this book was so incredibly captivating in the way it was written, I couldn’t tear my eyes from the screen. I loved EVERYTHING about this book! I knew 20% in that this was going to be a 5 star read… and I was SO RIGHT!!! this is a rivals-to-lovers romance involving two musically-talented people playing in the same orchestra who seem to be trying to constantly prove themselves to people surrounding them, but mostly themselves.

I loved Xander and Gwen. two individuals who are cut from the same cloth but with very different upbringings. I’m a sucker for an underdog and Gwen is the perfect example of proving yourself because you put in the work. I loved the kindness and compassion she had for others and the way she cared for Mabel (who is the best character & the epitome of comedic relief). Xander, or Alex, had such a great character development. he completely re-designed his life not once, but TWICE trying to do what he loves with who he loves. plus the fact that he was inspired by adam driver is a plus 😎🫦

If I could describe this book in one word it would be ROMANTIC!!! this book was so damn romantic in the least cheesy way possible. the chemistry and tension was SO good and the build-up was perfect. you got to see the relationship develop before anything progressed. he definitely fell first and he fell HARD, him pining after Gwen the entire book!!!!! I had butterflies!!!! not only that, but it was funny and heartfelt in the right moments and it could switch-up the emotion perfectly.

plot and storyline aside, the musical components in this book were expressed so beautifully and written like poetry. I don’t have a musical bone in my body and I could very much appreciate how lyrical the writing was and how the author integrated emotion and vulnerability into the music.

I will be thinking about this story for a LONG time! I highly recommend this & can’t wait to read more books from this author. releases july 16th!! thank you NetGalley, Forever Publishing, and Julie Soto for the eARC 💖

This book was a captivating read! The chemistry and tension between the main characters was addicting. I finished this book quite fast because I was hooked from the beginning. The cello scene will live in my brain forever!!

If you liked Check and Mate and wished it had adult spice...read Not Another Love Song immediately. It's nerd rivals to lovers where he falls first, and they both end up completely obsessed.

Gwen is an accomplished musician just trying to make it. She's grinding away in the orchestra and taking gigs on the side. When a mix up leaves her scrambling to play the cello for a wedding (even though she really plays the violin), everything changes. Because the cello she borrows belong to Xander Thorne, rock star and fellow member of her orchestra. Suddenly the center of his attention, Gwen struggles with deciding what she wants for her career when everyone else around her has an opinion.

Reading about Gwen and Xander nerding out over music was an utter joy! I could feel the passion through the pages. It was electric and addictive. Their chemistry was impossibly hot and the third act had me wanting to throw my kindle at the wall (in the best way of course). Julie Soto will make you feel for these characters. The emotions will grip you and pull you in.

If you like:
-rivals to lovers
-nerds passionate about music
-he falls first
-driven FMC
-found family
...you'll love Not Another Love Song.

I know he is not Adam Driver, but he looks like Adam Driver, so in my head reading this it was just Adam Driver and I ain't mad at it. Sexy and intense chemistry, everything we love about fanfiction in an original story. Sign me up for more!

4.25 stars. I loved this story! Julie Soto writes love so beautifully, like a symphony. Gwen & Xander were so obsessed with each other I’M obsessed with them. The backdrop of NYC was so perfect. The main trope is she hates him but he’s obsessed with her (which i absolutely ate up)

The only thing i didn’t like was the amount of spice…once they finally got together it was like every other scene together they were hooking up lol. I think i would’ve appreciated a cut to black instead!

Thank you to NetGalley & Forever publishing for the ARC!

Julie Soto has done it again!!! That woman just GETS me and can write the best romantic angst. I sped through this and completely devoured Not Another Love Song. I have never even had the interest of playing a classical instrument, but now, I suddenly want to play to violin and live my own real life orchestral romance. Xander was such a soft boi and I would protect him with my life. I am, and forever will be, a simp for that man. I’m not even a Reylo fan, but Julie Soto has gained a lifelong fan with this release. Not Another Love Song is now my whole personality for the foreseeable future.

