*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read this early*

Oh my , I have no words! I am literally lost for words. I have no idea how will I recover from this book .I stayed up all night reading this! I could literally not put it down! Just found my new favourite author! Obsessed! This is a must read!

wish I could rate it more than 5 stars!

I went into this pretty blindly and with fairly low expectations (I’m not the biggest fan of a second chance romance) but my god did this wreck me. I can’t rate it anything less than a 5 star. The plot, the writing, Georgia and Eli, the longing… I can’t fault anything about it. I enjoyed this more than You With a View, an enemies to lovers romance, and my favourite trope, which says it all!

Look, at this point I just know that I’m going to love any character written by Jessica Joyce.

The Ex Vows is a second chance romance. Georgia and Eli met at 15, became friends then best friends then dated in college and moved in together. Until they broke up, 5 years ago and since then they’ve faked being friendly whenever they had to meet again for their common friends’ benefit. But they aren’t friendly, and Georgia has a to do list of how to behave and what to do and not do in his presence because it’s intoxicating, and she’s shoved the feelings down for 5 years and plans on keeping it just that way. Until it’s their best friend’s wedding and things are not going as planned and the two of them are suddenly in charge of fixing things. Together.

From very early in the book, I just knew Georgia and Eli were going to give me all the feelings. There is a lot of confusion, and hope, and fear. It was very clear that they were the right person for each other and they just needed to find themselves again at the right time. The love Georgia has for him is overwhelming her but you can also feel how hurt she has been and she still is, and how afraid she is of letting herself fall and getting hurt again. But at the same time, Eli is carefully trying all along to make things right and you know he desperately loves her just as much.

***
“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.”
***
It’s a privilege to have someone trust you enough to show you those pieces of themselves, the most vulnerable and tender, the least polished.
***

Jessica Joyce hands down has become one of my favourite contemporary romance authors. You, With a View last year, her debut, was raw and emotional touching on grief in a really connecting way.

This book The Ex Vows was no different. I was fully invested into the story of Georgia and Eli. I ate this up, it was a book I stayed up late reading just so I could finish. I shed quite a few tears during my read of this.
The book touches on mental health, specifically childhood trauma and anxiety.

What to expect:

💕 Second Chance Romance
💕 Forced Proximity
💕 Best Friends Wedding
💕 Found Family
💕 Mental Health Rep

This is probably my most favourite second chance romance that I've read EVER.

Jessica wrote the story beautifully focusing on the present whilst giving glimpses into Georgia and Eli's past, and the actions and feelings that brought their relationship to its current point.
Both characters really grew throughout the book, and they were far from perfect, making them real, raw and relatable.

If you loved her debut, you are sure to love this.

Thank you to the Publisher, Author and Netgalley for this ARC.

Out 16th July 2024 💕

I don't know even know where to start. This book was perfect. It had me sobbing my heart out at the 3 in the morning. I loved the friendship, the relationship, the pacing of the book and how human and real it felt to me. Giving it 5 stars feels so less, because I will be thinking about this book, Eli and Georgia forever.

Lets talk about the relationship first. Eli and Georgia gave me Normal People by Sally Rooney vibes. they were imperfectly perfect for each other. I sobbed until my eyes dropped! I thought I would be reading about an ex-couple with unresolved issues but what I got was a chaotic, real, complex, yet profound, realistic, passionate, loving, and deeply emotional love story!

Their self- journey was the biggest part of this story and I was so glad that there were no cliches, or stupid misunderstandings that kept them apart but genuine concerns that were brutally honest and helped me connect with the characters so well.

Th plot was well developed. Imagine trying to pretend that you are okay being the Best woman when the best man is your ex that you never stopped loving whilst trying to show it to your other best friend that everything is okay and trying to save a 'cursed' wedding. I ATE IT UP.

I take great pride in alerting you to this touching book and suggesting that you read it, cry like a baby, and, as I did, play "Paper Rings" on your playlist. Play it loud and sing along until your voice hurts. Georgia and Eli are my fictional parents. I related to this book on a personal level and I can't wait for everyone to read it and fall in love with it.

