I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be reading more of Joy Argento in the future! This was a great LGBTQ+ read.

This is cute! It’s fun! It’s not particularly interesting or exciting and I feel ultimately neutral about both the events of the book and the characters, but it’s not bad! I just wouldn’t really recommend it. Three stars.

A lesbian rom-com book is just what you need in your life. Can the one the one that got away fix your broken heart? Read this book to find out!

Joy Argento's Exes and O’s is a second chance romance, set in a small town. If you're after Sunday read then this book is definitely for you. It's a quick read with good characters even tho (for me,) lacks chemistry between the two main characters. Everything just seemed to move a bit too fast.

I've given ‘Exes and O’s’ a 3/5

3 Stars. Ali Daniels is a successful writer who left her hometown and never came back. Her best friend decides she should write notes to all her exes about why none of them worked out. She even writes a note to her first girlfriend, Madison Parker. Madison and Ali have different reasons as to why they broke up. Ali decides to head back to her hometown, where Madison still lives to talk to Madison. Ali wants to see her in person and talk about the letter she sent. She does not realize that the chemistry is still there and that even 20 years later she still wants to be with Madison. Especially after Madison hurts her back and Ali is the only person who can take care of her.

This book was okay, the reason they broke up back in high school seems a little stretched. It is a misunderstanding, a type of break-up I don't like and it just seems a little hard to believe as they would never talk again. The chemistry between the two characters is good and the way their relationship evolves is good. I did not like the original scenario which brought them together, which is Madison hurting her back. I thought that was a little dumb and that it seems like a weird way to bring them together. It was an okay book I am not sure I would recommend.

Well I liked the concept of the book from the summary, but it didn't pan out for me. I think I usually view second chance books as being full of lovely angst and obstacles. Once Ali went back home and hung out for a few days with Madison, all was basically forgiven. It may work like that in real life, but I wanted some dragged out, winning her back romance!

It was an easy romance read, but I would have liked to get more invested in will they/won't they before they did.

Nice and easy second chance romance. However the main character is slightly unnerving at times and some of her behaviours are hard to look past. A lot of it the plot is based on miscommunication which gets tiring after a bit. Overall this is an easy book with a nice story and was well written, but it was not my cup of tea.

I thought that the book was well written, the story was believable and the dialogue was great. At first, I thought that Madison was really acting childish, I mean they broke up years ago when they were both kids, but later in the book I understood why and felt my connection to Madison start to grow. Loved the book

A great way to find out why your past relationships haven't worked is to ask your exes through a questionnaire, right? That is exactly what Ali does after relationship after relationship have failed.

Ali does not get the response back from the one relationship she never recovered from, her high school sweetheart, Madison. She goes in search for her and finds her. What she finds out from Madison will change her view on everything.

This book is all about forgiveness and second chances. I would recommend.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Exes and O’s is a second chance romance involving high school sweethearts.

Ali is a writer and when she is wondering why her relationships fail, her best friend and tequila (All life best decisions are made with tequila!) sends out a questionnaire to her ex’s. The only one who didn’t reply was her high school sweetheart Madison. Ali sets off to find out what happened.

This is a sweet tale of mis-understandings and redemption… with a side of donuts!

I enjoyed this book and found it well written and fun. I like that they had to work to get the relation back. I recommend it

I was given an ARC by Netgallery.

“Exes and O’s” by Joy Argento is a second-chance, small town romance.

Ali Daniels has recently been dumped by her girlfriend and one night decides to send out a questionnaire to all of her exes to see where’s she’s going wrong. The only ex not to respond is Madison Parker, her high school girlfriend and the first to break her heart. On a whim she decides to go back to their hometown and find out why Madison never responded.

This isn’t a bad book and I liked it well enough. Ali and Madison are both likable characters and I was rooting for them to get together. It’s a short, easy read that doesn’t have a lot of angst. I think I was expecting more angst and was let down by how easy everything was.

Reading the blurb, I really thought this would be my jam as second-chance is my favorite trope. Unfortunately, it just didn’t come together for me here, which made for a pretty average read. While they do spend some time reflecting on their previous relationship, once they’re reintroduced into each other’s lives they basically pick right back up. There wasn’t a whole lot of time spent on them getting to know one another as adults. It’s been 20 years since they’ve seen one another and I just had a hard time believing they could just pick back up like no time had passed. Their biggest issue is miscommunication and it’s an issue all the way through the book.

I recommend this for readers wanting a quick, easy romance.

I received an ARC from Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It's my first Joy Argento book and if all her books have plots like this then I'm in
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At first I thought it was very cliché, contacting your exes after several drinks and asking them for feedback but at the same time it wasn't
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The handling of the dialogues and the story line made it flow so easily that I couldn't stop turning page after page, I wanted to know how exactly it was going to change things for both main characters.
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After another breakup, Ali is convinced by her friend Charley to write to all of her exes on Facebook and ask them to answer a few questions to help her understand more about herself and grow personally. She writes to all of them and they all reply except one, her first love, the woman who broke her heart
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After analyzing the answers, she feels that she needs to close the past and decides to go and look for the last answers, but after waiting so long to say what she feels, she is ending discovering another part of the story that she did not know and it is not so easy to return to her life.
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I will confess that I found this part a bit hard but I could see and above all enjoy how they reached the end
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again, a cliché rewritten into a good story of love, trust and personal empowerment with good characters. A very good sapphic and contemporary romance in a small town
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Thanks to Joy Argento and Bold Stroke Books for give me this beautiful book in exchange for my honest opinion

A decent story with a second chance theme. The plot has some interesting ideas, where one of the leading characters contacts all her exes to ask about how she did as a potential long term partner, which leads her to seek out the one that got away. This works as a lead up to the main story of meeting up with her first love and rekindling their romance. It all reads ok, but nothing very exciting particularly happens. The best friend, Charley, is pretty bland and there are no real fireworks in the love story. The main focus for me were the donuts.