Thank you SO much to Forever, NetGalley, and the author for sending me an early copy!!

Synopsis:
Gwen, an orphan essentially raised by her music teacher, has been dreaming of making a living off playing violin and touring around the country playing solos. She’s been playing with the Pops orchestra in NYC for 4 years when she’s offered the first violin chair after the current one retires. She hesitates to accept, worried that she’ll have to wrangle the brooding, rude, and excessively handsome, Xander Thorne. Xander has been playing the first cello for the past year as a guest star, showing up late and arguing with the current first violin. Gwen must fight her attraction to Xander and fan girling tendencies to succeed as the first violin.

Not Another Love Song by Julie Soto

“He was staring down at her like she was the sun. It was familiar…Like she was an answer to a question he’d been asking his whole life.”

Thank you to Julie Soto, Forever Publishing, and Netgalley for the ARC copy of this delightful book!

Gwen is a self-taught violinist who spent her childhood playing busking in the New York subway system to provide for herself and her grandfather. Xander’s childhood looked quite a bit different. His days were spent reaching for perfection to ready himself to fulfill his role in his family’s classical music legacy.

They know each other from the Pops Orchestra, but their connection changes when they run into each other at a wedding. As their connection begins to break through the well-established rivalry and tension, they find their lives are more intertwined and their chemistry is hotter than they could have imagined.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it definitely made me wish I could play a string instrument! I loved Gwen and Xander’s character arcs as they discovered who they are and what they want. Soto did a wonderful job tying the plot together in a delightful way. I also loved the cameos from Forget Me Not :)

This read is a perfect TBR addition for fans of Ali Hazelwood, Chloe Liese, Lana Ferguson, and Christina Lauren!

This was such a cute book! Julie Soto is quickly becoming an auto-buy author for me!! Her characters are so fun and relatable and the spice is spicinggggg!!

Suuuuuuch a cute read! Xander and Gwen’s story is top notch rivals-to-lovers. I have a mild background in music (like, high school marching band lol) so I had a little context for the musical references and while some might find using symphonic terms to describe the ecstasy of a lover’s tryst, I felt like it was the perfect description for the amount of tension and feeling behind the act. So. As long as people go in with their mind open just a fraction, they will be fine.

My only issue was the pacing at times. I found my ADHD brain wandering through a few sections of the plot when things were “slow.”

Overall excellent job Ms Soto and thank you NetGalley and Forever publishing!

Romance is not necessarily my genre - I like a good romance book but it usually doesn't do it for me.

That being said, I had a blast with this book. It was funny, it was sexy, it had tension; everything I hope for out of a romance book. The pacing was excellent and I felt the chemistry between the leads. I liked that we got Alex's POV in snippets - Gwen was fun and we got to see what she thought Alex was thinking versus what he actually felt but his voice didn't take over.

I enjoyed this book more than Forget Me Not which I think had too much tone shift whereas this book had just the right amount. It is Reylo fanfic and parts of it feel like it, but it's not something I particularly mind and I was able to pull myself away from the knowledge enough to really enjoy the story and the characters.

4.5⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

This book blew me away. Oh my gosh did I love it. The way they encapsulated the pining and tension in the beginning was amazing. It had me giggling and kicking my feet 🫶🏼. They were rivals to lovers and when she didn’t know how DOWN BAD he was for her that he went home and composed a piece for her specifically had me deceased. Ugh I’m obsessed with them. If you want a romance with tension, spice, pining, confliction, emotion and passion.. look no further cause Julie Soto has got it all right here 😍


Also that t-swift reference at the end? *chefs kiss* ❤️‍🔥

🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵

Not Another Love Song is a enemies to lovers romance about Gwen, a young violinist and Xander, a contemporary cello rock star. As they battle through the challenges and politics of their musical careers they find themselves again and again drawn to each other.

I read an advanced reader's copy and it was wildly hot. The tension and build-up is beautiful and the romance is palpable. This book is as much a love story about two people as it is about finding your most authentic sound. The world felt so real and the chemistry between Gwen and Xander was off the charts (or should I say staff).

