Thank you NetGalley, Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and Jessica Joyce for this EArc in exchange for an honest review.

Here we have Georgia, professional list maker and good friend. She is off to be the best woman at her best friends wedding.... but her ex is also his best man. Georgia hasn't spoken to Eli since their break up and is struggling with the idea of coming together again.

That is until the are both sent to the venue to plan the rest of the wedding... together! They both have lists to complete, but rekindling their romance was not on the list! Somewhere in the chaos, Georgia begins to see the man she fell in love with. She finds that if she just puts down her lists, their might be a chance of something new.

A great reminder of the power of love and second chances! Eli is such a sweet character! The chemistry between them both shines through and was so fun to read!

Well well well, if it isn’t the consequences of my actions… my actions? Reading this book. The consequences? The biggest book hangover. After reading her debut novel, when I saw this pop up…. I RAN. Joyce just has a way of delivering beautifully written, well formulated characters whilst giving us a romance we all pine for. Bravo!

T H E E X V O W S
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@jessicajoycewrites

omgggggg, the angstttttt. i loved the slow build of this book, it had me hooked so quickly!

georgia and eli, exes since they broke up five years ago, must work together to give their best friend the wedding of his dreams in california wine country, after disaster strikes.

this was so soft and beautiful, it was the little moments that were captured so well. this is the epitome of second chance romance done oh so well. i cannot wait to read jessica's other book too.

omg and the part with the notes with the reasons he loves her .. it reminded me of my husband. on our one year anniversary (19 years ago) he stuck 40 reasons that he loved me on trees down the road we walked to college on. i still have them and recently shared them on my stories. i loved reading this part of the book so much.

thank you @netgalley @penguinukbooks @jessicajoycewrites for this arc.

I'm convinced that everything Jessica Joyce writes is a masterpiece! She weaves together a story, develops the tension between her two characters, and explores their inner conflicts in a way that allows the reader to really connect with all aspects.

I loved Georgia and Eli and how their love story was told while delving into their past, really creating that tension of a second chance romance. Along with this, there was forced proximity, 'right person, wrong time', found family, single POV, witty banter, and so much pining!

I highly recommend this and cannot wait for what Jessica Joyce comes up with next!

I am a huge fan of You, with a View so I've been really excited for this one! Luckily it didn't disappoint! Georgia and Eli are one of those couples you'll be immediately invested in. Jessica Joyce does a beautiful job writing about the love between them and making you want to root for them. Reading about their journey is heartwarming and occasionally heart-wrenching. Fans of the emotional romance will eat this one up!

I loved seeing Eli confront his anxiety and realize what patterns he needed to break. I would have loved to get some of his POV so we could understand what was going on in his head and know more about the cause of those struggles. Despite not having his POV I did love the look we got into his feelings for Georgia and their history together.

If you like second chance or an emotional romance this one is for you! I think fans of Happy Place by Emily Henry will like this one as well as fans of Ever After Always by Chloe Liese.

I listened to the audio version of this title and love it! Kyla Garcia did the narration. Romance readers may recognize her from Yours Truly. It is single narrator but also single POV.

The Ex Vows: An addictive, emotional and joyful second chance romcom beautifully written. Such a fun and easy read! You will love this one. I read it over the course of a weekend. Cant wait to read more by this author.

I just adored Eli and Georgia from the prologue and did not stop until then end. This book put me through the emotional wringer and I loved it. The chemistry between Georgia and Eli was everything. Heat, yearning, tenderness, true friendship and deep rooted love. Their story pulls you in and in between the chaos and background of trying to rescue their mutual best friend’s wedding you have this beautiful story about two people who love the bones off each other but were just caught up in a spiral of their respective pain and couldn’t communicate with each other first time round but just might have that second chance to get it right. A lot of lovely moments in this that had me blabbing especially at the end when the wine reveal happened. This author has cemented herself in my auto read list. A very well deserved 5 🌟.

I’m a sucker for a good second chance romance and this one started off well but it tailed off for me in the middle. I didn’t particularly feel the chemistry between Georgia and Eli, it started a get a little bit repetitive and I think it would have benefited from seeing more of the friend group on the page. I saw another reviewer say “Eli and Georgia didn’t drive the plot, the plot drove them”, I thought that summed it up well. If it wasn’t for Adam’s wedding there would quite literally be no plot at all.

