Fern was crushed when Will didn't show up for a planned meeting one year after they met. They'd had a wonderful day together- shared their hopes and dreams- but he didn't come when she expected him to. And now she's had to change her dreams because she's inherited a lake front resort from her mother and, as it turns out, Will is now a business consultant. A consultant hired by her mother. Yes this is a second chance romance and yes it moves and forth in time (including to Fern's mom) so you might think it's gonna be trope-y. And it is. a little, but it's also a very good read with characters you will care about. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Made me smile.

Meet Me at the Lake is a solid sophomore album from Carley Fortune. Similarly to her debut, the characters are well rounded and the romance is well fleshed out. Fern's experiences instantly hooked me and I was drawn into reading further.

I didn't get the chance to read Carley's first book so I was excited to download and read this one. She certainly gets the chemistry and connection in an amazing manner.
I like the characters and found the message of promises broken, healing, and romance to be portrayed well.

Meet Me At the Lake by Carley Fortune
Rating: 4 stars
Pub Date: 5/2

Will and Fern meet in Toronto at 22 and spend an unforgettable day together. They promise to meet at Fern’s family’s resort in Muskoka, Canada, one year later, except Will never shows up.

Fast forward ten years, and Fern finds herself back at Brookbanks, her family’s lakeside resort, which now belongs to her. She’s reeling from the unexpected death of her mother when Will shows up, claiming he made a deal with her mother before her death to help get the resort back on its feet. Fern has worked hard to forget all about Will, but now that he’s back in her life, she can’t help but be drawn to him once again.

Every Summer After was one of my favorite romance reads last year, and I was psyched to get my hands on an early copy of Meet Me At the Lake! And while this book has a much different vibe, I still really enjoyed it.

The story is told from Fern’s POV, and I found her character to be both complex and relatable. She had a complicated relationship with her mother and struggles throughout the story to figure out what she wants to do with her life. Not only does she have to face this decision in the wake of her mother’s death, but now Will is back in her life, and she doesn’t know how to feel about it.

Will has had a difficult time since he first met Fern, and as his story slowly comes out, he becomes more likable, and it’s easier to understand his choices. The chemistry between him and Fern is palpable, and I loved the pining on both sides. I personally think some spice would have added to the story, but that’s just my greedy, smut-loving heart talking.

The miscommunication drove me nuts at times, but I think it was essential for both Fern and Will’s character growth. I learned a new term reading this -postpartum OCD- which can affect anyone caring for a child, including adoptive parents. I loved the author’s note at the end explaining why this was an important topic for her to write about, and it seems like she wanted to make this an authentic and relatable part of the story.

The emotional depth of the characters, the pining, the mental health rep, the gorgeous summer setting (which reminded me a lot of Dirty Dancing), and the flashbacks to the day Will and Fern spent together made this an unputdownable story of love and healing.

Carley Fortune has become an auto-buy author for me, and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next! Thank you so much to Berkley and NetGalley for the free copy of this book! Meet Me At the Lake will be available on May 2nd.

Every Summer After consumed my every waking thoughts. Meet Me At The Lake is a quieter consumption. You're not entirely sure you love it until you get to the character's breaking points. It rattles you from the inside out. This was a great, moving second chance romance but more importantly, it was a beautiful book about a mothers love for her daughter. Highly recommend!

Meet Me at the Lake is the newest release from Carley Fortune! I read the author’s debut, Every Summer After, last year and when offered an ARC of this book decided to give it a try. After reading both of this author’s books now I do think their reads border more on women’s/contemporary fiction with a romantic plot instead of just contemporary romance.

Fern is 32 and back at Brookbanks Resort after the passing of her mother. Her mother, and grandparents before that, have run the resort in Muskoka for decades but it was never something Fern wanted to do with her life. So now she has picked up her Toronto life to figure out what to do with the resort. While there Fern comes face to face with Will, someone she spent a whole day with a decade ago and has never forgotten. She finds out Will was hired my her mother as a business consultant to help with the resort. Fern and Will have a complicated history, they first met 10 years ago when he was painting a mural at one of the coffee shops she worked at. They then went on to spend the entire day and night together, before making plans to meet again one year later when he never showed up. So now he’s back in her life 9 years later and the story picks up from there.

“I spent just one day with Will, and it changed my life. I once thought he might be my soulmate. I once thought he and I would be here together under very different circumstances. I once thought a lot of things about Will.”

