The Ex Vows was one of my most-anticipated books of the year, and while I was a little disappointed, I did enjoy the story (especially the ending). My reading experience was much like my experience reading Happy Place by Emily Henry, which has many similar themes (namely, a wedding bringing together estranged exes, a second-chance romance, a close-knit group of friends, and a hazy setting that's entwined with the couple's history). This book has a LOT of angst and mutual pining and quiet moments with just Georgia and Eli. Seeing these 2 dance around having their long-needed conversation was so frustrating, and was the part I struggled with the most - miscommunication or non-communication is not something I'm a fan of. But I appreciated when they did have their conversation and expressed their insecurities. I also found the writing a little tricky to follow (lots of flashbacks in the middle of paragraphs).

The ending was so lovely (paper rings!!) Overall, I think readers looking for an emotional story will like this one.

while I was reading The Ex Vows I was reminded of:
- Happy Place by Emily Henry (as previously mentioned)
- the last season of How I Met Your Mother (the wedding setting but also the friendship dynamics)

Where do I even begin... I loved this book! I finished it this morning with tears streaming down my face, this was second-chance at its finest. Every single moment in this novel felt emotion-filled, intentional, and deeply romantic.

Second-chance, while being one of my favorite tropes, I find can be hard to do perfectly. Typically, I feel like either the previous or current connection isn’t believable enough, that couldn’t be less of the case here. Jessica transported us so tenderly and effortlessly into the past of Eli and Georgia’s relationship: the good, the bad, the starry-eyed beginnings, and the heartbreaking ends. While collecting memories of their past, Jessica was not shy to build out an incredible angsty, tension filled, and emotional current timeline. Even if we didn't get their past timeline, there was enough in the present where I knew without a doubt that Eli and Georgia were soulmates.

Another thing I felt was incredibly well done here is the reasons WHY things fell apart, there was no over-reliance on miscommunication simply just circumstances and two people not at their best no matter how deeply they want to be. Both Georgia and Eli had very relatable and realistic relationships with their jobs, friendships, and family that made them both feel so real. I appreciated touching on mental health for both Eli and Georgia, and a pro-therapy/emotionally aware male main character? I am in! I truly felt like both Eli and Georgia bettered themselves not only for their deep love for one another, but also themselves.

The plot and setting here was also just stunning. Eli and Georgia team up to essentially save their mutual best friend’s wedding. The plot added a lovely movement to the story, creating many tension-filled wedding errand moments and allowing for some DELICIOUS forced proximity.

Finally, I just really appreciated the rawness and realness of Georgia and Eli’s characters. It’s hard to write characters that fall short and hurt each other but still feel so incredibly lovable and I loved them both easily and found myself relating to Georgia’s people-pleasing tendencies and Eli’s anxiety.

Jessica’s writing is so effortless and vivid, reading The Ex Vows requires so little work for the reader in the best way possible. The mixture of beautiful, emotion filled lines and down to earth comedic moments, perfection!

Overall, this is an instant new favorite but who’s surprised, I will read anything Jessica Joyce writes!! Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the arc!

Georgia and Eli broke up 5 years ago and have remained "friends" due to their mutual friend group. They are now best man and best woman for their friend's wedding and have to work together to keep the wedding from falling apart. Cue the sexual tension, the lingering looks, and the words left unsaid. You can't help but root for these two as they find their way back to each other. You'll be laughing, crying, and kicking your feet.

I can’t even begin to describe the absolute magic that Jessica writes. The Ex Vows and its characters felt SO real. Real humans. Real problems. Real life. I’ve never felt so connected with two characters as much as I did Georgia and Eli. And I fell in love with the side characters! They made this story so much fun.

This is how a second chance romance is done. I will never not recommend this book as Jessica’s writing has become one of my favorites on making me feel all the emotions.

Please read this incredible story on how two souls are working together on rekindling something they once had, into something even better.

I'm struggling to put all my feelings and thoughts down in a way that will truly reflect how deeply I loved this book.

I want to scream about how much this book both wrecked me and healed me!

I related to Georgia so much. How she feels like she needs too much from people, and out of fear of them leaving her or thinking she's too needy, she ends up asking for almost nothing from them. She bottles up so much, and I've definitely been there.

