Wow- first of all thank you so much Berkley Romance, NetGalley, and Carley Fortune for allowing me to read an ARC of Meet me at the Lake. I screamed out loud in joy for the opportunity to read this book. I am so glad that I was not disappointed. This book was so good and even though I really enjoyed Every Summer After, I loved this one more!

There are so many emotions in this one. Let’s start with the fact that I loved the premise. From there I loved the dual timelines. The character growth and the banter. I ate it all up so much I finished this in one sitting. I feel like this book should come with a playlist! Can’t wait for the world to love Fern with me!

A huge thank you to Berkley for an advanced copy of Meet Me At the Lake by Carley Fortune. I read this as soon as I received my copy since I was so excited. I loved Every Summer After (it was one of my top ten of 2022) so was eagerly anticipating her sophomore novel and I liked Meet Me at the Lake better than Every Summer After. Meet Me at the Lake will be in my top 10 of 2023.

Fern is grieving the loss of her mother and is back home at the Brookbanks Resort that her family ran and where she grew up trying to figure out what to do -- Does she take over the resort or go back to her life in Toronto? When Will walks back into her life as a consultant her mom hired to help turn around the resort. Fern and Will had a magical day ten years ago and shared their dreams and fears. They agreed to meet up at the resort a year later, but when he failed to show up and now nine years later he's walking back into her life...

I loved that this was told in the present, the magical day ten years ago and through Fern's mom journal the summer she found out she was pregnant. The three viewpoints brought together this story of love, dreams, expectations and family in such a beautiful way.

The way Carley Fortune can write about love and characters in the most brilliant way. I was sobbing through the last quarter of the book, but in a good way. I loved this story so much and the Dirty Dancing references and friends and cast of characters were just icing on the cake.

Pre-order a copy of Meet Me on the Lake and continue to fall in love with Carley Fortune. Plus I loved her authors note at the end.

Carley Fortune for me has become one of my favorite authors for books featuring the second chance romance trope. Having loved Every Summer After, and it being one of my top books for 2022, Meet Me at the Lake had pretty high standards, and I'm happy to say that Carley has done it again and blown me away with this book. I think I may have loved this one even more than Every Summer After!

10 years ago, Fern and Will meet when Will is painting a mural at the coffee shop Fern works at in Toronto. They spend one day together with Will showing Fern some can't miss spots in Toronto before she moves back home. Fern is wrestling with the fact that she doesn't want to leave Toronto and wants to establish her own life, not the life her mom has planned out for her helping to run the family's lakeside inn. Will is torn between what he truly wants to do with his life and the path that he'll hate but makes the most sense. Together, they share their fears with each other of following their hearts and write a one year plan for themselves. In a year they promise to meet up at Fern's family's inn to see how they faired in their goals. Fern shows up, Will does not until 9 years later.

All of the emotions that Fern was feeling over seeing Will again and being back home making the decision if she wanted to stay, I felt like I was feeling them alongside her. I was mad at Will for abandoning her, but then so happy when he was showing Fern how much she truly meant to him. I loved the chapters alternating between present day and ten years in the past because it really helped in setting up the next chapter and the emotions you were in for. I liked that this book showed that it is okay to not truly know what you want out of life and it is okay to follow your heart, even if you mess up along the way. And that people handle grief in so many different ways.

There was a great cast of secondary characters, Peter was an incredible father figure for Fern and I liked that he let her heal in her own way and time. The last quarter of the book I had tears in my eyes that would not go away, and the glimpses of Fern's mom's diary entries were a really nice touch.

Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune

Carley Fortune has entertained me again. Something about her good but flawed characters just work for me. Once again, they hold back, don't say what they need to say, and hurt themselves as much as they hurt others.

Both twenty two and beginning the next stage of their lives, Fern and Max meet for the first time and spend a glorious but bittersweet twenty four hours together. We don't know Max's inner thoughts but we do know Fern's and it's obvious that Max has woken Fern up in a way that needed to happen. In Max, Fern sees what she wants but he's not hers for the taking and she's not free to take. But they have a firm date to meet at her family resort in one year.

Fern spends the year thinking about Max but when the day comes he stands her up. A year before, Max gave Fern what she needed to change the direction of her life. Now his absence at the meeting Fern has longed for all year changes Fern again. Already reeling from past hurts, Fern still can't let go of the memories of that twenty four hours with Max.

