💐 Book Review 💐

Forget Me Not by Julie Soto won't be one I'll soon forget.

✔️ Second Chance
✔️ Then and Now
✔️ Grumpy/Sunshine
✔️ Forced Proximity

I loved both characters. Yes, I'm a sucker for a Grumpy/Sunshine trope but adding that to a then-and-now second chance romance where you can see the difference between grumpy Elliot before (grumpy just because that's his M.O.) and grumpy Elliot now (the extra layer of pain from their breakup). It made the now portions of the book so deliciously angsty.

Ama, too, was a great character - a commitment-phobe wedding planner. I loved how take charge she was about most aspects of her life and meeting any difficulty head-on with her profession, but unable to think of her love life the same way.

This one hit all the marks - great swoony story, funny moments, and steamy scenes. 5⭐️

Steam 🔥🔥🔥
Banter 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️
Swoon 💕💕💕💕💕

4.5 stars. I did not think this book was going to grab me the way that it did… but I couldn’t put it down!

Grumpy / sunshine. Second chance romance. Dual POV. Dual timeline. Forced proximity. Spice 🔥

I loved Elliott. He was the grumpiest sad boy and I loved him. “He’s always like that. Rude is his brand”. I’m so glad we got to read from his perspective. It added a lot of emotional depth.

Ama was so quirky and immediately likable. Her character development was excellent and she made me very hungry for donuts.

The way the dual timeline played out was perfect- kept me guessing and engaged.

I loved the wedding and flower details. The descriptions has me picturing everything and reminiscing about my own wedding.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the chance to review an advance copy.

Forget Me Not by Julie Soto is a second chance romance between a sunshine wedding planner and a grumpy tattooed florist. The story revolves around planning the wedding of a popular influencer forcing Ama and Elliot to work together years after their breakup. Forget Me Not by Julie Soto offers readers everything from a fast-paced storyline to fabulous character growth to a beautiful romance. Forget Me Not by Julie Soto is an amazing debut romance that will have readers looking forward to other novels written by Julie Soto.

What a surprise! I adored everything about this book - from the way it was told, the characters, the plot and the flowers! This follows Ama, a wedding planner who finally branched out on her own after working for a larger company for a long time, and Elliot, a florist who has taken over his father's flower shop. The wedding business brought these two together, but their chemistry kept Ama coming back to Elliot's shop. If you love adorable grumpy-sunshine stories, this is a good one for you!

It's told in a dual point of view with Ama's perspective told in the present and Elliott's perspective takes place as the two characters met and their relationship developed. I love dual POV stories because it adds so much more depth to the relationship and to the story.

I love weddings, which made this book so much more fun. Ama got a huge wedding for her new business, so most of the book follows her taking this wedding on and working to make her business bigger and better. It's so much fun to follow every step of how this wedding comes to be, and along the way Ama and Elliot - who have broken up in the present storyline, come back together and figure themselves out. One wants a long-term relationship and the other hates the idea of marriage.

I didn't give this a full five stars because I thought the ending felt a bit rushed. I would have loved to see more of Ama and Elliot together in the end after the wedding was over and things were wrapping up. Their story is so interesting that I wanted more!

Check out a complete review on the Pages n' Pages podcast Chapter 104 available on all streaming platforms.

I really enjoyed the first two-thirds! Much like other second chance romance books, including Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren, Forget Me Not by Julie Soto is told in a dual timeline (past and present). It stars Ama, a commitment-phobic wedding planner, and Elliot, a reluctant florist. I really like when books subvert gendered expectations, and this book does exactly that. Not only is Ama the commitment-phobe, but she is also the one to have broken Elliot's heart, instead of the other way around. In most second chance romance books (at least, in my experience), the boy broke the girl's heart, so it's always refreshing when an author mixes it up.

Ama hasn't worked with Elliot in over two years, not since she broke his heart. To both their chagrin, they now have to plan an entire (sapphic!!!) wedding together for Hazel, a celebrity/social media influencer, and her partner, Jackie. Jackie grew up with Elliot and is dead set on receiving his input, and not just on floral arrangements. I hope Soto one day writes Hazel and Jackie's story, because I fell in love with them both (especially Jackie) and their relationship.

