Gosh, I just loved this one. It gave that summer camp, young love kind of vibe that follows a couple through to a adulthood. Life becomes messy and complicated and the true test of a relationship or any potential for one happens then. Such a great summer read!

MEET ME AT THE LAKE is a heart-breaker, charmer of a story. This is the classic second-chance romance where a couple meet one sweet summer day and bond instantly. Fern Brookbanks and Will Baxter have an instant spark. However, they lead separate lives and they make a pact to meet one year later at Fern's family resort. Only Will doesn't show up. Fern is hurt and Will's betrayal rocks her to the core.

Time marches on. Fern's mother passes away and she inherits the resort. She doesn't want it, but duty calls. Fern's ex-boyfriend Jamie is the manager of the resort, making things awkward. Fern quickly discovers that the resort is in disrepair and needs renovations. She didn't sign up for a life overhaul, but sometimes pulling on your big girl pants is required. Strangely, Will shows up and offers his assistance. Why is he here? Fern's heart is in turmoil. A lot has changed since they first met many years ago. Promises were made and broken, leaving questions unanswered. What is Will after? Can they recapture what they once had?

This is a very unique story filled with many emotional moments. The author shoots from the hip with a keep'em guessing plot, clever wordplay, crackling chemistry and compelling characters. I was moved to tears so have Kleenex on hand while reading Ms. Fortune's winning novel. Fern and Will are a beautiful couple who meet again years later with the chance to start all over again, but do they take that leap of faith? Betrayal, questions and anger need to be dealt with before they can move on. The author expertly includes characters with depth and secrets that add a richness to the plot. This is a beautifully executed and insightful love story that will capture your heart and won't let go. MEET ME AT THE LAKE is a timeless masterpiece!

𝑴𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝑴𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒂𝒌𝒆
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲: saving a resort, Dirty Dancing, love triangle, second chance?, friends to lovers, small town, journal entries

"𝗜 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆, 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂"

Love the whole saving the resort theme of this book. Gives me Hallmark Christmas movie vibes but of the summer version!

After her mom’s sudden passing, Fern decided to took over their family resort. However, business was slow and saving it from the hands of developers proved to be very difficult. Enter the consultant that her mom was talking to prior to her death and it’s no other than Will - the guy Fern met nine years ago, had spent 24 hours with after a chance encounter in Toronto. They were supposed to meet at a lake but Will never showed up and here he is now entering her life again nine years later…

When I heard that the author had narrated parts of the audiobook, I immediately went the audiobook route and I really enjoyed it! Thanks @libro for my copy!

I just love the nostalgia that a small town lakeside resort gives! Love reading the entries from her mom’s journal and how it helps with the impact of the storytelling. Ugh her mom’s story is just 😭 I just felt all the chances at love that was lost because of miscommunication and bad timing :/

I did overall enjoyed this and finished it in less than 2 days. I love reading about the emotional depth and character growth but I feel like I couldn’t connect much with leads?

Anyway, I would still recommend this if your are looking for that summer nostalgic read!!

💭 What are you guys reading this weekend?
☕️ I can’t pick between a romance, thriller, or a cozy mystery 😂

I’m not sure if it’s the warmer weather or what but I’ve been on a slight romance kick lately. Who am I?! Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this one and am now excited to read Every Summer After!

The relationship between Fern and Will is electric! The fact that they’ve thought of each other every day for ten years but neither was aware is both heartbreaking and the perfect catalyst for their ultimate reconnection. Once they’re on the same page, their original spark is ignited into an all-consuming flame.

There is more than one vein of sadness in this book but it’s balanced nicely with lighthearted side characters who bring just as much joy.

This book is written with dual timelines. One following Will and Fern on their adventure together ten years ago and the other in present day when they reconnect at Fern’s family lake resort. We learn pivotal information about their past just in time to see the relevance in their present. Carley Fortune has a natural talent and I love her writing style!

I really enjoyed this second chance romance.. I still have Every Summer After on my shelf and now I’m even more motivated to read it!

Synopsis:

Told in dual timelines this is the story of Fern and Will’s love. It pivots from the day they met ten years ago to current day. Present day Fern has come back to her family’s resort that her mother oversaw for all of ther life. She wanted Fern to take it over but Fern wanted her own life. Fern often resented how much her mother’s work took away from their time together when she was growing up. Now that she’s back, ten years later, she must decide if she should sell it or keep the resort that her grandparents started. In order to keep it she needs to rely on Will’s expertise in marketing to revamp the resort to a more profitable business. T

My thoughts:

I really enjoyed the connection between Fern and Will and how their story played out. I think I may have lifked even more were Fern’s flashbacks and discovery of her mom’s life. That did cause me to shed a few tears.I liked that both Fern and Will were flawed characters. WIll dealt with some mental health issues and Fern had been an angsy teen. My only complaint was that I didn’t feel like the problems with the resort were completely resolved by the end of the book.

