Reviews with content warning for Car accident - Meet Me at the Lake

I'm happy to say that I enjoyed this a great deal. As for the romance, it was steamy but well developed and believable. The dual timeline was done well and definitely necessary for the story. The connections between past and present were revealed at a good pace. This has Dirty Dancing references due to the lake resort setting, which I thought was lovely and nostalgic. There are really no complaints here except for the 3rd act relationship drama was a bit underwhelming. It was fitting, though, because it wasn't a major rift; that wouldn't have been believable because the characters were already so invested in each other. Similar vibes to Every Summer After with just a touch less suspense, so if you enjoyed that, I'd recommend this.

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imcourtneymarie's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

Every day feels special, but June fourteenth is a gift.

I picked this up because I love seeing Toronto through a fictional lens. It makes me fall back in love with my city. While Meet Me at the Lake was of two worlds — Toronto and Muskoka — it was such a charming adaptation of 2010s Toronto. I truly loved every local reference (streetcars, Summerhill, etc.). I loved Brookbanks Resort equally.

I am not a RL romance reader, but I was pleasantly sucked into this world and these characters. I even see a lot of my life experience in Fern, which I was not expecting.

This was such a delightful, easy summer read that I could see myself returning to time and time again.

🌶️🌶️/5 spice (maybe even like 1.5/5)

People unfamiliar with Toronto and cottage country may be head scratching but if you can fall into fantasy realms and London or Paris or a wooded resort in the Northeast USA, you can fall into the world of Will and Fern.

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savvyrosereads's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Out now! [Thank you to Libro.fm for providing me a gifted ALC!]

Rating: 3/5 stars

Will and Fern spent one day together and promised they would reunite one year later at her family’s resort. He stands her up, only to return nine years later as a consultant hired by her late mother.

First things first: Carley Fortune’s books are physically beautiful (those covers!) and she’s undeniably a talented writer with really lovely lyrical prose.

Unfortunately, this book fell very flat for me—while it was *fine* (hence the fairly mediocre 3-star rating, which for me basically means “this was a book I read”), I never connected to the characters and I found the setting super lackluster (especially after how stunning the setting was in Every Summer After). I didn’t find the development of Will and Fern’s relationship believable or reasonable, and I also didn’t love the “reveals” towards the end.

That said, the author’s note was great (maybe the best part of the book) and I VERY much appreciate what she was trying to do here—I just wish she had fleshed out those themes a bit further in the novel itself. Finally, I read this partially via audio and really liked the narration!

Read if you like: insta-love; second chance romance; rom-drams

CW: Death of parent/car accident; mental illness; discussions of self-harm

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kelly_e's review

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Title: Meet Me at the Lake
Author: Carley Fortune
Genre: Romance
Rating: 4.00
Pub Date: May 2, 2023

T H R E E • W O R D S

Warm • Wistful • Pleasant

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Fern Brookbanks has wasted far too much of her adult life thinking about Will Baxter. She spent just twenty-four hours with the aggravatingly attractive, idealistic artist, a chance encounter that spiraled into a daylong adventure in Toronto. The timing was wrong, but their connection was undeniable: they shared every secret, every dream, and made a pact to meet one year later. Fern showed up. Will didn’t.

At thirty-two, Fern’s life doesn’t look at all how she once imagined it would. Instead of living in the city, Fern’s back home, running her mother’s Muskoka lakeside resort—something she vowed never to do. The place is in disarray, her ex-boyfriend’s the manager, and Fern doesn’t know where to begin.

She needs a plan—a lifeline. To her surprise, it comes in the form of Will, who arrives nine years too late, with a suitcase in tow and an offer to help on his lips. Will may be the only person who understands what Fern’s going through. But how could she possibly trust this expensive-suit wearing mirage who seems nothing like the young man she met all those years ago. Will is hiding something, and Fern’s not sure she wants to know what it is.

💭 T H O U G H T S

After reading (and absolutely adoring) Every Summer After last year, Meet Me at the Lake easily became one of my 2023 most anticipated releases. Carley's quintessential Canadian summer settings are unlike anything else, and I could easily read her books all day long.

Carley Fortune has a unique gift of transporting me into her rustic settings and into her characters lives. Well-written in a dual timeline format, it follows Fern and Will in both Toronto and Canadian cottage country known as Muskoka. Throughout the narrative there are some comical quips about Toronto that felt like inside jokes, and the many Canadian references made this book feel like home. The resort setting came across so welcoming and idyllic, possibly because I could envision it so well.

While I didn't necessarily enjoy the lack of communication and thought there was going to be more of a love-triangle angle, I connected with Fern is a variety of ways. Will and Fern's second chance love story was riddled with past traumas and at times it detracted from the narrative. Yes, I loved the inclusion of Will's journey with post-partum OCD/anxiety and depression and Carley's explanation as to why she included it. But there were other aspects that felt overly drawn out.

And then there was the supporting cast - Jamie, Maggie, Peter, Whitney- I loved them all (more than the main characters)! I'd love for any of them to get their own book sometime down the road. The underlying theme of love between mother and daughter held my interest, as did reading about Peter and Maggie's unique love story. And parts of me were secretly hoping Fern and Jamie would end up together.

While I didn't love this one as much as this author's debut, mainly due to personal preferences, I am still glad to have read it, and will continue to pick up everything Carley Fortune writes in the future. This is sure to be a summer hit!

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers looking for a summer read
• fans of the second-chance romance trope
• anyone needing an escape

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Let me tell you something about me: I am extremely picky about people. Most of them, I don't particularly like. I have very high standards for the ones I let into my life these days. And you, Will Baxter, are my favorite of all of them."

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