Both Ama and Elliot, and even Hazel and Jackie (because they, too, are not always likable), are multi-dimensional characters. We can understand and sympathize with why Ama feels the way she does about marriage. I wouldn't call it relatable that her mother has been married 16 times (and counting), but I can see why this experience would leave her jaded. (In fact, I just looked up the world record for number of monogamous, legal marriages, and Linda Wolfe holds the record for women at 23, and Glynn Wolfe holds the record for men at 31. Yes, they were married to each other, though apparently only for publicity. Their marriage ended when Glynn died, and Linda never remarried. The more you know!) So, while this plot is a little unbelievable, it's certainly not implausible. Although I could sympathize with her, I wanted to shake Ama at times because of her unwillingness to see Elliot in a "forever" kind of way, even as she is simultaneously planning for their (business) future. I loved Elliot. He has a grumpy exterior but is just a soft, cuddly teddy bear on the inside.

I felt like Ama and Elliot's backstory was well-developed. Though their relationship started as purely physical, they unintentionally became emotionally intertwined, and we witness this progression. But their second chance was lackluster and anticlimactic. It felt rushed. There wasn't much buildup until the very end, and even at the end, it felt like more of a happy for now (HFN) than a happily ever after (HEA) because of its abruptness. I think there was too much emphasis placed on the wedding planning and not enough on their budding (haha) relationship. Suddenly, I was 90% of the way through the book, and present-day Ama and Elliot hadn't even reconciled, much less gotten back together. (There was no third act breakup to be had, because Ama and Elliot weren't even back together by the third act...) Once they did, the book was over immediately, minus a short, unsatisfying epilogue. To me, an epilogue is unsatisfying when it adds nothing to the story: when nothing of note has changed from the end of the final chapter to the beginning of the epilogue. The last one-third left me wanting more.

And let me be clear, I definitely think Soto would have been capable of "more." Her talent is obvious. I have a theory that fanfiction writers are among the most skilled in the profession, because they know how to write for a very specific audience. I will now use Soto as my case study. Besides the rushed ending, her story is perfectly paced in a way that keeps the reader engaged. Her dialogue completely sucked me in.

For a debut novel, this is pretty stellar. You know that if both Ali Hazelwood and Abby Jimenez recommend something, it's got to be worth reading (and it is!). It was gearing up to be a five-star read for me, but unfortunately, it fell just short. Regardless, I still 110% recommend that you read it!

Thank you so much to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest, voluntary review.

This book pulled me into its bubble and I couldn’t stop until finished. Second chance romance with both the past and present timeline.

A major part of the story is Ama finding her way in her career after starting her own business. While writing this review I’m realizing how much was happening at once in here and I really did enjoy it. (The few issues I had with it were mostly personal preference and spoilery so I’ll save that for another time.)

Elliott is all the cat nip I could ever want. I’d like to keep him for myself, thank you very much. I’m

Overall, it was a sweet and quick read, I stayed up way too late because I was hooked and very much wanted them to be together.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions freely (and happily) given by me

A bubbly, talkative, optimistic wedding planner and a grumpy quiet introverted florist. What's not to love?

Apparently a lot, for me. Elliot is the only reason this book got as high of ratings as it did. He is perfection. He deserved better.

I did not like Ama, the wedding planner/designer. I didn't not like how she treated Elliot, the florist, at all. Elliot deserved so much better. He was the perfect most wonderful book boyfriend. Ama was everything I dislike in a FMC. She shied away from emotional conversations, ran when things got difficult and used physical interactions to replace talking about the relationship with the MMC. He was often left wondering what just happened, where do I stand with this girl and why did she just jump me and then run away. If roles were reversed this book would NOT be okay.

I did not like the time jumps. I did not like that the only chapters from Elliot's POV were in the past. I could have used some perspective from him in the present and perspective from her in the past. It was all very frustrating.

"A novel from Ali Hazelwood's favorite author" should have been my first clue that I would not like this book.

Such a good rom com with great MCs. If you want something light hearted that’s not too cheesy- this is for you!

I could not put this down!
Elliot is the angsty, grumpy, florist, I always needed in my life. Did I mention ….. tattooed? And, his tattoos are actually pretty cool ::swoon::
Then there’s sunshine Ama, commitment phobe wedding planner.
After a major fall out, these two must work together on a wedding that can change their careers.
I really liked the chemistry between these two. She’s a spicy read. It’s dual pov and two timelines
I didn’t love the two timelines, the timing feels off to me. But that might be a me thing.
I have not read any of her fanfic but this was a great debut. I’ll definitely keep her on my radar.!!

