R E V I E W

The Ex Vows by Jessica Joyce

☆☆☆☆☆

Advanced Reader Copy graciously provided by Random House UK, Transworld Publishers | Penguin via Netgalley

This was my first Jessica Joyce read and it certainly won't be my last. The Ex Vows is a beautifully written second-chance romance, telling the story of two friends turned lovers and the heartbreaking dissolution of their relationship. This story was very reminiscent of an Emily Henry novel (think: Happy Place but with slightly less devastation), and I can't recommend it enough.

Told through the perspective of people-pleasing female main character Georgia, the story begins when she is forced into an awkward reunion with ex Eli as they come together to celebrate their mutual childhood best friend, Adam, getting married. Unbeknownst to their friends, Georgia has survived the past five years since their crippling break-up by following a set of strict rules, enabling her to remain civil and friendly with Eli whilst protecting both her friendship with Adam and her heart from undergoing any more trauma.

But from the minute Eli disembarks his plane, it becomes clear that he is no longer willing to play by their unspoken rules, throwing Georgia's world off its axis. When things start to go awry with the wedding, both her and Eli readily agree to do what they can, forcing them into close proximity as they attempt to save the day. With one week before the guests arrive and a wedding venue filled with memories of the past, Georgia is forced to confront her feelings for Eli as he works tirelessly to get her to talk about where it all went wrong.

Jessica Joyce cleverly weaves memories of the past amongst the events of the present to create a story that is poignant and romantic, steamy, and heartwarming all at once. The integration of mental health conditions into the plot was very effective and framed a narrative where we fell in love with both main characters - not an easy feat for a story where a relationship has imploded and blame is often easily assigned. Eli's self-actualisation and steps towards recovery, steps which ultimately lead him back to Georgia and conversely enable him to support her with her own issues, make us fall in love with him, one chapter at a time. The quick banter exchanged and his dirty talk (the embodiment of 'it's always the quiet ones' indeed) didn't hurt either. A great read!

The perfect read for summer. A second-chance. A wedding. Hilarious and heartwarming.

The Ex Vows reminds us that relationships are messy. The author has penned, yet again, realistic individuals with careers, missteps and forgiveness. Joyce also portrays mental health with dignity.

I swooned, cried and cheered throughout this read.

Thank you, Random House UK, Transworld Publishers | Penguin

OMG I have found my new favourite read of 2024. This was my first Jessica Joyce book but it will not be my last. I loved every page and Georgia and Eli need to be protected at all costs. The chemistry and love between them was perfect. Second chance lovers isn’t usually my vibe but it was perfection and I loved every minute of the slow burn of them realising their feelings again. I related so much with Georgia’s insecurities and anxiety and list loving!

I was an emotional mess and I loved every page

Thank you to NetGalley, Jessica Joyce and the publishers Random House UK for this eARC.

After falling in love with You, With A View last year, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on The Ex Vows and it did not disappoint.

Joyce’s writing truly shines as we meet Georgia and Eli in their second chance romance.

The longing and angsty moments in this book were written extremely well and the romantic scenes were absolutely outstanding. With a set of wonderful side characters, a captivating plot and filled with banter, this really is the must read of 2024 for any romance lovers!

Tropes:
Second Chance Romance
Childhood Friends-to-lovers
Forced Proximity
Wedding Shenanigans
Single POV

The Ex Vows is one of my favorite reads of 2024! Hands down. I’ve read the previous two books of Jessica Joyce and loved them but this is a home run for me on all accounts. I’m a sucker for childhood friends to lovers and second chance and Joyce executes these tropes to perfection.
Georgia and Eli sucker punched me with their shared history which was filled with a strong friendship, laughs, hurt but most of all love.
How Joyce incorporated their past into the present was flawlessly done and made the story flow smoothly. I was invested and enamored with this couple. Their chemistry and connection jumped off the pages thanks to the impeccable writing. There was so much thought and attention to every word and detail between these characters and I felt it all.
The side characters were amazing too. Georgia and Eli’s friendship with Adam was another highlight among many in this beautiful story. I could go on.
All I can say is this is why I read romance. Thank you Jessica Joyce.

