Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune on March 26, 2024
Genres: Fiction / Multiple Timelines, Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, Fiction / Women
Pages: 368
Format: Paperback
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“It’s not selfish to want something for yourself. It’s human.”
Fern Brookbanks has wasted far too much of her adult life thinking about Will Baxter. She spent just twenty-four hours in her early twenties 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.
I was a HUGE fan of Every Summer After so I was very excited to jump into this one! Though it was good, it was not as great as I was hoping for. This story was more of a slow moving romance. I did not mind the plot at all, it was interesting. The pacing, however dragged, especially in the second half, the first half was okay. Apart from the pacing, what makes me bump down the rating is the drama caused by Will in the final chapters, it’s just so damn stupid! I was expecting something tragic, and it was all very bland. The writing was beautiful, Fortune has exceptional talent, but I just could not ever care about these characters. It wasn’t awful but someone could have stolen my book in the middle of reading and I would not have cared to know how it ended.
I gave this novel four stars. It’s a fun read to go back and forth with the character’s memories to create that second-chance romance atmosphere.. but I think this went on for too long without revealing anything.