"My wedding is next weekend, and you and Eli are about to spend nine days together."

Loved it, I completely binged this story and couldn't stop.

This story brought the entire arc of a good romance, the pining, the angst and characters that you were rooting for.

This was a second chance romance and it not the genre that I typically reach for. This story had a nice spin in the way that the characters were messy, they had complicated personalities and not everything was fitting into clean boxes. I find that some second chance romances, the main male lead is miraculously a new person with no explanation other than 'love' but it was enjoyable to see a greater development towards characters with the aim to better themselves by actually acknowledging what their previous actions were.

The romance, itself, was super enjoyable to read. The build-up, tension and pining built up slowly and deliciously. It allowed for the readers to witness the chemistry between the two created through the past and the current moments. I didn't find the pining and the 'will they, won't they' frustrating as the decisions of characters were explained well and as a reader it was easy to understand the hesitations. The story also allowed for sadness, and tugs at heartstrings which further allows for a greater depth in the story and romance making it not just a one dimensional main character romance.

The story outside of the romantic leads was also nice to follow along, it allowed for fun interactions and dialogue with side characters. It allowed for good foundations of the main leads' relationships with other characters. Overall, fun characters, fun story and lovely romance.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK for this eARC, I am voluntarily leaving a review.

if you’re losing me by taylor swift was a book, this would be it.

this book is one of the rare few where you’re reading for hours on end without looking up from the page, laughing, crying and swooning and before you know it, it’s 5.30 am and you’re still giving up sleep because you can’t stop thinking about it.

characters had so much individuality and were so well developed that they felt so real and you could connect to them individually. the romance didn’t overshadow the mental health struggles which i felt on an extremely deep level.

the characters were so imperfect and that’s what i loved most of all. the relationship itself was so messy and raw, so much angst and emotion i don’t think i’ll be able to move on.

jessica joyce knows how to weave in angst and emotion into her stories seamlessly and while i did enjoy noelle and theo, i think georgia and eli are on a whole other level. emotionally, i was a mess by the time i finished this book.

there’s always a draw to the emotionally unavailable mmc but i think having an emotionally complex mmc dealing with mental health issues should be represented more often in romance books. Eli Mora is the definition of its always the quiet ones.

i think there are very few books that can truly capture the angst, passion and emotion of a second chance romance well. this is definitely one of them.

Oh my gosh! This book!

Jessica Joyce's pen is unmatched. She has a way of taking you on the most beautifully crafted journey with her. All those complex feelings associated with heartbreak which makes it so painful she is able to describe in the most stunning of ways: truthfully and poetic. The way she writes love is so heart warming and realistic, all those things which make you apprehensive to fall in love she captures perfectly.
The characters are amazing, I love Georgia so much and Eli has my heart.

This book is amazing, and I cannot recommend enough.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and RandomHouse UK for this ARC. I loved it so much!

2.5⭐️ thank-you so much to NetGalley for the ARC❤️

Nobody wanted to love this book more than me. As a MASSIVE You with a View fan, I yapped to anyone who would listen about how excited I was for Ex Vows.

So it distresses me to say I really didn’t enjoy this 😩😞

Georgia, Adam and Eli have been besties since they were 15. Georgia and Eli became an item but split 5 years ago at 23. They’re amicable for the sake of mutual friend Adam, although they rarely see each other. Adam is now getting married to Grace, it’s a wedding ‘week’ of sorts so Georgia and Eli both want to help Adam plan his wedding.

No stakes
No real tension or conflict
No climax
Stale, one dimensional characters

The last sentence at the end of the prologue: 𝙃𝙚’𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙖 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙚’𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣.

‘And then we’ll burn it all down’…. WELL that sounds promising?? Sounds like a messy breakup?

No. Not quite.

