One Golden Summer

Have you ever been truly surprised in the best way possible by something? That was me with the HUGEST grin on my face after reading the third paragraph of the prologue to Carley Fortune’s newest book and realizing that it was a spin-off sequel to one of my all-time favorite books Every Summer After! Giddy doesn’t even begin to describe it! 

Thirty-two-year-old Alice Everly is the ‘good girl’ in her family and a talented Toronto-based photographer. She takes care of everyone else and does what her clients ask without making waves. A photo she took during a vacation to Barry’s Bay sixteen years ago of three young teenagers in a yellow speedboat inspired her career, but she's been in a rut lately. 

Then comes the call that her beloved Nan fell and is recovering from hip replacement surgery. Alice drops everything and makes arrangements to rent the Barry’s Bay cottage of Nan’s old friend John for the summer. He’s not there, but he’s left these ladies in good hands with the handsome guy across the lake who drives a familiar yellow speedboat: Charlie Florek.

Sam’s big brother is back! Charlie may no longer be the teen boy across the lake who Alice secretly crushed on when she was a shy seventeen year old, but if you read Every Summer After you’ll know that Charlie is not lacking confidence when it comes to members of the female persuasion. Now thirty-five, he’s still cocky, extremely flirtatious and not shy about self-expression! I love him. Seriously, he could charm the fur off a cat. He wasn’t expecting to find his match in Alice, though. Her family calls her “Turtle”, but she’s coming out of her shell!

A grocery store run-in involving cucumbers (no innuendo there, I’m sure 😉) begins a very fun, fast-moving friendship between Alice and Charlie who have both convinced themselves that it won’t be any problem to stay friends. They both claim to not want a relationship, but who says they can’t enjoy a few perks before summer ends? What’s that about best laid plans … ?

As Alice and Charlie’s lives and families become more intertwined, will they be able to deny  how close they’ve become and go their separate ways at the end of the summer as planned? Fate may have its own unexpected hand to play.

I loved this! The nostalgia after only a few pages took me right back to the sights, sounds, smells and places of Barry’s Bay and Kamaniskeg Lake. Fortune captured the atmosphere so vividly. I was thrilled to catch up with Sam and Percy and chef Julien from the first book and meet many new and wonderful characters like Alice’s spunky grandmother Nan, wild-card sister Heather and eclectic twin siblings Lavinia and Luca. They were all so fun!

Yes, this is romance and certain things are expected. What I appreciated is that there were also some serious issues addressed like grief, regrets, aging and health conditions without the story going heavy.  This is fairly spicy at times but didn’t go crass as some in the genre have tended to lately. The chemistry between Alice and Charlie was sizzling, but their friendship was also a beautiful thing, and I loved them both! 

As Nan tells Alice “Good things happen at the lake.”

You bet they do! I’ll go back to Barry’s Bay any time Fortune wants to take me there!

★★★★★❤️ 

Huge thanks to Berkley Publishing, NetGalley and author Carley Fortune for this digital ARC to honestly review. It’s publishing on May 6th, 2025.