ARC Review

♾️⭐️

✨I didn’t think anything could beat you with a view but this book was gut wrenching and beautiful all at once. I felt like my heart got ripped out and put back together it was just so perfect and I already want to read this again.

✨ I cannot fathom how a more perfect man than Eli can be written he had my heart from the start and it was so obvious how in love with Georgia he was. I related to Georgia so much and could understand her feeling of change in everyone’s lives, you could feel the love between her and Eli within the first few chapters and I’ve never rooted so hard for a couple so quickly into a book.

✨ The side characters were fantastic in this and I loved that it felt like such a family that everyone was deeply involved in , I don’t know how Jessica Joyce can beat this but I’m so excited to read anything she writes in the future💕

À little slow at the start whilst sorting out the characters and their relationships plus a lot going on with a wedding to plan.. Builds nicely with plenty a drama along the way. Georgia, the main female character is quite emotionally needy and seems to be in tears most of the time. The book is about second chances and a lot of will they/won't they. Some passages didn't flow for me but I think that was because I'm a reader the other side of the Atlantic. Some humour involved with trying to organise the perfect unrealistic wedding with several disasters thrown in. A good holiday read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for giving me a copy to review in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved The Ex Vows. I was rooting for Georgia and Eli throughout the whole story. I liked the depictions of anxiety and not having your life completely sorted by your late 20s. I liked the setting of the vineyard and reading about all the disasters that threatened their friends wedding.

4.5 stars ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the early e-arc of this book!! I love everything this author writes!! I loved this book so much! The tropes and the way that this is told is so beautiful! I loved that Georgia and Eli got a second chance at romance all over again

Jessica Joyce perfectly describes being an adult in your 20s through the characters Georgia & Eli. From being scared of doing new things to still wanting to be a part of your friends life.
I loved the little adventures Eli and Georgia did to save their friends wedding 🥂and how they learned all the things about each other again. How people move on after a break up, meet their ex boyfriend again and how life goes on no matter what happens.
Jessica Joyce really did write the perfect second chance romance for people in their 20s. How someone struggles with things from their past or generally being an adult. 🌼
All in all a perfect summer read! 💕☀️
I am grateful for the opportunity to read this ARC from NetGalley!

This was sooooo good and I loved it so much! I have been loving second chance romances lately, and this book represented that trope perfectly. The Ex Vows is a beautiful story about how, sometimes, your first love is meant to be forever. The characters were complex and felt very real, and I appreciated the mental health representation and how it was portrayed, as well as the importance of self love and acceptance. I really enjoyed the storyline and set up, as well as the writing style.

The angst, tension, and longing between Georgia and Eli was so real and I experienced all the emotions that they went through - yes, I cried a few times… also may have screamed at my Kindle at some points because I just wanted them to give in and talk but also didn’t want them to hurt again, but also wanted them to be happy and in love…Agh! *screams in frustration*

This was my first book by Jessica Joyce, and I will definitely read anything she writes from now on! I’m now off to preorder this book because I need the physical copy in my bookshelf!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for the chance to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed reading this second chance Romcom! It was so deep and raw and emotion filled - I’m still not over it. I was rooting for Georgia and Eli from the start, I loved how they rekindled their friendship before learning how to love each-other again! What I didn’t expect was this book to be filled with found family and acceptance, took me by surprise and made me fall in love with this book even more. Jessica Joyce represented anxiety so beautifully which added so much more depth when reading!

☀️ this book is one for the summer reads Pile!☀️

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I was not expecting to be completely blown away by this romance. The Ex Vows is a second chance romance between Georgia and Eli. Both characters are perfectly built and their relationship absolutely had me rooting for them. I devoured the banter and loved the backdrop of planning their best friends wedding. This book had an easygoing vibe and atmosphere that captured the joy reading this felt like. While, there were humorous moments, the serious issue of why Georgia and Eli's relationship didn't work out the first time, his dedication to his job including his mental health regarding anxiety was perfectly balanced. The looming reckoning and over the course of the book for their relationship kept me reading. I enjoyed the overall conclusion which nicely fits these two characters I got to know over the bumpy ride of their relationship. A very pleasant romance story that I've read in a long time. 4⭐

This story gives us :

Friends to lovers
Second chance
Forced proximity
Single POV

Single POV is not my favourite and I didn’t realise this when I picked this book up. It is defiantly a personal preference and I’ve done my best to not let it influence my review of the plot .

