Forget Me Not by Julie Soto 💐

Ama is a wedding planner and with her mom having been married over 15 times, she's had plenty of experience with weddings. However, she's decided she never wants to get married. She's amazing at her job and has connections with a ton of vendors to plan the perfect wedding. There's one vendor she stays away from though, the florist who also is her ex Elliot. Ama gets hired to plan a celebrity wedding and they request for Elliot to do the flowers for their wedding. As it is too good of an opportunity to turn down, Ama and Elliot are forced to spend time together for the first time in 2 years as they work on arranging the wedding together.

I love a dual timeline for second chance romances and this one was unique to where Ama was the POV for the majority of the present timeline while Elliot was the POV for the majority of the past timeline. It was like reading two different stories from how different their personalities were and how they experienced their relationship. Elliot was the very quiet, grumpy flower shop owner who I ended up really liking. I wanted more of him! Ama I am kind of eh feeling about, but given her history with her mom and past job I get why she behaved the way she did.

I didn't realize this book was a much of a slow burn as it was! I didn't mind it too much cause I love a good slow burn, but I needed a little more romance in the present timeline for this to be a 5 star for me. I felt like all the romance was in the past timeline until the very end. And to be honest it felt like two different books, both Ama and Elliot seemed so different in the past timeline from their current timeline selfs. Plus dialogue was lacking in the present which is what always helps me be convinced of the chemistry between two people in a romance. If this were longer and more fleshed out it would have been perfect.

All that to say I still really enjoyed this! The dual timeline plus second chance plus fun setting and plot made for a really enjoyable read!

Tropes:
❤️‍🔥 slow burn
⏳ dual timeline
✨ second chance romance
💐 workplace romance
🌤️ grumpy (him) / sunshine (her)
🤫 secret tattoo

dual POV
4/5 stars ⭐️
2/5 spice level 🌶️

First and foremost I am a HUGE Julie Soto fan. I first discovered her writing on ao3 and when I found out she published a novel I requested a copy IMMEDIATELY. Now I will admit I am not the worlds biggest second chance romance lover. But Julie managed to make me love Ama and Elliot so much. I loved how Ama took charge at the beginning of their relationship. I mean that scene in the back room with the rose petals…I may never recover. I loved how the second Ama had an allergy attack Elliot was already planning on how he would make his entire house wheelchair accessible if she were to become paralyzed. I don’t know why but an allergy attack might be my favorite form of hurt/comfort. The third act disaster of the bathtub incident was very comical and exactly what the book needed. I’ll always have a special place in my heart for her Dramione works and this book was a great debut into traditional publishing.

A wedding planner heroine and a florist hero start with hookups during the reception and slowly become more, then heartbreak ruins everything until they have to collaborate on an influencer’s wedding. I really enjoyed the characters in this book, Elliot was so quietly intense and Ama was the perfect blend of capable and competent while having a believable weak spot. The cover is gorgeous and really fit the vibe of the book.

I didn’t love the plot device of keeping a secret from the reader - for most of the book, we don’t know what causes Ama and Elliot’s heart-shattering breakup, especially when they clearly both feel so strongly for each other. However, the external plot was engaging and the side characters brought some much needed relief from the intensity of Elliot and Ama’s bond.

As another plus, the visual descriptions of the flowers and wedding locations were stunning, it was so much fun to imagine Elliot’s beautiful creations and the spaces Ama designed. Overall, really enjoyed this book and would definitely read more from this author!

There us a lot of wedding planning in this book and I felt it completely overwhelmed the love story. The middle was very slow.

I struggled to connect with these characters. I did like how independent and driven Ama was, but Elliot was just really rude to everyone the entire book.

I liked the supporting characters a lot.

This was such a terrific second chance romance and a FABULOUS debut novel by Julie Soto! Ama and Elliot have brilliant beyond brilliant chemistry and tension that is so sizzling hot, I think I burned myself while reading this book. But in all seriousness, this is a novel that will make you believe in second chances and true love. I love the dual timelines and the way we see a couple ACTUALLY work through their feelings. AHHHH, SWOON.

3.5 stars. Great second chance romance with a solid plot. Very spicy. Grumpy sunshine trope with these characters who I loved. I read this in one day at the beach. I loved this story.

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

I scooped this up off of NetGalley just because I liked the cover and I love the depiction of the male main character. I am pleased to say I absolutely LOVED this book!

We meet Ama, who is establishing her own wedding planning company and she ends up landing a social media influencer's wedding. The catch is that her new clients are insistent on using "Bloom" as their florist, which happens to be ran by Ama's ex, Elliot Bloom. Ama and Elliot have a troubled past and we get flashbacks of when Ama and Elliot first met leading up to what happened between them throughout the book.

Elliot is the GRUMPIEST character within a sunshine/grumpy trope I have read in quite some time and I loved every second of him! It was so cute watching Ama and Elliot's initial relationship develop, along with their second-chance connection. Aside from the relationship plot, I also really enjoyed seeing Ama excel at her wedding planning and all of the challenges she faced within that aspect.

