One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune Book Review

“The younger of the boys is cute, gangly in the way of quick-growing adolescents. He wears a T-shirt and is staring at the girl like no one else in the world exists. I spent enough time watching them to know the older boy is his brother. He’s gorgeous and tan and is looking at his siblings with a happy, satisfied smirk. I liked to imagine having a boyfriend like him.

. . I’d heard the moto and looked up through my lens as they zoomed by.

I immediately checked the camera screen to see what I’d captured. As soon as I saw the photo, I was hit with a sense of purpose I’d never experienced before. I was meant to be a photographer.

I called it One Golden Summer.

(pg. 41)

About

Author: Carley Fortune

Genre: New Adult Romance

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Other Carley Fortune Book Reviews

Every Summer After

Meet Me At the Lake

This Summer Will be Different

Synopsis

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 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.

Review

Spoilers Contained Below

‼️ If you have not read Every Summer After, this book review may contain Every Summer After spoilers ‼️

To the summers that feel like gold,

There’s just something undeniably different about summer.

Time feels endless, the sun blazes brighter like a challenge, laughter seems louder in ringing ears, the sky a bolder blue as if freshly painted.

Summer always held possibility.

I think that’s why we all love summer whether or not we have a summer as we grow older, we always think of summer time as vacation time because summer holds possibility.

I wish I could jump into One Golden Summer and have me a golden summer 💙.

Hands down, no doubt in my head One Golden Summer is top tier on one of my all time favorite new adults I’ve ever read; definitely my favorite Carley Fortune book to date. No questions asked (but please ask me because I would go to town talking about this book).

One Golden Summer truly felt like slipping into the golden waters of an absolute dream of a summer.

And I just wanted to lay in that summer feeling forever.

Everything about One Golden Summer was absolute perfection in a book—-love, family, friendship, growth, nostalgia, and heart. From so many endearingly sweet moments that literally had me gushing and kicking my feet on the ground or putting the book to the side because I had to literally take a moment to process such cuteness that the cute moments felt unreal. From many moments that had me grinning from ear to ear in the quiet of my room because I couldn’t stop my heart from feeling such a golden light for the love Alice and Charlie shared and everything that built up their relationship that I wish happened in real life. And from moments that I didn’t even expect, but absolutely adored; I think romance books are great, but when a romance book holds more than just romance, but all around love, that book is phenomenal. One Golden Summer was phenomenal.

I wouldn’t even call One Golden Summer a romance book, but a book of heart and written with so much love.

I wrote this in my This Summer Will Be Different book review, but Carley Fortune has a graceful way of making you feel her words. She doesn’t just write a feeling, she feels a feeling and makes you feel that emotion as strongly as she does. She doesn’t just write a place, she makes you feel like you are right there in that place—living, breathing, or viewing this moment in time. She wrote some bangers in this book, that had me shaking my head in admiration and speechlessness. There’s something to be said about someone who write something so beautiful and captivating, the words leave you speechless.

I mean,

“Not sure how deep it [the water] is, I slide in rather than jump. It’s like slipping into the sunset.”

(pg. 37)

Wow. Slipping into the sunset? Engrave that on a palm tree.

“The air is thick and fresh, more fragrant, almost medicinal.”

(pg. 121)

Calling the air medicinal? Because the air was healing? Genius.

“Charlie laughs like he knows I’m full of cr** and then shrugs off his jacket. He unbuttons his cuffs and rolls the sleeves of his shirt past his forearms.

‘Better?’ His gaze is a game of truth or dare.”

(pg. 127)

His gaze was a game of truth or dare? I’ll take both.

But the way Carley Fortune weaved the words, created a tapestry stitched with such precision and detail and what made One Golden Summer absolutely enchanting.

I just loved everything about this book. I won’t stop gushing about it. The second I put One Golden Summer down, I said, “Can I go back and forget so I can reread this again?” One Golden Summer was just that good, I want to experience the sensation as if for the first time even if I literally just finished devouring each glorious page.

Alice Everly is not only a woman I respect, but also a woman I admire.

She was a photographer.

“The feel of this camera in my hands, the curves of its body, is more familiar to me than any man.”

(pg. 52)

When Alice was seventeen, she took a trip to Barry’s Bay lake with her Nannette Everly or Nan, and that’s where her Nan gave her a camera. Alice grew up with a complicated family with an older sister named Heather and two younger twin siblings, Luca and Lavinia. Her parents were newly divorced with her mom living in BC, taking up yoga and a more restorative lifestyle. Her father was a lawyer and was still in practice. Alice was the middle child, and I’m no middle child, but oftentimes middle children get overlooked because everyone thinks they are okay and they can fend for themselves. Alice never asked for anything or never drew attention to herself, but Nan noticed; Nan saw that Alice had something in her tied to the arts. Nan was the first person to give Alice a camera, and Alice was inspired that summer to take pictures.

“I often felt invisible as a teenager, but behind a lens, invisibility became my superpower.”

(pg. 41)

During that summer, Alice would always notice these three kids across the lake from the house she stayed at. Alice was a spectator; she was shy. I saw a lot of myself in Alice when she was seventeen—-shy, awkward, nervous, introverted. We are the type of people to watch from afar, even though deep down we wish we were brave enough to step into the life we really wanted— a life full of promise, adventure, and connection. We are the type of people who were always afraid of reaching out and grabbing what we always wanted. By chance, Alice took this one special photo that changed the direction of her life forever—One Golden Summer.

I loved how the prologue captured the moment on the lake where Alice took this photo, and how throughout the book, this pivotal moment was expanded.

The photo was of Sam looking at Percy each other in the longing way that they probably did back then, Charlie driving the ostentatious yellow boat. She snapped a picture that felt like summer, longing, freedom, connection. I wish I could actually see this photo; the cover does a beautiful job of mimicking what I think would be like the photo Alice took, but of just her and Charlie (I’m assuming) because the book is mostly about thtem.

This photo opened opportunities for Alice in attending university and finding a prestigious mentorship with a woman named Elyse. Alice built a career for herself. She took photos for famous magazines, she had a long client list.

However, she wasn’t happy.

Nothing quite gave her the feeling as that original photo she took.

“‘ . . . I think I’ve been so caught up in building a career, in making my clients happy and working to earn my place, that I lost sight of what makes me happy. The balance is off.'”

(pg. 215)

I think that’s the difficult part about making a passion a career. When something you love becomes a career, the feelings of passion and the joy you derived from doing your passion gets mixed with the hardships of work. Passion can feel like just doing the thing you enjoyed for a job, and it no longer feels fun anymore—the balance is off.

I’m not saying that you can’t have passion and work and have a balance, because gosh knows you can. But I’ve also come to the understanding that there are many people who don’t enjoy what they do for work and do their passions on the side, and that’s okay. Not everyone is passionate about their work, and that’s okay. Alice wanted to be passionate about her work because she loved capturing photos, but I agree with her, that in building her career with trying to “make it” with her client list, she probably stopped doing what she liked along the way. This is the most annoying thing a teacher hears all the time and I know because I am one, but they always tell you to, “remember your why.” 🙄 It’s an annoying saying, but also kind of true even if the platitude makes me instantly roll my eyes. Sometimes though we need to remember why we started doing something because if we go back to that reason, we can connect to why we are doing what we are doing, and maybe that can bring some of that love back.