Eli was such an incredible love interest. He's flawed, but so kind-hearted and trying so hard to be a better version of himself.

Georgia and Eli's banter both friendly and when they are annoyed with each other was great. I love that we don't really know exactly what happened that tore them apart 5 years prior until farther into the story. Seeing them work through their past, struggle through all these old feelings coming to the surface... it made me ache. So romantic.

I cried for a very large portion of this book... (admittedly, I'm a crier) but I also laughed, and swooned, and felt so happy while reading. I also blushed from some delicious spice.

This book, these characters and their love will stay with me for a long time. I have a feeling Jessica Joyce will just continue writing books that feed my soul... forever an auto-buy author. I will read anything she writes.

Read this if you like:
•lists
•paper rings
•one bed trope
•second chance romance
•The best friendships
•have struggled in your uppers 20s when everyone around you is moving into phases in their life that you’re not in yet [not for lack of trying though 😩]

"In thirty seconds, you're not going to want this, and I can't pull away, so you're the one who has to."

THIS BOOK. You, with a View was one of my absolute favs of 2023. The Ex Vows absolutely blew me away too!! This will be the book of summer, mark my words. Jessica writes tension, chemistry, flirting, banter, and yearning so so well. Everything about this story could be real life. The emotion, the situations, the upper 20s and everything changing. Excuse me while I go listen to Paper Rings on repeat until July 16 when I can own a physical copy of this. I won’t be shutting up about this book until her next book comes out so you’ve been warned.

Thank you Berkley Romance for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I adored this book so much!Georgia and Eli were such a great couple to root for. I really fell for them and their relationship; I felt like their struggles were so real and relatable.This book made me laugh and blush and squeal, in all the best ways. I loved it so, so much.

This book was a fun second chance romance. I loved how each of the main characters dealt with real life issues (anxiety, fear of abandonent etc). I do wish they had just had a conversation at some point instead of having angst but then we'd have no story. I also loved the cast of friends.

A second chance romance filled with emotion and banter. Eli Mora is what dreams are made of tbh. He is the sweetest most special MMC and we must protect him at all costs. THE PAPER RINGS??? I actually cried at that. This was single POV and single timeline with flashbacks. I do wish we would’ve had dual pov and timeline, to me that’s always helpful with a second chance trope, because really let’s me understand the background and characters but I think Jessica leaves a trail of info that gives enough information to grasp it. Jessica has a way with words that really makes you feel it all. The prose was beautiful and she definitely became an auto buy author for me because of this book.

Toward the end I was reading and I said to myself “this could’ve ended already, what could possibly happen next”. But boyyyy what came next was my favorite part 🥹 so if you’re like me and you have that thought…KEEP READING!!

My biggest qualm… there is a lack of communication between characters that really drove me crazyyyy and it lasts for most of the book.

Overall, I really enjoyed and the ending really took it to the next level for me.

P.S. If you liked Forget Me Not by Julie Soto you’ll love this book. It gave similar vibes, two exes planning a wedding and rekindling in the process.

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

I felt this book to my bones. It took me a day or two longer than I normally would reading a book of this size but that is because I devoured and let every single word that Jessica Joyce wrote, deep into my heart and mind.

She writes in a way that I FEEL and describes the small minute details in the everlasting way that I experience them. From small glances to knees accidentally touching that puts butterflies in your stomach. From reliving memories and noting pain in movements that are only known by someone who knows another character so well they notice the nuances. She hit me from every single direction and I just felt filled.

Eli Mora. WOW. I won’t ever forget Eli. I don’t want to spoil anything and a more in depth review post will come closer to pub day, but hear me now. PRE. ORDER. THIS. BOOK. This publishes on July 16, 2024.

I can’t wait to get my physical copy so I can transfer over my 100 highlights 😭😭😭😭

wow… this book was absolutely amazing and absolutely heartbreaking. My heart was so heavy reading it and it just hurt to read because it was so beautifully heartbreaking. Second chance romance is not one of my fav tropes and there’s only 2 other books with this trope that I LOVE but now I can confidently say that I love 3 books with this trope because this book broke me and healed my heart at the same time and I’m so thankful I got to read it. I know I’ll be thinking about it forever

Out July 16, 2024 [Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an eARC!]

