I enjoyed this novel. It was well-paced and engaging enough to make you want to turn the page. I’m very conflicted on rating because I don’t love how I feel about the drama at the end between Fern and Will and how it was handled.. it was not cute or sweet, but I also seem to be in the minority with the romance part. Still a decent read overall if you want a quick day book.

This wasn’t my cup of tea and I ended up not able to finish it. I couldn’t get into the past and present timelines, and it felt like nothing was happening / there was nothing driving me forward or keeping me hooked to keep reading. I wanted more from the plot, a deeper romance vs the insta love you get here, and just more all around to stay engaged. Lighter romance readers may or fans of second chance romance may enjoy this, though.

I loved the setting, some characters, and a lot of dialogue in this book. However, the plot fell flat to me. I did not understand Will's actions and the way he shut out Fern. I loved Carley's author note at the end and I really appreciated her highlighting PPD and PPA, but I don't think Will's approach made any sense within the text.

Quick and Dirty⁣
-soulmate trope/instant love⁣
-grief/loss subplot⁣
-Dirty Dancing resort ⁣
-redemption story⁣
⁣
Thoughts⁣
Wow! This book has ruffled some feathers, but thankfully not mine. I enjoyed jt overall despite the instant love, which is everyone’s biggest criticism. Fern and Will fall hard for each other after spending one day together; years later they reunite unexpectedly and sparks fly. Most folks couldn’t get passed the fact they had only spent one day together. While I agree the premise is far fetched, I knew on my first date with my current beau that we would be together. The connection was definitely instant, so I know it’s a real possibility. Beyond that, I enjoyed the heat and tensions in their present-day romance. But more than anything, I loved the story of Fern and her mother, specially her grief experience. It felt very authentic and raw at times, extremely well-written in my opinion. Her grief forced her to face her demons, which then forced her to make changes to the way she was living. She had to show up as her authentic self, which is never easy to do. My chief complaint was with Will’s excuse. I wish Fortune would have explored that more, given more detail to make it seem more believable. She does a great job in her Author’s Note describing why she added that to the story, but without that context it likely falls short for readers.

I had high hopes after every summer after but unfortunately this one never really got going for me. Slow moving and too drawn out.

If you've been following me for a while, then you know that Every Summer After was one of my favorite books of 2022. I absolutely adored the summer nostalgia and young love that Carley brought in her debut novel, and she was able to deliver again for her sophomore release!

Ten years ago, Fern and Will spent a magical 24 hours together in Toronto, a day they both will never forget. After their day together, they decide to go their separate ways and meet at the lake resort Fern's mother owns one year later ... only one of them doesn't show up.

If there is one thing Carley Fortune can always deliver - it is a “mood”. I LIVE for her atmospheric summer settings! But what I really adored about this book was Fern and her complex relationship with her mother and the resort she grew up on. Yes, this book is definitely a romance, but the exploration of grief, relationships, anxiety, and intrusive thoughts made it stand out among your typical books in the genre.

Meet Me at the Lake reminded me a lot of Emily Henry's books, and I mean that in the best way. If you enjoy character driven romances with angst and summer nostalgia, then I suggest picking this one up.

Meet Me At the Lake by Carley Fortune was released into the world a couple of weeks ago. I hope it has found it’s way to you and if not, you find your way to it.
⠀
It is a mother/daughter story, a second chance love story, a story of missed chances, and a story about finding yourself, all at the lake resort where the protagonist, Fern, grew up. It is told seamlessly in two time lines, with a third told through Fern’s mother’s diary entries. I loved how this gave such a full picture of where Fern’s mind and life are presently.
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After Fern’s mother passed away, she returns to the resort that her mother spent a lifetime nurturing, sometimes at Fern’s expense. So many memories abound at that lake, brought to life when one of her most painful memories shows up live and in person to stay at the resort.
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So many times when I read a book, no matter the genre, I often feel like it couldn’t happen in real life, but this one rang true and was all the better for that.

After coming off of one of my favorite romance stories from last year, Every Summer After, I was excited to see what Carley Fortune would have in store for us with Meet Me At The Lake.

I think this book solidified the fact that "instant love" stories are ones I need to stay clear of in the future because they just frustrate me. The reader is made to believe that our main character meets a guy, spends 24 hours with him, and then a decade later they reunite and reignite those feelings to propel them into a relationship. The chemistry felt lackluster and utterly boring. Sadly this will be an easily forgettable romance story for me.