While there is a romance happening, this book does deal with more in Fern’s life…her deciding what to do with the lakeside resort, her complicated feelings with her late mother, her friendships and relationships with other people throughout her life, the reading of her late mother’s diary, the flashback chapters of her day with Will a decade ago. We find out throughout the story in present day that Will has a lot going on in his life. I wasn’t really a fan of the flashback moments and would have rather seen some more things flushed out in the present day. This book was a bit melancholy and not really what I expected. It was fine but maybe this author is just not for me, as I kind of felt the same after finishing their first book too.

Thank you to the publisher (Berkley) for an e-ARC via NetGalley. All thoughts in this review are my own. Meet Me at the Lake is out May 2, 2023!

With the unexpected death of her mother, Fern returns to her mother’s resort to sort things out with the man she used to date and… the man that got away. Will Baxter shows up as the resort’s consultant, hired by Fern’s mother. They hadn’t seen each other in 10 years because Will never showed when they were supposed to meet 9 years ago. Could this be the second chance Fern has always longed for?

I have to say that EVERY SUMMER AFTER was such a hit that I had high hopes for this one. I ended up enjoying the second chance romance, the dual timelines, Fern’s mother’s journal entries—getting bits of the story, piecing it as I kept reading. The audio was also excellent which really made me feel more immersed in Fern and Will’s romance.

It is impossible not to fall in love with Will and Fern. This is more than a love story—this is a life story. It asks hard questions and does a lot of real soul searching through fully fleshed out and developed characters. They are human and flawed like you and me. And that’s what makes them so lovable and real. A must read.

I devoured this book in less than a day! I started last night and finished first thing this morning. Carley Fortune is definitely my favorite author right now. I loved her first book and her second book did not disappoint! I felt all the angst and feelings and I loved the dual timelines. I loved the Dirty Dancing references. I think some people were nervous about the cheating trope but I think it was handled perfectly. I just really loved this romance. I couldn't put it down!

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.

Thank you Berkley Publishing Group for my copy of Meet Me at the Lake! All thoughts are my own.

Last year at this time, I had a magical reader experience with Carley Fortune’s debut novel Every Summer After. I didn’t know anything about the book, but I’d been sent a copy early for review. I needed a new book to read while visiting my parents at my childhood home in Connecticut, and i dove in one more over coffee. It took one chapter and i was completely hooked and transported into a completely immersive story that I didn’t put down for the rest of the day. I took it to the beach and read in the sun as the story soaked into my bones. I read it under the dinner table as we dined al fresco. And then I finished it late at night, in the dark of my childhood bedroom, with tears spilling over my cheeks. It was magic and the experience will stay with me forever.

I highly recommend each reader take the time to fully read the acknowledgements for Carley’s sophomore novel, Meet Me at the Lake. I was struck by the honesty (and beauty of the prose) that somehow made me relate where I am in my life to how she wrote this book.

This book is very different from Every Summer After, and yet there are parts that feel very familiar. While I didn’t have the same visceral experience as I did while reading ESA, I still really really enjoyed this book and the feelings that bubbled to the surface while reading it.

Synopsis:

What I Liked:

The “Now” Chapters—In contrast to Every Summer After, I really wanted to stay in the “now” vs the “then.” I know this was a second chance romance, but part of me feels like it didn’t necessarily need to be told in two timelines. The “then” takes place in the city of Toronto, and I kept longing to be at the lake. However, in hindsight, this could be seen as a device to relate to Fern, our MC and her love of the lake.

Second Half of the Book—I became fully invested in the second half of the book and flew through It!

The Writing—I will forever be a fan of Carley’s writing and how she really transports me to the places and feelings her characters are living through.

The Acknowledgements—I really think everyone needs to read them to fully understand what it’s like to have a splashy debut and then keep writing. I loved this insight and it really made me think.

Will’s Tattoos—He’s very different from Sam and the tattoos are v hot. That’s all.

What Didn’t Work:

Now vs. Then—Like I said above, I wonder if this would have been more effective without the two timelines and instead we have discoveries shown. It’s almost like there was a need to totally recreate what made ESA so special, but I don’t think we needed it.

Felt like the 25-45% Bit was a bit Clunky—From what I said above, things worked until this didn’t. The second act felt a bit clunky to me for this reason, especially once we had the addition of Maggie’s diary entries. I think it should have been one of the other.

