thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!!

this was such a fun debut novel! Julie Soto's writing is fun and engaging.
novels that center around weddings aren't usually my thing, but I think Soto gave this plot a fun and fresh new take.

Elliot the grumpy tattooed florist was super swoon-worthy and Ama is such a hardworking woman, I couldn't help but root for her.

if you enjoy dual POV, second-chance romance, hookups, wedding planning, banter, and Ali Hazelwood books -- then I'd definitely give this one a shot!
i look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

I always love when I find a romance novel that I don’t want to put down. I’m pretty picky with the genre and while I like many romance books, I often find myself wishing for more.

Anyway, this one had it all for me! Ama is a wedding planner, and right away I was getting vibes from The Wedding Planner (the movie). My sister and I have always been obsessed with that movie, and I loved that this had a similar feel to it.

Elliot was the perfect MMC, which is interesting because I hated him in the beginning. I’m all for a grumpy x sunshine trope, but he was next level grumpy. Like just unbelievably rude. But for inexplicable reasons, that kind of behaviour in fictional characters often ends up working for me (and I know I’m not the only one).

I was also not expecting so much spice! This book had no business being so hot, I’m just saying.

Finally, the ending was flawless and it was honestly playing in my head like the perfect romcom movie. Can’t recommend this one enough for all the romance lovers!

Thank you to Forever Publishing for my gifted copy!

Ama is a wedding planner who doesn’t believe in love. Her own mother has been married many times, and she’s not willing to get married. Years ago, she dated Elliot, a florist who she worked with on many weddings, but when it didn’t work out they avoided one another. When Ama is chosen for the biggest wedding of her career, she must work with Elliot again.

I loved this debut from Julie Soto! It was such a sweet (and occasionally spicy) read. I loved the wedding planning storyline as well as the floral meanings that are woven into the story. There are great tropes used, including grumpy/sunshine, second chance romance, and enemies to lovers. It’s beautifully written, and I can’t wait to read more from this author!

Thank you to Julie Soto and Forever Publishing for sending me an arc of this book.

Such a cute read oh my goodness. I didn’t connect with the past versions of the characters as much as I did with the current versions but I loved their dynamic and the character development was super cute!

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
🔥🔥🔥

Quick Breakdown

Second Chance
Forced Proximity
Grumpy x Sunshine
Slow Burn
Secret Tattoo
Debut Romance
Dual POV
Open Door - Moderate Detail

Ama, an independent wedding planner, scores the chance of a lifetime to plan the wedding of a famous influencer. The exposure from a high profile wedding like this could bring her business to the next level. Only problem, the brides already hired a florist - her ex boyfriend who she hasn’t spoken to in two years.

There was a lot to love here, it’s no surprise the great reviews Forget Me Knot is getting. I loved Julie’s writing. I can’t believe this was a debut! It’s smart & had depth. I’m very excited to pick up more by her in the future.

I loved the wedding planning aspect. I always used to joke that if my nursing career didn’t work out, I’d want to go into wedding planning. I appreciated all the precision & planning involved, the creativity required to create elaborate & magical designs.

I loved Elliot. He’s such a soft & quiet cinnamon roll with A+ sexual prowess - my favorite kind of hero! I wish we had more of him & Ama interacting in the present. Where I struggled was with Ama. While I believe she had realistic mental hurdles to overcome because of her mommy issues / toxic relationship with her old boss, it was hard to watch her make the choices she made. I’d love to have seen more of her & Elliot together to balance it out, but alas.. the slow burn.

Forget Me Not is told in dual POV & dual timelines in a style that was new to me. Ama’s POV was the present & Elliot’s POV was the past. I loved how it added to the story & my love for Elliot!

This maybe a me thing, but I struggle when the reader is kept in the dark about the reason a couple broke up the first time. That was the situation here. While reading, I was able to put together on my own what pulled our MCs apart, I wish it was addressed earlier.

I listened to this on my drive home from vacation & I highly recommend this one if you’re into audio. It’s narrated by Callie Dalton & Teddy Hamilton. I love their voices & I think I got more out of this by listening. I couldn’t put it down!

This was an incredible second chance + forced proximity romance, one of the best trope combinations if you ask me. Admittedly, I’m picky about dual timelines, but this one did it well! The pacing even with the dual timelines was great and I never felt like anything was being dragged out. AND the tension was toooo good.

I really enjoyed this one... until the last 5%. it didn't ruin it for me, but it felt like things were crazy rushed at the end. And then almost had an ambiguous ending? It didn’t seem like we got a clear answer on her thoughts on marriage and if she had changed her mind or if he was now willing to compromise. Since it was the reason they broke up in the past, I wish it had been more clear what their feelings were on the subject. Still a very enjoyable read and would recommend!

This is a tough one to review. I liked it, but didn't love it. I enjoyed the dual timelines with Ama's in the present and Elliott's in the past. I'm always a fan of a grumpy/sunshine trope, but I'm not sure that Ama was quite enough sunshine to classify it as that; however, Elliott was plenty broody. I love weddings and it was fun to dive into the wedding planning/florist side of the industry. Overall, it was good.