Rating: 5/5 stars

Georgia and Eli were best friends, then lovers, then nothing at all. When they reunite as “best people” to save their mutual best friend’s wedding, they just might have the second chance they’d never admit they always wanted…

This book is cataclysmically beautiful and I am undone. I absolutely adored everything about this book, which is sweet and sexy and warm and caring and gut-wrenching in all of the best ways. In particular, I related to Georgia on a molecular level, and so many scenes absolutely flattened me—there are few books out there that make me feel seen in quite the way this one did.

Jessica Joyce is without doubt one of the best romance authors in the game right now—this book is not even OUT yet and I already can’t wait for whatever’s coming next. In short, a piece of my heart will stay in the Napa Valley with these characters forever. I truly cannot WAIT for everyone to have this book in July!

CW: Anxiety/panic attacks; abandonment

This is the my second time reading a novel by Jessica Joyce and it was great. I really enjoyed "You with a View' and so I had high hopes for "The Ex Vows" and it didn't disappoint. Joyce has a way of bringing you right into the story and does a great job with showing instead of telling. The main characters were relatable and I appreciated the honest depiction of dealing with anxiety and mental health struggles. Overall, the story was charming and entertaining and I'm looking forward to her work in the future.

Infinite stars ⭐️

A new favorite romance book. Jessica has a way with words and truly makes such beautiful & impactful love stories. I love her ability to include depth into her books and this one definitely had the emotional impact that left me feeling everything!

The Ex Vows was one of my most anticipated reads after Jessica released her debut, You, with a view, last year. The Ex Vows is a masterpiece, to say it lightly. This book gripped me from the very beginning and left me feeling like someone squeezed my heart and then gave it a hug. This is second chance romance at its absolute BEST! Georgia and Eli have a history that jumps off the pages and makes you feel like you’ve been witnessing their love alongside them.

The story was unique, as the two are working to remedy their childhood bestfriends wedding together. I loved how she seamlessly included bits & pieces of their past, making you yearn for their endgame even more! I was able to connect with Georgia and Eli in many ways, both are strong & complex characters whose own issues are being healed. This book is VERY pro therapy and it was wonderful to witness, as both characters go to therapy to heal after trauma.

Georgia’s character was immediately very hard hitting for me, Jessica did a phenomenal job with how she portrayed someone with childhood trauma that impacts her every day life. I love how this book takes two people who are so wholeheartedly right for each other but needed to grow a bit in order to make it work again. Chapter 34-35 I was sobbing the whole time, at two am😭!!

I highly recommend this book to everyone, it’s a romance book that has the undertones of how scary change & growing up is. I LOVE THIS BOOK. It will never leave my head. Especially the paper rings and little details, my gosh💞😭 Also, the spice… was SO GOOD, it was intimate and included the perfect amount.

Oh Jessica Joyce how I love you. I completely fell in love with You, With A View and didn't think I could love a story more but this one topped it. I really do not have a bad thing to say about this one.

This book, man this book. I don't wanna speak in hyperbole and be rash, but my goodness this book may be one of my favorite books of all time. The emotions I felt while reading this book cover the full spectrum, I mean I had a physical reactions to the angst and pining in this book. It made my heart hurt and brought tears to my eyes on multiple occasions. To be fair second chance and pining is my personal kryptonite and to add fuel to the fire Jessica Joyce posted that the heroine's song from the playlist would be Mirrorball by Taylor Swift which is just a dagger to my heart. If you read one book this year let it be this one and while I know Emily Henry has become the main comparison as everyone is trying to capitalize on her success I actually think this is the most comparable in terms of quality writing and romance.

Another wonderful Jessica Joyce novel that is filled with so much heart and angst! I love it when a story can balance both of those things well! Eli and Georgia's chemistry was amazing!!! It was so passionate and witty ahhh i lovee! Such a good book!