Needed More of the Friends—More of the friends! My goodness, I LOVED Jamie and while Whitney was a little much, I loved her and Cam. I wanted to see more of them in the past, but the device of the “we met one day ten years ago” didn’t allow for it sadly. Also, Peter! PETER! Carley, give us Maggie and Peter, please. My goodness, I just wanted more.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I will forever be a Carley Fortune stan. I think that’s why I really appreciated her acknowledgments, because writing a book is HARD. There is something magic in Every Summer After and I think there’s magic in Meet Me at the Lake, but structure wise, I wish it had been different. I’m going to need to protect my heart from this one, because I worry that the stark differences but attempted similarities between Every Summer After and Meet Me at the Lake will disappoint readers, when there is so much to love about it.

Character Authenticity: 4/5 Spice Rating: 1.5/5 Overall Rating: 4/5

Content Warnings:

death of a parent, car accident (described), abandonment, grief, panic attacks/disorder (discussed)

I adore Carley’s writing and this book was no different. The way Carley is able to write dual timelines seamlessly has me in awe. The only qualm I have about this book is I needed way more romantic scenes of the couple together. It felt like they spent quite some time apart

I really struggled with this one. The writing was great, just the story wasn’t for me. And there’s a HUGE difference between the two.

This is a slow burn, second chances romance. The couple met ten years ago for ONE DAY. honestly, I can’t remember anything from that long ago. But they remember every second of that day. I just felt like the MMC was pretty vanilla, and found their love story pretty unbelievable. She is crazy obsessed with how tall he is, and talked about it at least 20 times. This isn’t a swoony love story with lots of pining, it’s about two emotional people overcoming their struggles to find middle ground in each other. It was just unbelievable and cringy for me.

But! That said. If you loved Every Summer After, you’ll most likely love this one too. That was also wasn’t for me, so I’m seeing a pattern.

Summer romance at a lake, what can get better than that setting. I loved that the female lead was the character that took what they wanted.

Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune is Love Story Fiction!

Fern Brookbanks and Will Baxter, both twenty-two years old, meet by chance in Toronto and spend one whirlwind day together. Their attraction is immediate, telling each other about their hopes and dreams for the future and secrets they've never told anyone.

But their timing is off...

With previous commitments to keep, they go their separate ways with promises to meet in one year at Fern's family resort. No connections with each other until June 14th.

On that promised June day, Fern is bursting with excitement to see Will again. She waits and waits on the dock all day and into the evening, but Will never shows up. She's devastated.

Now it's ten years later, Fern's mother, Maggie, has tragically died in a car accident and Fern is reluctantly running Brookbanks Resort. She discovers the vacation property to be in worse condition than she ever imagined, both financially and physically.

Fern's in a quandary of whether to sell and make her own dream finally come true or to stay and run the resort like her mother always dreamed she would do.

That's when Fern sees Will arrive at the resort. He finally shows up, nine years later, with an offer to help...

Meet Me at the Lake is written in a way that kept me wanting more every time I finished a chapter. I love the two main characters of Fern and Will, they have their personal issues, but they have a connection and I was more than just curious to see if they could make it work. I was invested.

I don't read many romance novels anymore because they often feel so "SSS". If you're curious, it stands for "similar, silly, and superficial". Am I right or am I right?

What I want is a love story with two well-developed adult main characters, serious relationship topics, preferably built around family but not absolutely, and beautiful writing to enjoy. I want Love Story Fiction and that's what I got with Meet Me at the Lake.

I stayed up far too late finishing this and ugly crying, but it was totally worth it. No regrets, as they say. It's that well-written love story I've been wanting for quite some time and finally found. I'm happy!

At the end of the book the author shares her personal thoughts about writing this story. You gain a good sense of the passion and care she took with writing her sophomore novel. I believe I have found another author to love and will be listening to her debut novel Every Summer After soon. I highly recommend Meet Me at the Lake to readers of Romance and Love Story Fiction!

4.25⭐

Thank you to Berkley for an ARC of this book through NetGalley. It has been an honor to give my honest and voluntary review.

Meet Me At The Lake is the book of my summer dreams.

I was super excited for this one. I still haven’t read Carley’s first book Every Summer After but it has been on my TBR since it first came out. I can confidently say after reading this one, it is moving up the list! I loved everything about this book.

