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A review by hooksbookswanderlust
Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune
5.0
I saw this on the shelf at my local Target and picked it up on a whim. I was dubious because as much as everyone raved about Fortune’s previous book, [b:Every Summer After|58014893|Every Summer After|Carley Fortune|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1630101647l/58014893._SX50_.jpg|90914930], I found it to be just so-so. I mean, I liked it, but I wasn’t raving like everyone else seemed to be. But this one continued to make the rounds on Goodreads and Instagram and I thought, okay, I’ll give her another try.
Then I saw my friend Amber from YarnVibes, who had joined me as my Books, WIPs, + Sips Book Club co-host for Every Summer After, had picked it up as well. The stars aligned and so did our reading queues, so we decided to make it a buddy read.
Wow, I LOVED this book!
My biggest issues with ESA weren’t present in MMATL, which I was nervous about at the start. I enjoyed both timelines equally. I loved Fern and Will, both young and adult versions. I love how they both have their own types of baggage from adolesence that in a single amazing day, they are able to help one another work through. They know they have a limited amount of time together, so they dig right into the hard stuff and get to the heart of the matter, encouraging each other to do the things they know are right for each other. They recognize the connection they have to one another immediately and I love how the author portrayed the feel of that young love at first sight. It felt so natural and real to me, making me invested in Will and Fern rather quickly.
Fast forward 10 years and they still struggle with the baggage from their youth now compiled with fear of unmet expectations in the present. The hurts of the past made me feel for each of their older selves as I watched them struggle to live up to the expectations they feel duty and honor-bound to live up to. It was beautiful watching them figure it all out together.
At times both heart wrenching and humorous, Meet Me at the Lake is a slow burn romance that will lay you out and then pick you right back up again. There are a couple of steamy scenes and it takes a while to get there, but when they do, it’s so good! Still, there are only a couple and others take place off-page, so it’s sure to please romance readers of all kinds. If you’re looking for a mature, mildly angsty romance for summer, this is a perfect book!
I hope you enjoy this one as much as we did! And if you didn’t get the hype of her previous book, don’t let that hold you back from this one!
PS: If you want to read Amber's thoughts on this one, be sure to visit my blog post here.
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I hope you enjoyed this review! This review and many more appear on my blog, Hooks, Books, & Wanderlust, where you'll find book reviews, lists, crochet tutorials & patterns, as well as camping, hiking and travel adventures.
Come hang out with me on Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Blog | Email
Then I saw my friend Amber from YarnVibes, who had joined me as my Books, WIPs, + Sips Book Club co-host for Every Summer After, had picked it up as well. The stars aligned and so did our reading queues, so we decided to make it a buddy read.
Wow, I LOVED this book!
My biggest issues with ESA weren’t present in MMATL, which I was nervous about at the start. I enjoyed both timelines equally. I loved Fern and Will, both young and adult versions. I love how they both have their own types of baggage from adolesence that in a single amazing day, they are able to help one another work through. They know they have a limited amount of time together, so they dig right into the hard stuff and get to the heart of the matter, encouraging each other to do the things they know are right for each other. They recognize the connection they have to one another immediately and I love how the author portrayed the feel of that young love at first sight. It felt so natural and real to me, making me invested in Will and Fern rather quickly.
Fast forward 10 years and they still struggle with the baggage from their youth now compiled with fear of unmet expectations in the present. The hurts of the past made me feel for each of their older selves as I watched them struggle to live up to the expectations they feel duty and honor-bound to live up to. It was beautiful watching them figure it all out together.
“I don’t want to be with someone who keeps parts of their life separate from me. I don’t want to be an escape. I want to be the reality.”
“Fern,” he says. “You’re not an escape. You’re everything.”
At times both heart wrenching and humorous, Meet Me at the Lake is a slow burn romance that will lay you out and then pick you right back up again. There are a couple of steamy scenes and it takes a while to get there, but when they do, it’s so good! Still, there are only a couple and others take place off-page, so it’s sure to please romance readers of all kinds. If you’re looking for a mature, mildly angsty romance for summer, this is a perfect book!
I hope you enjoy this one as much as we did! And if you didn’t get the hype of her previous book, don’t let that hold you back from this one!
PS: If you want to read Amber's thoughts on this one, be sure to visit my blog post here.
-------------
I hope you enjoyed this review! This review and many more appear on my blog, Hooks, Books, & Wanderlust, where you'll find book reviews, lists, crochet tutorials & patterns, as well as camping, hiking and travel adventures.
Come hang out with me on Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Blog | Email