I understand the pressure Alice felt with doing what was asked of her—quieting her voice, taking the pictures, editing the photos down, submitting work that didn’t feel like her. Adults need a paycheck because we need stability, and sometimes that means compromising who we are because we need money to survive. Sucks, but I understood Alice. She needed to make a name for herself because if she didn’t she wouldn’t get by. I didn’t like how many of the jobs she had made her feel like sh didn’t have a say in the creative direction she took. Heck, she’s the photographer, she has artistic credibility for a reason. I would want the photographer to give me their honest opinion because they see something I obviously can’t; I hire them for a reason. I disliked that the people Alice worked with didn’t value what she said because they hired her for a reason. In my opinion, photographers don’t just hold a camera to take pictures, they capture memories to evoke a feeling. They have a certain eye.

I wished more people valued Alice for what she did, especially in her last job.

Given the times, I could tell you with my chest that person who told her to edit the bikini photos to only have a “suggestion of cellulite” would get cancelled 💅🏼. People don’t want edits nowadays, sis, they want real. Alice wanted real because that’s what the job said, and now they were retracting the vision Alice thought would be more freeing. I ABSOLUTELY disliked the way they kept hounding Alice to edit the pictures when she obviously didn’t want to and honestly shouldn’t have to because they said minimal edits anyway. I disliked the way they made her feel trapped as if she couldn’t say anything because if she said something she risked losing them as a client, and then word about her being difficult to work with would get out and all that trash. It’s so hard being an adult and speaking up for yourself without fear of retribution. DO you feel that? I feel that everyday 😕. I don’t know. I related to Alice so much because gosh knows how many times I swallowed down every honest word I wanted to say in my workplace because I feared someone hearing and telling someone else and then word gets around and then I don’t look good anymore. It’s like work silences us out of fear—to be obident and complacent.

I don’t want to settle for obedience or complacency if that goes against who I am or what I believe. Nor did Alice.

It’s hard not to lose yourself when you feel like you always have to shrink who you are because you have to be careful or fit into what other people want from you. No wonder she lost her passion; she wasn’t allowed to do what she wanted. She wasn’t allowed to freely create images that felt like One Golden Summer.

To reconnect with her love of photography and to help Nan after she broke her hip and fell, Alice had the idea to take a trip to the lake.

Her Nan broke her hip after falling to Dancing Queen in one of her dance classes, which by the way, let’s pop off queen!!!! Not literally 😂. You know what I mean, if you are dancing at 80, you shake those hips until you can’t shake them anymore 👏🏼!! An icon. After the accident though, Nan had been moving slowly and was curt with everyone and Alice didn’t know what she could do to make her Nan happy. She just knew that she did want to make her Nan happy. Looking at this photo that sparked every fire in her, she thought maybe a trip to the lake was what they all needed.

You know what they say,

“‘Sweet dreams, Alice,’ she says. ‘And remember . . .’

I smile. Because until this moment, I’d forgotten how every day ended the summer I was seventeen.

‘Good things happen at the lake,’ I finish.

She nods once. ‘Good things happen at the lake.'”

(pg. 36)

Honestly, if good things happen at the lake, SCREW the beach 😂🤪!!! I’m going to the lake!

Because honestly, if I met a hot a** man at a grocery store who had a yellow boat and was funny, sweet, endearing, helpful, and genuine, I’m a be pushing and shoving to get to that lake 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼!!!!

Like beep beep. Get out the way.

Hold my poodle 😂.

UGH, Charlie Florek was everything 💙.

Here’s the thing, I had no clue before I scanned the synopsis what this book was about 😅. I just saw Carley Fortune on the top, grabbed the book, and paid for it. Done deal. What do you mean, this book was tied to Every Summer After?????

Here’s the second thing, and I don’t think I’m the only one, I can read a lot of romance books (not to flex or anything), and I can’t tell you jack sh** what the character’s name was or some details, but I can tell you if I liked the book or thought it was meh. And I remember Every Summer After as phenomenal too. I remember Every Summer After felt like if The Summer I Turned Pretty had a baby with Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson—that’s a compliment, by the way. I loved loved loved both those books. So I loved Every Summer After. But I can’t for the life of me tell you the characters names after years of having not touched that book 😅. Not in a mean way, it’s just when you read so many books, the character names, especially from romance books, start to blur because those are like one or two books compared to a whole series. All this to say was that I forgot about who Charlie and Sam were.

Then it came back to me the whole plot of Every Summer After, not everything, but the important gist of the book, and I was like, “oooooh.” Charlie was the brother we didn’t really enjoy and had complicated feelings for 🙃. And honestly, it’s not like I remember disliking Charlie, I just remember he did something and he was in love with who his brother was also in love with and we all know that one girl most likely will choose one brother. He wasn’t the brother she chose. So it clicked *haha see what I did there** this book was Charlie’s continuation.

I truly saw Charlie with fresh eyes because I did feel like I was meeting Charlie for the first time 💙.

Charlie was someone who needed to give himself more credit because he absolutely hard on himself 🥺.

Year ago, he slept with Percy when Sam and Percy weren’t together. But that ultimately hurt his relationship with his brother and made things awkward with Percy **cough cough Every Summer After cough cough*** I don’t think Charlie forgave himself for what he did and the rift he created. He messed up when he was twenty and he thinks himself unforgivable. When Charlie opened up to Alice about what he did when he was twenty, I appreciated how she understood that he was twenty—when you’re twenty you make mistakes. You mess up, you do dumb things, you’re essentially a certified idiot at twenty. You’re prefrontal cortex isn’t even developed yet. I loved how Alice never looked down on him or made him feel like a monster for what he did, but met him with understanding—that’s what he needed.

We aren’t our mistakes.

We sure as heck make mistakes as humans, but we aren’t our mistakes.

If we were our mistakes, gosh knows we all would be walking around with a whole bunch of branding of the errors we have done.

Charlie grew up. It’s been, what? Fifteen years since that happened. Sam and Percy were expecting a baby and they had a whole life together now. Sure, things were rough for a moment, a season, as things are, but they were okay. Things will be okay even when they don’t feel like they are. We don’t have to punish ourselves or live like we have to be punished for something we did in the past. We move forward and try to learn and do better. That’s how we live with our mistakes, we learn and we grow. Yes, that’s absolutely cliché to say, and please cringe at me, but we do. Charlie absolutely has grown as a young adult boy to a man.

And honestly, he should be proud of the man he is.

He’s fine as heck.

He’s quite the looker and always has been, but I truly fell in love with his personality and his heart 💙.

The way Alice and Charlie met was perfect—absolutely perfect.

I mean, you can’t tell me you haven’t secretly wished you casually ran into a hot man who you wish was your future husband at a grocery store. Nope? Only me. Alrighty 😂.

Alice had heard of Charlie before meeting him. Charlie was the point of contact between John and Alice because John wasn’t staying at the cabin, but Charlie was there that summer; before Alice and Nan came over, Alice asked Charlie to help him make the cabin more safe and accessible for Nan. Then he left her a note with some sass in it.

The second Alice went to the grocery store and had this whole moment of ogling this random man in the cucumber section, I knew that that man was Charlie. It was funny that she didn’t know, but we knew. I would have been absolutely mortified as well if I was trying to grab a cucumber out of all vegetables and managed to knock over a whole a** display. My feet would never run so fast and my cheeks would have needed firefighters to put me out—embarrassing. But it was cute how flustered she was, and how Charlie knew that was Alice—that he had an effect on her to be so ruffled.

I loved how the second time he met her was when she crashed her boat into a rock and he had to “save” her and haul her back. I loved Alice’s awkward self because her awkwardness was relatable and endearing. Gosh knows we’ve all been awkward around crushes or have done something asinine in front of them.

Alice went for a boat ride that day for independence and nostalgia sake. She found herself a rock and an alcove to sit, to think.

