besides the romance between Fern and Will this is also about Fern dealing with her feelings/emotions after her mother's sudden death. She has to decide if she wants to sell the resort her mother left her or take over the day-to-day operations herself.

While I didn't enjoy this as much as the author's debut book, I will continue to read her next book.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Carley Fortune burst on the scene last spring with the wildly popular Every Summer After. Meet Me At The Lake was one of my most anticipated reads of 2023 and while it didn’t quite fill the huge shoes of Every Summer After, it did show that Fortune is here to stay.

Fern and Will meet and spend a perfect day together. They vow to meet again in a years time at Fern’s family resort except Will never shows. 9 years later he shows up at the resort, Fern’s mother has passed suddenly and the resort is on the brink of closure. Will offers to stay and help but can Fern forgive this successful man who is a shadow of the boy she met?

The Good:

Carley Fortune is an amazing writer. She writes all stages of adulthood so well and her words drip of nostalgia. The settings she chooses in Canada should be included in travel magazines as I am over here working out how realistic it is for me to take my kids to a Canadian lake this summer.

Fortune writes grief so well. As someone who has lost her mother, Fern’s journey with her heartache over the loss of her own mom hit so close to home without seeming over the top.

The cast of supporting characters were all wonderful as well.

The Bad:

“Instalove”- it will never be my favorite but I did find Will and Fern’s instant connect to seem realistic and sweet. I struggled more with Will. He was so… vanilla. The twist in why he never met up with Fern after their promise to see each other a year later just didn’t quite resonate. I did like the mental health representation throughout his storyline and found his background to be engrossing.

Overall- I couldn’t put this book down and was very invested because of Fern. My prediction: majority of readers will enjoy this love story and this stunning cover will be seen everywhere all summer. A solid 4 star read- I recommend Meet Me At The Lake!

I loved reading about Will and Ferns love story. This is a classic childhood friends turn lovers trope and it brought all the feels. Sometimes we have to let go of those we love in order to find ourselves. And sometimes, when we have, we are lucky enough to have them come back into our lives and accept us for who we were meant to be. Insert Will ten years later. He left without a trace back then and now she needs him to save her mother's legacy. It was sweet, emotional, and definitely a go-to summer read!

After her mother died in a car accident, Fern returns home to work out what to do with her mum’s pride and joy, the family’s lakeside resort in Muskoka. As she is figuring out whether she should stay, she is shocked to run into Will, hired by her mother as a business consultant just prior to her death.
Fern first met Will in Toronto 10 years earlier, when he was an artist doing murals. He is well aware that Fern never wanted to end up back at the resort; her dream is to run a coffeeshop in Toronto.
He is also aware that after spending that wonderful day together a decade ago, they had agreed to meet a year later at the resort lake but he stood her up.
This was a highly anticipated read because I adored Every Summer After and also what a gorgeous cover. The reconnection of an old crush was a similar storyline but the chemistry and reason that kept them apart wasn’t as believable or worth however many pages to reveal. Will was sadly a bit wet, like the lake.

🎧Song Pairing: This Year’s Love - David Gray (I wanted an indie love song but intense and I settled on this one 😂 quite the conundrum)

💭What I thought would happen:

Obviously a romance at a Canadian lake setting, hoping for something similar to Every Summer After.

📖What actually happens:

Fern has returned to her family lake resort, almost the same as it’s been for decades but without one crucial thing, the absence of her mother. Fern needs to decide the next steps for the resort - sell or take over, what would her dead mother want.

There are so many memories wrapped up in the lake - one most notably being with Will, Fern’s first love and now he’s back a decade later.

🗯Thoughts:

I appreciated Carley’s note at the end how this book was a greater struggle than ESA, it took rewrites and breakdowns after a winning debut. The honesty was appreciated.

I would say this book reads like it very much reads like it was a struggle to write and that the themes were riding the coattails of the success of the first. That being said, I still adored the setting of this book. We get so few Canadian representations so yay to that!

Fern was a wonderful MC, Will however I felt to be a bland love interest. I took more delight in Fern’s relationship with her mother - that had me all kinds of misty at time.