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

4.5/5 stars

Forget Me Not follows Ama, a wedding planner who was recently hired to plan a famous actress' wedding and Elliot, who took over his dad's flower shop. They dated for a while but broke up and haven't spoken since, This book goes in between the past and the present to show their previous relationship and what is happening in the present.

I absolutely loved Elliot. Not just how much he loved Ama and how he showed that, but also how he communicated with flowers and his flower tattoos. He was so grumpy but it was clear that he has the sweetest, sappiest center on the inside and I just melted. I couldn't put the book down. I also enjoyed the end and how their roles were reversed in one part of their relationship, I don't want to spoil it but it was really great.

My complaints are small: I didn't get why she would buy peanut butter doughnuts regularly when she was allergic. I also wasn't the biggest fan of the Whitney plotline but that's more personal preference than anything else.

I am definitely looking forward to Julie Soto's next release!

This book was so fun and such a great summer read. It is a cute story with some unconventional characters, and I really enjoyed it start to finish!

Forget Me Not is the debut of Julie Soto and this is the story of Ama and Elliot.
 
Ama works as a wedding planner and she recently founded her own business. I loved seeing the entrepreneur spirit and how hard she worked. She gets the opportunity to plan the wedding of a famous influencer and that was really cool to follow. Ama is a lovely person, but she has committed issues as her mother doesn’t value marriage and just gets remarried constantly.
 
Elliot used to hate flowers, but he slowly fell in love with them and even has some tattoos. He continued his dad‘s flower shop and also finished his architecture degree. Elliot now combines these two aspects in building unique floral pieces and that was really cool to see. At first, he seemed rather grumpy, but over the course of the book I totally fell in love with him.
 
Ama and Elliot had a relationship in the past, but that didn’t end well. And now, they must work together to create a stunning wedding and this forced proximity situation is the perfect opportunity for a second chance. I really liked how both characters had to overcome a hurdle and it showed that relationships don’t just come easy, but both must be committed and work on growing together. The story also had really great spicy scenes and I just adored this book.
 
Overall, I highly recommend checking out this beautiful book. 4,5 stars.
 
(ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)

I really enjoyed this book.

It's a grumpy/sunshine trope, which I love!
Although I did find Elliot's grumpiness to be a bit unbelievable given his profession.

The dual pov/dual timeline was unique (hers for present day and his for the past) and showed the evolution of their relationship.

I do wish the emotional connection between the two characters was a bit more developed earlier on, because their strong feelings didn’t seem to fit with what we were shown. But the chemistry was excellent.

But those small issues didn’t take away from my enjoyment. I loved this book and I loved reading it. And the ending was perfection.

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Forget Me Not releases July 11, 2023

Forget Me Not is set in Sacramento, told in dual pov, then/now timeline, and features a second chance between two people in a workplace environment.

Ama is a wedding planner, and Elliot is a florist, both with their own independent businesses.

Some would say that Ama’s greatest struggle would be finding that healthy balance between personal and professionalism in the sense of becoming too attached or involved with a client — but sometimes you just can’t help but to care.
Personally I think she had good intentions and she’s clearly great at what she does. Her ability to connect with every couple allows for her passion to greater reflect in her work, and I’d say it’s a win-win for all parties involved.

Elliot is a slightly grumpy man that’s tatted. He’s not a man of many words, which makes all of his interactions at the start of the book that much more interesting and elusive, though I did find that he could come across pretty rude at times.

After a rocky parting a couple years ago, these two are brought back together when an influencer with millions of followers hires Ama as their wedding planner, and Elliot as their florist since he’s a family friend, and one of five individuals that are cleared to work on the grounds of the historical venue they’ve booked.
Throughout the next several months of collaborating and close proximity, Jackie and Hazel get a sense that there’s some chemistry between Ama and Elliot, but will they be able to work through what happened in the past?

This debut started out really good, but as it progressed, it lost it’s flow and I wasn’t as motivated to pick it up.

