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Estranged exes must stick close together to save their best friend’s wedding after a string of disasters in this swoony and steamy second-chance romance. Georgia Woodward lives by her lists, none more so than the one about her ex, Eli Mora. It’s full of the ironclad dos and don’ts they’ve been following since she returned to the Bay Area after their cataclysmic breakup five years ago. With the wedding of their mutual best friend, Adam, looming, and them about to step into their roles as best woman and man, Georgia’s never needed it more. She refuses to threaten their tight-knit friend group with her messy—and still very present—feelings. The rules on that list will keep her cool, calm, and compartmentalized. What’s not on her list? Eli arriving from New York with a new rule-breaking attitude or the all-inclusive venue burning to the ground, leaving the bride and groom in dire straits. Nor does she anticipate Adam asking her and Eli to help him make a miracle happen. Together. As Georgia and Eli rush up to Napa Valley to pull off the perfect wedding, their old chemistry comes back in technicolor. Somewhere between cake tastings gone wrong, disastrous DJ auditions, and Eli’s heated attention, Georgia starts recognizing the man she fell in love with before. And if she lets herself break her rules, she might find what they’re building isn’t the something old that ruined them—it’s a chance at something new.
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0Jessica Joyce has absolutely done it again. The way she writes the funniest, most heartfelt, gut-wrenchingly beautiful characters and stories is simply unmatched. The Ex Vows was the perfect mix of sweet, heartbreaking, funny, sexy(!!), tender, and heartwarming. I was so immersed in this story that I genuinely couldn’t think about anything else. I LOVE Georgia and Eli like they’re my own friends and I’ll be thinking about them forever.
These characters feature so much depth. I consistently saw little bits of myself in Georgia: her fear of needing people, the way she tries to solve everyone’s problems and predict their needs, and the way she works so hard to keep her emotions packaged up in a neat little box. The evolution of Georgia and Eli’s relationship was wonderfully done, as were their individual arcs. I loved the glimpses of their past woven in with the present. They were so tender with each other and there was so much longing (which is probably one of my favorite things about reading romance and Jessica knows how to write it). There’s something beautiful about second chance romances, especially when they're developed with care and attention to personal growth like this one was.
The way Jessica weaves little themes and motifs throughout the story might have been one of my favorite parts of reading it. Georgia’s inner monologue as she remembers moments, feelings, and conversations made me feel like I was experiencing them firsthand, which for me, is the mark of a great book. I truly felt her joy and her heartbreak like they were my own.
I have even more to say and so many quotes that I highlighted which I’ll add later!
Thank you so much to Jessica, Berkley Publishing, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. It was an absolute JOY to read and review!
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