I HAVE NEVER FELT SO CATFISHED IN MY LIFE 😭😭 They split because he prioritised his job over her. THATS IT. And that’s not a spoiler either, it’s implied from the get go. I thought, surely it’s not that basic… that cannot be the ONLY reason they split. They burned it all down after all? But nope. He put his job before her, neglected their relationship, they didn’t have a conversation and she walked out.
I wish I was joking. It’s that boring. The only thing that burned down was Adam’s wedding venue. Literally.
Tell me again how you’re gonna write a second chance romance equivalent to an old episode of Trisha. I can’t.

The breakup/conflict for a second chance romance needs to be juicy. Not necessarily dramatic, or unrealistic. But god damn good.
I thought OH some bad shit went down. And she said he ‘broke her heart’ countless times. But no, Georgia and Eli broke up 5 years ago because he was more interested in his job 😩 I have never been more underwhelmed by a breakup.

They didn’t have a conversation, so instead broke up. Yep. Really went up in flames.

I was so bored. I didn’t care about Georgia or Eli. Because I didn’t know them.

Apart from Georgia being a people pleaser with an abandonment complex and Adam being a workaholic with anxiety, and believing the solution to solving their NON-EXISTENT problem was organising their friends wedding 🤨 who were they as people? Being a people pleaser and having anxiety cannot be your only personality traits!! They were painfully one dimensional.

What did they want? How are they unsatisfied with their life and what stopped them from going after what they wanted? What is the WORST thing that can happen for them? What’s at stake? What in the world is driving this story?
Not Georgia and Eli.
Everything was circumstantial because if Adam wasn’t getting married, the ‘story’’ wouldn't be happening. Georgia and Eli didn’t drive the plot. The plot drove them.

Noelle in YWAV was interestingggg. Everything that happened was a direct result of her actions, what she wanted and what she was afraid of. Would she have posted that Tiktok video if she wasn’t close to her Grandma, wasn’t desperate to have a purpose? Would she have gone on that road trip, connected with Theo? NONE of that would have happened if not for her actions, her wants, desires fears etc. I knew this fictional woman inside out yet Georgia and Eli? No clue 😂😂 The plot happens TO these characters not because of them.

You show me a man keen to organise his own wedding, never mind anyone elses? Georgia I can understand. But Eli? Wth. Eli having a guilt complex doesn’t justify his reason for wanting to organise his friends WEDDING. Typically men just aren’t wired that way lmfao. Fictional or not. It felt forced to suit the plot. Not because it was authentic to the character.

The ‘climax’ was predictable. If you can call it a climax 👀 The little conflict this book did have could have been solved at the start of the book. WITH A CONVERSATION 🥲

And the half-baked pRaIsE kInK 💀💀 I felt my insides shrivel when she said:

𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐈’𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞. 𝐍𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝.

The way she’s thinking about that around her friends 😭😭 Safe to say that nearly became my 13th reason.

I loved YWAV and A Risk Worth Taking, so I will give her next book a shot but this one was so disappointing for me!!

what do you get when you combine two people with the same attachment style (fearful-avoidant) who found their person early in life, but didn't have an example of a healthy relationship in their parents? well, two people who aren't good at communication who end up breaking it off without talking about what happened.

with georgia and eli's second chance, joyce teteers on familiarity and heartbreak so well. one minute they're falling into old habits and the other, they're reminded of the life they could've had if they were just there for each other (like going to therapy). there's a bittersweet undertone throughout the entire novel of how friendships change as people get older and move onto other life stages which hurts more when the partner georgia lost was also her best friend. this made georgia and eli's journey back to each other all the more earned.

The book had me from the first page which I thought was a good sign and I did enjoy the romance but something was lacking for me and I can’t put my finger on it. Something was holding it back but on paper it had everything but the execution was lacking for me.

The Ex Vows was everything I didn’t know I needed. It was an achingly stunning book that everyone has to read— missing out on this masterpiece would be a damn shame! I wanted to make the book last, I tried to pace myself because I didn’t want it to end, but I couldn’t help devouring this in one sitting. I blinked and the Horus had flown by and I was sobbing like a baby. From start to finish, I was enamoured with the beautiful and heartbreaking love story of Eli and Georgia. I love romances that make the connection between the two MCs so effortless, and that’s exactly what Joyce did here.

