My deepest deepest thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Random House Canada and Carley Fortune for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. I cannot begin to tell you how excited I was when I got this ARC. I really enjoyed Every Summer After, and had high expectations for Meet Me At the Lake.

I loved a lot of things about this book. First of all, I am an absolute sucker for second chance romances. Carley Fortune has a way of writing the characters that makes you feel like you know them. I was rooting for Will and Fern both as individuals and together the entire book. I loved that she combined romance with real struggles that we all face on a daily basis. It made me that much more invested in their story, and it made the book more relatable and beautiful.

I typically enjoy dual timelines in a book, but I had a tough time with the timeline of young Will and Fern. It was really slow paced, and took the majority of the book to get through the one day they spent together.

Despite that, the book was super cozy. Fortune’s books remind me of home and the way she describes Ontario makes my heart happy. Just like Will and Fern make my heart happy.

This was overall a great book and I’ll definitely be pre-ordering this one :)

As a reader living in Vancouver, I really enjoyed reading a fictional story with places I am familiar with. Will and Ferns love story is different than one I’ve ever read and I really enjoyed it. I could relate to them in many ways. I liked the back up characters Whitney and Wills sister as they were both characters I felt reminded me of friends I have. If you are looking for a summer romance then this book is the perfect one to pick up and read by the lake or at the beach.

After devouring Every Summer After last year, I could not wait to get my hands on this one! (So grateful for the digital arc!).

I love the way Carley Fortune weaves past and present together to tell a complete story. It’s such a beautiful way to get readers invested in the story that they don’t quite understand yet.

The grief storyline in this book hit me hard. I could so intensely relate to Fern and need to keep yourself safe when your world changes completely. Beautifully written.

My only wish for this book was that I wanted it to continue past the end. I loved the resolution, but I wanted more of the story as they Fern and Will both healed.

I had a book hangover when I finished this book and I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy on release day.

2.5 stars
Oh man. I was really excited for this because Every Summer After was so good apart from the cheating, so I had high hopes for the next one to redeem it.
It unfortunately did not. The biggest problem for me, is that I just did not like Fern. It took less than 24 hours for her to turn her head from her boyfriend of 4 years (friends for even longer) to a guy whom she just met, and purposely did not share that she was in a relationship. She proceeded to go back to her boyfriend hiding will from him. Throughout the book, Fern insist she would never cheat, but she emotionally cheated on her boyfriend with Will. Very Icky. She’s also very demanding toward Will for someone who’s known him 1 week and 24 hours (10 years ago!)
Honestly I cared more about Maggie and Peter’s story, and I just feel bad for poor Jamie.

Thank you, NetGalley, Penguin Random House Canada, and Carley Fortune for this ARC of Meet Me at the Lake.

I loved Carley Fortune's debut novel, Every Summer After so much, I was worried a follow-up of any kind wouldn't stand a chance at living up to my expectations. Thankfully, I was wrong.

Meet Me at the Lake transports the reader to a Muskoka resort vacation. It also invites us to be a fly on the wall for an emotionally charged, heart-pounding 24-hour period in the not-so-distant past. This compelling "then and now" narrative gripped me from start to finish.

Carley Fortune has done it again, folks! I suppose, sometimes, lightning really can strike twice (especially during hot Muskoka summers). 5 Stars.

Carley Fortune is very quickly becoming an automatic buy whenever she releases a book. I loved Every Summer After but somehow I love Fern and Will even more. This book was amazing and my favourite instance of second-chance love. She wrote such a strong first 24 hour date that I could imagine how this kind of longing lives on for a decade. Overall, I will be recommending this book to everyone I know and I will be pre-ordering this novel ASAP, just so I can have a physical copy in my hand.