I liked both of the main characters, and the pacing of the story as it gave us glimpses into the past as well as the current time.

It's a book about duty, family, alternate possibilities, love and our best-laid plans.

Fern Brookbanks and Will Baxter spend a perfect day together. The circumstances aren't right for anything more, but they make a pact to meet one year later—only Will doesn't show up.

Years later Will comes back into Ferns life to help turn her family's struggling resort business around. Fern doesn't know what she wants, but she certainly isn't about to trust the man who stood her up back then, especially not when it's clear he's hiding something from her.

Carly Fortune is becoming a comfort romance author for me! Her second book delivered that same Canadian summer charm, and I had such a great time reading this. This book has everything I look for in a romance. There are two people with amazing romantic chemistry, there's love that feels beautiful and important, and it's heart wrenching and fun. While it does have some cliched romantic banter that is not my favorite, it doesn't take away from the fact that this is a fantastic summer romance read. I can't wait to read more from Carly Fortune.

💕MEET ME AT THE LAKE REVIEW💕

rating: 3.5⭐️
genre: contemporary romance
read this if you liked: People We Meet on Vacation or November 9

Fern and Will spent a whirlwind day together ten years ago. Fern is now working at her family’s lakeside resort after her mother’s recent passing. When Will shows up she’s both confused and taken back to that fateful day all those years ago. But his guarded personality and businessman exterior are nothing like the Will she experienced back then. Is it possible the spark is still there or has too much time passed? Regardless Fern needs Will’s business help with the resort, but maybe she needs more too…

After reading Carley’s incredibly popular debut, Every Summer After, last year I was so excited to get my hands on her latest book. Unfortunately, this one missed the mark for me. I normally love a second chance romance trope, but I have learned that the “met once, fell in love” rendezvous is just *not* it for me. Immediately it felt so unbelievable and that continued through the book as their chemistry was really lackluster. Fern was willing to give so much while Will was guarded with off-putting behavior. I kept wanting something… anything to happen between the two. It felt more character driven with less romance elements. Was hoping for my angst and nostalgia between them. It was… fine but underwhelming! I’ll certainly read her next book though.

*spoilers included in the end*
Many thanks to Berkley Romance for the e-ARC in exchange of an honest review! When I read Every Summer After last year, I enjoyed reading it A LOT for the first 80 percent. But the last 20 percent completely ruined the book for me. My experience with Meet Me At The Lake is kind of similar as well.

Let's start with the things I liked! Carley Fortune knows how to capture the summer vibes in a book perfectly! The resort setting in MMATL was really charming ~ and I loved getting transported to the location through the author's words. I loved Fern's relationship with her mom, and how she grew with the help of her mom even after her death. The diary entries made me so emotional!

Now, the thing is ~ for the last 30/40 percent or so, the book was just. Plain boring! I just kept reading to see how Fern and Will's relationship would turn out. Their dynamic seemed really unrealistic as they met 10 years back for ONCE and realized they LOVED each other? Personally, I couldn't see any chemistry between them. 😭 The last few chapters could have been packed up without some unnecessary moments tbh. But I loved the representation of anxiety through Will's characterization. I wish they were more open with each other though

*SPOILERS*
There was a lot of emotional cheating involved in the book, and it just made me really uncomfortable. If cheating is a theme that Carley Fortune will follow in all of her books, I don't think I'll ever completely enjoy her books ~ which is so sad because her writing style is so beautiful.

3/5 overall!

I seem to be in the minority amongst my bookish friends in that I loved this book just as much as Carley Fortune's first one. I just really enjoy her writing style and I appreciate that her characters are flawed but not irredeemable. I think she does the alternating timelines really well and she's not afraid to tackle some heavy topics without leaving me feeling dragged down while reading. For a brief moment I wished that I had more from Will's perspective about what he went through and why it had such an effect on him but after reading the author's notes I completely understand and agree that sometimes we just don't need every excruciating detail of someone's trauma in order to understand their motivations. I fully recommend this book to anyone who doesn't mind a slow-burn, kind of insta-lovey, second chance story where romance isn't the sole focus of the story.

*I received an early copy from NetGalley for voluntary, honest review

I received this book for free through netgalley for an honest review. Sweet and predictable rom com, exactly what I wanted. I love the way the main characters met, I love “the plan” to meet up in a year, but sadly one doesn’t show up. 10 years after they meet, they finally see each other again. What transpires as they are working together is sweet and loving! A cute read for sure.

I went into this one hoping it wasn’t going to be completely the same as Every Summer After given the similarity in concept and appearance of the book. Yes, the concept (time gap) and storytelling style (alternating chapters) are similar to ESA, but I still found this book to be unique in its content.

