Truly enjoyed this Second Chance Romance! Easy to dive on in to this heartfelt tale. The book has an entertaining way of webbing the past with the present The characters are relatable and I found myself laughing along with this emotional story. The chemistry between the main characters is fun to tag along with throughout the book!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC! After devouring You, with a View I was soo excited for this book and it did not disappoint. This is for the readers who, like me, love a second chance romance with childhood friends to lovers. This has some delicious tension and angst that had me reading late into the night. I also love the found family aspect of this group of characters. Jessica Joyce is one of those special authors who can write delicious men who are deeply in love with the FMC’s but also can incorporate heavy topics the characters are going through as well. I truly can’t wait to read what she writes in the future!

5/5

A Napa Valley wedding rekindles the sparks between Georgia and Eli, once lovers now strangers, who may just have a chance to get back what they lost while building something altogether new. Filled to the brim with the bittersweet, The Ex Vows is a second-chance romance that encapsulates all of the joyous and painful parts of reuniting and reconciling the past. Georgia and Eli have both been through a lot, together and apart, and the focus on these experiences in mending what went wrong in their relationship makes for a truly exceptional romance. The yearning, the underlying tension between the two leads, and the wonderful moments of rediscovery along the way completely bowled me over. Jessica Joyce’s sophomore novel expands on her talent and craft as she interconnects the past and present, focusing on mental health, and the power of love in finding healing. The Ex Vows is astonishingly vulnerable and its resolution will undoubtedly have you close to tears. Jessica Joyce supremacy!

This will appear on my blog closer to publication!

I devoured this over night! I was hooked rom the beginning with this second chance romance. This book is sure to be a favorite this year and I will pick up anything written by Jessica Joyce.

This second-chance rom-com amidst a wedding backdrop is the perfect thing for this upcoming summer! With a mixture of hilarious and heartwarming moments, it tugged at my heartstrings and pulled them back together all at once. This story is a great reminder that nothing has to be perfect, it is more realistic because it is messy.

This is the first book I have read by Jessica Joyce and I need to now read “You, With a View”. Technically, this is Jessica’s first book but she set it aside for ages dissatisfied with it until inspiration struck some time after she released “You, With a View”. Jessica is incredibly poetic and her way with words made me want to read on. When I tell you this book made me laugh and at times get emotional, I mean it. I genuinely laughed out loud when Georgia and Eli were in that first bakery doing the cake tasting, it is just so funny! But then the moments where Georgia has her mental breakdown in the bathroom, and the confession moment in Chapter 31, the paper rings reveal – oh my goodness, I was a mess and in the best possible way.

I was not expecting such depth and growth, inner healing and forgiveness being key themes throughout – I thought it would just be the exes and the romance. I was reminded of both Abbey Jimenez and Emily Henry's books in terms of having the romance alongside bigger themes and the quirky and funny writing style respectively. I also got major vibes of the film “About Time” (2013) reading this – of course, without the time-traveling. Tim and Mary’s wedding day, like Adam and Grace in this book, was also a mess and was raining too, but they made the most of it.

I relate so, so much to Georgia! She has her lists to keep herself organised, thrives on company and attention but also wants to give people their space just like me! Eli is so sweet! I love that he has worked on himself, gone to therapy and become a better version of himself. Adam is the best wingman and guy friend ever, and I love Jamie she is so lovely and supportive, the best friend a girl could ask for!

I am honoured to have been selected as an ARC reader for this book, and I’d like to thank Jessica Joyce, NetGalley and Berkley for the opportunity. This has not affected my opinion in any way.

A sweet second chance romance with cursed wedding planning and vineyard vibes✨

Read this if you like:
✦ Second Chance Romance
✦ Friends-to-Lovers
✦ Close Friend Group
✦ Slow Burn
✦ Forced Proximity
✦ One Bed Trope

"When I say I'm still in love with you," he says quietly, "I mean today and yesterday and this entire week. I mean at Nick and Miriam's wedding and I mean for the past five years." If possible, he gets even quieter, but now he's closer so I get every word. "When I say I'm still in love with you, I mean the first time I saw you and right now. I mean every second in between."

