JULIE SOTO DOES NOT MISS.
I am simply obsessed. I loved Forget Me Not, it was one of my top books in 2023 and I’m pretty sure Not Another Love Song is going to be my top read for April (it’s going to be hard to beat that).
“A cello fell in love with a violin”
The romance and the spice were phenomenal. I enjoyed both characters. The banter was great. I like that we got little visits from Ama and Elliot from the first book. The way she wrote the MC’s music scenes was breathtaking. I love everything about this and HIGHLY recommend!

Not Another Love Song is an absolute delight! Julie Soto has once again created characters with such depth and complexity. Their love of music and passion comes across on every page.
The chemistry between these two is vibrant and the sexy scenes are 🔥🔥🔥

I've already read it twice and I know this is one that I'll pick up over and over in future!

Great story, after this book and her first book, Julie Soto is now an auto buy author for me. I liked the setting involving Queens, NY and I thought the symphony part of the story was new and unique in the romance genre. I definitely recommend this book, it’s a romance novel done right but also a bit differently than the typical books in the genre.

I had a great time. Therefore… five stars.

No but really, my favorite part was the whole first half because the PINING! Give me tension or give me death. A man who is absolutely a GONER for the FMC? Sold. Thank you. This was such a wonderful read. I’m already wanting to reread. Highly recommend!

Not Another Love Song was filled with angst, passion, and spice! The tension and anticipation had my heart racing, especially that composing scene! It’s inspired me to go to the orchestra, and you can bet that I am going to be picturing Gwen and Alex. The added element of not knowing who to trust, her mentor, her boss, etc… had me on the edge of my seat and just did not stop reading until I was done! One of my favorite reads so far this year!

This was utterly phenomenal, the tension between the main characters was exquisitely done, and oh the piningg!!! Who knew that string musicians could have this much sexual tension. Not the mention that cello scene😮‍💨😮‍💨

*** 3.5 stars ***

I love a good slow-burn romance and appreciate that the author took her time developing solid backstories for each of the characters before jumping into the romance. I also really loved the facts and details about classical music, strings instruments, and the inner workings of an orchestra. I like when I actually learn something while reading for entertainment. I am not the intended target for this book because I literally have no idea who Reylo is and I don’t find Adam Driver attractive at all, so that kept taking me out of the story a bit and I found the last quarter of the book to drag. I skimmed to the end at that point, but overall I liked this author’s writing style and I’m reading her first book now.

thank you to grand central publishing for the arc in exchange for an honest review

I was not expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did. Admittedly, I was underwhelmed by "Forget Me Not" (mainly due to the grumpy x sunshine trope, Ama's inability to want to date because her serial bride mother) and I wasn't sure if Julie would be the author for me, but I was so pleasantly surprised at how I ate up "Not Another Love Song".

The tension between Alex and Gwen is off the charts from page one and I loved the peak behind the curtain to the world of professional orchestra's and all the politics involved. Romance and spice lovers will love this, as I was texting my friend that it has one of the most sensual chapters in a book I've ever read (but then I remembered that ACOMAF chapter when Feyre first goes to the Court of Nightmares, this scene rivals!)

All in all, pick this one up when it releases in July! I would read "Forget Me Not" first as there is some overlap, but it still could be read on it's own.

4 stars

I loved this musical romance novel! It was so cute and an addicting read. I will definitely be recommending this to my friends and reviewing this for my bookstagram page!

This second offering from Julie Soto did not disappoint. Set in the competitive world of professional musicians in New York City, Gwen and Alex have an electric connection that turns them quickly from rivals to partners. As their love story unfolds, there is both passion and tension from their past. Enough so, that the reader is worried that they will end up together. With cameos from her first book, this one kept me reading when I should have been doing other things. Can’t wait to see what Soto has next.

