“Maybe it’s just like going back to visit a home that isn’t yours anymore. Maybe you don’t have the key, but someone lets you in anyway, and you stay awhile, and it feels so good just to be somewhere you once belonged. “

I’ll start this by saying I’m a second chance romance hater. I’m not a fan. But I adore Jessica Joyce that I knew I was gonna read it anyway.

If all second chance romances were like this book, I wouldn’t be a hater anymore.
This book was absolutely beautiful and it destroyed me in the best way.
I cried and I laughed so many times. I found myself rooting for the MCs the entire time. I needed them to be together asap.

Jessica has such a beautiful way of writing a story and making you feel like you’re there. She is absolutely killing it!

The Ex Vows is perfection. I loved every single thing about it. Highly recommend it.

Georgia and Eli thought they would be together forever. But they broke up and barely talked for five years. Their best friend Adam's wedding brings them together again. With both of them in the wedding party, it's Georgia and Eli that end up spending a lot of time together trying to fix a series of wedding disasters that pop up and their broken relationship.

This was a stand out second chance romance for me. I will definitely be buying the paperback when it comes out. The chemistry, tension, and pining between Georgia and Eli was so good. I felt an emotional pull towards this couple. At times the moments between them were so tender I was close to tears. Other times they had me smiling with their banter. The underlying storyline of their friend's wedding was so perfect in how it tied into bringing them together five years after breaking up.

I like how their memories from the past were sprinkled in. Some sharing why things fell apart, some how deeply they first fell in love. The focus was not only about the complexity to their relationship, but also about their individual growth.

There were so many scenes and details that made this book special. I don't even want to say what any of them were because I want new readers to fully experience them for the first time without knowing a thing. But there was one specific plot point that every romance reader will absolutely adore. Unforgettable.

I just loved everything about this book...the depth, humor, characters, romance. Add this one to your TBR for when it releases on July 16.

The writing was beautiful, and really put you into the characters shoes. I loved the second chance romance and how we got to see when they first met. I also loved the wedding setting and how they kept getting mistaken for the couple getting married. Loved the whole thing!

The end of this book had me crying in my car driving home from work.

I loved the second chance romance and how we got to see when they first met. I also loved the wedding setting and how they kept getting mistaken for the couple getting married. The writing was beautiful, and really put you into the characters shoes. Loved the whole thing!

Never before has friendships depicted in a book brought me to tears (I’m so not a crier), but Jessica Joyce has done just that. This has hands down the best friend/found family relationships I’ve ever read. The insecurities! The communication! The tears! All the more powerful because the secondary characters are so fleshed out and well-written that they don’t feel like secondary characters. And though their relationship is romantic, I’m grouping Eli in with found family because he is Georgia’s friend, first and foremost. Just, please go read this book. Like, right now. Go!

<b>He skims me from head to toe. It's quick, maybe three seconds, but it lingers on my skin. "You look so beautiful I can't feel my knees." </b>

infinity stars. an absolute banger of a novel. real and honest and messy. jessica joyce’s books are goose-bump inducing.

✨THINGS AND STUFF✨
-friends to best friends to lovers to we burned it all down
-second chance
-“hey, peach”
-mental health rep: anxiety, panic attacks, therapy
-puzzle making night
-paper rings
-napa county 🍇🍷
-THE LONGING!!!!
-forced proximity
-a reckoning
-#IsThisAKissingBook open door. “what if i kissed you first?…” …”i wouldn’t hate it.”

thank you berkley romance for an advanced copy!

Where do I even begin? How do you find the words to describe something that's perfect from beginning to end? When I say "no notes," it's not an exaggeration. Jessica Joyce's sophomore novel is an absolute, indescribably breathtaking treasure. It's one of the greatest romance novels of our time -- the kind of story that'll live with people for years and years, eventually becoming a classic that later generations will look back on. Joyce's debut was glorious, but this is truly something else entirely.

FULL REVIEW: https://marvelousgeeksmedia.com/2024/07/01/the-ex-vows-by-jessica-joyce-review/

Thank you to Berkley for the advance reader copy -- all opinions are my own.

Jessica Joyce does it again! Sweet, swoony, a little spicy and a whole lot of real emotions. Second chance, friends to lovers, Georgia and Eli's story is a great read!

The Ex Vows is a sweeping, second chance romance from Jessica Joyce! I loved You, With a View when I read it last year, and knew I would love this one as well. I feel like Jessica Joyce's writing is so easy to follow along, and works really well with my brain. It's charming and funny with the perfect comedic and heart-wrenching beats. While I feel like the round 2 of romance between Georgia and Eli could've been better paced, I still really enjoyed watching them reunite after 5 years. I think my favorite part of the book was definitely the friendship between Georgia, Jamie, Adam, and Eli. I can't wait to read more of Jessica's works in the future!

