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I love second chance romances and Eli and Georgia executed why I love it so much perfectly!!! The angst, tension, love, love, love. You, you, you 😭

Eli is literally perfect but it’s weird of me to say I KNOW men are actually like him out there (he is my dream but he is not that faraway that I can’t reach it) but they’re difficult to find. Just not afraid to show how he loves and how much? He is the blueprint. Therefore I want to shove this book down every man’s throat. This is quite the aggressive review I wasn’t expecting to write until I wrote this, sorry.

With that said 😌 Jessica’s writing is so emotionally lyrical and just gets better and better. How relatable she makes her characters and filled with emotions and being so human with what life throws at you. Right time and right moments. This book made me laugh and smile and tear up. But also allowed me to just talk out loud to myself with just loving this out loud!!! I loved it. A perfect romance and why I love the genre so much. Catch me at Blue Yonder, cheers!

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the ex vows by jessica joyce is officially my favorite romance of 2024 <3 this book is a masterpiece !!! after a five years post-break up, eli and georgia a (aka peach) are on the road to healing and mending their relationship - this story was so REAL and impossible to put down. Jessica Joyce is now one of my auto-buy authors so thank you NetGalley.

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I fell in love with Georgia and Eli while reading this book. I rooted hard for them to get back together because it’s clear how much they love each other and how much they’ve sacrificed for their mental health. If you’re not sure what true love looks like, you’ll find it in this book.
The other characters are really well done and the ending will send you to the tissue box. 5 stars. OPO o

Synopsis:

Georgia Woodward lives by her lists, none more so than the one about her ex, Eli Mora. It’s full of the ironclad dos and don’ts they’ve been following since she returned to the Bay Area after their cataclysmic breakup five years ago. 

What’s not on her list? Eli arriving from New York with a new rule-breaking attitude or the all-inclusive venue burning to the ground, leaving the bride and groom in dire straits. Nor does she anticipate Adam asking her and Eli to help him make a miracle happen. Together.

As Georgia and Eli rush up to Napa Valley to pull off the perfect wedding, their old chemistry comes back in technicolor. Somewhere between cake tastings gone wrong, disastrous DJ auditions, and Eli’s heated attention, Georgia starts recognizing the man she fell in love with before. And if she lets herself break her rules, she might find what they’re building isn’t the something old that ruined them—it’s a chance at something new.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley, I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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"Make it messy."

Book of the week, of the month, of the season, of the freaking year. This was EVERYTHING I WANTED IT TO BE and somehow even MORE. Jessica blew my expectations away!!

There was something so instantly familiar about Georgia. She's quite different from your normal "cookie cutter" people pleaser kind of character and I loved her and rooted for her from page 1. I love that, even if at her core she is a people pleaser and will bend over backwards for the people she loves and to see them happy, she is also dealing with an internal struggle of wanting to go and get things for herself, but her fear of disappointing her people holds her back. It makes her feel so much more real and it makes you want to cheer her on and support her while she lets go and embraces her goals and what she truly wants.

ELI MORA. ELI MORA. ELI MORA. ELI WHO WEARS A CHAIN MORA. I need him biblically. I need him in a way that is CONCERNING to feminism. He was such a highlight for me! I connected so much to him and to his way of thinking. To his struggles, specially those with anxiety. He felt so real and so human and he was so down bad for Georgia. I love how he loves her and how, even if they neglected each other in the past, he was such a rock for Georgia and allowed her to just be and also pushed her to be comfortable with asking for things and seeing her needs met.

The friend group and found family aspect was also everything and more. The wedding planning plot line had me HOOKED, and it also made me cackle. And the scenes where Eli and Georgia give into each other? OMG. Hot.

This book made me laugh, swoon, cry to the point that I stained it with tears. I cannot wait for everyone to meet them.

THANK YOU FOREVER BERKLEY FOR THE ARC. I AM INDEBTED TO YOU.

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Thank you to @berkleyromance for the eARC. All thoughts are my own.

Georgia is a list maker. She lives her life by to do lists and pro and con lists, and no list is more important to her than the “dos and don’ts” list she has for her ex Eli. This list is an unstated list of rules for how they interact around each other, especially around their mutual best friend Adam. It’s been five years since their awful breakup, and they have both been hiding from Adam how bad it actually was. They are going to be in the same place for an extended period to both be in Adam’s wedding in Napa Valley, but, when they arrive, Adam thinks his wedding is cursed. Georgia will need her lists more than ever before if she’s going to save this wedding and stay compartmentalized around this new, break-the-rules Eli.

