This latest book from MQ is a contemporary romance / romcom but it has so many other levels and elements. One of the best qualities is the family unity and loyalty, even though it gets stretched to the point of snapping - hence the title. It’s also about friendships and commitments. I would even say it’s a bit of a slow burn romance with how long it takes the relationship to develop. The book centers around Myles and Tessa who live in different countries but bump into each other when Tessa’s family go to Greece every year for a vacation. The other characters are Tessa’s twin Roxane and their best friends from school days. These girls have a tight bond, although they seem to be in a rough patch.

Tessa is the quiet twin, where as Roxane is the one that takes control and is more outgoing. Before Roxane ties the knot with Philip, the girls spend a week together in Greece, and with their besties, try and find Tessa a man to fall in love with. What follows is the war between sisters on what is appropriate to say and do on the dates the other three have set up for Tessa, who doesn’t want anything to do with it. Tessa’s ally happens to be non other than the boy, now man, whom she had been crushing on for years.

Myles was special. He liked every side he saw to Tessa, her smart numbers brain and her nervous blabbering charm. He was patient, caring and very helpful with Tessa and the war. They came up with funny things to distract the others. I liked Tessa too, I loved how she came into her own and defended herself. I think poor Roxane might be miss interpreted, she meant well and did have Tessa’s best interest at heart but she too was dealing with her own problems and I loved the outcome for her. With most romance books, I always fall for the hero more and Myles is right up there for fabulous book boyfriends. I adore the way he was with Tessa, and how she could finally be her true self with him. This is a great beach / vacation book to read.

DNF @ 12%

I thought the premise of this book sounded so cute, but I could absolutely not get past how incredibly cringey it was in execution. In the 12% that I read, the female main character and male main character run into each other twice and the female main character proceeds to become the most painful and bizarre conversationalist ever written. And it's not like she says one weird thing then runs off, the insane word vomit goes on for pages...and pages...and pages. I'm not sure how someone manages to get to age 30 and not be able to have something even in the realm of a normal conversation with a man you find attractive, but that's what we're supposed to believe is going on with her. It gave me the worst second hand embarrassment I've ever felt and I just couldn't continue on.

Even when the female main character and her three friends talk to each other, the dialogue is so strange and stilted and doesn't sound natural at all.

I'm so disappointed but this one wasn't for me! Thank you to Montlake and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Wow! Ok, this book surprised me by how emotional I got. I was a blubbering mess by the end. Myles and Tessa were meant to be, after my skepticism at the start I ended up really rooting for them.

The very start of the book, where the fields are on vacation I found a bit hard to get into, instantly I saw the tension, the way Tessa was treated and almost dismissed, but also her awkwardness seemed a bit too much, then when we got the whistle stop tour of how she and Myles have danced around each other almost their entire lives, I felt it was all a bit far fetched and I wondered what I’d gotten into. However, cue Myles first chapter and I was hooked. Myles really carried this book for me and his heart. I liked how he stepped in and helped Tessa, how he found her awkwardness endearing, but also how less awkward she became the more they connected. The connection they felt as kids is explored and I like how they tell each other secrets and fantasies, it becomes more plausible and I found I could accept that it was t meant to be until it was meant to be.
Seeing Tessa grow and stand up for herself was liberating, Roxane really annoyed me, even when Tessa gave up everything to help her she still twisted the guilt. Yes she did the right thing in the end, but it took Tessa hitting rock bottom for her to see what she was doing to her sister. By this point I was crying and praying that Tessa and Myles were going to make it.
A beautiful love story, if two very best friends that bring the best out of each other, and totally complete each other.

I read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Like most of Quinn's novels, the chemistry is on point. Both Tessa and Myles have a lot of fun together and have good dialogue. The plot did go for a bit longer than I expected, maybe because Tessa and Roxanne were having quite a few issues. The contract part of the friendship did go overboard, so I'm glad that was acknowledged.
Overall, an easy to read romance, with an idyllic setting.

I loved this!!! I started reading Meghan Quinn for her sports romantic comedy. But I love when she ventures outside of the sports romance because she shows just how versatile she really is.

The story takes place in a beautiful backdrop. I find myself identifying heavily with Tessa. She’s smart, a little unsure of herself, and a people pleaser. This story is just as much about her connecting with her childhood crush as it is about finding herself.