One of the many things I enjoyed about One Golden Summer was the idea of growing up.

“I’m almost thirty-three, and I still don’t have my life figured out. I’m standing in the ashes of a four-year relationship that I poured my heart into, and my love of photography is slipping under a torrent of deadlines and compromises. . . I think about what Nan asked me yesterday—about what I was going to do with my summer, and how I didn’t have much of an answer. But I know exactly how I’d spend it if I were seventeen again.”

(pg. 55)

Alice Everly, as written so many times, was turning thirty-three that year.

Gosh, it’s so weird how time passes by so quickly in the grand scheme of things. I feel like I was just in middle school, clutching City of Heavenly Fire when it just came out and sneaking reading pages when the teacher was talking, being in high school where I met all these people, and then went through a pandemic with the rest of the world, and somehow it’s been more than ten years since I’ve been a sophomore in high school and now I’m the adult in the world. It’s crazy.

I don’t feel like an adult.

When I was younger, I never really thought about how adults don’t really know what being an adult means either. Suddenly you are just an adult and you are figuring out what that means with everyone else. And it’s weird to think how much you feel like a kid still who is shy or scared, but yet the world sees you as someone who should be brave and all-knowing. It’s such a weird feeling.

Alice was turning thirty-three, and I had the sense that she didn’t even know what being an adult meant to her either. There was a sense of disbelief as if time had snuck up on her as it does—she couldn’t believe she was back here on this lake all these years later as a grown up when she still felt the same. Here’s the thing I’ve come to understand about growing up: deep down the core of our person stays the same—our beliefs, values, roots—but the way we understand the world and the way we carry ourselves changes as we change with the world. We can still be the person we were at five-years-old because we carry the same values and morals, but also be an entirely different person because we’ve been through different things; to quote the great Ariana Grande: “Cause I’m still the same but entirely different.”

Alice actively thinking about how she wanted more for herself than this summer to be the same as when she was younger, was brave as it was beautiful. I truly loved loved loved the idea that she wanted to have a summer that her seventeen-year-old self would have been proud of; that she was going to have a “golden summer,” if you will, for her younger self who was too afraid to have the courage to do so.

“‘I–‘ My instinct is to say no, to stay safely onshore, bu then I remember the list and that teenage Alice would have flipped if a cute guy gave her a Jet Ski ride.

So I changed my mind. I do it for younger me.”

(pg. 101)

As I read Alice’s idea of having a “seventeen-year-old” summer, my heart genuinely warmed. I just thought about how if I could go back to when I was a teenager, specifically seventeen, and do my summer all over again, I would absolutely do that summer again, but better 😉. I would have been more courageous and adventurous, I would have done everything differently rather than stay home all the time and read books (even though I have nothing against reading books all summer). But when I think of my seventeen-year-old self, she was lonely, she was sad, she was protecting herself in the way she knew how—by staying inside where she was safe. I fear I’ve grown up that way and still have the same habits as my seventeen-year-old self. But I don’t need to.

If Alice has taught me anything, it’s that it’s never too late to start again—begin again. It’s never to late to make the changes in your life you want.

I loved the list.

I laughed reading her list because there’s a lilt to the way it’s written, almost as if Alice is asking herself for permission to let go and do things she wished she had done like drugs maybe????? HAHAHA. Lowkey, not going to lie but if I were to make a list of all the things high school me didn’t do, that would be on it. I loved the raw adolescent feel to the list that matched what Alice wanted to achieve for her younger self.

I appreciated the way Charlie took one glance at her list, and didn’t make her feel ridiculously stupid for her list. I think it would be so easy to judge someone for all the things they haven’t done, but he only jokingly teased her about the list, and was supportive in helping her have her seventeen-year-old summer.

“‘You should have a seventeen-year-old summer with me.””

(pg. 150)

I loved how much he also wanted to do the list with her.

Honestly, it was nice to get to know Charlie 💙.

We didn’t get to know him very well in Every Summer After, and I liked seeing him as more than just some golden boy who slept with women and drove a yellow banana boat. He had depth. He had history.

I didn’t know how much he worked at the restaurant when he was younger. When his father passed away, Charlie took on more responsibility from the pressure of being the eldest boy—the “man of the house.” I think that was an unfair pressure the grandpa put on Charlie because he was only fourteen, a child. How was he supposed to be the “man of the house” when he was a boy? He deserved to grow up. But her grew up fast. He worked all those summers at the restaurant to help his mom, which took away a lot of time from doing the fun things that every other teenager was doing at the lake during summer. That part surprised me because I would think that if someone lived on a lake, they would just constantly have a fun lake summer, swimming, driving a boat, playing games. No, but Charlie was working and didn’t really have the summer people thought he did.

My heart was sad and wanted to hug Charlie in how he also felt the pressure to make sure everyone was okay.

“‘If you were the turtle of you family, I was the joker.'”

(pg. 148)

Coming from someone who knows that feeling too well, it’s hard.

He was the levity. He tried to make his mom smile, and he ensured Sam was okay when he wasn’t talking anymore. It’s not funny, but ironic, how much the people who make themselves take on the role of comedic relief are often the people with big hearts who are greatly hurting as well. They just mask it with their joker hat and a laugh because they don’t want others to feel hurt the way they are also hurting. So they bring joy, laughter in the only way they know how.

But truly, with Charlie being the levity in his family and the salve, I also wondered who made sure he was okay? His dad just passed away, he had to take on a huge role, and he was trying to hard to keep everyone happy. That’s a lot to push down.

When Alice asked him, “Who took care of him?” 🥺💙? Pure cinch of the heart.

In that moment, you know she cared about him much more than she would say or admit; and that she was also beginning to see Charlie as more than someone who brought laughter. Getting him to laugh in their honest, vulnerable conversation felt like a prize to her—making the joker laugh. He made everyone around him laugh, so to make him laugh felt like taking care of him in his darkness. I loved that.

And you know what Charlie said, the Florek love language was humor.

“‘My family was big into teasing,’ he says. ‘It’s basically the Florek love language.’

I mellow. ‘I don’t speak Florek, so you need to translate.’

‘The one thing you really need to know is that we only make fun of people we like.’

‘What happens when you fall in love? Do you stage a roast? Gift wrap a rubber chicken?'”

(pg. 103)

When Charlie said that, I was like, “He’s teasing her because he likes her????????!!?!?!” 😆 Right? Right? Right. I know I’m right.

Charlie helping and then doing the list with Alice was so sweet to read.

I loved how they spontaneously jumped off of the cliff/rock that Alice always wanted to jump off of. Before leaping off the rock, there’s this moment where Alice looks down and says something along the lines that she was going to turn thirty-three and she thought she would be braver.

“‘I think the older we get, the scarier sh** becomes.””

(pg. 105)

I get that—life becomes more precious because we feel like we have more to lose. We think about our mortality and we have more of a conscious to be afraid and overthink things we wouldn’t even breathe before jumping into as a kid. There’s a certain fearlessness that I admire in kids because they don’t overthink, they just do. I wish I was that brave. But I also liked that Alice mentioned how she was this older woman who was scared because I think that, again, it is easy to think that at a certain age you should be this brave, all-knowing adult when really adults are just older kids. We still fear, we still worry, we still laugh over dumb things. There is no shame in being scared of things that seem “childish” or trivial if it is something we fear. It’s okay to be scared.

When Alice actually leaps off the cliff, I was proud of her and felt her elation as my own; to do something you’ve always wanted to do takes a lot of bravery, a lot of courage. She had courage that day, and that led to freedom and this exhilarating liberation that she could do anything. I loved how her and Charlie kept going back to the top of the rock to jump off together because doing the thing that scared her, turned out to be not as scary as she thought, especially because she didn’t have to do it alone.

