REVIEW: Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune

In Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune, Will Baxter will forever be The One Who Got Away for Fern Brookbanks. Which is saying something, considering they only spent one day together in Toronto when they were twenty-two. But what an intense, incredible day that was. One that changed Fern’s life in many ways. The plan they had to meet up again in exactly one year at her family’s resort in Muskoka, though, didn’t go as she dreamed it would as Will never showed up. Nor has she heard a word from him since. So, ten years later, as she’s dealing with the death of her mother, the beloved owner of Brookbanks resort, Fern didn’t need Will to walk back into her life to drop yet another bombshell on her. But here we are.

“You and me in one year, Fern Brookbanks,” he said. “Don’t let me down.”
And then Will Baxter turned around and walked out of my life.

Fern isn’t sure if Will’s timing is horrible or wonderful. Or a little of both. Because the once artist who helped her get her life on the right path ten years ago is now a 9-to-5 guy with a serious job and some secrets that seem to be bringing him down. But his offer to help her get the resort back on track is real. And needed, desperately. As Fern spends more time with this adult version of Will and they find their attraction has not faded one bit, she worries it will end the same way as before, with him ghosting her once the summer is over. But maybe they can help one another this time around and find a way to fit into each other’s lives. Because Fern is sure that after losing so many people in her life, what they have together is absolutely worth fighting for.

“You want to be mad at me? Fine. You want to scream at me? Do it. I deserve it.” He leans in closer. “But don’t tell me I don’t know you.”
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.

Meet Me at the Lake will be sure to take readers on an emotional journey, with its blend of bittersweet memories, passionate second chance romance, and the sense of family a small community built at a resort in rural Canada.

“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.”
Will leans toward me until his nose brushes mine. “Fern,” he says. “You’re not an escape. You’re everything.”

Content Warning: View Spoiler »Parental death (somewhat detailed), grief, love triangle, dark/harmful thoughts (mentioned), cheating (secondary cast). « Hide Spoiler

Wow can Carley Fortune tell a story! And this was one that turned out to be so easy to get swept away with. Between the cast, their relationships, the storyline itself, the dual timeline, and the personal growth of several characters, Fortune built layer upon layer of heartfelt goodness. But there were two parts that really stood out to me: the second chance romance between Fern and Will (of course) told in alternating timelines; and the passages we got to read from Fern’s mother Maggie’s journal. Talk about poignant. And what a difference they made in Fern’s life as she was struggling to move on from her mother’s death and with her next chapter personally and professionally.

Told from Fern’s POV, I have to say that even while there were some sad scenes in relation to her mother’s passing, overall, Fern herself was a fun character to follow. She was good with people–even though she didn’t think she was–and had a comical inner monologue that had me chuckling more than once. It was seeing how Fern interacted with her friends and the resort guests present day compared to how she handled herself ten years prior when she met Will that showed me how much she had changed…and yet stayed the same in some respects. The comparison of Brookbanks resort to the one in the movie Dirty Dancing really drove home for me how different a childhood Fern probably had to most of her classmates when she was younger. And how it shaped her over time, living in a somewhat secluded community.

Will was quite honestly a source of confusion for me. I truly liked him. I did. And I thought he and Fern had this intense connection that would serve them both well, should they ever finally get together. But (without giving too much away) he was a flight risk. Plain and simple. Each time Fern got close, Will took off. Yes, there were legit reasons. But his lack of communication–until at the very end–made me a bit worried for Fern. Thankfully it did end on a high note that had them coming full circle in a sweet way.

QOTD: The family resort featured is compared to the one in Dirty Dancing, right down to the end-of-season dance. Have you watched the movie? If so, are you a fan?

Book Info:

Publication: May 2nd, 2023 | Berkley |

A random connection sends two strangers on a daylong adventure where they make a promise one keeps and the other breaks, with life-changing effects, in this breathtaking new novel from the New York Times and #1 Globe and Mail bestselling author of Every Summer After.

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.

But ten years ago, Will Baxter rescued Fern. Can she do the same for him?