4.5/5 stars

This is my second book by Jessica Joyce (this year) and I really really like her writing, character development and the way she writes chemistry between two characters.

Georgia and Eli are main characters that I just want to keep reading about. The reason they broke up in the first place makes a lot of sense and this book was very realistic and I loved that. The plot was unique with having to help plan their best friends wedding and caused major forced proximity and it was pure gold. The setting, scenes at the DJ audition and bakery was amazing and I was rooting for both characters to figure out their own insecurities and personal relationships before they made it work together. This is a book I would definitely recommend. The reason it wasn't a fill 5 stars for me was that the ending was a bit rushed and I would have liked more.

You'd like this book if you like:
-second chance romance
-humor and mishaps for planning a wedding
-friends to lovers
-strong character growth
-mental health representation from multiple characters

Thank you Berkley and Netgalley for this arc!

I can't wait to read more books by this author!

I looooooved You, With a View last summer, so my hopes were sky-high for The Ex Vows.

Y'all. The Ex Vows makes You, With a View look like the first draft of a high school English paper on narrative fiction. This book was absolute, literal perfection. The angst! The pinning! The memories! It reminded me of Happy Place, but even swoonier if you can believe it.

I don't want to give any spoilers away, but something happens at the end of this book that is hands down one of the swooniest things I've ever read. Oh my goodness gracious it was adorable. I cannot gush about this book enough. ADD THIS TO YOUR TBR!

Full review to come closer to pub date.

a 6🌟 read for me. this was the perfect book. everything I needed and more. I binged the last 40% the other morning because I couldn’t get enough of Georgia and Eli 🥹 I honestly would have sat and read the whole book in one sitting if I would have had the time. They are a new all time favorite book couple and a new all time favorite book!! I love them I love them I love them

I cannot wait for this book to be released so I can talk about it with everyone. I’m not usually a second chance romance girlie, but this book had me hooked from the very first page.

I absolutely loved the friendship between Adam, Eli & Georgia. This alone was such a fundamental piece of why I loved this book so much.

The beautiful second chance and the real life, relatable obstacles that got in the way for Georgia and Eli made it that much easier to love them and to follow along. You’re rooting for them the whole time.

This book made me laugh, cry, and just absolutely want to be transferred to this world. All of the real like hardships & mental health representation was just perfectly written.

This was my first ever book by Jessica Joyce and it will not be my last. I also already know I will be rereading this when it releases in July. I just cannot say enough positive things about this book. I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to read it ahead of time. It was truly everything. ❤️

Jessica Joyce is my latest auto-buy author. Her characters are always so well-drawn and the plots are so nicely threaded. Here we have Georgia and Eli, exes because navigating your twenties is hard when you haven't dealt with your teen trauma and anxiety. These two get roped into helping put together their best friend's wedding at the last minute after everything has gone wrong, and wind up navigating their simmering attraction and old wounds along with it. The sexual tension is great, and the second chance romance hits all the right notes.

The Ex Vows was everything and more. I swooned I sobbed.. it was probably the best romance I’ve read in a long time. The characters were so relatable and charming and I loved the writing style. Highly recommend!

4.5 rounded up. I loved this book so very much. Reminiscent of Emily Henry's Happy Place, which I also love, but also engaging and unique in its own right.

Second chance romance can be challenging because the past breakup needs to feel justified while still giving the reader compelling reasons to root for the couple. This book toed the line perfectly for me, and it really highlighted the importance of timing, context, and self-work as factors in a successful relationship. I found Georgia and Eli's individual growth just as compelling as their journey back to each other. I've been reading a lot of dual-POV lately and it was refreshing to stick with one character in this one, it helped to fully develop Georgia with all her complexities, anxieties, and flaws. The shared history felt tangible and lived-in, making me nostalgic for a past that isn't mine.

This is my first Jessica Joyce and I very was impressed with her writing - great comedy, chemisty, banter, and some really tender dialogue. The setting was lovely, the plot was engaging, the tropes were trope-ing, the dynamics with the supporting characters were complex and funny and emotional. A lot of the themes hit close to home and they were handled with nuance and care. Just a really solid romance that checked all the boxes for me.

