If only I had a machine that allowed me to wipe my brain so I could re-read this beautiful story...

‘Not a Love Song’ encapsulated everything a romantic novel should be. It had a great storyline, funny moments, and the perfect brooding male antagonist who is HOT and SO MOODY. I would be such a goner for Xander Thorne. The narrative's clever use of dual points of view and timeline added depth, allowing us to rewind to pivotal moments and get a beautiful glimpse of Xander's emotions and why he is the way he is.

Gwen, the protagonist, was depicted with such depth but also familiarity. Her journey of self-discovery, dealing with life changing decisions while trying not to disappoint herself or others, was beautifully portrayed. I admired her blend of shyness and reserve, yet fierce determination when pushed to her limits.

Julie Soto's research into the music industry gave authenticity to the world she created, making it effortlessly immersive. I appreciated the supporting characters were richly developed, adding more to the story's cohesion.

And let's not forget the steamy scenes—each one leaving me breathless and eagerly turning the pages. The story's sweet, sexy, and swoon-worthy moments had me tossing my Kindle in excitement multiple times. The palpable chemistry between Gwen and Xander felt incredibly real, heightening the tension and adding another layer of depth to their relationship.

As a newcomer to Julie Soto's work, ‘Not a Love Song’ I cannot wait to start, ‘Forget Me Not’. It's a testament to her skill as a writer. While I rarely re-read books, this one certainly deserves a few revisits to relive the tender moments shared between Gwen and Xander."

4.5 stars! Julie Soto does it again! I devoured this in less than a day and was anxiously waiting for Alex and Gwen's story to unfold. I admit that I don't know that much about classical music and composition but I felt like I stepped into that world and learned a lot about it. Gwen was not a typical heroine, she was soft spoken and timid at first but as she developed and blossomed I loved the person I got to see come through.

“I want to be clear. I want you. In every way.”
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 rounded up

Thank you NetGalley and Forever for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ummmm, string instruments have no business being this hot 😮‍💨 so, I’m more of a fantasy girlie, but Julie might have converted me with this one. The writing is incredibly engaging with a great plot, plenty of steamy moments, and lovable characters.

I loved the main characters! Gwen found her passion for the violin at eleven and worked hard to follow her dreams. I thought she was super sweet and loved following her journey. Xander is a child prodigy and plays the cello in a popular rock band. He has an idgaf attitude and knows he’s that guy. He had some wonderful character development and is so SWEET!!

Um, so that cello scene 👀 string instruments are now hot and you can’t change my mind ✋ I loved how this romance progressed! I’m not sure I would call this rivals to lovers, but we have something similar going on. They try hard to deny their attraction for each other, but ultimately Xander can’t deny it anymore. This man heard her play and fell so hard he didn’t know what hit him. He would not give up on getting a chance with her 😭 the tension and chemistry was just so good 🤌 also the tension when they were literally just playing their instruments?? Wow.

"If you don't want to be with me, together with me, I can understand, but, Gwen, please make music with me. I need you in my life. I need to be in your orbit in some way, and if you don't want me to touch you and kiss you and fuck you, then let me make love to you onstage every night because it's the most alive I've felt in ten years—"

Julie Soto hits the mark again. I know next to nothing about music or musical lingo and yet I ADORED the descriptive ways in which Julie used music to make these two little love birds fall hard. I gave it 5 stars and found myself going back through a few of my favorite spicy chapters just because! I will say I would probably dock my review a half star because I needed like maybe 1-2 paragraphs about why they loved each other beyond their music genius'.

Thank you netgalley and forever for this arc! As a fan of the original work posted on AO3, I was so excited to see Not Another Love Song be traditionally published. However, there are always concerns that the necessary changes may alienate the fic readers. I am happy to report this did not disappoint on any front.

Alex and Gwen have palpable chemistry that flies off the page and is befitting of that incredible cover. In a world of romance novels that feel like they are just checking trope boxes, Soto actually delivers on making you believe in the relationship and the characters as fully realized. The music aspect of the book adds the most decadent backdrop and includes some of my favorite writing of the whole story.

I have only one issue with this, and that is one very specific pop culture reference that did take me out a bit. However, I can forgive it because the rest of this had me blushing and kicking my feet.

Thank you NetGalley and Julie Soto for this ARC!!

First and foremost after reading this, I can confidently say that Julie Soto knows how to write antagonists!! Because boy oh boy was I [appropriately] angry at the characters I was definitely supposed to be angry at!

