4 Star Review of Vacation Wars by Meghan Quinn

Vacation Wars was an entertaining story but be prepared it is rather long so you will need to free up some time to read. I enjoyed it but it is not my favourite from Ms. Quinn. Th writing was so descriptive that I could easily imagine myself in Santorini whilst I was reading.

The premise was intriguing but I found Tessa’s friend annoying and there were moments whilst reading that frustrated me and had me shaking my head I was so frustrated. Agreeing to a deal in high school, Tessa is shocked when her sister and friends push her to find love before her sister’s wedding.

I felt that Tessa had a lot of growing to do and I was pleased to see her develop whilst reading. I did like both Tessa and Myles, in fact of the two I liked him more. Tessa and Myles have met each other a number of times in Santorini over the years and although both have crushed on the other, neither have ever acted on it.

Vacation Wars had drama, romance and at times was emotional as both Tessa and Myles tackled family relationships.

I received a copy from the publisher through Net Galley.

Vacation wars was a fun, drama infused vacation featuring one hot lifeguard and a woman who have been pinning for each other over many summers and vacations. Myles and Tessa are both back in Santorini, Tessa for her sisters wedding and Myles to try and win back the favour of his father, the resort owner.

The antics between Tessa, her sister and their two friends was as entertaining as it was cringey and awkward. Be prepared for some secondhand embarresment Due to a contract signed as young kids, Tessa is forced to subject herself to the whims of her three friends, leading to some laugh out loud vacation wars. The setting for this book was sounds absolutely beautiful, and I enjoyed the family dynamics that you see throughout this book.

The writing had something to be desired, with terms used such as "Tonka Titis" and "the bulge" I felt like I was reading a book written about high schoolers, are not 30 year old women. These women also treated each other as if they were still in high school with rude, and almost cruel pranks, it felt as Tessa lacked support from both her sister and friends.

The romance between Tessa and Myles was cute, and fun to watch unfold. Helping each, opening up emotionally and cute dates that involved gorgeous greek background. I loved watching these two personalities mix, and how well they supported each other, I could have done without the third act breakup, but overall this was a cute love story that I would recommend if you are looking for a fun cheesy summer read.

I rated this three stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Vacation Wars is a standalone, destination romance that spans 20+ years. Tessa Doukas is the "other" twin. The one you notice second, the one that is mostly in the background and falls second to her sister Roxanne. Tessa and her family have visited the same resort for the last 20 years. Myles Cirillo's family owns the resort and has secretly been enamored with Tessa since they were very young. When Tessa, Roxanne and their two best friends return to the resort for Roxanne's wedding. They bring a contract from years ago that states if by the age of 30, one of the friends are not married, the other 3 friends must help them find their soulmate. This is where the Vacation War starts!

I love Meghan's brand of laugh out loud funny romance and this was no exception. Tessa is awkward on a good day but get her in front of "The Bulge" and it gets 1000x worse. The word vomit that comes out of her has me in tears. Myles was everything you wanted in a book boyfriend. He did everything he could to help her against her sister and best friends. From planning escapes from their antics to laxative cupcakes. I loved watching Tessa loosen and open up to Myles and also Myles repairing the relationship with his Baba.

My only issue with the book was Roxanne, while I realized at the end why she acted the way she did, reading through it almost made me cringe. She was just soooo horrible, it was hard to find anything she did redeeming.

Light beach read.

Good premise, but missed the mark for me. Tessa has always been the quiet twin. Her sister Roxane is outgoing, often overbearing and extroverted. When Tessa, Roxane and their friends Clea and Lois travel to Greece for Roxane’s wedding and stay at the same resort their family frequented for years, they run into Tessa’s crush Myles.

Since Tessa is the only unattached person in the group, the others decide to enforce a childhood contract and find Tessa a love. Tessa secretly invokes vacation wars!

