The Ex Vows is wrought with witty banter, and generally great dialogue - it felt visceral and authentic, like watching an actual conversation or argument unfold in front of me. The also translated to the relationships in the book, not just our hero and heroine - the friendships in particualr shined. It also had a great representation of anxiety, it was well researched.

The leads however were aggravating, and the thing that drove them a part feels anticlimactic compared to how clear the author makes that these two are soulmates. It seemed so fixable? Also, I like Taylor Swift, but the references were a bit much, it kept pulling me out of the story, and made it seem juvenile at times.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐱 𝐕𝐨𝐰𝐬 | 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐉𝐨𝐲𝐜𝐞
★★★★☆

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟
⟡ Childhood best friends to lovers to exes to lovers 😂
⟡ Second chance romance
⟡ Forced proximity

𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰:
Immediately, readers are drawn into this story with a dynamic that is tantalising. Having to face an ex who broke your heart yet also need to stay civil with due to the best friend you both share? Damn 🥵.

This book surprised me with its sheer emotional level. Both Georgia and Eli, the main characters, had incredibly well written growth arcs and the book felt like one big therapy session. It was easy to see myself in both Eli and Georgia as their searing self-awareness into their perceived flaws were explored.

Jessica Joyce has again delivered a romance that is sweet as it is spicy and kept me wholly gripped.

𝐅𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬:
“𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘴. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵, 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭-𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦.”

“𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸—𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘏𝘦’𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘺. 𝘈𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘵.”

Jessica Joyce has a super talent of making you feel good and destroy you emotionally at the same time!
THIS BOOK IS EVERYTHING!!! If you were ever hesitant about second-chance romances, please go read The Ex Vows, because this book is a true example of why I love them.

There were so many hints of a really good relationship, how they grew apart, and throughout the novel we learn what happened between Georgia and Eli.. They are reluctantly teaming up to save their common bestie's wedding, which is also a lough-out-loud shenanigan; what can go wrong, goes wrong.

But throughout the mess, G and E find the way back to each other: when you love someone, you love them through the mess and the unpleasant and you are able to grow together. This is my takeaway from the book!

Also, it was spicy with open door scenes, but I think the author did really well connecting it to the emotional arc pf the story! 10/10 recommended!!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.

Jessica’s Joyce does it again. I really loved this book, it was written in such a way you could really feel who the characters were, the book was playing like a movie in my head. The FMC was such a people pleaser that she didn’t know how to tell people what she wanted and needed yet the FMC just instantly knew, like he was reading her, he knew everything about her. Her quirks and her needs. It was nice to see a different type of love portrayed. How he loved her was so important because he knew she would never ask for the things so he just gave them to her, he knew he so intricately that he was so endowed with her they were to halves of one another.

The connection in this book was written excellently, you could tell how deep the affection was from the moment they were in a room with one another.

I really enjoyed how they spent time with one another, that he done things on his own timeline even if it should’ve been done sooner but he realised what was happening.

An excellent read! 4.75 stars

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Random House UK, and Jessica Joyce for providing me with an advanced copy of The Ex Vows in exchange for an honest review.

What can I say about this book that will do it justice? Probably nothing, but here goes. The Ex Vows follows Georgia as she attempts to save her best friend, Adam's, wedding from disaster. The sticking point is that she is sharing best-person duties with her ex of five years, Eli. Georgia and Eli have managed to convince their mutual friends that their break-up was amicable and they are perfectly happy to be in each other's space. Will a week alone together pulling Adam's wedding day from the brink of total collapse have their carefully designed facade fraying at the seams?

First of all, there was so much heart in this book! I could really feel the connection between Eli and Georgia and related to both of them so much individually, as well. I adored the mental health representation in this book; I felt the depiction of Eli's workplace anxiety was so well written as well as Georgia's feelings of loneliness and being unable to ask for more. Sometimes I think that second-chance romance novels can annoy me because the reason for the initial split was either too minor to be realistic or too big to forgive each other - but I think in The Ex Vows, Joyce found a perfect middle ground. There were definitely teary moments for me.

I also loved the secondary characters we met, especially Jaime; I thought she was such an amazing friend. Adam, also, was so funny with all his curse-related fears. The setting felt so vivid and picturesque, making this a perfect summer read.

The Ex Vows by Jessica Joyce releases on July 18th and if you love a well-written second chance romance, or you were a fan of Emily Henry's Happy Place, then I would definitely recommend picking this up! I can't wait for more people to experience this read.

I got completely swept up in the gorgeous second chance romance between Georgia and Eli as they plan their best friends wedding while navigating 5 years of hurt, after their own relationship when wrong, and a lot of lingering feelings.

My favourite thing about this book was that I could feel the love these two had for each other bleeding through the pages and I was just rooting for them to get it right this time around so much.

