Meet Me At The Lake is the book of my summer dreams.

I was super excited for this one. I still haven’t read Carley’s first book Every Summer After but it has been on my TBR since it first came out. I can confidently say after reading this one, it is moving up the list! I loved everything about this book.

When we first meet Fern, she has just lost her mother and is deep in her grief. If losing a parent is a trigger for you, you may want to skip this book for now. I thought Carley handled the topic really well, but it is heart wrenching to read. I connected with Fern right away and liked her tremendously as a main character. After her mom dies suddenly, she finds herself back at the resort she didn’t want to run. She has a plan back in Toronto. I loved watching Fern get up to speed on running the resort and developing a different appreciation of it and by extension, of her mother.

Another character I loved was Peter, the pastry chef at the resort and Fern’s Dad-like figure. He was best friends with Fern’s Mom and has been around for Fern her whole life. I loved this gruff guy who showed his true feelings via baked goods and mixed CD’s. The relationship between him and Fern was really special. I liked that Carley included this more unconventional relationship, showing that families are made in lots of different ways and all are equally valuable.

Will is a suitably wonderful book boyfriend. Gorgeous and smart, kind and quick-witted. I loved Will and Fern together. They just kinda click. They are the sort of couple that just feels right.

This book is set in Muskoka. That felt really special to me as a reader. I spent many summers and holidays at my grandparents cottage in the same area this book takes place. The sights and sounds described in the book were very nostalgic.

An absolutely perfect summer read, put this one on your list.

Thank you, Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Every Summer After was a huge hit last summer, but it fell a bit short for me. I felt a much stronger connection to the characters in Meet Me at the Lake, with their messy origins and complicated relationship. Will and Fern reconnect a decade after a chance meeting and join forces to save Fern's family resort. The dual timeline format worked really well, and I was rooting for their relationship (and the resort) to succeed.

On one hand I did read this book in a few hours but on the other hand I feel like I have read this book before. If the Notebook, The Titanic and Gilmore Girls had a baby it would be this book. From the dramatic confrontation in the rain after getting off a boat, to the "draw me like one of your french girls" in her apartment.
I didn't feel any connection or chemistry between Will and Fern if I'm being honest. And the journal entries from her mom felt unnecessary... How did she not know her mom and Peter were dating for the last 30 years? The book just felt very clichéd and had no real depth to it that mad me feel for any of the characters involved.

I enjoyed Every Summer After last year so I was excited to pick up Carley Fortune's sophomore novel. There were things I really enjoyed about this book and some that I didn't! I loved the hotel setting on the lake- the whole story I felt like the setting really came to life. I also enjoyed the dual-timeline and getting to see the main characters grow over a ten-year period. This is perfect for romance lovers and makes for a great beach. What didn't work for me is a personal preference- I prefer rom-coms to romances. If you love romances, I think this will be one of your favorites of the summer! Thanks Berkley Pub for my advanced review copy!

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5 stars

Meet Me at the Lake is the new romance from the author of one of my 2022 favorites - Every Summer After. It follows Fern Brookbanks (great name), who spent one memorable day with Will Baxter 10 years ago. They agreed to meet at the lake on a certain date the following year, but Will never shows and Fern never fully moves on. When Fern has to return to her hometown to run the family lakeside resort after her mother’s tragic passing, she doesn’t know how to make the resort a success again. Help comes from none other than Will Baxter, who is not the person he was 10 years earlier.

The biggest thing working against this read for me is my deep love for Every Summer After. It was hard for me to not compare the two while reading. I loved the dreamy setting of the story, but I wish I was a bit more invested in the romance. Falling in love in a day and spending the following 10 years pining for that person is a tough storyline to pull off and I don’t think the chemistry ever got to the point where I really believed they were in love after a few hours.

Carley Fortune can writes vibes and make me want to run to the nearest dock, so I am hoping her next book packs more of a swoon for me.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much for an advanced copy of Meet Me at the Lake. I liked this book!

I like Carley Fortune's writing because she creates characters that I get attached to. She did this in Every Summer After, and she did it again in Meet Me at the Lake...the only problem is, the character I became attached to in this book was Jamie, not the main male interest. :)

That being said, I really enjoyed this one! I like the time line jumps as well as the background that the mother provided through letters. I also enjoyed the soul searching journey to find one's path, and I felt like the characters in the story really demonstrated that path in a relatable way. And of course the backdrop to this book gave me major Dirty Dancing vibes, and I was here for all of that!

