A tragedy on a hot summer night at a lake house forever alters the lives of two best friends—and the man they both love. But the truth isn’t as simple as it appears in this intricate novel of love, friendship, betrayal, and forgiveness. Leah has been waiting for this moment a long time: Her boyfriend, Ollie, is taking her to his family’s home on Seneca Lake for a week of lazy summer bliss, … summer bliss, boating, and barbeque. The couple have been together four years, and Leah is convinced that Ollie is finally going to pop the question. Leah can’t wait to share the joyous news with her best friend, June, who is joining them on their getaway, and whose presence will make everything feel more real.
Seven years later, the moment June has been dreading has finally arrived: Her fiancé, Ollie, is taking her to his family’s lake house. But this is not an ordinary visit to an ordinary place; it is a house haunted by June’s long-buried memories of her lost friend Leah—and the connection that appears to remain between Leah and the man for whom June’s love is as deep as her grief.
Alternating between the two women’s vibrant voices, One Night at the Lake is an emotional novel that explores a complex tangle of friendship, loyalty, and betrayal, all driving toward one question: Can love overcome what happened on that hot summer night?
Praise for One Night at the Lake
“Captivating and compelling . . . This is the perfect book to slip into your weekend bag for your own trip to the lake this summer.”—Jill Santopolo, New York Times bestselling author of The Light We Lost
“With gripping prose and a setting that is as sentient as the characters who inhabit it, Bethany Chase draws a tale that is immediate and real, the kind of story you’ll feel to your gut.”—Michelle Gable, New York Times bestselling author of A Paris Apartment
“Chase has crafted the perfect blend of fully realized characters and a burning question I couldn’t wait to have the answer to. You won’t be able to turn the pages fast enough.”—Tracey Garvis Graves, New York Times bestselling author of On the Island and The Girl He Used to Know
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Leah and June are best friends. Leah is hoping that Ollie will propose. Then seven years later Ollie is taking his fiancé, June, to his family’s lake house for the weekend. It’s the first time that June has been to the lake since the night that changed everything. Who is to blame for what happened? We find out about that weekend and what everyone is going through now by June’s and Leah’s alternating timelines and perspectives, as the tragedy of the past slowly unfolds.
I actually read this book a while ago but I still think about it and what happened to these three people that one night on the lake. This is definitely a story that will stick with you, just like it did me.
I started this book with very high hopes. I really like the author’s writing style. Check out “The One That Got Way”. It’s a fun listen (audiobook with enjoyable narration). Based on the description of this book I knew the subject matter was going to be emotional and was fully ready to dig in. The writing is terrific and I really like the style of toggling of POV and time from chapter to chapter. What I didn’t like was most every person in the book. I could not connect to anyone or find the characters even remotely likable except Leah. Ollie is well, kind of a jerk. Knowing he is not in love with Leah and in his words hasn’t been for a while invites her away for a holiday weekend to visit his family and still is being intimate with her. When she asks to bring her best friend he says yes knowing he is in love with her and not his actual girlfriend. Seriously? I think it was at that point I started to check out, but when he constantly protected Caleb, lied, omitted truths I was done. He was a total man-child and wanted it all his way. That his mother called June to plead his case was ugh just gross. I honestly found him to be a spineless, detestable ego driven classless chicken excuse of a human. Spoiled to the very core and willing to do anything to get what he wants.
The only person (Leah) who showed any form of honesty is the one who was only around in flashback form. June tried and was innocent and thoughtful in this, but how she could still want to marry someone who lied about his part of her best friends tragic death and the reason why it happened made any positive connection or respect for her to her disappear immediately. Lies by omission are still lies. I feel as if she knew the truth from the beginning their relationship would not have occurred.
I am in the minority about this book. I am not sure why, but I just found myself irked while reading it. It even took multiple times of restarting to get into it. Had I purchased this book I would have given up after the 3 or 4th time! Only because I committed to reviewing it did I force myself to finish it. From my perspective read at your own risk, but I am just one reviewer.
I had received an advanced copy of this book from netgalley.com for an honest review.
Excellent book. I loved the way the book jumped from character to character while the story live developed.
Good unusual story but very sad.
A really good vacation read. not overly deep, but with well-developed characters and an interesting plot.
First, I would like to thank Ballantine Books publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a free Kindle ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
I finished this book three months ago. Three whole months. Somehow, it slipped my mind to write the review.
I was completely swept away by this novel. There was so much emotion that poured out of each of the characters. The book is written on two timelines, alternating with each chapter: when Leah visited the lake with Ollie, and seven years later. From the beginning, we quickly realize that Leah died at the lake, and seven years later, her best friend June is struggling with the emotional toll of taking a visit to this dreaded location with Ollie, who is now HER boyfriend. She is flooded with guilt for loving Ollie and living the life that she believes Leah should have lived. As we alternate between timelines, the tension builds. How did Leah die? How will June and Ollie’s relationship recover after revisiting their tragic past? Did Ollie’s brother have any involvement in Leah’s death? This book was very emotional, and I cried along with the characters. I lost my best friend last year, so I felt a lot of empathy for June. I would highly recommend this book and will likely purchase a print copy so that I, too, can revisit the lake.
