{"id":30202,"date":"2023-05-02T09:42:53","date_gmt":"2023-05-02T13:42:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/?p=30202"},"modified":"2023-05-03T11:10:27","modified_gmt":"2023-05-03T15:10:27","slug":"review-meet-me-at-the-lake-by-carly-fortune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2023\/05\/02\/review-meet-me-at-the-lake-by-carly-fortune\/","title":{"rendered":"Review \u2764\ufe0f Meet Me at the Lake by Carly Fortune"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-30202\" data-postid=\"30202\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-30202 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n    \t\t\t<!-- module_row -->\n\t<div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_row themify_builder_row tb_49fl391 tb_first tf_w tf_clearfix\">\n\t    \t\t\t<div class=\"row_inner col_align_top gutter-narrow tb_col_count_2 tf_box tf_rel\">\n\t\t            <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col3-1 tb_tmd1391 first\">\n                                                        <div class=\"tb-column-inner tf_box tf_w\">\n                        <!-- module image -->\n<div  class=\"module module-image tb_zt0o391 rounded drop-shadow customBorderRad_top image-center auto_fullwidth tf_mw\" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div class=\"image-wrap tf_rel tf_mw\">\n\t\t    <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"333\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/meet-me-at-the-lake-carley-fortune.jpeg?resize=333%2C500&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"wp-post-image wp-image-30203\" title=\"meet-me-at-the-lake-carley-fortune\" alt=\"meet-me-at-the-lake-carley-fortune\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/meet-me-at-the-lake-carley-fortune.jpeg?w=333&amp;ssl=1 333w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/meet-me-at-the-lake-carley-fortune.jpeg?resize=200%2C300&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/meet-me-at-the-lake-carley-fortune.jpeg?resize=400%2C600&amp;ssl=1 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 333px) 100vw, 333px\" \/>\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<!-- \/image-wrap -->\n    \n    \t<\/div>\n<!-- \/module image --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_kvdm391 customBorderRad_bottom repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Fern\u00a0Brookbanks\u00a0has 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\u2019t.<\/span><br \/><br \/><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">At thirty-two, Fern\u2019s life doesn\u2019t look at all how she once imagined it would. Instead of living in the city, Fern\u2019s back home, running her mother\u2019s lakeside resort\u2014something she vowed never to do. The place is in disarray, her ex-boyfriend\u2019s the manager, and Fern doesn\u2019t know where to begin.<\/span><br \/><br \/><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">She needs a plan\u2014a 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\u2019s 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\u2019s not sure she wants to know what it is.\u00a0<\/span><br \/><br \/><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">But ten years ago, Will Baxter rescued Fern. Can she do the same for him?<\/span><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->                    <\/div>\n                            <\/div>\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col3-2 tb_8c7e391 last\">\n                                                        <div class=\"tb-column-inner tf_box tf_w\">\n                        <!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_v86q391  repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-16466 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/3-hearts-1.jpg?resize=135%2C44&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"135\" height=\"44\" \/><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Release Date:<\/strong> May 2, 2023<br \/><strong>Heat Level:<\/strong> Warm\/Sensual<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong>\u00a0Penguin Group<br \/><strong>Imprint:<\/strong>\u00a0Berkley<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong> $10.99<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<blockquote class=\"quotes\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>\u201cFor a fleeting moment, I picture leaning my head against his shoulder and feeling his voice vibrate against my cheek when he tells me that everything is going to be okay. It\u2019s the exact kind of thinking I need to avoid. I will not fall down the Will Baxter vortex again. There\u2019s still a faint purple bruise on my heart from last time.\u201d<\/em><\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\"><strong>Fern Bookbranks<\/strong> spent twenty-four wonderful hours with <strong>Will Baxter<\/strong> in her early twenties, and believed they were soulmates. They promised each other that they would meet at her family\u2019s lakeside resort one year from the day they spent together, but Will never showed up. Heartbroken, Fern moves on, but she has never forgotten the young boy who changed her life. Nine years later with her family\u2019s business in peril, Will shows up with an offer that she can\u2019t resist. She knows she can\u2019t trust him after the way he let her down years ago, but if she wants to save her family\u2019s resort then she must try.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\">Holy flashbacks! This story had a lot of flashbacks. Some from Fern and Will\u2019s time together ten years ago. Some from her mom and Peter. I think Fern and Will\u2019s time together should have been condensed, and the focus more on their budding relationship in the here and now. Nothing special happened between them ten years ago, and it wasn\u2019t necessary to show all of it. Just caused the pacing to be off, and the book to drag on for what seemed like forever.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\">Let\u2019s get to their relationship in the present, I feel like a lot of the focus was on Fern and her overcoming grief at her mother\u2019s passing and making the decision to either sell her family\u2019s resort or stay and run it. I did enjoy these parts of the book because they felt authentic, and her grief felt real. I loved watching the change of what she thought she wanted in the beginning to what she chose in the end and felt there was a lot of personal growth in Fern. Too bad their relationship didn\u2019t experience any growth, and just felt sort of flat. Will didn\u2019t act mature or make smart decisions, and then he barely had to do any repentance for being an idiot. I could have used more maturity in their relationship and a lot more romance.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\">If you like authors like <strong>Susan Mallory<\/strong> or <strong>Robin Carr<\/strong>, then this could be right up your alley.