I absolutely devoured EVERY SUMMER AFTER last year. I was on the fence about reading it and was cautious about the hype, but I literally sat there and finished the book in one sitting on my deck on a sunny afternoon. That was such a wonderful and specific reading experience that I was super nervous to read her sophomore novel. Such high expectations! ESA was not perfect – it was messy in a way that really worked for me. I was curious to see if this novel would have much of the same (not really!) or if the author would branch out a bit. I was happy to still see dual timelines following the lead couple, a second chance romance, and another glorious summer setting.

MEET ME AT THE LAKE is centered around the main character’s family resort on a lake in Canada. Fern determined as a college student that she didn’t want to take over the business someday and broke her mom’s heart in the process. Years later, with some success managing coffee shops in Toronto in the meantime, her mom passes away in an accident… leaving the resort to her.

Beyond the grief and family feels of it all, the story alternates between past and present with Fern and Will – a boy she had a whirlwind day/night with as a college student. It feels a bit like instalove (especially because the chemistry 10 years ago just wasn’t there for me as much as it was in present day). The two of them set up a plan to meet one year later at the resort but Will never shows and never communicates with her. When he shows up years later as a consultant (her mom hired before she died), she tries to figure out what went wrong, why he didn’t show up, and if they have the opportunity to do things right this time around.

I really liked the overall premise but if I’m being honest, the present day love story and Fern falling back in love with her family’s resort were much better than the flashback scenes. Like I said, I just didn’t FEEL it that much. I think there was always going to be too much comparison for me to EVERY SUMMER AFTER and this book didn’t match up for me. I wonder if I would have felt differently if I read this one first?

Overall, I think readers of her first book will still enjoy this one but try to go in with normal expectations.

Overall I didn't love this. I wasn't really feeling the romance between our main characters. The fact that they pined for each other for 9 years after spending 1 day together baffles me. What baffles me more is that they never just decided to contact the other during that time...like why?
Fortune does do amazing at scenery and imagining you are there. I would love to visit Brookbanks resort and stay. I also do enjoy her writing style.
But I just wasn't vibing the romance...and I'll say it; I actually liked the ex in this book better....

I devoured Carley Fortune’s debut novel, Every Summer After, and finished it in two days. Sadly, that wasn’t the case with Meet Me at the Lake. I started reading it in March but put it to the side after the first few chapters. I did this a couple more times in April, and come May I finally decided to just power through and finish it once and for all. (Not finishing a book is a huge pet peeve of mine). Overall, it is a good story with some redeeming qualities, but I had such a difficult time getting fully invested in the characters lives, and it didn't grab me from the start, like Every Summer After. Would I still recommend it? Sure.

Perfect for fans of Emily Henry, Carley Fortune's Meet Me at the Lake provides romance, fun and drama. I liked the structure which alternates between present day and ten years ago. Fern and Will's relationship begins as a wholesome and caring friendship (albeit with some attraction); a relationship beginning from friendship is always a plus for me. The characters in this novel and their conflicts/weaknesses worked for me. This is an entertaining book, fans of Carley Fortune's first book won't be disappointed.

3.5⭐
Forget beach reads, I'm loving LAKE READS! Keep it coming Carley Fortune! 🌞👒👙

You can say I read CF's novels back to back. I love her debut "Every Summer After" which I read last month and glad to have her sophomore Meet Me at the Lake that just came out on May 2. The author has a way of creating a nostalgic feel for her small lake town setting. I want to visit her place and wish I knew these characters.

The story is told in a then-and-now format. The main characters Fern and Will had a great connection but life has its way of keeping them apart. Now, ten years later, and a second chance at love?

This one seals the deal. It's another great summer read that makes Fortune's novel a must-read for me! However, I have to be honest that I don't feel that Fern and Will's "situation" is very compelling. There's a little something that makes it unrealistic. I love the setting and characters (Jamie!) and think "Meet Me at the Lake" is one sweet read.

Every Summer After was a favorite of mine last year so when I saw Meet Me at the Lake was releasing I was desperate to read it.

Carley Fortune has done it again. I thought it would be hard to compete with her Debut novel and this one got my just as much. I love a second chance romance and i live the dual timelines- much like her first novel.