When we first meet Fern, she has just lost her mother and is deep in her grief. If losing a parent is a trigger for you, you may want to skip this book for now. I thought Carley handled the topic really well, but it is heart wrenching to read. I connected with Fern right away and liked her tremendously as a main character. After her mom dies suddenly, she finds herself back at the resort she didn’t want to run. She has a plan back in Toronto. I loved watching Fern get up to speed on running the resort and developing a different appreciation of it and by extension, of her mother.

Another character I loved was Peter, the pastry chef at the resort and Fern’s Dad-like figure. He was best friends with Fern’s Mom and has been around for Fern her whole life. I loved this gruff guy who showed his true feelings via baked goods and mixed CD’s. The relationship between him and Fern was really special. I liked that Carley included this more unconventional relationship, showing that families are made in lots of different ways and all are equally valuable.

Will is a suitably wonderful book boyfriend. Gorgeous and smart, kind and quick-witted. I loved Will and Fern together. They just kinda click. They are the sort of couple that just feels right.

This book is set in Muskoka. That felt really special to me as a reader. I spent many summers and holidays at my grandparents cottage in the same area this book takes place. The sights and sounds described in the book were very nostalgic.

An absolutely perfect summer read, put this one on your list.

Thank you, Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Every Summer After was a huge hit last summer, but it fell a bit short for me. I felt a much stronger connection to the characters in Meet Me at the Lake, with their messy origins and complicated relationship. Will and Fern reconnect a decade after a chance meeting and join forces to save Fern's family resort. The dual timeline format worked really well, and I was rooting for their relationship (and the resort) to succeed.

On one hand I did read this book in a few hours but on the other hand I feel like I have read this book before. If the Notebook, The Titanic and Gilmore Girls had a baby it would be this book. From the dramatic confrontation in the rain after getting off a boat, to the "draw me like one of your french girls" in her apartment.
I didn't feel any connection or chemistry between Will and Fern if I'm being honest. And the journal entries from her mom felt unnecessary... How did she not know her mom and Peter were dating for the last 30 years? The book just felt very clichéd and had no real depth to it that mad me feel for any of the characters involved.

I enjoyed Every Summer After last year so I was excited to pick up Carley Fortune's sophomore novel. There were things I really enjoyed about this book and some that I didn't! I loved the hotel setting on the lake- the whole story I felt like the setting really came to life. I also enjoyed the dual-timeline and getting to see the main characters grow over a ten-year period. This is perfect for romance lovers and makes for a great beach. What didn't work for me is a personal preference- I prefer rom-coms to romances. If you love romances, I think this will be one of your favorites of the summer! Thanks Berkley Pub for my advanced review copy!

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5 stars

Meet Me at the Lake is the new romance from the author of one of my 2022 favorites - Every Summer After. It follows Fern Brookbanks (great name), who spent one memorable day with Will Baxter 10 years ago. They agreed to meet at the lake on a certain date the following year, but Will never shows and Fern never fully moves on. When Fern has to return to her hometown to run the family lakeside resort after her mother’s tragic passing, she doesn’t know how to make the resort a success again. Help comes from none other than Will Baxter, who is not the person he was 10 years earlier.

The biggest thing working against this read for me is my deep love for Every Summer After. It was hard for me to not compare the two while reading. I loved the dreamy setting of the story, but I wish I was a bit more invested in the romance. Falling in love in a day and spending the following 10 years pining for that person is a tough storyline to pull off and I don’t think the chemistry ever got to the point where I really believed they were in love after a few hours.

Carley Fortune can writes vibes and make me want to run to the nearest dock, so I am hoping her next book packs more of a swoon for me.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much for an advanced copy of Meet Me at the Lake. I liked this book!

I like Carley Fortune's writing because she creates characters that I get attached to. She did this in Every Summer After, and she did it again in Meet Me at the Lake...the only problem is, the character I became attached to in this book was Jamie, not the main male interest. :)

That being said, I really enjoyed this one! I like the time line jumps as well as the background that the mother provided through letters. I also enjoyed the soul searching journey to find one's path, and I felt like the characters in the story really demonstrated that path in a relatable way. And of course the backdrop to this book gave me major Dirty Dancing vibes, and I was here for all of that!

If you like slow-burn romances with an interesting backstory (as well as relatable, engaging characters), then you will really like this new book from Carley Fortune. I was really torn on my rating for it, but I ended up going with four stars because it hit so many of the boxes I look to check in a romance. Plus, it's just an engaging, interesting, sometimes fun, sometimes poignant story that is releasing at the perfect time! (ie, lake season!)

Rating: 4⭐️