Meet Me at the Lake

3.5 Rounded Down.

I liked the 3 timelines in the book, and I liked that we have a right place, wrong time, where no one cheated, but they held out hope for a potential to meet again.

I hated all the dirty dancing references

I also didn't love all the drama between the two MCs. I feel like we could have gotten the same vibes with less deceit and secrets.

3.5?? it was fine- a really meaningful story but i didn't feel connected to the characters

Once I set myself straight and forced myself to not be a cynical bitch about the entire premise of the book (knowing someone for 24 hours and falling in love with them) I was able to enjoy it. This was my first Carley Fortune book and won't be my last- her writing is really beautiful and the story flows at a nice pace (I sometimes find contemporary romance to be a snooze fest without the rom-com aspect). The side characters were great which is something I love in a novel. After reading the authors note this went from a 3.5 to a 4 star read. Sometimes knowing a little background really helps put things into perspective. If you like Emily Henry, you'll definitely like this book. I'm not a huge EH fan, but I actually did enjoy this- especially as a beach read or palette cleanser from my heavier or more complicated fantasy books.

DNF 30 pages in. Didn't suck me in like her last book did. Kinda bored me. Maybe I'll try again later

Ugh. I wanted to love this book, but it wasn't what I was in the mood for.

Yet another (non-cheating!) second chance book that hooked me. I liked how the book flipped back and forth between the present and the past. It allowed me as the reader to fall in love with Will for the first time at the same time that Fern does for the second time. So much of the plot was about plans made and whether you should stick to them or be allowed to change. Being able to see the past and all of Fern’s wants and wishes for the future made the present more easily understandable. I really liked Fern and Will’s story and their chemistry. It was cute, and I feel like they deserve a sequel of just being happy. I will say that one thing that I did not like (and why my rating isn’t higher) is how wishy-washy Will was. He was so secretive for literally NO REASON. He hid his sister and niece like some sort of secret mistress. He was also really reactive if anyone mentioned them for again…no reason. I’m not sure if red flag is the right word…but it was definitely an ick at minimum. Outside of that though, I don’t have any complaints which is pretty good all things considered. I’d recommend it for sure, especially as a beach/ summer read.

This story was so immersive, I felt like I was at the lake (while In reading in the middle of winter LOL).

I love the dynamic between the characters and how we see things play out between Fern and confronting her past.

Also, LOVE THE SPICY SCENES. “I always finish my work, Fern.” STFU, his words make me lose my mind.

What an entertaining read! I recognized some settings which was fun. I thought the two main characters were easy to root for and their story believable and charming.

Fern is so horrendously down bad and Will just kinda ¯_(ツ)_/¯ 99% of the time.

DNF à 85%

DNF 25%

Not as good as her first. She scratches her skin, he fiddles with his ring.