(3.5 stars)

Fern and Will have one fantastic day in Toronto together. They connect on a level that they never have before with anyone else. They both find themselves caught between what they should do w their lives and what they genuinely want to do. They make tentative one-year plans and agree to meet each other in a year at the lake at Fern's family resort to holding each other accountable. The problem? Will never shows. 10 years later, Will shows up at Fern's family resort, allegedly there to help with the resort finances. Fern's mother has just recently passed and she's still stuck between working at the resort as her mother always wanted her to, and following the future Fern always planned. When these two are reunited, they're reminded of that amazing connection from a decade before, however, it's been years, and neither of them is the same person they were so long ago. Like Fortune's debut novel, Every Summer After, this novel bounces between past and present chapters, following the start of Will and Fern's connection, and the aftermath of 10 years growing separately.

There's a lot I loved about Every Summer After. I loved Fortune's writing. I loved the way she built out her characters with so much depth and heart and their interactions were so engaging. The same is true here. I think that the writing is well done. The chemistry between Will and Fern is clear. The problem for me was the general plot itself. I find it really hard to be convinced that one day is enough to keep these two yearning for each other for a decade. Additionally!!! I was willing to overlook the cheating in Every Summer After because of the way it's set up and the resolution of it all at the end. But here, I guess I was supposed to be into some emotional cheating? idk I found it hard to deal w. I think the bright spot in this story is the characters. On their own, I found them well-developed. True to Every Summer After's legacy, Fortune can push the boundaries of romance as a genre and introduce a million different relational dynamics outside the one between the main couple. Fern's relationship with her mother, Peter, and even Jamie is explored with a lot of heart and depth. Will's relationship with his sister and the sense of duty he feels for family comes through in everything he does.

The problem was that Will started to suck. A lot. And just like Every Summer After, Fortune builds up the past and present for so long that the ending and reveal are rushed through. I can tell that she tried to take more time in this novel for the resolution at the end with an explicit scene of Fern and Will discussing logistics of what their future looks like, but god damn, Fern really had to BEG for him to apologize for treating her like shit? And he doesn't even explain himself, his sister has to do it for him. And then I'm supposed to be falling all over him? I loved Will for so much of this book, and I thought his secretive nature would be resolved by realizing he would have to be open and vulnerable, but no. no no no, Fern has to do the heavy lifting in the end. Honestly, I started this book with an aversion to Fern and liked her so much by the end that I wanted her to leave Will in the dust. She did some serious growth and Will just... was there..... idk.

Sucks. Because. I love Fortune's writing but it's also clear from this novel she tried to follow the mold of Every Summer After with a slightly different dynamic and it fell flat. The structure and pacing of Every Summer After were what worked so well to build out the tension and all the relationships of the book. That same structure doesn't work with every story and this was evidence of that.

Despite that, I enjoyed a lot of this book, probably about 75% percent of it and I can't discount that I don't think. So maybe a solid 3/3.5 stars. I hope whatever Fortune has planned next pushes her to try a new structure and format. She clearly has a great talent for characters and their relationship development, not just romantic ones. I hope she has something else in store that recaptures the magic of Every Summer After without explicitly following it to the T.

Carley Fortune had a challenge ahead of her following up "Every Summer After" -- but I really enjoyed this! I love the lake settings of Fortune's books, and she writes emotion so vividly, I find myself leaving Post-It note flags all over her books. It helps that I love a second-chance romance, so this book plays directly into my interests!

Loved this one, but I just didn’t feel it was near as good as Fortune’s debut. While I was engaged in the story, I sort of fell off towards the last 50 pages until the third act break up, which had me wondering how Will and Fern would make it work. I did feel frustrated by the break up, though. But inevitably I liked how both Fern and Will helped the other really find themselves and at different points in their life. I love how Fortune writes second chance romance so authentically and healthily. She has such big YA crossover appeal and makes both my teenage (or in this case, college) and 30’s heart feel all the feels.

I am kind of disappointed in this book because I loved her debut book SO much, but the cheating and the female MC just drive me insane. This story did have a great plot and I was ready to feel all the emotions but I cringed a few times and I just could not accept some parts of the book. I still would recommend this author and I am excited about her future books like Every Summer After, but this book was just not it for me.

While MEET ME AT THE LAKE is a romance, it’s also so much more — and I really enjoyed it!

It’s been ten years, but Fern Brookbanks can’t get Will Baxter out of her head. They spent a whirlwind twenty-four hours together and made a pact to meet a year later. But will never showed up.

I typically do not enjoy romances that fall under the “insta-love” trope because I have a difficult time believing in the love story. However, I actually found Fern and Will’s connection palpable. Would I have preferred that they spent more than a day together? Sure. But I guess who’s to say you can’t be hung up on someone ten years later after spending a magical day together?!

Carley Fortune has done it again!! I got all the feels with this book. The connection between Fern and Will both in the present day and 10 years before is so immediate and clear. I love the journey the Fern is on to finding who she is as an adult and without her mother and trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life. And the way the relationship with Will unfold throughout the story, with the things that are said and unsaid, and the reason why he never showed. I would honestly read this book again right now.

