I enjoyed this one! The storyline was super cute. I loved the relationship Alice had with her grandma. Alice and Charlie were destined for eachother when they unknowingly met at 19. Carley has been a hit or miss author for me but this one was a win for me.

Thanks so much to @berkleyromance for the free book!

Alice never anticipated Charlie Florek, but as her Nan reminded her…”Good things happen at the lake.” A summer back at the lake (yes, we get to go back to Barry’s Bay!) for the first time since she was seventeen, Alice was looking forward to time with her Nan and to get away from everything. What she doesn’t expect is to run into the man featured in one of her most famous photographs of three teens in a yellow boat on that very same lake, taken during her first summer there.

Insert none other than the handsome and incredibly flirtatious Charlie, brother to Sam from Every Summer After (IYKYK), whom Alice tries to keep at a distance. That is short lived, as he ends up helping her recreate the summer that she always wanted when she was a teenager - summer bucket list and all.

I ATE THIS BOOK UP - almost at the same rate that I devoured Every Summer After 🤍 Charlie got his moment to shine and I absolutely LOVED IT! I’ve been waiting since finishing Every Summer After in June of 2022 for this full circle moment with Charlie, and I am so grateful that it is finally here. After reading the author’s note I understand the pressure that Carley felt in providing readers with more Sam & Percy and a full redemption arc for Charlie - therefore the time she took to ensure that she did these characters justice is much appreciated & incredibly well done!

Make sure you read Every Summer After first, to avoid any spoilers - but you bet that this gem by Carley Fortune is one of the best books of summer 2025!

I didn’t think it was possible that this book would top Every Summer After, but it did! I have been a Charlie stan (maybe even apologizist🤷‍♀️) since I read ESA, so I was overjoyed to learn that I could finally see him happy! And it paid off! I loved Alice so much and they are the perfect match! I also loved seeing the lake as an outsider of sorts like Alice because that’s how I saw my experience in the first book. I got to relive when I read ESA while on vacation at Lake Superior and that alone made me love this book. And it was just SO ROMANTIC!!! Like the ending had me tearing up at how perfectly adorable Charlie is!!!

4.75 stars (potentially a 5, I need some time to reflect)
This book was fantastic and completely exceeded my expectations! Getting to see more of Charlie/seeing how certain decisions from Every Summer After affected him well into his adulthood was refreshing and very human. Alice is 1000% his perfect match and getting to witness these 2 characters slowly bring out the best in each other was very endearing!

Please, please, please I beg of you, read Every Summer After first.

-Thank you to Berkley for the arc of One Golden Summer in exchange for an honest review!

4⭐️
- loved getting Charlie’s story & getting to revisit some of the character’s from Every Summer After!
- enjoyed the photography throughout the story
- the grandma 🥹
- kinda friends to lovers, kinda insta romance, but I enjoyed!!
- Alice’s growth through the story!!

This book was fantastic! I read it on my first day of summer break and I couldn't have asked for a better summer read. Once I picked up this book, I didn't want to put it down. I finished it way too fast, but know I'll be rereading it soon. I love all the characters so much. I laughed out loud so many times. This was the perfect redemption story for Charlie who I could not love more.

Thank you Carley for this book! I am loving each new book you write more than the last.

And thank you NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC.

Anything by Carley Fortune is a gift and a privilege to read. The longing between these two characters left me feeling antsy and impatient to hear more. I really wish they had more of a past, but the two wanted each other in a setting I was already in love with. Reading Every Summer After is a must before diving into One Golden Summer.

tucked into a winding and bumpy road in the outaouais region of quebec were two cottages that housed the ruckus of my immediate and extended family for generations. we learned to swim there, we fished there, we swam and sunbathed and splashed and played card games and watched judge judy and it was the most perfect way to spend three seasons of the year. i always say that the ocean has my heart but the lake has my soul. i fell in love there, with a boy my grandpa loves, and trusted with his boat. he’s much more of a sam than a charlie, but i met my best friend at this same cottage, and he is a charlie through-and-through.

and now, i live under an hour from Barry’s Bay, where Every Summer After and One Golden Summer take place, and my little Canadian waterbug heart could not be prouder to call Carley Fortune OURS.

absolutely no surprise that Charlie Florek and Alice Scott found magic at the lake, and i’m so happy we got a window into their summer of love. Nan was a HOOT, and seeing Charlie and Percy again filled my heart with the familiar feeling of coming home. which really, is a guarantee if Carley is writing it.

I love a book that makes me all happy and sigh when I am reading. The setting like all Carley’s book is so good and she truly is able to transport you at the lake.
I loved Charlie since Every Summer After and I was so excited when she announced his book.

