Oh how I loved this book!!!! Every Summer After was one of my favorite reads of 2022 and I was not sure how Carley Fortune could compete with herself! But this book, One Golden Summer, was just as good as Every Summer After. Alice, the main character, is a mid thirties woman who is lost. She does better behind a camera than living her life. So when her Nan has surgery, Alice thinks that both her and Nan need some rest and relaxation at a lake cottage they used to vacation at. While there, Nan begins to heal and Alice begins to find herself and her voice.................with a lot of help from handyman and neighbor Charlie. Oh Charlie, the lead male role was everything!!!!! He was attractive, full of himself, and hilarious. Charlie was able to bring Alice out of her shell and let her discover who she really is. This romance was fun and and flirty that had a slow burn that was worth the wait. Thank you so much for this advanced copy.

This is a book of the summer for me. The vibes were everything you want from summer at the lake. The bucket list, the promise of romance. The main character being a photographer hooked me immediately, and both Alice and Charlie felt vibrant on the page. The third act break up had me so angry because a 35 year old man who can’t communicate had me screaming GO SEE A THERAPIST. But though I accept his reasoning, I do not excuse it. Overall, loved it!

💭 ⓂⓎ ⓉⒽⓄⓊⒼⒽⓉⓈ
This might be my new favorite Carley Fortune book. I was hooked from the very beginning, drawn in by the witty banter between Alice and Charlie. Their connection leapt off the page, making this the story we’ve all been waiting for Charlie to have. Alice and Charlie were a perfect match, and while I rarely give five stars to romances, this one had it all…the banter, the spice, and the deep emotional connection that set it apart. I found myself smiling from ear to ear while also getting emotional. I loved that Percy and Sam made an appearance, allowing us to see where they are now without overshadowing Alice and Charlie’s story. Alice’s relationship with her grandmother, Nan, and the rest of her family was so heartwarming and infectious. The summer bucket list items in this book make it the perfect summer read! It is a beautiful combination of nostalgia from our childhood, and a reminder to never be afraid to be our true selves. As always, Carley Fortune’s author’s note had me feeling all the emotions, and I’m already certain this book will be one of my top reads of the year!

📚 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
☀️Summer Love
💕Second chances
🗣️Witty banter
🥹Emotional depth
🔥Slow burn
🌶️A little spice
🏠Found family
🚤Small town vibes
🥰All the feels

🚤𝕄𝕐 ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀ℕ𝔾🚤
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

💕Q U O T E: "𝒩𝑜, 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓈𝓅𝑒𝒶𝓀, 𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓃𝓈. 𝒲𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓈𝓂𝒾𝓁𝑒, 𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓂𝒾𝓁𝑒𝓈. 𝒲𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓃𝑒𝑒𝒹 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝒽𝑒 𝑜𝒻𝒻𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝒽𝑒𝓁𝓅. 𝒲𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊. 𝒴𝑜𝓊'𝓇𝑒 𝓅𝑒𝒶𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓇𝑜𝓉𝓈- 𝐼 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊'𝓋𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝒶 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝒻𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒹."

🙏 Thank you NetGalley, Berkley Romance, and Carley Fortune for this free eARC in exchange for my honest thoughts. 💕 #BerkleyPartner #Berkley #BerkleyInstagram

It was so good to be back in Barry's Bay!

Thirty-two-year-old Alice Everly is the ‘good girl’ in her family and a talented Toronto-based photographer. She takes care of everyone else and does what her clients ask without making waves. A photo she took during a vacation to Barry’s Bay sixteen years ago of three young teenagers in a yellow speedboat inspired her career, but she's been in a rut lately.

Then comes the call that her beloved Nan fell and is recovering from hip replacement surgery. Alice drops everything and makes arrangements to rent the Barry’s Bay cottage of Nan’s old friend John for the summer. He’s not there, but he’s left these ladies in good hands with the handsome guy across the lake who drives a familiar yellow speedboat: Charlie Florek.

Sam’s big brother is back! Charlie may no longer be the teen boy across the lake who Alice secretly crushed on when she was a shy seventeen year old, but if you read Every Summer After you’ll know that Charlie is not lacking confidence when it comes to members of the female persuasion. Now thirty-five, he’s still cocky, extremely flirtatious and not shy about self-expression! I love him. Seriously, he could charm the fur off a cat. He wasn’t expecting to find his match in Alice, though. Her family calls her “Turtle”, but she’s coming out of her shell!

