One Golden Summer
by Carley Fortune
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: May 6, 2025
Reviewed by PJ
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.
PJ's Thoughts:
Just like Alice never anticipated Charlie Florek, I never anticipated One Golden Summer. You know those special books that transport you to a specific time and place, speak to all your emotions, evoke memories of times gone by, and hold you spellbound from start to finish? One Golden Summer, for me, is that book. I read it in one day and once I finished all I wanted to do was go back to page one and read it again, only slowly this time, savoring every perfectly placed word designed to elicit laughter, tears, and swoony sighs.
Before we get to the story, let's talk setting. Carley Fortune does a superb job of immersing the reader into the unique beauty of Barry's Bay. And well she should, as it's her hometown! Her love of this Ontario lake community shines through loud and clear and made me love it too. I could smell the pine-scented air, hear the loons cry under a star-studded sky, feel the wind in my face as she and Charlie raced across the lake in his yellow boat, and feel the cool water sluice over my body every time Alice dove off the dock or inelegantly fell off her Pegasus-Unicorn floatie (which would so be me).
The story itself is poignant, funny, endearing, frustrating, and romantic, centering on a variety of relationships including friendship, family, and romance. I loved Alice's bucket list and how Charlie jumped right in to help her check off items. I loved the friendship that grew between them, the flirty banter, the respect and understanding, before the deepening of feelings. The relationship between Alice and her grandmother brought so many wonderful memories and feelings to the surface. I liked that each of them grew during their summer at the lake. The family relationships for both Charlie and Alice are complicated but in each circumstance there is love at the center that helps them resolve their differences.
Note: I should point out that Charlie's (now settled) differences with his family are explored in Fortune's debut book, Every Summer After along with one major spoiler that's referenced in One Golden Summer. I haven't read Every Summer After yet (though I have bought and will be reading it soon) so I can't say if reading it first would have enhanced my love of One Golden Summer (I can't imagine loving it more) but I'm guessing it may have deepened my understanding of Charlie's character.
One Golden Summer is beautifully paced, poignantly nostalgic, deeply emotional, fun, humorous, endearing, and all the other adjectives I can think of to describe a golden summer of friendship, family, and romance at the lake. It's a summer of growth, of challenge, of discovering who you are as a person, of opening yourself to vulnerability, to love, of discovering your personal path forward, and perhaps, finding that one special person to walk that path with you.
One Golden Summer has my highest recommendation. It is my book of the summer.
Do you have memories of a specific time or place you would like to see brought to life in a book?
Have you ever spent a summer or a summer vacation on a lake?
Have you read Carley Fortune yet?
Who's up for a ride in a vintage yellow speedboat?
One randomly chosen person who posts a comment before 11:00 PM, May 25 will receive a print copy of One Golden Summer.
*U.S. only
*Must be 18
