firstly, I just want to say thank you to netgalley and the publisher for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review :)

well this might be my new favourite carley fortune book?!

I love everything about carley fortune’s books and they’re always books I really enjoy and love. as soon as I started this I just felt comfort immediately. slipping back into her writing style was so easy and it was lovely to read.

every summer after was of course my first love from this author and I absolutely LOVED coming back to Barry’s bay and also fell in love with Charlie as a character and it was such a joy to see his storyline with and from the perspective of Alice. I loved how Percy&Sam were regular side characters in this as I will always love those two!!!

Alice was an amazing FMC to follow and I felt very connected to her. I loved her relationship with her Nan, and also her personal development throughout.

Alice and Charlie are honestly perfection and I love them so much and friends to lovers will always be one of my favourite tropes!

I was smiling the entire book (unless I was tearing up and getting emotional) and it just made me so happy reading it and I’m so grateful to have already had the chance to read it! I could not recommend this enough! definitely going to be one of the best books of this summer for sure!

4.25🌟
This was so sweet, loved getting Charlie's story and it made me want a summer in a lake house so bad!

I love so much how much time was put into building the friendship first, but also Alice's relationship with her Nan, and not to mention Charlie's relationship with Alice's Nan, that was so so sweet, you can really feel the bond and Sense the genuine care for each other.

I was worried that Charlie wasn't going to address what happened in the first book, but I'm so glad he did

This is such a good one for summer 2025 i'm jealous of everyone who gets to read this for the first time in the ☀️ sun

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph for the ARC.

Every Summer After is one of my favourite ever love stories, so when I saw that Carley Fortune was writing a return to Barry’s Bay, I knew I had to read it.

And, despite it being a long time since I read ESA, One Golden Summer instantly transported me back into the cozy, dreamy landscape where the sun washes over your skin and the lake carries any worries about the real world away.

One Golden Summer revisits some of our beloved characters, but could be read as a standalone (I would recommend reading ESA first so you can get in all your feels!)

We meet Alice, who returns to the lake after vacationing there when she was younger, when she unknowingly took a photo of three teenagers that kickstarted her career as a photographer. In that photo was Charlie, who Alice meets (and we revisit!) as an adult. And sparks fly. But both parties insist they’re just friends. And that’s all they ever can be - can’t they?

What follows is a gorgeous story that takes your heart along for the journey. I adored seeing Sam and Percy again and I loved the new characters, especially Nan. It was really great to see little strands from Every Summer After tied up so beautifully.

Carley’s writing is absolutely stunning and had me kicking my feet, as well as bringing tears to my eyes as we followed Alice and Charlie’s story!

I’m so grateful I got to read this beautiful story, it was just what I needed for a bit of escapism! Good things happen at the lake.

Carly Fortune has a magic ability to transport you to a nostalgic, almost whimsical time of summers just out of reach, where the sun almost always shines and the pristine, glistening lake is the most beautiful place you have ever been. I felt like I was in my bikini on the inflatable unicorn and drinking tea on the deck!

I must have been the only person who hadn't read Every Summer After (having first started reading Carly Fortune's books with This Summer Will Be Different), and so I didn't know Charlie's backstory. It's only when I came to write this review that I realised who he was, and how his story has made him such a disliked figure. Hopefully, One Golden Summer, will be his redemption as this book paints him as nothing but the nicest of guys with a terrible burden that he, arguably foolishly, keeps to himself.

Charlie is cheerful, kindhearted, and despite an ego the size of Canada, he's also willing to do anything to help Alice and Nan. Alice, for her part, is at a junction in her life, having just split up with a long-term boyfriend and is questioning the direction of her photography career as well. She's the kind of person who will put everybody before herself, and so this time at the lake. She has decided to create a bucket list, much like she wished she had done as a teenager, to make the most out of her trip.

This book is full of summer nostalgia, and while both Charlie and Alice are in their mid-30s and have serious grown-up conversations, they're also enjoying the freedom of pretending to relive their late teenage years and let loose on the lake. They develop a strong friendship before they become lovers, which underpins the care and love they feel for each other. Also, there is some great silliness and banter! Charlie writes Alice a hilarious letter for when she arrives at the lake house, and they share funny text messages and are often quite silly together - including when Charlie is gently mocking Alice for her bucket list.

This is 4.5* from me, I hugely enjoyed it!

Thanks to NetGalley and Michael Joseph / Penguin Random House for the ARC, this is my honest opinion.

