One Golden Summer
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4.8 • 43 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER
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.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
A photographer learns to see life outside her lens in this warmhearted rom-com. Alice Everly longs to create more than fashion layouts. When her grandmother breaks her hip, she pauses her regular work and takes Nan to the family’s summer cottage in Ontario’s beautiful Barry’s Bay for rest and rehab—plus a chance to work on an ambitious photographic exhibition. Soon, however, Alice meets her handsome neighbour Charlie Florek, whose warm generosity charms both Nan and Alice, much to her consternation. We got butterflies as Alice and Charlie spend more time together, but Alice is justifiably uncertain about him, since he has a reputation as a ladies’ man. Author Carley Fortune keeps us guessing about their possible future together as they both explore their feelings. Her natural dialogue and descriptive prose pulled us right into their lively emotional journey.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The beachy latest from bestseller Fortune (Meet Me at the Lake) follows Alice Everly, an overworked photographer who's lost her creative spark. When her grandmother, Nan, breaks her hip, Alice hopes to cheer her up by bringing her back to her lake cottage where Alice spent one wonderful summer when she was 17. She also hopes the trip will reignite her own artistic passion, as it's there that she received her first camera and took the photo that jump-started her career, a candid shot of three teens from the neighboring cottage. Now she reunites with one of those neighbors, the gorgeous and charming Charlie Florek, an outrageous flirt who agrees to help fix up Nan's cottage. Though Alice is initially distrustful of him, matchmaking Nan is delighted by his lighthearted aura and the three strike up a deep friendship. It's a sweet if somewhat slow-moving setup—but things pick up when Charlie offers to help Alice complete her summer bucket list, from cliff diving to making art, and their chemistry ignites. The pair agree to a friends with benefits arrangement, as neither believes they want or deserve a long-term relationship, but the lines begin to blur as summer comes to a close. The sparks between Alice and Charlie fly off the page and endearing Nan adds heart. This is a treat.