This book threw me off a bit. I didn't realise how heavy it would be at times. Maybe heavier for me as I can strongly resonate with the loss of a mother.

Fern as a character was complex - sometimes to the point of frustration for me.

I also didn't quite understand the hold that one encounter 10 years ago had on these two. I just can't picture myself still pining for someone I spent 24 hours with 10 years ago - or even remembering all these minute details about them. Like when Will remembered something really specific about Fern - maybe how she has her tea or coffee? Firstly - I wouldn't remember that about someone after knowing them one day and not seeing them for a decade. And secondly - he was so confident about it. Like it's been a decade - she could have changed hugely.

That was my main gripe. Overall the book was really interesting and I enjoyed it. I just found it hard to fully immerse myself in the characters connection.

When Fern leaves her home for university in Toronto, her mother, Maggie’s expectations are that Fern will return home to help manage the family’s rustic lake resort. Fern meets Will on one of her last days working in Toronto, and what is expected of her becomes background noise as she decides to stay in Toronto. After Maggie’s sudden death, Fern returns home and is shocked at the appearance of Will, 10 years after he basically ghosted her. I enjoyed the theme of life never turning out how you would expect it to, as well as the story line and characters. There are also support characters who provide an added dimension to the story. Recommended. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I enjoyed listening to this lakeside love story and I thought the narrator did a great job bringing these characters to life. It didn't pull me in like Ever Summer After, but it's still a solid romance that you'll want to listen to all at once.

I really loved this book! Fern and Will's story was really sweet! I've loved both books that Carley Fortune has written, and I will absolutely be buying anything else she writes 😍 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sometimes life works in mysterious ways. Maybe you’ve spent your entire adult life trying to get out of your hometown, only to end up right back where you started. Or maybe you meet someone special and lose touch, only to reconnect with them many years later. Both of these statements are true for Fern Brookbanks, the protagonist in Carley Fortune’s sophomore novel, “Meet Me at the Lake.”

Fern spent a magical 24 hours with Will Baxter in her early twenties, traveling around Toronto and sharing secrets, and was left heartbroken after they promised to meet again in a year and he never showed up. Now, a decade later, Fern is back home and running her family’s lakeside resort — the one thing she’s spent her life trying to escape — and when she’s looking to rebrand, unbeknownst to her, Will is the one brought on to consult. Told in dual timelines, the book follows Fern as she comes to terms with her mother’s death and falls for Will once again.

At the time of writing, “Meet Me at the Lake” sits at #10 on the New York Times bestseller list, and it’s easy to see why. The lakeside resort setting is straight out of “Dirty Dancing” — and the characters all know it, considering that some of them refer to Fern as “Baby.” The chemistry between Fern and Will is electric, and the dual timelines add a satisfying tension to everything that happens in the present. It has both of these aspects in common with Fortune’s debut novel, “Every Summer After,” which is a bestseller as well. I’ve coined the term “lake read” to describe both of Fortune’s works: It’s like a beach read in that it’s perfect for vacation, but also somehow captures the more mellow, secluded vibe of being up north. As someone who spent every summer at my family’s cottage, you’ll just have to trust me on this.


“Meet Me at the Lake” is of course a romance novel, but one of Fortune’s strengths is the relationships that Will and Fern have with other characters, and how those relationships inform their own development as people and partners. The manager of the resort is Fern’s ex-boyfriend, Jamie, and they make a good team despite their history. Will lives with his sister Annabel and niece Sofia; he tells Fern that the priority he gives to taking care of his family has been a strain for past girlfriends (I see it as a massive green flag, but to each their own).

Perhaps the most important relationship is that between Fern and her mother, Maggie. Though she is rarely physically present in the book, Maggie is still personified through her journal entries, which act as interludes to some of the chapters. The journals give insight not just into Maggie as a character, but also let us see Fern’s relationship with her mother at different points, both as a younger girl who wants to make her own way, and later as a woman who is reevaluating her life after losing her family. These choices add several layers to the story and are a great way to characterize a romantic lead that isn’t simply given “mommy issues” for extra drama. I only wish that it took less than a hundred pages before these entries start appearing regularly.

In terms of the romance, Fern and Will get off to a rocky start after reuniting, but their walls come down easily. As a fan of the “second chance romance,” I knew I was in for a good time before I even cracked open the cover. Fern is afraid to let herself really fall for Will at first, and understandably so — what if she gets her heart broken a second time? It’s the age-old question with this beloved trope. But Will understands Fern on a deeper level. He’s there for her as she processes her grief and encourages her to take control of her future, however she wants it to look. He certainly makes up for not showing up at the lake all those years ago.

Daily Arts Writer Hannah Carapellotti can be reached at hmcarp@umich.edu.

4/5 stars. Every Summer After was a 5 star read for me Meet Me At the Lake wasn't the same. It was good and I had a really fun time reading it, but it wasn't amazing and it definitely didn't make me tear up like I did for Every Summer After.

The good: It felt like I was watching a Lifetime movie and sometimes you just need a bingeable romance novel (or Lifetime movie) to fall into. This was just that.