Then ten years from the date of first meeting Max, there he is at her family's resort. He's there to help her again, when he's really the one that needs help. But these two can't get the words out to say what needs to be said. Usually I don't like that kind of thing, somehow not disclosing what is important, when to do so could explain so much. Too good to be true Max is here now but still, he seems out of reach even though she can touch him. Max is so likeable but has a wall up in some ways, Fern is so careful to not be hurt again, and then there are the interesting side characters to fill out this world of Max and Fern. I really did like what all the characters could add to this sweet story.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for this ARC.

I have a hard time putting into words how much I love Carley's writing. In Every Sumer After, my favorite book of 2022, I was hooked from the first paragraph (I went into the book not knowing anything about the plot) but with MMATL I was not so patiently waiting to get my hands on it and when I got the approval email I dropped all my things (work, friends, the book I was currently reading) to start it and I was not disappointed. Carley does a great job of setting a scene in her novels, I've told multiple people "they read like a movie" and that is truly the highest compliment that she can do such a great job at transforming a reader into the scenes she's written. I fell hard and fast for Fern, a character I see in myself a lot. But I think anyone that has a complex relationship with their mothers will find Fern's growth natural and realistic and heartbreaking all at the same time.

Fern met Will in Toronto one day 10 years ago, in a classic love-at-first-sight, meet-cute this should be the fairy tale Fern will tell their kids about one day, the only problem: they're both in relationships. Fern's about to go back to her co-worker-turned-boyfriend to work at her mom's Muskoka lakeside resort, a place she loves but voes to never run once her mom retires and Will is just in Toronto to visit his dad and sister for the summer before heading back to his artist life in Vancouver. Fern has her own plans in mind for the future which include calling Toronto home and breaking the news to her mom that following in her footsteps is out of the question. So while Will shows Fern all around Toronto for their final 24 hours in the city they make big plans and lists for each other to follow. For Fern, it's to move back to Toronto and follow her own career path. For Will, it's to always make art and never sell out. They plan to meet at the resort a year later, with promises of more to come, and to see that they hopefully are living out the pact they made to each other in the dead of night.

Fern shows up, Will doesn't.

It's now 10 years since their first 'date'. After the sudden death of her mother Fern is back at the resort that she swore she'd never work at again when Will checks in. Wearing a suit and holding the title of business consult he tells Fern that he met his mom last year while there for a wedding and bargained with her for a week's vacation in return he'll analyze the business to help them turn a profit. With her mother's bargain and realization that the resort could go under she doesn't send Will away but instead decides to work with him, but with so many things unsaid and questions left unanswered can Will and Fern move past their past to keep the legacy of Fern's mother alive?

Just like ESA, there's a big "jaw-dropping' moment in this book but unlike in ESA I didn't see this one coming, it hurt but their story is unlike any I've read and I cannot wait to read it again.

Another story by Carley Fortune that made me wish I had a waterfront house growing up. I really enjoyed the story telling and characters. I was completely consumed with wanting them to reunite. I love the family backstories and mental health ties. I thought it was important to show men experiencing these emotions too.

I can’t wait to recommend this to my friends as their top summer read!

Another heart-wrenching, poignant, angsty, and engaging second chance love story reminiscent of the movie "Before Sunrise" comes from author Carley Fortune, who has quickly become one of my favorite romance writers. Fortune skillfully tugs at my heartstrings, leaving me with tears, sighs, and red eyes.

Fern Brookbanks and Will Baxter's paths cross in Toronto ten years ago. Freshly graduated Fern has only a few days to say goodbye to the city before returning to her hometown to work at the lakeside resort inherited from her mother's family, and reunite with her long-time boyfriend. However, she has second thoughts about her degree and dreams, and is not ready to go back.

That's when she meets the attractive and idealistic artist Will, who is painting a mural at the café where she works. She watches him at work and realizes she's having a good time with him. When he asks her to give him a tour of the city's unexplored places, she agrees. Little does she know that this tour will be 24 unforgettable hours of her life, culminating in a pact to meet again one year later. Fern keeps her promise, but Will doesn't show up, breaking Fern's heart.

Ten years later, Fern's mother dies in a car accident. She returns home after inheriting her mother's business, leaving her life and business arrangements in the city behind. As she tries to gather her strength to attend meetings about the resort's finances, she is faced with the handsome and brooding Will Baxter, now 10 years older and wearing expensive suits, who has been hired by her late mother for business consulting.

