Book Review: One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune

 

Pages: 400

Genre: Adult Fiction/Romance

Pub. Date:May 6, 2025

Publisher: Berkley

 Source: Personal Copy

Other Books By Author: Every Summer After,

Meet Me at the Lake, and This Summer Will Be Different

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Goodreads says, "I never anticipated Charlie Florek. Good things happen at the lake. That’s what Alice’s grandmother says, and it’s true. Alice spent just one summer at a cottage with Nan when she was seventeen—it’s where she took that photo, the one of three grinning teenagers in a yellow speedboat, the image that changed her life.

Now Alice lives behind a lens. As a photographer, she’s most comfortable on the sidelines, letting other people shine. Lately though, she’s been itching for something more, and when Nan falls and breaks her hip, Alice comes up with a plan for them both: another summer in that magical place, Barry’s Bay. But as soon as they settle in, their peace is disrupted by the roar of a familiar yellow boat, and the man driving it.

Charlie Florek was nineteen when Alice took his photo from afar. Now he’s all grown up—a shameless flirt, who manages to make Nan laugh and Alice long to be seventeen again, when life was simpler, when taking pictures was just for fun. Sun-slanted days and warm nights out on the lake with Charlie are a balm for Alice’s soul, but when she looks up and sees his piercing green gaze directly on her, she begins to worry for her heart.

Because Alice sees people—that’s why she is so good at what she does—but she’s never met someone who looks and sees her right back.

Alice Everly is a photographer who has lost her spark. When her beloved grandmother, Nan, falls and breaks her hip, she decides to cheer her up this summer and take her to their idyllic lake cottage that they used to go to in years past. In fact, Alice spent one incredible summer there when she was 17, which happens to be the summer that started her photography career when she captured a memorable photo of the teen neighbors on their boat in the lake. Maybe this summer will be great because not only will she spend time helping Nan recover, she will also reignite her photography career. Charlie Florek (fans of Every Summer After will remember him!) has helped get the cottage ready for Nan and has captured Alice's eye early on. Not only is he annoyingly arrogant in an endearing kind of way, but he is helpful and laugh-out-loud hilarious. But Alice knows he is a well-known flirt. As the summer days progress, Alice comes up with a summer bucket list including cliff diving, making art, etc, and Charlie decides to help her with it. The more time she spends together with him, the more she realizes that real feelings are forming, but Charlie seems guarded, and it's hard to break down his walls. Carley Fortune's latest beach read,One Golden Summer, captures a summer at the lake beautifully; fans of her romances will eat this one up.
 
I really enjoyed Alice from the start of One Golden Summer. I appreciated her relationship with her grandmother; it was one of the best parts of the novel! I loved their rapport and their time together at the cottage. At the start of the summer, Alice is sort of lost career-wise and not confident in herself, but as the summer progresses, she grows in that aspect of her life as well.
 
And then there's Charlie. Love him! I am glad that Fortune decided to focus on him in One Golden Summer, as he's a fun one for sure. I appreciated Alice and Charlie's budding romance, and I feel like Fortune captured a summer romance beautifully. I did feel like the on-again-off-again aspect of their relationship (like the will-they-won't-they make it official) got tiresome after a while. Things do heat up though, so be forewarned, this is a steamy read!
 
Honestly, the setting of One Golden Summer is the best part of the novel for me. Readers can really tell Fortune knows the lake. It almost leaps off the page, and it had me longing for a lake house of my own. The loons, the lapping lakeside, the dark night sky, drifting on a float in the lake, the boat rides, the cliffs.....yes, to all of it!
 
While my favorite of her novels is still Every Summer After, I appreciated this lakeside setting, the family relationships, and the romance in One Golden Summer. It's a great book to throw in your beach bag this summer. So, let me know in the comments if you read the book and are a fan of Fortune.