I’ve seen a lot of people compare this book to Happy Place and quite honestly, that’s blasphemy. It has similar tropes but it could never compare to Happy Place.

The one thing I did like was the paper rings ‘reveal’, I thought that was really sweet.

Overall I’m quite disappointed, I’m leaning somewhere between 2.75 and 3 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved Jessica Joyce's debut novel "You With a View" last year, so was really looking forward to this one, which was released this week.

The Ex Vows is a rom-com-drama, featuring a couple who agree to get along for the sake of their friends, who are getting married.

Georgia and Eli immediately connected when they met as teens, eventually becoming a couple. Now, 15 years later, they're almost thirty - and have been estranged for five years.

Their best friend Adam is getting married, and Georgia and Eli don't want to cause any trouble. But with rumours of a wedding curse and one disaster after another, can the two really leave their past behind and work together to help everything go smoothly?

I ADORED this book. I really loved the author's previous book too, so I was very excited to read this - and I wasn't at all disappointed. I just love how she writes these real, flawed characters, with no unnecessary drama.

I loved that we got to see a male main character address his mental health and burnout, rather than it always being the female character. I also just really loved both Georgia and Eli, I really warmed to both of them, and their chemistry was OFF THE CHARTS. Y'all know I am a slow burn gal, and this was absolutely scorching - with probably one of the best 🔥 scenes I've read in a contemporary romance. The tension was palpable, and they were so respectful of each other.

The side characters, I was less enamoured with - frankly, I found Adam and Grace to be more than a little annoying, and the wedding "curse" stuff was a littttttle far fetched, but I'll take them all ten times over to get this sweet love story. The yearning. The swooning. The emotional growth. The tension. The chemistry. Jessica Joyce, you're a mastermind.

I adored it. One of my favourite, if not my favourite, contemporary rom-com-dramas of the year so far. Please write more. Many, many more.

I did receive a #gifted eARC from the publisher (@penguinukbooks ) but as with You With a View, I've also ordered myself a paperback copy so that I can hug it. Jessica Joyce just became an auto-buy author for me.

“ℋℯ𝓎 𝒫ℯ𝒶𝒸𝒽 “

This story was cute, flirty and funny with such likeable characters. There’s banter, spice and plenty of swoon 😍

I’m not usually the biggest fan of second chance romance but I really gelled with this one. I think because I liked both Georgia and Eli individually, I was rooting for them throughout.

I resonated with Georgia in her love for lists and I loved the anxiety rep and thought it was done so well. I use the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 method in my work I loved seeing it written so well into this 👏🏼

The paper rings were an absolute highlight, swoon level = 100% 😍

I loved You, With a View last year and this one is another firm favourite!

I read You, With a View on holiday last year and it was a lovely introduction to Jessica Joyce’s writing. So I was very excited for her new release, The Ex Vows. A second chance romance, set in California? Sign me up!

Georgia and Eli broke up five years ago. When they’re forced to work together to save the wedding of their best friend, feeling begin to resurface and they have to decide whether to jump back into something they had thought was firmly in the past.

The Ex Vows had everything that I felt Funny Story by Emily Henry was lacking. Georgia and Eli were well developed, and the secondary characters were strong and relevant to the story. I loved the exploration of mental health, anxiety and panic attacks and the weight of the pressure we place upon ourselves and our career success. My only criticism was the swift conclusion and epilogue, which felt a bit off-kilter from the character development within the main bulk of the story.

Jessica Joyce is definitely joining the list of my auto-buy authors!

* 371 pages 📖
* 🔥🔥.5
* ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ 5✨
* “Don’t think I’m taking this moment for granted, Georgia, or any moment you’ve given me this week “

I you guys are probably tired of me by now but Jess is amazing. Omg, this book was written in such a beautiful way. The feelings that I went through were not a joke. I adore Eli and Georgia 🖤

Best friends to lovers and second chances are my favourite trope, it’s like it’s always been you and this book delivers so well.
If you like happy places you would love this one as is similar but in a different unique way that would guarantee tears, happiness and a heart bursting out 🖤💌

I feel right now like This book ruined me and healed me in the last 3 days. But this book is a masterpiece in all the tropes that it contains 🖤 💌

I like it very much! Jessica Joyce’s writing is as good as her previous book, if not better (I’m biased because I love “you, with a view”).