I loved loved loved the whole birthday scene where Alice Everly, because yes I have to use her whole namesake, turned thirty-three.

First of all, that’s so shizzy that all her siblings couldn’t make it to the cabin after telling her they would be there with cake and glitter makeup. Like that genuinely sucked. And then the sky was gray and gloomy, and that had to bring down the mood of her actual birthday day, which sucked even more. I give Alice a lot of credit for not letting the melancholy and disappointment ruin her day, and that she actually got out and went to the grocery store to buy ingredients to make her own cake. I could not stop gushing with how cute it was that Charlie was at the grocery store and was so adamant that he was going to bake the best cake ever for her birthday and that she was going to eat her words 🥺💙. He didn’t need to bake her a cake, heck, he barely knew Alice at this point, but he wanted to, and that alone was soooooo sweet.

But serious question: where do I find a Charlie Florek at my local grocery store????

Oh my gosh, and the fact that he showed up with a cake, presents, and a suit like he wanted to impress her or look good for her birthday made me overwhelmed 😫!! STOP, so cute. He knew exactly what he was doing when he lifted up those shirtsleeves to show off those forearms. I thought Charlie was SOOO CUTE when he let Alice put glitter makeup and rhinestones on his face because she was all dressed up, and part of her list was glitter. There was just such a cute intimacy of Alice putting makeup on Charlie, and the fact that Charlie was unashamed to do so for her. What made the night even better was how Alice truly did love the cake Charlie baked—-she did eat his words. And the fact that he also helped clean up by telling Alice and Nan to sit back while he washed the dishes? A true gentleman 👏🏼! Take notes. I laughed that he did buy her the smutty book because it was on her list. I think I was more surprised that she was thirty-three had not read a smutty book so far 😂.

Her birthday was just so perfect and sweet. I loved how what was supposed to be a rainy day she thought she would spend alone with her and Nan, turned into something entirely effervescent with people she was starting to really know and like.

Percy and Sam stopped by to visit. Percy’s pregnant, which we love.

When Alice, Charlie, Percy, and Sam all board the boat to watch the Canada Day fireworks that same night, I couldn’t help but think of one thing: the invisible string theroy.

I’m no scientist, but one of my favorite theories is the invisible string theory. If you don’t know what the invisible string theory is, it’s the idea that the people who are meant to be in your life will be in your life because you are connected by an invisible bond or an invisible string; that there all these pieces that connect you to meeting the right people at the right time because no matter what, there is something that is connecting you.

The photo Alice took at seventeen was the first part of the string because that’s how she captured the brothers and Percy, and now all these years later, she met them. Kismet. Now she was there on the lake with all three of them, but all this time passed, but it was like nothing had changed except her inclusion in the picture. The invisible string theory says she was always bound to Charlie, Percy, and Sam. Now was the right time for her to be part of their life and for them to find each other because they were at a better place to receive their connection. When I think about Charlie, Sam, and Percy all those years ago, they were hurting, they were obsessed with each other, and would have not been in a place to recognize or truly care about Alice.

“‘You should have said hi,’ Charlie says, voice low.

. . . ‘I wish I could have, but I was so shy. I’ve alwyas wanted to be someone different, someoen who could talk to cute boys and race aroudn in a yellow boat.’

‘I like the person you are. I wouldn’t change a thing.’

‘No edits?’

‘Not a single one.'”

(pg. 176)

As much as Charlie said Alice should have said hi all those years ago, I don’t think he would have noticed her because he was hung up about the idea of Percy. He was also very much grieving. Alice wasn’t in a place to feel confident enough to be part of what they had, and I think meeting them too soon would have made them think she was awkward and weird. Who knows? But she grew over the years, and so had they. They met each other when the timing was right.

I know for me, it’s hard because I think we want to rush into meeting the right people in life, but I also think about how I’m not in a place to meet the right people. Sometimes we just have to trust the timing even if we don’t fully understand the timing at the moment.

There’s this moment on the boat where Charlie looks at Sam and Percy who are speaking with their heads close together. Alice saw this something in the way Charlie looked at Sam and Percy, and my heart felt sad. I didn’t think Charlie was hung up about still liking Percy; I think part of him will always care about Percy, but he didn’t love her like that. I think Charlie was more sad in wanting the love they had—someone he could sit with on a boat and watch fireworks, talking about sweet nothings or whatever, someone to build a life with.

It sucked to read the conversations where Charlie adamantly believed that he was used to being alone and couldn’t want the idea of a family. Charlie was resigned to the idea that he would just be an uncle, but we all knew he was a family man and wanted a life for himself, I just hurt that he felt like he couldn’t have that whether from age and lack of a partner, or whatever he was feeling. That sucked because I think about how the older you get, the harder you are on yourself for feeling like you haven’t accomplished certain milestones, that you feel like you almost have to give up on the idea of what you want.

I loved loved loved their very vulnerable conversations on the lake, sitting on top of a floatie or a unicorn-Pegasus. Gosh, I loved how they would just float and joke, but also be real.

What made Charlie and Alice’s bond strong was how they were unwaveringly honest with each other. I believe the best relationships are where you feel comfortable and free to be yourself. I had a feeling just Alice’s candidness with Charlie was why she was so different; Alice’s honesty and humor were refreshing to Charlie who was used to girls trying to be someone Charlie liked. Alice was only ever being herself, and I loved that. I loved loved loved the way when Alice laughed with her whole chest, Charlie didn’t make her feel embarrassed. He loved her laugh 🥺💙. Gosh, the way when she first let herself fully laugh and he had to pause because he was taken aback by how unfiltered and free her laugh was???? STOP. I absolutely detested that her family made her feel like her life was a witch laugh. I know they didn’t mean to make her feel embarrassed about her laugh, but you know, when someone mentions something that you do that has a negative connection, you remember the negative more. But he loved her laugh, and that just made me think about how the right people will love you for all that you are, even your “witchy” laugh.

I also really loved the whole love languages conversation they had.

“‘You need someone to do something for you that makes you feel loved. Someone to help you.’

I shake my head. ‘I hate asking for help.’

‘That’s because deep down, you want someone to see what you need before you have to ask.””

(pg. 154)

Okay, are we talking about Alice here or myself? 😅

Charlie truly saw Alice, and I loved that. Because he knew her, he did show up for her in the way she needed to be loved—he always helped her before she asked. He took the freaking time to make a ramp for Nan before Alice asked or even thought about asking and he offered to bake the cake—he was a man of observation and action, and that’s rare.

I also liked how Alice showed up for Charlie.

There was that one moment where Charlie was, surprise surprise, at the grocery store, and Alice decided to help him. I loved the fact that Charlie was exploring his mom’s recipes to be closer to her and keep her memory alive. I just really loved how Nan and Alice took the time to help Charlie make all these dill pickles even if they didn’t like dill pickles because they wanted to be there for Charlie. The speechless way Charlie stared at them after Alice admitted they didn’t even like dill pickles, made my heart squeeze like a stress ball 🥺💙. He was just so flabbergasted that someone would help him, and it also made me sad that he was so taken aback by such a simple kindness as if no one has really done that for him before. Charlie was more like Alice than he knew—he would also never ask for help, but when help showed up for him, it took his breath away how much that help meant.

I laughed at how they got high together—-drugs actually??? 🤪

I thought it was more sweet though that he ate the candy with her because he didn’t want her to experience her first high alone. There was a liberating ease that Alice had when she was high, which made sense. She showed Charlie the photo she took all those years ago.

