I'm not usually a fan of second chance romances but I did really enjoy this one, it was pulled off very nicely! I feel like Jessica pulled off the realities of relationships and what needs to go into them for them to work, Eli and Georgia's relationship felt so realistic and relatable. I was really rooting for them to work it out and find their happiness!

I really enjoyed this book.

I thought that the characters, trauma, storyline and plot was written well. I always love a book with sexual tension and some angst. I love these characters, history, and I loved more than anything it ended.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book and would buy it for myself

This is going to live RENT FREE in my head for a long, long time. I just love a second chance romance, and this MMC has absolutely set the standard. I absolutely enjoyed reading this. Some romances tend to feel unrealistic but this just felt so genuine and authentic and they felt like real people I may know in real life. This was charming, funny, and wholeheartedly sweet. Jessica Joyce you can do no wrong!

4.5 stars!! THIS WAS SO GOOD!! I basically devoured this book in the span of 24 hours and I wouldn’t want it any other way. Jessica Joyce’s writing is so fast paced and easy to digest while still holding so much emotion and meaning. I love Georgia and Eli and their story and I was kicking my feet and giggling when things worked out for them in the end and they got their happily ever after. Highly recommend for all my romance lovers!

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to 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 was so hesitant about reading this because second chance romance is one of my least favorite tropes, but ahhh this ended up being so good. This was 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. Being married is not an easy fare and I think Jessica Joyce writes romance for the readers who are aching for something desperately real and raw.

Thank you so much to @berkleyromance for the gifted copy of The Ex Vows by Jessica Joyce (as well as the e-ARC)! 💖

This absolutely took over my life in the best way possible! I loved learning the backstory of Georgia and Eli and being able to experience their romance when they slowly found themselves gravitating toward each other. I’m not usually a big fan of second-chance romance - but this was beautifully done.

Beyond the romance and the sweet, endearing moments, the friendships were front and center! It was beautiful to be able to see a very real character going through growth in their 20s and finding themselves. It added more to the overall romance and story to make it relatable and so well done.

This was an amazing second chance romance, and probably one of my favorite romances of the year at that! SCRs can be a bit tricky as a trope imo, because you need to establish so many different pieces and plot points for both the initial/past conflict to feel legitimate AND for the later inevitable coming-back-together feel EARNED....and Jessica Joyce did that in ACES. Eli and Georgia are both wonderful, well-developed characters in their own right, filled with so much depth and passion and warmth and.... humanity. Honesty. They felt like people I knew or could be friends with in real life and, whether they ended up together or apart, I found myself falling in love with them as people and truly rooted for them and their respective happiness as individuals (and of course as a couple). JJ has a way of writing that really makes both her characters and the setting she chooses for them really leap off the page; it's magical. I would highly recommend this book and it most certainly won't be my last from her either!

An absolutely stunning second book from Jessica Joyce. Her prose is extraordinary, and her ability to develop a story that draws the reader in and refuses to let us go until we reach the very last word is a unique talent.

Something I love about Jessica's two books is her use of objects as anchor points for the story. At the first introduction of the objects, they may not appear to be significant, but as the story continues, and the objects keep returning, they become more and more important. In the Ex-Vows, the paper rings are that object and when it's revealed at the end just how significant they are, I was SOBBING.

The love story between Georgia and Eli is bittersweet, and tender, and fierce, all at the same time. It's a second chance romance trope done so brilliantly, because the time spent between breakup and reunion really allowed each MC to grow and find their own life path, allowing them, when they come back together, to approach their relationship with more maturity and clarity and improved communication.

I will read anything Jessica writes.

Thanks to Berkley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

The amount of times I cried. Look, I'm going to need my emotions back.
Why was this just the perfect lovestory and a second chance one at that which I highly do not like because why didn't y'all fight harder for each other and this book does a great job of explaining exactly that while also taking me on an emotional Rollercoaster.

Georgia and Eli are so freaking perfect for each other I cannot. The chemistry and love between them is too cute.

I also really enjoyed the whole friend group in general. Like Adam is such a good best friend (as is Jamie) and omg Cole was definitely the sarcastic broody side character I needed.

I loved the anxiety rep as someone who lives with it daily the author really did invoke just how crazy and sometimes misunderstood anxiety really is. And exactly how dumb it may look from an outsider without it but just how much it's killing the person with it.

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy and I'm kicking myself for waiting this long to finally pick it up.

I just don’t really like this. I have a hard time with second chance romance and this book is why. They start hooking up again before they have an actual conversation and I just hate that. Also I don’t really like book that take place around weddings. Overall not the book for me.

that was messy in every way possible. the messiness IS the plot. Georgia and Eli are both messy individually and as a couple.

Adam, their mutual best friend, is getting married in less than 2 weeks but the wedding prep so far is a myriad of disasters. literally nothing went right. the peak is when their supposedly wedding venue caught on fire so they need to find a new venue and basically starting the ceremony-related prep from scratch. being the good best friends, at the same time Georgia and Eli volunteered to help fix things on the new venue and Adam was thrilled so they couldn't refuse even if that meant they have to work together and help each other after they had a messy broken up 5 years ago. and because they came to meet every vendor together, those vendors always assumed that they're the ones who's getting married. and they're too tired to correct them.

so in short, this book is about wedding prep simulation between a couple of exes in less than 2 weeks.

when the book started, it's already full of history since Georgia and Eli met at high school, became best friends with Adam, turned into a couple, then turned into strangers after they break up but still putting on "we're okay" act whenever they're around Adam.

when the roots of their break up 5 years ago, i was a little frustrated because they were just only 23!!! SO young!!! very understandable that they didn't have their shits together.

i didn't really care about he wedding prep stuff. it's really messy to the point that it's unbelievable. but the last chapters, when Georgia and Eli finally TALK, really touched my heart. i wept a little.