3.5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of Forget my Not by Julie Soto!

4.5⭐, 3🌶️

"There is no falling out of love for people like you and me."

I LOVED THIS BOOK! It is certainly deserving of ALL of the positive hype its earned and I was so excited to finally get to reading to it! The wedding hijinx, Elliott being the perfect grumpy MMC for everyone but Ama, and the wonderful complexity of Ama's growth had me smiling the entire book! As always with a SC romance, the angst of the 'now' plot, versus the 'swooniness' of Then was just wonderfully done.

Tropes:
💜Second Chance Romance
💙 Grumpy x Sunshine
💚 Duel Timeframe
💙 Florist x Wedding Planner
💜 He Falls HARD

Thank you NetGalley and Forever (Grand central Publishing) for an eARC of Forget Me Not by Julie Soto!

I received an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ama, a passionate wedding planner, delights in working closely with couples to bring their dreams to life. She invests time in getting to know her clients to ensure their special day is filled with magic and beauty. Despite witnessing her mother's numerous marriages, Ama is skeptical about the idea of marriages lasting forever, but she strongly believes in throwing incredible parties for everyone to enjoy.

When Hazel and Jacquie approach Ama for their wedding planning needs, she sees a promising opportunity. With a generous budget and Hazel's strong social media presence, Ama realizes this could be a chance to expand her business. However, a significant obstacle presents itself - Ama and the chosen florist, Elliot, have a complicated history involving a falling out and a brief romance.

The book proved to be a delightful and engaging summer read with a touch of steaminess. A reader could easily envision the story adapted into a captivating movie, ultimately awarding the book a well-deserved four-star rating.

Forget Me Not

This book! It was everything I wanted. Easily the best romance I’ve read in literal, actual years!

Elliott was the perfect (PERFECT) grump. Ama was confident and competent. It wrecked me in the best way and had all the dopamine feels I could have asked for.

The wedding backdrop was like watching a really good episode on TLC. The villain comeuppance? Chef’s kiss? The perfect gifts and endless protection from Elliot? SWOON.

I. AM. IN. LOVE.

I wanted to not like the ending, but actually, I do, so everything worked.

10 stars ⭐️

I heard so many good things about this book before I read it ---- and they were all true! This is one of my top reads of 2023 and Julie Soto is now an auto-read author for me. The dual timeline really amped up the anticipation and intrigue; what had happened with Ama and Elliot in the past and how would the current wedding event impact their relationship? It was truly a "can't put this down" and "just one more chapter" kind of book. It had delicious spice, just the right amount of angst, some fun supporting characters, and the cherry on top was the amount of detail Julie put into describing the epic wedding designs. It was a joy to spend these pages with Ama and Elliot and be part of their ups and downs. And, not gonna lie, Elliot, in all his gentle gruffness, stole my heart!

Content warnings: death of parent (off the page, past), allergic reaction (non-fatal), workplace and sexual harassment, family with frequent divorces.

Endless gratitude to Julie Soto for writing this beautiful story and to Read Forever Pub and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I LOVED THIS BOOK

The use of the dual timeline in this book was one of my favorites. Having one character POV per timeline was brilliant and I adored it.

The wedding planning stuff was done so well and it made me want to be one again.

The dynamic between the characters was amazing and had me swooning and screaming every chapter.

It's a masterpiece. No notes.

This book was so cute and different from other romances I have read. I I first heard Ali Hazelwood raving about this book and others as well and knew I had to read it. This was such a cute romcom that did not disappoint! Ama is a wedding planner and Elliot owns a flower shop and they are both assigned to work together on the same wedding. If you love a good second chance romance, definitely read this one!

Read if you like:
Second chance
Grumpy x sunshine
Dual POV
Wedding industry romance

I really enjoyed how this book didn't follow the traditional formula of a romance. Overall I enjoyed the story. I just found myself wishing for more. I wanted to see more of Ama & Elliott's happy times, more of Ama's connections with her stepsiblings, & more friend connections for both of them. That said I will definitely read more books from this author in the future.

I have been a huge fan of Julie Soto as a fanfic writer for years, so I was super excited to get my hands on her debut novel Forget Me Not. It did not disappoint! In Forget Me Not, Julie has created instantly vivid characters that jump off the page and a swoon worthy second romance that pairs a grumpy tattooed florist with a sunshine wedding planner.

Ama Torres is planning the biggest wedding of her career, but it all could come crashing down because the florist for the wedding is none other than her ex Elliot Bloom, whose heart she broke years ago. She tries to keep a cool and professional head around the still-taciturn and grumpy Elliot, but because this is a romance book the sparks fly once again and Ama has to decide if she's brave enough to take a chance on Happily Ever After.

I loved this book so much. From Ama's love of donuts to the fact that the whole plot revolves around a wedding (because who doesn't love weddings?), this book was funny, immersive, sexy and sweet.

