When summer rolls around, you can set your watch by the fact that some authors will definitely publish a new book. Abby Jimenez and Emily Henry do so to name a few. Another author who seems to be publishing a new book every summer is Carley Fortune. The 2025 release is One Golden Summer and can be viewed as a companion novel to Every Summer After, my introduction to this author. Whereas I wasn’t too fond of this book, mainly due to the wrong expectations, Fortune’s books started to grow on me. Even though they are getting pretty formulaic. How did I enjoy this one?

About the book

One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune
Published by Berkley on May 6, 2025
Pages: 382
ISBN: 9780593638910
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A radiant, new escape to the lake from #1 New York Times bestselling author Carley Fortune

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.

My review

Expectations

I was in need of a nice, light summer read as the weather was asking for this. It was pretty warm outside and that’s just not a good timing for a heavy fantasy novel. So, I went into this with the expectations of getting this light, relaxing and chill read for the warm summer days. However, I also expected the author to address some heavier topics like she does in her previous books. Well, my expectations are met on both fronts.

Characters

In this novel we follow Alice and Charlie. The latter we briefly met in Every Summer After as he is Sam’s older brother, who was the main character in said book. Alice is new to me, though we really briefly met her in Meet Me at the Lake. She refers to this herself as she was taking on a photography job there. However, I couldn’t remember this, so if it wasn’t mentioned I wouldn’t have known. As a seventeen-year old girl, Alice went with her grandma and her younger siblings to Berry’s Bay to escape the summer heat and buzz of Toronto. She remembers seeing Charlie but being too scared to talk to him. Now after her grandma needing hip surgery and is recovering from said surgery, she decides to take her back to the lake, where so many great memories lie.

We get to know Alice as a people pleaser, who does everything for everyone, even if it sucks all the joy out of her. Along the way, when she spends more time with Charlie, she finds her way back to herself, with finally being able to stand up for herself and what she wants as a result. Charlie on the other hand remains a mystery. He seems to be a bit of a clown and a flirt, which annoyed me a lot to be honest, but we finally get to know what’s behind his façade. Although this takes a long time. This makes him pretty intriguing though. Both characters are written well and bring out the best in each other, especially Charlie in Alice. It’s less visible the other way around, but the chemistry is undeniable.

Writing

I enjoyed Fortune’s writing once again. Even though this book has a single POV narration, we get to know both Alice and Charlie pretty well. The chapters are pretty short and the language is not too difficult. I was sucked right into this novel from the start and the writing definitely plays a big part in it.

Plot

This book is character driven, which doesn’t come as a surprise to me. It has a plot though as Alice wants to have one golden summer, like she’s being seventeen again. She learns how to finally live for herself instead of for others and this plot really supports her in her character development. Even though the book can feel pretty formulaic – because let’s face it, it is –, the author still has some surprises for the readers. I didn’t see these ones coming which was nice. Even though the plot is quite predictable in itself, I was still intrigued by it. It’s logic and believable and the characters really carry it.

Final thoughts

As I expected, I definitely enjoyed One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune. Okay, it’s pretty formulaic, but this is exactly the book you need on a warm summer day. It reads fast, the setting breathes summer and the characters are interesting. They definitely do show some growth, which gives the story more depth. Even though the structure of this novel is quite predictable, there were some nice surprises out there. It was lovely to see Sam and Persy return as side characters this time too.