I loved the supporting cast of characters too and honestly i would not change a single thing about this book.

And the paper rings. Oh my god the paper rings!

Thank you Jessica for the therapy representation in this, I mean, wow! As someone who has benefited from years of therapy and knows how awkward it can be to have to miss out on important stuff to do therapy, THANK YOU. it is hard to fit those appointments in, but it is crucial. I just love that aspect of this book so, so much. The swoon in this book is unmatched. I love the character development throughout with everyone, even the actual bride & groom!! Just another lovely romance from Jessica. Thank you to Netgalley & penguin for the ARC, loved this one!!! If you enjoyed You, With a View, you will enjoy this one!

I absolutely adored this book, immediate 5 star read. Just the way the characters show love for one another! It’s also so funny and had me laughing out loud. One of my fave reads of 2024 and would highly recommend!

The Ex Vows is focus on a second chance romance, where from the start Eli and Georgia have an obvious, well written connection that is bursting with tension. They are placed amongst a cast of friends with plenty of history and many scenarios where they are forced together such as sharing a bed. Weaved in to most of the story is the unknown reason for Eli and Georgia’s original break up and the secret of Georgia’s new job offer in a faraway location. I enjoyed this story with strong character build up and connection and would give it a strong 4.5.

Estranged exes are forced to help replan their best friend's wedding in this swoony and steamy second chance romance from the author of You, With a View.

WOW WOW WOW. I loved this so much!!!!

It really felt like one of my favourite books ever which is Happy Place by Emily Henry and I immediately got that five star feeling about 150 pages in. I loved it.

Eli literally owns my heart, I loved his character and the author did a brilliant job of showcasing his love and adoration for Georgia right from the jump.

Georgia felt like a reflection of myself in so many ways and it cut deep at some points. I love relating to a character because it immerses me so deeply into their story hence why I absolutely adored this book.

I rated this 5 stars and I already can't wait to read it again.

If you enjoyed Jessica’s last book you’re going to love this one!

I pretty much devoured this one and would need a couple of weeks to recover from the emotional distress this book caused me. If ai could read it all over again, I definitely would!

Full length review will be posted on my IG and Goodreads closer to release date

OH MY GOD! I am rounding up because I had to put the book down towards the end because of how badlyyyyy I wanted to cry. I loveeed Georgia and Eli but more than that I loved how real their flaws were and how they perfectly explained what led them to make the decisions they did before the book started (their breakup and the events that led up to it).

The story follows a Georgia who broke up with her longtime friend and partner Eli 5 years ago and is now forced into a situation where they have to interact for the sake of their mutual friends wedding. It followed them coming into close proximity for essentially the first time since the breakup. With many things unresolved between them they work together to help throw the best wedding and along the way find their way back to each other.
I know a lot of people are probably saying that if they communicated they wouldn't have spent 5 years broken up but when you have such a deep fear that voicing your deeper thoughts and messing up will solidify the irrational fears you have about how your loved ones are better off without you or that you were right about not being 'worth it' it makes PERFECT sense. God Georgia resonated so deeply with me, we are kindred spirits both yearning for love truly. I still want to cry when I think about this story especially the scenes where she was shown by friends and Eli that she was loved flaws and all.


Thankyou to NetGalley and publisher for this ARC.

Georgia and and Eli have been friends since were fifteen. Friendship blossomed into romance but, insecurities from their past caught up with them and they split up. Now, five years later, their best friend Adam is getting married and, with one thing after another going wrong, he needs Eli and Georgia to work together to make the wedding the best it can be. A well thought out plot, which explores how the past can influence future lives, this was a funny and touching read. The ending took me (pleasantly) by surprise and I was glad I persevered. However, I thought felt that the middle got bogged down in Georgia's and Eli's physical attractions and I found myself skipping pages.

It’s rare to see a second chance romance these days and Jessica Joyce didn’t disappoint with The Ex Vows.
Eli and Georgia were soulmates and had the deepest, truest love for each other. I loved how they reclaimed a tentative friendship throughout the book. How they knew one another viscerally, their deepest fears and feelings.
Georgia is a character I think any girl in their twenties can relate to. There’s so much change happening around her. She feels out of touch with her friends, one of her best friends is getting married and starting a family and the other has moved in with her girlfriend. All the while Georgia is just trying to get by. Yearning for love and attention from her father and trying desperately to find it by clinging to her friends.
The relationship between Georgia and Eli is inevitable and I loved how realistic their story felt. They’ve not been together in five years but their memories are some of the happiest times. I absolutely adored the romance aspect. The paper rings Eli’s always made and all the revelations at the end!!
This book was so lovely to read. I’ve never read a book that has such a realistic representation of anxiety and I felt a deep connection to the characters in this story. It was so emotional and I cried quite a bit at different points as I sympathised with these characters. I loved the ending so much and really recommend to everyone!
Fans of Emily Henry’s Happy Place would love this!
Thankyou to Netgalley and Penguin Random house for this ARC.