I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group in exchange for my honest review.

OMG this book ripped me apart and put me back together. I could not express how much I adored this! Literally loved every second.

Huge thank you to netgalley for this arc! I am so beyond honored and let out the loudest gasp when I got approved!!💗💗💗

Jessica Joyce has very quickly become one of my favorite romance authors of all time. She has such a way with emotions, authenticity and banter between characters! The setting for this book was amazing. I thought the friendships were so realistic for people in their mid-to-late twenties and how it feels to change while still holding places in our hearts for the people that we love.

While I absolutely LOVED both characters, I didn’t relate to either of them on a deep level. Not because they weren’t incredibly raw, real and nuanced, but just because my personality is different. But watching their growth was incredible! The therapy and anxiety representation was so amazing and important. I am so grateful for Jessica Joyce! I will read anything this woman writes!! She is magic.

Sometimes happiness is loud and messy.

The entire story of Georgia and Eli teaming up to rescue their bestfriend's wedding and going on all those fun little adventures was seriously entertaining. But at the same time, it was kinda heartbreaking to see the lingering problems they had to deal with. The setting was absolutely charming. It did feel like the wedding was jinxed, with everything going sideways. But those funny moments really helped to lighten the atmosphere and ease the tension.

This book really captured the reality of how people can grow apart as they get older. It resonated with me so much, seeing the characters go through those changes and the deeper message it conveyed. It's not just about finding love, but also about navigating the shifts in friendships and the different paths we all take in life. It can be tough to come to terms with that, but the book portrayed it in such a relatable way. I loved how Georgia and Eli were depicted with such depth, and I could really connect with Georgia's need to please others and Eli's anxiety about the future. It was refreshing to read a story that feels so real and genuine.

The author did an amazing job in how she unveiled the past romance between Eli and Georgia. It was done in such a seamless way, effortlessly showcasing both the beautiful moments when their love was blossoming and the obstacles they encountered as life changed.

I also appreciated how this book delved deep into mental health and the importance of communication in a relationship. It's such an important topic, and the author handled it with care. This book totally nailed the second chance romance trope! Overall, this book was a fantastic read that I highly recommend!

Jessica Joyce has such a way with words. The Ex Vows is a second chance romance, friends to lovers to estranged "friends" to lovers story that follows Georgia and Eli as they have to work together to save their other best friend's disaster wedding, 5 years after their break-up. Their friendship and relationship felt so real, honest and messy and the backdrop was stunning. I expected this to be told in past and present chapters but I ended up really enjoying the fact that it was all in the present. This type of forced proximity worked really well for the story because it felt realistic. I also loved the nods to Taylor Swift's music, especially Paper Rings. What a beautiful way that was incorporated. If you loved You, with a View like I did, you definitely don't want miss this one! Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley.

As a self proclaimed hater of second chance romances, Jessica Joyce is making me rethink my entire life. The Ex Vows follows exes Georgia and Eli as they are reunited for their best friend's upcoming wedding. I loved Eli and Georgia and it is probably one of my favourite second chance romances I have ever read. It was emotional, devastating, romantic and has a full cast of characters you can’t help but fall in love with.

What I think Joyce does so well with this trope is grounding the plot in the present day. The reason I never liked second chance romances is because they often utilize full flashback chapters which really slow down the pace of a book and takes me right out of the current story. Joyce gives us details of what happened in the past with Georgia and Eli but it is always just enough and never takes up a significant amount of time from the current story. That is not to say this book isn’t full of angst. You feel the yearning between these two and I ate it right up! Not to mention the sexual tension is off the charts.