#netgalley #onenightatthelake
One Night at the Lake unfolds like a summer’s day, dawning warm and full of promise, and ending with a bonfire of the heart. I was instantly taken in by the best friends who tell the story: Leah, plucky and unfiltered, and June, whose placid exterior belies a laser wit. Chase weaves the fast-paced narrative with authority, delivering an entertaining and astute exploration of the joys and limitations of loyalty and friendship. Ultimately, though, this is a deeply emotional love story–one your summer won’t be the same without. Exceptional!
I had planned to read and review this one prior to the publication date, but I’m a few days late! This one kept me completely engrossed as I sat out on my deck yesterday afternoon enjoying the gorgeous weather. The only thing better would have been if I had taken it with me to the lake last week.
This novel is told from the points of view of Leah and her best friend June, switching back and forth between the present and their trip to the lake seven years ago. It takes no time to understand that June is Leah’s best friend and Ollie is Leah’s boyfriend of four years, and the three of them are thick as thieves. When June’s boyfriend breaks up with her right before their vacation, Leah invites June to join them at Seneca Lake for the week to visit with Ollie’s family, where she is hoping that Ollie is going to propose to her. Then seven years later, told from June’s point of view, she is also preparing to visit Seneca for the week, with her fiance Ollie, and she’s nervous as hell about it. See what happened here? Ollie was with Leah but is now engaged to June. Hmmmmm.
One Night at the Lake is certainly a character driven novel, however, there is enough depth to the plot that it’s not just about the ins and outs of the characters. There’s no huge twist or “aha” moment, but there’s ample conflict to hold your interest in this one.
Leah is a live wire, intelligent, funny, passionate, and as June and Ollie describe her years later, “she really lived.” I was crazy about Leah’s character and the enthusiastic view she had on life. She loved fiercely, enjoyed the little things, and reluctantly admitted her mistakes.
June is struggling not only with returning to the lake for the first time in seven years, but her overall relationship with Ollie. She misses her best friend desperately, feels guilty for being with the man that Leah had hoped to marry, but also resentful because she constantly wonders, “is he only with me because she’s no longer in our lives?”
Ollie was a challenge for me to get a handle on, most likely because I got to know June and Leah more easily as the book was written from their points of view. I never doubted that he loved Leah and never doubted that he loved June. But something was missing with him that didn’t make him as perfect and fabulous as the two narrators appeared to think he was. His parents initially seemed like perfection as far as parents go, but I quickly realized there was some serious dysfunction going on regarding Ollie’s father and Ollie’s half-brother, which I never really understood.
So, the bulk of this book is getting to know these characters during the different time periods, what challenges they face, how they are resolved, and so on. As I said earlier, there’s no huge build-up and suspense and shocking resolution in this one, although things are finally explained about why June is now with Ollie and not Leah. Chase definitely had me thinking over this situation long after I finished reading. I’m still not sure how I feel about Ollie and June being together. Each character was so different to me during the present time in the novel versus Leah’s point of view from seven years ago. Of course, people grow, mature, and change over seven years, but there was a punk missing from each of them. Then there was the epilogue where Leah talks about her heart almost exploding from love (when describing her favorite day), and it made me smile. But then I paused and felt sad for her coveting a moment so much that may have felt completely different for June and/or Ollie.
As always, Bethany Chase’s writing is beautiful in One Night at the Lake. She has created wonderfully unique and complex characters, an original plot, this one held my interest from beginning to end. This book is about love, overall, whether romantic, friends, or family. If you need those big moments of revelation in your novels, this may not be for you, but I definitely recommend this one to fan’s of Women’s Fiction and for those that love books that really make you think while reading.
*Thanks to NetGalley and Ballentine Books for providing this digital copy in exchange for my honest review!
Bethany Chase has an incredible talent for description, actually making me feel like I was present at the locations being described. In my opinion, that right there completely makes this book.
This is definitely a very good read for women’s fiction lovers. There is some romance, but the focus is on the story of the friends and their circle of friends as well as deep sorrow, heartbreak, lies and truths. I really didn’t want to put this book down because I just wanted to know what would happen next.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for approving my request for an ARC. My thoughts in this review are my own and freely given.
An interesting mystery and romance that takes place on the finger lakes in western New York State. This is an area I have always had an interest in, and Bethany Chase makes it come alive.
Leah and June have been besties since sixth grade in the small NY village of Briarcliff. They roomed together at college and shared an apartment in Brooklyn after they graduated.