Loved this second chance at romance story. Ali and Madison were such a sweet couple together. I felt that both had a few issues to work out because of how young they were before finding each other again. At first I felt that Madison was to harsh and unforgiving, but I came to see why she was initially, so upset about how Ali ended their relationship when they were young girls in high school. This book was very well written and the supporting characters really helped to move this book along. I would definitely recommend this book to all my friends and family and I look forward to what this author writes next.

Exes and O's is a second chance romance. It a good book but I personally am not a fan of books that are built from conflicts that occur mainly due to lack of communication.

Joy Argento has better books.

This is a second chance romance. I thought the story was quite cute and loveable.
4 stars

Thank you BSB and NetGalley for this ARC.

Don’t read this book hungry, the descriptions of donuts and food will drive you bonkers. I had to go buy some donuts after I finished because I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Ali and Madison are living quite fulfilling lives and are in their late 30s. They were secretly dating in high school and haven’t spoken since a miscommunication when they were 18. Ali sends all her exes a questionnaire to learn what went wrong in all her relationships and Madison, her first love, is the only one who doesn’t answer. Ali’s bestie Charley (who I absolutely love) convinces her to go and ask her in person.
*SPOILERS BEGIN*
We then learn it was all a big miscommunication, now I hate this trope normally as it tends to seem pointless, but in this case, I think it was so long ago and so very appropriate for teen girls that it makes sense. Especially considering they were both in the closet at the time and had the added pressure of that in play. I cried so much when they had their confrontation and listened to Ali afterwards, my poor baby, my heart broke for the two of them. I completely understood Madison’s anger and reluctance to make amends given the pain she experienced just because Ali ran away.
I am glad that Ali stayed because even if they hadn’t gotten together in the end I don’t think Madison would have been able to move forward without forgiving her and the extra time together as needed. I loved seeing Ali meet all the people in Madison’s life and them getting to know each other again and falling in love again. Madison’s move after they hooked up was so bad that I fully expected Ali to leave right then and there and not even go to bed so I am glad Jenny helped her see the error in her ways. I enjoyed watching them finally communicate openly and take steps to start a relationship again at a normal pace. I was so happy to see them move in together finally and get their fish!
These two are so perfect for each other and I love their little town of Clyde and all its residents. I desperately want a book about Charley and the new boyfriend and the fabulous makeup-filled life Charley lives, it sounds rather fun and exciting. Plus Charley is weirdly perspective and would make a good therapist it seems.
Beautifully done and cannot recommend enough.

Cute romance that reignites a lost love. Second chance after issues. It's quick and sweet and maybe a little too neat, but a fun read.

Madison Parker grew up, alongside Ali Daniels in a small town. They were best friends from an early age. That all changed when they became teenagers and discovered the attraction between them . So through high school they hid how they really felt about the other.
Madison was like many before her when it came to letting her family know she was a lesbian, struggled. But Ali insisted. She wants to go to college and wants Madison to come with her. But as often happens life got in the way. Ali left angry and hurt, promising to never return.
Madison was also hurt and angry with Ali because she did what they always planned on doing, telling her parents and living their lives openly. But Ali took off, not even talking with Madison before she left. After twenty years she was still mad at Ali.
With the encouragement of her best friend, Charley she decides to look up her girlfriends to find out what happened, why each stepped back from her. When it came to Madison she knew she’d have to face her, tell her the truth about why she left without looking back.
Seems like they both had different memories but the result was the same. Twenty lokt years. Ms Argento writes stories about people you find yourself caring about, with a good plot surrounding some likable characters. Very nice read.
ARC via NetGalley/ Bold Stroke Books.

This book made me crave a donut.

This book isn’t memorable at all, now 30 minutes after finishing the book I’m writing this review and already forgot one of the main’s names… Not to worry I looked it up.
Ali has had enough, after yet another breakup she is convinced by her best friend Charley to contact her exes with a questionnaire to see why and how it all went wrong. Oh she was drunk when they did this. The one she was reluctant to contact, the one that broke her heart as a teen, Madison, seems to be the root of all her problems. Madison believes Ali broke her heart when she upped and left without any notice. Miscommunication all around way back when, we are talking 20 years. When they do reconnect in Ali’s search for answers they fall so fast again, it’s ridiculous.

I’m all for second chance romances, but they need to be done a certain way. I think the reason for the break up 20 years ago was immature and sudden, but understandable. How they got back together again in the present is full of miscommunication again and I don’t like that in a second chance. For it to work the communication needs to be the strongest thing there. For this couple it seems to be the physical pull and lots of nostalgia? I don’t know, I just don’t believe it.

On the plus side, the story is a very nice and easy read because of the writing. It flows well and the pacing is good.
Both characters have some traits that I liked, but I didn’t really like the characters, if that makes sense? I guess it has to do with how their romance unfolds.
Anyway, it’s an easy read and could work fine for anyone wanting this after a heavier book maybe. 3 stars