I was pretty disappointed to find out that Ama and Elliot weren’t much more than fuck buddies. It’s clear that Ama has some things to work out personally before she’s able to give part of herself to someone else in a relationship, but there wasn’t much discussion in that route. Part of Ama’s reluctance of never wanting marriage for herself stems from the example her mother set, by marrying and divorcing 16+ times and going from man to man, which really took away the value of a lasting commitment.
Instead of tip-toeing around “are we or are we not dating” they should have just communicated, especially when lines were blurred and businesses were being merged. Her mouth was saying one thing, but her actions were saying another and that wasn’t fair.

There were some things I really loved, like the parallels between Ama (short for Amaryllis) and Elliot, and the Greek myth of Amaryllis who fell in love with a man that had a passion for flowers.

Other things I didn’t love, like when Ama and Elliot were being physical for the first time and he was still hung up on a sexual experience with a girl from when he was a freshman… so not the time or place to be mentioning that.
Additionally, the donuts. Who in their right mind would consistently get a box of assorted donuts, daily, yet allow them to give you one containing peanut butter, to which you’re highly allergic? Make it make sense. Cross contamination is a thing.
I’ve seen others referring to this scene as funny, but she could have died from the anaphylactic shock. In what world is that funny?

Ultimately I wanted more growth from the characters, but if you really like weddings and donuts are your love language, you might like this.

“I want you to look debauched when I’m debauching you.”

“I want to love what you love, even if it’s extinct.”
“It’s… it was never about extinction. The tattoos… they’re the ones that I—that I can’t have. Ones that are likely to disappear before I can love them.”

4.5 stars.

Okay, so, I didn't really know what to expect from this one because the cover is so different from your typical contemporary romance novel. After reading the book's acknowledgements, though, it sounds like the author got her start in fan fiction and the cover artist primarily illustrates fan fiction. I don't dislike the cover, but it did make me dubious as to whether I'd like the book.

And I did like it! A lot. I got pretty strong Luke/Lorelai from Gilmore Girls vibes from the grumpy/sunshine main characters: Ama is a donut–obsessed small business owner who talks a mile a minute and who everyone loves; Elliott has a gruff and often rude exterior hiding a cinnamon roll / completely lost for the heroine interior. And it turns out that kind of Luke Danes character is apparently one of my favorites?

Plot-wise, this was fairly similar to Emily Henry's latest, Happy Place — but I actually liked this one a lot more: Elliott and Ama previously dated but broke up, and now secondary characters who are getting married have thrown our main characters back into each other's orbit and are trying to get them together. The book is dual POV told in dual timelines: Ama for the present and Elliott for the past. I love this narrative structure because you get to see the characters fall for each other twice, and getting inside grumpy Elliott's head to see him fall for Ama against his better judgment is just *chef's kiss*.

The story avoided a lot of tropes I've come to hate in romances: major angst, anxiety-ridden heroines, miscommunication/lack of communication being the primary obstacle, and super annoying side characters. There's one villain in the story but their role is minimal and definitely a subplot.

There are a couple small things that bumped this down to 4.5 instead of a full 5 stars: Ama's mother has been married 16 times, and the psychological aspects of that for both her mom and on Ama growing up (besides Ama's resistance to marriage) are never explored. Presumably Ama has some sort of trust fund if her mom is so loaded, but in the book Ama acts like she doesn't have a huge amount of money and it's never made clear why that is. Neither Elliott nor Ama seem to have any friends (aside from Ama's ex-stepsiblings), which is another romance theme that annoys me because it's so unrealistic but it's a lesser annoyance. And Elliott's 180 at the end doesn't really seem in character to me (and it's never explained if he'll change his mind).

Overall, I enjoyed this a ton and will absolutely be on the lookout for Soto's future books!

Forget Me Not was such a fun, entertaining read!

Ama Torres is a wedding planner, and she is fantastic at her job. She truly bonds with her couples and gets to know them so that she can plan the wedding of their dreams. When she is approached by a social media star to plan her wedding, she is nervous but excited that this might be the event to get her name out there to millions of people. The only hitch? The brides have requested to use florist Elliot Bloom, and there is some major history between AMA and Elliot. They often collaborated on events, fell into a romance, and then fell back out with plenty of heartbreak. Can the exes work together to create the perfect event?

This was a definite grumpy/sunshine couple, and Elliot’s obvious dislike for most people made me cackle. I loved the dual POV and how uniquely it was done- present day in Ama’s POV, and the past in Elliot’s. This kept you guessing how the other person was really feeling during the events being described, and I really enjoyed this method!