Honestly, the book made me kinda jealous of the epic love they both had😭 We all deserve someone to love us like Eli loves his Peach🫶🏻 It was truly so stunning. Trying to articulate my love for books I adored is always so hard but particularly this one. All I can say is you HAVE to read this book because you truly won’t be disappointed— the angst, the tension, the pining, the banter, the sheer love between Eli and Georgia was immaculate and now I need to read more of Joyce’s backlist… I have already purchased a paperback copy of “You With a View” I’m that obsessed with her. She’s gained a new fan today and deserves so many more!!

Just read this right now!

I haven’t read You with a View yet, but I’m off to the shop to see if I can find it today! This was such a beautiful second chance romance, I laughed and I SOBBED, and not many books can do that to me, the simmering tension between Eli and Georgia is crafted beautifully, and the way the past is revealed interspersed throughout the story was clever in that it didn’t detract from the present day story. Very well written and if You with a view is as wonderful as this I will add this author to my auto buy list. Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this beautiful book.

If I could give this book 1000 stars, I would.

It's Happy Place meets Funny Story meets Love and Other Words - with a soundtrack backing of Paper Rings by Taylor Swift.

I loved Eli and I loved Georgia. It's rare that a book hooks you in the prologue, but I simply could not put this book down. Jessica Joyce's writing made me cry no more than 50 times over the course of this book and I can't wait to see what she does next.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

The way I RAN to apply for this arc after loving You, with a View last year.

The Ex Vows follows Georgia and Eli. Once the best of friends, now exes, who are best woman and best man for their mutual best friend's wedding. Despite their awkwardness being around each other, the pair must work to keep the peace as they help the bride and groom with disaster after disaster with the wedding. Second chance romance, a fun group of best friends, and figuring life out in your 20s.

Overall, I really enjoyed the story and I think a lot of people will love this. The plot was fun and I could absolutely see myself in Georgia - someone who would do anything for her friends, existential crisis-having woman in her 20s worried that all her friends are moving on without her. Eli was also really relatable - work above everything (insert sh*tty boss) for fear of losing it all. I really appreciated the representation of Eli's anxiety and him managing his panic attacks.

With this in mind, Georgia and Eli did feel a little one-dimensional to me. Georgia is a people-pleaser (girl, same), and Eli lives to work and really struggles with anxiety (...also, same)...and that was kind of it? While completely relatable I just wanted a little more from them as characters. I also wished that there was more of a sense that they were exes - Georgia would mention that she had her heart completely broken and for me that just didn't come across as much as it could have. I think a little more time in the 'awkward' phase of them working together would have helped a bit here. The resolution/'get back together kinda' was a little quick for me. A little more awkwardness 'will they, won't they' would have been a little more interesting for me.

I could completely understand both characters, their journeys and how they wound up back together (although I have to wonder if the wedding wasn't happening, would they have been reunited anyway? not sure on that one). Loved the wedding hijinks. I'd still recommend this if you're after a light romance read!

Thank you again to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc!

[ARC provided by NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Penguin. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review The Ex Vows.]

Rating: 5/5

Well, if anyone was going to make me love a second chance romance then it was obviously going to be Jessica Joyce. Having adored her debut, ‘You, With a View’, and also her novella, ‘A Risk Worth Taking’, I’m not at all surprised that ‘The Ex Vows’ is another diamond. Reading a book written by Jessica is reminiscent of holding up a mirror and finally accepting those cumbersome traits that you didn’t think you could ever love about yourself. Georgia and Eli made me cry in the best way possible and I was genuinely sad to reach that final page, for no other reason than wanting to stay with them longer.

