Meet Me at the Lake

A random connection sends two strangers on a daylong adventure where they make a promise one keeps and the other breaks, with life-changing effects, in this breathtaking new novel from the author of the New York Times bestselling and TikTok hit Every Summer After.

One day. One promise. Two lives changed.

Fern Brookbanks has wasted far too much of her adult life thinking about Will Baxter. She spent twenty-four hours in her early twenties with the aggravatingly attractive, idealistic artist — a chance encounter that spiralled into a daylong city adventure. 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 hasn't turned out how she imagined it. She's back home, running her mother's lakeside resort, which is in disarray — and her ex-boyfriend is the manager. She needs a lifeline.

To Fern's surprise, it comes in the form of Will, who arrives — nine years too late — with an offer to help. Will may be the only person who understands what Fern's going through. Yet how can she possibly trust this expensive suit-wearing mirage who seems nothing like the young man she met all those years ago?

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

'A sweet story about second chances, and how the future we imagine for ourselves is never quite what it turns out to be' JODI PICOULT