I also had the pleasure of interviewing Julie Soto about this book for my podcast The Nerds Awaken, which you can find on Apple podcasts and Spotify.

I'm not sure when the last time was when I read a romance with a wedding planner. And after reading the synopsis, I couldn't wait to check this one out.

I'm a sucker for second chances, so I dove right in to see what we'd get in this one. And it wasn't all that I hoped it would be, but definitely, a few moments that I did love.

Forget Me Not is told through some flashbacks between the past of when they first meet up to when they break up, and the present when they're back in each other's spaces for a celebrity wedding. I've always struggled with flashbacks, but we do learn a little bit from them at least. The dual POV was helpful to see what was going through the MCs heads, but I felt like their character development definitely could have been way more by the end.

Elliot definitely had his glowing moments, but he wasn't as grumpy as I thought he'd be. His love for design and the flowers was one of my favorites. And his tattoos! Just want to put an emphasis on that because of the meanings behind them. As a tattoo lover, I appreciated it! But overall, I just feel like I didn't know enough about him to truly understand him.

Ama. I struggled with her character a bit especially when they finally had something going on. It really felt like it was a casual hook-up thing the whole time. I understand her fear of commitment, which stems from witnessing the many relationships/marriages her mom has had. There's absolutely some trauma there that I wished she worked through because some of it was truly heartbreaking. By the end, she finally understands and sees a future with Elliot, but I felt like we could have seen more development in her character as well.

Romance, I need so much more and barely get that in the present, unfortunately. It wrapped up a little bit too quickly for me.

This book will be a major win for so, so many and I'm bummed it didn't work for me. I definitely want to try again with this author, I'd say it was a solid debut.

I’m not a huge fan of second chance romances. If it didn’t last once I doubt it’ll last again but I found myself really enjoying this. We can see Ama’s trauma from watching her mother’s countless failed marriages. It bleeds into Ama’s life making her not want relationships.

I really like how the present is told in AMA’s POV and the past in Elliot’s POV. Slowly learning about Elliot through this past interactions really give us the details we need the more often we see Elliot in the present. Ama’s infatuation with his tattoos quickly became my infatuation with his tattoos and I waited all book to find out what his new one was (though already suspecting).

I instantly fell in love with Ama. In the opening wedding where she is orchestrating a flawless wedding that shows her attention to detail and dedication to her work. Ama is a total boss babe. But with reading her internal monologues in the present about having to navigate working with Elliot I grew to be more frustrated with her. Through the flashbacks we see Elliot not push Ama into defining the relationship even though we know he wants to. He doesn’t even disclose to his mother that they’re together (but not). We see he gives up so much to be with Ama and yet she gives nothing up for him.

I loved the contrast of they way Ama runs her business compared to Whitney. I wonder how Whitney was able to be so successful without getting to know her clients. Of course Ama can take it too far getting invited to bachelorette parties and then also too casual in way her clients talk to her but getting to know their character and taste really elevated Ama’s catering style.

I’m only disappointed that we didn’t get to live through the thoughts of Ama and Elliot watching the TV special as it aired. I would’ve loved to see their initial reaction of Whitney being painted as the villain. But definitely knowing she got taken down a notch with the memes is great. There were also some lines in this book that I can imagine Julie Soto cackling as she wrote them. And I cackled had I read them.

Overall I really enjoyed this and would recommend it to anyway wanting to read a tension filled wedding romance with a well thought out character arc.

Wow, what a great read.

Ama has been a wedding planner since she graduated from high school. After several years of working for someone who she has always looked up to, she's starting her own business.

Then theres Elliot. Elliot inherited his father's flower shop and had to drop out of college before you get his degree in architecture..

Ama and Elliot discover they are better together than a part when it comes to the business world. They feed into each other's creativity and work together to make perfect weddings... And the sex is great too. But Ama only does temporary ans Elliot is in it for the long haul.

Forget me not was told from two point of views, Elliott's which was from the past, and Amas which was current. It took us back to when they first became " Elliot and Ama" and then shows us their current situation, working together agter not soeakinf for over 2 years on a high profile wedding.

This book had a little bit of everything. Curve balls, suspense and spice. It's a great book to pick up when you're looking for a good romance novel.

4.5

This second chance romance had everything I love in a romance novel:

- Dual POV
- Dual timeline
- Steam!!
- Interesting and well-developed MC’s

What I appreciated about the story:

- The wedding planning aspects especially for the celebrity wedding and how passionate Ama was about her career as a wedding planner
- Elliot’s sexy flower tattoos
- How Ama was the one who didn’t want to be in a committed relationship given her mom’s history with marriage
- Wedding reality TV show, which provided the perfect ending for the antagonist, Ama’s ex-boss, Whitney’s sub-plot - it was quite satisfying!
- The gorgeous book cover and the Sacremento setting

Highly recommend this one especially if you joined the rom-com The Wedding Planner starring Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Lopez.