I'll keep this short and sweet - not my favorite Carley Fortune book but still a solid and swoony beach read.

Thanks to PRHAudio and Berkley for copies to review.

The Perfect Canadian Summer Read. I just love everything that Carley Fortune does, both as a person and an author. What makes all of her books so special to me is seeing the places I’ve grown up in depicted in her books. There’s just something so special about seeing a town, or neighbourhood, or school that I’ve actually experienced in my own life, on page. Of course I also love the romance and banter between the characters, and Charlie and Alice’s story was so fun! I don’t think this topped This Summer Will be Different, as my fave Carley Fortune Book, but I’m so glad we got to go back and revisit Barry’s Bay and the Florek brothers. If you need a scenic, steamy romance to read by the lake this summer…this is it!

i don’t think i like the florek brothers. i’m under the impression that if a man tells you he doesn’t want you and more than once at that … you should listen to him

Since we met him in Every Summer After, I have always hoped and prayed for Charlie to get his own love story. One Golden Summer was soooo worth the wait and everything I imagined for him and more.

I’m entirely obsessed with this story, from the way Alice and Charlie balanced each other out to their banter, their deep conversations, they’re incredibly strong emotional connection, and all of the side characters—both alive and dead—who played such a major part in the way they found and loved each other. As a certified lake girlie myself, everything about this book felt so nostalgic to me. I could easily imagine stepping into Alice’s shoes and living those endless summer days—and that gut wrenching heartbreak you experience when it’s all over.

And god, I knew Sam and Percy would be around of course, but having them play such a big part in the story and seeing them after Every Summer after ended made me SO HAPPY.

All that to say, infinity stars for this one.

Thank you so much to Berkley & NetGalley for this e-arc.

I loved this book.!!! This was a lovely, slow-burn romance, ideal for summer reading. Charlie and Alice's relationship develops in such a wonderful way, and they are both quite lovable. I enjoyed seeing how they grew in the presence of one another. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, and Carley really did create magic with this book!!

The PERFECT summer read! This story transported me back to Barry’s Bay, a place with magical sunsets, cozy cottages, and unicorn floaties. Some of my favorite things about this book were the fun and flirty banter between Charlie and Alice, and the love of family at the center of the story. Definitely a top summer read!!

Loved this book! Perfect for summer, left me in a great mood and enjoying the writing style of Fortune, as usual! Def recommend for a great summer read to kick off the warm months!

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. A beautiful summer story that kept me reading late into the evening. Loved the setting, characters, and the story. Didn't want this one to end.

Carley Fortune 🤝 Summer reads

This gave me all the best summer vibes. I absolutely loved the lake setting and the small town coastal vibes.

Charlie… what a man. My god. I need him. I will always eat up a cocky self assured man with a touch of softness. He was absolutely perfect in this book. Oh to be you Alice 🥹💕

I absolutely adored how this tied someone who was a bit lost in her life direction (me all the time lol), soft family moments, and a slow burn relationship. I had so much fun reading this one.

Five stars to One Golden Summer, a pure escape for any romance or women's fiction reader hoping to spend the summer in a cabin by the lake. And meeting a gorgeous, cheeky, and thoughtful man wouldn't hurt, either.

Do your summer plans include time at the lake or at the beach? Hopefully I will get a week at the beach soon, but I would love to spend the summer at the lake like
, jumping into the lake, taking fast boat rides, walking through the woods and nights putting puzzles together, reading, drinking wine, eating cake…count me in!
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If you can’t make it to the lake in real life, this book will get you there! It just gave me those lazy day feels all while telling the story of Alice who returns to the lake with her grandmother hoping it lift’s her spirits. Alice hadn’t been there since she was 17, but that was a beautiful, pivotal, golden summer for her.
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Charlie (who we met in Fortune’s last book, Every Summer After) has taken a sabbatical from work in the city and is spending the summer at his family home on the lake, helping out a doing some repairs at the cottage where Alice and Nan are staying. Alice remembers seeing him out on the lake that summer years ago when she was too shy to even say hello. Now she can’t get him out of her mind.
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There is such an incredible relationship between Alice and Nan that I loved. It truly made me miss my own grandmother. Actually, relationships were key in this book, the good and the struggling. The relationship between Alice and Charlie was a good one, not without complication, but what’s a good story without a little hiccup?
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Grab this for your spring, summer, or anytime reads, especially if you already read Every Summer After. This one can stand alone too. It is another great release from this week so it is available now! Thanks @BerkleyPub for my advanced ecopy.
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After all, “Good things happen at the lake”.