Meet Me at the Lake

Finished June 26

Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune

This light-hearted romance novel mixes intense experiences with a real attention to setting. As it begins, Fern Brookbanks has graduated university in Toronto and plans to spend the next few days seeing some things in the city that she hasn't visited yet. She's just wrapped a visit from her best friend that didn't go as well as she hoped. The coffee shop she works at going through a refresh and her job for the day is to supervise the artist who is painting a mural on one of the walls. Will Baxter is the artist and he is leaving the following day to return to his home in Vancouver. When he finished his work, he proposes taking her to some of his favourite places in the city, and it turns into a nearly day-long adventure. There was a connection between them that they both recognized, but they both have a boyfriend or girlfriend waiting for them, and plans to leave the city soon. Fern has also shared some of her inner turmoils with Will, things that she hasn't shared with her friends or family. They agree to meet a year later at the dock at the resort that Fern's mom runs near Huntsville. 

Fern went on to do some things that she felt driven to do, and that Will had encouraged her to follow, but she makes sure she is at Brookbanks Resort a year later, but Will never showed up. 

Then the novel jumps ten years into the future, where Fern finds herself back at the resort, running it, with her old boyfriend working as manager and her best friend nearby expecting her first child. When Will appears, she is definitely surprised and confused, but after some thought agrees to take the assistance that he offers regarding the future direction of the resort and how to deal with the tough financial situation she has found it in. Will is very different that she has imagined him in some ways, and so familiar in others. 

This is a story that really evokes the places that the story takes place in, both Toronto, and the cottage country lakeside resort. It's also about the characters. Fern is struggling with grief, guilt, and love as she takes on a challenge she isn't sure she wants. Will is intense, but also thoughtful and talented. The supporting characters, from Fern's friends to resort regulars are warm and pleasant people who also have interesting quirks and backstories. I really enjoyed this book, and understand why it is such a popular summer read.