So begins the rest of the story, filled with Tessa and Myles conspiring against the others, and the others pushing Tessa almost to the point of what I consider bullying. Embarrassing your sister and friend is fun for a while but gets old quickly. I think it went too far, and I felt terrible for Tessa. It was fun watching the relationship between her and Myles, but not enough to offset the rest for me.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, but my opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Sadly I had to DNF 15% in.
I haven’t read a book by the author before but figured this would be a great one to start since I love vacation romances, but it really didn’t work for me.
I found the FMC to be incredibly awkward, she embarrassed herself so many times in the short amount that I read and the things she said really made me feel second-hand embarrassment.

Her friends and her gave off some Mean Girls vibes which I didn’t really enjoy.

I’m sure others will enjoy this book more, I can see this being a nice and fun beach read, but it just didn’t work for me personally.

Rating: 3.75/5⭐️

Publication Date: April 18th 2023

Author: Meghan Quinn

Review: This is my first @meghanquinnbooks book and I am pleasantly surprised. I have been waiting to read this book for a while now and I’m glad the time has finally come. It Does have some long chapters but you will have that and at time I started to get very irritated with how the sister and friends were treating Tessa I just wanted to scream at them like leave her alone my god! I kind of liked that Myles and Tessa really didn’t have any issues like nobody cheated and nobody lied they just got tied up in distance.
If it’s meant to be it will be

I’m excited to dive into more book by @meghanquinnbooks

This is the first time I've given a book by Meghan Quinn two stars. It saddens me! The romance itself was very cute, but the humour was not my cup of tea in this one.

Continually crossing paths over many years at a resort in Santorini, Tessa and Myles have both been concealing a crush. But now Tessa is 30 and begrudgingly forced to fulfill a contract created in high school, her love life now in the hands of her sister and friends. With Myles to help fight back, let the vacation wars begin.

I liked the initial concept of the contract, but it was unnerving how mean, inconsiderate, and simply childish these women were. I was reading their antics constantly through an uncomfortable feeling of secondhand embarrassment.

Tessa was over-the-top socially awkward, which didn't help. It definitely calmed down as the story progressed, though—you could feel her slowly relax and find comfort in Myles. It was very sweet how uplifting he was of her quirks. I really liked him!

The setting was fantastic, without a doubt. And I liked the storyline of Myles repairing the relationship with his dad. But like I said, the humour was far too silly for me.

Tessa and her family vacationed in Greece at Hotel Anissa every summer since she was young. Every year she would see a "hot" worker and crush on him from afar.

Fast forward to the present day when she is on a girl's trip at Anissa’s right before her sister’s wedding. Her sister and friends are taking this opportunity to try and find a guy for Tessa, to the point where they have dug up the contract that they made when they were younger. The contract was something they made as kids that would affect their love life if they were not married at a certain age.

I felt bad for Tessa during this search. I know the girls relatively meant well but they pushed things too far at times. Her sister talking down to her helped make me really feel bad for Tessa.

I was so happy that she stood up for herself and found the courage to talk to her childhood crush, Myles. They both needed each other after dealing with family issues. I loved watching them grow and fall in love.

I also loved the antics that Tessa would pull on her friends to be left alone so she could sneak off with Myles. I was rooting for Tessa throughout the whole book.

By the end of the book, I had gotten so invested in Tessa and Myles's relationship. They were adorable and I was on edge toward the end, I just needed to know how things would end up.

This is a perfect beach read. Meghan Quinn describes the hotel and Greece so perfectly that it is easy to imagine just how beautiful the place and country are.

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

"Vacation Wars" by Meghan Quinn is another great rom-com from her. She is the queen of funny, spicy and heart-warming stories. This is an amazing read and you fall in love with the characters.
Tessa, Roxanne and their friends go to Greece for Roxanne's wedding. While there the girls like it would be a good idea to help Tessa with her love life. While dealing with the guys they set her up on she spends more time with Myles her crush of forever. While trying to get out of dates, sparks fly between Tessa and Myles.
This book is is wonderfully written and makes you want to devour the story. Highly recommend to anyone and everyone.