Laughing, crying, frustration and happiness are all emotions you WILL feel when reading this novel. After reading 'you with a view' last year I quickly new that Jessica Joyce had a talent for writing and this proves it even more. I love second chance romance. Eli was in love with Georgia from the beginning to the end and I was in love with their story.

ARC REVIEW

Some spoilers!!!

4 🌟🌟🌟🌟

This is a story of Eli and Georgia...being broken up for 5 years after a split over job issues and miscommunication they get thrown back together for their mutual best friends wedding having to help with the arrangements when things do wrong.

I did really enjoy the story as a whole. The friendships in the story and the struggle with Georgia not wanting to move and miss her friends and lose that connection but also wanting to see what her new job had to offer. Also her struggling with her feelings for Eli after being apart for so long and not speaking and thinking that neither one didn't want to speak to the other.

I would have loved the wedding arranging part to take a bit more of a role as I felt that was supposed to be one of the big sections in the story and I loved the banter and relationship between Eli and Georgia to take off more as I loved seeing that grow.

A lovely story and a lovely story and ending. Thank you @netgalley for the arc

*I’d like to thank NetGalley, Random House UK and Jessica Joyce for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“The Ex Vows” by Jessica Joyce is a contemporary, 2nd chance romance novel and tells the story of Georgia and Eli. They both met at 15 when Adam and their mutual friends introduced them to each other. Six years later they were dating, five years ago they broke up. The heartbreak lingers, yet Georgie and Eli vowed to each to keep their broken bits to themselves and fake a friendship for Adam. Now Adam is getting married, but everything that can go wrong goes wrong, and Georgie is here to save the day with her lists. And surprisingly Eli, her workaholic ex-boyfriend, offers help too. Stuck together at a vineyard planning the wedding of their best friends brings up old memories, and the sparks fly. But the reason they broke up still lingers, and Georgie has a new life set up ahead. Is there a 2nd chance for them, or is it finally time to let it go for good?

“The Ex Vows” is a touching story about grief, growth and second chances. Georgia, who was abandoned by her mother as a child, and grew up with a father glued to his work phone, always felt unworthy for the love of others. To compensate she became that friend who’s always there when needed, equipped with a list to undo the chaos and secure her friend’s love. Her hyper-independence as well as people pleasing tendencies made it hard for Eli who fought his own demons. Especially when Eli’s anxiety about financial stability turned him to an absolute workaholic blind for the needs of Georgia. Their break-up wasn’t sudden, it crept onto them.

I think the dynamic and aspects of Georgia and Eli’s relationship are very real and honest. They are both flawed and carry the burden of their childhood. They both needed some time to undo the damage before they could let each other in fully. I especially loved the fact that Eli recognised his own mistake in the relationship, and started working on himself. He also didn’t let Georgia flee their rekindled feelings, because she was simply scared. He held on, and that was exactly what Georgia needed: reassurance.

The longing between those two was almost unbearable (in a good way!). And the best part, everyone around them saw. Their friends knew before them that what they had never left, they just needed time to grow.

Georgia is such a relatable character. I think Joyce truly has a talent to take the turmoil that is your twenties into beautiful, hope giving stories about growing-up and figuring things out. Too well I can understand Georia’s fear about moving away from her friends and families, and her sentiment of feeling behind everyone else. I think many young women relate to her people pleasing tendencies which is a common struggle nowadays. Joyce does all of these themes total justice. And the best part, Joyce doesn’t dissolve all those struggles by the ending. No, she shows that one has to simply keep moving, and eventually it does get better. Sometimes the future we envision doesn’t look like the future we will have and that’s ok. Often the reality is even better.

On top of all the emotion and important life lessons is also a lot of passion. This novel will make you reach for a tissue to wipe your tears, and a few chapters later a blush will creep up your cheeks from all the steam. The intensity of the love scenes perfectly mirrors the intensity of all the emotions. It’s beautifully written. None of the more intimate scenes felt out of place.

I am usually not a crier when reading, but this story brought me to tears. It’s a very vulnerable story with so much more to it than romance. I can’t wait to see what Joyce writes next!

This book was amazing and I’m not lying. I hardly give books 5 stars anymore because so many fall flat but this one exceeded my expectations

My feelings:

I felt all the emotions while reading this book. I felt frustration when Georgia didn’t want ‘the reckoning’ to come even when it was needed. I was giggling and kicking my feet at all the cute moments with the two of them. I cried at the heartfelt conversations that were had with each other and friends. I felt seen by both the characters because I understand anxiety and how tough it can be and how it can ruin relationships. I also laughed because there was some funny moments in there. I loved their banter. I was just so in love with the whole story and how we got to see their relationship from before when they were besties to now. There was so much love and understanding in this book I loved it.