Another amazing book by Julie Soto! I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of Not Another Love Song and it was a great read. From the start, Gwen & Alex’s chemistry is through the roof! And let me tell you, this book is spicyyyyyyyy. THE CELLO SCENE. Iykyk!! So so good! There were so many things to love about this book: the theme of found family, Ama & Elliot making cameos, the chapters in Alex’s pov. I was really going back and forth between giving this five stars. Part of me wishes I didn’t read this immediately after Forget Me Not because I found myself going back and comparing the two couples, which wasn’t the best thing to do. I think I just really truly loved Forget Me Not and Ama & Elliot, nothing was going to compare. But really, Not Another Love Song is a wonderful book with great characters and I totally recommend!

I am going to be thinking about this one for a while. Julie Soto has a way of writing romance that feels as though it was written specifically for me. Her characters are deeply relatable, flawed, and funny in a way that will have you giggling through every page. Mix that with Soto’s masterful way of merging music, need, PASSION, and sex in an absolutely stunning way….when I tell you my jaw was on the floor. If you’ve ever made music, if you love music, or you just love LOVE…READ THIS. You will not be disappointed.

I really enjoyed this book and give it 4.5 stars! It is so beautifully written and I fell so in love with both Gwen and Alex. This is one of those books that sucked me in so hard that it was difficult to put the book down at times, and when I did my mind just kept drifting right back to it!! There’s a few typos here and there but not enough to be bothersome. There is also quite a bit of musical terminology, which of course is to be expected in a book where the characters are playing musical instruments. It made it slightly hard for me to keep the reading flow going at times, but that’s only because I would get a little lost on what was happening due to not knowing what a lot of the terms mean. However, this did not affect my ability to understand the plot as a whole and enjoy it! It actually made me want to learn more about music because of how lovely and compelling the writing is. All in all a really great book and I can’t wait to read more from Julie in the future!!

Is there anything better than getting completely caught off guard by an incredible book? I mean, shit. I was not expecting that. I grabbed this ARC because it was easily accessible and also Ali Hazelwood told me to, and I listen to Ali Hazelwood. Let me tell you - SHE DID NOT LEAD ME ASTRAY. I absolutely loved this. The characters, the music, the story development, every part. I even loved the third act break up - something I never thought I would say. And the cello scene? I mean 🥵

Highly highly highly recommend. This makes me so excited for future books by this author!

Julie Soto has been a favourite writer of mine for a long time. She now has two traditionally published novels out and it's such an amazing thing to be able to watch her grow and get recognition!

Not Another Love Song is wonderful. It had a wonderful balance of humour, character progression and love. It could've been a simple enemies to lovers love story, but the depth of Alex and Gwen and their own journeys we were able to accompany made it so enchanting. It teaches about loss, growth, and the complex nature of friendships and relationships and the navigation of that.

The writing and pacing of the book made it so engaging as well! I was up until 3am finishing it up because I couldn't put it down! Julie's prose is unmatched. 5/5, will recommend to anyone and everyone I can. :)

You don’t have to know classical music to love this book. I fell in love with this story. Gwen and Alex had great chemistry. I think anyone would enjoy this story. I loved seeing some of the character from Julie’s other book as well., as Alex made an appearance in their story. Thanks NetGalley and Forever for an early look at this charming read.

Thanks to NetGalley for making this ARC available.
Rounded up from 4.5 stars. This book was a joy to read. Alex and Gwen had fantastic chemistry and it made me long for an audio version with a complete musical score. I loved the return of characters from Soto’s earlier work (it’s always great to catch up with old friends, even if they’re fictional) and I would have enjoyed seeing them play a greater role. The newly introduced side characters were a delight - looking at you, Jacob and Mabel.

I wish the ending had been fleshed out more. I would have loved to learn more about how the “bad guys” got what was coming to them, how Mabel and Ava reconciled and how Alex and Gwen were thriving. At times, Alex in particular seemed very young, but his upbringing really explained a lot of that to me, especially compared to how independent Gwen was forced to become.

