This book was not for me unfortunately. I just could not get invested in the characters or storyline or anything.

I was hooked on this book from the minute I read the author's note. I loved her inspiration for the story and she wrote a great story. Two interesting characters with complicated situations manage to find each other, and fall in love, strengthened by their common passions. This is a favorite romance of the year for me!

This book doesn’t simply live up to the hype. It created the hype. It is the hype. It’s a love letter to New York, to live performance, to music. And the romance is like a symphony all on its own. This book is gorgeous.

Adored this read. You will be left feeling immersed into the world of musicians. A romance that will tug at your heart in the best way. A great mix of self-discovery, navigating familial conflicts, sexual tension and music!

the TENSION 🫠 the OBSESSION 🔥 the PASSION 🎼🎻

I LOVED this! (I love everything Julie does) but THIS!!! WAS SO GOOD!!

🎻 Two prodigies, orchestra rivals, he falls first, he sees her unreached potential, she sees past his curated hard exterior!!! I ATE THIS UP!

The back and forth emotionally as this story unraveled and the secrets were revealed was 🧑‍🍳💋🤌🏻. The ending was so beautiful and satisfying. I loved it!!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of Not Another Love Song in exchange for an honest review!

If you love music, play, or even played the piano as a kid this book is for you. I had to turn my playlist to a fun orchestra one as you can just feel it with this one. Soto blew me away last year with her debut and this one wasn’t a sophomore slump - another great one! We also got some Easter Eggs with this one.

These two have killer chemistry after we get over the hate but not - to love. It's a little bit of workplace romance as they have to figure out themselves but also who to trust in their music world. Alex/Xander full on fan girl Gwen and falls first, which takes a while for Gwen to trust it - which once you learn her background you understand. We get some drama at the end but I didn’t even care with this one- the tension! Gah just go read! So good!


The NYC setting was just perfect and you felt you were there and in the hall! (I’m not a Star Wars person but this is a bit of fan fic that went over my head) I can’t wait for more Soto and she is now a full on auto-buy! Give me more please!!!

Oh my goodness the vibes of this book were impeccable. I am such a sucker for some good pining and boy oh boy does it deliver on that. I also love when interests collide, so a book about musicians was seriously so delightful (even if it did make me incredibly jealous that I don’t have a musical bone in my body). I am honestly really impressed with the depth of characters that I feel like is sometimes lacking in contemporary romance

The rise of Reylo fanfiction being transposed into romance novels in the publishing world baffles me. Each author adds their own twist to the story, each reference specific details. With the rampant amount, I should have know this would also be Reylo-inspired based on the Adam-look-a-like in the cover.

Not Another Love Song is trying to be a Ali Hazelwood book. Tiny girl and a big broad boy. Seemingly good character with ulterior motives. Hot, hot sex. The formula writes itself, and yet it falls short.

The concert scenes were contrived with every word taking too much space on the page. After reading the first two, I was done. I know playing instruments is a key component of the story, it didn’t move the story forward. The pace of the violin/cello scenes dragged, a testament to how the book felt for most of it.

What in the AO3 did I read?

I do not like fanfic. It is not my thing. At all. (Special exception for Manacled). I don't like traditionally published romance that started as fanfic or has fanfic vibes (looking at all of Ali Hazelwood) but I really truly enjoyed Forget Me Not. I knew intellectually it was Reylo fanfic but it had so much substance that was away from that that I didn't care. So I was actually excited for this one. Well, nope, this is not that.

This felt lifted straight from AO3 and they just changed the names and gave them bows instead of light sabers. It also had *so much* music talk. Like in a spicy scene, I don't want to hear about being touched legato. The highlights were the times when they dueted. It was really fun and hot then, and only then.

Also the two villains are clearly the villains from the beginning and EVERYONE says they are villains but people keep working with/trusting them anyway? To their detriment? Why would you do that? Also also the FMC was so doe eyed naive and without agency it was painful.

Did not enjoy, would not recommend.

HOWEVER, it did make me want to watch Smooth Criminal from Glee and all the 2Cellos videos on YouTube I could find. (The 2Cellos knockoff band in this literally does Smell Likes Teen Spirit, they are just like a 2Cellos performance).