Thank you to #Montlake and #NetGalley for the #gifted ebook of the Vacation Wars by Meghan Quinn. All opinions are my own. It publishes 4/18/23.

This book has THE CUTEST cover, an adorable title, the very best location (Santorini, Greece, my favorite place ON EARTH), and an author that is so popular and successful. I am deeply in love with Meghan Quinn’s The Highland Fling, and I gave it an enormous 5 stars. Vacation Wars, however, was not for me.

Tessa and her twin sister, Roxane, are taking their usual yearly trip to Santorini, but this time it is along with their best friends Clea and Lois, to celebrate Roxane’s upcoming wedding. Because Tessa is 30 years old, the friends call upon a signed and notarized childhood contract that allows them to take over her love life. They think she needs a man, (UGH) but not the man she is interested in.

The chapters are long, as is the history between Tessa and Myles, who she has been pining after (but not talking to) on every trip to Santorini since childhood. In the beginning, Tessa was very socially awkward in their interactions. Myles says, “There’s just something different about her. I like how awkward she is, how she rambles on about weird things and doesn’t seem to know when to stop.” Is this likable?? I found her too goofy and too unrealistic. To me it wasn’t funny, it was, as my kids would say, “cringey”. Their relationship does mature, and she somehow gets more comfortable with him.

I’ve read many reviews on this book as I am very interested to hear what other people think. Other readers love it. I am led to believe this book should be marketed to younger readers. I’m too old to enjoy her friends, her twin sister or their pranks. Tessa calls them exhausting and annoying, and I couldn’t agree more. I think their vacation wars were too extreme, they went way too far, their friend group is too mean (this included Tessa- laxatives??) and obviously they can’t be trusted. My dislike of this book may be a case of “it’s me, not you”. I am “over” people that don’t make life BETTER being involved and having a say. It’s possible that what I find mean and immature, others will find funny. I can see readers laughing at the hijinks but I hated them and I detested the people in this book. Wow, this sounds a little harsh.

Meghan Quinn is of course an excellent writer and the premise was so promising.

I buddy read with a fun group including @jens _toweringtbr - she made the most beautiful template! She loved this book, so there you go.

Open door
3/5 stars

Vacation Wars by Meghan Quinn is a stand-alone destination romance. This is the story of Tessa and Myles.
 
Tessa‘s family always spends the summers in Santorini, Greece, and it has become her favorite vacation spot. As someone who has been to Santorini and loves this place as well, I could totally understand Tessa from the beginning, and I loved how this setting was described. Over the years Tessa develops a crush on the son of the owners of the hotel Myles. She even attempted to make a move, but it turned out embarrassing instead. Now her sister is getting married in Santorini and they go there a bit earlier with some friends and they make it their mission to find a partner for Tessa. That was quite awkward a lot of times and her friends and sister crossed way too many boundaries and wanted Tessa to be someone she isn’t. I didn’t like that, but luckily Myles helps her and that brings them closer.
 
Myles grew up in the hotel and he wants to continue his family‘s legacy. Therefore he goes to New York for a few years to become a better hotelier. His father is not very fond of that and there is a huge rift between them. That was so sad to see because Myles is such a hardworking and loyal person. He is an amazing man who accepted Tessa just the way she is with all her quirks. The story of Tessa and Myles was such a fun read, and the book has the typical Meghan Quinn humor I love, and I laughed out loud a few times.
 
Overall, Vacation Wars will give you the perfect summer and vacation vibes. 4 stars.
 
(ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)

Rating: 3.5 ⭐️

Vacation Wars was a fairly enjoyable read. While there were certain aspects I really enjoyed unfortunately, I was just expecting a bit more from the story and romance.

It is dual POVs of the main characters, Myles and Tessa, and there are some great tropes like friends to lovers, secret childhood crush, and a holiday romance. I would suggest checking the content and trigger warnings before reading just in case.