I haven’t read many books that span the timeline of college and life afterwards. It’s usually one or the other and I felt the plot covered so many changes in life realistically .

In this second chance romance Georgia and Eli are brought together for their best friends wedding and need to work to stop it all falling apart.

The book sits mid way for me , I felt like it was but could have been so much more , a little more personality with the characters , a little more drama in the plot but hey that is just my opinion and may not be what that author wanted

I read Jessica Joyce’s first book a couple of months ago and loved her writing style and pace of the story. When I heard she was releasing another I jumped and the chance to read it and it did not disappoint.

As a reader, you always have your favourite tropes and the ones you don’t enjoy as much, for me second chance romance is one i don’t normally enjoy but in this book it was written so well, i forgot all about that as a topic.

Watching Georgia and Eli rekindle a relationship that is well into the ground was so cute and sweet. You could tell there was a lot of history between them but helping their mutual best friend get married was their number 1 priority… no matter how many words had been left unsaid. Experiencing them falling in love for the second time was like something out of a movie, and you could tell how much the other cared.

The found family trope was very strong in this book as was the representation for male mental health which has been and is such a taboo topic in every day life. The fact that Jessica Joyce managed to write such a beautiful story that included the MMC having an active anxiety disorder was beautiful to read and most likely relatable to those who are experiencing the same thing.

Every aspect of this book hit all the right places and made me fall in love with Jessica’s writing again. I might have rated this a 4 stars but it is only down to the fact that i’m not normally a second chance lovers person but I am beyond excited to see what she writes next as I doubt i will ever be disappointed with her work.

**ATTENTION** SPOILERS

First of all a big thank you to the publisher for the free book.

Secondary, together with Funny Story and From Lukov with Love, THIS goes absolutely at the first place of my book of the year chart.

I've discovered Jessica Joyce last year, when I spotted You, with a view between the summer new releases, and I fell in love with it. It wasn't just an enemies to lovers summer trip novel, but a story of multiple love relationships, some lost, others ready to bloom, in a perfect picture of life: not always happy, with painful moments, but real. I really enjoyed the depth Jessica put in her book, that's why I asked for The Ex Vows arc, and she didn't disappoint me at all.

Even if I appreciated YWAV and this author's writing style, I wasn't prepared to love this book SO much. Because it's so GOOD, readers, believe me. So good I can't stop myself being emotional thinking about it.

I honestly thought I would have read a more light-hearted story; instead, I found something that I'll cherish in my heart forever. I was already in love at the end of the prologue, really. As I've already told Jessica, maybe it was just the right time to read it, but this romance resonated so much with myself I couldn't not be affected by Eli and Georgia's journey.

We start at a point we readers know so well: the upcoming wedding of their best friend - and the phantomatic curse that seems determined to ruin everything - forces the exes Eli and Georgia to work together to save the event from an easy disaster. The main reason of their breakup is explained in the early chapters of the book, but it hides so much more, and we unravel it during the whole story.

From an external point of view, it's clear as day they love each other, and while it was so frustrating seeing Georgia pull Eli toward her and then push him away, Jessica was a master to make us taking time to understand why the path that will lead them back to each other isn't so easy as it seems. Because some inner wounds don’t totally heal, even after years, and the fear to be left heartbroken again isn't easy to ignore. And again, that’s not all. While Eli has already started a journey to be better for himself and the people he loves, Georgia has yet to face her faults in the ending of their relationship and her inner fears, before making another try.

