I loved this book!! We got boy obsessed which is gonna do it for me every time. It’s one of my favorite romance books of 2024! 🎼🎻💜

The tension and passion between Gwen and Xander was palpable!! Literally from their first interaction I was excited for these two.
This man was composing music for her!! The only musical instrument I ever played was the trumpet and even though I wasn’t any good I’m wishing I had my own Xander Thorne.
I also thought this was a unique love story between two musicians. The storyline about their musical careers was also entertaining and I was invested in it just as much as I was in their relationship.
Thank you to Julie Soto, Netgalley, and Forever publishing for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶

I got this as an ARC from Netgalley. Thank you to Netgalley and Forever publishing for letting me get an E-ARC.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS BOOK!! This has become one of my top 5 reads of the year!

Gwen Jackson is a violinist and had been in the Manhattan Pops for four years. Xander Thorne (Alex Fitzgerald) had been part of the Manhattan Pops for 1 year. Gwen was a fan of Xander Thorne’s band, Xander and the Roses. I loved Gwen and Alex relationship so much! This book made me cry, laugh, and smile!!

4.5⭐️

I’ll start by saying my only experience with musical instruments was a failed attempt at flute in the sixth grade band. My only musical talent I have is the useless ability to remember 90’s song lyrics. So all the technical musical aspects went right over my head. But- that didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the story at all.

Xander is a famous cellist with a band and Gwen is a violinist. They both end up playing for the Manhattan Pops orchestra at the same time, but he is unaware of her until they cross paths at a wedding. It’s a whirlwind for both of them once they discover who they are. I loved all the nods to NYC and the way these two were interconnected. Both gifted musicians go through such growth in the story. Gwen and Xanders chemistry jumped off the page. I loved the family & found family. I feel like parts of this played in my head like a movie montage. I really enjoyed this one!

Thank you to Forever for the arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I cannot express just how much I loved this book! The orchestra back drop was absolutely perfect! The chemistry between Gwen and Alex was top tier! The way Alex and Gwen played music together (with all that eye contact!!!!) was so intimate and captivating. Those moments were one of my favorite parts! Julie Soto can do no wrong!

This felt like a classical music version of Center Stage - if you liked that movie you will LOVE Not another love song!!!!! I was OBSESSED with Julie Soto's debut, Forget me not, last year and this follow up did NOT disappoint!!

I love a he falls first, dual POV romance and learning more about the classical orchestra music world was a pure delight! The Cello love scene is this book was SMOKIN' HOT - like out of this world steamy, burn your undies off SPICY!!

I devoured this book and couldn't get enough. Both Gwen and Alex were exceptional and unforgettable main characters with ELECTRIC chemistry. Julie Soto is officially an auto-buy author who I will drop everything to read when it comes across my greedy little hands!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review! If you haven't yet had the pleasure of reading one of her books you are MISSING OUT!!!!! I cannot recommend Julie's work enough!

A great enemies to lovers story set in the music world. Xander and Gwen are both musical prodigies who perform for the Manhattan Pops playing violin and cello. There are some fun twists and turns in the book that held my attention. This book is full of banter and very steamy!

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the ARC!

DAAAAAMN THIS BOOK IS SEXY!

Julie Soto really is the master of writing deliciously tense and compulsively readable stories. This one was impossible to put down. And who knew string instruments were so hot?! *fans self*

I love the characters that Julie creates, and I was chomping at the BIT to experience their love story. There was so much captivating tension, and I was really invested in Xander (Alex) and Gwen, and their ultimate growth arcs. Great plot and setting, and beautifully written.

Gahhh this was just so enjoyable and so hot. LOVED.

The end was a resolved a little too quickly for me, so it was a bit unsatisfying after such a tense journey, but overall, such an addicting read.

Thank you to Forever and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review. NOT ANOTHER LOVE SONG is out now!

Julie Soto can do no wrong! Both of her books I have given 5 stars to and I can't get enough! I will never view a cello/violin the same way! Xander/Alex can play anyone like music/an instrument and I would enjoy reading! I loved that she pulled in characters from her first book, too!

Thank you to @netgalley and Julie Soto for this arc in exchange for a review.

I didn’t realize a story about an orchestra and string players could be so sexy!

okay, hear me out. I enjoyed the story overall but it wasn’t my ultimate favorite romance. I really enjoyed the tension in this book. Gwen and Zander’s chemistry was so evident and the spicy scenes were very well done. I didn’t feel like the scenes were cringe which is something I usually have a hard time with with spicy scenes. I really enjoyed the overall plot, but I just did not love some of the reactions and decisions that Gwen made. I don’t want to spoil anything but every time her and Zander fought, she just avoided the conflict which was so frustrating. Some of the conflict could have been avoided if she communicated with Zander instead of LITERALLY running. 😅 Overall, I would recommend picking this one up because overall it was good. There was just parts that weren’t for me (too surface level) but I know so many people would love this story!

Pick this up if you like:
🎻 musical themes
🎻 spice 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️
🎻 great tension and banter

Julie Soto never misses. With Forget Me Not taking me less than a day to read, I wasn't surprised at all that Not Another Love Song would break my record of fastest read.
Soto, alongside other fanfiction and romance authors have redefined the Contemporary Romance genre. They stories and characters may be based on particular pairing but they made new stories and took over my TBR next reads. Can't wait for her new works in the future!!!

