From USA Today and Amazon Charts bestselling author Meghan Quinn comes a fun, sexy story about the family dynamics that can stand in the way of rekindling a romance: “Vacation Wars.” She brings the perfect combination of “heart, humor and heat in every book.”
As an avid watcher of “Mamma Mia” and fan of the “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” I was beyond excited to receive an advanced reader copy (ARC) of “Vacation Wars.” It contained everything a fan of these two series and lover of Greece has, so if this seems like you, I suggest picking up Quinn’s novel!
*Content Warning: “Vacation Wars” contains sexual content.*
“Vacation Wars” follows 30-year-old Tessa who is thrilled to spend the weeks before her sister’s wedding at their family’s favorite vacation spot: Santorini. Sandy beaches, stonewashed houses, attractive men ― it’s heaven. But Tessa’s idea of a girls’ trip comes to a screaming halt when her sister thinks it’s high time Tessa finds some love herself.
Unfortunately, Tessa forgot about the deal she made with her close group of girl friends back in high school: she has to find her soulmate before her sister’s wedding. Or else. As she dodges suitors and her sister’s pranks, Tessa finds an ally in the oh-so-dreamy Myles, her childhood crush who just so happens to work at the resort. But Myles is dealing with some family conflict of his own — he’s elated to reunite with Tessa, but his father’s refusal to acknowledge his interest in the family business and therefore relegating him to only grunt work casts a dark cloud.
As Tessa and Myles help navigate their way through their families’ antics, they begin to realize that their past feelings may have a future ― if only they can turn their island fantasies into something real.
Your book tackles a strong female friendship group dynamic who get into mischief together. Do you have any fun stories to tell about your own close group of friends?
Oof, I feel like I play it pretty low key, but there was this one time where me and two other author friends decided to pretend to get married in Vegas–it was for promo–and we walked around Vegas is $50 wedding dresses and veils while being recorded. The amount of congratulations we got was overwhelming and hilarious. We also took pictures with people, pretty sure they thought we were a side show of sorts.
What made you decide to write “Vacation Wars” with a beach vacation vibe set in Greece? This is a bit different from your previous novels whose focus is more on the friendship and/or relationships rather than the location itself.
Purely for selfish reasons. I’ve always wanted to go to Greece and even though I still haven’t been, I was able to spend my days leading up to writing this book, researching and learning everything I can about Greece. It’s on my bucket list for sure, I keep saying, for my 40th birthday, I am going to go.
For the audience who’s never read your books, what would you say sets your writing apart from other romance writers?
I think every author has their own unique way of writing which makes reading countless romances throughout the year so easy, you get a great taste of all different styles. (I’m partial to a historical Scottish romance). I think when readers pick up my books, they know they are going to get a lot of humor, tons of spice, some great banter and an epic breakup that will of course be fixed in the end.
One of the primary relationships in “Vacation Wars” is between sisters Tessa and Roxanne. What made you decide to focus on this sibling relationship? Were you inspired by someone close to you?
I think family dynamics are really interesting. There are so many complexities within a family that could provide enough material for a lifetime. My family is very special in its own right and has set the tone for different relationship dynamics, especially sibling rivalry. Now, I have two older brothers and always wanted a sister, so this book gave me an opportunity to explore what that relationship might look like.
Every novel an author writes has some piece of themselves inside their work. How would this concept pertain to you after having written “Vacation Wars”?
Honestly, I was going through a friendship breakup with a close friend at the time and those feelings and thoughts were written into the relationship between the sisters. The complexities of it all, it came straight from experience. It was a tough book to write, but I am so proud of it and I hope people love it just as much as me.
Thank you so much Meghan for answering my questions! As I was reading about the white beaches in Santorini, I definitely felt like it was finally summer so thank you for bringing back that nostalgic feeling summer rom-coms provide. I’d also like to thank Krista Cortese from Godfrey Social PR who reached out to me about Quinn’s books and sent me a physical ARC of “Vacation Wars.” Hope to work with you again soon!