Tessa’s twin sister is getting married at their childhood vacation getaway in Greece and the she plus their two best friends are on a quest to find Tessa the love of her life by any means necessary. Mix in a vintage bottle of Britney Spears perfume and a ridiculous friendship contract and chaos ensues!!! While Tessa attempts to avoid these shenanigans at all costs, she finds herself connecting with her childhood crush, Myles, and learning to stand up for herself.

Like all Meghan Quinn books, the situations are hilarious, the banter is fantastic, the chemistry is on fire, and the characters are *chef’s kiss*.

Be sure to check this out!!!

Hmm. I'm giving this 2.5 stars rounded up because the book did pick up partway through, but if this hadn't been by an author I really like, and if it hadn't been an advance review copy, I probably wouldn't have got that far. For the first part, while this author usually does madly comic scenes so well, Tessa's outlandish reactions were just too much - more cringeworthy than amusing. And then there was the sudden appearance of the contract... a group of women in their thirties absolutely insisting on sticking to teenage rules (which they got notarized? seriously?!), including never ever ever living more than ten miles apart? Just... no. Clea, Lois and Roxane (especially Roxane) seemed unbelievably immature, and whenever they were on the page I had no time for them. However, as Tessa and Myles developed their relationship it became a better read, and I liked how the pair of them played out, having to balance what they wanted with what they felt they ought to want. Overall though, not quite what I was expecting.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. All opinions are my own.

This is my second Meghan Quinn book and again, it's amazing. Meghan knows how to write characters that blend so well - with angst, banter, pining, all of it!

I laughed out loud quite a few times reading this book. I absolutely loved Tessa & Myles relationship, all of it. Her big heart to his support.

Tessa, girl, your awkwardness is showing, but I love it.

I normally don't love slow burn, but Meghan wrote Tessa & Myles' story in a way that it worked.

There was so much going on, but I loved the entire story - from the swoon to the drama.

This book was full of the things I’ve come to know and love from Meghan Quinn; hilarious moments, cringe worthy moments and everything in between!

Tessa and Myles were PERFECTION. Their connection was undeniable, and I love that they’ve crushed on each other, unknowingly, for years. Myles was exactly what Tessa needed to come out of her shell and stand up for herself. And Tessa gave Myles the strength to chase his dreams. They were the perfect complement to each other!

I will say, it took me a few chapters to really get into the story, but once I did, I didn’t want to put this one down. I did want to smack the crap out of Roxane a few times, but outside of that, I really enjoyed this one!

<b>the cover:</b> colorful, cute, and shows the vacation destination
<b>FMC:</b> Tessa- the awkward, rambling, silly, often overlooked twin. Her friends group (her 2n best friend and twin) agree to take a trip to their family’s yearly vacation destination in Santorini, Greece to spend time together before her twin ties the knot. What she didn’t count on was their group making her follow a promise she agreed to when they were kids- let them help her find her soulmate before her sister’s wedding. Shenanigans, embarrassments, and awkwardness ensue when the group does everything in their power to thrust suitors in her direction… but she only has eyes for “The Bulge”. The boy she has crushes on every summer since she was 6 years old who is back at the resort after 7 long years away. She finds an unlikely advisory in him to help her thwart all the sneaky advances from her friends and the situations they force her into- but what’s in it for him?
<b>MMC:</b> Myles- the shy, hard-working, jack-of-all-trades resort owner’s son who left for a degree in America to help grow their family business… but that’s not how his father sees it- he sees it as Myles choosing America and his mother over him and Greece. He struggles to rekindle a relationship with his Baba (father) after his parent’s amicable divorce 7 years ago and is stuck doing odd jobs around the resort. During one of these odd jobs, he sees <i>her</i>- the girl he’s been crushing on his whole life and helping her out of an embarrassing situation seems like the perfect opportunity to finally talk to her after years of pining.
<b>POV:</b> 1st/2nd person, dual POV
<b>HEA:</b> yes!
<b>spice:</b> there are several open-door spicy scenes 🥵
<b>TWs:</b> cheating (off-page, not MCs), divorce (off-page, not MCs), absent/uninterested parent, manipulation, drugging someone (<spoiler>okay <i>technically</i> because someone is knowingly given a drink that will make them drunker than drunk then later given a laxative dessert so yeah TW?</spoiler>)
<b>standalone:</b> yes but omg @Meghan Quinn give us POVs on the entire friend group and Toby!
<b>final thoughts</b>: funny and sweet and full of vacation destinations that make me really want to take a vacation! I love the timeline of seeing Myles and Tessa growing up side by side and all their small interactions that lead to their first REAL interactions as adults! Tessa is incredibly quirky and odd but not in an “I’m so quirky and odd wow I’m not like other girls” annoying way.
To sum it up: when you get to the MMC POV and he’s so in love with the FMC that it just melts your heart into a puddle, and you need to put the book down for a minute to be able to refocus. 🥰😍

read this book if you love
📖 fun and unique prologue/POV
😂 romcom
🗺️ destination- NY and Santorini
🌈 LGBT+ representation
🚸 childhood crush
🃏 prank wars