Fern, Canadian lakeside resort heir, and Will, artist, met by chance 10 years ago and spent one whirlwind day together in the city. They agreed to meet one year later but Will never showed up. They had a connection, but it just wasn’t the right timing…. until 10 years later when he finally shows up at the resort. Is it too little too late or was the timing meant to be?

The story is told in multiple timelines - then and now.

Sad to say Carley and I just don’t vibe 🥲 There was no real plot to be invested in and it was very boring. I didn’t care for the characters or what happened to them. The ending had some redeeming qualities which raised my rating from 2 stars to 3.

I do think it’s really cool Carley narrated her own audiobook though. I love when authors do that.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the e-ARC and Libro.fm for the ALC.

I did not enjoy this one at all. It was very insta lovey, I mean no one falls in love in just one day. Overall did not enjoy this one, the plot or the characters. It felt like a very back knock off of a emily henry book.

'm pretty certain u don't need a reason to pick up this book...but I'll give u a bunch anyway😉

Fern never wanted the responsibility of owning the family lakeside resort, that was her mom's thing. Except her mom's no longer here, she has big shoes to fill & a mess of finances to figure out

When Fern was old enough she ventured out, moved to Canada for a yr, worked at a trendy coffee shop that she loved. One fateful day she arrived at work to an empty cafe, aside for Will Baxter painting a mural on the walls.

She hadn't known that day would change her life. That spending 24 hours with him would save her from the life she was heading towards she so desperately didn't want. That just one day with him had her rethinking everything & everyone including her current boyfriend.They make a plan, he was supposed to meet her by the lake one year later. He was not supposed to stand her up & disappear as quickly as he'd come.

Now, 10years later, Will is checking in & offering to help assess her business. How he has the nerve to face her after everything is beyond her. More than her anger for him showing up like this after what he did is her anger with herself for considering his help

Reading the author's note is a must here, there are certain sensitivities she highlights that made sense of some important things, allowing u to understand & connect to the characters on a deeper level. I loved Will & Fern. Loved traveling back to see that fateful day unfold. I loved who they were individually & who they stood to be together.

I know it was all too tempting to compare this to her first novel but after reading the author's note u see even more why that's unfair. This was a more delicate story in a diff way, a true labor of love with the author putting pcs of herself into every character. Would I have wanted to know what was going on in Will's mind too? Absolutely I did, but knowing the author's reasoning for the choice not to go there made sense. U may have felt that void a little bit but now I know why it was truer to this story this way. I commend Carley immensely for putting her vulnerability on page like this, even just the hint of it, & sharing herself with all of us

Also! The author narrated this audiobook herself and was fantastic (new calling maybe?)

Meet Me at the Lake is one of those books that you plow through because you need to know what will happen with the characters. Having not read Carley’s previous release (EVERY SUMMER AFTER) I really didn’t know what the hype was all about. But it’s very clear that she writes romance novels that resonate with her readers because this one certainly did for me. And while I don’t necessarily buy into the second chance romance between two people who only spent one day together, I did enjoy the buildup, the backstory, and the slow-moving romance between Fern and Will. These two were really good together despite the things that were holding them back (Wills backstory warmed my heart).

If you’re looking for a summer romance that will make you swoon with an amazing setting that’s easy to visualize, then this is the perfect book for you! I look forward to finally reading Every Summer After.

𝗠𝗬 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗙𝗔𝗡𝗦 𝗢𝗙
❥ Second Chance Romance
❥ Summer themed Novels
❥ Slow Burn Romance

This was good I enjoyed this book way more than I expected too it was a fun book to read over the weekend

A superb summer read that will pull at all your heartstrings 😫❤️

Carley Fortune is the queen of summer romance & Meet Me at the Lake follows suit !!

I had the best time with this read , it was a mixture of soulmates , fated meetings , and all the summer nostalgia of young love mixed into this brilliant book ! I’m usually not a fan of second chance romance but I’ve certainly been converted haha

I hope you all love it as much as I did 🥰

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. I’m so shocked but I didn’t relate to our MC and I truly don’t believe In the love story and in a romance book you have to root for the romance.

woof ok this review is hard to write, mostly because i really enjoyed carley fortune's debut 'every summer after' when i read it last year, but her sophomore novel just did not do it for me.

i won't get into the nitty gritty of the plot, but basically our main girl fern spent one day 10 years ago with a guy called will. they have a whirlwind day in toronto, and their connection is undeniable, but they are both dating other people. fast forward to the present when will turns up at fern's family resort in muskoka that fern has just inherited from her late mother. fern takes will up on the offer to help get the resort back in shape, and their love is 'rekindled.'

basically, this book was just not believable. there is NO WAY these two were still pining after each other ten years later after having full lives, evolving as people, and not having anything beyond a connection on the day they spent together (ie. no kissing, hand holding, etc). fern & will are also not enjoyable to root for, as they are just kinda cardboard cut-out characters; there's nothing about them that makes them interesting to me.

this is yet another romance that also deals with grief, but it didn't hit the same as the first did. there are a lot of pages from fern's mother's diary inserted into the book, but not much was done with them, so it didn't add to the story.

overall, just skip this one.

