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Meet Me at the Lake

Meet Me at the Lake

Contemporary RomanceRomance
Pages
336
Published
2023
Language
English

Synopsis

Fern Brookbanks spent one unforgettable day in Toronto with Will Baxter, an idealistic young artist she connected with instantly. They made a pact to meet again in exactly one year. Fern showed up. Will didn't. Nearly a decade later, Fern is thirty-two and back home running her late mother's lakeside resort, a life she swore she would never lead. The resort is struggling, her ex manages it, and she has no idea where to start, until Will reappears, nine years too late, with a suitcase and an offer to help. Moving between that single day years ago and the present at the resort, the novel is a second-chance romance about grief, the gap between the life you planned and the one you got, and whether a missed connection deserves another try.

Prose complexity
1/10

Vibe

RomanticEmotionalNostalgicHopeful
Second ChanceDual Timeline
Spice level
2.0 avg spice

Genres

Contemporary Romance Romance Adventure Women's Fiction

About the author

C
Carley Fortune

Carley Fortune is a Canadian author and former journalist whose contemporary romances are set against Canada's lakes and coastlines. Before writing fiction she spent more than a decade in magazines, working as an editor at The Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, and Toronto Life, and launching Refinery29 Canada, which she led as Executive Editor until leaving journalism in 2021. She holds a journalism degree from Toronto Metropolitan University. Her debut novel, Every Summer After (2022), became an inst...

Characters

Fern BrookbanksProtagonist

A woman running her late mother's lakeside resort, reunited with a man she met years earlier.

Will BaxterProtagonist

The man Fern spent one unforgettable day with, who missed their planned reunion.

All characters in Meet Me at the Lake

Frequently asked questions

  • Does Meet Me at the Lake have a dual timeline?

    The story unfolds across two distinct timelines, alternating between the characters' past and present experiences to reveal how their relationship developed and changed over time.

  • How does this book compare to Carley Fortune's other novels?

    Like Fortune's previous work, this novel features a strong sense of place and explores themes of second chances and missed connections, but it delves more deeply into the complexities of family legacy and the challenges of returning to one's roots.

  • Is Meet Me at the Lake being adapted into a movie?

    Yes. Netflix is developing a film adaptation through Archewell Productions, the company founded by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. As of 2025 the project was still in development.

  • What is the timeline structure of the book?

    It alternates between a single twenty-four-hour day Fern and Will spent together in Toronto years earlier and the present day at Fern's lakeside resort.

  • What was the pact between Fern and Will?

    After their day together, they promised to meet again in exactly one year. Fern came to the meeting; Will didn't. That unanswered question drives the present-day story when he finally reappears.

  • Was Meet Me at the Lake Carley Fortune's second novel?

    Yes. It was published in 2023 as her follow-up to Every Summer After and was a New York Times bestseller.

  • Is Meet Me at the Lake connected to Every Summer After?

    No. It is a standalone romance set at a different Ontario lake and is not part of the Barry's Bay books.

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