Meet Me at the Lake
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4.0 • 154 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
INSTANT #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER
INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
*SHORTLISTED FOR CANADA READS 2024*
In this breathtaking new novel from the #1 bestselling author of Every Summer After, 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.
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?
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Take a delightful journey to a charming lakefront resort in Carley Fortune’s summer romance. Fern Brookbanks never planned on running the family resort in Ontario’s cottage country, but when her mom dies tragically in a car accident, her life in the city is upended completely. Returning to Brookbanks Resort, with its gorgeous views and colorful characters (including her ex-boyfriend Jamie, the resort manager), Fern is thrown for an even bigger loop when her unforgettable fling from a decade ago—the tall, brooding, and incredibly handsome Will Baxter—shows up at the front desk. Fern and Will’s smoldering chemistry and slow-burning romance had us cheering for them one minute and blushing for them the next. If you’re looking for a book with plenty of warmth—and some serious heat—look no further than Meet Me at the Lake.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Fortune (Every Summer After) shines in this beautiful tale of love, loss, and forgiveness. Fern Brookbanks, 32, reluctantly returns to Muskoka, Canada, from Toronto, to run the family business—Brookbanks Resort, a "Dirty Dancing-style" lakeside retreat—following her mother's death. The business is in disarray, but unbeknownst to Fern, her mother hired a business consultant before her death: Will Baxter, the mystery man with whom Fern spent one magical day 10 years before the start of the book—and who broke her heart when he stood her up on their planned reunion one year later. Fern is thrown for a loop by Will's reappearance and much changed behavior, but their chemistry is as strong as ever. They tentatively rekindle their relationship, until an emergency has Will questioning his priorities—including his relationship with Fern. Fortune toggles between Fern and Will's whirlwind, 24-hour romance and their present day rekindling to showcase her characters' changing hearts. The emotions are big, messy, and realistic as the protagonists' path to forgiveness has some unexpected twists. A solid supporting cast—especially Fern's ex-boyfriend, Jamie; her best friend, Whitney; and her mother's longtime companion, Peter—underpin the narrative. This searing story of hard-won second chances is not to be missed.
Customer Reviews
Another Great Read
Read this in a day! Carley Fortune creates remarkable characters who make it hard to put the book down. Really like Fern’s character.
Not for me
For me this book just wasn’t it