I really appreciated that, after her comprehensible anger and hurt toward Eli, Georgia gradually acknowledges she could have reacted differently and that could have made a difference, both for her boyfriend and herself. But they were both spiraling in different kinds of anxiety and uncertainty and didn’t know how to get out those conditions, stop being miserable and see the person they love the most suffering. Their walls came up and, nonetheless they were a couple, they became lonely even before their breakup. That until Georgia decided to choose herself over a life of unhappiness. And my heart broke, not only because she felt she wasn’t worth Eli’s time and attention and not enough to push his resolution to stop an unhealthy working situation that was ruining his life, but also (and above all) for Eli's understanding her decision to escape that "dark whole" that their relationship became, at the point he didn't stop her precisely because he was choosing her happiness too, and it was with him.

How couldn’t I not love this guy?

Finally a male character who isn’t afraid of his feeling and is so good to communicate them (underlining the importance of therapy, of course), but at the same time always respects Georgia, waiting for her to be ready for a real confrontation. And that’s not all, because we’re talking about Eli Mora. He always gives Georgia space and time to express what she wants and, most of all, he searches her consent in every physical approach. He’s so patient with her and kind, as much as sexy in closed-doors situation I can’t complain AT ALL – thanks, Jessica.

The surprise for me was the more I read, the more I appreciated Georgia too. Her fierce love for her friends, her tenaciousness to do everything she can to save Adam and Grace’s wedding, the way she wanted to protect her group of people because she doesn’t want to make them suffer for her (or Eli’s) choices. Someone could have just been selfish and jump into this second chance without looking back, but it’s clear that a part of her puts the happiness of her loved ones even before hers. And if this isn’t already enough, her people pleaser attitude and the constant idea of not being enough for the people she loves wrecked me, reminding to much about myself. I could see and feel her fears to be left alone and put aside clear as mine, and I adored how, thanks to Eli, she arrives to show this part of herself to her friends, plus their reactions. This book has clearly one of the best healthy friendship relationships I’ve ever read about – not to mention Adam and Eli. Their little gestures toward the other were so sweet and true they made my heart clench.

And then, there’s Georgia’s terror toward her feelings for Eli. I think that what terrifies her the most was to feel hope about her and Eli together again, just to face a reality where he would still put work before her, back to spiraling in its anxiety, shutting her out, and she would feel small and too emotionally dependent on him. I totally understand it and I loved the fact that Jessica underlined the fact that someone have to be happy with themselves first to be ok, because if there’s something wrong (work related or not), if not faced and resolved, it could affect other aspects of their life, relationships included. Plus, several times during the story Jessica draw the attention to the importance of communication between partners. Georgia wasn’t able to express her unhappiness with Eli, because she felt she would become another burden on him so he’ll eventually leave her for someone better as her mother did in the past. At the same time, Eli didn’t face their problems with Georgia, focusing on keeping his job with the idea that the situation would become more bearable in the future. They didn’t talk, really, and so the only choice left was to break up.

Fortunately, Eli’s love for Georgia was stronger than what they both thought.

So, it’s obvious that to overcome all those elements, these two needed time (and tons of Eli’s patience). I won’t tell you how the novel ends, but I can say that for once an author gave her main characters the proper time and pages to arrive to an appropriate closure without rush.

At last, I also appreciated the idea of work presented: having a job is essential to live, we’re aware of that, but it couldn’t and mustn't become our entire life. Doing something we love is also a great bonus, and we should try new opportunities if they feel right to us, even if they imply some changes. Who knows what they could bring us.

Aaand that’s it. Thanks again to the publisher for this free book and Jessica Joyce for this heartwarming story. I needed it.

Well, I fell absolutely in love with Eli and Georgia, individually and together. Georgia’s fears about the future of her friendships at this age resonated with me, with big life events changing dynamics, along with her need for control and to be needed by her people. Eli’s anxiety for stability and his need to see the messy. Their love for each other! The characters in this book were so fleshed out, they felt so real for me. At the start I was worried the inner monologuing would be too much but once you understand Georgia’s character more it’s easy to see where her fear stems from. From about 50% I had a lump in my throat.
Devoured this book so quickly and I’d highly recommend for romance lovers. It’s real and raw and wonderful.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC. I’m so grateful!