If you like slow-burn romances with an interesting backstory (as well as relatable, engaging characters), then you will really like this new book from Carley Fortune. I was really torn on my rating for it, but I ended up going with four stars because it hit so many of the boxes I look to check in a romance. Plus, it's just an engaging, interesting, sometimes fun, sometimes poignant story that is releasing at the perfect time! (ie, lake season!)

Rating: 4⭐️

I received a gifted galley of MEET ME AT THE LAKE by Carley Fortune for an honest review. Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review!

MEET ME AT THE LAKE follows Fern, a woman dealing with the wake of her mother. They were both close and also a bit complicated as Fern didn’t grow up with the same dreams as her mother. Fern is now back at her family’s Muskoka lakeside resort, the place she left years ago with no plans to permanently return.

Years ago Fern met Will and they had an instant connection even though neither was in a place for a new relationship at the time. They made plans to meet at the lake the following year, but Will doesn’t show up. When he shows up at the resort in the present day after arranging with Fern’s mom to help out the struggling resort, Fern must sort out her feelings.

I really enjoyed the author’s first book a lot, so this was high on my anticipated reads list and thankfully I enjoyed this one as well. This follows a couple different timelines with Fern and Will’s relationship in the past and in the present, plus elements of Fern’s mom’s journals as well. Listening to this on audio I will admit I got lost a couple of times with the time jumps, but once I got further into the book I was able to follow much easier.

There are quite a few different characters and relationships to keep track of as the story goes, but I think the author did well at distinguishing the relationships. There were times where the lack of communication was a bit frustrating as well, but in the end there were reasons that I felt justified things.

This book also includes some great mental health rep and I appreciated the author sharing some of her own experiences with writing the book and with her own connection to the story. This is one where you definitely want to read the author notes at the end!

MEET ME AT THE LAKE is out on Tuesday 5/2/2023!

I feel like this sophomore book from the author of EVERY SUMMER AFTER absolutely has the makings of being another big summer hit… but I have thoughts.

I’ll start with some of the things that I enjoyed about this story. The first being the atmosphere and setting! Like ESA, this takes place in Ontario and you get a wonderful mix of being both at the lake (Muskoka) and city (Toronto). And as someone who loves lots of things Canada— I adored this! I also liked the themes brought up such as grief/ loss, finding yourself, happiness, etc and thought these moments were well written and honest. Also, really appreciated a lot of the secondary characters!

So what didn’t I like? Well sadly, it was the romance piece itself which being that this is a romance book… is a lot. The story switches between present day and flashbacks and you learn that at the age of 22, Fern and Will spent one day together and then that was it. In the ten years since, there was one broken promise, but otherwise zero communication or anything. When Will crashes back into Fern’s life they get their second-chance, but I had difficulty really connecting and rooting for a relationship because I just had a hard time buying into the fact these two spent one day together and then after radio silence for ten years, suddenly can pick up where they left off and be in love. It’s great if this trope works for readers! But unfortunately the fated-lovers & insta-love have never been for me.

I also was never a huge fan of Fern herself. Some of her behavior and actions, particularly later in the story didn’t bode well with me and its almost like she came off a tiny bit pretentious.

The last thing worth noting is something that ties back to ESA. I know there are readers who didn’t like the “twist” in it, and while it didn’t bother me, I understand why it was criticized. These thoughts happened to be top of mind for me while reading this, so I was a bit taken aback to realize this same element is used here, but in an emotional way. Sure there are some differences between the two, but after knowing some of the opinions readers voiced about ESA, it felt unnecessary to be included here. Plus it’s not like it was a minor detail in MMATL, but I would say it’s fairly prevalent and ongoing throughout the flashback chapters. In fact, I would argue this aspect could’ve easily been taken out and the results and impact of the story would’ve been just about the same.

“Let me tell you something about me: I am extremely picky about people. Most of them, I don’t particularly like. I have very high standards for the ones I let into my life these days. And you, Will Baxter, are my favorite of all of them.”

Big shout out to @netgalley for this eARC of one of my most anticipated reads this year!! 🩷 it’s out 5/2!!

