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!!!!

This has HANDS DOWN been one of the best ARC reads I have had this year and I just know that people are going to love it when it releases. The Ex Vows tells the story of two ex-lovers Eli and Georgia who come together as the Best Man and Best Woman to make sure their shared best friend's wedding doesn't crash and burn. This book is a perfect romance read for those who love second chances, best friends to lovers, and the healing journey from broken hearts. Right from the start I was absolutely hooked and the author does a fantastic job of keeping the readers engaged all throughout. I honestly came into this thinking it would be a fun fluffy read but it was so much more! The last few chapters had my heart twisting so much, and it is so beautiful how the author tackles mental health, anxiety, and the importance of loving someone through the good and the bad. I really enjoyed this author's previous work You With A View, but this one I think has taken a #1 spot for me. I am so excited for this to release so I can buy a physical copy. I love Eli and Georgia so so much!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me an early copy to read and review for my honest opinion.

Wow, did I love this book. I really loved Joyce’s novel last year so I was so excited to see this one coming. And here’s the thing, I loved this one even more. The writing was great, the story was fun and fresh, and the characters were fantastic. I really am a sucker for second chance romance so I was immediately on board. But then I found myself completely invested in Georgia and Eli’s lives. You know the kind of invested where if things were going to blow up it was going to feel like my life was blowing up? Yeah, like that. Individually they’re great, flawed, realistic characters but together they’re so so good. I’m a bit obsessed with Eli… just a bit. Okay, a lot. And I really loved Georgia. Her vulnerability and her personal journey was just so good. I related to her in a lot of ways, which made the story even better. Both of these characters go on such a great personal character journey and I LOVED it. Listen, a man who goes to therapy is an automatic win for me, we love a man who wants to change and work through things 👏🏼 again, the writing in this was so good. The way Joyce combines their memories and the current events was written in such an interesting way, I’m a big fan. Romance readers, definitely add this one to your TBR!

Tropes/themes:
-second chance
-childhood friends
-forced proximity

Words cannot describe how this book hit home. It feels like a lost Emily Henry book with its heartbreaking but so true romance and its very emotional topic anyone can identify to.
First of all, this book being second chance happening during a chaotic wedding and in summer felt very personal to me. Of course I would love this book. But this went even beyond. Eli has made his way to my top 5 book boyfriends and this romance is now part of my favourite of all time.
I feel like what really hit home with this book is the “loneliness” topic that’s talked about in this book. How you’re scared of change and what will become of your friendships with time and work separating you. It made me cry so bad but i’m so happy books talk more about this and it’s why i’ll say (i’m sorry i hate to compare but how can i not !??) that if you loved Happy Place by Emily Henry, you’ll fall in love with The Ex Vows.

I ADORED THIS BOOK! When I first read the description I had an evil smile on my face because this sounded like the perfect book and let me just say it didn't disappoint. I laughed, I cried, and I couldn't put it down. We get to go on a journey with them as they figure out who they are now and it's wonderful. I wish I could forget all about it just so I could experience it again for the first time.

Okay, how to explain this...

I loved it up until roughly chapter 21, and then it all fell apart. But if you don't mind what happens between chapters 20 and 21, this book is for you. It just wasn't for me.

Pre chapter 21:

I absolutely loved how hard Georgia was trying to be everything her long-time friend needed. I don't quite understand how you forget about your wedding cake or how you can just completely dump all your wedding problems on your friend to deal with but...I guess these people aren't my kind of people. Cause I would have handled all that myself, no matter what. So, Georgia gets stuck trying to look for a wedding cake with roughly a week to go till the wedding, along with a DJ and then the worst thing happens at their venue. So she's frantically trying to do these things and help fix up the ol' stomping ground area (others were on this, thank goodness) so it's barebones ready for a wedding.

Add the complication of her ex as her fellow best person/man who INSISTS on having his hand in everything she's doing in an attempt to make it up to the groom because he has done absolutely nothing up to this point…It's the longest, what, 7-9 days ever? Who would be comfortable being stuck with their ex all day when you and your ex broke up on less then stellar terms.

Basically, Eli chose his career over the 'love of his life.' In the end you learn the reason. But what you get to see pre-chapter 21 is a guy who seems to be struggling in life but is trying to shift his priorities from constantly working to being there for the people who matter most. Also, getting back on Georgia's good side.