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>~ Michelle<\/em><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_f6ww391 customBorderRad repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/44jcU1r\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon<\/a><\/span><span class=\"s2\">\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apple.co\/41UztYQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">iBooks<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/meet-me-at-the-lake-carley-fortune\/1141910794?ean=9780593438565\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">B&amp;N<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kobo.com\/us\/en\/ebook\/meet-me-at-the-lake\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">Kobo<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/books\/details\/Carley_Fortune_Meet_Me_at_the_Lake?id=gVd-EAAAQBAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">Google Play<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->                    <\/div>\n                            <\/div>\n            \t    <\/div>\n\t    <!-- \/row_inner -->\n\t<\/div>\n\t<!-- \/module_row -->\n\t<\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fern\u00a0Brookbanks\u00a0has 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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[83,122,128,48,1],"tags":[146,216,217,423],"class_list":["post-30202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-berkley","category-michelle","category-penguin-group","category-reviews","category-uncategorized","tag-3-stars","tag-contemporary","tag-contemporary-romance","tag-romantic-suspense"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review \u2764\ufe0f Meet Me at the Lake by Carly Fortune - Smitten by Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2023\/05\/02\/review-meet-me-at-the-lake-by-carly-fortune\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review \u2764\ufe0f Meet Me at the Lake by Carly Fortune - Smitten by Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fern\u00a0Brookbanks\u00a0has wasted far too much of her adult life thinking about Will Baxter. 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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\u2019t.<br \/><br \/>At thirty-two, Fern\u2019s life doesn\u2019t look at all how she once imagined it would. Instead of living in the city, Fern\u2019s back home, running her mother\u2019s lakeside resort\u2014something she vowed never to do. The place is in disarray, her ex-boyfriend\u2019s the manager, and Fern doesn\u2019t know where to begin.<br \/><br \/>She needs a plan\u2014a 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\u2019s 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\u2019s not sure she wants to know what it is.\u00a0<br \/><br \/>But ten years ago, Will Baxter rescued Fern. Can she do the same for him?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/3-hearts-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"135\" height=\"44\" \/><\/p> <hr \/> <p><strong>Release Date:<\/strong> May 2, 2023<br \/><strong>Heat Level:<\/strong> Warm\/Sensual<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong>\u00a0Penguin Group<br \/><strong>Imprint:<\/strong>\u00a0Berkley<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong> $10.99<\/p> <hr \/> <blockquote style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>\u201cFor a fleeting moment, I picture leaning my head against his shoulder and feeling his voice vibrate against my cheek when he tells me that everything is going to be okay. It\u2019s the exact kind of thinking I need to avoid. I will not fall down the Will Baxter vortex again. There\u2019s still a faint purple bruise on my heart from last time.\u201d<\/em><\/blockquote> <p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\"><strong>Fern Bookbranks<\/strong> spent twenty-four wonderful hours with <strong>Will Baxter<\/strong> in her early twenties, and believed they were soulmates. They promised each other that they would meet at her family\u2019s lakeside resort one year from the day they spent together, but Will never showed up. Heartbroken, Fern moves on, but she has never forgotten the young boy who changed her life. Nine years later with her family\u2019s business in peril, Will shows up with an offer that she can\u2019t resist. She knows she can\u2019t trust him after the way he let her down years ago, but if she wants to save her family\u2019s resort then she must try.<\/p> <p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\">Holy flashbacks! This story had a lot of flashbacks. Some from Fern and Will\u2019s time together ten years ago. Some from her mom and Peter. I think Fern and Will\u2019s time together should have been condensed, and the focus more on their budding relationship in the here and now. Nothing special happened between them ten years ago, and it wasn\u2019t necessary to show all of it. Just caused the pacing to be off, and the book to drag on for what seemed like forever.<\/p> <p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\">Let\u2019s get to their relationship in the present, I feel like a lot of the focus was on Fern and her overcoming grief at her mother\u2019s passing and making the decision to either sell her family\u2019s resort or stay and run it. I did enjoy these parts of the book because they felt authentic, and her grief felt real. I loved watching the change of what she thought she wanted in the beginning to what she chose in the end and felt there was a lot of personal growth in Fern. Too bad their relationship didn\u2019t experience any growth, and just felt sort of flat. Will didn\u2019t act mature or make smart decisions, and then he barely had to do any repentance for being an idiot. I could have used more maturity in their relationship and a lot more romance.<\/p> <p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\">If you like authors like <strong>Susan Mallory<\/strong> or <strong>Robin Carr<\/strong>, then this could be right up your alley.<\/p> <p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>~ Michelle<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/44jcU1r\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apple.co\/41UztYQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">iBooks<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/meet-me-at-the-lake-carley-fortune\/1141910794?ean=9780593438565\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">B&amp;N<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kobo.com\/us\/en\/ebook\/meet-me-at-the-lake\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kobo<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/books\/details\/Carley_Fortune_Meet_Me_at_the_Lake?id=gVd-EAAAQBAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google Play<\/a><\/strong><\/p>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30202"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30225,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30202\/revisions\/30225"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}