So this is one of THOSE books—one of those dang books that is so amazingly beautiful that you spend forever wishing you could read it again for the first time. It is passionate, romantic, witty, and had me captivated from chapter 1. Gwen and Alex are without question one of my favorite couples I’ve ever read—ever, as in ever and ever and ever. Their partnership and connection gave me full body goosebumps and a longing for the book to go on longer as I neared the end. The supporting cast of characters added a quality and richness to the story. The pacing was absolute perfection, no notes!! Fan-freakin-tastic. Left me in a total heart-eyed daze.

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the advance reader copy of Not Another Love Song by Julie Soto.

This one is among my favorites of the year so far! I was hooked from the beginning and didn’t want to put it down until I was done.

Gwen is a violinist with the Manhattan Pops and also takes on wedding gigs (insert fun Forget Me Not cameos here!!). While playing a wedding she lands the attention of Xander Thorne when a mix up challenges Gwen to play the cello (one of Xander’s instruments) at the wedding instead of her violin. Gwen, not fully understanding her own potential, gains public attention after being offered first chair with the Manhattan Pops when the long time first chair chooses to retire to the board. It’s through the orchestra that Xander and Gwen grow closer.

This book encompasses why the world loves Julie Soto. No one writes oblivious/pining like she does! Gwen and Xander have incredible chemistry and are made for each other. It’s not simply the chemistry when the two interact with each other but also when they play together. The writing of the scenes in which they play together are so effectively written, you can feel it as though you're there. This one is an essential add to your TBR. Whether or not you already knew that the orchestra was sexy, Not Another Love Song will really show you just how much fire there can be.

i really, really loved this one! which is amazing because i haven’t finished any books in forever, but i devoured this one in a day. i was definitely hooked from the first chapter, because there was so much great chemistry between xander and gwen!

as a music lover and former orchestra member, it was so fun to be immersed in that kind of environment again!! i could literally hear the cacophony when julie soto wrote scenes where the oboe plays and the rest of the symphony tunes. i think music was so beautifully expressed in this, although at times it felt like a bit much. i personally have never thought of arpeggios or tempos like allegro during exciting times but to each their own.

the character of xander thorne was so fun, and i loved knowing that he is ben solo inspired. gwen was an easy to root for main character, but i wished we had delved into her background a bit more. the supporting cast was so much fun and i really did have some laugh out loud moments.

all in all, this was such an enjoyable, bingeable read and i will definitely be buying a physical copy!!!

this was so incredibly romantic! i love julie soto's writing so much! i am always swooning and giggling. the characters were so easy to love and so fun to read about! i was waiting on the edge of my seat to get to the scene that was shown on the cover and let me just say the scene did not disappoint! the chemistry was off the charts! I loved this book!

I am someone who is not super musically gifted, and I have never really cared for classical music, but this book had me looking up violin soloists and orchestra performances on YouTube. I felt so immersed in the world of professional musicians and it gave me a whole new appreciation for the difficulty of playing something well. This was one of those books where I was even more interested in the subplot than the romance plot. Both were excellent and both had me struggling to put this book down. I loved the tension between the two main characters, the struggle Gwen had to make a name for herself as a musician, the “villains” of the story, and the way the characters found their way back to each other. This was definitely a unique read, and I really enjoyed it!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book was delightful! I was hooked the whole time, and I loved the characters and their backstories.

THIS BOOK IS EVERYTHING!!!!! Forget Me Not was one of my favorite books of the year in 2023, and this one just made the list for 2024. It is everything a good romance should be and more. I recommend it to anyone who loves enemies to lovers, tension... whew LORD just read it as soon as you are able.

I really enjoyed this book and the premise. I thought the 2 main characters had great chemistry right from the start of the book. I felt that the musical component of the book was very well written and thought out. I felt that I was hearing the music with the characters.
My only wish was that there was a little more depth to the MMC mother, Ava. I felt like her role should have been a little bigger and I would have liked to see more from her. It was very surface level and I thought that could have added something extra to the book.