Georgia is obviously resistant after everything that's happened, and she's so used to being in control, so the fact that Eli insisting on doing everything with her, or at least half by himself, is the worst. They try to put on a friendly front for their mutual bestie, but it's awkward as hell and I loved that true depiction of what it must be like to be thrust back into the proximity of your ex who you have decided to get along with for the good of the friend group.

End then the end of chapter 20 came along and everything I liked about this book came crashing down.

Now, I knew they were going to get back together somehow, some way. The title alone gave that away. How the author went about doing that was my problem...I loathed it. Absolutely hated it. I had to stop and give myself a break to maul over if I really wanted to finish this book. I was really hoping it would be further down the line... and better. But I guess the author had to find a way to get all her spice scenes in there somehow.

Still, I hated it. It might seem realistic to some people, but I could never see myself doing it. I don’t know anyone who would. So I was pretty bitter about what was happening until the wedding. Everything that happened just before, Georgia's speech, was beautiful and the story had a few pages of redemption before it sank back into the muck pile. The major conversation that should have happened at the end of chapter 20 FINALLY happened. Better late than never does not apply for here for me.

I personally think the author should have started addressing the 'elephant in the room,’ a lot sooner in order to make what happened around chapter 20-21 feel less...abrupt? More plausible? At least for people like me. Anyhow, I digress.

I did enjoy the author's writing style. Nothing felt stilted when reading and all the dialogue felt natural to me. While I will admit the discovery about the ring thing was kind of sweet, but I honestly was exasperated with these two. Those conversations should have happened halfway through the book, the way things were set up, not the ending. Or at least that first serious conversation. That is just my personal opinion though.

Conclusion?

This one, at the end of chapter 20 and beyond, was not for me. I did thoroughly enjoy the beginning half though. The writing was good. Conversations were smooth to read. I didn't notice any writing errors. Just not my cup of ex-lovers back to lovers tea.

I have often seen reviewers say/write things like "This book broke me and put me back together" and I would honestly kind of roll my eyes at the drama of it all.... Welp. Let this count as my formal apology. I GET IT NOW. Anytime I hear that phrase I will now nod my head in agreement and understanding because: THE EX VOWS.

Reading The Ex Vows was like a conversation with friends, a love story, comedy show, and therapy session all wrapped into a book I couldn't put down. It is not often I read a book that moves me so deeply on so many levels. I laughed, I cried, I cheered, I grieved - it truly is a work of art. I feel my review cannot even do this story justice and had to stop myself from just writing "READ. THIS. BOOK" over and over and over.

I loved You, With a View from Jessica Joyce and have been looking forward to The Ex Vows since reading the sneak peek at the end of Y,WAV. I cannot even begin to explain how this book just MOVED me to my core. The way Jessica Joyce intertwines the thematic elements of the story and the cyclical emotions and relationships that both exist and evolve is inspiring. Georgia and Eli are everything. Eli Mora is the ultimate book boyfriend - and Eli Mora in therapy? book boyfriend on steroids.

The growth of the Eli and Georgia throughout the book is physical as we watch them turn from teenagers to young adults into fully functioning grownups; relational as we see their relationship change from friendship to love to acquaintances and somewhere in between; And their emotional growth as Georgia and Eli learn to navigate life's challenges and while facing their OWN truths and, most importantly, SHARING them with each other and those they love. I did not want this story to end (but was thrilled with the way it did).

I will close by saying what needs to be said....

READ. THIS. BOOK.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group, Berkley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I love Jessica Joyce’s writing. I adored You with a View and I loved this one just as much. This was a second chance romance with a little childhood friends to lovers in there.
I thought Eli and Georgia were both likable and realistic. I also enjoy when books take place around a wedding, it was romantic and heartwarming.
Adam is a little Cupid and he was such a fun character too!
This is a 5 ⭐️ romance for me.

infinity stars!! this is honestly one of my favourite reads of 2024, i couldn’t even comprehend the love i have for eli and georgia. they were so beautifully written and the way they fell back in love was so mesmerising. and the way they fell back in love was so real and raw, it showed the reason why they fell apart.

the struggles that you face when you are buried in your job and having that anxiety of feeling alone and abandoned was so well written and it really hit close
to home.

i was crying a lot, the way eli put a lot of pressure on himself and the way he accepted what a ‘bad’ friend he was really broke me. i felt like the characters were really real, like some of the characters fears is what we face everyday and the way jessica joyce wrote it was beautiful as she always managed to insert the ways to overcome them and how to maintain them.

the second chance romance was done so perfectly. not once did i ever feel bored or wanted to put it down. the pace of the book was perfect and loved the way it went back and forth, it was done so clearly.

i think anything that jessica joyce writes is going to be 10/10 and so grateful for receiving this arc!!! it is truly going to stick with me as this book paints the real and honest ways of mental health.