THIS BOOK, YALL. I inhaled this book like fresh oxygen and couldn’t get enough. Jessica’s writing is on another level, and I filled my ebook with highlights and notes. The TENSION, the SWOON, the PAPER RINGS?!

I really admire Jessica’s ability to make me connect so well with both MCs in a single POV novel. I felt like we really connected to Eli and his thoughts and motivation, likely due to excellent dialogue writing and communication between the characters.

The side characters were excellently written to benefit the story, the setting was pristine, and the plot was well-structured. This is an easy five star book and I’m all in on @jessicajoycewrites and whatever she writes in the future.

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“It’s not about not being messy, it’s about being honest with your mess.”

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

This audiobook, narrated by Karla Garcia, was GOLD. Gold I tell ya. I was immediately sucked into this crazy world of exes with a mutual best friend coming together for said best friends wedding. Now you can only imagine the drama and emotions that this will unleash.

This book was sweet, hopeful, heartfelt, and with so much mental health representation! I loved Eli and how vulnerable he was with Georgia and, quite frankly, himself. It’s so much more than just your typical romance novel. This story has heart, and it certainly captured mine.

Thanks for the free audiobook @PRHAudio #PRHAudioPartner and to @berkleypub, @Netgalley, and the author for the ARC.

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I love this book viscerally, spiritually. As soon as I finished it, I wanted to start it all over again.

I already love a second chance romance. But there is something so much better about a childhood friends to lovers second chance— and particularly something magical about Georgia and Eli themselves. Everything is tangled up, the past and present, frustration and helplessness, love and resentment.

Eli and Georgia’s love for each other seems like it’s suspended, crystallized in a block of honey that melts into sticky, messy liquid with every page they spend yearning. It was addicting, I couldn’t stop reading, or listening, or highlighting. At some point you keep wondering how much closer you can get to the edge before you topple over, and it’s never when you expect.

I love them, I love them.

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Beautiful writing with a strong connection between the main characters. It’s kind of slow, not a lot happening plot-wise, but a sweet story of two people in love finding each other (and themselves) again. Thank you Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for this ARC!

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This book was literal perfection. It was one of my top 3 favorite reads of the year so far. This book as so much longing, so much tension, great banter , heartbreak, and so much more. I can’t even describe how this book made me feel… it’s so incredibly touching and relatable and I just love it so so so much!

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I thought I loved Jessica Joyce’s characters when I read You With a View and A Risk Worth Taking. But they don’t hold a candle to Eli and Georgia in The Ex Vows.

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

This second chance romance. This semi enemies to friends back to lovers was a mix of all the right things.

I loved Eli and Georgia so much I almost didn’t even need the craziness of the whole wedding curse fiasco. I know it is bringing them together but I just wanted them. I wanted their past and to know what happened and I wanted the present.

They are some of my favorite characters. Eli and the paper rings, I literally had tears down my face. And Georgia. At times reading certain things about her felt like I was looking into a mirror. Her inner thoughts, her feelings were all ones I have felt.

The Ex Vows is all the stars, and one I will not forget and already cannot wait to read again!

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I loved the sound of this second chance romance when the publisher reached out to me and so I was very excited to read it. And it did not disappoint!

I really got Georgia’s feelings about losing friends as they went on to different stages of their lives. I think I had this same connection with another character just recently in another book. But in a way she kind of was letting them, or expecting them to do that. She didn’t want to need them. Based on her past with her own mother, and even things with her father, she knew it was just better not to be needy. In her mind and experiences, it had made people leave her because she was too much. In fact that is part of what she felt split her and Eli up.

Eli was someone you could tell from the first actual point he showed up at the airport had made some changes in his life. It wasn’t just that he seemed so different to Georgia, I mean, yes, it was, but there were just a lot of clues laid into his actions that definitely kept me thinking about what had probably been going on for him. It was also obvious he was coming to make amends, not only with their friend Adam, but also with Georgia.

I loved how they finally gave in. How both of them supposedly handled keeping it just for that short time. But Eli stepped up, he really did prove that he was there and was there to be part of her life again. And the paper rings, those were the neatest thing. I loved that she’d kept them all that time. It’s totally something I would do. I even have silly notes from high school from people, so I got that. But what those rings turned into, what the surprises that came with them at the end were, I didn’t see that coming, but oh did I love that! This romance was so good. It didn’t work out perfectly without any mistakes or any heartbreak or trying to figure things out. But it worked out with the characters having to figure out where they’d went wrong on their own, and make their own lives ready.