I enjoyed this like i did her other book. The only probably i had was that if no one told me this was a reylo reworked fan fiction i would have figured it out. It read like a reylo fan fiction and i’ve only ever read like 4. It was just similar to it that i figured out who was who. I did not like that but the plot was pretty good. I was very invested in the story line. I usually do not like 2nd pov because i just feel disconnected to the characters so i usually don’t read it but this was honestly really good. I was a little confused on the last 100 pages i started a new chapter and thought i was reading a whole knew book i felt like she had added stuff and i felt like it was a whole knew plot i wish she had stuck to one. Like all of a sudden we were getting more of his rockstar side and seeing him at shows i was like okay.Like it felt like i was reading a celebrity/ non celebrity book but then also a rivals/ lovers i just wish it had picked one setting i get that he’s a celebrity but it just felt like out of nowhere. There was just a few plot holes it felt like she forgot he was a celebrity then just threw it in at last minute i was enjoying it don’t get me wrong. Also the plot was a little predictable i could always see what was gonna happen before it did maybe that’s because i’ve read reylo fan fiction so it all blurs the same but i could see what was gonna happen in the third act breakup and all the major plot points. That’s something i do not like is being able to tell where the story is going but i was entertained by the book. I enjoyed the characters and the cameo with ama and elliot. I enjoyed the orchestra scenes even though i did not understand half of it.

This was an extremely enjoyable read. I liked Julie Soto’s debut quite a bit, but I think this was better.

We follow two rivals, a violinist who has lost her family and was struggling financially before she found a stable position with a pop orchestra playing 7th chair with a few weddings on the side. Gwen isn’t taking risks and sure, maybe she’s not growing much as a violinist, but she’s finally found a place where she has some stability and belonging.

Enter Xander Thorne, bad boy cello rock star (don’t laugh, I know. there’s some suspension of disbelief with that one). He doesn’t show up on time, is rude to his fellow orchestra members, and seems to be focusing on his own side gig as a rock star more than anything else. Until Gwen is promoted to the position of first chair—the position Xander was promised and wanted his entire life.

There is competition, miscommunication, rivalry, and a number of scenes where I need a diagram to understand how his hands are holding what while she’s apparently playing a cello?! I loved the tension between the two and the depth of the characters with their non-romantic struggles woven in as well. The first part of their relationship is lowkey unhealthy, as are the relationship dynamics of a lot of the side characters, as Xander seems to feel like he knows better than Gwen about what she needs, is feeling, or should do. But the book definitely calls out the unhealthiness. I wish it had done a little more to work through and reconcile that, as well as explaining Xander’s sudden change of heart in the third act a little more. It’s not that they don’t make sense, because they do, but it felt a little glossed over so that we could just get to more spice scenes. Which, valid. But I would have taken another 30-50 pages of this book to fill things in a bit more for sure.

Either way, I will be picking up whatever Julie Soto writes next for sure.

Wow. Wow, wow, wow. This book has now become my favorite romance of the year and probably my favorite romance, like, ever.

Julie Soto knocked it out of the park with this rival-musicians-to-lovers story about two people raised in completely different worlds but who are inevitably tied together by their love of music. This story was so well-written, and the characters had so much depth to them, which made it easy to relate them and root for them. But the romance... oh, the romance so incredibly delicious and swoony. The longing and the angst was so palpable it - there were too many times I caught myself smiling and/or sighing at how beautiful the romance was written and portrayed. Ohmygod and the spice in this book *fans myself (again)*. Itwill definitely leave you in need of a cold shower. That cello scene now lives rent free in my mind and I can't look at the instrument without feeling a bit flushed. In addition, there were some cameos from characters in Julie's previous book, "Forget Me Not", which was just the cherry on top of it all.

I'm so excited for people to get their hands on and read this masterpiece of a story when it comes out this summer. Thank you so much to NetGalley, Forever Publishing, and Julie Soto for an eARC of Not Another Love Song in exchange for my honest review. A review for this book will be shared to my Instagram page (@readcomolaflor) and my Goodreads 3-5 days after sharing my review to NetGalley, and the book will also be promoted within a week of the publishing date.