This was the perfect romance book! I wasn’t a fan of Every Summer After because of a certain storyline, but I did love the writing and the characters so I was intrigued about the sequel and I just adored it!

Fresh from a terrible break up Alice takes a trip for the summer with her grandmother to Barry’s Bay, where she meets Charlie Florek, the unknowing subject of a photo she took as a teenager that launched her career.

As they spend more time together and become closer and closer friends, Alice becomes all too aware that the summer will end and she’ll have to say goodbye.

I LOVED this. It was everything I enjoyed about Every Summer After but without the bits I hated. Alice and Charlie are so clearly made for each other and reading their story had my heart melting.

Despite being set entirely in the present day there was something so nostalgic about this book, it transports you from wherever you are (for me a very rainy England) to Barry’s Bay, where you can almost smell the sea water and see Charlie’s yellow boat in the distance.

Wow, I did not expect the emotions this book made me feel!
I'm thrilled we got to have Charlie's story after reading Ever Summer After, and it was everything I hoped.
I love how Carley Fortune is able to transport us to beautiful Canadian locations with her words, I was truly able to envisage Alice and Charlie at the lake.

Breathtakingly beautiful, swoon-worthy, emotional, perfect.

4.5/5

I’m calling it this is the book of summer 2025!! Wow I loved this. The banter between Charlie and Alice was so fun and seeing them complement and show up for each other throughout made my HEART MELT 🥺❤️ mix that with the idyllic lake setting I truly felt like I needed to be reading this sipping a strawberry daiquiri by the pool. Love love love, would have been 4.75 but the third act breakup pushed it down a bit.

DID I FINISH ONE GOLDEN SUMMEER OR DID IT FINISH ME?!?When I heard we were going back to Barry’s bay I said SIGN ME UP 🙋🏼‍♀️ Did I know this book was going to have me smiling, crying, clutching my chest? I mean deep down, yes but this is my favourite Fortune book yet!!
(I see you side eyeing my previous reviews saying that was my favourite 😭 leave me)
Like everyone, I was excited for Charlie’s story and kept hope that we would get little bits of Percy & Sam too. I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED. I’m head over heels in love with this book but let me try and pull my thoughts together for you guys.

We know that Carley Fortune is the queen of immersive and vivid descriptions. She’s so talented that you feel like you’re experiencing one of your own memories.

Charlie and Alice as characters… both so fleshed out and both motivated by their own personal experiences. Their love story was flawless, Charlie with his flirty exterior. Alice who’s trying her best to do right by everyone but longing to find her spark again. 😭 one of the most beautiful romances, I’ve read this year.

I can’t wait for my physical copy to arrive! Thank you so much @michaeljbooks for the advance e-arc.

omg !!!?? this was SO SO good wow !! my new favourite Carley Fortune book & a new favourite summer romance read. i’m actually so in love with this, so surprised but genuinely wow this was beautiful. everything i would want in a summer romance i couldn’t put it down, will definitely be rereading

I’m so happy to be back in Barry’s Bay! It felt like I could practically soak up the sunshine through my Kindle 🥰

After binge-reading Every Summer After, I knew I had to dive into Charlie’s story, and let me tell you, it surpassed all my expectations! This book brought back all the emotions from the first one, but intensified them. I felt every bit of Charlie and Alice’s journey, and don’t even get me started on Nan—what a legend!

The chemistry between Charlie and Alice is sizzling, but their friendship is something truly special. I also appreciated how the book tackled serious themes like grief, health struggles, regret, and the passage of time, all without feeling overwhelming. I genuinely think this will be the go-to romance read of the summer!

“Good things happen at the lake.”

Big thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC. You can grab a copy on May 6th, 2025!

This book transported me straight to summer – I could practically feel the sun on my skin, even with snow outside my window. From the first page, I was hooked, completely unable to put it down. It had that magnetic pull, the kind that makes you lose track of time.

I didn’t know how much I needed Charlie’s story until I had it, and Carley Fortune delivered it flawlessly. If you’re a fan of her work, you’re going to devour this one. It’s everything you could want from a summer fling-turned-friends-to-lovers romance.

Watching two people fall for each other is always fun, but watching Charlie (who we first met in Every Summer After) and Alice do it? Absolute perfection. Their chemistry is electric, their banter effortlessly charming, and with just the right amount of spice, it hits all the right notes.

“Which is how I find myself making out with the boy across the bay on a raft on Kamaniskeg Lake. Just two people, figuring their shit out, kissing each other like there’s nothing better in this world than just kissing.”