Last year I read EVERY SUMMER AFTER in one sitting, this year I read MEET ME AT THE LAKE in nearly 3 weeks 🫢 such is life lately 🫨 + I fear my inability to sit and read this in larger chunks than 15 pages at a time impacted my feelings toward it!! BUT STILL!! 🥹🫶

Ten years ago Will and Fern spent 24 hours together. Nine years ago Will never showed up for their reunion. Today Fern is back home running her family’s lakeside resort (something she never planned for herself) after her mother’s unexpected passing, when Will finally shows up…

You can expect:
✨second chance romance
✨yes, some insta-love
✨Dirty Dancing but make it Canadian
✨past and present timelines
✨grieving the loss of a mother
✨coffee lovers
✨saving a family business / stepping up for your siblings
✨mixed CDs

I rated it 4⭐️s - I really liked it!! It had both laugh out loud moments and ones that made you want to cry. It had sooome steam (not a lot) but also more than just romance. This is another home run summer read 🩷

To say that I (we!) had high expectations for this book is a massive understatement. I posted that I was reading this on my stories and so many of you responded “plz tell me this is as good as her first”! Tbh I get worried when I go into books that are this hyped because rarely do they ever live up to expectations. But I’m here to tell you that you guys are going to love this one!

This is written in alternating chapters following Fern as a college student the day she met Will and as an adult 10 years later when he shows up at her resort. I’m a complete sucker for second chance romances (especially ones the started as teenagers) and Fern and Will were 😍 The story of them meeting as college students made me swoon and I couldn’t flip the pages fast enough to figure out what happened on that day 10 years ago.

I adored the setting of the Muskoka resort. Carley’s writing is perfect and you feel completely transported. All I wanted was to be sipping martini’s with the Roses or eating Peter’s sourdough. If I could visit the actual resort, I would in a heartbeat.

The parts about grief felt so real and nuanced which I loved. So much of writing about losing a parent completely idealizes that person and your relationship with them but I loved that Fern’s relationship with her mother and her grief was much more complicated than that. Fern and her mom reminded me of Gilmore Girls a bit which I loved.

My main issue: I found Will to have some red flags on how he handled his family situation. I don’t want to give anything away but somethings he did gave me major ick. Like he was trying to be selfless but just ended up hurting everyone in the process 🙄

TLDR: nothing can top EVERY SUMMER AFTER FOR ME especially because I read it by the lake in Maine on vacation but this one is worth the read and will make you feel all the feels.

If you remember I was OBSESSED with her debut book “Every Summer After” and her follow-up novel did not disappoint. It had me feeling a bit “Dirty Dancing” a bit “November 9” and who could possibly dislike that?

In “Meet Me at The Lake” readers are once again transported to a location that has us booking summer getaways. New characters Fern and Will spend 1 day together that impacts both of them long after they go their separate ways.

Fast forward 10 years and a chance encounter brings the duo back together. What unfolds is a second chance at a real romance. A relationship that uncovers big secrets and deep hurts, a bit of growth for Fern and freedom for Will.

In what is becoming Fortune’s signature style, “Meet Me at The Lake” gives readers a story that is melancholy yet hopeful, full of big feels and moments, it gives us characters with enormous hearts and the true desire to find a safe place to land.

This book was a solid followup to Every Summer After, with the same kind of second-chance romance story, relying on nostalgia and summertime magic that made that book so special. I really enjoyed Fern's personal storyline, as it felt incredibly realistic for a character in her thirties to realize her dreams have changed since she was 22, yet without making it seem as though those dreams were foolish.

I also enjoyed the present-day romance between Will and Fern for the most part (although the ending felt just a bit rushed in resolving what seemed like fairly significant problems between the two). I think that I had a bit of a harder time with this story than with Every Summer After because I'm super conflicted on the "one day whirlwind romance" trope (ala Serendipity, Kiss Her Once For Me etc). It's not that I have a hard time buying the conflict that came up between them, it's just not my go to trope as it often feels a bit unrealistic.

That being said, this was a really strong romance, and I definitely want to read more romances with characters like Fern and Will, who aren't just easily achieving their original dreams from the beginning of the book, but rather balancing the competing challenges of adulthood that can make life complicated. That felt really thoughtful and well done.