As mentioned, this book follows the same style as Every Summer After, where chapters alternate between past and present. The major difference is that it adds a third storyline with Fern’s (FMC) mother’s diaries.

Will and Fern’s story was interesting enough. However, some of the nuances of Will’s character were what I found to be more engaging. If you read the author’s essay following the book, you also get additional context that gives a better understanding of the experiences that shaped this character.

I’m not sure if it was intentional by the author but I felt like the “mystery” behind Will was predictable pretty early on. I felt like I guessed that entire part of the novel from the beginning, so there wasn’t much of an effect when he finally told Fern the truth. That being said, this “reveal” isn’t as big a part of the plot like we saw in ESA. I think those who weren’t happy with the twist in ESA might like this one better.

I mostly relied on audio for this one even though I had both and I think this helped me get through the book pretty quickly. The narration was enjoyable and I felt like it suited the characters.

4⭐️
2🌶

Meet Me at the Lake is a warm summer night and a deep breath by the water at sunset. It is an empathetic story of love, loss, growing up, and forging one's own path. After reading Every Summer After, I knew I needed more of Carley Fortune's summertime magic and being transported to Muskoka with Fern didn't disappoint. If you've ever spent your summers at the lake and found yourself missing your lake family in the off-season, you'll feel right at home at Brookbanks resort.

This book is beautiful and emotional, and it is easy to cheer for all of the love you encounter in these pages over the years, whether it's between MCs or for their families and friends. Will and Fern make a wonderful, supportive, perfectly flawed pair and I love their story, even though so many parts of it made my heart ache.

The way relationships are described and how they unravel in this story really resonated with me. I love a story that can express what it's like to navigate a difficult relationships, like a tough one with a parent or one in an unfulfilling partnership. I think Carley Fortune did a great job showcasing that sometimes we find our way to the right person at both the right AND wrong time. And if it has ever happened to you, you know just what I mean.

Not every love story is a perfect unwinding of fate, but when we let love guide our story, we somehow wind up right where we're meant to be. And sometimes you find yourself at the lake.

**Thank you to Berkley, Carley Fortune, and NetGalley for a copy of Meet Me at the Lake in exchange for my honest review!**

I went in this with high expectations after Carley's first book and while I found that this was a little slow to start, it ended up picking up speed about halfway through and then suddenly I couldn't put it down.

I have read Carley Fortune's books before, so I was a bit excited to read her newest release, Meet Me at the Lake. Just from looking at the book cover, it looks like a perfect summer romance read.
I have disappointed a few readers, but I did not enjoy reading this book as much as I thought I would. I truly thought that I would have loved it, but it was one of the romance tropes that I hate in books. I am going to spoil it for you because you need to know. But be warned if you don’t want spoilers.
This book has a cheating trope in it. Even though people will argue that it was emotional, it’s still cheating. Both of these characters are not innocent in their relationships at all. I truly wished that the cheating trope wasn’t part of the story because I would have enjoyed this romance story. But it just took away any kindness I had for these characters. I couldn’t really root for them. I wanted them to act better because they aren’t young anymore. They are adults dealing with major issues.
Besides that annoying romance trope, I like how the author dealt with the main character's grief. You can read about the main character's different stages while she processes her mother's death. It’s something that you can’t really explain; it’s just something you can relate to or read about.

Read if you like: Second chance romances
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I struggled to get into this book at first but was completely hooked for the last quarter, and I am glad that I pushed through and finished it, but I can see how some people might not. I love a second-chance romance and loved that Fern and Will got another opportunity to get to know one another. I loved the lake setting of the book and the fact that Fern needs to figure out what to do with her family's resort.
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I think the thing I struggled with is Will and Fern had only met for one day, and had a connection but both were still in relationships. They plan to meet in one year but Will doesn't show. Then they see each other again 10 years later. I think I struggled with believing that they would still hold a flame for each other for 10 years after only knowing each other for a day, and since the book is told with dual timelines, we don't really get to understand what happened that one day 10 years ago until near the end of the book.
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Overall though, like I said, I am glad I read it and overall it was a good summer read!

