Fabulous from start to finish. Her writing is just beautiful

Thanks to the publisher for the advanced copy

Georgia and Eli were once in love, but it didn’t work. When their mutual best friend gets married, they have to find a way to put their history aside to be the best man and best woman and make their friend’s day perfect. But when one thing after another goes wrong, Georgia and Eli find they really have to work together to save the wedding.

Jessica Joyce is a phenomenal writer. This is a book that had me deeply engrossed and left me in all the feels. THe second chance romance was both heartbreaking and heartwarming at times. Georgia and Eli’s deep history and friendship made their situation extra complicated, but also made me root for them from the very beginning. I loved how they were able to work on themselves and ultimately fix the problems that were at the root of their breakup - it felt so real and genuine and was just incredible. I also loved their friend group - the side characters added some fun, sass, and often put them in their place and I was here for it. I adored this book!

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for the advance copy.

Georgia, Eli, and Adam were inseparable as teenagers. Best friends and found family practically on sight, the trio had an unbreakable bond. When Georgia and Eli started dating during college, it seemed like fate. That is, until the two broke up five years later and forced themselves to put on a brave face any time they were around Adam, insisting they were fine, friends even. But when Adam is getting married and Eli and Georgia are in his wedding party, it's tougher to put on a front for an extended period of time--especially when they're working together to pull off a seemingly cursed wedding and the attraction and love between them seems to still be there.

Gosh, I have nothing but good things to say about this book. I even cried a little toward the end, and I never do that (though it could have been the several glasses of wine I had had). I absolutely adored You, With a View, but this book may be even better. It's just such a beautiful second chance romance with the perfect pacing and flow and a couple I was rooting for so hard. No notes.

Thanks to Berkley for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 10/10

Jessica Joyce is a freaking genius. I took this book on vacation with me and I would have happily spent the entire vacation in my hotel room reading, that's how much I loved this book. The second chance tension was unmatched and I loved watching these two find their way back to each other!

Jessica Joyce knocked it out of the park for me with YWAV. And even more so now with The Ex Vows. I love a second chance romance and this was executed so perfectly. I felt like I was THERE with them while reading this book. It's going down as one of my absolute favorite reads of the year. If I could marry this book, I would!

This book was absolutely phenomenal, Eli and Georgias friendship was so beautiful and I loved how important friendship and personal growth was within this story. The friendships between Eli and Adam, Georgia and Jamie, etc. had my whole heart. I loved watching Georgia and Eli grow individually and learn to heal from their respective traumas while also learning to accept the scary parts of love. This book was such a perfect mix of heavy but also sweet and fun.🥹🥹🩷I can’t wait for Jessica’s next book!

Loved it so much. Loved the story, loved the second chance romance, loved the slow angst burn. Loved the characters. Loved the cover.

The only remark I have is, I wish Eli had his own POV. That would have been so great. But the author did a good job portraying his feeling and emotions through Georgia’s words and observations.

My goodness, Jessica Joyce knows how to write romance!! Georgia and Eli made my heart hurt and I was rooting for their second chance from the start. The paper rings? UGHHH so cute. And I just loved the ending. The tension, chemistry and spice are all 10 out of 10, fantastically written and the way the MCs know each other so deeply because of their pasts: heartwrenching, heartwarming, phenomenal. The way they have their own language just by looking at each other? And still make an amazing team -- I am in love. I highlighted the whole freaking book honestly. There are so many quotes that will just resonate with you, sweet words and funny moments aplenty. Both Georgia and Eli have really good reasons for why they acted the way they did years ago when their relationship fell apart and I love seeing the personal growth they each have in regards to those insecurities and the anxieties that they couldn't face back then but are working on now. Adam, their best friend, is hilarious and the "curse" he thinks he has because his wedding keeps getting hit with mishap after mishap is entertaining and leads to our MCs being forced to work together to fix it. This means we get to see pretty much all my favorite tropes/microtropes(: aka forced proximity, only one bed, secret romance. You will not be disappointed if you pick up this book!! It's truly one of my favorites of 2024 and I will keep recommending it to all my friends because I'm obsessed.

Thank you so much Berkley & NetGalley for the digital ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The Ex Vows published on 7/16/24 so you can go buy, borrow, read, listen to it now(:

REVIEW: The Ex Vows ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 (4.5)

Georgia is excited to be the best woman for her best friend Adam’s wedding; however, everything about the wedding seems cursed. The best man, who happens to be the other best friend in the trio as well as Georgia’s ex, Eli, comes to help save the wedding. With Georgia and Eli together fixing the wedding, will their close proximity bring back old feelings?