Short Synopsis:
Fern meets Will one day when she’s about to leave Toronto and take over the family business of running a resort. But she doesn’t want to go. And her and Will spend a lovely 24 hours together. It’s now 10 years later and Will shows up at the resort.

My Thoughts:
Oy. I don’t know where to begin. It took me a long time to get into this book. (But then we learned about Will’s tattoos and I was suddenly hooked. 🤷🏼‍♀️😂)

I did end up enjoying this one, but it just didn’t have the same magic and hold on me like Every Summer After did. There were a lot of tropes I didn’t love (emotional cheating, surprise pregnancy, pining for a decade) … and I don’t mind messy romances, but it felt like it was trying to be too much. I was smiling towards the end and overall glad I read it though and if you loved Carley’s debut, then I’m sure you’ll want to read this one too.

Read if You Like:
🛶 Every Summer After
🛶 Tattooed Men
🛶 Dual Timelines
🛶 Summer Lake Reads
🛶 Before I Do by Sophie Cousens

Fern meets Will and they connect immediately. They spend a whirlwind day/night together and then bow to meet a year from then to reconnect down at a spot on a lake. But will no shows. Fast forward years later, Ferns mom has passed away and left her a crummy vacation lodge where Will shows up. Again they reconnect and then… well you gotta read the book. It’s a slow burn but once you get the burn, it’s hot. I was into Will and even though I don’t really like miscommunication tropes I found this book handled it well. I was a little frustrated at some of the communication but I enjoyed the back story, female friendships and setting. This won’t necessarily be a fave of the year for me but it was enjoyable and think Fortune fans will be pleased with the story.

Thank you so much to Berkley Romance for an advance copy of this book!

Carley Fortune has become an autobuy author for me here in 2023! I knew all about the buzz over Every Summer After last summer and bought the book immediately. And like every book influencer or reader will tell you that the to be read just grows and grows. But finally this spring, I read Every Summer After and was pulled into this Canadian summer vibe.

This book was no exception. After going to a book retreat at a resort that reminded me of the Brookbanks resort, I immediately had this picture in my head of how beautiful the landscape of it all was.

"It was my mom who saved my life, but it was Will who helped me figure out how to make it my own."

Just like its predecessor, Meet Me At the Lake is told in two timelines - current and past. Fern Brookbanks returns back to the one place she didn't think she would ever go back to. After her mother's death she was left with a resort that had been with her family for generations. She needs to decide if she wants to sell or keep the legacy going. Then a man from her past appears at the resort to help come up with a business plan to "save the resort" and all the feelings she buried 10 years ago comes back.

I actually thought we were going to get a love triangle at the start of this which I am so happy that was not the case. I thought it was refreshing to see a healthy relationship between two exes. Jamie seems like such a great guy and I'm glad he remained that way throughout the book. Even though we dodged a bullet with the love triangle trope, this book does not shy away from the miscommunication trope.

Fern & Will's relationship in the present time was interesting. As mentioned above a lot of the issues that they faced could have been solved with a really deep conversation. They have had many conversations but none that were of the real deep importance. She had been very upset with Will that he did not show up 9 years prior after they made plans to reconnect and they just never talked about it. In the last quarter of the book, communication was something that Will especially struggled with. Not sure if I fully bought the way things came together in the end (I don't want to say because of spoilers) but I guess it make sense. I did love seeing their story build between the past and the present. And the epilogue was just so incredibly beautiful!!!

In romances, it is not often you learn something new but I did learn that there was something called postpartum OCD. And that this not only occurs in new birth parents but also those that adopt and take on a parent role. And I love that Fortune gave this not to Sofia's mother but to the uncle who stepped in and helped his sister and child.

"I want to tell her I'm going to stay. I want to ask her for advice. I want her to tell me how proud she is. I want my mom."

I'm always fascinated by how authors take on the topic of grief in books. And from what I have read in recent times, they are all different which is how grief is. I thought Fern was incredibly strong but also had her moments where she wanted her mom and is angry (as she should be). I love that this touched on those teen years where I think majority of us have those complex relationships with our mothers. But I know for myself I had to get through those years to see how special the adult relationship is with her and I appreciate that especially with friends who have lost their mothers at a young age. Fern knows how special the resort is and can feel that connection with her mom there. We also got to know her mom through her journal entries which in some ways paralleled Fern's life.

