The easiest, biggest, sparkliest five golden stars for this gorgeous book! I went into this with pretty high expectations based on some friends’ reviews, and was still absolutely blown away.

This book INVENTED! Strangers to Friends to Lovers! And I mean that!! I see a lot of discussion about the “trope” and how it’s not really a trope since most romances do tend to fall under that umbrella. I see that critique, but I raise you CHARLIE AND ALICE!! Getting to see these two form such a deep and genuine friendship (While yea! Still flirting a ton!) made my chest ache. The conversations they had were all so meaningful and vulnerable!! The little things they did/ways they showed up for each other me in tears! The way they were their true selves together!!! I’m getting butterflies just thinking about them! AND THE BANTER!! I mean come on this was TOP TIER banter and teasing and flirting!! Have not read a book that had banter and tension this good in SO LONG!!!!
Alice and Charlie aside, this book, especially Alice and her grandma’s storyline, was so incredibly comforting to me. I like to think that my grandma was a lot like Nan and while it did make me really sad that I never got to know my grandma as an adult and have that kind of relationship with her, it was also so comforting in a way. Like, if I can’t have my Nana at least I will always have Nan. Move over Alice she’s my Nan now too.
And! Alice’s growth as a character is something that has really stuck with me as well. Watching her work through everything, push herself out of her comfort zone, and find happiness for herself again made ME want to do the same.
I love nothing more than when I feel that sort of connection to a book and it leaves this kind of mark on me and boy did it. If anyone has a little cottage on a lake that they want to go hang out in for the summer let me know asap!!
I really loved this book to pieces and I’m already on the edge of my seat for the audio/a reread. This one’s going to stick with me for a while and I’m so so so happy about that!!

Big thank you to @berkleypub, @berkleyromance, & @netgalley for my copy of this book!

I’ve put off writing this review because I’m just not sure I can put my thoughts into words and do the book justice, but I’m going to try!

First, Every Summer After is one of my all time favorite romance novels. This book is number two in the Barry’s Bay series, and while it can be read as a standalone, I would HIGHLY encourage you to read ESA first. This book will have so much more meaning and impact. Also—Sam and Percy are major players in this book as well (🥹) and Charlie’s arc in One Golden Summer will really hit the way it’s meant to.

I mean, I liked Charlie in ESA and was happy to see he was getting a story, but I’m OBSESSED with him after this book. 🥵 He is the most charming, sweet, funny, caring book boyfriend ever and I was swooning like 10% in when I read the note he leaves for Alice! He was perfect, and I’m so glad he was given resolution finally.

I also loved the FMC, Alice! I’m not sure I’ve ever related so much to a character. Her shy but yearning spirit resonated with me deeply. I also loved that the caretaking of her nan and their relationship is a major part of the story, of almost equal importance to the romance.

The romance was a slow burn, but starts with such a solid and realistic foundation of friendship—I loved it and fully bought into it. Charlie and Alice’s trust and care for one another is so evident by the time they explore beyond the bounds of their friendship; it’s a love you cannot help but root for.

I haven’t met a Carley Fortune book I don’t love, and I think part of the reason is the obvious intentionality she puts into her writing and character development. This, combined with an intimate knowledge of her setting, creates pure magic on the page that I will always consume at an embarrassing speed.

Anyway, I could absolutely ramble about this book forever, BUT, TL;DR: Read this book, it is everything. (But definitely read Every Summer After first!!)

It's official - I'm a Carley Fortune fangirl. I've read every fortune book, starting with Every Summer After, and I feel like they just keep getting better and better. In One Golden Summer, it was such a treat to get to return to Barry's Bay and hear Alice and Charlie's story as they are "all grown up". I felt like I was there at the lake experiencing it all from nearby, and it was such a treat to get fully immersed and enjoy. Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC!

overall this was cute!! all the stars for charlie florek!! and the perfection that is barry’s bay!! alice…was there? she was kind of annoying to me and i honestly hated being in her head. i think this book could have really benefited from a dual pov sort of situation cause i truly just loved everything about charlie

THAT BEING SAID, i read every summer after way back when it came out, and i haven’t read a carly fortune book since, and this book kind of reminded me why. i thought a lot of the dialogue was kind of cringy and felt very reminiscent of my wattpad days, which like isnt necessarily a bad thing, just not my personal cup of tea anymore. The last like 25% of this book is also RIDDLED with miscommunication and is wildly annoying imo. And the reasoning for then third act breakup at the end, while understandable, didn’t quite deliver the gut punch i think it intended to. but that’s just me!! the epilogue really saved it for me!

thank you to Netgalley and Berkley for the e-arc!!