I am now a die-hard Jessica Joyce fan and can’t wait to read whatever she puts out!

jessica joyce cements herself as an auto-buy author for me with "the ex vows" after i was swept away by "you, with a view"! i am the first to say that second chance is not my favorite trope, but i think it's just because i hasn't read this beautiful, tender book that is bursting with heart. i adore georgia and eli. i adore adam and grace. i adore the love and fear and worry and support and trust that they feel and, through joyce's writing, made me feel. this is a book about the family you choose and how hard we try to stay with the people we love and being brave and loving people even though you've tried so hard to stop, but you just can't. joyce is a heartfelt, lyrical, hilarious, gutwrenching romance writer who crafts characters you can see yourself in. the love she has for her craft and characters pours out of this. i'm gushing and i can't stop myself! sorry! please go read this!

Okay this book was THAT GIRL!! Best romance book ever written. This is what Happy Place wanted to be. She made me cry so hard multiple times throughout the book. I think Jessica Joyce is quickly becoming a favorite!!

Oh she’s taking it!!! Ngl I sobbed which I rarely do in romance books (ok like 10% of the time) but the ending got me. I loved everything about this book. The setting in Napa, the friend group in their late 20s, mental health rep, the banter?! 🤌🏾 I was SO scared about the pacing because you could feel like everything good was happening too early. I was 50% into the book and already claiming it a 5 star but struggled to see how it could keep the momentum. But the development that happens in the back half of the book is some of the realest and healthiest I’ve ever read in a rom com. Which thank you Jessica Joyce for showing it’s possible!! Georgia and Eli have my heart.

For fans of: Happy Place & Love and Other Words

things you might love:
friends x lovers
second chance romance
found family
anxiety rep
single pov
3/5 🌶️

Plot Summary:
Georgia Woodard is the best friend and co-best woman in her friend Adam’s wedding. The only problem? Her ex and childhood best friend is the other co-best man. Georgia and Eli were perfect partners until they weren’t and even those closest to them barely know what went wrong 5 years ago in NYC. A lot of time has passed and they’re different people now. But will planning to get their shared best friend’s wedding in Napa Valley back on track be enough to bring them back together?


thank you NetGalley and Berkley Romance for the arc! The Ex Vows comes out 07/24!

I absolutely loved everything about this book. Between the characters and writing it was beautiful. The romance between Georgia and Eli was amazing. The love they have had for each other over the years was nice to read about. Also loved the anxiety representation throughout. I highly recommend this book to everyone!


Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for the arc.

This is so perfectly my perfect romance book.

The tension, the longing, the banter, and the chemistry between Georgia and Eli was EVERYTHING. This whole book was a rollercoaster of me giggling and kicking me feet, blushing, and crying. There’s not ONE THING that I would want to change.

We know right off the jump that Georgia and Eli are soulmates. Even though from the beginning we know that they’ve been broken up for five years, it’s so easy to tell that the connection they have is that rare once in a lifetime sort of thing. The love they have for each other and the years of history between them makes my heart ache. It’s bittersweet to see their butterfly inducing meet-cute and know that a soul crushing ending is inevitable. They’re the embodiment of right person, wrong time/ I have to work on me so I can be the version of me you deserve.

They’re also quit literally the perfect second chance romance. Sometimes with that trope, it feels like the connection they had in the past wasn’t but that’s not the case here. These two have YEARS of history, they met as baby teenagers and were friends for years.

While I loved their romance, I liked getting to see Georgia and Eli’s individual healing journeys. Seeing Eli grapple with his anxiety and workaholic tendencies tugged at my heart strings. And seeing Georgia tackle her abandonment issues and her fear of being a burden quickly made her a soul character for me. So much of her internal struggles deeply resonated with me and I bet so many people will find comfort in her journey.

Finally, I have to mention the friend group dynamic bc a) I loved them and b) it was such an important part of this story. These characters are in their late 20s and Georgia has to tackle the fact that they’re all in different stages of life, and while they’re still 100% her chosen family, life might be getting in the way and she doesn’t want to lose them. It reminded me a bit of Happy Place, and while I LOVE Emily Henry’s books, personally I preferred the way Jessica tackled this storyline.