The invisible string theory was strong in this photo. I was unsurprised, but also giddy with how the second Alice showed Charlie the photo, Charlie was in shock. Her photo was the same photo that hung in his office at his big bank firm. What were the chances? Invisible string. Charlie always thought the people in this photo at his office looked like him, but he was never sure, but now he knew. And he knew who took the photo—the woman he was starting to love. And it was just crazy how much their lives were connected without them knowing.

Obviously I just wanted Charlie and Alice to be together, and anyone with a pulse could feel how much they liked each other.

I loved how Nan teased Alice endlessly about her connection with Charlie.

“‘He doesn’t see me that way.’

‘Oh please.’

‘He doesn’t.’

‘He does,’ Nan says. ‘When you aren’t staring at him, he’s staring at you. It’s like watching a tennis match.'”

(pg. 144)

I would pay to watch this tennis match.

It’s all in the eyes.

I could only imagine how they were looking at each other—longing, admiration, love.

The fact Nan said that Charlie and Alice reminded her of herself and her late husband, had to have hit something in Alice’s heart because Nan’s words sure did hit something in mine. I do feel like people glow differently when they are with the right people—people who make them feel safe—and that a woman who feels safe with you, allows herself to be softer. Alice’s hair was a curly, unruly mess in the best way. She wore caftan’s and laid in the sun. She didn’t really care how she looked, and her smile was undone. She felt like she was melting, she was becoming softer.

“‘There’s a lightness to you I haven’t seen in a long time–like you have the freedom to just be when you’re with him.’

‘That’s because I’m on vacation.’

Nan slants her head. ‘No, it’s because when you speak, he listens. When you smile. He smiles. When you need something, he offers help. When you give something, he thanks you. You’re peas and carrots—I think you’ve found yourself a lifelong friend.'”

(pg. 180)

I mean, they always say to marry your best friend.

When Charlie and Alice finally let themselves kiss, it was like the sun could fully shine and the sky could be its most vibrant hue. Before then, Charlie kept his distance because he always hinted that he couldn’t want more with Alice, which always made me question what the heck he meant!?!!??! Why couldn’t he give her more???? I understood he was a casanova, but still. I just didn’t know why he only said that he could give her a friends with benefits situation when he wanted a family and he loved her. We all knew he loved her. Can’t insinuates he doesn’t want to. So what was holding him back?

I had a hunch as to why he couldn’t give her more, and why Alice accepted only having “fun” with Charlie. They had the same reason in not wanting to get hurt: they didn’t want another situation of having a friend turn into a relationship and that ruined everything. With Alice, she dated a guy named Oz in university who she was friends with first, and when she slept with Oz and he didn’t reciprocate wanting more, she cut him off. Sleeping together hurt their friendship. With Charlie, he slept with Percy, which not only ruined his friendship with her but also his brother. They were both protecting this friendship that they didn’t want to lose.

I believe I mentioned this previously, but I appreciated when Charlie opened up about his past, instead of driving Alice away, she met him with understanding, which he didn’t understand why she would. But he would never truly drive her away because we all knew she loved him as more than a friend, and wouldn’t admit that to herself.

I just didn’t believe for one second Alice could only have “fun” with Charlie and be okay with the bare minimum of what he could give her. We all knew she was going to want more.

I wanted more for them.

I loved loved loved how when Heather, her dad, and Nan all confronted Alice about not going to the big exhibition gallery, Charlie stood his ground with Alice. He hung up the phone on Alice’s family because he saw how upset Alice was by staging this intervention when obviously talking about the exhibition bothered Alice. I thought it was hot how he knew how Alice felt and supported her, no questions.

He didn’t even know the full story, and said nope. You are not pi**ing my woman off today.

I did think ti was rude that they all confronted her like that because she didn’t want to go for a reason. I get they were concerned, but they should have asked her why she didn’t want to go.

As Alice was loosening during the summer, she had moments where she questioned her role as a photographer. I loved how she also became more casual with her photography, opting to use her film camera and take more honest, candid shots—pictures that were unfiltered. She was going back to her roots of wanting to capture that golden feeling of meaning with her photos. I loved that the summer allowed her to reconnect with her passion, but also find her ground. There was a moment where she submitted the barely edited pictures to that client she worked for, and doing so made her anxious. I would feel absolute dread if I went against what I was told to do—it’s a risk. But I respected her risk because we should never compromise who we are or what we believe to make others feel comfortable. I guess, I wish I had the bravery to take the risk and align with myself than to sit back and do nothing to make others feel better. I don’t feel good, I never feel good doing something that doesn’t sit right with me. It’s scary.

But I admired how Alice sent the pictures even if she was terrified. Gosh, the one worded response of two letters–OK–would have had me in a spiral 🙃. But I’m beginning to think that WHO CARES. If you do the brave thing of standing on your ground, then who cares how another person receives that. Not everyone will like you, not everyone will agree, but if you stay true to who you are, then I think that’s more meaningful. You have to stick to who you are and be there for you. The magazine did use Alice’s unedited pictures, and the response was better than they could have imagined, and they actually wanted to work with Alice again. I mean, the situation could have gone bad, but no matter what you do, there’s a risk. If Alice lost a client, that’s their loss, and she can move on to find someone or someplace that aligned to her. A loss is never truly a loss when you can gain something better if you let yourself believe you deserve better.

I loved how Alice also didn’t want to go to a gallery that celebrated a photo she wasn’t proud of. That’s her choice not to go; I wouldn’t want to go see my art if I didn’t even like my work 😂. Rescinding her art from the show as a bold move—a monumental move. I loved that. Take your art out of the show, sis 👏🏼. I just felt like taking her art out if she didn’t like it was the right thing to do because why showcase something you don’t believe in? I really appreciated her mentor’s response of not hounding on Alice for taking her photo out, but Alice speaking up for herself. No matter the ways Alice spoke up for herself, she wasn’t met with hate or the world imploding, she was met with acceptance and understanding. Or kind of. But you know, that’s life—not everyone will understand your choices and sometimes your choices will make other people angry, but WHO CARES. I’m not saying don’t care about people, but at the end of the day, are we really going to agonize ourselves over what other people think of us or what we think of ourselves? I write all of this and I am the very one who doesn’t stand up for myself, nor speak up for myself, and WHO CARES more than I should. But maybe I need to stop putting so much emphasis on how my actions make other people feel and how they make me feel—what can I live with.

Some of Alice’s best work was her honest work.

“But there’s an unscripted kind of magic in shooting from my heart.”

(pg. 263)

Alice had candid shots of her Nan drinking tea, Charlie sitting with the Nan, Percy opening cabinets. She had pictures that were real.

One of my many favorite scenes (gosh knows this whole book was my favorite), was Percy and Sam’s party. A party for what? I don’t know but I liked the party 😂.

Alice “worked” the party in being the photographer. Alice donning her professional wear felt different to her because she still felt like that woman who built her photography career, but also she felt changed. She wasn’t this uptight woman who dressed up as a photographer, she was curly haired Alice who laid on a unicorn-pegasus with a golden boy. It’s weird to wear your work armor after so long because you realize how heavy that armor was.

I would have paid good MONEY to see that picture of Charlie’s face lighting up like a firework when he saw Alice from across the room 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼!!!!!

I wish this book came with a photo album.

Good money. That’s all I have to say.

As much as Alice was capturing each moment of this party, I loved how Alice had a moment where she realized that she was exactly where her seventeen-year-old self wished she would be.

“This is exactly where I wanted to be when I was seventeen, but it’s also exactly where I want to be now.'”