Fern Brookbanks is our heroine on this one and she is back home running the resort after her mother suddenly dies. Her ex boyfriend is helping out but everything changes when Will Baxter- a man from her past who she only met for one day appears and brings back old memories and feelings. Can they help each other again to navigate new challenges?

I thought it was sweet and romantic and I didn’t want it to end. I loved the setting of the lake and it truly gave me all of the summer feelings.

I appreciate the opportunity to read and review this one. It is not to be missed- the only thing that would have made it better is if I had been at the lake.

When I love a book (or anything, really) I cannot shut up about it. Enter: Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune. In her sophomore release, two characters meet by chance in Toronto and spend the day together, making plans to see each other again one year later. When Fern shows up and Will doesn't, she's left heartbroken and wondering what could have been — until he shows up 9 years later at the resort she's taken over from her mom.

Meet Me at the Lake is equal parts funny and tender. I loved the way Fortune brought the characters to life, giving each of them quirks that complicated their relationship and, ironically, drew them together in the end. Both characters are loyal and committed to the things and people they love, and it's these characteristics that almost threaten their HEA. (Don't worry! You'll get one!)

Fortune's descriptions are also worth mentioning, as she has some truly great one-liners that made me giggle alone in an empty room:
"I don't know why I find his ankles so compelling. I'm like a Regency Era viscount hoping for a flash of flesh." (As a historical romance reader, I CACKLED)
"'You are officially cut off,' I say, trying to act like it doesn't bother me that Will's ex is as hot as a Jonas brother wife.'"

So far, I've posted all about this book on my socials, texted my friends about it and bought it as a birthday gift for a friend. I loved it so much that I'll probably read it again before the year is over. I bet if you give it a shot, you will too.

This book is for anyone who loves:
👙 Vacation reads
🔥 Steamy open-door scenes
⛺ Summer camp resort / Dirty Dancing vibes
🗣️ Dual timelines, including a day-long, love-at-first-sight meet-cute
🎨 "A business dude with the soul of an artist"
💕 Mutual pining, second chance romance, and men in aprons (IYKYK)
💊 Mental health visibility
👑 A satisfying happily-ever-after

Note: As a trigger warning, please be aware that this text has a storyline that includes grief, anxiety and an off-page death of a parent.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for allowing me the chance to read and provide an honest review of this book! I've posted this review on GoodReads and across my social platforms, as well as Amazon and B&N listings.

I liked this book a lot although I liked the first book more. I felt like the story was so well done and I really liked the characters.

Every Summer After was the book of the summer last year, and Meet Me at the Lake will absolutely be the book of the summer this year. I loved this! I am a sucker for second chance romances, and this delivered and more. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a summer read!

I really enjoyed reading Fern and Will's second chance love story, Meet Me at the Lake. I had the unpopular opinion when I read Every Summer After and it wasn't a favorite of mine last year. But Meet Me at the Lake was better in my opinion. There was so much depth to the story and I appreciated seeing Will's struggle with his mental health, even with it only being touched on briefly towards the end of the story. After reading this one I will be interested in reading Carley's future books. This is a great book to add to your summer reading list this year.

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Format: Audio

4.5🌟 - I really liked it!

Every Summer After was one of my favorite books last year, so I was thrilled to be able to get an ALC of this book to listen to it!

Fern and Will were so ! There is something about Carley’s books that give nostalgia, warmth, and quintessential summer feelings every time! Second-chance romance is just 🤌🏻

I devoured the audiobook in just about 24 hours because I couldn’t get enough of it!

It touches on grief of a mother, has a past and present timeline, an immersive setting, and is truly a heartwarming read!

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted e-copy.

Every Summer After was a debut darling of last summer, so Meet Me at the Lake had some big shoes to fill. Although I didn't love it quite as much, I still devoured this book in two days. Told in a dual timeline of present day and ten years ago, we are given the story of Fern and Will. They spent one day together ten years ago, made plans to meet up a year later, and Will never showed. Fern was distraught not knowing why, and Will remains a mystery until he shows up one day at her resort. Fern's mom has just passed away, and Fern is left with big decisions to make about her life and the future of the resort. Will, it turns out, was hired by Fern's mom before she died as a consultant on ways to make more money and get the resort up to date.

Fern is astonished at the arrival of Will, and wants to know why he bailed on their one-year-later-meetup. The chemistry between the two of them is still there, and they finally have the chance to act on it. Both have personal struggles they are dealing with and a lot to unpack individually and together.