I absolutely loved how dramatic and romantic this story was! The Cello Scene was definitely as iconic as people were saying, and I adore how Julie Soto was able to be so lyrical and descriptive with the instrumental scenes! I really felt immersed and could picture the scenes easily in my mind.

I enjoyed reading how Gwen and Xander navigated through their musical careers with their love story and the growth they went through with their self confidence and rediscovering who they truly are. It was easy getting into their minds and emotions!

Overall Julie Soto's Not Another Love Song was a wonderfully dramatic and beautifully lyrically descriptive!

This book was hands down the best book of the year for me. I loved everything about it. The tension, the awkward interaction and the spicy scenes. This will be my most recommended book to anyone who will listen. Serious this was so good. I can't wait for the next book from Julie Soto.

This book was so good I couldn’t put it down until 5am. I was hooked from the first chapter and loved every piece of this book. The moment I finished I wanted to go back and reread it. The characters, the angst, the emotions, this was everything. I loved how different yet similar Alex and Gwen were. Loved seeing their attraction for each other slowly develop into feelings they couldn’t hold back on. The plot was really strong as well in this book with how the MCs both lost and found themselves with their music. I could almost hear the pieces they were playing throughout the book and could feel all the emotions that were ingrained in each song. The explorations of different family dynamics both blood and found had me hooked. I loved how they found the families and support they lost in each other. This was a beautifully written, deeply emotional love story that I’ll be thinking about for a while.

Also, that cello scene was perfection.

Thank you Netgalley, Forever and Julie Soto for an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review.

Okay, okay, I see you, Julie Soto. Killing it over here with the romance comedy's that nobody needs to be missing out on. Go buy this one and read it today. We love Julie Soto and all of her books. An auto buy for me, for sure.

4.75/5 Stars

This is the ultimate romantic comedy for anyone who has once heard a cello playing and thought, "That's hot." Thanks to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for this advanced copy!

If you were even a maybe on this book, please do yourself a favor and pre-order. I've never read a non-romantasy with tension that cut this thick. This is the summer romance of 2024; I DON'T MAKE THE RULES. Julie Soto is now an auto-buy author on my list, and she should be on yours too.

This book is about Gwen and Xander, who happen to play in the same orchestra together. However, Gwen is a fourth-chair violinist, and Xander is part of an internationally (nationally?) popular band who do covers of popular songs (Think Vitamin String Quartet). So clearly he hasn't ever paid attention to her. Until he hears her playing at a wedding, that is.

Put this in your cart and pre-order it now. Put your name on a list on Libby. This is now required reading for all my romance lovers out there.

I finished Not Another Love Song 2 weeks ago, and I have not stopped thinking about this book. It immediately was added to my "favorite books of all time" list and I have an itch to reread it already. I was only about 20% through before I was preordering it to have a physical copy.

It is quite literally a perfect romance in my eyes--sweet moments that make you giggle and kick your feet, sexual tension in spades that has you on the edge of your seat, and the spice is a perfect level.

I have already recommended this book to so many people, and it's not even officially released yet. I don't think I will ever stop talking about it. Julie Soto, you're magic. Keep up the amazing work!

This was so. fucking. good. You're going to want to add this to your tbr immediately. What originally sold me on this book was the cover. I have never read a romance where the two love interest are musicians. If you don't know me well, I love classical music, I love attending the orchestra -- so reading this was a whole new experience for me and I loved every single thing about it. Over time when you read romance books, they all start to blur together, you feel like you're reading the same thing but with different characters. This was not the case with Not Another Love Song! It felt new and fresh and omg...there is one scene in this book that will be forever imprinted on my mind, iykyk. Lets just say that I don't think I will be able to look at a violin or a cello the same way. I adored both of the main characters. Especially Alex, the MMC, he gave me major Kylo Ren vibes which made me love him even more. This book gets all the stars, and I cannot wait to see what else Julie Soto has up her sleeve!

Go read this when it comes out on July 16th!!

Thank you so much NetGalley for this earc! <3

Many thanks to @Netgalley @stmartinspress and @casey.mcquiston for the opportunity to review this lush, stunning, deeply romantic, and quirky second-chance love story. McQuiston’s Red, White and Royal Blue is the book that revived my love of reading, so this was a special one to have the opportunity to read in advance. Here is my honest review…

Four years ago, Theo and Kit broke up on a transatlantic flight to London, where they were supposed to start a dream European vacation. They’ve pieced their lives back together on separate continents, not having seen each other since that fateful flight. They each have non-refundable tickets with the tour company that must be used within 48 months. When Theo shows up only to find Kit has booked the same tour, they must face heartbreak and regret. But as their guide and quirky fellow travelers traverse Europe, exploring art, architecture, food, and wine, Kit and Theo find themselves slipping into familiar patterns that only come from a lifetime of love and friendship. As the ice thaws and they talk about what broke them up, they begin to discover the people they’ve become in their time apart and wonder if there are some people that you will always love.