I’m not usually a big fan of second-chance romance, although she gave a very good and plausible explanation of how they have broken up in the past. Something I missed in this book, and many others with similar plots, is that when the exes interact past the breakup, they seem to miss the sex more than the person. Georgia talks a lot about the sizzling sexual chemistry between them (which is really well done BTW) but I think it lacked her mentioning what else she missed. She loves him, so I want to know the small things he used to do, the gestures, the caring, what else did she miss apart from his great body and their amazing sex? I think the “I still love you” was missing but the “I still fancy you” was very much present.
Nevertheless, the book is really good. Eli is so swoony! He is one of the best male main characters! I love their forced proximity and how they went from “this is awkward” to “we are a team”! The plot is great, I love it when the main characters are going on an adventure, in this case, helping to save their friends' wedding. Also, in a second-chance romance, I love it when the author gives us a glimpse of how they fell in love for the first time. Overall, I do recommend this book, I was very much into the story. I'll definitely read everything Jessica writes in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley UK and Penguin for sending me this advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Is it dramatic to say I will never get over Eli and Georgia? Maybe but it's how i'm feeling right now. I am a sucker for a good second chance romance and this one is right up there among the best I have read. Their problems and the reasons they were apart were just so real and I just wanted the absolute best for both of them. They're flawed characters, done right and we see them grow as the story goes on. I loved the fact they were working together to save the cursed wedding and all their little escapades and dare i say it scrapes they got into....A particularly favourite scene was when the ceiling fell on Eli and of course he had to go to georgia.........lol one bed trope!
Highly recommend"

This book had from the beginning. As a huge fan of You, With a View, I was highly anticipating this title! It did not disappoint! I am a huge sucker for second chance romances, especially where they have never gotten over each other. The amount of pining and emotions left over in these two was sheer perfection.

A sweet, sexy and emotional second chance romance

Despite breaking up five years ago, childhood friends Georgia and Eli have to work together to save their mutual best friend, Adam's wedding. Will they remember the good times, or will it make their already tense 'friendship' even worse?

I adored Jessica Joyce's first book You, with a View, and this one was just as good, if not better! I just love her beautiful writing, and stayed up too late inhaling this book like some kind of manic creature! Second chance romances don't always work for me, but this one was just done so well. It grabbed me by the heart and didn't let go until after that sweet epilogue.

I loved both Georgia and Eli and desperately rooted for them to find their way back together! Georgia, with her lists spoke to me, I live by my lists too! Eli's anxiety also rang true, as I have panic attacks or general anxiety sometimes. I was obsessed reading about their past, their flaws, their love and their growth 💛 I do remember (vaguely) my twenties, and everything changing, as friends moved away, settled down and it became harder to find time for each other, so empathised with Georgia there, especially because her friends were more like her chosen family.

Speaking of friends, their friends Adam, Grace, Jamie and their relatives were just awesome!

I can't adequately describe this book, I can only say how it made me feel, and it made me all the feelings! It was romantic, cute, messy, full of banter and great chemistry. The two leads had a deep connection. The wedding venue, Blue Yonder sounds amazing, I wish it were real!

I got flashes of Emily Henry and Taylor Swift in the writing, I am genuinely gutted that I've finished it!

Date Read and Reviewed: July 18, 2024
Release Date: July 18, 2024
Ratings: 4⭐️

°

This is my first time reading from this author and I just realised I have one of their other books in my tbr for a while now so I definitely will be picking that one soon and will be eyeing for the new books 🫶

The Ex Vows was a captivating and emotional romance novel. I really felt Georgia's abandonment and Eli's anxiety issues, and honestly, I don't want anyone to suffer these because it is indeed hard. There would be a sense of unconscious self sabotaging that would make the already felt or mental state worse than already is, and something like this is not something easy to be resolved.

With that being said, I obviously love Georgia and Eli 🤚🏽

The building of their second chance was well done. I enjoy their character growth and navigation to open up to each other once again. There's also some pinning here or just Eli gravitating towards Georgia– it was delicious 🤌🏽 I love them both.

Other than that, I also love the circle of friends these two have. They are so supportive and at the same time look out for each other's well-being. I really appreciate the relationship and the interaction the characters had.

The writing is well done as well. It was captivating as what I have said already. There's just parts that I felt were too slow for my liking. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this book. This was a balance of wholesome, emotional, or angsty at times.