Vacation Wars was so good! I really enjoyed this story of star crossed lovers and the hi jinx that happens while they navigate their happily ever after!

well that was fun. i heard meghan quinn was a good romance author so i wanted to try one of her books. turned out i had this arc. it wasn’t anything ground breaking, just a silly little rom com that mad me want to visit greece really badly. it felt like one of those teen movies on netflix except the characters are 30 years old which made them seem extremely immature to me. however because i love petty vengeances, the plot had me cackling. 3.75⭐️

I really enjoyed the banter and awkwardness of the main character. There were definitely times where I laughed out loud while reading.

I do think this is a good, cute, entertaining beach read. But there were a few things that prevented me from loving it. I think the friend group/twin sabotaging Tessa went on for a little too long and was a little too extreme- I found myself skimming some of those sections because it was starting to annoy me. They acted like teenagers instead of women in their 30s.

I enjoyed the development of the relationship between Tessa and Myles and the growth of the relationship between Tessa and her sister. The conflict that arises due to a long distance relationship was relatable and very well done.

There was some good spice, although holy moly it was a slow burn to get there.

Pick this up if you’re looking for a beach read with humor, love, and themes of growing up.

I really enjoyed this story! Myles and Tessa have been in each others lives since they were six. Myles's family owns the resort Tessa and her family go to yearly. With Tessa's sister Roxane's wedding coming up they go back to the same resort. Tessa has always had a crush on Myles and has had some awkward encounters with him previously. Roxane and her friends want to set up Tessa as she is the only single one in their friend group, with this going on Myles agrees to help Tessa foil their plans. This story was cute, funny, and did have some heat. I enjoy Meghan's books and this was no exception!

I’m having a hard time writing this review because, while I loved so much about this book, I really despised some of the characters, and that put a damper on it for me overall.

Let’s start with the positives: We’re getting our usual MQ hilariousness- I was snort-laughing at 4% in. The setting was amazing & I felt like I was able to picture it perfectly, right down to the votive candles hanging off the trees. The two main characters, Tessa & Myles, were relatable & adorable. Tessa was awkward, introverted, and always doing embarrassing things in front of Myles. Myles was so smitten with Tessa’s goofiness, and kinda shy in his own way. Them finally coming together after secretly crushing on each other for years was so very sweet.

Unfortunately, one character really put a bad taste in my mouth, and forced me to take away a star from my typical 5 star MQ rating. Tessa’s twin sister, Roxane, was just a downright mean bully. What could have been fun, lighthearted pranks, were spiteful, vengeful, and mean-spirited. I feel like I just keep calling her mean, but honestly, she was the definition of a mean girl & even though Tessa forgave her, I couldn’t. I’m truly still mad at her. Their other two mutual friends took part in a lot of the awful things that were done to Tessa, but I do feel like they redeemed themselves by recognizing that things were getting out of hand.

Overall, the romance was worth the read, it just wasn’t my favorite of all time.

Right from the beginning, you will have tears from laughter. So so funny! Tessa is in Greece for a few weeks to prepare for and celebrate her twin sisters wedding, at a resort their family has summer vacationed at for most of their lives. While there (before all the wedding festivities begin and family arrives) her twin and two of their best friends decide to team up and get Tessa a man. The things these ladies will do are unbelievable, and what she's willing to do to thwart their plans are even more unbelievable and outrageous. Besides, Tessa doesn't need help getting a man, when the young boy she has crushed on every summer is no longer a boy, but a gorgeous man. Though it would probably help if she wasn't a blubbering fool anytime she runs across him at the resort. While this is a fun read, there are times when the sister (and friends) came across as a bit too aggressive in their hijinks, giving me feelings of anger on Tessa's behalf. As for the romance, it's really rather a cute and sweet story. No hot and cold feelings/actions between the two. Their only dilemma was trying to keep Tessa safe from her sisters actions. At least that was their only problem, until it was time for Tessa and the crew to go back home to the States. There is sexual content, (and even some hilarity in one or two scenes there.) lol This is a quick and easy read that you will not want to put down. A good book to read, especially if you need a little pick me up.