I really liked this story and it was so nice to be back in Barry’s Bay! The nostalgia of summer was strong in this one. I loved Alice and Charlie’s story. Charlie was charming and such a flirt, but he was also broken, struggling, and guarded. Alice was a photographer and thrived hiding behind a camera where she wasn’t seen. Both of them together was perfection.

I absolutely loved that we got more of Sam and Percy in this one as well! The storyline with Alice and her grandmother, Nan, was so sweet and tender. Nan was so honest and I loved her interactions with Charlie. The side characters in this one shined and I always love when the romance can balance with a good friendship story!

+ found family
+ friends to lovers
+ bucket list
+ nostalgia
+ friendships

not gonna lie, I was NOT excited to get Charlie’s story but I was blown away and fell in love.

One Golden Summer, like the rest of Carley's books, instantly transports you to summer and has you dying to lay out in the sun with a book.

Although this book is from Alice’s POV, you can feel the punishment that Charlie has put himself through the last decade+ for his actions in Ever Summer After.

There is yearning, flirting, bantering and everything in between. You will be smiling and then sobbing and then smiling again.

I didn't want One Golden Summer to end. Carley Fortune did it again! I adored everything about this book. Per usual, Carley did a phenomenal job creating an atmospheric read. The Barry's Bay setting felt immersive and familiar. The setting played an important role for the characters, especially Alice. Charlie and Alice were great main characters. Alice was going through a rough patch, and I enjoyed watching her come back to life at the lake. I liked her bucket list and her willingness to push herself outside her comfort zone. Out of the two MC's, Charlie was the star of the show! He was hilarious. His first exchanges with Alice had me giggling. Charlie was sweet, charming, and layered. Like Alice, Charlie was also going through some hardships. It was beautiful watching them fall in love and grow with each other. I wasn't surprised by Charlie's struggles...especially after reading Every Summer After. If you read closely, Carley gives some clues to what's happening with him. What made this book a five-star read was the romance between Charlie and Alice. Their chemistry was through the roof! I loved their friendship and relationship. I liked that Charlie and Alice understood each other. Charlie baking Alice a cake and hanging up on her family was everything😭They were a perfect match for each other. The main side characters were Percy, Sam, and Nan. I enjoyed the snippets we got of Percy and Sam. I was happy with how their life was going. Nan was my favorite side character. I liked her sass and wisdom. I loved her relationship with Charlie. If I had to nitpick anything, it would be about Alice's nightmares. I felt like that was randomly thrown into the story and nothing ever came of it. Overall, this was another hit out of the ballpark. Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC.

I found this book super emotional. I am a professional photographer and have been where Alice has been in feeling like your creativity has been taken away by outside forces. And the family stuff was terrific. I loved being back in Barry’s Bay. Charlie and Alice were really good main characters. I love watching Charlie fight his feelings. I was just weeping at the end of this book.

Read this if you like:
•friends to lovers
•forced proximity
•summer vibes

Every Summer After was THE book of summer a few years ago. Well, buckle up friends, because this is THE book of summer of 2025. And dare I say…. I might like this one a tad bit more than Every Summer After. One Golden Summer follows Alice in Barry’s Bay. Her story intertwines with Charlie. They have instant chemistry. They see through each others BS. And they fall into fast friendship - both bringing relationship baggage to the table and not wanting to cross that line. As the summer goes on, their shields go down and they begin opening up to each other. And Nan, Alice’s grandmother is the bomb.com. I love a sassy meddling grandma. This book is chefs kiss. The summer nostalgia this book brings gives me so much joy. It’s an ode to childhood but at the same time exploring how you can relive that in your 30s, which hits home for me. You will not want to miss this one!! It’ll be out May 6. Thank you Berkley for eARC!!