I am fortunate to read Fortune’s second novel, after her stunner of a debut Every Summer After. The author has eloquently captured the mood, the feelings, the landscape while transporting the reader to a time and a place for the lovers. Throughout the pages, I took in the fresh air, the rippling lake and the ambiance of the cabins.

The depth of these characters was astounding as they communicated the “why” ten years ago didn’t happen quite as imagined. Fern and Will bring breath and emotion to their second-chance. This story has charm, real-life issues and a connection unlike any in a contemporary romance.

Soulmates do exist in Meet Me at the Lake.

Thank you Berkley Publishing for the complimentary copy.

Despite spending just 24 hours with a man named Will in her early twenties, Fern has not been able to get him out of her head for a decade. They had planned to meet one year later, but he never came. Now she’s thirty two and her life could not be more different from the life she had envisioned for herself when she met Will. After her mom’s passing, she finds herself running her mom’s lakeside resort. To her surprise, Will shows up at the resort, offering to help with the resort. But is her 9 years too late?

Carley Fortune’s debut, Every Summer After, was one of my top books of 2022, and I was so excited to get my hands on an early copy of Meet Me at the Lake. This book did not disappoint at all, in fact, I think I enjoyed it even more than her first book. The beautiful writing style that will get you in all the feels is similar to her first book. I loved how this story was told - mostly through the present day with flashbacks to that fateful day 10 years prior as well as entries from Fern’s mom’s diary sprinkled throughout. I really enjoyed the side characters and the people in Fern’s corner, supporting her and showing her love. Will was not my favorite love interest at first, but he really grew on me by the end. And most importantly was Fern. Her journey of accepting her life for what it became vs. what she envisioned for herself in her 20s was beautiful and so relatable. This book will easily be a favorite of mine this year.

Thanks to Berkley Publishing for the advance copy and to @berittalksbooks and @dg_reads for the buddy read!

Carley Fortune has solidified herself on my MUST READ list. I absolutely loved (and was all but gutted) by Every Summer After, so when given the opportunity by @prhaudio and @berkleyrom {partner} to read her newest novel, MEET ME AT THE LAKE early, I may have jumped nd squealed a little (okay, a lot!).

I know that so many people want Charlie’s story…but Fern and Will’s story is so powerful. Following in the structure of ESA, MMATL follows a dual timeline of alternating chapters, one set present time and the other working its way to the present from the past. Specifically with this novel, 10 years ago, when Fern and Will first met.

This is the perfect summer read, with Canadian settings, lake waves lapping at docks, but don’t be mistaken, it carries heavy content worth the read. Fortune investigates postpartum anxiety, loss of a parent, choices between passions and familial needs, and redemptive second chances.

Fern is thrown into ownership of Brookbanks’ Resort when her mother passes away unexpectedly, while Will is a true artist turned business consultant. The emotions between the two in a slow burn, walking on eggshells moments, was definitely palpable at times. The supporting characters around both Fern and Will are some of the best parts of the novel.

If you love lakes, second chances, coffee, art, family businesses and tender secondary characters, I recommend you read Meet Me at the Lake.

Also, if you haven’t read Every Summer After, READ IT. k, thanks, bye.

This book is a romance, but it's also so much more. The complicated relationship between Fern and her mother was really a huge part of this story.

Fern meets Will when she's 22 and living in Toronto, finishing University and soon to head back home to the resort where she grew up and help her mother run it, evenutally to take over. They spend an amazing day together and promise that they will have no contact, but in one year they will meet up at her family's resort. That day comes, Will is a no show, and Fern is crushed.

The other timeline is ten years later. Fern's mother has passed away, she's back at the resort - she lives and works in Toronto - trying to decide if she is going to take over or sell it. And who should show up but Will, who supposedly met with her mother months prior and was scheduled to spend time there this summer helping her get the resort back to what it once was.

The chemistry is still there, but Fern cannot forget how Will hurt her. There is so much to each of their stories that the other doesn't know. Watching them open up, share, and give love a second chance made for a great read.

During this time, Fern also revisits her mother's journals from when she was a young woman, which helps her to understand the love her mother had for her, and why she worked so hard at the resort. Peter, her mother's long time bestie and father figure to Fern, was also a fabulous character, as was her sassy friend Whitney!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for an ARC in exchange for my honest review and for allowing me to be a part of this Berkely Buddy Read!

