I will tattoo Jessica Joyce’s name on my forehead so DON’T play with me. I just love her writing style and characters so much. This was very reminiscent of Happy Place by Emily Henry. It was exactly what I needed right now. 🫶🏼

The Ex Vows gave exactly what I wanted it to give desperately and more even. I got my heart ripped out multiple times while reading this book and I don’t even mind. This is one of the best second chance romances I have ever in the longest time. So good.

I love a second chance romance and this one was excellent. We get to see how Georgia and Eli met, how they fall in love and of course how they break up. This is done in flashbacks and while I often struggle with back and forth in time, Jessica Joyce is a master. I think having Georgia and Eli reunite to help plan their best friend's wedding was brilliant. I was concerned it would be too cheesy but I thought it was amazingly well done. It was romantic, it was sweet, it was sexy, it was pure Jessica Joyce.

I felt like this was a little hard to get through compared to the author's other book. There was very little keeping the main couple apart. It was only the jobs, and not being able to communicate well. Even though they're not together for a while, they know that they should be.They just can't get through their own crap. This made it very hard for me to get through it. It felt way longer than it should have been.

This was a really cute book. I really enjoy second chance love stories!! I loved Georgia and Eli's connection and how everyone low key knew that they would find their way back together. loved Georgia's character and relate to her quite a bit with her lists and fear of losing her friends and drifting apart from them. I also appreciated Ell's character and his struggles with work life balance. I enjoyed how Eli and Georgia first used to be best friends and I really enjoyed thier friendship with Adam and then planning the wedding.
Everything in the world that could go wrong for Adam's wedding went wrong lol. I loved Eli's grand gesture and loved the banter between them. I also adored Eli's nickname for Georgia ( Peach ).Such a cute book I loved It!!!!

This was sooo cheesy at first buy really grew on me. Second chance romance is admittedly not one of my favorite tropes, but I enjoyed the characters and how they changed throughout the length of the book.

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a cute, heartfelt story! I loved how honest and true this book was. I loved moving through the relationship of Georgia and Eli. I liked both of them so much and was glad for how it ended. Thank you NetGalley!

It started off great but by the time I got to 66% through I was bored. Just redundant. Thier friend couldn’t get get his shot together for his own wedding.

The emotions this pulled out of me was wild. I didn’t expect to feel so vulnerably raw with a second chance book. The way these characters simply had growth and blossomed.

This was just the fun and joyous breath of fresh air I needed right now. Georgia and Eli's second chance romance reminded me of all the reasons love is worth fighting for and how special and precious that connection can be! Love is something that will always find its way back to you, and this book will have you look over at your person and go, "Yea, it is worth fighting to keep this feeling"

Thank you Jessica Joyce for writing this amazingly fun book, for Berkley Press for sharing it with me and NetGalley for helping this book find me!

I always enjoy Jessica's writing style. I think this story was beautifully crafted. I also really enjoyed the romance, I cannot wait to see what Jessica writes next.

After falling in love with Jessica Joyce’s previous novel you, With A View, I couldn’t wait to read her latest release,
THE EX VOWS.

Just as I hoped, I was pulled right into the story with such great characters, with Georgia and Eli at the center of it all. Themes of second chances and owning past mistakes, with a Napa Valley setting, The Ex Vows made me have hope in second chance romance, a trope I swore I would never love, once again.

I paired the book with audio and loved them both, but being immersed this way was so fun! I enjoyed the narration so much.

*many thanks to Berkley Romance, prh audio and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

This is the saddest case of right book, wrong time ever. Very much "I'm so sorry I promise it's me, NOT YOU".

"You and I are going to have a reckoning Georgia"

hahahahah what do you mean I had this book on my TBR for months and months and months and never picked it up until a month ago and then fumbled my way through the beginning a little but then finally dedicate myself to it and had it shine such a warm and loving light on my soul like what do you mean THIS BOOK IS EVERYTHING TO ME.

For my money I think this is the only contemporary romance I've read that made me cry because of how beautiful and bittersweet and loving and carrying this book is like omg I need a physical copy ASAP.

Best read of 2025 already hands down I can't wait to reread and annotate wow reading is good and books come into our lives at the right time for a reason.

I really felt seen reading this book. One of my favorite parts about it was how it has such a strong thesis statement. Some of the romances I've read lately don't have a strong point of view or moral to me, but The Ex Vows has such a strong message of "embracing the mess". It is such a wonderful thing to hear when so much of your mental state can get wrapped up in how everyone else's relationships look perfect and mine is messy but spoiler alert they're all messy!!