I enjoyed reading their story, but I think I liked the "ten years ago" chapters better. I liked reading about their day together, and was dying to know why he didn't show up for their planned meeting. I'm not sure anything can compare to Every Summer After, but this was still a very fun book!

Carley Fortune is an auto buy author for me now, and I will anxiously await her next novel!

4.5 stars

There were so many things I really enjoyed about this book, the Canadian lakeside resort setting, the main character's eccentric but relatable qualities, and the mental health representation, so then what smashed it for me?

I fell in love with the first half of this book. Fern is lovely. This felt vaguely reminiscent of Mama Mia with the same easy-going reading experience of Every Summer After and Love and Other Words (close comparisons of this style). I loved the experience of reliving Fern and Will's meeting together at the coffee shop. Side note: why aren't there more coffee-loving MCs out there? That feels like a dream job for me and I could read an entire book about it any day. I ached for Fern as she navigated grieving her mom, wanting to distinguish her life from her mother's and pursue her own passions when she was younger, to appreciating the care and love her mom put into both raising her and running the resort as she grew older. This felt so real. Most of all, I loved her relationship with Peter. As a kid that was raised by her mom and her best friend, this might be the first time I felt like I saw my own unique family structure represented in a book. It was beautiful.

The second half is where I found issue. It seems like with both of the books I named above, I had the same problem I was presented with here: the problem behaviors are not as easily brushed aside for me as they are for our MCs! To me they are deal-breakers, and I can't seem to get over them. They spoil everything I was really loving. Will's behavior (while motivated by intense anxiety and probable post-partem OCD), specifically running away from and abandoning Fern with no explanation feels cruel, immature, and cowardly. His attachment to his sister and niece is admirable and dedicated, but also toxic and inhibitive of him developing healthy relationships with others. My guy is tossing red flags up all over the place! All this is acknowledged and I'm glad that he wasn't just let off the hook with an apology, but I don't know that I would stand on the foundation of this relationship lasting forever and ever. I admire and appreciate the author's handling of the mental health struggles of each of these characters, I don't think this is anything problematic, it's just my opinion as a reader that by the end of this, I didn't like Will very much...

Lastly, part of me wishes that there was a little marrying of Fern's passion for her barista career married with the resort. I was BEGGING for a "Fern's" built next to Maggie's or something. I think I mourned this dream of hers a little bit, and didn't want to think that she had to give up one to keep the other? For real, why can't she have it all?! I just loved her so much. For all of the above I think my ultimate rating is a 3.5. I think this is going to be another hit for Carley Fortune, and I'll certainly enthusiastically read anything new she puts out (along with the rest of the reading community.)

After losing her mother in an accident, Fern Brookbanks is back in her hometown, running her mother's Muskoka lakeside resort, alongside an ex-boyfriend and longtime family friend Jamie, something she never thought she would be doing, for sure. Even more surprising is when a Will Baxter shows up at the resort, even though Fern hasn't seen him for 10 years. She remembers every detail of the day long Toronto adventure they shared 10 years ago. Fern and Will were supposed to meet up one year later, but Will never showed up, and Fern has never stopped thinking about Will and wondering what if. Now Will is offering to help her get the resort under control and move it into the future. But Will needs a little bit of help of his own. Will Fern be able to rescue Will as he did for her 10 years ago? This novel is brimming with love, second chances, and the promise of hope. A quick read that will make you want to spend some time at the lake with loved ones.

Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune was a cute summer romance read.

Meet Me at the Lake is the story of Fern and Will who spend one day together in Toronto before Fern is supposed to move back home to work at her family’s resort on the lake. The pair vow to meet back up at Brookbanks resort one year later… but when Will doesn’t show up, Fern is heartbroken. Fast forward ten years later and Fern is now running the resort following the unexpected death of her mother and Will shows up because Fern’s mother had hired him as business consultant. Fern is reluctant to let him back into her life after he broke her heart, but their chemistry is undeniable. Can they make it work this time around or will Will leave Fern even more heartbroken than before?

After reading this author’s debut novel, Every Summer After last year, this book was one of my most highly anticipated reads for this year.

Again, this was a wonderful summer second-chance romance read. While I didn’t love this book as much as Every Summer After, it was still a highly enjoyable read. I just wasn’t as emotionally invested in this relationship, likely because the main characters didn’t have as much shared history as the main characters in the author’s first novel.

This novel was also more of a slow burn for me than ESA, but still a swoon-worthy love story nonetheless.

Overall, this was a solid summer read that would be perfect for reading while on vacation or a day at the beach. This books solidified Carley Fortune as an auto-read author for me and I can’t wait to enjoy more of her books in the future.