I don't know how to review this accurately because it's just so good. Like I really don't have words cause it's perfect?? I got the 5 star tingles within the first 10 pages and it was only better from there.

Random things I loved about this book:
-the angst of exes who are trying to be fine for the sake of their mutual BFF and in the midst of pretending to be cordial strangers little details slip out of information you would only know about a person from a close relationship. again, the ANGST
-When they eventually rehash their breakup it is so cathartic
-a MMC who goes to therapy
-a friend group that doesn't actually feel exclusionary, I loved the different bonds these people had with each other and the primary focus stayed on the romantic relationship so really just fun side characters
-the secret highlights I will cherish about their open door spicy times
-HE NEVER STOPPED LOVING HER and that's obvious to the reader from page one and it's so fun, hearbreaking, and endearing to be along with the FMC as she catches up
-Napa wedding shenanigans, they are alone together to prep for their friend's wedding that is slowly turning into a disaster and all that forced proximity time is so perfect to keep them interacting cause you just NEED them to get it together!!!
-Jessica weaves in subtle comedy to her writing and in the words of Kacey Musgraves it made me so happy and sad at the same time. And then eventually SO HAPPY for the HEA by the end.

Absolutely recommend. I also loved You, With a View but this is one I will reread more. Thank you to Berkley for the eARC!

Thank you to @berkleyromance for the free digital copy of this book that grabbed my heart on the first page and never let go.

Georgia, Adam, and Eli became best friends in high school. Adam’s home became a refuge to both Georgia and Eli. Their summers spent working at Blue Yonder, Adam’s family winery, were where Georgia and Eli’s relationship began to transform from friends to lovers. After years together, many complexities drove them apart, with Eli in NYC and Georgia in San Fransisco. They promised their breakup wouldn’t destroy their friendship with Adam - and they’ve made Adam believe it by abiding by a set of rules that ensures they never get too close and never address the past. With Eli on the other side of the country and working 24/7, she only has to manage him in small doses - a holiday or a party at a time. But now, five years post-breakup, Adam is getting married. Everything about the wedding is going wrong, and with just over a week until the day, Georgia and Eli are tasked with heading to Blue Yonder to replan the wedding. Back where it all started, they are forced to reckon with the past, present, and all they’ve left unsaid for years.

The amount of palpable emotion, heartbreak, pining, and love Joyce infuses into this story is hard to describe. Her writing is gorgeous, breathing life into the complexity of Georgia & Eli’s relationship. The story is told from Georgia’s POV and in a single timeline, but through how the characters recall the past and how Joyce writes their actions, readers can feel all the characters in their messy, deeply relatable lives riddled with anxieties about careers, families, and friendship. I love that so much of this book is rooted in friendship and working to keep friendships alive. With the backdrop of Blue Yonder, Joyce infuses this story with tender hearts, aching regret, humor, hijinks, pining, passion, and so much love. I cannot wait for you to fall in love with this book.

(Also, if you love Taylor Swift fan, this book screams “You’re Losing Me” and “Paper Rings”)

I couldn’t put this book down!!! Georgia and Eli are so perfect for each other. Friends to lovers is my jam and I’m obsessed with how much he still loved her during their time apart due to life circumstances and trials that they have to overcome, Eli with his anxiety and Georgia with her fear of being left or too needy. The ending with how he tells her he has loved her all along had me crying!! So so good!

The Ex Vows by Jessica Joyce
Narrator: Kyla Garcia
Rating: 5 stars
Steam: 2 chilis
Pub date: 7/16

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Berkley for my gifted e-copy and PRH Audio for my complimentary audiobook.

I absolutely LOVED this swoony, steamy second-chance romance. The story revolves around Georgia and Eli, estranged exes who must collaborate to save their best friend, Adam’s, wedding after a series of disasters threaten to cancel the whole thing.

Georgia is terrified that her breakup with Eli will disrupt their tight-knit friend group, so she relies on a list of rules to manage their interactions. However, when Eli returns with a new attitude and the wedding venue burns down, Georgia's meticulous plans crumble. As they race to Napa Valley to salvage the wedding, their old chemistry reignites, and Georgia begins to see the man she once loved in a new light.

This book is everything I love about the romance genre. The pacing is perfect, the MCs are loveable, the side characters add humor and heart, and the setting is breathtaking.
Joyce's writing is a rollercoaster of emotions, and the story hooked me from the first page. Eli's unwavering devotion to Georgia makes him endearing, and the sizzling tension between them is beautifully portrayed.

Georgia's fear of heartbreak and the challenges of navigating old feelings in close quarters make her so relatable, and the witty banter and humorous mishaps as Georgia and Eli attempt to save the wedding are delightful. These moments, combined with the heartfelt journey of their rekindled romance, make "Ex Vows" a captivating read. The dynamic between the main and side characters, especially Adam, makes the story even more enjoyable.