This book brought back all the emotions from Every Summer After – I may have even teared up a few times, and I’m not even sure why. It’s not a sad book, I promise.

Now, I have one tiny gripe—one that I suspect most readers will share. I won’t spoil anything, but let’s just say something happens in the third act that kept it from being a full five-star read for me. It’s not a dealbreaker, just a slight stumble in an otherwise incredible story.

It’s easy to see why this is one of the most anticipated books of 2025. It’s the perfect beach read – warm, nostalgic, and impossible to resist.

I am a huge Carley Fortune fan so was THRILLED to be given the opportunity to read One Golden Summer early and my goodness it didn't disappoint.

I love that Carley continues to set her books on the lake, bringing that nostalgic summer feel to her novels. I was immediately taken by Alice and Charlie's flirting and tension and was rooting for them to get together from the very beginning. The unexpected twist and the reason for Charlie's hesitancy had me crying at the end.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy. Five stars.

Okay, get this Mind blown! Like, instant love. Happy tears, real tears, felt everything. It's like, someone stole my brain and wrote it down. The place? Amazing! Felt like I was there. And the guy? Total crush! Funny, deep, just... perfect. All the people in the story? Real! Seriously, I'm never shutting up about this book. Carley, you nailed it! 😍

Just WOW!😍
I knew from two chapters in that this was going to be a 5 star read for me. I was smiling at the pages and also shed tears towards the end and I have truly never felt more seen and understood than when reading this book. It’s like Carley Fortune read my journal and used it as inspiration to write all of Alice’s thoughts. I’m obsessed with the setting and I feel like Fortune used such atmospheric writing that I can see this location so clearly in my mind it’s like I’ve visited the lake myself. Charlie is SO high on my book boyfriend list and I loved how he had so many layers to him being cheeky and flirty and also emotionally mature and a genuinely good man. I thought all of the relationships between the characters were excellently written and were a true depiction of how relationships in life work.
Prepare to be sick of me because I won’t stop talking about this book for the rest of the year now, thank you so much Carley for writing my new comfort book🫶🏼

I loved this summery feel good romance. It was just a pure joy to read and the spicy scenes were written well enough to add something to the story. I loved the relationships between Alice and her family members. There wasn’t one unlikeable character. Alice having a home, a career and her family around her and still feeling like she hasn’t got anything figured out is so relatable. I loved the list and the idea of one golden summer of feeling 16 again but with the confidence that comes with age.
The chapters were short and well paced, the twist revealed about Charlie was obvious with clues earlier on but this didn’t spoil the book and just added to the ending.

5 stars

Thank you so much for NetGalley and the publisher for the early copy of this book. I love everything Carley Fortune writes and I loved every minute of this book. The characters!! I loved Charlie in Every Summer After and I loved that we finally got his book. It was everything I wanted. I will be buying my own copy of this book when it is released in May.

Something I love about Carley Fortune's books is that is so easy to picture the setting, and once you can do that it's easy to fall in love with the characters. I was so glad to hear that this book would be from Charlie's POV. I heard the author do an interview saying people had kept asking her to write Charlie's story, so wahoo for an author listening to her readers!

One Golden Summer takes readers back to the world of Every Summer After, focusing on Charlie and Alice. While it took me a bit longer to get into compared to her other books, once I was hooked, I couldn’t put it down. The romance between Alice and Charlie is captivating, and the lake setting adds such a nostalgic, summer vibe to the story.

Whilst I do really like these books, it would be good to mix up cultural backgrounds - sometimes the characters can seem quite similar. But I did really enjoy it, a great summer read.

I loved this summer lake romance, the main characters were fun, sexy and I loved reading their friends to lovers story unfold. The setting was gorgeous, I could absolutely picture myself on a boat in the lake. A perfect summer read!

I think this maybe my favourite of Carley Fortune’s books so far, but I am a sucker for a friends to lovers romance. I am also a sucker for great character development and satisfying character building. I loved learning about their families and their traumas. I saw a lot of myself in Alice which was nice.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for this review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for approving me again for a Carley Fortune ARC.
I have read all of Carly Fortunes books which are all amazing but I think that this has topped them all!!
I loved being back in Barry’s Bay, the story of Alice and Charlie, and previous characters making an appearance too updating on their lives too!
I could not put this down, it would make a fantastic summer read, I almost forgot that it’s cold outside!
This will be one that all my friends will get as presents this year for them to enjoy too!