Publisher: Berkley Books, May 2, 2023

Format: ebook

Pages: 336

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Summary (Goodreads):

Fern Brookbanks has wasted far too much of her adult life thinking about Will Baxter. She spent just twenty-four hours in her early twenties with the aggravatingly attractive, idealistic artist, a chance encounter that spiraled into a daylong adventure in Toronto. The timing was wrong, but their connection was undeniable: they shared every secret, every dream, and made a pact to meet one year later. Fern showed up. Will didn’t.

At thirty-two, Fern’s life doesn’t look at all how she once imagined it would. Instead of living in the city, Fern’s back home, running her mother’s Muskoka lakeside resort–something she vowed never to do. The place is in disarray, her ex-boyfriend’s the manager, and Fern doesn’t know where to begin.

She needs a plan–a lifeline. To her surprise, it comes in the form of Will, who arrives nine years too late, with a suitcase in tow and an offer to help on his lips. Will may be the only person who understands what Fern’s going through. But how could she possibly trust this expensive-suit wearing mirage who seems nothing like the young man she met all those years ago. Will is hiding something, and Fern’s not sure she wants to know what it is.

But ten years ago, Will Baxter rescued Fern. Can she do the same for him?

My Review:

Read if you like: Second chance romances
–
I struggled to get into this book at first but was completely hooked for the last quarter, and I am glad that I pushed through and finished it, but I can see how some people might not. I love a second-chance romance and loved that Fern and Will got another opportunity to get to know one another. I loved the lake setting of the book and the fact that Fern needs to figure out what to do with her family’s resort.
–
I think the thing I struggled with is Will and Fern had only met for one day, and had a connection but both were still in relationships. They plan to meet in one year but Will doesn’t show. Then they see each other again 10 years later. I think I struggled with believing that they would still hold a flame for each other for 10 years after only knowing each other for a day, and since the book is told with dual timelines, we don’t really get to understand what happened that one day 10 years ago until near the end of the book.
–
Overall though, like I said, I am glad I read it and overall it was a good summer read!
–
Thank you Berkely for the copy of this book.