4.5 Second Chance Love Story stars

A trio of friends since high school – Georgia, Adam, and Eli – are set to meet up again for Adam’s wedding. Georgia (a chronic list and rule maker) is still very close to Adam, but Eli is an ex-boyfriend she now struggles to be around. As you might have predicted, Adam has asked Eli to be his best man, and Georgia knows that she will have to be in close proximity to Eli for a few days. How will she cope?

We eventually discover what tore Georgia and Eli apart and that their relationship is unresolved. Georgia now lives in San Francisco, and Eli is still working a high-pressure job in New York. His job has kept him from being a good best man, and he’s flown to California to make it all up to Adam before the wedding.

As Adam and his fiancée struggle with wedding planning disasters, it’s Georgia to the rescue. Except that Eli wants to step in and fix things, too. Will the two find a way to work together? Will Georgia’s lists and rule following save the day on short notice?

Georgia and Eli head to the wedding venue in Napa and relive fond memories from the past. Will their feelings be rekindled? Can they get through the issues that broke them up? Is there a second chance possible for them? And why does Eli seem more like his old self?

This one has a high spice level, but I loved the story and how the characters evolved throughout the book. There are mental health issues explored in this one. And I loved the wrap-up with paper rings. Rumor says there’s a song out there that matches this!

I first found this author when I saw rave reviews for her first book, “You, With a View.” I gave that one five stars and wondered if I had found a new favorite romance writer. That one is still my favorite, but I eagerly read this one and will continue to read what this author publishes next.

If you’ve ever jammed out to Paper Rings by Taylor Swift then THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU 😍

I told myself I most certainly did not have time to read another arc, no ma’am, so even though I adored the author’s first book I was just going to sit this one out until publication day rolled around…and then the author posted a carousel of snippets about the one and only Eli Mora and reader…

I caved.

Thank goodness I did too, because I devoured this book in a single day and cannot wait to read it again!

Here’s what it’s about:

Georgia’s best friend is getting married, but everything that could go wrong? Yeah, it’s going wrong. As best woman, she’s determined to save the day (with her many lists it will surely be possible) but then the best man arrives, determined to step up in ways he hasn’t until now.

Oh, and that best man? He’s her ex.

Georgia and Eli dated five years ago after being friends for years. But when their issues, including Eli’s debilitating anxiety, crept between them, the two were left heartbroken and pretending to be fine for the sake of their mutual best friend. Now, Georgia is still hung up on him and trying to keep from getting her heart broken again—a task that involves a very careful list of rules to follow.

But Eli? He’s different. And when he shows up for the wedding, he’s breaking all of the rules.

OKAY IN CASE YOU ARE NOT SOLD YET, THE BOOK ALSO HAS:
❤️ a wedding that is SO cursed
❤️ messy people navigating messy feelings
❤️ brilliantly executed mental health rep
❤️ y’all he LITERALLY makes her paper rings okay
❤️ a gold-chain wearing simp of a man
❤️ and some excellent spice

Reading this book had me laughing out loud, crying, gasping, etcetera. It’s a masterpiece and if you enjoy romance, make sure you pick this one up. You won’t regret it, I promise!!

4.25⭐️
𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙚 🎭: second chance romance
𝙎𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙚: 🌶️🌶️
𝙋𝙖𝙘𝙚 🏃🏼‍♀️: moderate/fast
𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 🖤: Carley Fortune

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝:
▪️ second chance
▪️ forced to work together on common goal
▪️ childhood friend group

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞:
▪️the curse
▪️when things ultimately get sappy (this is a me problem!)

I just love Jessica's books. They have so much nostalgia, they're easy to read, the characters are lovable, and the themes are relatable and realistic. There was a bit of ✨ufda✨ for me when it seemed like the MMC was making changes after they had broken up - because of course he did. Again- super relatable.

The audio was great - I listened 1.8x to 2x for the most part. The narrator did a good job flipping between male and female voices which can be really tough to do.

I have never read from this author before but I was so pleasantly surprised. The biggest stand out of this book fro me was the writing, she could fully make you feel what the characters were feeling and painted such beautiful landscapes with her words. I loved the couple an thought it was a fun concept. Although I do wish we got to see more of the past relationship I was still fully invested in the couple and was rooting for them completely. The were such “its always been you” vibes and the paper rings mended so many cracks in my heart. I highly highly recommend.