And everyone, if you know me you know I have been trying to find a book that will melt my icy heart and I am happy to report I did shed a couple of tears from this. I am not sure if it was a mix of the emotions from the book and the subconscious feeling I had going to my first baby shower since my miscarriages (and post pandemic) and just the idea of my parents aging. I also finished this in the wee hours during an insomnia moment so there was a mix of different things but it hit me.

I will be recommending this to all my romance lover reader friends!

Thank you to NetGalley, author Carley Fortune, and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

Receiving both this book and Happy Place by Emily Henry as ARCs from Berkley have been the peak of my professional life as a librarian! Fortune's first book (Every Summer After) was a surprise hit of last summer for me, so I have been ANTICIPATING this read for months, and it DID NOT DISAPPOINT!! As someone who self-proclaims that she does not reread books, I am already ready to reread Meet Me at the Lake by a body of water this summer because I simply adored it. I grew up next to the largest man-made lake in Texas, and although I didn't grow up on a resort, so many of Fortune's lovely descriptions of the lake and Fern's complicated feelings about her home brought up my own similar feelings. Seeing Fern and Will's relationship grow between the past and present is the perfect way to tell this story; I'm a sucker for the "one perfect day" trope, so I loved the past chapters. However, I loved getting to see them in the present as that's where their relationship really grows. Their connection was both magnetic and real, and set against the backdrop of summer, I can't think of anything more that I wanted from this book. The ending of this book was a bit too cliche for my personal taste, and I could have done without the epilogue, but it didn't detract from the story overall for me. What I appreciate about Fortune's books too is the added depth to her stories. Not only did we get to see a beautiful yet realistic love story grow, we also got to dive into deeper topics, specifically Fern's relationship with her newly-deceased mother. So much of their relationship reminded me of my own with my mom, and I appreciated this addition to the story. It truly helped me as a reader get a sense of place for the setting and a sense of who Fern was as a person. I didn't necessarily love the addition of her mom's diary chapters, as I didn't feel like they added a ton to the story, but I recognize what they were there to do. I also appreciated the representation of anxiety/mental health through Will, as we don't see that discussed in men a ton. I will end this already length review by saying that I think the author's note at the end of this book truly sealed the deal for me. I had already loved the book, but getting to read something so candid and real that Fortune included of her own will cemented it for me. Getting a raw look into some of her thoughts and process behind writing this specific book, as well as her speaking out about being adamantly pro-choice, made me have such high respect for her as an author. I cannot wait to return to the world of Will and Fern this summer as I reread, and I already anxiously await what comes next.

Overall, Meet Me at the Lake is a pleasant read that would appeal to fans of contemporary novels. However, the book reads more like a contemporary novel than a typical romance novel. While there are certainly romantic elements, the focus is more on Fern’s personal journey, grief, and her growth as a character.

The first half of the book does feel a bit slow and meandering, but the second half feels more like a romance novel.

Meet Me at the Lake is a decent read that would be a good choice for fans of contemporary novels with romantic elements.

This ended up being a do not finish for me. I thought Carley Fortune’s previous book was okay but I couldn’t get myself to even finish this one. The writing is so boring. I don’t like the main characters. Fern is super annoying. Will and Fern’s chemistry isn’t believable. They spent one day together and then magically connect and fall in love again? That seems so far fetched. The flashback chapters were too drawn out. Would not recommend

Wow. CF is 2 for 2 in making my heart feel like it's going to burst because of how full it is with emotion.

I absolutely adored ‘Every Last Summer,’ so it was such a relief to experience the same heart and soul in this sophomore novel.

I am a sucker for second chance romances and CF sure knows how to do them. The spark, the longing, the reconnection - all of it is done so perfectly. This story is the epitome of fated meetings, summer feelings, and heartfelt nostalgia.

I loved the authors debut so me not loving this one actually hurts but here we are. I think the main thing that made this not work for me from the start was that it was very hard to believe that Will and Fern spent one day together and then she spent ten years pining over him?! That just doesn’t make much sense to me and I never bought into it. I also didn’t really think Will was all that great either, pretty hard to root for a couple when I didn’t think he deserved her. Sadly a miss for me here.