Will is excellent at his job, and Fern needs his help to properly manage the resort. But can she put aside her resentments and heartbreak to work with a man she still has feelings for?

As we learn about their magical city tour experience, including their honest sharing of their dreams, fears, likes, dislikes, and future plans, we also see how their characters have evolved, grown, and survived over the years. The mystery of why Will didn't show up is heartbreaking, and I was rooting for both characters as they confront their feelings and rekindle their emotional bond.

I also enjoyed reading snippets of Fern's mother's diary, which shed light on her decisions, sacrifices, and beautiful love story.

Overall, this is a heartwarming, sentimental, well-written, and honest second chance romance with endearing characterization. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for providing me with a digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Every Summer After was one of my favorite books in 2022, so I had high hopes for Meet Me at the Lake. While I didn’t love it as much as Carley’s first book, I still enjoyed it & thought it was a sweet, quick read! The pacing felt a bit slow in parts but I loved reading about Will & Ferns relationship. I teared up at the epilogue, it was probably my favorite part of the whole book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

When Fern was 22, recently graduated, and days before moving back to Muskoka to work at her mom's resort, she meets her soulmate. Will, an artist painting a mural on Fern's coffee shop wall, takes her on a 24 hour tour of Toronto, a city both of them love and don't want to leave. The only problem is, both of them are in relationships and Will is leaving the next day. So they promise to meet at the lake, in one years time.
Will never shows.
10 years later, he shows up on the resort's doorstep, now a business man commissioned to save Fern's resort - a resort she does not want to run after her mother's death. The story goes on a heartwarming emotional rollercoaster from there, as the two come to terms with what it means to take control of your own life and properly live it.

I love Carley Fortune's writing. She sets her stories in my home province of Ontario, name dropping locations I love such as Huntsville and Sneaky Dees. This book is a love letter to Toronto city life and Ontario cottage country - I am a Toronto hater but even I found myself warming to the setting in this book. Her writing is simple and absolutely absorbing - I always finish her books within a day or 2 of starting them. The way she writes character conflicts and emotions is so REAL; I can absolutely believe that these people exist.

The themes in the novel cover grief, parenting, and what to do when your set life plan and expectations for yourself suddenly take a complete 180, and I LOVE how each of these topics were handled. The author's note at the end of the book explaining how Fortune wrote Will's anxiety and struggles from her own experiences was touching and really shows the care put into these characters. Told in a narrative of flashbacks and present day, interspersed with Fern's mom's diary entries, a story of love and heartbreak and family is woven.

What prevented this from being a full 5 stars for me:
1) I wanted MORE of Fern taking charge of the resort, There's a scene where she makes a speech to the staff about taking over the resort, and we are told in retrospect rather than SHOWN what goes down. This book is not very long, and I think more time could have been spent fleshing out Fern's badass-business-woman arc. You understand why she grows to love the resort, but you don't really get to SEE it.
2) The third act resolution. Without spoilers, all I'm going to say is that I was not impressed with how the classic third-act break up was resolved. I understand what the author was doing, showing how sometimes you have to reach out a hand and fight for a good thing, but in my opinion it should have been WILL reaching out and begging for forgiveness, NOT Fern. Will screwed up, he needed to grovel. I said what I said.

Overall I would highly recommend this to read during the summer. This confirmed that I will read anything Carley Fortune writes, I love her romances and the feel-good summer vibes I get while reading them.

This was such a feel good book. I found myself wavering on if it should be Will or Jamie, so happy with the ending. The book was happy, sad, and heartwarming all rolling into one.

I loved the debut by the fortune. And I am so much more in love with this one. This was everything. I loved how this story had sunken its very teeth into me since the very beginning and this character’s didn’t let me rest and out this book down for one single moment until and unless I was finished with it. The romance and chemistry was top notch and the ending was really really CUTE!!

I’m torn between giving this boom 4 and 5 stars. Carley Fortune truly knows how to write a good romance novel and make you have butterflies in your stomach. So that’s why I’m giving this book 5 stars. There’s something truly magical about her writing that transports you into the woods by the lake and puts you right in the main character’s shoes.
Every Summer After holds such a special place in my heart and is one of my favorite books. I’m super partial to any book with a childhood best friends to lovers trope. But Meet me at the Lake does a great job of making it its own book and I didn’t find myself comparing the two because I was so lost in the book.
The feeling I get while reading Fortunes writing is truly like none other and I can’t wait to read any piece of work she ever writes.

