Picture a steamy summer romance. Rival surfers falling in love on the California coast, may come to mind. A destination wedding tale of a bridesmaid being swept off her feet on a tropical isle, perhaps. Now, picture the beaches of… Canada.
Wait a second! Canada? Yep! (It’s not always covered by snow!) While America’s northern friendly neighbor is not the usual backdrop of romcom novels, Carley Fortune has become famous changing that narrative. Next month her newest novel Our Perfect Storm hits bookshelves (May 5th to be exact).
But while you wait for that much-anticipated book, let’s talk about her last book: One Golden Summer, a 2025 “Goodreads Nominee for Readers’ Favorite Romance” and the follow up her Every Summer After (2022), which was both a Goodreads Readers’ Favorite Romance and Nominee for Readers’ Favorite Debut Novel.
In One Golden Summer, readers follow Alice Everly, a thirty-something year-old photographer, as she assists her grandmother in recovering from surgery on the lakefront in Barry’s Bay, Ontario. The real life small town is situated on Lake Kamaniskeg in the Madawaska Valley and known to host slow summer days of tanning, tubing, and barbeques. There, she meets Charlie Florek, a charming investment banker who is attending to the house while on a sabbatical from work. Over the course of the summer, readers learn more about the trials of Alice and Charlie’s lives as Fortune coaxes the characters into silly, dramatic situations that mean they can’t help but fall in love on the lakeside.
I read this book over the course of a frosty January in Michigan and a plane ride to Madrid. I am from a lakefront town myself (Lake St. Clair, Michigan) and have spent time in Lakeview, Michigan indulging in the ‘Up North’ lifestyle, which is along the lines of the cottage life depicted in this book. Fortune took me out of the winter and, in the cold, I could remember the sparkle of summer as the characters navigated their feelings at the lake. Much like Alice and Charlie, I have my favorite local businesses that make my trips to the lake magical.
So I wanted to dig into the real-lief places featured in Fortune’s book. Here then is a look at the hotspots mentioned in this bestselling book so we can all spend some future dream summer in Barry’s Bay, Ontario, or the other locations mentioned in this place-based novel.
Barry’s Bay
Starting at the lakefront, Barry’s Bay is the main location featured in the book. The protagonist spends the summer in a lakefront cabin that is meant to reflect the one the author grew up in. The main attraction of Barry’s Bay is the cottage lake life. While Alice and Charlie spend the summer in Charlie’s yellow speedboat, readers can get in on the action with a boat tour of Kamaniskeg Lake. Throughout the book, Alice and Nan spruce up the cottage through crafting. The real-life craft store, Stedman’s, is the one that inspired the many trips they took there. Nan even names the small shop in the book, “Stedmans used to have a good selection. We’ll start there” (p. 35).
While there are many real-life stops in Barry’s Bay that readers can visit, there are also places that may be the inspiration for other locations mentioned or spots I think the characters would enjoy. First, the Ashgrove Inn is the only bar in Barry’s Bay that matches the few details we get about Charlie’s family-owned bar. Then, the idyllic Algonquin Park is mentioned as a past travel destination of the characters.
The Wilno Tavern is a local spot in Barry’s Bay that celebrates Polish heritage by serving up authentic Polish delicacies, specifically pierogi, which are dough stuffed with potato or kraut. Throughout the book, the characters enjoy pierogi and even try their hand at making them themselves.
The Madawaska Coffee Shop is a small, local business in Barry’s Bay. Alice is mentioned drinking coffee here on multiple occasions. I think this would be a great first date spot for Alice and Charlie, if they ever leave the ‘we’re just friends’ stage. 😉
Toronto
Toward the southern border of Canada, Alice and Charlie live their winters lives in Toronto. Alice has her art displayed at The Cardinal Gallery and first found inspiration for her work at the Art Gallery of Ontario. They also spend time at Kwartha Dairy, an adorable ice cream stop, when Alice and Nan first drive to the cottage. These places were all named in the book as ‘favorites’ of the characters, and you can visit them, too.
Should you believe the hype on this book?
What I loved about this book: how connected it was to the setting. I could feel the sun on my skin! The setting was central to the plot because the characters were only open to love because they were at the lake. They lived by Nan’s “good things happen at the lake” (p. 46) mentality, which they did not have in Toronto. What I hated: the characters! (Don’t kill me!) These are 35-year-olds acting like middle schoolers.For example, whenever the main male character would repeat the female main character’s full name (“Alice Everly”) over and over (as soon as the first phone call they exchanged), I rolled my eyes. Many people loved Charlie for that! For me, all of their moments made me cringe. In all honesty, I disliked the characters so much that I don’t see myself reading more of Fortune’s work. My TBR list is too long to read anything that feels forced, as this one felt to me.
Going to some of the local shops was neat, but it took me out of the story, which is what I came for. For example, when Alice and Nan are first traveling to the cottage, Fortune writes, “We stop at Kwartha Dairy in Bancroft for ice cream cones” (p.23). It is nice of her to plug local businesses, but the added detail distracted from the plot and took time away from the characters.
This beach read was okay, but a little too fluffy for my tastes. I’ve got a lot of others along these lines that have way more priority (hello debut novel by Brooke Averick!!). For how obsessed the internet seems to be about Fortune’s books (this one has a 4.28 on Goodreads), I expected more! A typical review reads like this one from Moonstruck Reads: “The lakeside setting is downright idyllic and Fortune’s prose just exudes summer, especially her wonderfully sensual and sweeping descriptions. I can practically feel the summer sun on my skin and lake water lapping at my feet when I read her prose.”
I will note that my opinion may have been formed by the fact that I listened to the audiobook version. I attempted to get into the physical copy, wasn’t loving it, and switched to the audiobook with fingers crossed. But, the audiobook made it much worse. What I could have written off in my imagination as a cute quirk (see “Alice Everly”) was forced onto me by a wretched narrator. And people agree with me! While folks love this book, the negative reviews often mention having listened to the audio version.
If you don’t care about this being in Canada and getting into that Canadian “cottage life” many people in these parts here about as idyllic, you may end up like me and not like this book as much as everyone else seems to. This is strongly in the beach read category, and the characters annoyed me. On Goodreads, I gave this book two out of five stars. I never bought the love story between the characters, but the setting was a great backdrop for a romcom and did connect me to my time on the lake.
If you enjoy place-based romcoms stuffed with one-liners, you will love One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune. If you started with this one and loved it, check out the aforementioned Every Summer After, which is linked to characters in this book but not quite a prequel. Instead, it is the love story of Percy and Sam, Charlie’s brother and his wife. Warning that some elements of that book have been spoiled if you read One Golden Summer first!
Personally, I rec you instead check out Just For Summer by Abby Jimenez. I love this one so much I just reread and loved it again. Place based, summery, somewhat annoying characters, but you get over it because it is just so cute. It is another one that is best read in print.
If you have a free afternoon on the boat, at the pool, or in a lake house, sitting down with One Golden Summer is not the worst way to spend your time. As Nan always says, “good things happen at the lake.” (p. 46)
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