The Ex Vows was so what I needed in a romance right now. It was full of romantic and sweet gestures, funny moments, and great hot and heavy scenes. This book definitely brought the tropes of a second chance, friends to lovers, close proximately, as well as a small burn mixed together. I really enjoyed both Eli and Georgia as characters and their chemistry together. It was fun to hear about their memories as friends and when they were in a relationship. Eli is a perfect example of a sweet, quieter guy who really comes out in the bedroom ;-). I also really liked the growth in both of the main characters throughout the book; they both discovered so much about themselves. Plus, this book is very pro-therapy, which I love. The Ex Vows grabbed me fast and didn’t let go until the very end.

There were only two small things that didn’t quite work for me. First of all, for being a set of three best friends, I feel the book didn’t have much with Adam and his connections with Georgia and Eli. He just felt very disconnected from the other two. I also wished this book could have been in dual POV. I would love to hear Eli’s side of the story as well as Georgia’s

Overall, I really enjoyed The Ex Vow! It gave me everything I wanted in a good romance story, and I was hooked the whole time.

Thank you, Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group, for the free advanced copy for my honest review!

Let me start by saying I loved Jessica Joyce’s debut and I’m obsessed with this cover. That said I was really nervous going into this one because I don’t usually love second chance romances.

Turns out I loved it! Georgia and Eli had so much chemistry and it was clear from the start that they were meant to be together. I loved all the antics of trying to save their best friend’s wedding and reconnecting with each other. I wish we had a little more time with some of the friends, but that’s about all I could ask for more of. Everything else was great! And yes, many tears were shed.

This is the exception that proves the rule and I absolutely recommend checking it out even if second chance romances aren’t your thing.

THE EX VOWS is my newest book obsession.

This Sophomore book by Jessica Joyce is even better than the first—and I gave both books 5-STARS.

I adore a book with flawed main characters who go ape on personal growth during the story. I loved Georgia with her sweet vulnerability that is cloaked with making herself indispensable. Geez, did I ever feel seen. And Eli is so damn lovable as he struggles to move past the pattern that he has been stuck in.

These two had crazy chemistry, sweet moments, and spicy hot reconnection. I loved this story of first love and lasting connections.

THE EX VOWS grabbed my heart on the first page and never put it down. I love love love this book!

𝗦𝗣𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗟𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗟: Rated R / 2-4 descriptive sex scenes, may have harsh language.
𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗦: past parent abandonment
𝗙𝗘𝗘𝗟𝗦: 3/5 - You will definitely feel some feels.

OKAY. I now understand the hype around Jessica Joyce. This title is a ridiculously cute romance that made me cry. Georgia and Eli, the love interests, had top-notch banter and serious chemistry. Joyce sold me on their romance and the fact that they were meant to be. If you enjoy a second-chance or forced-proximity romance, The Ex Vows is one book that you will not want to miss.

#TheExVows:⁣
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Thanks for the free book @berkleyromance #BerkleyPartner ⁣
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“Building a space that’s mine, rather than fitting myself into the pockets where people have room for me. I can feel myself stretching, a necessary, beautiful pain.”⁣
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I never realized I am a walking second chance romance until I read The Ex Vows. It was a literal epiphany. I love second chance romance because we ARE second chance romance 😂 So, needless to say, I loved this book so much. I related so hard (maybe too hard) to The Ex Vows and I can’t get over it. ⁣
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Georgia and Eli were absolutely perfect. They were flawed, but very realistic. Their friend group was such a great core group of people, I couldn’t help but laugh at all the shenangians from the wedding curse. I laughed, cried, and gasped (definite laugh via the DJ and gasp vis the cake) during their trip of redemption. Sometimes love is messy, and that’s ok because life is messy. It was such a good reminder. ⁣
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I loved that they took time away from each to find their own space before fitting space into each other’s orbit. That type of independence and self awareness is what I think makes the relationship survive and so real. ⁣
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I swoon. I don’t know what else to say except go grab it. Out now.⁣
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QOTD: What is your favorite trope? ⁣
For me:⁣
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Romance: Second Chance, Enemies to Lovers, One Bed⁣
Fantasy: One Horse, “Who did this to you” ⁣
Thriller: Locked room, unreliable narrator ⁣
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My Soundtrack Song: Birds of a Feather Billie Eilish

Absolutely love this book and have not stopped thinking about it. I have never related more to characters before and I cant believe how perfect they are. I already see myself rereading and annotating it!