What to expect in The Ex Vows:
-childhood friends to lovers
-second chance romance
-found family
-angsty 😭
-🌶🌶
-single POV

Georgia and Eli have known for a good part of their lives - having met when they were fifteen. Their relationship took its own course from friends to lovers when they both decided to move to NYC from the Bay Area. And then...the one thing that Georgia feared happened - their relationship fell apart and she lost one of her best friends. It's been five years, but Georgia and Eli are always cordial to each other whenever they interact with their other mutual best friend Adam. With Adam's wedding looming in the very near distance, Georgia isn't prepared to be spending so much time with Eli. Except the wedding is literally falling apart and Georgia and Eli vow to work together to make it the most perfect wedding for Adam. Now that they are spending more and more time with each other will their feeling towards one another change with old wounds resurfacing?

Second chance romance is a favorite trope of mine. I want to feel the angst and pain of their past relationship and find out why didn't it work - what happened to make their relationship fall apart. Eli and Georgia have so much great chemistry and their old hurts were so obviously there. Not gonna lie - I was totally crying into my pillow for a good chunk of this book. But Eli - gah - Eli was so perfect. I loved him for Georgia and the way he just knew her. And Georgia - I felt her pain. The way she always wanted to please everyone and be "on." Even the fallout between her and Eli had me wanting to give her a big hug.

I loved Jessica's first book You With a View and was eagerly awaiting The Ex Vows. Her writing is witty, fun and has a lot of big feelings! I look forward to reading whatever she writes next!

Overall, I would give The Ex Vows 4.5 stars, but rounding up!

Thank you Netgalley and Berkley/Berkley Romance for the ARC!

The Ex Vows was perfect, nothing should’ve been different, I loved every bit of it!

The MCs were presh, the side characters were all hilarious and played their roles perfectly, the settings were brought to life, the tension and angst were so thick I thought I’d faint. THE STEAM. My goodness 🥵 Eli and Georgia had chemistry that just flew off the page, even when they didn’t have scenes together. I felt like I was watching a movie in my imagination and now I’m dying for this to be a real movie. I laughed, I swooned, I cried. Everything about it was just incredible! 💕

Also, I am frothing at the mouth for Cole to have a book so that needs to be a thing 😍😍😍

the easiest 5 stars ever. I had high expectations after absolutely loving You, With a View and the sweetest novella A Risk Worth Taking and it exceeded my expectations.

This book manifested the second chance trope as my favourite trope ever. There is something special about the tension of two people that have history. They know each other so intimately yet are scared to give into those feelings and ravel in the smallest touch or laugh they can get. It makes me feral!!!!

This book managed to portray the realness of growing apart due to life and its challenges in adulthood. I felt so seen in this book through the characters but also through the story and its deeper message. Not only is it hard to grow together in a romantic relationship but you also grow apart from your friends and the life as you knew it. Soon everyone finds their person and starts a life of their own. As a girl in her late twenties, such as Georgia, the fmc, it is hard to come to terms with that and this book portrayed this fear so accurately and real, it made me cry many times. I loved the depth of both characters and related to Georgias need for people pleasing and Eli's anxiety over his future.

The past relationship of Eli and Georgia was given to us in bits and pieces yet it all flowed so well, showing us the good sides, how it all started with their love heart glasses on, but also the hardships, that life changes and you have to adapt and grow not only by yourself but also with another person and that is sometimes hard, especially at a young age. Jessica Joyce, however, managed to tell a story filled with tension and emotion, it had me at the edge of my seat.

The whole plot of them trying to save their best friends wedding and going on these little missions and errands was so good and entertaining yet also painful with the unresolved issues hanging above them. I adored the setting and "the curse" was a fun little twist that added lightness to the story.

This book also dives deep into the mental health aspect and communication in a relationship which I appreciated. The rawness of especially Eli's character was a breath of fresh air. It has done the most perfect job to show us the hurts both went through and the bad decisions on both parts but also included a redemption arc that makes you love them instantly and understand both of their actions.

Overall this book is emotional, with amazing banter and chemistry, important mental representation and a message many can relate to in their 20s. Jessica Joyce has manifested herself as a favourite author of mine and I will read anything she writes!

Thank you Netgalley and Berkley for the eARC!!