Meet Me at the Lake is the follow up to Carley’s Fortunes debut, Every Summer After, which I adored. It saddens me to say that Carley’s sophomore release didn’t live up to my high expectations, but I will continue reading her books as they’re published. Meet Me at the Lake follows Fern Brookbanks and Will Baxter in dual timelines. Fern and Will spent a life-changing twenty four hours together ten years ago with the plan to meet each other at the lake the following year on a specific date and time. Fern showed up, but Will did not. Fern has spent the last nine years wondering what if and why Will didn’t make it. Flash forward to the current timeline where Fern’s mother has recently passed away and Fern has returned to either run or sell her mother’s lakeside resort. Suddenly, a suit-clad Will Baxter, basically the antithesis of the artist who saved her a decade ago, surfaces at the resort with a suitcase in tow and plans to help. Fern and Will reconnect and we get alternating chapters from the present and their past. While I continue to enjoy Carley’s writing, my major issue with Meet Me at the Lake is that I never quite felt the chemistry between Will and Fern in either timeline. The current timeline attraction was very heavily dependent upon their past interaction but because the foundation wasn’t sufficiently built, I wasn’t buying it. I was more interested in the resort, Fern’s decision about the course of her life, and her relationship with her mother than anything involving Will. Fern also had a boyfriend during their day together in the past, so it was also tough to root for them when she was emotionally cheating. I think it would have been easier to stomach if we hadn’t gotten to know Fern’s ex-Jamie in the present timeline as he’s still around and managing the resort. Overall, I was disappointed by this one but I don’t think it was a bad book. It was very middling for me and I would have enjoyed it more had it leaned into the women’s fiction element and abandoned the “romance.”

Oh my goodness this was my very favorite read of May! I absolutely LOVED it! I read it all in a day I was so hooked!

I really enjoyed this book! I don't know - I believe in love at first sight. I believe that you can really find "the one" on "day one" and I just think that even if it is really rare, it's fun to read about.

3.5 stars

Thank you @netgalley @berkleypub for the advanced digital copy and @librofm for the advanced listening copy!

After reading and absolutely LOVING Every Summer After last summer, I went into Meet Me at the Lake with high expectations. Unfortunately, this one fell a little flat for me despite just how much I wanted to love it.

I usually love a good second chance romance trope… but the first chance encounter between our two MCs, Fern and Will, was a single day 10 years prior. To me, I just felt like it was super unrealistic, especially when you consider that both Fern and Will were in relationships with other people when they first met. I realllly don’t enjoy any kind of cheating trope in my romance books.

As I continued to listen to the story, I did start to like our characters. I did begin to root for them towards the end… but honestly just overall I didn’t vibe with their whole “insta-love” scenario. I love reading a romance that gives me all the happy, warm and fuzzy feelings and for the most part, Meet Me at the Lake didn’t do it for me.

No matter what you put in your 10-year plan, does it really come out like you thought it would? A chance encounter leads to a full day spent together and changes college student Fern’s trajectory. Perhaps it was inevitable that she would inherit the family resort her single mother successfully manages, and Fern even majored in business, but she would rather live in the city and run her own coffeeshop than return to the bush. When she has the audacity to call muralist Will’s wall art “basic,” they form a quick bond and agree to spend the day together.

Through a tour of Toronto, Vietnamese sandwiches, an art museum stop, a ska concert and the world’s biggest plate of nachos, they share their hopes and dreams, most embarrassing moments, and very little about the people they are in relationships with, Will reminds her that it is her life, not her mother’s. Their day morphs into evening and although they are each seeing someone, recognize the kindred spark and make a plan to meet at Fern’s family’s resort a year from the date of their first encounter. Will doesn’t show up, and it’s heartbreaking but also part of what Fern needs to speak up for herself and advocate for her needs.

When her mother dies, Fern inherits the property and business. Selling it would be finance the coffeeshop of her dreams–and destroy the dynasty, put people of work, and threaten the good relationship she has with her ex-boyfriend who is the acting manager. Too introverted to hostess like her mother, Fern refuses to greet guests and make announcements in the dining roof, and hides behind the check-in desk. A chance encounter with a guest is revealed to be Will, checking in for a month-long stay, has her re-evaluating again. The artist was acting as business consultant to Fern’s mother, and now Fern needs to decide if she’s going to sell, or stay–and if she can forgive Will, or not.

Chapters alternate between past and present to relay the narrative in a carefully controlled way. The chemistry and dramatic tension are spun out in a way may leave some readers frustrated. The delicate handling of mental illness and grief add depth this second-chance romance.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #MeetMeAtTheLake from #NetGalley.

Meet Me at the Lake captured me with its lake setting, all the 𝘋𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 references (one of my fave movies forever!) and the Then & Now timelines. I listened to it on audio and it was exceptionally narrated by A.J. Bridel and Carley Fortune (I see you girl!)⁣⁣
⁣⁣
I adored Fern and Will! I was taken in by both timelines and loved their connection in both. There was a lot dealt with here, including death, mental health and postpartum issues. While it all felt important because it was crucial to the story and their relationship, it never felt too heavy.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
If you believe in soulmates, finding the⁣⁣ "one" and love that is meant to be add this one to your TBR, drop it in your beach bag and get swept away with Fern & Will.