My Thoughts:
- This book had a great pace, interesting and complicated characters, swoon-worthy romance, and the sweetest ending.
- While I enjoyed Jessica Joyce's first book, this one takes the cake! The angst, the yearning, the deep rooted love and history between the main characters... It all just made this book an interesting read. I would definitely classify it as a page turner and un-put-downable.
- The thing I liked the most about these characters were how "real" they felt. They were very relatable, from the obstacles they faced, to the work they put into themselves to heal from their own personal trauma/issues.
- There was great therapy representation throughout the book. Both main characters put a lot of work into their mental health. Eli especially went through a ton of character growth.
- This book is the very definition of pining and longing. Both of the main character's never moved on and never fell out of love. Even though five years had passed their chemistry and bond never waned.
- - - - Minor Spoilers Ahead
- I don't know how Georgia and Eli were able to hide how much they were still in love with each other for five years! Maybe it's because of how much they're walls came down during the week they were at Blue Yonder, but they weren't hiding anything from anyone. These two very much had heart eyes for each other.
- The paper ring reveal at the end 😭 don't mind me just sobbing while swooning over here.
- The only thing that didn't feel realistic to me was the sheer amount of issues that took place leading up to the wedding and on the day of the event. Also, the whole "we're all in this together" thing, while sweet, just didn't seem very realistic. With tensions that high and shit going wrong left and right.. 3-4 meltdowns and 2-3 arguments seems a little more believable.
- While the sheer scope of the "curse" might've felt a little far fetched, it didn't take away from the story at all. I thought it was hilarious when a the peak of the curses destruction Adam said: "I told you all the curse was real, and this -" He releases a sharp breath. Okay. We need to check on all of our necessities- make sure Grace's wedding dress isn't ripped to shreds, check on the caterer, call the band and confirm they haven't been swallowed by a sinkhole." His attention snaps to me. "you have our wedding bands, right? They haven't been snatched by some Gollum-looking dude?"

┈ OVERVIEW ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈
Emojis: 🍷💍🍰👗👙📋🍇
Emotions: 🥺😰😊😍🥵😟🥰
Pacing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice: ⭐️⭐️/5
Overall:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Format: eBook
POV: One
Read Again? 👎
Would I Recommend? 👍
Setting: San Francisco, California
Hero: Eli Mora
Hero: Georgia Woodward
H/h virgin? No
First kiss💋: 47%
First time they sleep together: 58%
First time they say "I Love You": 82%
OW/OM Drama? No
H/h cheat? No
Time apart? Five years
Did I cry? Yes
Ending: HEA 🥰
Standalone/Series? Standalone
Epilogue? Yes

"You kept them all, though." "I did." His eyes search min. "Why?" "Because I've loved you for a long time, too."

⛔️ My reviews can sometimes contain spoilers.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jessica Joyce, and Berkley Publishing Group for an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐⭐
🌶️🌶️/🌶️🌶️🌶️

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁:
✨ Second Chance
✨ Friends to Lovers
✨ Found Family
✨ Only One Cottage

The Ex Vows is going to be in my top 5 books of the year, I can already tell.

I read tons of second chance romance so I feel pretty confident saying this is the perfect second chance romance. Jessica Joyce is able to write with incredible depth that I felt like I was in Georgia and Eli’s bodies. Pair that with the immense detail (that never feels like a slog) of their surroundings, that if I closed my eyes, I felt like I was there in California.

Georgia and Eli are forced to work together to help get their best friend Adam’s wedding back on track. The slow and intentional way that Georgia and Eli find their way back to each other romantically felt natural. It felt like two people finding their way home again. Eli and Georgia might have been the main story of The Ex Vows but it also touched on mental health and that awkward phase of life where you feel like everyone is moving on with their lives - including yourself - and you’re scared of losing the people close to you.

I was able to see myself so often throughout this book - through Eli’s anxiety and Georgia’s need to be in control with her lists. Perhaps that is why I loved it as much as I did but don’t let my bias discount Jessica’s phenomenal writing and pick this one up. When you do pick it up, be prepared to swoon, laugh, smile and cry. I never cry reading books but this one did make me feel like I had been cutting onions.

I absolutely loved this book! I loved her first novel and this one was so good. Georgia is the cutest name and I love the that her and Eli reconnect in this book. Lately the second chance romances haven’t been doing it for me but this one was the exception. I loved it!

Many thanks to Berkley for an early copy of this.

Jessica Joyce's debut was one of my favorite reads last year and I was ready to dive into this one. The premise follows two exes, who have to pretend to act civil to keep their friend group together. I loved how Joyce built Georgia and Eli's characters and balanced their multiple timelines and the intense emotions between the two. These two are essentially a depiction of "Maroon" by Taylor Swift.

