Carley Fortune's One Golden Summer is just what I needed. In this follow-up to Every Summer After, Fortune returns to the idyllic world of Barry's Bay, giving Charlie Florek his chance to play hero. Still, he's not the star of this story. That would be Alice Everly, the gifted photographer who sees him -- and is seen by him -- through her camera lens.
Burned out by a breakup and career ennui, Alice retreats to the lake to care for her grandmother. Away from the stress of the city, she lets down her hair (literally!) and makes a summer bucket list. Meeting a man is the last thing she wants, but that changes when she bumps into Charlie. Gorgeous and irreverent, he captivates her -- and gets under her skin. Still, there's no avoiding him because he's the caretaker for her cottage. Not to mention the boy in the photo that she took seventeen years ago, the one that launched her career. Back then, Alice was an awkward teen, hiding yet yearning to belong. At thirty-three, she has a chance to finally put herself in the picture. And she's not the shy girl that she used to be, nor is Charlie the bad boy he portrays.
Nostalgic and poignant, One Golden Summer is everything I love about this season. Despite being indoorsy, it makes me want to cannonball into a lake, then nap on the shore, sunburn and mosquitoes be damned. Fortune paints a beautiful picture (sorry not sorry, the pic puns keep coming), reminding us that sometimes getting it right means getting away from it all.