Kyla Garcia's narration in the audiobook enhances the experience, making it a highly recommended format for this delightful romance.

I loved Joyce’s first novel, You With A View, but The Ex Vows really solidified her place as a favorite author. This book is sure to make readers laugh, cry, and swoon.

Read if you like:
* second chance romance
* friends to lovers
* forced proximity
* found family
* single POV
* open door spice

The one thing Jessica Joyce does WELL is on page chemistry. You get the attraction, the emotion, the reason they could and should be together from the very first page. I loved the way Eli and Georgia found their way back to each other, all the while realizing they were never out of love in the first place.

It's everything contemporary romance should be, romantic, funny, emotional, heartbreaking, steamy with character growth and beautiful sentiments. And that ending! Be still my heart.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Georgia and Eli broke up five years ago. Now, they’re the best people at their mutual best friend’s cursed wedding. Everything is going wrong; there’s no DJ, there’s no cake, and Georgia and Eli are forced back together after years of avoiding each other. This is a second chance romance novel about wedding mishaps. The cursed wedding might lead readers to believe that this is a romantic comedy, but, while there were funny moments, this book is so much more. It’s about found family, anxiety, and growing up and losing touch with friends. The romance was steamy, but the friendships really make this book special.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this title from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The perfect second chance romance to tug on your heart this summer! Really perfect for fans of Happy Place by Emily Henry.
I loved the setting and the wedding planning backdrop to this romance. It added so many elements and opportunities that made it come to life. I hope you won't need a second chance to give this book a read!

The angst. THE YEARNING. The Ex Vows was like reading The Tortured Poets Department if you know what I mean. The way the main characters could barely breathe the same air without it just absolutely decimating their hearts?? Kill me now. The big reveal that had been there all along? I'm dead.

I didn’t know I would love this book as much as I did. It made me cry so hard when she gets the paper rings. It was beautiful and lovely and heartbreaking. I absolutely loved it.

I ended up DNFing this (which made me really sad because i had such high expectations), but this isn’t a bad book by any means. In fact, I think a lot of people will end up enjoying it. I’ve heard that this is the second chance romance to read — even for the ones who aren’t fond of this trope (like myself). I do think part of the reason i didn’t end up enjoying it the way I really wanted to was that i picked it up at the wrong time. Being in the middle of a series you absolutely adore, and then reading a book that doesn’t captivate you the same way — I was bound to be sort of indifferent to it.

I did like Georgia as our protagonist. I’ve said it before and i’ll say it again — the archer/mirrorball/this is me trying girlies, you will always be loved by me. Georgia is a hyper independent, list loving people pleaser who refuses to open up to anyone about how she really feels for fear of burdening them. If that’s not relatable i don’t know what is. Eli was… kind of forgettable? I didn’t particularly love (or hate) him. I think it would have been better if we got his POV so we could be inside his head a little and see the romance from both sides.

I may try to revisit this book when I feel like I’m in the headspace for it, but I think this one just wasn’t for me.

read if you:
- like second chance romance
- are in your twenties and feel kind of lost because everything’s changing too fast (and or)
- relate to mirrorball by taylor swift

Gah this was sooo good and definitely will be one of my favorite romances at the end of the year. This is what I would call an incredibly well rounded romance, it’s full of messy angsty moments, the characters are well drawn and relatable, the setting gives all the amazing vibes and provides a beautiful backdrop for an emotional second chance romance and besides the romance the core friend group is everything you want in a secondary plot and more. It’s also deeply romantic and there were so many gorgeous quotable moments. I can’t say enough good things about this one, no notes. If you’re a romance reader this is a must!

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel; all opinions are my own.

This is my first book by the author and she is now on my “auto-buy” list. I loved this novel so much. I finished it two days ago and I can’t stop thinking about it.

I love second chance romance. Love. This was such a good one to add to the list and it was woven together so beautifully. While you don’t get “then” and “now” chapters, the way the author is able to narrate you through then and now without confusion is masterful.

Something that stands out too is the depth to the characters. It’s not necessarily the big things but the little moments: the paper rings, the shared memories, the family relations. Altogether these formed characters that felt so real and emotional and tangible and I want to pick this book right back up again and read it.

This also has great anxiety representation which means a lot.

One of my fav reads of 2024 hands down.

I loved this book SO SO much!!! Truly one of my favorite rom-coms of the year. The struggles that the main characters go through felt so relatable and real- things that any couple could be dealing with. Jessica Joyce is so good at building relationships on the page and making the reader fall in love with her characters. Will definitely be handing this to my friends!

I’m a sucker for second chance romance, and to see one written by Joyce? Chef’s kiss. I’m truly impressed by her ability to weave words in a way that has me simultaneously swooning and also wanting to study craft because the writing is just gorgeous! The chemistry was off the charts in this one and I had a lot of fun reading.