I commend this book for being equal parts relatable and romantic. This book really embraces the beauty of how it feels to be loved and to love in real life. There is nothing here that is crazy over the top or fantastical but it still feels joyous and special and ugh why is it perfect it's a perfect book to me.

I can't wait to reread and pick up more on Eli but oh my godddd his commitment to Georgia is so unmatched. And Georgia learning to break down her walls and deconstruct everything she's built around herself in order to achieve happiness for the new version of her.

Obviously this is a romance and has an HEA, but I truly was gripped reading parts of this not knowing what was going to happen. As an avid romance reader, it takes a lot for me to feel shocked and surprised by a romance and this did it for me.

I can't believe this book exists. Thank goodness it does.

I usually loooove a good second chance romance, but The Ex Vows just didn’t work for me. The chemistry between the main characters felt flat, and the emotional depth I crave in a reunion story wasn’t there. The pacing dragged, and I struggled to stay locked in. Unfortunately, it just didn’t hold my interest, so I had to put it down at around 40ish %. I know others might connect with it more, but this one wasn’t for me.

Jessica proves time and time again why she's an auto buy author for me! A beautiful second chance romance about two people who love each other but haven't always made the best choices or had the best timing. I wish I could have more time with this characters but it'll have to do until Jessica's next book!

I should admit that this one has some fun moments, but leans a little more towards a straight romance, so not really a rom com. But such an enjoyable read

Can 2 exes save their friend’s wedding? Such a fan of second chances and I really bought into their love, their hurt and what is holding them back. I really wish this would have had two POVs instead of just the one, but even with the single narration, I fell in love with the characters and rooted for them to find their way back to each other.

I loved the flashbacks, friendships, and setting. This was a complete win. Everything fit together and helped me get lost in the story. Such a sweet read.

This was my second book by this author and I can say that it was just as wonderful and sweet as the first one. Great second chance romance with memorable characters and swoon worthy scenes.

This book hurt me in the best way possible. I love a good story that sucks me in quickly and within the first few chapters I was sucked in. I read this while on the plane back from my a trip to South Carolina and I swear I could hardly put it down. It had my stomach in knots in the most perfect way possible.

As a romance reader and reviewer, we often get books with very similar tropes and themes and while the Ex Vows obviously has the forced-proximity, second-chance romance, and fake "friendship" tropes, I do feel like it sets itself apart from it's peers and, dare I say, surpasses them in the genre. I found the back story between Georgia and Eli to be so compelling. Every minute of their relationship was so raw and powerful. It had me longing with both of them. And I can't even begin to describe the pain I felt along with them during the ending as we finally dissected the breakup. This book was so moving. It held me it's in its clutches for hours. It's been weeks since I read it and I still think about this book all the time.

I think at the end of the day, this book captured a relationship in crisis so well. It captured grief, love, friendship, and the adult experience in a beautifully painful detail. There are so many moments through out this book that felt so real and life like. The conversations about feeling like you're drifting away from your friends because your moving, this feels like something so many readers can relate to whether you're post-grad, early adulthood or later when you hit your 30s and 40s and have these established friends but you have to move because of work. It felt so authentic to the human experience.

I was so glad that Eli and Georgia didn't just immediately get back together post-wedding. Again, this was another moment that felt so beautifully well done. This was the kind of relationship that showed how putting in the work is so important, both for themselves as a couple and as individuals. Truly a masterclass in healthy relationship building. The writing was beautiful and perfect. I will continue to think about this book likely for the rest of my life.

5+ STARS

If Jessica Joyce writes it, I will read it, love it, and make loving it my entire personality. This is a perfect book for fans of second chance romance. The angst, the forced proximity, the drama—you’re going to want to add this to the top of your TBR.

Five years after a heartbreaking split, Georgia Woodward and Eli Mora are brought back together for the wedding of their mutual best friend. Only problem is: everyone thinks they’re on friendly terms which is the furthest thing from the truth. Georgia and Eli are forced to work together to plan the perfect day for their best friend while finally confronting each other about their breakup all those years ago.

The chemistry was chemistry-ing! I felt like these two characters were so relatable and real that it was so easy to feel their emotions throughout their journey. Eli was my favorite MMC of 2024, hands down. Literally a man written by a woman and he made me sob more than once in this book. Georgia was a sweetheart and I couldn’t help but love her and root for her growth. I know so many reviews mention Ch 28, but once you know, you *know*! Another amazingly beautiful read from the queen of making me CRY, laugh, and fall in love with love.

Thank you Berkley for the e-arc <3