I felt this book in my chest - full of beauty and excess. Kit and Theo both work in the restaurant world, and their passion for food and drink is evident on every page - wine pairings, pasta, bread, pastries, sandwiches, cheese, olives, grapes - this book is a tribute to the romance of a great meal. As they travel city to city, you witness Kit and Theo evolve, and Casey has one of the most effective uses of dual POV I’ve ever encountered. Their love story is unique, and the story makes you feel these people who grew up together, helped each other through dark times, and (despite years apart) still know each other better than they know themselves.

This captivating tale of rival cellist and violinist turned lovers had me on the edge of my seat! While the musical jargon initially threw me off, once the story hit its stride around 15%, I was hooked. The dynamic between Gwen and Xander was electrifying, and Julie Soto skillfully crafted palpable sexual tension and longing between them. And that cello scene? Absolutely breathtaking! Soto's ability to ignite such passion between the characters left me utterly spellbound.

Julie Soto will be an auto-buy author for me from now on! I can't put my finger on why but I always fall in love with her characters almost immediately. I think it's because I love the way they describe being and falling in love.
I do wish we got more of the MMC's POV; a couple chapters sprinkled throughout the book are not enough! I remember feeling the same when I read Forget Me Not, I wanted more Elliot.
Loved Gwen & Alex's love story and hope they make a small appearance in the next book. Also dying to know who the next book will be about!!!

Not another love song was a sweet story of a cello who fell in love with a violin. As someone who’s is musically challenged I had a hard time connecting with the musical portions of this book, which made it hard for me to connect with the characters, Now this isn’t the authors fault and she was still able to write two distinct and complex characters who are able to see those differences and fall in love despite them. It was so hard for me to see Alex and Gwen being constantly manipulated and used by Nathan and Lorenz. I’m sure this is a common thing true musicians deal with and added a realistic drama to the story,

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Is Julie Soto a sleeper romance hit author for me? I’ve been in an on-off relationship with the contemporary romance genre (bar Emily Henry) because I have a strong preference for substantial B stories to buy in; but happy to report, Julie Soto hits! I love how Soto builds immersive, almost neurotically detailed professional backgrounds for her FMCs (violinist here, wedding planner in Forget Me Not) with compulsively propelling pacing.

The tension is great; rival musicians vying for greatness in their respective instruments? I’m sat. We follow Gwen, a violinist with an untraditional music background, and prickly cellist, Xander, from a prestigious musical heritage, as they vie for head of the Pops Orchestra in New York. Were there corny references to musical motifs to describe their romance? Absolutely, but I salute the commitment to the bit.

Perhaps the only things I was critical of was the third act conflict could’ve been more fully baked and sometimes the internal logic behind their attraction didn’t 100% pull me in? Like I’d ask myself, does he just like her because she can play music well? Could I tell you what exactly about her personality draws him in? I’m not sure, but this is on the nitpicky end.

Altogether so much fun and will likely pick up her future works! Highly suggest reading Forget Me Not first to get the full experience of the cameos.

I've had Forget Me Not on my shelf for so long but haven't had the chance to get to it. After reading Not Another Love Song, I'm moving it to the top!
I love romances with classical musicians but they're hard to find. Gwen and Xander/Alex were so swoony, the growth we got to see from both of them was just right, and their story had the perfect amount of angst/conflict and connection.
Absolutely loved this reylo. I'll admit I'm a sucker for them but damn...it was good lol

Julie Soto is a new to me author, and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to read Not Another Love Song! Right away, I loved being immersed in the world of professional musicians, an area where I have absolutely no experience. Gwen and Xander are both exceptional string musicians with complicated backstories....and a healthy dose of disdain for each other. I flew through every chapter and loved seeing the characters develop. Once I finished this book, I immediately jumped into another Julie Soto title - I'm hooked!

LOVED THIS!! This was my first time reading about classical musicians and it was a beautiful love story. The music just added so much intensity and passion to the story! I couldn’t put this down and was often times blushing at how hot these two were!