The Ex Vows by Jessica Joyce
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

After loving the debut from this author, I was excited to pick this one up and it did not disappoint.

I enjoyed the circumstances and relationship arc of the second chance romance and these main characters. The MC was nearly picture perfect and definitely written by a woman. 😂👏🏻

I listened to this on audio and enjoyed the performance! Thank you @prhaudio for the review copy. I definitely would recommend this format!

Perfect for you if you like:
Second chance romance
Forced proximity
There’s only one bed
When a person is home 🥹
Paper rings 💞

As their HS best friend (Adam) is getting married, exes Eli and Georgia must work together to solve numerous wedding issues. After hardly speaking since their breakup 5 years before, they have to put Adam first and get along. And eventually they hash it out over why they broke up in the first place.
I'm not usually a fan of the second chance trope but I really liked this one! Their breakup reasoning was extremely believable and their mental health struggles were too. I loved how Joyce wrote about the individual growth that was necessary for both Eli and Georgia.

Read if you love:
-winery settings
-"Paper Rings" by Taylor Swift
-themes of loving someone despite their mess
-found family
-some spice but easily skippable if that's not your thing

Jessica Joyce is a romance author to watch! After enjoying You, With a View, I knew I had to get my hands on The Ex Vows. I had the perfect setup: this eARC prepped on my Kindle for me to read on a beach vacation. It was great! This book was very easy to fly through and extremely sweet. I am not usually one to super love second-chance romances, but this one worked for me because the characters were easy to root for. It also helped that you get a chance to see them in the past through flashbacks to get the full context of everything. The chemistry and tension between Georgia and Eli was sooo good. Joyce has a way with creating couples that just *go* together so well. The mutual pining, all of the emotions... I ate it all up! I am really looking forward to Joyce's next romance, I will be among the first in line to read it without a doubt.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for this book in exchange for an honest review.

LOVED this book so much! Jessica Joyce has quickly become my favorite new author I’ve read this year. I adored You With a View and The Ex Vows was equally amazing. I adore second chance romances and wow did she bring the angst with this one! I’d give it ten stars if I could! I listened and read and the audio was excellent!

now THIS is how you do a second chance romance

I'm a bit late with my review but I think about this book at least once a day so I figured it was time to just put my thoughts into words and post my review.

honestly, this book is so incredibly emotional. be prepared to read this with a box of tissues by your side. This book is ripe with longing and deep heartache. My heart hurts just even imagining the place of pain that both Georgia and Eli were put into in regards to each other.

There was so much about Georgia and Eli's struggles that deeply resonated with me. I loved the therapy arc that was present and I really appreciated that the ending wasn't immedately happily ever after, but rather involved both of these characters working on themselves to come back together.

Also the paper rings? Devastation. I bawled like a baby once we realized the signifcance of the rings.

Jessica Joyce really knocked it out of the park with her sophomore release and I can't wait to see what she comes up with after this.

Jessica Joyce has found the key to my heart because holy moly did I cry. Romance books don’t usually get me emotional because the story structure is familiar but the emotional journey in this one? THE WATERWORKS WERE ON.

i don't even like second chance romance, but i basically cried like a baby throughout this whole book. everything about it was excellent, and I found Georgia extremely relatable. the hype for this one is valid.

Heart flutters galore thanks to The Ex Vows

The Ex Vows by Jessica Joyce was a perfect second-chance romance. It reminded me of classic feel-good rom-coms like When Harry Met Sally, My Best Friend’s Wedding, and even the more recent Your Place or Mine, not because they have similar plots but because of how they made me feel: all heart flutters.

The plot
Sparks flew when the teenage versions of Georgia and Eli met at Adam’s house. After years of friendship, they decided to surrender to their harbored feelings. Unfortunately, as young adults found their way, they weren’t compatible. Eli was a workaholic, and Georgia felt alone, so she walked away but never stopped loving him.

For the five years after their breakup, they’ve convinced Adam their bestie trio never broke up, putting up a facade for his benefit. Now, they must work together to help their best friend save his wedding by essentially re-planning a wedding in only a week. Of course, the forced proximity and the palpable feelings (and undeniable still-existing chemistry) are overpowering them both. They must confront why they broke up and how much they still love each other.

A Five Star Rom-Com
It’s difficult for me to write a review for a book I love because I’m not inclined to dissect it; I accept it. A book you love is just one you love. (But here I try.)

Bee Val also read The Ex Vows and sent me this text about it: “I love that Eli just kept showing up. He knew that Georgia didn’t trust him, but she was too polite to say anything, and he still kept showing up.” Eli’s (sometimes quiet & sometimes gritty) fight for Georgia—his determination and unquestionable love—was my favorite part of this book. Add Jessica Joyce’s fun dialogue and narrative, and it makes the book hard to put down.

I loved The Ex Vows because Georgia and Eli never doubted their love for each other, and they found their way back. I also loved it because they felt relatable—no hyperbolic character flaws & no forced interpersonal drama meant to delay their reunion. Their story is about finding their way back to the heart that is their home. Plus, there’s the right amount of angst & some excellent spice. I will read this story one hundred times and still feel all the heart flutters at the hundredth read.

Music: The obvious choice is Paper Rings by Taylor Swift (read to find out why), but Home by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros also sets the mood.