The Ex Vows is a delightful romp through wedding chaos and rekindled romance that will leave you swooning and cheering for second chances!
Georgia Woodward and Eli Mora are experts at avoiding each other after their messy breakup, thanks to Georgia's meticulously crafted list of dos and don'ts. But when their best friend's wedding hits a series of snags, they're forced to set aside their differences and work together to save the day.
With hilarious mishaps and steamy encounters galore, the author delivers a tale of love, laughter, and redemption that will keep you hooked from start to finish. Georgia and Eli's chemistry is palpable, and watching them navigate their complicated past while facing new challenges is pure entertainment.
Full of heartwarming moments and witty banter, The Ex Vows is a must-read for fans of second-chance romance. So grab your favorite beverage and get ready to join Georgia and Eli on a wild ride filled with love, laughter, and happily ever afters!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Wow this story hit me in my feels! Joyce writes beautiful, heartwarming, teary romances that will have you kicking your feet and crying. She has some of the fun tropes like one bed, forced proximity, fake dating in this second chance story but ultimately The Ex Vows is a story of loving oneself and allowing oneself to be fully seen, regardless of how messy it makes you.

The story; two exes have to spend a week together in Napa helping their mutual best friend get married. They haven’t seen each other since their breakup five years ago and they’re definitely faking being fine with each other. It’s chaotic, it’s messy, its fun and it’s steamy.

I really resonated with the FMC Georgia as a people pleaser who feels worth by how others love her and it was beautiful to see her accept and love herself. Eli is hot, swoon worthy, and takes TS “Paper Rings” to a whole other level. If you like declarations of love, found family, navigating life changes, this one’s for you.

As someone who lived in Napa Valley for many years, Joyce did a wonderful job of blending reality with fiction to get the winery style and setting! I was impressed and happy to see the fictional homage to my hometown. This gets 5 stars from me and comes highly recommended!

Thanks NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

"We can be all those things-good, bad, easy and needy, okay or not on an endless cycle— and trust that the other will stay. Our circumstances are messy, but so is life. It doesn't mean that we can't love each other through it. We already are."

I am completely obsessed with Eli & Georgia. Reading about their love story, how it started and how it ended was gut wrenching but also beautiful. Between their chemistry and their character development it was incredibly difficult not to love them and not to root for them.

This could’ve easily been binged in a weekend but I didn’t want it to end. The banter was 10/10, the angst was 20/10, and fair warning you may cry the last 20% (or maybe that’s just my experience 😅). My only complaint is that I would’ve really loved Eli’s POV.

Such a cute all goes wrong plus let's add my ex to the picture.

Great chick-lit, and light summer read. Perfect for the beach, or a book club.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for my E-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A second chance romance, loved you since forever that will tug at all your heartstrings. I loved every minute of this book!

I do not even know where to begin! This was everything I needed and more, Jessica Joyce has done it again with this heart-aching second chance romance.

Georgia and Eli have been friends for years, but have been broken up for 5. But, when their mutual best friend Adam’s wedding brings them into closer confines than they’ve been in years, they decide faking friendship and working together will be the best way to be there for Adam. However, the forced proximity (giggling) seems to be the spark to ignite what they have been ignoring for so long.

I am honestly so amazed, I will read Jessica's shopping lists at this point I am convinced she can do no wrong. Her characters are vibrant and fun and the relationship and friendship dynamics never fail to pull at my heart. This story had me crying ALOT and it was also so fun at the same time! Like ok well rounded!!

Georgia was such a beautiful FMC, who was such a real and loving character. Being inside her head was so devastating and wonderful at the same time. Eli, the man that you are, he’s just so precious I want to give him a hug and fix all his problems!! He is so mirrorball it HURTS. Both characters are so relatable in many ways, in how they are still growing up, and learning apart and together.

The ending destroyed me I will be recovering from that for 5-7 business days!! I cannot however wait to read this again one day, and will be recommending this to everyone this July. I will never listen to paper rings the same ever again!!

I will have more thoughts as I sit with this but that’s all I can fathom for now, easy 5 stars.

Thank you Berkley for the ARC.

This is now one of my favorite books to ever exist! Thank you Netgalley for the arc!!!

Jessica Joyce made it onto my auto-buy-author-list!!