The overall premise was amusing but there was just something missing in the story for me to fully love it. There were some laugh out loud and cheesy moments though. I also loved Tessa’s awkwardness and character growth at the end.

However, there was a lot of family drama specifically with Tessa and her sister. The whole ploy/mission her sister had went on for way too long in my opinion. A lot of her antics were quite annoying as well. While, Tessa does stand her ground towards the end, I wanted just a bit more communication/resolution between them.

Myles and his storyline with his father was interesting and a bit somber as well. I definitely liked how Myles didn’t give up on him and the resort though.

The romance between Tessa and Myles was okay, I was just expecting a bit more to be honest. It was definitely a slow burn as well. They did have some great banter and spice though. I will say though, one of my favorite aspects was Myles constant communication. I just loved how he insisted on communicating their feelings.

Towards the end it definitely felt like certain aspects were brushed aside and definitely could have been more explored upon. But the conclusion and epilogue were cute. Overall, just a decent and quick read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I liked this vacation romance story. I thought Tessa's early encounters with Miles were hilarious and it was super cute how Miles still wanted to know more about her. Some of the supporting characters were a bit too much for me but they propelled the story (and the romance) along. Each of the characters went thru some growth over the story and I liked that too.

This had me laughing out loud (yet also cringing) throughout.

Anticipated pub April 18th.

Thank you to the publisher via Netgalley for the early copy to read and review!

Such a fun and quick read! Definitely a cute novel! Would recommend to romance readers that love quick funny reads. I love that this is set in Greece and on vacation. Thankful for the publisher and Netgalley allowing me to read this

2/5. Releases 4/18/2023.
For when you're vibing with... vacation romances, slow burns, female friendships in romance, and awkward heroines.

Tessa's high school pact to find love before her sister marries is catching up with her--because said sister's wedding is just weeks away. Fortunately, finding love shouldn't be hard in the family vacation spot of Santorini... and she has Myles, her childhood crush, here to help her out. But as they dodge her friends' pranks, it becomes clear that Tessa's true love could be closer to home.

I've heard great things about Meghan Quinn, but this one just didn't work for me. I wish it had.

Quick Takes:
--I do love the setting, and it is well-painted. I really want to read more vacation romances, and Santorini is an amazing atmosphere for romance. Is there a part of me that wanted to read more about locals and less about tourists as it went on? Yes, but "vacation" is in the title, so I knew what I was getting into.

--My biggest issue with the book is the heroine. Tessa is thirty. I'm all about being young at any age, but there's young and there's immature, just like there's awkward and there's "my God, how have you gotten through life as an adult unable to handle basic human interactions". If I understood more about why this was, maybe we'd talk. But mostly, it seemed like she was just "quirky", and I couldn't relate. She didn't have gumption, she didn't have get up and go, and I couldn't root for her because she didn't seem to root for herself.

--I wish I could say that I found Tessa's friends, who are much more bold and brash, better. And maybe they were better. But they didn't work for me. I admittedly should have seen the word "pranks" in the summary and known that this was not a good match for my sensibilities. When grown women are pranking another grown woman, I.... lose the plot. I love to have fun. My version of fun in Santorini would probably not be pranks.

--I just didn't feel like there was anything keeping our couple apart, and they weren't compelling enough for me to buy into internal conflicts doing the trick. So when it took them a while to get together, it got frustrating.

The Sex Stuff:
There is explicit sex in this book. I did not find it particularly engaging, but that could be in part because, by the time they had it, I was a bit... tired.

At the end of the day, I see that Meghan Quinn has wit and writing ability, but I don't think this book sold me. Maybe another will someday.

Thanks to Netgalley and Montlake for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

𝘝𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘴 follows Tessa and friends who are in an elongated bachelorette party for her sister and they've decided to find Tessa a boyfriend against her wishes. So she enlists the help of Myles, the guy she's been crushing on ever since she can to Greece every summer.