Thank you Berkley Romance for an ARC of this book all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Overall I really enjoyed Meet Me at the Lake. It was melancholy, angsty, and also romantic. Fortune is very, VERY good at doing second-chance (if you consider this book to be that, which idk) romance, like her angst levels are at a high. But there's such a tenderness in the writing as well.

Let's get the big question out of the way: is there cheating? In my opinion, no? Like Fern and her BF were already on the edge of things (at least from Fern's perspective). I think when you're 22 and you go on this amazing day with a guy you just met part of it is serendipitous and there might have been some emotional aspects involved, but I don't think that it was enough for it to be considered cheating. That's just my opinion. They both said they had significant others. They both didn't cross the line besides some very intense sharing of personal demons and then having a fun day in the city in your early 20s.

Ok, now into the rest of the book. Like I said I did enjoy the book. I'm down for a moody summer read, which Fortune is becoming the absolute best at. Like Lana Del Rey in Canadian summer romance? idk if that's a thing but I declare it such.

Fern deals with some very heavy pieces in her life like her mother's sudden passing and working through a lot of packed away baggage that comes with living in a small community. I really liked this aspect of the book. I also adored Will as a character. I think a lot of people will have issues with how private he is, but I saw myself a lot in him and understand. Letting people see the flaws in yourself is difficult, even if they are on your side and love you. It's hard. All of the pieces from their shared day, to the current time, to Fern's mother's diary were all nicely interwoven that it told a really rich story.

What I wasn't the biggest fan of was the pacing of the book. I could have used a bit more of the big reveal items earlier in the book. I could have used more community earlier in the book. It felt stifled. I got through it, but there definitely could have used some energy. On the other hand, the ending could have been drawn out a bit more. I needed more depth on some of the pieces that were revealed in the last 50 pages. A better balance would have been welcomed!

Another piece I wanted more from was the character themselves. I wanted Fern to be more multi-dimensional than she was. She wanted to own her own coffee shop--that was cool, I wanted more from it! What really drove her there, where she was passionate about beyond just music because that was even sorta half-hearted. Whitney and Cam could have used a bit more dimension in things as well.

Long story short, I do recommend this book. I think it is a great summer read and great for a lake vacation. Even with the few things I was more disappointed about with the book, I really enjoyed it. Cannot wait to see what other books Fortune has in store for us in the future because her somber Canadian summer romance novels are become a summer tradition for me!

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

𝘼 𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙢 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙩𝙬𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙖 𝙙𝙖𝙮𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙨, 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚-𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙨.

📍 Read if you like:
• Second Chance (sorta)
• Summer Reads
• Lake Resorts
• Love Stories

I’ve never felt so conflicted about my rating for a romance book until I read this one. I read Every Summer After last year and enjoyed it for the most part. There’s a certain something that happened in that book that I despised so much. While it wasn’t as bad in this one, there were still a few elements that I didn’t enjoy.

However, I had a good time reading this. I switched back and forth between the physical book and audio, both were equally good.

So far I’ve seen mixed reviews about this book and I completely understand why. The characters aren’t the most relatable, but I still felt like this was a fun summer read.

It’s set at this lake resort and I think the setting was portrayed so well. There’s sort of a small-town setting and I really enjoyed that. Also, the story just felt so nostalgic.

The characters were very immature at times. They seemed to have been younger with the way they behaved, however, I still think they were entertaining in their own way.

I don’t think these are the absolute best summer books, let alone romance. However, they’re just so addicting and fun to read.

This wasn’t a favorite romance for me and I understand why so many people didn’t love it, but I thought it was fun for what it was. It was a great beach read to pick up this summer.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Berkley Romance for the review copy in exchange for my honest review!

•𝗧𝗪/𝗖𝗪: Death of parent, grief, pregnancy, sexual content, mental illness, panic attacks/disorder

MEET ME AT THE LAKE is a big-hearted story perfect for summer. I did have a bit of difficult time connecting with these characters. They didn't jump off the page quite in the same way that Sam and Percy did. In the author's note, Carley mentioned that this story was more of a struggle for her to write that her debut because of issues with postpartum depression. I felt for Carley and can see how that would make writing a sophomore novel, especially one that follows up the incredible EVERY SUMMER AFTER, really difficult. I really appreciated her vulnerability in sharing that part of her life and how it impacted her writing. With that being said, I still loved the lake setting and Carley's writing style . I will definitely pick up what she writes next!\

RATING: 3.5/5 (rounded up to 4 stars)