Till Summer Do Us Part

In Meghan Quinn’s Till Summer Do Us Part, Scottie Price’s white lie about her marital status snowballs into a chaotic and ultimately transformative experience at a summer marriage camp. The novel addresses themes of Professional Environments Rewarding Conformity, Developing a Sense of Self-Worth, and The Essentiality of Emotional Honesty through a blend of romantic comedy and heat. Quinn’s writing career is prolific, with over 60 books, from standalone novels to multi-book series that cover various subgenres within romantic comedy and contemporary romance. Quinn is a New York Times bestselling author, USA Today bestselling author, and a number-one Amazon Bestselling Author. Quinn resides in Colorado with her wife, Stephanie Burnett—whom she met while attending Binghamton University—and their adopted children.

The source material comes from the 2025 Hot-Lanta Publishing eBook edition.

Content Warning: This guide includes discussion of death and emotional abuse.

Plot Summary

Scottie Price, a recently divorced copy editor, begins a new job at a golf company in New York City. She finds herself in a male-dominated office where all her colleagues are happily married, making her feel like an outsider. In a desperate attempt to fit in and impress her boss, Ellison, Scottie impulsively lies and claims to be married. The lie quickly spirals out of control when Chad, a coworker, points out her lack of a wedding ring, prompting Scottie to invent a story about a troubled marriage. To her horror, her boss, Ellison, offers her a one-on-one session with her husband, Sanders, a renowned marriage counselor. With no way to back out, Scottie agrees to the therapy session.

Panicked, Scottie reaches out to her best friend, Mika, who suggests that his brother, Wilder, could pretend to be her husband. Wilder, a millionaire who retired after selling his Soda Tracker app, agrees to the charade, seeing it as an exciting challenge for his newfound interest in improv theater. Their first therapy session with Sanders is a disaster, as Wilder’s enthusiastic improv skills and Scottie’s nervousness lead to outlandish and fabricated details about their fake relationship, including ridiculous stories about their issues with physical intimacy. Sanders is convinced they are a couple in deep crisis and offers them a chance to attend his exclusive marriage retreat, Camp Haven, in the Catskills. Wilder, fully embracing the “yes, and” rule of improv, agrees to go and pay for the experience. To her horror, Scottie learns that all her coworkers, including her boss, will also be at the camp.

At the camp, Scottie and Wilder must share a cabin and participate in various team-building exercises and group therapy sessions designed to “reignite” their “spark.” Their cabin, which Wilder nicknames the “sex palace,” is stocked with adult toys and erotica, which mortifies Scottie. Scottie and Wilder are under constant scrutiny from their co-workers and the ever-observant Sanders. Their staged arguments and displays of affection become increasingly convincing, except to Chad, whose skepticism angers Wilder and worries Scottie. After Wilder and Scottie win three challenges in a row, Chad accuses them of cheating, and Wilder explodes, demanding that Chad mind his business. Embarrassed, Scottie implores Wilder to tone down his acting, but Wilder is no longer acting: He’s grown to like Scottie and feels protective over her.

Despite her anxiety over the elaborate lie, Scottie enjoys participating in the camp activities and finds herself unexpectedly experiencing a playfulness she lacked in her actual marriage. The forced proximity and the emotional intensity of the camp environment lead Scottie to confront her repressed trauma from her previous marriage. During one of Sanders’s unorthodox interventions, he makes them camp in a tent in the woods to work on communication and intimacy. Forced to share one sleeping bag, they grow closer physically and emotionally, and neither can deny the growing attraction between them. Scottie begins to process the pain of her divorce, while Wilder finds himself genuinely caring for Scottie’s well-being, realizing how much her previous relationship harmed her. Wilder tells Scottie about his family history, including how, after a tragic accident left his father paralyzed, his mother had an affair. After his father’s death, Mika and Wilder struggled. Mika’s grief spiraled, and for a while, Wilder lived with him out of fear of what might happen. Since then, Wilder has prioritized caring for Mika and has been reluctant to commit to a relationship.

After a camp activity prompts them to kiss, Scottie and Wilder both admit they are falling for each other. Finally acting on their attraction, they take full advantage of being in the “sex palace,” and Wilder helps Scottie push past her struggles with intimacy and fully embrace her sexuality and desire. Scottie creates a bucket list of romantic activities that she never got to do with her ex, and Wilder promises to fulfill them all. As the days of camp wind down, Scottie and Wilder attempt to define their relationship beyond the fantasy of Camp Haven. With Wilder’s compassion and care, Scottie now knows what she wants and deserves in a partner, and she wants Wilder. However, he is unsure how he can commit to her while caring for Mika. In their final therapy session, Scottie breaks down, saddened by Wilder’s lack of assuredness. While sitting on the dock, Scottie has a heart-to-heart conversation with Chad. He apologizes for judging her and confesses that he is jealous of her and Wilder’s relationship because he and his wife Danielle are on the brink of separation due to fertility struggles. Chad’s honesty prompts Scottie to confess her lie to Chad and then to Sanders and Ellison. She calls her friend Denise to come pick her up and leaves camp early.

With Sanders’s help, Wilder realizes his mistake and that he must communicate with Mika about their relationship. When Wilder speaks with him, Mika assures Wilder that therapy is helping him cope, and he isn’t in danger. He encourages Wilder to prioritize his happiness and pursue a committed relationship with Scottie. Wilder begins taking Scottie on dates to fulfill her bucket list. They attend a cooking class, get on the kiss cam at a baseball game, and go to the movies. After a steamy night where Wilder fulfills all of Scottie’s fantasies, he enacts the last part of his plan. Wilder surprises Scottie with a boat ride through Central Park and confesses his love for her. One year later, they are engaged and back at Camp Haven with Chad and his wife, who are expecting a baby. Scottie is working as a freelance editor, and she and Wilder enjoy traveling the world.