Book Summary and Reviews of One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune

One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune

One Golden Summer

by Carley Fortune

  • Readers' Rating (4):
  • Published:
  • May 2025, 400 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

A radiant escape to the lake from #1 New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After and This Summer Will Be Different.

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 there 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.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Readers will enjoy the steamy love story that develops but will also appreciate Alice's personal growth. Not only does she find love, she finds her purpose in her career. Fans of Annabel Monaghan will agree with Nan that 'good things happen at the lake.'" —Booklist (starred review)

"The sparks between Alice and Charlie fly off the page and endearing Nan adds heart. This is a treat." —Publishers Weekly

"One Golden Summer was everything I wanted for Charlie and more! Alice and Charlie's chemistry is an absolute bonfire, the banter is perfection, and Nan is a treasure. Fortune's stories are rich and sparkling. She makes me believe that a summer at the lake is a necessary and formative experience in life." —Abby Jimenez, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Say You'll Remember Me

This information about One Golden Summer was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Carley Fortune

Carley Fortune is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After, Meet Me at the Lake, and This Summer Will Be Different. She is an award-winning Canadian journalist who's worked as an editor for Refinery29, The Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, and Toronto Life. She lives in Toronto with her husband and two sons.

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