A grocery store run-in involving cucumbers begins a very fun, fast-moving friendship between Alice and Charlie who have both convinced themselves that it won’t be any problem to stay friends. They both claim to not want a relationship, but who says they can’t enjoy a few perks before summer ends? What’s that about best laid plans … ?

As Alice and Charlie’s lives and families become more intertwined, will they be able to deny how close they’ve become and go their separate ways at the end of the summer as planned? Fate may have its own unexpected hand to play.

I loved this! The nostalgia after only a few pages took me right back to the sights, sounds, smells and places of Barry’s Bay and Kamaniskeg Lake. Fortune captured the atmosphere so vividly. I was thrilled to catch up with Sam and Percy and chef Julien from the first book and meet many new and wonderful characters like Alice’s spunky grandmother Nan, wild-card sister Heather and eclectic twin siblings Lavinia and Luca. They were all so fun!

Yes, this is romance and certain things are expected. What I appreciated is that there were also some serious issues addressed like grief, regrets, aging and health conditions without the story going heavy. This is fairly spicy at times but didn’t go crass as some in the genre have tended to lately. The chemistry between Alice and Charlie was sizzling, but their friendship was also a beautiful thing, and I loved them both!

As Nan tells Alice “Good things happen at the lake.”

You bet they do! I’ll go back to Barry’s Bay any time Fortune wants to take me there!

Thank you so much to Berkeley for the ARC! I related to Alice and I love how Charlie could be there to do things and care for her when she had lived her whole life providing for and thinking of everybody but herself. There were so many sweet moments between the two, all taking place in a magical summer setting. I thought their relationship sparked quite fast and I was initially confused if they had a prior history because of the way they were communicating from the moment they met. However, as the book progressed, I got more attached to their relationship.

I absolutely LOVED this book! Alice Everly is me in a different universe. I felt so deeply connected to her from the very first page. Every thing that she said or thought has been something I’ve said or thought about myself and my life. Her character growth is inspiring to me, because it gives me hope that my life can turn out just as amazing as hers.
Charlie Florek -that man that you are- I cannot believe how perfect he was. He spent his entire summer making sure that Alice was happy and taken care of and didn’t want to hurt her or “use her” like every one else in her life.
I will be rereading this book before it comes out in May and will most likely fall even more in love with them!

Alice and her grandmother return t9 the lake house to spend a summer together at the nostalgic lake house they would stay at every summer during her childhood. Alice is taking care of her grandmother after her recent surgery. She doesn’t expect to run to Charlie Florek with such fondness and finds herself unable to resist his charms. As they spend the summer together, she gets to know him and his family and realizes that maybe everything she has been missing in life is right here at the lake house she has always loved so much.

Spoilers ahead!
I really wanted to love this book, but I just liked it. It didn't give me that undeniable swoony feeling that Every Summer After and This Summer Will Be Different did because we didn't spend enough time with the couple to feel like they were Meant to Be. I know what you're thinking -- they're together for a lot of book -- but it's yes and no to that point because they have a lot of short flirty interactions, then some meaningful times that are summarized in a few paragraphs, and then some spicy scenes that seem forced to me, especially when you consider that their emotional connection isn't that strong. Personally I do not enjoy spice that precedes an emotional connection because that is not romance -- that's just spice. And there was some “detached” spice in this book that didn’t make me swoon, but instead made me cringe, maybe because I kept thinking those settings were for children.
I also felt like it was uncharacteristic of Alice, who is a shy, serious person, to keep pouncing on Charlie without a care for his declaration that he's not interested in a relationship. It's wild to me that she gets so upset when he says he doesn't want to start anything long-term with her. He set those boundaries in the beginning, so can Alice really be upset that he hasn't changed his mind? Please don’t think I’m on Charlie’s side, though. It frustrated me that Charlie never shares fully what is going on his mind until he is forced to at the end by Percy, which is something I HATE about Meet Me at the Lake, too. Don’t give me a story where the guy rejects the girl and the girl comes looking for him. Give me a guy who is so down bad for the girl that he will do anything for her -- that's how I like my guys! I know Charlie had his hangups, but he could have been vulnerable and shared them instead of forcing Alice to give him up. This is one of those trite “I’ll fall on my sword so you don’t have to suffer” moves in a Korean drama that I absolutely loathe. It’s the third-act breakup that doesn’t ever have to exist.
I am happy with the ending of the book, mostly because we get to see Sam and Percy again, but I can’t say I feel fully settled with Charlie and Alice. Still, I love Carley Fortune’s writing and I look forward to more of her books!