OMG, I didn't think any book could top Every Summer After but this will definitely take a spot in my top books of the year pile.

Ten years after she spent one of the best days of her life with Will, never to see him again, Fern still wonders what happened. She knows the timing couldn't have been worse, the fact that she had a boyfriend and was moving didn't help but it didn't deny the attraction and mental connection she felt with Will. At the end of the crazy day, they decide to meet the next year on the same day at Fern's mother's lakeside resort. But Will never shows and ten years later he's still taking up space in Fern's mind and heart.

When Fern's mother dies tragically and she is forced to help get to the lakeside resort in order she discovers it's in disarray. She needs to figure out what to do and to her surprise, a solution arrives in the form of Will.

This book is legit almost perfect. It is swoony. It's melty. It is almost perfect. The utter desire between these two folks. On every page. I didn't read Carley's first book but honestly idk how this one could be topped. The grief that Fern feels after losing her mom. Her trying to figure out if she wanted to stay at the resort or not - running away or staying, and her growth throughout. I also loved Will - it's obvious that he loved her from the jump and getting Fern to figure that out?? Priceless. When he gave her the piece of ART? MY HEART MELTED. Just absolutely stunning. I adored this book.

-.5 because there was literally barely any diversity lol. Like no queer people, no POC, nothing. Awkward.

Everyone and their cat read her debut novel Every Last Summer last year, except for maybe three people…and if you are one of those three, I say start with this one! Only because I had such high expectations after ELS and I think it might have caused me to not care for this one as much.

It was hard for me to like the male main character. He just didn’t have a very likable personality, especially after standing Fern up. The lack of communication and jumping to decisions on his part had me rolling my eyes and saying to Fern, “next, girl. Let this one go.”

I also don’t see the point in her mothers diary. If it was for us to get a glimpse into who her mother was, we could have just gained that from Peter or Fern. I kept expecting a bombshell to be dropped in it somewhere (what’s the point of a diary?!) and it never happened so I was disappointed there.

I do always enjoy a water type setting and second chance romance stories, so they were my positive points in this one and what kept me reading. I also loved Fern’s best friend. She’s someone I would hang out with.

Thank you to @netgalley and @berkleypub for the arc in exchange for my honest review!

FEATURES
✌🏼Second Chance Romance
🌊Lake setting
🧠Mental health rep
⏰Alternating timelines
💃🏼Dirty Dancing

✨When Will Baxter shows up in Fern's life, 10 years after their first encounter, all of her feelings for him come flooding back.

☁️THOUGHTS
The anticipation was so high for Fortune's second novel! I loved that the author was a narrator; the audiobook was well done overall. There was such an atmospheric lake feel, that I give the author huge credit for! Definitely a good summer-y story. Toward the end, I did really start "feeling" something for the MCs. The last few chapters made me feel strong emotion.

However, the rest of the book/story sadly missed some marks for me. I wanted to love it. I really did. 🥲 I typically LOVE second chance romance; however, the "first chance" between our MCs was a SINGLE DAY romance, TEN years ago (unrealistic)... when they both had significant others! All of those things together were just a *no thank you* personally. Insta-love, miscommunication, & cheating plots (of any sort- not just physical) typically kind of give me the ick. While I understand some of the circumstances & mental health reasons for the miscommunication, I feel like this made it hard to even understand/feel the connection between the two MCs; it lacked substantial romance in general, IMO. I found myself bored in the "past" chapters, preferring the ones set in the "present." There just felt like there wasn't much going on?? There WAS an emotional side plot (an experience our MCs had in common- which is where my feelings toward the end of the book came in) that took the back-burner. I wish it would’ve taken more forefront to add some intrigue; instead, the two plot points seemed somewhat divided/didn't seem to fully mesh. The audiobook took a couple weeks to finish just because I found myself gravitating toward listening to other books instead.

There were definitely some parts I enjoyed, but overall, I didn't love this one. Per usual, I definitely do not discourage you from reading it/forming your own thoughts! 😊