I was ready to name Cara Bastone’s Ready or Not as my favorite book of the year, and then I read this—The Ex Vows by Jessica Joyce. Georgia lives by lists, they give her a control she’s always dreamed of, but when her best friend Adam’s wedding starts to go off the rails, it’s up to her and his other best person, her ex-boyfriend, Eli to save the celebration. This was raw and beautiful. I laughed, I cried, I loved every moment of this. Georgia’s pain and emotions felt so relatable. All she wants is to find her place, and I thought her journey felt so genuine and striking. And Eli put so much of himself out there, they grow so beautifully together. As much as I would have absolutely loved some of Eli’s POV in this, I loved it was just the single perspective of Georgia. There’s so much depth in every character and interaction. It was witty and smart and raw and lovely. It was romantic and beautiful, and just everything I want in a romance. This book deserves all the stars and love!

Georgia and Eli were best friends turned romantic partners until they split five years ago due to Eli's work. Their third best friend is Adam, whose impending wedding is cursed. The original wedding site burned down and now they are moving the ceremony to a winery owned by Adam's extended family. Georgia and Eli are sent up to the winery for a week to help with wedding preparations, but the winery is also the place where they fell in love as teenagers working summer jobs. As they figure out how to work together again in order to give Adam his dream wedding, they also have to reckon with what caused their split and the lingering feelings they both have.

This second-chance romance left me swooning. You can feel Eli's pining for Georgia from the second they reconnect at the airport. I felt a strong sense of connection to Georgia because we share some of the same childhood issues and I've fought the same internal struggles she battles in the story. Great cast of characters but the wedding curses were a bit too far into the absurd for me.

Overall: 4.5/5 rounded up
Spice: 2.5/3

When I saw this book was going to be a second chance romance I was immediately sold (it is my favorite trope), and it was amazingly done. One thing I am always skeptical when reading books with this trope is the reason behind why they didn’t work out the first time and in this one it felt so real and believable.

The pacing was amazing, I binged the last 50% of the book and I just could not stop reading. Literally holding back tears at the pool because I was surrounded by other people who had no idea how much I was struggling to not cry over words on paper (correction on my kindle lol). Loved the way we got glimpses of their past and understanding why they drifted apart and also when they were just friends developing feelings for each other. The side characters were also great addition to the story, I personally loved the found family in this one.

The plot was something I’ve been struggling with other romances because some times I feel like there isn’t a balance when it comes to plot and the love story. I just loved how they went on to help their best friend’s wedding and in the trajectory finding their way back together. And one thing was not dethroned by the other (plot over love story or viceversa).

Both characters felt so real, relatable, and genuine. Eli Mora THE MAN THAT YOU ARE😭 going to therapy 😭 *new book boyfriend unlocked

You could feel the chemistry through the pages. The tension and banter 20/10. Overall, this was an amazing read and is definitely going to be one of my favorite reads of the year..

Ps. PAPER RINGS???? are you kidding me 😭 Now these are characters that are truly meant for each other!

Thank you Berkley and Netgalley for the arc and giving me a 5 star book <3

What am I supposed to say? I love everything this author writes. The tension is so hot! I just kept reading because I HAD to see them get together... so much angst mixed with so much swoon. I just love it.

This book had me sobbing my eyes out at midnight!

Eli and Georgia were truly everything 😭

The Ex Vows is one of my favorite second chance romances of all time!
It truly nailed the angst and feelings.

I can't wait to reread this book and listen to the audiobook!

No notes. Just pure love for this story. 5 stars. Want to cherish it :) a perfect real second chance romance

I will gladly wear all of Eli’s paper rings. That’s it. That’s the review.

Okay, okay. There’s really more than that, but, oh, that man has my heart.

Jessica Joyce knows how to make me ugly cry. Like full-out sob. Waterworks. So. Many. Tears.

And yet, her books tend to be my favorites.

This is a second chance, friends-to-lovers romance set at a wedding. (Not their wedding, FYI)

Georgia is the best woman; Eli is the best man; and they are trying to salvage their closest friend’s wedding when everything goes awry shortly before the big event.

And the new venue just happens to hold so. many. memories. for Georgia and Eli.

My heart was in my throat. My chest was squeezed tight. And the way I sobbed, y’all. (How dare Jessica Joyce make me sob so much.)

The memories.

And the friendships.

And the sense of belonging.

And the concept of home.

And the vulnerability.

And how it feels safe to be messy with the right person.

And the physical intimacy scenes that pack an emotional punch.

And how Joyce treats anxiety with such care.

Seriously, this book deserves all the stars.

I received an advance copy of the book from Berkley and NetGalley. All review opinions are my own.