A pretty okay read. I enjoyed the second chance romance between the couple.

I look forward to reading more books by this author in the future.

i devoured this book and really liked it 👏🏼 this was my first book by this author but won’t be my last!

it contains my fave trope ever—second chance. and it was done SO WELL. only a 5 year age gap!!! let’s gooooo!!!! (if you don’t know me then here’s a reminder—i loathe when second chances have 10-15+ years between the gap. it just doesn’t make sense!!)

this was a perfect pool binge and gave me Abby Jimenez/Christina Lauren vibes. maybe some EmHen too, the banter was good!

anywho, this romance had sooo much i enjoyed. the friendship themes, the finding yourself through your 20’s, being scared that your life/friendships will change if you move away (felt this one HARD), the second chance romance, sexual tension and longing between exes, planning a wedding in a vineyard, the west coast settings (cali, seattle, winery), etc. it also gave major “PAPER RINGS” and “INVISIBLE STRING” vibes… with also some “MAROON”? swifties will love it.

i could see myself rounding this up to 4.5 but a few things left it off for a 5. the wedding curse was a bit much and unrealistic for me. a few things sure but literally everything??!!! and also this might be a hot take but also the ending of this one! i don’t always need that in my romance endings (trying to avoid spoilers).

besides the romance, i truly loved the “growing up” and finding yourself parts of this plot. made the romance and overall story feel more mature and it was extremely real and relatable and well done.

this was a goodie and now i’m excited to read this authors other work which i’ve heard such great things about!

thanks to Berkley for the gifted early copy :)

3.75 If you like second chance romances, this one's for you. I have to admit, they aren't my favorite, but I heard such great things about this book that I had to check it out. I'm glad I did, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to. I liked the two main characters, Georgia and Eli, and I liked their group of friends and how important they were to each other. I guess I missed the build up of a new romantic relationship. The author does a good job of telling us their past relationship, but there was so much internal dialogue from Georgia and how she felt about everything. I think I missed Eli's point of view throughout all of this. I did enjoy reading this book, and I do look forward to reading more books by this author. Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for this ARC.

Ahhhhh! So much love for this book! I love a week well written second chance romance and this checked all of the boxes! I loved the premise and seeing how Georgia and Eli reconnect to save their best friend's wedding. The paper rings had me swooning. Thanks to Berkley for my copy!

“Sometimes I swear adulthood is staring at your phone and wondering which of your friends has enough time to deal with your latest emotional meltdown, then realizing none of them do.”

Jessica Joyce has done it again and I’m not just talking about gorgeous covers. I’m talking about the entire package, because I fell so head over heels in love with both Georgia and Eli throughout this story that I couldn’t even keep it to myself. Nope. I was messaging Jessica the entire time.

There’s something about Jessica’s writing style that warms my heart. She’s poetic and lyrical, using raw emotions in their most real form to bring her characters to life in front of us. And boy did I feel it.

I have always enjoyed second chance romance stories, but this one might just take the cake. It’s filled with life lessons. It’s filled with mental illness and obstacles and challenges that make it so real you’ll wonder if you know these characters in real life. The pain and the mutual pining—the need to choose themselves so they might be able to one day choose each other, but never knowing if that’ll be an option again once they let go… everything about this was absolutely beautiful and I wish I could give everyone in this story a hug.

I honest cannot wait for more and I hope you’ll pick this one up. You’ll be doing yourself a favor.

“Time is a miracle. It shows you what you had, and sometimes it brings it back to you. Different. Better.”

Read if you like:
- Second chance romance
- Finding yourself
- Mental illness representation: anxiety + abandonment issues
- Catastrophe weddings
- Forced proximity
- Only one bed
- Mutual pining
- It’s always been you
- Childhood best friends
- Nicknames

Thanks to Berkley Romance for the ARC!

YOU, WITH A VIEW was one of my absolute favorite books of 2023, so I know THE EX VOWS was going to be spectacular, but honestly I couldn't even fathom it. Jessica Joyce is just such an artist and writes so more than just an average romance book. It's the little, mega relatable moments (wondering which friend to text that could have time for your emotional breakdown, having a mindset that you're "too much" and not wanting to be a burden on others), the longing and nostalgia in the thoughts and conversations, and the reality of the inherent messiness, but beauty in relationships. I read this slowly and savored it, and I'm so glad I did. I also needed tissues for eye leakage in the entire last 30% of the book. It was wonderful. Read it.