(pg. 232)

This quote had my heart 🥺💙.

I have seen the quote on social media about how sometimes we don’t realize how we are living the dream or the moment our younger self always wanted. The quote above and the quote I have seen on social media have the same connotation in how when we’re younger, we always think about how we would like to achieve this at this age or maybe experienced that. And then when we have achieved or experienced that thing, we don’t take the time to recognize how much we wanted that for ourselves before to fully appreciate where we are now. We are living what our younger self always thought, and that’s not something to blink an eye to or not celebrate.

For Alice, knowing she always felt like the outsider looking in—wanting to be part of the party, have all these connections and friendships, to be bold enough to live loudly and freely—to be in the life that she always wanted was surreal to her. Living the life she dreamed about was a dream. And she appreciated where she was now because of everything she had worked through and on to be there now. I just think about how we do things for ourselves, but we should also do things for our younger self who dared to dream and who would be proud of where we were now if only they knew. Keep making yourself proud should be the goal. I know there have been moments in my life where I’m in it, and I’m like, “Wow, is this real?” because those moments are what I always wanted or dreamt of, and to have done it, is the wildest, most gratifying feeling in the world.

“Because for once in my life, I don’t feel like I’m on the sidelines. for once I’m in the photo.”

(pg. 232)

I loved loved loved that 💙.

I loved the scene where Charlie and Alice are laying out by the lake and he asks about why she never has any photos of herself. That scene was SOOOOOOOOOO CUTE. So cute.

The way Charlie used his silly little iPhone to take a picture of her because he wanted a picture of her because it was only fair when she had all these pictures of him, and then he snapped a picture of her sticking out her tongue like she was teasing him. And then he posted her picture on his social media, with only her name as the caption 😫💙. Stop. SToP. STOP right now. SOOO CUTE. Just so sweet and precious how simple, yet romantic the gesture was in wanting a picture of her and posting her because she obviously meant something to him. UGH. Just cute. So so cute.

I also loved the scene where Heather and Bennett came to finally visit.

I loved how when Heather cancelled the first time, Charlie was there to comfort her, and even offered to drive two hours to town to get Bennett so that she could spend time with her aunt Alice. But when Heather and Bennett did come, their arrival was worth the wait.

I LOVED how endearingly gentle and sweet Charlie was towards the Everly women 💙.

I loved how he took them all on a boat ride, even the Nan. No, but when he carried Nan to the boat, and Nan was on the boat with the wind and salt water in my hair, and it said the Nan was silently crying, OOOOOOOh I lost it. I just cried—full on tears trickling down my silly little face 😭. I don’t know, there was just something so special about how Charlie included Nan in that moment and how much I could just feel her thinking about how grateful she was to be alive in this moment with two generations of her grandchildren on a lake that held a lot of meaning to her. And I bet being on that boat took her back and made her feel young again, while also enjoying where she was now—similar to Alice’s idea of where she wanted to be when she was seventeen but also where she wanted to be now. A full circle moment and idea. Honestly, just truly a beautifully written moment that had nothing to do with romance, and everything to do with love.

I also loved loved loved how considerate Charlie was around Bennett. I loved that he a wore a shirt around her because he saw how Bennett wore a shirt when she was in the water, and didn’t want to make her feel alone. I loved how he jumped with Bennett in the lake, or did all the things younger Alice would have done if only she had someone as special as Charlie to make her feel brave enough to do things. I love how Bennett felt so comfortable opening up and talking to Charlie, which is a testament to Charlie’s character. When you’re shy, opening up to someone is like sticking your toe out in a minefield, hoping you’re safe. Charlie was the epitome of a human being if Bennett felt safe around him. I loved how he finished the tree house in time for Bennett and Alice to sleep under the stars.

Additionally, I loved what Bennett represented. We’ve all been awkward, gangly teenagers, and it’s uncomfortable 😅. Being a teenager, going to a body of water??? I’D RATHER KISS A MONKEY. I would rather wear a double-layered pants and fur coat to the beach than a bikini 😂. You just feel so weird and awkward in your body at thirteen, especially thirteen, that I loved how Carley Fortune wrote how when your that age, you can be so excited to buy a new swimsuit and wear it, but when you get to the water, it’s like you want to throw a t-shirt or wear even more clothing than usual. I loved how most people could relate to Bennett because we have all been Bennett. Alice saw herself through Bennett, but was so different was how Bennett took risks Alice never did—that Bennett could have a summer younger Alice would have loved.

“Photos of Nan. The water. Charlie’s yellow boat flying across the bay. Memories of this second golden summer.

It feels like I’ve come full circle.”

(pg. 263)

Truly 🥺💙.

A second chance golden summer was not only for Alice, but for Nan.

I wanted to understand more about Nan and John the second Nan got weird whenever John was mentioned. Why was she so adamant about not talking to John?

I literally titled the part where Nan finally talked about John as “oh yes, Dear John” time 😂. But Nan’s husband passing away was a difficult time. John also would lose his wife. Nan and John would go to the cabin for memories sake, and during one summer John and Nan shared a kiss. After that kiss, Nan was furious as John and walked away. She never spoke to him since—she was too angry at what they had done. I understood that Nan and John were hurting and probably kissed in comfort of their shared grief. I also understood how Nan felt like she betrayed her best friend, Joyce, and her husband by kissing John, and she couldn’t live with herself knowing what she did. So she got angry, said hurtful things, and cut John out.

Nan and John reconciled that summer, and my heart felt like it had been hugged. I agree, that if you have the opportunity to make-up with someone you still want in your life, you should do so because life is too precious. You never know what could happen, so if you want to do something, do it. I loved how after all this time, John and Nan talked like no time—and no qualms—had passed between them. I loved how they lost track of time together because they were so busy trying to say encapsulate what years they had lost.

I didn’t know how everything could get worse when everything so far in this book had been perfect, because you know, classic romance, something bad had to happen eventually.

I did not see the car crash coming. Literally 😳.

I was like, I HOPE A CAR CRASH ISN’T WHAT DRIVES CHARLIE AWAY.

I was holding that breath because I knew in some way that Charlie might blame himself for hurting Alice and he would walk away to protect her and I didn’t want that to be the reason he pulled away.

I mean, Charlie still pulled away, but they both did. Surprisingly, Alice pulled away first, not because of the car crash, but from what Charlie said before the fox ran out on the road and Charlie swerved.

“We wouldn’t be good together. It’s like being dropped into glacial waters.

. . . his comment hurt. Even in the light of a new day, it hurts.”

(pg. 292)

It’s funny how quickly I can go from Team (male love interest) to cursing his name 😂.

But seriously, that had to have hurt because as much as she knew he “couldn’t” give her more, he insinuated that even in friendship they wouldn’t be good together. When she was in the hospital, her emotional wounds hurt more than the physical scars she now had.

I laughed with how Charlie fought her back with literally sitting in the corner of her bedroom to watch her as she slept because he promised Heather that she would watch over her. I understood why she put Charlie at a distance after the accident—she needed space and time to think about what he said, while also protecting her heart.

I loved the raw moment where Alice opened up to Nan about how she had truly been feeling and how she was falling in love with Charlie and it scared her. I also loved how Nan opened up about similar fears of how the accident she had scared her because the accident made her feel her age, even if she didn’t truly feel her age.

“‘I love this cottage, but it’s also a reminder of how much past is behind me, and how much little future is left.

(pg. 297)

🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

This moment was special not only in conversation, but in meaning with how no matter our age, we fear loss, we fear love—funny how those two completely dissimilar emotions are always tied.