*I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley.

Santorini is a small Greek island in the Aegean sea and after reading about the magical romance between Tessa and Myles, I am tempted to plan a trip so I can experience the beautiful sunsets and the calming turquoise waters.

Tessa was a bright and curious teenager when she fell in love with the “cute pool guy” in the red bathing suit during their annual family vacation. Back then, she never knew his name, but she had vivid memories of Myles and how he made her feel. He had been her secret crush for years, always out of reach, until she returned to Santorini for her sister's wedding. Tessa’s heart beat faster after finally meeting Myles and he was so perfect that Tessa thought she was dreaming. I loved how Tessa babbled when she was nervous and she was hands down, my favorite character in the book. Myles won my heart with his sweet and tender approach to getting to know Tessa.

The storyline was a departure from Meghan Quinn’s usual books and I found the verbal sparring between Tessa and her twin Roxanne, and their two best friends to be entertaining and comical. To me, Tessa was the shy and studious twin whereas Roxanne was brash, materialistic and constantly rude to Tessa, which drove me crazy. Fortunately for Tessa, Myles was her savior and came to her rescue on many occasions when her sister’s behavior was over the top. Spending time with Myles as they explored the island made Tessa feel more confident about herself and opened her eyes to what she really wanted out of life.

This book had me laughing out loud from the very beginning!! When Tessa comes face to face with her childhood crush year after year on her family vacation, all she can ever do is stumble over her words and feel like an idiot.

When Tessa turns thirty and still hasn’t had a single long lasting relationship, her friends and her twin sister decide it’s time to take this into they own hands and get her hooked up. The extreme that they go is absolutely ridiculous yet hysterical and will have you rolling on the floor in laughter!

This book was nothing short of amazing, the only complaint I had was that it felt like it came to an abrupt halt and I wanted a little more.

The first 40% of this book was fun, I loved the girl gang and how Tessa's sister and friends want her to find someone. Their tactics were funny too.. until it got to be a bit too much, in the sense that it keeps going on and on. I think if I had read the whole thing at one go, I would have made it through. But every time I pick up the book, it seems that nothing new is happening. And that gets tedious over days.
Dnf'ing at 55%.

Thank you to Montlake for the ARC via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

⭐️: 3.5/5

Tessa is excited to spend the weeks leading up to her twin sister’s wedding at their favorite vacation spot, until she runs into Myles, a crush from summers before. Add in that her sister and friends have decided that since she’s the only one of their foursome who has not found a happily ever after yet, they have to intervene by pushing her to come out of her dating shell. Myles wants to take on a bigger role in his family’s business, but his father keeps relegating him to just grunt work. As Tessa and Myles get to know each other, they have to navigate their families while also figuring out whether this thing between them can last past vacation.

I think I’ve only read one other Meghan Quinn book before, but I really enjoyed it, so I was really excited to get the opportunity to read this one. Vacation Wars had a lot of swoon-worthy characteristics, including the location, the descriptions of the food and locale, and of course, Myles. I love any story about childhood crushes reciprocating emotions, because there’s something just so cathartic about reading about two people who have known they’re destined to be together finally getting the chance to be together. While reading this one, I had a little bit of trouble losing myself in the budding romance between Tessa and Myles though, primarily because Tessa’s foil, her twin sister Roxane, was just the most obnoxious and rude character. It was hard reading about the things she did and said, and it made me annoyed for and even at Tessa, for taking it in a humorous way when it clearly was not. Tessa herself was also a little aggravating, since she embodied the “awkward but in a charming way girl who everyone can’t help but love” vibe, which I find overrated and a little too close to the “not like the other girls” vibe to be comfy. I also have a bit of a ~thing~ about how characters in romance novels tend to just figure themselves out, apologize, and change overnight, and that was definitely present in this one too. Overall though, Vacation Wars was a lighthearted and fun read that, although included some heavier topics regarding familial relationships, was ultimately a fun, steamy read.

Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher Montlake for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!!

I laughed so hard reading this. Meghan quinn is the queen of the romcom and all the laugh out loud moments while mixing those sweet ones in. She never fails to make me feel all the emotions.