<i>Quick Stats</i>
<b>Age Rating: 18+</b>
<i>Spice Level: 2/5</i>
Over All: 4.25 stars
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 4.5/5

<i>Special thanks to Berkley Romance and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.</i>

This book is basically Every Summer After in a different font. Big city girl returns to her lakefront haunt and is face to face with a guy she’s hasn’t seen in 10 years, and has been heartbroken over that entire time, and the book also deals with grief and loss of a mother, and like Every Summer After, this book takes place in alternating chapters between the past and now. Plus, it has all the angsty longing and vibes of a second chance romance, even if I’m not sure it technically counts as one.
That said, I liked Every Summer After, and I liked this book, too. I think that if you liked Fortune’s debut, you’ll like this one. If you didn’t like Fortune’s debut, you probably won’t like this one.
The writing in this book is engaging, absorbing. I was drawn into Fern’s emotions, her grief over her mother, her angst and confusion and heartbreak surrounding Will. Thinking back on it, I’m not sure Fern had much of a personality. I find myself unable to imagine her as a fully fleshed out person, which is an issue I had with Percy as well, however I never struggled to connect with her on an emotional level. Fern was going through it, but I don’t think there was much to her as a character outside of those specific emotions, and while that didn’t take away from my reading experience, I think it will effect how much the book sticks with me as time goes on. Fortune’s books are perpetually compared to Emily Henry’s books, and I agree with that statement, but Henry’s characters feel real to me in a way that Fortune’s don’t, and I think that’s why, despite having read them around the same time, Emily Henry’s books have stuck with me more than Every Summer After, and why I feel like Happy Place will have more of a lasting impact on me than Meet Me at the Lake.
Despite falling a little short of the comparison to Emily Henry (and let’s be honest, when has anyone actually lived up to that comparison?) Meet Me at the Lake was a fun, yet emotional, read. It’s one that I highly recommend. I know many people are looking forward to its release, and I don’t think they’ll be disappointed by it. I look forward to Carley Fortune’s next book, though I hope she branches out a little. I think she’s immensely talented, and I want to see what else she can tackle.

This book!! I enjoyed Ever Summer After but it feels like the author's writing took a great step up in her sophomore novel. This book was poignant and romantic and passionate. She really knows how to write a second chance romance.
This was so heartfelt. Reading about Fern working through the loss of her mother while also trying to decide on the future of her career was hard yet really fulfilling. It was a really touching journey as she came to terms with the complicated relationship she had with her mom and the resort she wanted to let go of but couldn’t leave. I loved that lake resort setting. It felt really cozy and kind of gave off small town vibes while still running as a business.
The characters felt so real and multi-faceted. The juxtaposition between Fern and Will’s past selves with their current selves provided a great duality that also brought out who they truly were. They were vulnerable with one another and they brought out that honest in sharing their hopes, dreams and fears. The alternating timeline format really added a lot to the story.
The romance was so good, the perfect mix of sweet, hot and emotional. Neither of these characters were perfect, but they fit together so well. They were (eventually) able to acknowledge their flaws and work through them together. Their persistence and love was so special.
There was a Behind the Book section in the end that includes a note to readers and some insight into some topics included in the book. It’s evident that a lot of the content was personal to the author and I so commend her for giving this glimpse into her own life.
I can’t wait to see what this author writes next!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I have been so excited for this one ever since I found out that Carley Fortune had written another book! I loved Every Summer After so so much and it led to my newfound love of romance novels.

This one was a joy to read (not surprising). Fern and Will were so freaking precious together. I could barely stand it. I also loved that their current love story took place in their 30s, with the flashbacks happening in their 20s. I’m in my early 30s and it was so nice to read a love story about people my age. Once you start getting older, you notice more how much teens and young adults dominate these kinds of stories.

When the story first started, I thought that the love story was going to be between Fern and Jamie (her ex-boyfriend that works at her mom’s resort and they’ve known each other forever). But the second chance romance came from a totally different man, and I loved getting to read about Fern and Will.

I also absolutely loved the focus on Fern and her mother. My mom and I are super close, but we went through some rough patches when I was a teenager (just like Fern did). So I resonated with all of that and cherished that component of the story. Love you, Mom.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing for my gifted copy!