Charlie taking Alice to his high school dark room because he knows how much she loved developing pictures was like giving Alice a poster saying, “I see you.” Even when she was hurt by his words, he still reached out and tried to make her feel better because he didn’t want to lose her. I loved how he left her alone in that dark room to have a moment to herself, doing what she loved and finding peace in what she was doing. I loved how every photo she developed felt like reliving the best summer of her life.

“I want to wrap my hand around the last strands of summer, to enjoy what we have for a little longer.”

(pg. 306)

I don’t think they called it a dark room for the reason Charlie and Alice used it for 👉🏼👈🏼. But I was not mad about it in the slightest. I was just more mad at the way that Charlie constantly pushed her away because he “couldn’t,” or he “can’t.” I thought what a cowardly jerk thing to push her away and saying maybe one day he’d be bored of her. I’m sorry, that’s a suck a** reason, insinuating that she’s so boring that one day he would be bored of her and she should just move on. When she told him he’s making a big mistake because he’s scared of his feelings, I said, “SCREAM it louder for the loser right in front of your face.” Big mistake indeed.

I just wanted to understand more than anything 😫.

I felt Alice’s heartbreak like it was my own 🥺💔.

That’s not something I write often with stories.

When Alice left the cabin early, and returned back to her life, I could feel the sorrow in her bones; it’s a sorrow, a grief, I knew well. The way she could barely get out of bed, walking around not really feeling much, gosh I wanted to give her a hug. The way she was in bed that one time and holding herself to say, “I’m okay?” I’ve never spontaneously cried so much while reading a story. I don’t think I would have cried if I hadn’t recently been through literally the same experience of holding myself and trying to convince every fiber of my being that “I was okay.” 🥺 When you’re hurting and you feel like no one’s there, you feel like holding yourself while saying “you’re okay” is the best you can get.

Alice texting her family that she was having a heart time really got me.

I knew how much courage that must have taken her to admit that she wasn’t in a great place to ask her family for help.

Honestly, it sucked that they weren’t there too to even notice how much she was hurting. The whole situation just made me think about how everyone is living their own life and we assume that everyone is fine or okay, but sometimes people aren’t. Sometimes people are trying to hold themselves together but they don’t want to admit they are hurting, so they hurt by themselves. Check in with people, even if you don’t think it means something, it still means something.

I loved loved loved how everyone in her family came when she sent out that text message.

Her twin siblings came with glitter and a late birthday cake. Heather came with a bottle. The dad came. Even the mom came. How lucky Alice was that she had people who showed up for her. Not everyone has that; not everyone, sometimes not even one person would come.

The mom heart-to-heart was healing and cathartic. I think Alice harbored hurt that her mom left to start a new life like her life with her kids wasn’t a life that she wanted/made her happy.

“It was madness, Alice. But it was a beautiful madness.”

(pg. 334)

There was a sense of understanding between Alice and her mom that brought them closer. The mom never reached out to Alice or turned to Alice a lot because the mom didn’t want to burden Alice or her kids. Alice never asked for help because she also didn’t want to be a burden—they felt the same way. Maybe we all feel like an imposition and we learn from others because we feel how others feel. Funny how people often times feel like a burden to others so they take on everything by themselves, only to realize how everyone feels like a burden when deep down we all truly just want someone to see us—to reach out.

” . . . instead of telling myself that I’m okay, I tell myself I will be okay. Maybe not today, but I will get there.”

(pg. 336)

Watching Alice slowly find her way back to life was a beautiful journey. I loved the way she made the choice to decorate her place with more vibrancy. I loved the way she reached out and spent more time with her family. I loved the way she lessened her clientele list so she could focus on projects she wanted and a career that made her happy. I loved how she was actively making choices to make her life feel like a constant summer.

“I don’t want to run anymore; I only want to swim.”

(pg. 336)

It’s so easy to run—to keep going, pushing through with arduous breaths. Swimming means you’re floating, your moving but languidly at a pace that doesn’t feel like your chest is heaving out of your body. Swimming means you can take a breath and feel the breath fully. Maybe I need to stop running. Maybe I need to learn how to swim again.

Percy’s call about Charlie being in the hospital didn’t surprise me, but also did.

I didn’t know he was going to be in the hospital, but my hunch (along with the not wanting to lose a friend hunch) was that Charlie couldn’t give Alice more because of his health.

Carley Fortune forebode Charlie’s health throughout the book. There was also the various hints about mortality and Charlie constantly saying things how life was precious, how he felt like he didn’t have a legacy even if he said he didn’t want one. In these conversations, he would allude to his father’s passing, which understandably would always affect Charlie.

Charlie had an open heart surgery two months after summer ended—a surgery he knew was going to happen but didn’t know what was going to happen because of the surgery. He couldn’t promise Alice more because he didn’t know. That had to be terrifying for him. He didn’t want to tell her about his heart condition or his surgery because he didn’t want her to hurt the way he hurt when he lost someone he loved.

“‘Because I think she’d tell you how wrong you are. I think she’d tell you that all the pain and grief were worth every minute she had with your dad.'”

(pg. 350)

Charlie was worth every pain and grief.

Charlie had the same health concerns as his father. When Charlie went to the doctor a bit before summer began, the doctors detected something similar to what the father had. Charlie had a heart stent, so they did a procedure then, but he also had another surgery later—the surgery that he was now in the hospital for. Charlie took a break from work because he couldn’t focus on work, and that’s where he met Alice and his whole life changed.

“‘You’ve given me the summer I’ve always wanted.”

(pg. 217)

The summer he needed 🥺💙. Timing is everything.

My heart broke multiple times at the end of the book for various reasons.

It almost felt necessary that Alice bit back at Charlie who didn’t want her to see him all weak and fragile. But I loved how she fought him on staying at the hospital with him and checking up on him in his apartment. I loved how she made little touches to his space to make it feel more cozy and like home when he wasn’t there, and how much those little touches brought more life to his space than she realized.

I know I said this about literally everything in this book, but one of my favorite parts was when Alice was leaving Charlie’s house after taking him home, and Charlie stopped her. He told her he opened the envelope of photos she gave him at the hospital that one day. And OH MY GOSH, when I tell you I have read the rainbow and over of grand gestures—the silly, the dramatic, the cutesy—I have to say this was one of my favorite grand gestures. Truly top tier. Just the way I could imagine Charlie speaking with his heart in his hands and eyes solely on Alice, when he said,

“I saw something else in those photos,’ Charlie says. . . ‘I saw myself falling in love with you.'”

(pg. 356)

NO DUH!!!!!

I mean, AWWWWWWWWWWWW 🥺💙.

But like no duh! They say the eyes don’t lie, and I knew once she got every photo developed, she would find images of Charlie staring back at her with nothing but unfiltered adoration, fondness, care, and absolute love.

I loved Charlie’s whole speech about when he began falling in love with Alice and all these in between moments that only built upon that love because that was love does—it builds upon a strong foundation.

“‘I Want you to have a life full of freedom and joy and glitter and art. An endless bucket list.'”

(pg. 297)

An endless list of a life full of meaning and joy.

I mean, everything Charlie described was entirely them, and I loved that. I laughed cried with how Alice started crying and the only thing she took away from that speech was that Charlie loved her. I mean, I would latch onto that part too, but she needed to know that her feelings had always been reciprocated, so I get it.

Truth be told I really started to cry when Charlie called her “my Alice.” Or when he said “my Alice has the best laugh” (pg. 358). Yes, she has the best laugh because you made her feel comfortable and free enough to laugh 🥺. What a gift that is to hear someone’s laugh because you know you make them light up in a way that not only the sun can do.

