January Andrews and Augustus Everett are college rivals and novelists who happen to find themselves living right next to each other in beach houses on Lake Michigan. Both of their lives are falling apart. Both are suffering through that miserable ailment known as writer’s block (read with a tone of disgust). Gus writes literary fiction and January writes romance. They make a bet that they’ll trade genres for the summer and end with two complete novels. Whoever can sell their novel first is declared the winner. “Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.”

The Vacationers follows the Post family during their two-week stay in Mallorca, Spain. Surrounded by the beautiful mountains and the clear blue sea, what could possibly go wrong with a family on an island? Turns out a lot. Each family member is struggling with something: money, relationships, infidelity, adulthood, family. Straub follows each character as they navigate their feelings and problems on the island.