The characters:

At first I didn’t love our main girl Georgia but as the book went on I grew to understand her and even see a bit of myself in her. She had some serious anxiety over being too needy and losing the ones she loves if she asks for too much which ends up in her kinda distancing herself from them.

And for Eli he grew on me so quick too. I love him and his lil gold chain. Even though the book was only in the FMCs pov I could tell how much this man loved her. He was desperate for any interaction with her but didn’t push her to feel what he felt. Eli also has anxiety from his childhood surrounding work which also made him push away his nearest and dearest because he was consumed by it. OMG THE PAPER RINGS. Read this book just to find out why I put it in all caps.

Adam, Grace, Jamie and Adam’s family I also loved them and omg Adams wedding was the most romantic thing everrr.

Read the book!!!

I can’t say more until the book is released but omg if I had a book bf list (Like G and hers) Eli Mora would probably be in the top 10. His love for her was so damn amazing and cute and aghhhh. I want a man like him.

I want to write so much more but this will turn into a novel about how much I love this book if I start bringing in things like how their eyes just lock onto each other and their hugs and how they were there for each other in the messy times.

Gimme all the mess and all the love

This book is a second chance romance which follows Georgia and Eli as they work to save their mutual best friend’s wedding following a string of disasters leading up to the wedding.

There were many positive aspects about this book. I really enjoyed how this book explored relationships (both romantic and platonic) and how they change over time. Relationships change as you age and grow, and it can be difficult to accept or face the fact that things aren’t the same as they used to be. Georgia’s worries about this topic felt very relatable. The author did a great job at writing what felt like very real friendships. I loved the maturity of Georgia & Eli. They were able to reflect and communicate clearly. Additionally, the book was well paced and there was some beautiful writing in this book.

With that being said, it felt a little ridiculous just how many things were going wrong for the wedding. It got to the point where I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. I also don’t feel like Eli & Georgia actually did that much to set up the wedding? It would have been nice to have a little more of a focus on that. The internal monologues were always a little too long and became repetitive. I found myself skim reading them at times.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and I will definitely be exploring more of this authors work in the future!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

We meet Georgia and Eli who broke up 5 years ago but have remained "friends" to avoid any awkwardness in their mutual friend circle. They have hardly seen each other in this time but when they are appointed best man and best woman for their best friend's wedding, they need to find a way to work together to stop the wedding from falling apart so they can give their best friend the happily ever after he deserves...the only problem, can they forget what happened in the past for long enough to make the dream a reality?

My favourite quote from the book (there were many but this in particular):

“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."

Gosh, please can I automatically be signed up to all Jessica Joyce books? This was my first and it is unforgettable. With romance, I adore a book when I can get into from the first page and that's what The Ex Vows delivered - I recommended it to my sister immediately because of the banter and the writing. This is written from Georgia's/single POV and Georgia is fun and so easy to love - what I found especially endearing is she is witty, the inner monologues are so relatable especially in many moments where she is panicking and trying not to be awkward (which just makes things more awkward). She is also someone who is self-deprecating and does not think she is worthy, it was so easy to relate to how she feels as a people-pleaser who often neglects and fails to communicate what she needs from others and just bottles all those feelings up. The character growth and development is beautiful. Nothing is jerky or abrupt and the story flows along taking the reader with it.

Jessica Joyce does this with all the characters though, all of them are so beautifully fleshed out and wonderful and you want to give them a hug. The writing makes you feel like you're reading a diary/talking to a best friend. It is just beautiful and witty; the plot is entertaining and comfortably paced - there were moments which had me laughing out loud, others where I was swooning. I enjoyed the build up of moments between Eli and Georgia, and the changing dynamic between the group of friends between school, college and as late adults was convincing.

Jessica Joyce is the Queen of writing Second Chance Romance trope in my opinion - I wasn't sure if I'd be a fan but the insights into Georgia/Eli's relationship that were threaded within the book were really poignant and well written and the placement of how they would appear/come to Georgia's mind in the book was meaningful. I finished this book in days and it felt like a breezy read, even where the author touches on more sensitive/deep topics and moments of reflection (this is not just a romance) - they are dealt with sincerity and there is understanding, a true love story that does not just exist between the protagonists.

Read this for:
- Second Chance Romance
- Friends To Lovers
- Forced Proximity
- Witty Banter (the one liners had me chuckling away)
- Found Family
- Mental Health/Anxiety Representation

I highly highly recommend Ex Vows! In fact, I am going to go and read You, With A View Now. This is my easiest 5-star this year.

Thank you NetGalley, Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and Jessica Joyce for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest, unedited review.