4.5 stars! Mark my words this is literally going to be the next viral "Emily Henry-esque" book. The Ex Vows had everything I adore in a second chance romance, and it's one of those rare books that I'm going to be thinking about CONSTANTLY for years.

Georgia and Eli met in high school, fell in love in college, moved in together in NYC...then broke up. Flash forward five years, their mutual friend Adam is getting married. And of course there's a snafu or two (or twenty), so Georgia and Eli have a week to work together and pull off the perfect wedding. The forced proximity makes it easy for Georgia to see why she loved Eli, but have the two of them grown enough that they can rekindle their past relationship or will they fall back into old patterns?

First off, the entire time I was reading this book, I kept thinking, "Oh this is so You're Losing Me, Maroon, and Paper Rings by Taylor Swift-coded." Then I read the acknowledgements, and the author mentions ALL of those songs. Literally OBSESSED. Georgia was very The Archer and pathological people pleaser.

Moving forward, Georgia and Eli had such amazing chemistry and tension. I couldn't stop giggling. I think this book felt so romantic because it was raw and emotional. The book dove into realistic couple conflict and actual problems that couples face. Lots of raw feelings that cut me to the core lol. And Eli is SO down bad for Georgia, it's not even funny. His romantic gestures? How he knew her habits and preferences? I was no joke tearing up, especially towards the end.

I also loved the Napa Valley wine country wedding aesthetic. The descriptive imagery was fantastic in this book, and everything about it felt so summery. The only reason why I didn't give it five stars was because it started out very slowly. And there were some other parts that felt a bit dragged out, but overall, this book was incredible!

Thank you so much to Berkley Romance for sending me a copy of The Ex Vows. As always, my reviews are one hundred percent voluntary and all opinions are my own :)

The Ex Vows had me hooked right from the start. I couldn’t put the book down. This was my first Jessica Joyce book and I enjoyed it so much I have already placed a hold on her first book.
I will definitely be recommending this title and author to romance readers.

Gah this book. I thought I loved You, With a View, but there’s absolutely no sophomore slump to be found from Joyce with this gorgeous second chance romance.

I felt such a deep kinship with Georgia, and her desire to be everything for everyone all the time. The way she puts her own needs on the back burner and shrinks herself to make sure everyone else is taken care of first and always.

I loved the way Joyce wove the past moments of Georgia and Eli’s story into the fabric of their present. It was such a refreshing take on the standard NOW and THEN presentation of second chance romances. It fully immerses you in the story, never taking you out of the MCs finding their way back to each other to throw you into the past when they were building up to the fallout.

Georgia and Eli’s story was messy and heartfelt and had me crying in multiple occasions. I absolutely adored the found family, the strong friendships, and the messages of enduring love both in the platonic and romantic spheres of life.

I cannot say enough good things about this story, and I highly recommend!

This has one of my least favorite tropes: I want things but won’t tell you what they are. That being said, I enjoyed Eli and Georgia finding their way back to each other. The cursed wedding was a little much, but it gave them lots of opportunities to work together, which is my absolute favorite trope. It still takes FAR too long for them to have any semblance of a conversation – compounded by the fact that they are supposed to be working together. The story drags in the middle, and definitely spends far too much time in Georgia’s head (the problem of a single POV narrator). Definitely a second chance romance with heart.
3.5 stars

This was a heartfelt romance! The second chance romance between Georgia and Eli was filled with tension. The story unfolded at a good pace, the two coming together to help their best friend pull his wedding off. I was weepy reading the last quarter of the book, the author really captured how as adult lives grow, friendships change shape leaving one to feel a bit lost in the shuffle. A well written story and I’m interested in reading more from this author.

I didn’t finish “The Ex Vows”…”The Ex Vows” finished me.

“The Ex Vows” follows Georgia Woodward and Eli Mora, estranged exes, as they are thrust together to save their best friend’s wedding after a string of disasters.

I think the reason why I hold this story so close to my heart is because I have never resonated with a book as much as I have with this one! It is so perfectly in sync with where I am at in life and I am convinced that Georgia and I are practically the same person. I found myself relating to her need for control, her desire for belonging, and her hesitance in communicating her needs. Watching her character grow as the story progressed not only gave me hope for myself in terms of where I want to be but genuinely made my heart so happy!

Though this story is told from a singular perspective, Joyce masterfully uses Georgia’s observant nature to shed light on Eli’s character. She does a great job weaving in snippets of what their relationship was like before it soured in the present day narrative and executes their reunion perfectly in having them face each other in order to step into their roles for their mutual friend’s wedding. I love how Eli slowly but surely shows pieces of himself that are unpolished to Georgia, giving up the control and stability he once clung to, to encourage her to do the same. Watching them finally let go and be messy, embracing all of themselves and each other, to make their relationship work the second time around brought me to tears. It destroyed me and put me back together (a commonality in all her books). I cannot thank Joyce enough for this story of love, loss, and healing. It has irrevocably changed my life and has left an imprint on my soul.