- ~ -

The story is stupidly embarrassing.

I loved the Greek culture and cuisine incorporation in the book as well as Myles and Tessa's childhood crush come true aspect.

But the reason behind whatever went wrong towars the end and why Tessa was being forced to go on dates she didn't want to was so stupid for four grown adults it was laughable and not in an actually funny way.

- ~ -

3.62 / 5✩

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

I chose to read this rom-com after becoming acquainted with Meghan Quin previously through a short story she had written and which I enjoyed. This is a fun and entertaining escapist read with plenty of humour, emotion, and drama. Tessa Doukis arrives at the family's usual holiday location of Santorini, planning to spend vacation time with her twin sister, Roxane, and long term friends, Clean and Lois before Roxane gets married. She has been looking forward to it, she is the socially awkward twin who stays in the background, the one no-one notices, her clothing designed to ensure her presence catches little attention.

However, she finds herself the target of the machinations of her sister and friends, based on a long ago forgotten deal, their hopeless, unhelpful, useless, truly problematic jinks and plans to introduce a man and love into her life. This has Tessa doing all that she can to avoid their shenanigans, and she finds a critical ally in Myles Cirillo, a man whom she has known for a long time since childhood, and who she had feelings for. Myles has returned from spending time in the United States, so their paths have not crossed recently, and he makes the perfect partner for Tessa, although he faces his own family issues too.

Tessa and Myles relationship develops with plenty of banter, their attraction to each other is a joy to observe as they try to dodge the obstacles in their path. There are wonderful descriptions of the beautiful location. Whilst there is plenty of light hearted hilarity, there is serious exploration of the dynamics of family relationships and the issues that can arise. I did find elements of Roxane and the friends behaviour a little on the juvenile side, but overall it did not mar my reading experience. I can recommend this if you are looking for a break from reading darker material and if you are simply looking for a funny and entertaining book. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Vacation Wars was such a delight! Tessa is back at her family's annual vacation spot in Greece for her twin sister's wedding. While there, her friends embark on a somewhat well-intentioned, but mostly misguided, quest of finding her a guy that does not go as planned as she instead ends up connecting with Myles, the guy at the resort who she has had a crush on for more than half her life.

This was a story of friendship, growing up, moving forward, and the twisty turns that love and life can take. Tessa is an eccentric but self-assured main character, and Myles is a Greek god-like cinnamon roll of a hero. I laughed, I stanned, and I had a great time. I highly recommend this latest Meghan Quinn for a super fun beach read!

Big thank you to Meghan Quinn, Montlake, and NetGalley for gifting me with an ARC to review. I loved it!

I usually like Meghan Quinn's books - they are humorous and fun, sometimes a little over the top, but I couldn't get into this one. Didn't end up finishing it.

MQ sets about quite the trip as she takes us on vacation to Greece… the beautiful white and blue that we all know and admire (from afar)!

Tessa and her family have been vacationing to the Anissa resort since she was six. It’s always been their get away. So since her twin sister Roxane is getting married, they decided to have a girls trip ahead of the wedding festivities. But it is not as relaxing as Tessa expected it to be. Roxane, and their friends Clea and Lois have enabled war against Tessa when they’ve tried to set her up with some whackadoodles because of a contract they made in high school.

Myles is the son of the owner of Anissa’s. He’s always had a crush on Tessa from afar. As has Tessa. But other than a few small interactions, they never really had conversations. Circumstances lead them together to be allies against the vacation wars. Tess has to up her game, and Myles is the perfect one to help with that.

Myles and Tessa quickly become aware they want to be with each other - not just to fulfill their fantasies but to make things a reality. They’re such a beautiful couple.

Tessa was such a selfless character that Roxane often took advantage of that for her own accords. But it shows how close they are as twins to be able to overcome their differences, along with Clea and Lois.

As always, you won’t be disappointed in a contemporary romance by MQ!