I don’t know how Jessica did it but a few pages in I automatically knew this was going to be an all time favorite.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Things I LOVED ❣️
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- The prologue does a remarkable job at setting the rest of the story, it introduces the characters and their relationships SO PERFECTLY.
- All the wedding related shenanigans
- The forced proximity of it all 💕
- The way it’s told in the present but we seamlessly get tiny flashbacks to the past
- The California wine vineyard setting was stunning
- Eli is the embodiment of “its always the quiet ones”
- THE FRIEND GROUP!!
- Eli’s chain. Every since normal people I’ve become such a slut for a man with a chain and my bestie jessica delivered
- THE PAPER RINGS!! That’s all I’ll say. But omfg Jessica how dare you

2.5 stars, rounded up because its Jessica Joyce and I love her.

Oh dear. It absolutely pains me to write this review as one of the world's biggest JJ and Y,WAV fans... but this book was not it for me. :(

The beginning of the story dragged, with a lot of repetition and explaining and telling us about the past. I think this part of the book would have been better served by flashbacks so that the reader is immersed in the original relationship and its unraveling. Instead, Georgia rattles off everything that happened over the span of 10 years and I didn't feel connected to either character or to them as a couple. There was nothing really showing me that their relationship was ever all that great, and I still don't really know what Georgia and Eli really like about each other, so all of the yearning was surface level for me.

I was also underwhelmed by the original breakup. Georgia tells us that they "burned it all down" so I was expecting a gut wrenching terrible situation and a emotional bombshell, but instead it was just that Eli worked too much. Ehhh....

I did love the idea for the story and there were some funny moments as they planned out their friend Adam's wedding. It was a fun idea, but the execution of it left me wanting more. The day-of-wedding scenes were incredible though, and I loved that part of the book.

Overall this book just did not have the tension, the wit, or the heart that You, With a View had for me. I think people will like it, but it will not resonate in the same way that Y, WAV did. I still have really high hopes for Jessica's next book and I'm a big fan! I know that following up such a monster debut had to be hard, and this book had been previously written and then changed to be published after her success. Maybe the next one will be fresher and back to the JJ voice that we know and love.

Thank you so much for the ARC! I am so grateful!

I’m sad how long this took me to read due to my reading slump this month.

This book is a masterpiece. THIS IS WHAT I WANT WHEN I WANT A ROMANCE BOOK!!!!
the angst, the tension, the SWOOOOOOON.

ELI MORA >>>>>> gimme him.
Eli and Georgia are absolutely soulmates and I need more of them right now.

This is a second chance romance, which I am a HUGE fan of. I love the history that adds to the longing and angst.
This was funny, and so full of love my heart was about to burst.
I was smiling, giggling and kicking my feet while reading this.

This book also had Paper Rings by Taylor Swift vibes >>> honestly the entire Lover album is dedicated to this book.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!!!! Highly enjoyed this one and honestly, loved it more than You, With a View and that was a 5 star for me as well. I cannot wait to see what else this author writes!

-the BANTER!!!
-PAPER RINGS (come on how cute)
-tensionnn
-mental health/anxiety representation
-second chance

A second chance romance that hit every single freaking mark without miss and truly had me wishing it would never end.

Jessica Joyce has without a doubt has become an auto buy author. The way she is able to write painstakingly human characters with qualities that readers can see themselves reflected in. I was able to see Eli and Georgia, their story on paper and root for them from start to finish. There’s truly nothing more beautiful to me than two people finding their way back home to one another. I easily saw bits and parts of myself within both of them, from Eli’s anxiety to Georgia’s need to keep everything to herself+her people pleasing tendency.
The mental health representation in this was done to perfection. Adding in the growing up and moving on, how that change can be a scary thing about being an adult and even more so when it happens with “your people”, which i think many in their 20’s can resonate with and Joyce did a phenomenal job at conveying this experience in a way that felt authentic to the characters and their story.

I swooned, I laughed, I teared up and ate up every moment of this. I love them and I adored seeing all their moments, the buildup and the pacing was IT!

Also Eli and his chain, FERAL!!!!