The not so great: How does Fern stay "in love" with Will for 10 years? It just seemed very "insta love" and I found myself having a hard time connecting to both of them separately and as a couple. I think Fern could've done better than Will but the ending redeemed his character a little bit.

Overall, this was a quick and somewhat light romance read.

I really enjoyed the author's debut book and props to her for once again making my heart fill with such emotion while reading this.
Our main character Fern Brookbanks has met Wil Baxter ten years ago when he was hired to do some painting at her coffee shop. She is convinced he is her soul mate after spending just 24 hours with him and not seeing again for ten years. A chance meeting at her mother's lodge has him checking in there to do some work for her mother. Fern is shocked to see him there and the past ten years she has spent entirely too many hours dreaming about him. The author has my emotions ever changing in this one. At first I was mad at Wil and going away all those years ago with no explanation. As we find out slowly, Wil's backstory he does have a reason but I still think he should have told her at the time.
I think we all love second chance romances. They both have a lot of baggage they're carrying; her mother has recently passed, and she is trying to run the lodge living up to her mother's high standards. He also has had a lot of family complications and obligations he's trying to fulfill. The summer is young, the lake is cool, and this heartbreaking emotional book may be just what you need for your next lakeside read.

Pub Date 02 May 2023
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

After last year's book, "Every Summer After", I could not wait to read "Meet Me at the Lake". It did not disappoint. What an entertaining read- perfect for summer. Be sure to add it to your beach bag!!
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an advance copy of this great story!

A beautiful back & forth of a romance that could have been. What would you do if you had one day & one day only with someone who excites you more than anyone else ever has? You live it to its potential & make a promise to meet again in exactly one year at the lake. So much can happen in one year… & then it turns into several years and your lives have become planets orbiting in separate universes.

I love Carley Fortune’s ability to write with emotional depth that keeps you connected to the story. She blew me away with her debut & has done it again with this follow up.

Once again, absolutely loved this Carley Fortune book! I think she writes great characters that have interesting back stories but also grow and evolve throughout the story. I loved the back and forth of the flashback chapters to present day. Fortune did a great job giving all the details possible from that one day to slowly make me understand more and more about Fern's feelings now. It was such an intriguing story of reflecting and understanding one's past while figuring out what to do in the present.
All in all, this story shows the importance of all relationships (friends, parents, siblings) and how we all change and grow over time. It doesn't make you a failure if you're not doing what you thought you would over 10 years ago.
I cannot wait for Fortune's next book!

Meet Me at the Lake is a summer second-chance romance between Fern and Will, who met for one single day 10 years before the events of the book. Moving between present and that fateful day in the past, we see Fern and Will grappling with the course of their life and how much control they have over getting what they really want.

If you like a Dirty-Dancing-esque resort (and plenty of references to the 80s film), you will enjoy the lake setting. However, I was not as compelled to turn pages in this one as I was in Fortune's debut, Every Summer After. What Fortune managed to do in that novel was make the summer come alive and the characters brim with longing. I felt that certain plot points were contrived only to keep the couple apart, rather than in an attempt to tell a realistic story. Fern's dilemma of having to take over the resort from her mother is resolved before the second half of the book, leaving only the old miscommunication/ we don't have each other's numbers trope left.

While the book was overall enjoyable and will be familiar to romance fans, it did not feel like jumping into the lake on a hot summer day.

Oh how I adored this!!! The setting (both Brookbanks Resort and the city)!!! The chemistry!!! The family bonds and how family doesn’t have to be related by blood!!!

My only complaint is that the ending felt rushed. So much truth came out in the last 20 pages, and I wish it had spaced throughout the book instead.

This was such a sweet summer read.

This one hit so close to home kinda - where it deals with that “what if” with your “almost lover”. Like I devoured in 24 hours because amazing, but it put me into a huuuuuge reading slump and I couldn’t touch a book for 2 weeks.

This follows Fern, who is working on taking over the family business after her mother’s sudden death. While trying to go into the flow of the business, she runs into the guy she waited for 10 years previously, Will Baxter. After one day where they just CONNECTED and vibed, they agreed to meet a year later at the lake on her family’s resort property. Except… he never showed.

Now, in the present, he’s at the resort to help Fern’s mother with the resort because business is declining. Fern has to decide if she’s going to keep the resort, while trying to figure out why Will never showed and what he’s keeping a secret from her.

This book has dual timelines and it just. It hurt me so good. Such an easy 5 stars for me, but I think it’s due to the personal emotions it managed to pull from me. I’m all for a book that can destroy me from head to toe.

Ten years ago, Will and Fern met, connected big time, and spent a memorable day together. They made plans to meet in the future. When that time came, Will ghosted Fern. Now he’s back in Fern’s world, offering no reason for his disappearance. The chemistry is still there, but no immediate revelation about what had happened. Bits and pieces about his life are revealed as they work together to save Fern’s resort. Over the summer, Fern develops more self-awareness concerning what she wants in life and how that has changed over time. The story effectively alternates between their past and the present. It’s well-written, has decent main and supporting characters and the resort setting is interesting. A very enjoyable romance and story of self-discovery.