We approach this mystery from the first person perspective of Leah Tessaro, seven years ago when she was celebrating her boyfriend Ollie Bierman’s mother Rachel’s birthday at their family holiday home on Lake Seneca on Independence Day weekend. June accompanied them, recently being dumped and blue. Also, there for the holiday weekend were Ollie’s father, Howard and half brother Caleb. Leah was sure Ollie was going to pop the question over the holiday. And then tragedy struck.
The story of June Kang, first-person perspective in the present time, is interspersed with that of Leah but is not as confusing as that sounds. June goes to Lake Seneca with her fiance Ollie to celebrate with his family Ollie’s mother Rachel’s birthday on the fourth of July weekend. This is June’s first trip back to the lakes since Leah was lost, though Ollie has had to return several times.
The family is all there, together with the addition of Caleb’s wife Leslie and toddler son Eli. A full immersion into the family dynamic is especially hard for June but necessary. She has a wedding to plan, and Rachel wants to help. But facts keep churning up from the past, confusing June. Perhaps she didn’t know what really happened seven years ago. Survivor’s guilt may not be all she will suffer before this long weekend is over.
I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, Bethany Chase, and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine Books. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work.
This book OWNED me, a week after reading and I’m still thinking about it. First, I’ve been anticipating this book for a long while. I’m no stranger to Bethany Chase’s writing and I know I’m going to be torn up and put back together. I knew that once I start it, I will be captivated until the story ends and for long after. One Night At The Lake is a nuanced and compelling read and I felt everything about these relationships.
The execution of the story is remarkable as is the character development. The story is told from the perspective of two friends, Leah and June. Leah is unabashed and unfiltered. June is quiet and guarded. The story unfolds as they each recount their visit to the Bierman family’s lake house; as two points in time snapshots of the same week, seven years apart. Chase masterfully drops in pieces of the bigger part of the story, so that it unfolds like a mystery. We know that Leah was once at the lake as Ollie’s girlfriend, but seven years later, June is there as his fiancé. June is weighed down by guilt and self-loathing – and the week is sure to be a reminder as to why it’s even possible she’s where she is at life.
We learn that the ties between Leah and June run very deep, best friends since childhood, so what happened to upend their places in Ollie’s life? It might appear it’s a love triangle, but only in a most unusual way. Chase is a master at planting the seed of doubt, making the reader contemplate what’s to come, making the book unputdownable.
June, Leah, Ollie, and the cast of secondary characters (especially Caleb and Terrance) all have their places in this story. Chase delivers the right details about Leah and June. Their personalities are distinct and they balance each other, these two voices. Both filled with so much hope and so much heartache.
This is a story of deep heartbreak and sorrow, as June is mired in guilt and desperate to “get over” these feelings. Upfront, I’m an empath and some writers gave a way of touching that part of me so that I FELT EVERYTHING. Chase does this. She writes in a way that can’t NOT feel. She gives that to us in June – with her I felt everything; her sorrow, her shame, the elation she felt falling in love – in knowing it was so right, but also feeling SO wrong about it. June got into my head and heart and I could not shake her. Leah would always be there a part of her, a part of Ollie – a part of them. My heart pounded through the entire time I read this. The complexity of these relationships and the imprint they have on each other is deep.
This is SUCH a wonderful story and I encourage readers of women’s fiction to snatch this up and give yourself over to this story, these characters. I’m already starting a re-read myself.
One Night at the Lake is the third novel by bestselling author Bethany Chase. In a most unusual love triangle, we find bubbly, unfiltered neurobiology doctoral candidate Leah Tessaro, her best friend since childhood, quiet jewelry designer June Kang, and her longtime boyfriend, Oliver Bierman. The story is told in the voice of both women seven years apart.
Leah’s story pivots on the July 4th holiday week in which she, Oliver, and June drive from their New York City homes to the Seneca Lake vacation home of Oliver’s parents. Her story reflects their history as well as relating what is occurring at that time. June’s story also reflects their history, including the events of seven years ago at Seneca Lake, as well as what is happening currently. Both June and Oliver love Leah dearly, and events of that week at the lake will have lasting impacts that are difficult to foretell.
This is a very different type of story that will capture the reader and lead them on an unexpected journey. There are rich characters, dramatic settings, and so many secrets to unveil. I did enjoy this book and I do recommend it!
Like the lake of its title, ONE NIGHT AT THE LAKE sparkles with sunlit promise above and dark, irresistible currents beneath. You won’t be able to rest until you can answer the question that pulses through this novel like a heartbeat: what happened to Leah?
I’ve been a fan of Bethany since her debut. Her writing is captivating. She always draws me deep into her stories and she’s an expert at crafting characters that come to life for her readers. They’re real, facing very current and complex situations. I loved ONE NIGHT AT THE LAKE and think it’s her best yet, with an atmospheric setting and relatable characters with a gradual suspense masterfully woven into the plot that culminates to one night at the lake. A perfect book for summer!