Everything Carly Fortune writes is literally amazing to me. But this book. This book was unlike the rest of them. I truly could not put this down.

I absolutely loved Charlie’s character and Alice’s and I am a mess that I finished this book.

I don’t believe I’ve loved a book couple nearly as much as them in A VERY LONG TIME. The banter, the longing and the storyline. Just incredible

Absolutely no notes. 100000/5

This will be my #1 all of 2025

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!!

SLOW CLAP FOR CHARLIE FLOREK

oh my god this book was incredible! since the moment i finished every summer after i KNEW i needed a charlie HEA more than i needed air, and we finally have it!

this book was so fun and flirty but also deeply romantic, yet also somber and heartbreaking?? the duality of a romance book!

charlie and alice were everything to me! their dynamic was so perfect. they surprised each other and complemented each other and understood each other like no other!!! i was so enthralled by their friendship that slowly turned into something more, which neither of them expected or were prepared for. i love it when love sneaks up on our main characters, and it was just as angsty and mutual pining-y (? stay with me here folks) as you would have expected.

this was the perfect summer romance with the perfect summer fling and i just loved every second of it!

thank you Berkley Romance and Netgalley for this earc! it's out everywhere on 5/6

Alice Everly is the good daughter, the safe one, a natural caretaker who gives too much of herself to others only to have her heart broken. Hoping to leave behind her anxiety over the path her career as a photographer has taken and hurt over her break up Alice decides to take her grandmother to the lake house that changed her life when she was a seventeen year old girl.

Charlie Florek has a reputation around the lake, he’s the older brother who still doesn’t believe he’s worthy of love or forgiveness, the man who doesn’t do long-term. When Alice and Charlie meet their attraction is instantaneous, but neither are looking for a relationship. That doesn’t mean they can’t have some casual summer fun, right?

Alice and Charlie’s slow burn road to friends to lovers was angsty and beautiful. I loved their banter, the endless flirting, and the way they were able to share their deepest insecurities with each other and without fear of judgement.

One Golden Summer is the long awaited follow up to Every Summer After in which Charlie finally gets his own happy ending. It is also now officially my favorite Carley Fortune’s book ever.

I didn't think I needed Charlie's story until I read it, but I'm really glad Carley Fortune gave us a book devoted to him, introduced us to Alice, and let us catch up with Percy and Sam.

This one took me a little bit to get in to, but I also think it had to do with Every Summer After being my favorite book of Carley's, and Alice and Charlie's summer together, is very different than the journey readers were taken on with Percy and Sam. Alice is back at Barry's Bay with her grandmother as she rehabs from surgery, for the first time since she was 17. Getting into photography as she spent her summer there, she snapped a photo of Percy, Sam, and Charlie on their boat. Charlie is helping to take care of the house they are staying in, and she is surprised to learn that Charlie was the boy in her photo all of those years ago.

As Alice and Charlie spend time together, while they are attracted to each other, Charlie keeps her at arms length for most of the summer, and I loved the slow burn romance that was developing between the two of them. Alice may be my favorite character that Carley has written. She was incredibly relatable, always putting everyone else first and doing what she thought was best, not what she always wanted to do. I loved that her summer away gave her the chance to grow, find her voice, and do things that she wanted to do.

I kept waiting to find out the reason why Charlie wouldn't let Alice fully in, and when it came, it definitely threw me for a loop. It was nice to see Charlie in a different light and get to know him as more than the flirty guy he started the book as and was presented as in Every Summer After.

4.25⭐️ Thank you to Berkley for the e-ARC!! 🩵
I really enjoyed this one - I found it to be super bingeable and just a great summer read. All of Carley’s books are so perfect for the summer, and even though I read this one in the spring, it was still just as good! I haven’t read Every Summer After since it came out, but I absolutely loved it when I did. It was so fun to get Charlie’s story and meet Alice while also getting some Percy & Sam cameos!
All in all this was such a great read - I always have a great time reading this author’s books and will be awaiting her next one!!