AlSO THIS IS HOW YOU DO A TAYLOR SWIFTED CODED BOOK. the paper rings thing???? OUTSTANDING. i was even like to boyfriend that i want that!!!

thank you berkley and netgalley for trusting me🤍

If I could give this book a millions stars, I would. No notes. I think this might be one of my favorite books of the year! And that is not something I say lightly when we’re not even 2 months into the year.

The premise: exes Georgia and Eli find themselves working together to save their mutual best friend’s wedding. They’ve been broken up for five years and have acted like everything is fine between them, when in reality things are not okay. They have so many unresolved feelings, and a lot of hurt to unpack.

This book has:
- forced proximity
- top tier pining
- anxiety rep
- a people pleasing FMC
- “Maroon” by Taylor Swift vibes

I don’t think I’ve cried while reading a book as much as I did with this one. Their reason for breaking up was a little too real, and the way they unpacked the breakup (5 years later) was so mature. Jessica Joyce knows how to tug at your heart strings, rip you apart, and put you back together.

I wanted to read it again immediately after I finished it.

Georgia and Eli have my heart

This book had everything I wanted and more in a second chance romance! The characters and plot were impeccable, and I was so absorbed in the book that I finished it in less than 24 hours. Highly recommend it.

Jessica Joyce is an auto read for me!!! This story was exceptional. I love the setting, the plot, and the characters. 💓

The wedding saga was fun to read and I liked how the two main characters were thrust together. Eli and Georgia have history so it makes every moment more intimate and heightened.

The steamy scenes were perfect! They were very hot and well paced!

I love how the third act was more of a breather than a breakup! 🫶

5 Stars!!!!! Jessica Joyce is quickly becoming one of my favorite romance authors. I adored “You With a View” and was so excited to see that the “The Ex Vows” was being published. Let me tell you Jessica did not disappoint and I devoured this book in one sitting.

I am not a fan of second chance romances. I find the typical flashbacks annoying and sometimes boring. And some of them I find too angsty and the reason the couple originally broke up easily solved with a conversation. However, Jessica proved me wrong with “The Ex Vows” and I loved every second of this book. Georgia and Eli’s tension is so palpable and you know they love each other and are rooting for them every second of the book. The reason they broke up in the first place is extremely relatable and the growth both characters go through is important and needed. It doesn’t hurt that Eli is oh so very swoon worthy with his dark hair and broad shoulders.

Beyond their relationship, Georgia and Eli’s struggles with their friends and beginning new chapters in their lives is something we can all relate to and have felt.

“The Ex Vows” makes you feel every emotion: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Jessica does a great job of interspersing the tension with hilarity.

Pick this up immediately if love Emily Henry’s “Happy Place” (or really any Emily Henry Book) or Abby Jimenez.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Georgia and Eli were best friends turned lovers when they went through a terrible, heart wrenching breakup. They each put on a brave face to hide how much they were hurting from their other best friend, Adam. When Adam is getting married, both Georgia and Eli need to work together to save Adam from one wedding disaster after another.

I absolutely loved Jessica Joyce’s debut novel You, With a View and her second book was every bit as beautifully written. The characters were both flawed but good hearted. The vineyard setting was a lovely backdrop for a love story. The grand gesture and ending melted my heart. Eli had the sweetest way of showing his love for Georgia, even in the hard moments. I loved the message of the story that love is found in the other person’s flaws and in hard times. The book features forced proximity, second chance romance, and found family tropes, all excellently executed. There is also anxiety and therapy representation. Ultimately, if you love a feel good rom com that will leave you smiling and swooning, you need to pick this one up!

Thank you to Jessica Joyce, Berkley Romance, and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book an almost ridiculous amount. Second chance romance is one of my favorite tropes and this one is done so well. I loved the wedding triage subplot--it really framed their relationship perfectly.

This heartwarming novel is a second chance romance about a former couple coming together to help salvage their mutual friend’s wedding that’s gone awry. Georgia and Eli has fantastic banter and you could feel their love rekindling itself along the way. It was absolutely romantic and raw and real feeling as they reckoned with their past and their current selves.