I mean what is there to say about this book besides I adored it and where can I get the soundtrack? 🤣

I loved how Xander’s POV was done in this book. I feel like Julie Soto does great things to incorporate the male POV so it’s not just back and forth or a single POV. And it works for her. I loved these snippets into Xanders thoughts and feelings and experiences.

I really loved how Xander and Gwen balanced each other out. The tension and the chemistry between them was just *chefs kiss*. Can we please have cameos of them?🙏🏻

I feel like I’m one of the last to read this one, but if you haven’t? Go do it right now.

Thank you netgalley and Forever for my early copy. All opinions are my own.

Simply phenomenal. I have adored Julie Soto’s writing ever since I read her dramione fanfiction years ago. And she has never failed to absolutely wow me with her storylines. I am an absolute fiend for an orchestra - specifically the strings section, so the minute I knew this was an enemies to lovers romance focused between a cellist and a violinist I immediately couldn’t wait to read it. Add in my obsession with Reylo and it was a match made in heaven.

Xander “Alex” & Gwen are so magical together and the way they communicate through music left me awestruck. I could feel their love coming through the pages of this book and fully felt the full range of emotions.

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central) & Netgalley for the chance to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Danggggg this one was so spicy and SO GOOD. Highly recommend it! I love the way the author sets the tone right off the bat, with a no none sense vibe. I also found the setting and narrative to be very interesting, as I don't normally read about musically inclined main characters. Pick this one up, you won't regret it!

Not Another Love Song is Julie Soto's Reylo AU romance fic, and when I saw the book cover I knew I had to get my hot little hands on the arc. While I think that reconstructed fanfics sometimes suffer from lack of characterization or feel plotless, Soto knew exactly how to work Rey and Kylo Ren into Gwen and Xander Thorne while giving them a story that breathes life into them as new characters.

From the very beginning, I was hooked as Soto introduced Gwen and Xander, giving them their own quirks and idiosyncrasies to make them less Rey and Kylo Ren and more of themselves as new characters. The secondary characters did not always correspond directly to sequel trilogy characters (we do have a Finn and a Poe (together!) and Rose and General Leia Organa), but Soto chose to use them as rough outlines in creating new characters. The plot echoed the sequel trilogy (complete with some dastardly villains of the male persuasion), but I found myself less trying to make connections and more just enjoying the story.

Where Not Another Love Song really shines is how Soto builds the intimacy through the use of music between Gwen and Xander. I've gotten to the point where I skip most sex scenes because either the author isn't very good at writing them or they just hit that cringe note. Soto wove the scenes together into musical phrases and they were just so raw and emotional, I couldn't breathe at times. The beauty of being together both in an intimate session or in a performance session just brought tears to my eyes and I really felt that these two characters had lived, and grown, and yearned together where they could only be complete if they were each other.

And the ending could have been sappy, but Soto knew when it pull back the cheese and just let those delightfully full feelings of happiness exist. And it was perfect.

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the arc for review purposes.

This book makes music H.O.T. I really loved this book, even more than Julie's first book! I could feel the chemistry between Gwen and Alex practically burn off the page. Julie Soto is a master at writing romantic and sexual tension. The cello scene???? IYKYK. I really enjoyed everything about this book, the writing flowed and I flew through this book. I cannot wait to read whatever Julie writes next!

I really enjoyed Gwen and Xander love story. As a person who loves music, I enjoyed with the interweaving of music and love. The pacing of the story was nice, the banter and interactions of Gwen/Xander I really enjoyed.

I don't usually go for musician romances, but this was so immersive and swoonworthy. The pining and tension was so good! Very steamy and despite it being in 3rd person versus her first book being in 1st, I feel like the storytelling and writing was so much stronger. Very much enjoyed this one and excited to see more from this author!

Julie Soto does it again! What an absolutely fabulous love story. The music and passion were addicting!

I CAN NOT stop thinking about this book. Let's face it- it's probably my THE book of the summer. As a musician who's picking back up her own Stradivarus design, it's like coming home to your best friend. Such is this book.

🎻 Gwen is a violinist day and night- playing for the pops with hotheaded cellist Xander Thorne. She is obsessed with the notes and music. Xander is obsessed with the emotion. He's been playing forever (he's a prodigy). She's been playing for awhile....teaching herself with Mabels assistance. So when Mabel is announced as first chair principal over Xander, he loses his mind.

🎻 Yet, Xander cannot help his attraction towards Gwen. She inspires the music in his soul. When they get together, sparks fly and rosin sparks off the strings. He swears that he won't fall in love, he's Xander Throne. But he's hiding his true personality...something only Gwen can unlock.

🎻 HOLY SHIT THIS BOOK. Maybe because I am a violinist (my Roxanne is 19 years old) but I felt EVERYTHING reading this. I'm sure my mouth was wide opening reading this and thinking oh snap at that 41% mark!!!!! The chemistry, the passion, the realism of it all had me screaming to myself as I flipped kindle pages. I was obsessed with how Julie set up this dual POV spicy enemies to lovers story. Pre-order this and then come to my DMs when you hit the first cello dual scene--- you're welcome.

4.5 Stars

I really enjoyed this story so much. I did find myself sucked in much faster than the first book by this author. I am not a big fanfic person so I didn't pick up on any of the things but it didn't change my outlook of this book. I did think there were a few little parts that dragged for me in the middle which is why I took half a star off but other than that I loved the chemistry between Gwen and Alex.