This was a very cute book. I loved Alice and her family, and enjoyed seeing Charlie's character get the MMC lead he deserved.

Look forward to Carley Fortune’s cottage read every year. Very descriptive. I could visualize the photographs that were taken. Cozy, emotional and fun read!

I’m calling it right now… this is going to be THE summer read this year! Obsessed. Good things do truly happen at the lake…

This opposites attract romance had me straight swooning. Charlie and Alice will forever be a favorite book couple. Their connection and slow burn romance was everryyyythinnngg. The banter was excellent and I was smiling and giggling over the two of them so much. And when it got emotional, I found myself crying along with them. And god the writing in this book is truly one of a kind. It felt nostalgic reading this and made me want to make a “live like you’re 17 again” summer bucket list. Not to mention the fact Alice is a photographer was so fun for me as a photographer myself.

It’s been a while since I have felt this connected to a book. But this one was everything. By far my favorite Carley Fortune book. Charlie… oh man did I love him from the first appearance on page. He is *chef’s kiss* and I love so much that he got this book after Every Summer After. His character development was top notch. (Really for the both of them). And Alice… what a kind genuine soul. Her character is going to make all those who grew up shy and guarded feel very seen, and I love that. And Nan… Gosh I just loved her. I love a book with strong supporting characters who are so important to the story. And Nan and her relationship with Alice added a really tender element to this book.

Incredible summer read!

Get ready to find the perfect summer escape. As Alice’s Grandmother like to say ..good things happen at the lake and this time is no different!

This to me was a story about self discovery, second chances and healing. I’ve been waiting for Charlie’s story and it couldn’t have been better. The book shows you a side of Charlie that we didn’t get to see before and I am here for it. I love when characters in books are realistic and battle real emotions/situations that all humans go through. Carley brought this with her character and I thought their stories were very moving. It is definitely a book that will have you hooked from the beginning and you will not want to put down. I could not stop thinking of Golden by Harry Styles when it comes to Alice & Charlie’s live story. They’re so golden!!!!

You can find me at a lake this summer after reading this!

Thank you so much Berkley Romance for the advanced copy!

have been waiting for Charlie’s story and Carley Fortune delivered it SO WELL. I always thought Charlie deserved his happy ending and the man he became… absolutely my favorite MMC from her books now. He is still his funny, flirty and confident self, but now he has this sweetness, depth and so much care for the people he loves that left me in awe and stole my heart.

He went through a rough situation in Every Summer After with Sam and Percy (I do recommend you read this before so you can fully understand the characters and the past events better) and even though it was hard to read about what happened I knew that he was so much more than that.

I fell in love with Charlie and Alice. They built such a sweet connection and friendship before everything. The banter was so good but also angsty at times because there was something stopping them that we only really find out about later in the story. Alice was so relatable at times in trying to be more forward, brave and take action to do the things she actually wanted to do instead of what people pushed her to.

Carley’s writing is absolutely wonderful. It gives me a feeling of missing something I didn’t necessarily experience or somewhere I haven’t necessarily been to. Last year I spent a few days at a lake house highly influenced by her books and the lake life she always talks about. “Good things happen at the lake” is indeed true and I had the best and most relaxing time.

I only wish we could see more of them and their happy moments together. I think by now I understand this is part of Carley’s storyline style, but I really finished it wanting more!

This was an easy 5 stars and she is definitely an auto buy author for me. Love all of her books!

Thank you so much NetGalley and Berkley for this eARC. It was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it didn’t disappoint. So grateful for having the opportunity to read it early!

FIVE FREAKING STARS!!!!!
Oh my God, I loved this book so much! So I am probably in the minority of readers when it comes to "Every Summer After" and I am actually inclined to give Percy and Charlie a little bit of grace for their mistake. I love that while last book grapples with Percy's guilt for what she did, this book grapples with Charlie's, and I think that it is great that there is a character who is their to voice the opinion that he is being to hard on himself for a mistake he made when he was 20. I think that this is really important point that needs to be made.
Outside of the Charlie/Percy drama, I thought that Alice and Charlie were so adorable together. Getting to see them both confront their insecurities and grow together was so sweet. I also love that they build such a strong friendship base almost in tandem with their romantic relationship. Don't even get me started on the Charlie/Nan friendship, be still my heart! I think this book is such a great example of what support looks like, and how even people who don't ask for help still need it sometimes.
I simply cannot recommend this book enough. Up until now, I would have said that "This Summer Will Be Different" was my favorite Carley Fortune book, but this one blew that out of the water. I literally did not want to put it down. I would say this is an absolute must read if you like a friends-to-loves trope and a hot MMC who acts all cocky but is secretly a cinnamon roll.