Thank you for the advanced copy to NetGalley and the publisher.

this was so cute!! did i read the first one (interconnected standalone)? no, but i will most certainly read it very soon!! i did not know a musical romance was something i needed and with MCs playing string instruments at that!!! fun fact, i played the viola for a few years when i was younger but i was no prodigy like Alex or Gwen😭

although it felt a little “insta-love” like, Alex & Gwen had chemistry & it was only heightened by their musical capabilities. i really love how music was emphasized as their form of communication. it took “let the music speak for itself” to another level🥵

i really liked the overlap in Alex & Gwen’s stories and the connections between the characters in the story. it was like a string connected each person throughout the whole story and it really made for a great storyline filled with a rollercoaster of emotions. lemme go head pick up book 1 so i can stay in my lil Julie Soto bubble 😭🤍

“𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙨𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮,” 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙. “𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖 𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙤 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙣 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙣.”

My first Julie Soto book & it did not disappoint!

I was actually really hesitant to read this one, & I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It wasn’t perfect & it did fall off for me towards the end, but I really enjoyed 75% of this one!

𝚀𝚞𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍:

“𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚. 𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙧𝙗𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮…”

“𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮’𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙞𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙣,” 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙. “𝙊𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙮. 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙪𝙩.”

“𝙇𝙤𝙤𝙠, 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙢𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩—“
“𝘼𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜.” 𝘽𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝,” 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜.”

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗲𝘁:
Rivals to lovers
Tighter than a bowstring type of tension
A cellist & a violinist, & a violinist and a cellist
He falls first & falls HARD
Child prodigy vs self taught
Creating music together
Tension filled performances
Unsuspecting duets
Cello but make it rock
Side characters you want as besties
He gets her iced coffee
Food fights

*Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC! All opinions are my own.

Never meat your heroes. Gwen Jackson has been a long-time fan of the Thornes and Roses cello player Xander. However, when Xander starts working at the Manhattan Pops Orchestra, his bad attitude and constant tardiness are a huge turn off. Too bad Xander has such a pretty face and is exceptionally talented. When Xander and Gwen are forced to work closer, Gwen starts to see more than what Xander shows the public, and their physical AND musical chemistry is off the charts.

I loved Julie Soto's first novel Forget Me Not, so I probably would have picked this up despite the fact that it started as a Reylo fanfic. I'm so glad I got the chance to read this - Gwen and Alex have such chemistry and the story was so interesting and surprising. All of the characters were so dimensional and I devoured the book in a day. I'm so excited for people to read this book (loved the cameos from Ama, et al) and I can't wait to see what Julie does next.

Y’all, I loved NOT ANOTHER LOVE SONG by Julie Soto! I’m so jealous of everyone who is going to get to read it for the first time when it releases in a couple weeks!

The tension and chemistry between Gwen and Xander is next level! It’s Reylo coded, and Julie gives us all the delicious frustration we love at the beginning of their relationship that slowly grows into intense respect and finally into something combustible. I loved the way they challenged and inspired each others art while also healing their individual wounds.

Also, that cello scene 👀 iykyk

Officially a lifelong fan of Julie’s and I can’t wait to see what’s next!

Forget Me Not was one of my favorite reads last year so I was so excited to get another book from Julie Soto!

This brings us Gwen and Xander’s story, two string players for the same orchestra. Gwen has long had a crush on Xander, who is a popular musician outside of the orchestra, but once she starts to get to know him on a personal level she’s less impressed. Xander on the other hand never noticed Gwen before, but once he does that poor boy is obsessed.

He had it so bad for her it almost made me sad to read since Gwen just couldn’t see it or trust that it was real. The tension between them was thick and their relationship was intense. The whole book was intense really, I felt a little on edge reading it. The pressure of the orchestra and trying to navigate that complex world, Gwen not knowing who or what to trust, broke my heart.

This is clearly a love letter to music, and while I love music, there were some parts that were a little boring to me. I don’t care that much about sheet music and orchestral arrangements but I think that’s just a me problem.