I can’t finish this review without talking about the hilarious wedding curse that their friend Adam and his fiance Grace were dealing with. So many hilarious things, and you can’t even imagine how insane some of these things that went wrong were! The crazy DJ they went to check out to replace the original one they had. The cabins they stayed in for the wedding, the cake tastings and then incidents, TWO!, with the final cake. Not to mention the way they got their HEA and the epilogue of the story was so unique and fit perfectly.

This is my first book by this author, I’d wanted to read the first one, but didn’t get around to it, now I know I will have to, so I’ve added it to my audiobook wishlist to enjoy as well. And I’ve seen there is a novella to read, so that is on my TBR too now!

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The Ex Vows is out and I need to shout to the world how much I loooooooooooooooooved this book!
Best romance of the year for me so far! And I've read a lot of romance books this year already, so that says a lot.

@jessicajoycewrites How did you write a book that can make me love your writing even more than I already did with YWAV? This is sophomore book goals right there! You outdid yourself and created more magic and made me fall harder in love with yet another fictional man (hubby appreciate the fictional part of this lol) and ugly crying in public when I was confined in an aircraft.

Everything about this book is perfect! Even the disastrous wedding with all the unforseen mishaps is perfect because it forces Eli and Georgia (Best people on the groom's side) to spend time together after five years apart to make sure their best friend's big day goes well. This forced proximity creates the best, most deliciously painful tension you'll ever experience! It drove me insane in the best way possible!
And what can I say about their group of friends? There's so much love and genuine care among them all. And Eli's paper rings? Gosh, I would collect all of them myself!

I felt so much while reading The Ex Vows! And I don't think there's a character I can relate more than Georgia. It's hard to ask for help, or ask for what we need when we're so used to make others our priority, when we're constantly worrying about our space in their lives. I felt seen, called out, hugged, and loved by these characters in a way that I can't explain. THANK YOU, Jessica! ❤️

Also, thanks to @berkleyromance and @netgalley for the #gifted eARC. All opinions are my own.

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Second chance romance PERFECTION! Get your heart ready for reading this one because it will definitely be squeezing as you read this beauty of a book. This book is one of those books that I just want to say READ IT, because I don’t think I can adequately put into words everything I want to say about it. The angst and longing and just everything is so well done. Listen to Paper Rings while you read this or after…either way you are going to be rooting for these two, they deserve IT ALL!

Estranged exes Georgia and Eli must overcome old tensions and work together to save their best friend's wedding from a series of disasters.

Read if you vibe with…
💞 Second Chance Romance
❣️ Friends to Lovers
🫶🏻 Found Family
🏠 Only One Cottage
🛏️ Forced Proximity
💒 Wedding Planning
🥺 Angst & Longing
💟 Anxiety Rep
💍 Paper Rings

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Did I squeal for joy when Berkley approved my request on NetGalley? Yep! Did I love The Ex Vows so much I had to run out and grab a physical copy on my shelf?
Also, yes!
Jessica Joyce certainly knows how to break my heart and put it back together. I basically laughed sobbed my way through The Ex Vows, I cried because I loved Georgia, and I understood her feelings and where she was coming from. I cried because I loved Eli, and I cried because I loved that these two were so good together, and they were messy and relatable.
Second chance and forced proximity are two of my favourite tropes, and Jessica Joyce delivered, add in the friend group, a cursed wedding which really had me giggling, but two exes who are clearly pining for each other.. yes, please.
*Thank you to Berkley Publishing and Jessica Joyce for sending me an advanced digital copy of The Ex Vows via NetGalley in exchange for review*

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I loved this book so much more than I thought I would. I loved all the characters, Georgia especially as I really identified with her anxieties and fears. There is a point towards the end where she is spilling all of her thoughts and feelings and it was like a punch in the gut how much I felt what she was saying. I thought this was one of the most perfect representations of a second-chance romance I've ever read. It was emotional, at times raw in what both of them were feeling and it was also fun. From the first chapter, I was rooting for them to make it work. I loved watching them both grow and mature in their relationship, do one of the hardest things of all, and be brave enough to trust each other this time around.

I loved Georgia's friendships with Adam and Jamie you just know that whatever life throws at them they are bonded for life and will always be there when needed.

I laughed.. mostly at poor Adam and how the curse just. kept. coming. for him and his wedding. Although I don't think the actual wedding could have been more perfect in its craziness. I cried.. like legit tears, which rarely happens to me. And when it was all said and done I was left with that warm and fuzzy feeling.

This is the first book I"ve read by this author, and I'll definitely be checking out her other books asap.