Did we need a new Carley Fortune book, giving us Charlie Florek's story? Absolutely!

I loved the feel good, warm and cozy feeling that this book gave me, and I can see this being the book to read Summer 2025. There was tension between our two main character, romance, humor, and everything else that is needed.

Their back and fourth made me smile and I enjoyed every page of them. Carley Fortune may become an auto buy for me at this point (or an auto request) but I love her books so much. We all need a feel good book sometimes to make ourselves just feel warm and she is this for me.

Thank you SO much NetGalley for this ARC :)

I loved this book so much I don’t even know how to put it into words, I thought it was gonna be just a lighthearted summer romance but I was SO wrong (and thank god for that).

I absolutely loved Charlie, he’s the kind of character who uses humor as a shield for his real problems but as he starts opening up to Alice you realize he feels so much more than he lets on. By the end you just want to give him a hug and tell him everything’s gonna be okay. Alice totally won me over too, at first she seemed more closed off but she really grew on me. And don’t even get me started on Nan 🤚🏻 I loved her from start to finish.

The emotional depth of each character was exceptional, the author did an amazing job exploring everyone’s struggles (even the side characters) which made me so invested in everything and everyone (and that probably explains why I cried so much while reading). I’d easily read like 10 more books about all of them.

I’m definitely gonna reread this book a few more times just to revisit this story and these characters.

I was very excited to receive an advanced reader copy of Carley Fortune's newest novel. I've loved all of her books and I've seen a lot of reviews saying how amazing One Golden Summer is and I wasn't disappointed. Carley Fortune is definitely on my must pre-order list without even reading a description. Bonus points that she is Canadian and all her novels so far are based in Canada.

If you haven't read any of Carley's books you may want to start with Every Summer After although it's totally not necessary. But you really should read it first and don't forget Meet Me at the Lake. Every Summer After is slated to be an Amazon series - no word yet on release date.

In One Golden Summer, Alice's grandmother - Nan has just broken her hip. Alice is still nursing a broken heart. Seems like the perfect time for both of them to head to Barry's Bay for the summer to relax and reset. An old family friend agrees they can stay at their cottage. Charlie Florek is in the cottage next door if they need anything.

Charlie is just what Nan and Alice needed to help them smile again. He's handsome, helpful and most importantly so good to Nan. Alice creates a checklist to help her have the summer she wished for when she was 17 and Charlie is very willing to help her complete it.

By the time you have this finished you'll be searching for cottages in Northern Ontario. This book would be perfect to read there if you already have one booked this summer.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy!

𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 returns to the lake for Charlie and Alice's story, which perfectly captures summer days at a lake cottage, transporting readers to the comforting touch of warm sun and the exhilarating moment of cliff jumping.

Alice has lost her stride as a photographer and decides to escape to the lake with her grandmother, who is recovering from a painful fall. She spent one prior summer in Barry's Bay, a formative few months where she first discovered her love of being behind the lens, and she's looking forward to the peaceful environment. Alice strikes up a friendship with Charlie Florek, and the lines of friendship, benefits, and feelings quickly begin to blur.

Carley's fourth novel, like her previous books, is an ideal read to binge lakeside! It's cute and quick with relatable characters, and while it's not reinventing the wheel, it doesn't need to be. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 is a solid summer romance escape!

I fell in LOVE with Charlie on page 1! He is an insufferable flirt, quick witted, and the banter is top tier. Such a great summer romance! Overall, I really liked this story, but found the FMC to be a little insufferable at times. However, if you like HEA, summer/ beach romance reads, TENSION 🥵, witty banter, and close proximity- this one is for you! Plus, Carley’s covers are always GORGEOUS!

“Only good things happen at the lake.”

You know that gooey, delicious feeling that happens when you finish a book that hits just right? I’m overflowing with it after finishing One Golden Summer by @carleyfortune. This book brilliantly ties to Every Summer After but it’s an absolute delight on its own. Pre-order, put it on hold, just make sure it’s on your summer reading TBR.

Thanks @netgalley for the ARC- opinion 100% mine.