I adored the stories behind Elliot’s tattoos and the way that Ama obsessed over them. The chemistry between the pair was electric, and the spicy scenes were perfectly placed in the story.

Ama’s job as a wedding planner was fun to read about, and I liked the little peek into such a giant industry and everything that goes into this job.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Forget Me Not is a beautiful story filled with life. Our main characters have a second chance at love, whilst we as readers find out what made them break up the first time around. It was very sweet with the right amount of tension.

The past and present was done very well. Julie Soto knocked it out for a debut.

I have been a fan of Julie Soto for many years, and I have been waiting on the edge of my seat to read Forget Me Not!

But this is her debut? How could you know you’re a fan? Alas, dear reader, for let me introduce you to the world of Ao3 and fanfics. I’ve been reading Julie’s work since The Auction was still a WIP (iykyk). Her fics are not just some of my favorite fics, but are some of my favorite written works in general.

Clearly, I’m a fan, and I am even a bigger fan after reading this novel. Forget Me Not felt like stepping into a spicy Hallmark movie. It was so easy to get absorbed into Ama and Elliot’s orbit. Their connection was palpable, and I loved the dual timeline and POV. The plot was so interesting and different than anything I’ve ever read before! Even with my allergies, I feel like I need to go visit a flower shop and invest in some heels after finishing the novel.

All in all, if you are a fan of second chance romance, steamy scenes, and a well-rounded plot, I highly recommend this one. Thank you to Netgalley, Julie Soto, and Forever for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

wow this book drew me in! I was looking for a quick read and this was perfect. I love second chance romance and this one was sweet. II loved the flashbacks between past and present to see how their relationship developed and fell apart. The ending was sweet and I loved the MCs.

I just want to pause for a moment and admire this absolutely gorgeous cover. I’ve spent entirely too much time swooning over Ama and Elliot, and I have no regrets because I could stare at that stunner all day! It is the perfect cover for this entertaining, funny, and heartwarming contemporary romance.

Forget Me Not is told in two timelines and from two different perspectives with the present from Ama’s point of view, and the past from Elliot’s point of view. I thought this worked really well in the story. You get to see the relationship from both of their perspectives, which adds so much depth and breadth to the characters.

Ama is fabulous. Driven and married to her job as a wedding planner, Ama is averse to marriage in her own life. She is bubbly and a little chaotic and messy, and she sends a lot of mixed signals, mainly because she is afraid. With a mother who has married more than a dozen times, Ama’s views on marriage are very different from Elliot’s, and you see how her subconscious fear of commitment seeps into her career and relationships. The irony of a commitment-phobe who doesn’t believe in marriage working as a wedding planner? I love it.

And then we have the grumpy florist who uses his architectural background to create original and awe-inspiring pieces. Elliot is kind of a jerk to Ama, which I understood better as their past is revealed and his rejection becomes more visceral. But Elliot is prickly and standoffish with others too, which is so unprofessional! I found him tough to like at the start, though I figured there were reasons for his grumpy, dismissive, and rude attitude. I have to say, Soto is so good at creating characters because I can remember the exact scene where I changed my mind about Elliot completely. I fell in love with him in an instant and wanted to shake Ama and force her to see what was right in front of her because all of that prickliness was hiding a man who was deeply in love and deeply wounded. And the tattoos? Sa-woon!!! I totally understand Ama’s obsession with them.

I think what I like about both characters is that they’re real. Imperfect, flawed, impossible, and amazing all at once, they’ve both done good and bad things, they both made mistakes and have regrets, and they both have successes and failures in life and love. Plus, they have some sizzling chemistry, and the steamy scenes may have fogged up my glasses a little bit. lol

The wedding planning is another aspect of the story I enjoyed. It is definitely an ironic and fantastic backdrop for the story. The engaged couple and the wedding being planned juxtapose the frosty and awkward relationship between Ama and Elliot. It also forces the pair to work together, which in turn pushes them to revisit what happened between them.

Overall, I really enjoyed the story. It was moving and steamy, and the characters and plot are original and entertaining. I would definitely recommend the book to contemporary romance and rom-com fans who like slow-burn, second chance, or grumpy/sunshine love stories. Thanks to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for providing me with a copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.