This was great! I have loved all of Carley’s books and her newest was no exception. Such nice summery atmospheric reads. I very much enjoyed going back to Berry’s Bay and seeing Charlie as well as Percy and Sam again. I related to the FMC Alice so much. It was a solid 4 stars for me, until the last 10% bumping it to 4.5 stars. The end was had a different feel to it- but was well done and worked out better than I anticipated. Didn’t upgrade to a 5 stars fully because while I have nothing negative to say- I wasn’t obsessed with it. No tears shed which is a recent new requirement for a five stars. Still a wonderful book! I did a Bookstagram review post on this and the link is below.

I know it’s not summer yet, but it’s never too early to read summer books and you need to make sure One Golden Summer is on your list! This book has so much life in it and is incredibly immersive with all the descriptive imagery. Carley truly knows how to take your feelings and captive them within the pages. This book specifically felt so nostalgic and human.

Charlie Florek!! Alice Everly!! They deserve all the happiness in the world. I loved seeing them find solace and peace in each other. Their interactions were full of chemistry and humor, laying the foundation for their growing trust in the other. I also loved seeing Sam and Percy again (my babies 😭😭)

What really stands out to me is how Carley masterfully gives each character a distinct personality, making them feel authentic with their own voices and quirks that add depth to the story. She truly does such a wonderful job at representing each character and their experiences. It really makes you feel every single emotion that they do. I could easily relate to both Alice and Charlie as I was falling in love with both of them.

By the end, I wanted to laugh and cry because everything just wrapped up so beautifully. Carley, you have outdone yourself again and perfectly captured all the warm, romantic, nostalgic vibes of summer <3 good things happen at the lake 💫

thank you Berkley Romance and Netgalley for an early copy!! I’m ready for summer to arrive 🧚

Loved going back to the lake.

This is a quick summer read, not serious even though I wish it was. I love the setting and spending the summer with grandma for her recovery but I really wish that the story had more feels.

I still liked it and would suggest it for the summer read

Sound the alarms because we have the first summer beach read of the season! I am a Carley Fortune fan, so if she writes it, I will read it. One Golden Summer was her first contemporary romance that was 1) interconnected with another book (Every Sumer After) and 2) not a second chance romance.

I was really excited for this book because I have loved all of her other books, and because I was pumped to see the return of playboy older brother Charlie Florek from the first book. Finally redemption for Charlie, who doesn’t get the best narrative in book 1. Charlie is now older and wiser, and meets Alice, a people pleasing middle child who is coming to the lake for a second time with her grandmother (Nan), who is in a bit of a rut after getting her hip replaced.

What did I enjoy about this book? Charlie and Alice grow so much as characters, and a lot of that growth comes from challenging each other. I LOVED both Charlie and Alice’s relationship with Nan, and the way they all took care of each other when they needed it most. We get so much Sam & Percy, and a lot more backstory on the Florek family.

This book was a solid 4-4.25 star for me. I loved the ending, but I thought that a lot of the emotional depth for Charlie came in the last 20% of the book, and I wish he had opened up a bit more earlier. The pacing was a bit wonky for me, so it took me longer to finish then I anticipated. I think readers are going to eat this up, and once again, after finishing a Carley Fortune book, I would like to move to Canada.

I was thrilled to get this earc because I love Carley Fortune and all her books - this one is no exception. My only comment is that I wish this was from Charlie's POV or at least had dual POV. This book was such a cozy, feel good read that had me mentally escaping my long winter to a summer in my head.

Definitely going to be recommending this book to everyone. I can't wait for her next one!

This book made me crave the summer!!

Photographer Alice returns to Barry’s Bay for a summer with her grandmother, only to find her past waiting for her in the form of Charlie Florek. He was once the boy in the yellow boat!

I absolutely could not put this book down.

Charlie completely stole my heart with
way he carries his losses while still holding onto hope. I was desperate for him to get the love story he deserved and he definitely did!!

The slow burn and opposite attract tropes were done so well!

This is a beautifully written story about second chances and nostalgia.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Romance for the free ARC.