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Meet Me at the Lake
Carley Fortune
336 pages | Published by Berkley
Publication Date: May 2, 2023
Fern and Will met one day ten years ago and they both felt a connection right away. Together, they made one-year plans for each other and agreed to meet again at the lake-side resort Fern's family owns. When the day comes, Fern is left waiting for Will who never shows. Now, Fern is in charge of the struggling resort after her mom's sudden death when Will arrives offering to help get the business on the right path.
When I say I screamed when I was sent this e-book, I'm NOT lying. I absolutely loved Every Summer After and have been not so patiently waiting for Carley Fortune's follow-up. Plus, in the run up to summer I've been craving a lake-side romance and this was IT. Carley writes my favorites kind of romance - it's romantic and sexy but with an underlying sense of nostalgia and melancholia. I want my romance books to make me SAD and then hit me with the HEA. For a book to be a total win for me I need a story with some real meat to it, and Carley Fortune DELIVERS that.
I love multiple timelines and this had three if you count the diary entries that Fern is reading throughout. The jumps back and forth and fitting in little pieces of history as they're revealed is SO satisfying.
As a reader you could really sense the instant bond between Fern and Will. Every interaction big or small felt important in that first day they spent together. I immediately fell in love with them and was rooting for them as they pushed each other to be the versions of themselves they wanted to be.
No one will be surprised to know that I loved Will. He was somehow BOTH a Dandelion Boy and a Moody Boi (those are my categories, get with it) and I never knew how great the combination could be. Will Baxter alone would have been enough for me to love this book but the added element of Fern's relationship to her mom and her home pushed it up to a solid five-star read. There was a lot about grief and regret but also change and acceptance. I cried both sad and happy tears for about the last 20% of the book.
I'm barely resisting immediately reading it again. I will absolutely be purchasing a copy (hi the cover is GORGE) and most likely will re-read this summer.
Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for the advanced e-book!
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