Overall I think this was a really well written intensely sexy romance and I can’t wait to see where Julie Soto goes from here.

Although the story started off slow for me, it picked up and had me hooked the rest of the way. I loved how the hero was head over heels for the heroine! The chemistry was great. I would definitely recommend this book to others!

Gwen Jackson has been a violinist with the Manhattan Pops for almost 4 years, but she has always been happy to blend into the crowd. After performing at a wedding, Gwen catches the attention of Xander Thorne, a member of her favourite band and recent addition to her orchestra. Gwen and Xander have an undeniably musical connection, but it becomes complicated when Gwen is offered the coveted First Chair position over Xander.

This was such a sweet story! It took me longer than expected to get into this book. I have no musical background so I was a little confused by some terminology in the beginning, but I ended up being enthralled by this love story. I think you will love this book if you are a fan of Ali Hazelwood. The story was so unique and the writing was beautiful. This was my first book by Julie Soto and I am definitely a fan!

What to expect:
🩵 Rivals-to-lovers
🩵 Grumpy x Sunshine
🩵 Workplace Relationship
🩵 Forced Proximity
🩵 Music

Thank you to Julie Soto, Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Forever Publishing for a copy of this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This was a beautifully written book that had me swooning over Gwen and Alex. Even though there were a lot of orchestral terms that I didn’t quite understand, the story itself was so unique and not your typical love story.

I loved the rivals to lovers aspect between these two classical musicians. The tension between them was off the charts! Who knew playing violin and cello could be so sexy?!

This was the first book I’ve read by Julie Soto and I will definitely be reading her other books!

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and Netgalley for an ARC of this book which I voluntarily read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

NOT ANOTHER LOVE SONG has a lot going for it: an enemies to lovers vibe, a grumpy/sunshine character pairing, and some extremely sexy violin and cello duets (which definitely sounds improbable, but believe me here).

I haven’t read many books where both main characters are musicians, and my only true experience with the instruments Gwen and Alex/Xander—the aforementioned enemies turned lovers—play are from my instrumental covers playlist on Spotify, so I imagine it’s difficult to bring that passion to life through words alone, but Julie Soto has a writing style that made me clearly visualize those key scenes, a style that absolutely makes her books worth diving into.

This book will be a huge hit for many, especially those who loved FORGET ME NOT, the author’s previous book (look out for character cameos too!), and books that lean more into New Adult territory.

3.5 stars.

YES! I’ll admit, at the start of this book I was oddly nervous. However, with each page turned I became more enthralled by the story. Alex & Gwen captivated my heart and took me along their journey of love and finding who they want to be. I just adored this book so much

Hello, ‘tis I, here to not so much review, but rave over Julie Soto’s Not Another Love Song.

Because I *loved* this.

The story follows Gwen, an orphan raised by her grandfather who began violin lessons at the age of 11 and plays professionally in the Manhattan Pops orchestra, and Xander Thorne, a rockstar of a cellist who joins the Manhattan Pops and has no idea Gwen exists – until she has to suddenly play the cello at a wedding he’s in.

To say he’s obsessed is an understatement, but things get complicated when Gwen is promoted to first chair violin of the orchestra – a position *he* wanted because, of course, it turns out he’s actually a violin prodigy who has been casually moonlighting as a cellist because he can.

So there’s a rivals vibe here, as well as a grumpy x sunshine situation, but mostly the chemistry between Gwen and Xander is off the damn charts. And Julie Soto’s writing is both a ton of banter-filled, easy-reading fun and gloriously beautiful prose as she masterfully weaves in musical terms – even in (especially in) spicy scenes.

If you are a Reylo person, the dynamics and backstories here will likely seem very familiar (😉), wonderfully reimagined for a contemporary setting, and perfectly executed, and if you read Forget Me Not, then you’ll be very very delighted by a few cameos in this book. But if you have no idea what a Reylo or Forget Me Not is, then no worries at all, you will not be lost!

I absolutely loved this book – it’s an extremely satisfying romance read that’s packed with emotion and a but if angst, that sizzles with delicious tension, and that absolutely delivers on all fronts.