I would also like to mention how GOOD THE LOVE SCENE here is 🤌🏽 IT WAS SO WELL WRITTEN I HAD TO REREAD IT AGAIN 🤚🏽

Overall, I need you all to read this romance novel. You won't regret it. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 🫶

Things to note in this story:
➵childhood friends to lovers to strangers (exes) to friends (kind of) to lovers 🫶
➵second chance romance
➵wonderful set of characters ✨️
➵representation of anxiety and abandonment issues
➵work stress📍
➵forced proximity 👌
➵well written love scene 🌶🌶🌶


Thank you so much, Berkley Romance, for the e-arc via Netgalley 🩷

Oh how I love second chance romances!

Jessica Joyce’s debut, You With a View, was one of my favourite books of 2023 so when I found out she was writing a second chance romance I got proper excited and let me tell you, she did not disappoint. This was such an amazing book! I’m obsessed with it!!

I loved Eli and Georgia and seeing them reconnect after years apart. 5 years after their breakup, there was still a world feelings between them, mainly love, but also a lot heartbreak and longing (SO MUCH longing!) Seeing them come to terms with this as they were forced to spend time together and work as a team and find their happy ending was beautiful. Their banter was so fun and their genuine connect couldn’t have been clearer.

I also really enjoyed their character development and the way they opened up to each other and let the other see what they thought were the worst parts of them. There’s something so beautiful about the familiarity that comes with the second chance trope, the knowing someone so deeply, deep down, yet having missed some of the changes that inevitably happened throughout the years.

Another highlight of this book for me was the friendship group and their dynamic. They all loved and supported each other so much and it was heartwarming to see it. I think the big changes caused by big life events and growing older (and the feelings that come with it) were incredibly relatable as someone who can struggle with these things, seeing Georgia open up about her feelings and receiving nothing but love and reassurance in return brought me to tears. I saw a lot of myself in Georgia (and Eli as well, at times), which made this reading book even more special.

In short, Jessica Joyce has written yet another amazing book and if you’re a chance of second chance, angsty romances and the forced proximity trope, you need to add this book to your TBR!

4 stars
i really enjoyed this one, jessica joyce i love you for writing this. i don't really enjoy this trope but this book was something special. eli was such a green flag. i, for some reason hated adam but its ok (a me thing prollYY)

5 stars
Content warnings: emotional abandonment from a young age, anxiety and panic attacks
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy to review. All thoughts are my own.

This book was exactly what I expected from the synopsis. So often books these days aren't fulfilling expectations set from the marketed content, and it was a relief to sink into this beautifully orchestrated emotional romance. I loved everything about this, even with the miscommunication trope in place, because it was executed well without ruining the storyline trajectory.

I appreciated the author's decision to build the world using flashbacks. Having the knowledge of Georgia and Eli's past as friends before becoming lovers and then exes, and how they interacted with Adam, their best friend, from the beginning really elevated this read for me. It helped the reader to see why it was hard for Georgia and Eli to be in forced proximity for the week before Adam's wedding, and why they fell into using physical connection first since it was clear their bodies knew each other so well. I loved that they explored so much in such a short time without losing who they were now after their messy and hurtful breakup. It felt relatable and believable that they could fall into a new routine whilst processing old hurts and big feelings together. And it was handled so healthily that I could hug the author. Adding Eli's anxiety and subsequent therapy sessions indicated that he was here for good reasons to shake up Georgia's life. And I liked that she wasn't expected to just accept it, and still had to process her own feelings and choose the way she needed to live her life after the wedding was over. It's all handled so well, even with big proclamations and hasty outbursts, but that's what made both characters feel real to me. I love these types of romances where you can clearly see characters maturely responding to the other, and growing from their joined trauma.

It was easy to see why the author added the spicier moments at each point in this book, and the tension was superb. The reader can easily tell they're both still in love, and while this is told from Georgia's narrative, Eli feels well-formed as a main protagonist, and I love that we can see his thoughts and feelings so clearly even when Georgia might not wish to. The ending revelation over a seemingly mindless habit of Eli's was complete perfection, and I would like to sign up for an Eli Mora of my own now.

I cannot wait to read more from this author, because if it's anything like this book, I know I'm going to have a wonderful time exploring more of her stories.