I mostly enjoyed Meet Me At the Lake - however, the flashbacks in this book were just murder. Fern and Will's past connection is one day going around Toronto, but pieced out so slowly. Fortune's flashbacks worked in Every Summer After, because it was many summers building towards the ever required breakup scene in romances - the tourist activities contained in a day, don't quite hold the same urgency to keep the pages turning.
My other issue was the economics of the resort - I don't, nor have I ever, run a bougie (or even a one star) resort - but how were none of Fern's employee's multitasking? Like, the business is failing and she has a sommelier, a hotel manager, a bookings agent, a front desk clerk, a pastry chef (who is also a father figure, so sure, but he could've easily just been an all purpose chef), and herself, amongst others in admin I'm sure I've forgotten - but staff, should be capable of doing more than one thing, unless the goal was to employ the whole community in very singular roles. Every time the employees were brought up, I was immediately ripped out of the story to ponder if that role really requires a whole person for 8 hours a day, every day. That could just be my, very niche, visceral reaction - but every small business-person I know wears several different hats, not hiring out for each thing that may come up.
Overall though, Fern and Will have a cute, insta-lovey connection that flares right back after a decade apart.

Thank you to the publisher, via NetGalley, for providing me with an arc for review.

This was one of my most anticipated books for 2023! After picking up Fortunes debut, on a whim and not even reading the synopsis… I was blown away. And this next book of hers, did not disappoint. Absolutely fell in love with the characters, writing. Everything. I will remember this one, along with her debut, for years to come.

k, but obviously I loved this 😭

EVERY SUMMER AFTER was one of my favorite reads of 2022, and I was SO excited to read MEET ME AT THE LAKE. I was immediately drawn to these characters and the setting, and loved Carley's back-and-forth flashbacks that weaved throughout the narrative. Carley's writing is engaging and it's hard to put the book down once you start -- it's just that captivating!

Read if you love:

-falling in love over a day
-second chance romance/soulmates
-swoony, artsy, tall man in an apron ("this apron is the lost Hemsworth brother of aprons.")
-"I remember everything."
-picturesque lake lodge setting
-pining with a capital P
-accepting the messiness
-discussions of grief

Another absolute stunner from Carley Fortune! Five stars <3

A big thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

I gave it 25%… and was absolutely bored to tears 😬 I didn’t buy their connection one bit and rolled my eyes *so hard* at it…. basically this was insta-love on steroids. Combine that with the lack of chemistry or banter… I just could not take another page.

For the record Every Summer After was one of my top 2022 reads. I will still pick up another Carly Fortune book in the future. This one was just not my jam. And don’t forget this is just my opinion!! I know so many of us are super excited about reading Meet Me at the Lake, so please give it a shot if it’s on your TBR!

Fern and Will;s chemistry is absolutely adorable. I would love to be given the opportunity to get to interview Carley Fortune on Meet Me at the Lake for my podcast Raise Your Words. I've interviewed authors Priyanka Taslim, Annika Sharma, Iman Hariri-Kia, and others. Meet Me at the Lake is going to be the perfect summer romance. It definitely has an adult version of The Summer I Turned Pretty vibes. I'm in love with this book!!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance reader copy of this book. Carly Fortune writes another page turner. I couldn’t put this book down. Every once in a while a book will be so amazing that, while I don't want to stop reading, I also don’t want it to end. Will is a fascinating and lovable character that begins with only one flaw, he can’t let himself have what he truly wants and needs. We later find out why and his other flaws become apparent. Fern is also lovable and the reader is compelled to want a happy ending for them both. I do wish Fortune would have explained more of the causes of Wills anxiety in the book. I only knew it was postpartum by reading the authors notes at the end. I was mad at Will for leaving Fern and I feel like the reader could have been more sympathetic with his character if that story was spelled out a little better. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

Carley has a wonderful way of making you fall for with her lovable, real (flaws and all) characters, and Fern and Will are no exception. The flashbacks and journal entries was a fun way to discover everyone’s stories. And loved being transported to this magical spot on the lake.

This is a really, really difficult DNF for me because I love love loved Every Summer After. But after 3 weeks of trying to push through, I only got to 38% and realized that trying to finish the read is stressing me out. I may try to come back to this at another time because I just really love Carley's first book, but for now I am putting this one down. IT HURTS :(!