Review: Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune
Thank you Berkley Publishing Group for my copy of Meet Me at the Lake! All thoughts are my own.
Last year at this time, I had a magical reader experience with Carley Fortune’s debut novel Every Summer After. I didn’t know anything about the book, but I’d been sent a copy early for review. I needed a new book to read while visiting my parents at my childhood home in Connecticut, and i dove in one more over coffee. It took one chapter and i was completely hooked and transported into a completely immersive story that I didn’t put down for the rest of the day. I took it to the beach and read in the sun as the story soaked into my bones. I read it under the dinner table as we dined al fresco. And then I finished it late at night, in the dark of my childhood bedroom, with tears spilling over my cheeks. It was magic and the experience will stay with me forever.
I highly recommend each reader take the time to fully read the acknowledgements for Carley’s sophomore novel, Meet Me at the Lake. I was struck by the honesty (and beauty of the prose) that somehow made me relate where I am in my life to how she wrote this book.
This book is very different from Every Summer After, and yet there are parts that feel very familiar. While I didn’t have the same visceral experience as I did while reading ESA, I still really really enjoyed this book and the feelings that bubbled to the surface while reading it.
Synopsis:
“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 the city. 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 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?” —Amazon
What I Liked:
The “Now” Chapters—In contrast to Every Summer After, I really wanted to stay in the “now” vs the “then.” I know this was a second chance romance, but part of me feels like it didn’t necessarily need to be told in two timelines. The “then” takes place in the city of Toronto, and I kept longing to be at the lake. However, in hindsight, this could be seen as a device to relate to Fern, our MC and her love of the lake.
Second Half of the Book—I became fully invested in the second half of the book and flew through It!
The Writing—I will forever be a fan of Carley’s writing and how she really transports me to the places and feelings her characters are living through.
The Acknowledgements—I really think everyone needs to read them to fully understand what it’s like to have a splashy debut and then keep writing. I loved this insight and it really made me think.
Will’s Tattoos—He’s very different from Sam and the tattoos are v hot. That’s all.
What Didn’t Work:
Now vs. Then—Like I said above, I wonder if this would have been more effective without the two timelines and instead we have discoveries shown. It’s almost like there was a need to totally recreate what made ESA so special, but I don’t think we needed it.
Felt like the 25-45% Bit was a bit Clunky—From what I said above, things worked until they didn’t. The second act felt a bit clunky to me for this reason, especially once we had the addition of Maggie’s diary entries. I think it should have been one of the other.
Needed More of the Friends—More of the friends! My goodness, I LOVED Jamie and while Whitney was a little much, I loved her and Cam. I wanted to see more of them in the past, but the device of the “we met one day ten years ago” didn’t allow for it sadly. Also, Peter! PETER! Carley, give us Maggie and Peter, please. My goodness, I just wanted more.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I will forever be a Carley Fortune stan. I think that’s why I really appreciated her acknowledgments, because writing a book is HARD. There is something magic in Every Summer After and I think there’s magic in Meet Me at the Lake, but structure wise, I wish it had been different. I’m going to need to protect my heart from this one, because I worry that the stark differences but attempted similarities between Every Summer After and Meet Me at the Lake will disappoint readers, when there is so much to love about it.
Character Authenticity: 4/5 Spice Rating: 1.5/5 Overall Rating: 4/5
Content Warnings:
death of a parent, car accident (described), abandonment, grief, panic attacks/disorder (discussed)