The moment was so tender and sweet when Alice wanted to kiss Charlie who was still healing and they were both afraid of hurting each other.

“‘I’m afraid of hurting you.’

His fingers thread into my hair. ‘It’d be worth it,’ he says, and then Charlie takes my mouth with his.

It feels like all the greatest kisses in one. Like kissing your high school crush, and the best friend you’ve fallen in love with, and the person you want to stand beside for as long as time will let you. It’s the starting gun and the finish line.”

(pg. 358)

I’m sorry, that is the BEST way anyone has ever described a kiss in the history of making out 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼!!!

No, truly, I say that with my whole heart because I had to pause after I read that paragraph because I felt like my heart got punched in the chest and I had to take a breather. So beautifully written with incredible prose because the way Carley Fortune describe their kiss from a place of absolute love wasn’t even describing their lips touching or sensations they felt, but Carley Fortune captured a nostalgic feeling and evoked memories I feel like everyone can relate to when it comes to a kiss. Like kissing your high school crush? When you first are swept up by your feet, head-over-heels, in love with someone and the world feels like it’s turned on high. To kissing your best friend you’ve fallen in love with? A slow burn of years of trust, laughter, and a tenderness so sweet and gentle to cross the line of friendship to more; A vulnerability. To the person you want to stand beside for as long as time will let you? Someone you could see yourself with forever. A starting gun and the finish line? The reason you begin this journey in love. You run, you chase, and you try to keep up. The finish line is the reason you want to complete this race because you found the right person on this race of life, of love.

A past, present, future, forever.

I absolutely admired the way Carley Fortune captured that feeling with a kiss 💙.

The day Charlie woke up on his birthday, was the day he turned one year older than his father would have . I could only imagine what that must have felt like for him—sorrow, gratefulness, possibly hope. I could only imagine too how much that must have hurt Charlie the entire summer thinking he finally fell in love with someone who he saw a future with, only to feel like he wasn’t sure if he could give her that future. He probably felt angry at the world where he didn’t know if he had a future to give her but wanted the chance too. I loved the light and levity Charlie had when he woke up, to be there in that moment with Alice who he could now have a future with as long as time would let them. I really loved how Alice also told Charlie all these things she loved about him because he was incredibly hard about themselves. I just think more people, men in particular, need to know how much they are loved or what’s beautiful about them because I don’t think they hear it enough. I think if more people, men in particular, start to hear the reasons they are good people/men, they would start to see themselves the way other people see them. I loved how Alice recognized Charlie needed someone to see the good in him and tell him everyday to bring out the parts of him she knew were good.

I’m not saying men need to inflate their ego anymore than some men already do, but I think men in particular just don’t talk about or hear qualities that make them feel worthy except being strong or being a provider. I think men are so much more than muscles and money.

Carley Fortune did a beautiful job in paralleling the prologue and epilogue with the photo One Golden Summer; the story began with one spontaneous photo and ended with the same photo. I loved how the photo manifested itself in real life to the people she randomly snapped a picture of, being the people who would be in her life, supporting her own art gallery.

I was proud that Alice had a gallery dedicated to photos she was proud of and wanted to share. GOSH, the titles of the photos made me sob 😭. The titles were just so perfect in capturing the feeling and essence of her summer and these people she loved. The photos also felt nostalgic in taking me back to every beautiful memory in this book that had my heart cinching in love or smiling in laughter—the photos felt like a cumulation of growth and a celebration of the genuine beauty life can hold even if sometimes it can be hard to see.

I loved loved loved how Alice also had a vulnerable and raw picture of herself because her subjects all held a vulnerability with taking their photos, something she felt like she should also be brave in capturing. Just thinking about her laughing and fighting Charlie that day on the lake about not wanting her photo taken, and taking her photo with nothing on was incredibly brave as it was powerful. I loved that she felt confident and comfortable enough to be in front of the camera because of the love around her that made her feel brave.

There was this random dream that Alice would have a lot in the beginning of the book. I kept wondering why we were hearing about her dream 😅, but I loved loved loved the full circle moment.

In this dream, Alice was climbing up stairs to a rotary phone and when she picked up the phone, she could not speak. I’m no oneirologist, but her dream to me meant that she always felt like she was trying to climb the ladder in her career, and when she got to the top of where she wanted to be and had to speak up, she felt stuck and like she couldn’t use her voice. Alice’s dream reflected her real life feelings in feeling stuck in her career even when she got to where she always wanted to be, but she didn’t know how to speak up for herself—she felt voiceless and powerless. Standing in front of her family and friends at the end of the book, surrounded by her art she was proud of, making a speech was poetic completion. She found her voice—literally and artistically. She was doing what brought her fulfillment with people who made her life full. She was no longer stuck.

I loved loved loved that 💙.

Overall, One Golden Summer was pure perfection of a beautifully, seemingly poetically written summer of romance, family, nostalgia, friendship, and heart. This was not only a story of romance, but truly a story of heart. There were just so many moments, practically the entire book, that I just loved because they made me smile and laugh with giddiness and joy. And I think that’s what a phenomenal book does—it makes you feel that joy with you. What also made One Golden Summer incredible was the fact that there was so much depth to the characters from their backstories and growth, that no character felt untouched or undiscovered, which I feel happens in many books, but I loved how we got to know each character—that they held meaning and purpose. I loved how we saw Alice soften before our eyes while also maintaining her strength, and seemingly the same with Charlie. It’s funny because Alice and Charlie are completely different people, but yet they were actually very similar in how they loved and held themselves.

I probably won’t shut up about One Golden Summer until . . . ever 😂. I definitely won’t forget what a joy this book was to read. Honestly, I forget most plots, but One Golden Summer truly had an unforgettable story that captured and brightened my heart 💙.

Anyway, what was your thoughts of the book? What was your favorite part of the book? Least favorite part? 

If you had a seventeen-year-old summer bucket list, what would be some things on it? Or even a summer bucket list now, what would be on it? For my seventeen-year-old summer, maybe I would have put go on a date or something or like have a bonfire 😅. You know, like really live it up. I think for my now summer bucket list, I would the cliché of travel, talk to someone new, do a new hobby, drive to a new place, try something different, start a poetry account?????? It’s no drugs maybe, but it’s something hahaha.

Let me know below in the comments as I love hearing from you all 💕

I hope you have a beautiful day whenever and wherever you might be reading this 😊.

And as always, with love,

Overall Rating

5 Full Bloom Flowers + Infinity

Characters: I found Alice to be really relatable in her emotions as a grown woman and also being someone who was shy growing up. I loved feeling like I could understand her experiences, and to also watch her find more freedom and levity when she felt safe and comfortable to be who she was. I also loved getting to know Charlie and how much heart he has. I think everyone should find a partner as funny, thoughtful, and sweet and Charlie Florek.

Plot: I thought Every Summer After was incredible, and I was proven wrong. One Golden Summer told Every Summer After to f*** off, it’s my time to shine, and gosh did One Golden Summer shine bright. Everything about One Golden Summer was phenomenal from the wholesomeness of the writing style, words that felt poetic and captured a feeling, every detail that was well-thought out and crafted with love, and the depth of characters and background stories. One Golden Summer is what makes readers proud to be readers.

Writing: One thing I love about reading is witnessing an author get better and better. Carley Fortune is one of those authors, and is easily one of my favorites.

Romance: It’s funny because even as I wrote this review, I realized I loved the romance, but I stayed for the all around love this book held 💙. So much more than a book of two people falling in love, but a story of two people falling in love with themselves again, with their life, and with, of course, each other.