I loved Georgia and Eli so much. Together and separately. The struggles they both went through hit a little too close to home.
Georgias love and need for her friends but being too scared to tell them was so relatable to me. I´m so glad they worked through that and spoke about their feelings. I loved the side characters and the story/plot was so fun as well!
Also Eli going to therapy and working through his anxiety was so refreshing to read about. Plus the fact that they just talked about their thoughts and feelings!! I definitely need more of that.

I will 100% be rereading this once it's out, so I can transfer my annotations into the paperback.
The love in this one was so palpable! I laughed and cried my way through this book!!

Y’all, this book wrecked me. I mean I had high expectations after reading this author’s previous release, You, With a View, but I had no idea how utterly ruined I would be after reading.

This is a second chance romance, which admittedly is one of my favorite tropes. Maybe because these books have the potential to be so emotionally messy. Maybe because I love seeing people in love make their way back to each other and do the necessary work to repair their relationship. I don’t know–but, I gravitate towards these romances.

The Ex Vows is the story of Georgia and Eli, who meet as teens when they are both befriended by Adam Kim. Their friendship grows into a love story, and then a breakup that has haunted Georgia for the last five years. They’ve tried faking friendliness to save their friend group. They are brought together again by the wedding of their shared best friend, Adam. A wedding that has been nothing but one disaster after another. After another mishap at the wedding venue, they somehow both agree to travel to the groom’s family winery to make a wedding, that is nine days away, happen.

First let me say, I had all the emotions while reading this book. There are so many mishaps that had me laughing out loud. The intimate scenes are breathtakingly sexy. The entirety of the book is told from Georgia’s POV, and I connected to her immediately. As a list maker myself, I understood her need for control. Her love language is helping her loved ones and being the one to fix their problems. Her childhood experiences have taught her that being too needy is bad, and people leave, so she’s afraid to ask for too much. She never shies away from herself about just how devasted she was by her and Eli’s breakup, how she’s still emotionally fragile, she just puts on a face for her friends and decides to act like it’s all fine.

Eli is another ball of wax, with a ton of anxiety and fear issues stemming from his childhood. But when he comes back Georgia notices changes in him and that he finally seems to be dealing with those issues in a healthy way. They are forced to work together to make the wedding of their friends Adam and Grace happen, and watching these two circle each other, their hearts on their sleeves, was a joy.

This book is deeply romantic. And the conflict is believable with realistic problems that any couple could face. Deep seated fears left over from childhood that manifest into anxieties that ultimately led to breakup. A love that has never gone away, no matter the time or distance between them. The chemistry between the two main characters is off the charts. They had banter, and sweetness, and intimate knowledge of each other than pours into every conversation. Like I mentioned above, the sexy times are incredibly sensual, but there are also tender, gentle moments that were just as profound.

The last few chapters had me tearing up and then sighing with the revelations. I couldn’t love the HEA any more. I must be said that this author writes all kinds of relationships well, including friend groups. This one was so lovely. I kind of fell hard for every single one of these characters. Make sure you put this one on your TBR. You won’t regret it.

i know that there are second-chance romance haters (though I am not one) but I do believe that you are a hater of that trope, you would still like this book. cause these characters never stopped loving each other and just didn't know how to grow together for a second. also there is an emerging trope i believer where one character is having a panic attack and they do the "5 things you see, 4 things you hear etc" and one answer from each category is the love interest. it's happened in the past three romances i've read and i'll be honest it hits every time. it even happened twice in this book and i was eating it up man. good for you jessica joyce!!

Thank you for the ARC, Berkley! This was one of my most anticipated books of the year.

Jessica Joyce is one of my favorite authors. The way Jessica can put together words that make you *feel* and just fully *be there* with her characters is nothing short of masterful. Truly brilliant, and some of the best atmospheric writing out there.

I really do love the forced proximity trope. In this case, that was made even better by the palpable tension only the pining of a second chance romance could bring. SO. Good.

Speaking of second chance romances, I really do love them. I love the idea of “right person, wrong time” finally finding each other at the right time. Jessica does such an incredible job portraying the familiarity paired with learning all the ways the other has grown in the time they were apart.

I can’t wait to reread this. Now excuse me while I find an excuse to plan a trip to Napa soon!

this was my first book by this author and I was little disappointed.

Eli & Georgia used to date in college but before were really good and close friends.

I personally think this book would’ve been better if it had past/present chapters. So we could see the dynamic of their relationship where it went wrong.

tropes
- second chance
- friends to lovers
- always been you