Jessica Joyce has done it again 🥹. I adored You, With a View and this book was no different!

Georgia, Adam and Elias are the best of friends. Georgia and Elias have history, a heart breaking romance that they have to be brave to have moved on from so that it doesn’t sacrifice their friendship ship with Adam.

Adam’s wedding is ‘cursed’ what hasn’t gone wrong at this point!! Georgia and Eli agree to work together to help fix the things Adam needs sorting for his wedding!

Their forced, close proximity shows that there are so clearly still sparks between them and they agree to ‘keep doing what they’re doing’ in order to make sure Adam’s wedding goes to plan. However, the after wedding goodbye, a move to Seattle in the works, some paper rings and a birthday cupcake with a dollar candle, will Georgia and Elias be able to reunite as more than the ‘Just Friends’ they agreed on.

Things I liked:
* This was blissful 🫶🏼.
* I sore the friendship between Adam, Georgia and Eli!
* The suspense and romance between Georgia and Eli was honestly so much I could feel it through the pages.
* I swooned sooo many times BUT the paper rings, that moment when they become visible 😭, honestly my eyes welled up!
* The story is beautifully written, chapters are a great length and I really enjoyed the pace of it.

Huge thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for receiving this ARC in exchange for an honest review…

read this book if you loved happy place <3

plot summary:
Georgia and Eli broke up 5 years ago, but have pretended to remain friends since then because of their friendship group. Butttt with Adam, their best friend, getting married soon, wedding disasters are piling on top of each other, and Georgia and Eli are forced to try and work together to try to stop the wedding from falling apart. But, it’s been years since either of them have properly spoken to each other, and they’re both still hurting from how things ended 5 years ago.

my thoughts:
I absolutely LOVED this book!! I’ve heard such good things about this author’s writing and I can’t WAIT to go back and read more.

This book felt SO real, it tugged at my heart strings so much. I saw soooo much of myself in Georgia. I’m a sucker for a second chance romance so I’m not surprised I loved this, but it was honestly done so so perfectly.

Georgia and Eli were both absolute sweethearts and genuinely they felt like real people. The journey they both went on individually before they worked things out was just so refreshing and mature, it really reminded me of Harriet&Wyn from Happy Place!!

tropes:
* single pov romance
* second chance romance
* found family
* anxiety rep
* friends to lovers

fave quotes:
“you’re always taking care of other people, who’s taking care of you?”

“you can be messy. a disaster, if you need to. the people who love you will accept every single piece of it, i promise you”

song based on the book:
🎶 you are in love - taylor swift
(maybe bc im obsessed with this song at the minute but even still its giving georgia and eli at blue yonder)

DNF at 54%

I am beyond devastated, but this was so bad I couldn't bring myself to finish it. I rarely rate books 1 stars, especially ones I didn't read in full, and I hate doing it to an author I love, but I can't give it anything else.

It was so boring - the plot, the characters, their backstory.

Georgia was insufferable, a pushover and a liar, I couldn't stop thinking how she needs to grow a backbone.

I truly could not believe these people used to be in a relationship, there was absolutely no chemistry. You expect me to believe being apart from the love of your life for 5 years only gave Georgia a little anxiety? Where's the tension, the pining?!

I needed Eli's POV! Only having Georgia's side didn't work in this story at all.

Also, it feels like there won't be a big reveal, it will simply turn out that the reason they didn't work out the first time was because Eli worked too much, but Georgia seems like the type of person who wouldn't communicate her feelings, so they never talked about it.

I just can't bear to keep reading about how everyone she's ever loved has abandoned her, I really don't like these types of characters.

And some of the dialogue was weird, I found it hard to tell who was saying which parts.

Comparing condoms to Pokemon was the final straw for me, along with that entire spicy scene, I just didn't like it at all, and I hated the phrases and language used.

You, With a View by this author is incredible and I will never stop recommending it, but this was a horrible disappointment.