The Ex Vows follows Georgia and Eli, two exes who must play the parts of Best Woman and Best Man for their mutual best friend. Five years have passed since they broke up and despite lingering feelings and a firm set of rules that they abide by to keep the peace, the pair must work together to save their friend’s doomed wedding. From ruthless bakers to hilariously outdated DJs, Georgia has to work closer than she anticipated with the man who still owns her heart, and despite any attempts that she makes to thwart the re-emerging feelings between them, letting the possibility of trying again slip between their fingers becomes more terrifying than facing the reasons that led to their split in the first place.

If you’re in your 20s, or at any stage of adulthood where you feel like you’re drifting through the motions, unsure of where you’re heading and who will stick around for the journey, then this book will feel like the warmest of hugs. I felt incredibly seen watching these characters go through the highs and lows of early adulthood because it’s where I’m at in my life. Georgia is such a relatable FMC and her thoughts felt like my own more often than not. She struggles with something so familiar, the horribly inescapable process of losing or drifting apart from friends as is common when you get older. And then the realisation that you’re perhaps not moving at the speed that they are, that you aren’t filling your life with those crucial milestones like marriage and children, and that maybe you’ll be left behind. A quote that really stuck out for me was, ‘sometimes I swear adulthood is staring at your phone and wondering which of your friends has enough time to deal with your latest emotional meltdown, then realising none of them do.’ It’s a thought I’m sure many of us have faced at some point and unfortunately it rarely gets easier.

Eli is another character who I came to love dearly because he’s also going through something that many of us face in our professional careers. Having grown up in unstable financial conditions, his aim of job security is more important to him than almost anything else. To the detriment of other areas of his life, he’ll do anything to reach this goal, and unfortunately that meant losing the love of his life. I could really empathise with Eli’s situation and honestly, I just wanted to give him a big hug and tell him it’s okay to slow down and take a breath, but fortunately he’s on his own path of growth that made me feel more and more proud of him as each plot development came to light.

Some books don’t hit the mark when it comes to believable banter but the chemistry that Georgia and Eli share is undeniable, and that paired with their hilarious friend group made me laugh along with them on multiple occasions. There was no doubt in my mind that these characters had been in a relationship before because whenever they were together the tension was palpable. They longingly orbit around each other despite having split up five years ago and I was rooting for them from page one.

I’m so happy to have read this book in my late 20s and I’ll be recommending it to quite literally anyone who will listen. The Ex Vows will go down as one of my all-time favourite contemporary romance reads and I have a feeling that I’ll be revisiting this from time to time to remind myself that it’s okay to go at my own pace, and that there’s more to life than the daily grind. Thank you, Jessica, for this stunning book and as always, I can’t wait to see what you write next.

4.5 stars

I love Jessica's writing so much.

This is a second chance romance written with so much heart, with a wonderful cast of characters and a beautiful love story!

I loved Eli and Georgia's relationship. The way we learnt about their past was quite refreshing, not info dumped at the start but blending so well with what's happening in the present. Everything had a purpose.
It all felt so real and raw, showing all the messy bits but also having the wholesome moments shining through. You can't not root for them.

The friendships were also well established and I found them as endearing as the relationships :) adored Adam, Grace, Jamie and the rest of the group.

I took off half a star because of pacing but I am a very impatient reader!

If you loved You, With a View then you’re in for a treat because Jessica Joyce has done it again. The Ex Vows is devastatingly beautiful and you’ll find yourself falling in love with Eli Mora the same way that Georgia does.

This second chance romance has likeable secondary characters. Georgia and Eli’s story captures the essence of falling in love and getting your heart broken in your 20s.

I absolutely loved this book. If you’re a fan of Emily Henry, I think you’ll also love this one.
I really enjoyed the wedding theme and discovering the characters through memories was great.
I can’t wait to see what else JJ writes!

♾️⭐️

This book was everything. I experienced a rollercoaster of emotions while reading and I thank Jessica Joyce for this masterpiece.

Seriously, this book joined my favorites list.

I want to hug Eli so tight. I love the second chance trope and loved how it was done. You can feel the mixed feelings between Eli and Georgia and especially the love that still exists between them.

Thank you, Netgalley and the publisher for sending me this ARC