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I had JUST read You, With a View when I got notified I had been approved for an e-ARC of The Ex Vows and I was so thrilled because I absolutely ate You, With a View up.

I read The Ex Vows in one sitting. I couldn't put it down. Jessica Joyce has now become my new standard for romance novels. I don't read a ton of romance novels, but when I find ones I love, I will shout them from the rooftops. Welcome to the club, Jessica Joyce.

The Ex Vows is a stunning second chance romance novel, but I love the varying topics it touches on. Eli's mental health, for instance, him going to therapy (!!!! all book boyfriends should go to therapy now. Men who are in touch with their feelings and emotions are hot!!!), childhood friendships, having to make hard decisions when you don't want to.

The characters in this also felt like real adults, going through real life things. I didn't particularly LOVE the whole save the wedding for Georgia's best friend plotline, but I like how it brought Georgia and Eli back together, navigating problems.

This also made me cry towards the end???? Oh my god. I truly loved this. I'm so sad that this has now just been released because I need a new Jessica Joyce novel STAT.

Thank you to the publisher for the e-ARC!!!

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I enjoyed this as a whole, and as a second-chance lover I think the trope was used well and in an interesting way! There were a few instances where I felt a little bored and an overall disconnect from the setting and characters, but the writing was great and I did really love Eli and Georgia.

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I wanted to like this a bit more than I did but it didn’t quite work for me. I was extremely bored with the wedding plot line and honestly, books focused on wedding culture aren’t really for me. I think Joyce’s prose is lovely and I liked the MCs. But I wanted a bit more from the second chance (which isn’t my favorite trope to begin with) and didn’t feel satisfied by it.

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Without a doubt, one of the easiest 5 stars I’ve ever given and one of my new all time favorites!!

Second chance romance can be a tricky subject for a lot of authors to write about but Jessica really hit it out of the park with The Ex Vows! It had tension, pining, tenderness, and growth! (components that are absolutely necessary in my mind for an impeccable second chance romance)

As a girl in her twenties, it’s so easy to feel like the world is moving on without you and I think that’s why I related to Georgia so easily. Georgia really struggles with maintaining friendships, trying to find a sense of belonging, and long distance friendships, which are all vulnerable and scary parts of adulthood! I still think Jessica took a peek inside my brain while writing her character. (frightening really)

My angel baby, Eli Down Bad Mora, needs his shining moment too. Gosh, his GROWTH, love, and dedication to his people needs to be studied. His mental health finally being a priority for not just himself but for the people he loves as well, is a true testament to his character. I love how much he adores and cares for Georgia. If he wasn’t taken, I’d want him all for myself.

Georgia and Eli have shown that relationships are MESSY and beautiful but require work on both ends to last forever. I truly will never get over how beautiful their love is.

I can’t express my gratitude enough to Berkley and NetGalley for this arc!! I’m obsessed with The Ex Vows and please never forget it.

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happiest release day 💖

this was hands down my top read of june (tbh a top 3 of the YEAR???) and I’m still not over THEM.

georgia is her best friend’s best woman. and unfortunately, her ex and first love is the best man. oh and the wedding is cursed. when things go wrong at quite literally every turn, the two of them have to put the past behind them and work together to help save their best friends’ wedding. and like not fall back in love with each other.

I devoured this book. every single crumb. it’s wonderfully emotional, vulnerable, and I cried more than once. eli and georgia’s second chance at love with the backdrop of the wedding couldn’t have been any more perfect.

the found family aspects of this novel were some of the parts that moved me to TEARS. georgia’s worry of being left behind and her working through that to finally overcome her fear with her chosen people was beyond moving. found family gets me every time 🥹

eli was perfect. he worked hard to get back to georgia and we love a man groveling on his knees. second chance is one of my favorite tropes and it was done absolutely perfectly. and not even to mention the anxiety rep in this? I was blown away. shout out to the grounding/mindfulness skills in this. that is how you write mental health rep!!

I’m also fully convinced not only does jessica write first kisses like no other, she also slaysssss single pov. her ability to write yearning is unparalleled. I could feel eli’s need for georgia through every interaction they had. and when I tell you I sobbed during a certain reveal at the end? 🥹

I truly can’t say one thing about this book. It’s now a top tier forever favorite and I’ll never shut up about it 💖

@jessicajoycewrites thank you for writing this book and these characters. they are so full of life and love and I won’t stop recommending this book. if you need me I’ll be daydreaming about napa valley.

thank you for berkleyromance for this gifted copy!

read if you like
✨ second chance romance
✨ found family
✨ only one bed
✨ chaotic disaster weddings

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