This would be one book that I would love to read again, and may own in multiple formats (paper, audiobook, etc). If you're into contemporary reads with some open door spice, consider this your recommendation to give Forget Me Not a read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader’s copy.

This was such a cute book. I am really enjoying the trend of fanfiction authors moving into traditional publishing. There is something about a story created by someone who also writes fanfiction that I just really end up enjoying for some reason. This book was a great romantic read. I don’t tend to go for second chance romances, but I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I enjoyed going back and forth between Ama and Elliot at the start of their relationship to present time where they are no longer speaking but are forced to work together. I also liked both Elliot and Ama as characters, and the wedding planner plot was really interesting. I would definitely recommend this book and am looking forward to other books by Julie Soto.

I am so glad I got to be introduced to this new author and I’m glad because this was an excellent read! The start was a bit slow with some build up but let me tell you…it was worth it at the end. Ama and Elliot’s chemistry is unmatched and his grumpiness?! We all know it’s a façade because he has such a sweet and gooey center. The dual timeline can be a bit much but once we’re caught up it flows so nicely. Thank you for an amazing arc!

I adored this book. I even bought a physical copy of it which is rare for me because I usually am not the type to buy books a lot esp after I read it. It is one of my top reads of 2023! Amazing book.

This was one of the best romance books I have read in a long time! I absolutely loved this entire story. Elliot is the perfect book boyfriend and the meanings behind his tattoos are beautiful. I cannot get over how much chemistry Elliot and Ama have with one another, especially when they are working on a wedding together.

There were a lot of moments in this book that I was just swooning over like Ama's name, the meaning behind Elliots tattoos, and I absolutely LOVED Elliots POV. Between the romance, the wedding drama, and the parts that kept me laughing, I could not put this book down.

Definitely the perfect summer romance read, especially if you love a good balance between plot and spice. I cannot wait to read more by Julie Soto!

This book!! This is what second chance romances are made of. There is not a single thing in this book I would change. Easy easy 5 stars!! Romance book of the year!

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy.

All I've seen lately is how this book is an unputdownable must read, so of course I jumped on it. I did enjoy it quite a bit! I thought the concept of a wedding planner and florist, enemies to lovers, second chance romance was fun. Their chemistry was great, and I loved the alternating timelines and their back story. I was a little bothered that we didn't know what happened between them the first time until the end. Instead of being anticipatory, it was frustrating. Then when the big reveal happens, I was super let down.

I liked Elliott (MMC) but Ama had some issues that were frustrating. I found myself rolling my eyes a bunch and wanting to shake her!

Overall, I did enjoy this one. The steamy scenes were on point and I liked how everything wrapped up at the end. Looking forward to this author's next book.

Forget Me Not was a fun, quick read set in the wedding industry (scratching that Wedding Planner movie itch, but without the messiness of stealing the groom, as both of our characters just work in the industry) Ama does the overall planning - and is trying to build her business up after leaving her toxic (that she doesn't realize is toxic) previous wedding planner role. Elliot is a florist who does elaborate, architectural designs and fell into the family business. The clients that cause our characters to reunite (it is a second chance romance) are social media personalities, which was a little exhausting - but they don't overshadow the story, and stan Ama and Elliot.

I could definitely feel the fingerprints of fanfiction/debut style writing - but overall a good read and I look forward to Soto's next work.

Thank you to the publisher, via NetGalley, for providing me with an arc for review.

✨ Review ✨ Forget Me Not by Julie Soto; Narrated by Callie Dalton, Teddy Hamilton

Ama's an up-and-coming wedding planner and Elliot's a grumpy florist who inherited his dad's flower shop. The story takes place through Elliot's POV in the past when Ama and Elliot meet and fall for each other; and in the present, after they broke up when they're forced to work together on the wedding of famous influencer Hazel and her fiancee Jackie who grew up in Sacramento.

I don't really like second chance romance usually, but this was an exception -- their time apart gave them time to grow and evolve, and their breakup wasn't due to some fundamental incompatibility, nor were they broken up for like half of their lives. The conditions of this worked, and their connection was magnetic!

I loved the grumpy/sunshine dynamic here and how they complemented each other and inspired greater creativity in each other. I'm far from obsessed over weddings, but I really liked hearing about the details of their installations and planning together. I also really liked Ama's team of ex-step-siblings from across her mom's 16 marriages.

As a flower-lover, the aesthetic of this book was A++.

The audio narration was great (and Elliot's voice was acted by the same narrator as in Fourth Wing!). I really enjoyed listening to this one1

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️(4.25)
Genre: f/m romance; second chance, grumpy/sunshine
Setting: Sacramento
Reminds me of:
Pub Date: out now!

Read this if you like:
⭕️ wedding planning & floral design
⭕️ second chance romance
⭕️ love in the workplace
⭕️ donuts and a grumpy florist with endangered flower tattoos!!!!!

Thanks to Forever and #netgalley for an advanced e-copy of this book!

I cannot congratulate Julie enough on all of her successes with this book. It is one of my favorite reads this year and now that it's officially published, I already find myself wanting to reread it so I can annotate the hell our of my physical copy.

If you haven't been following Julie's writing for the past few years, you lucky ducks get to go into this book blind on how fantastic of a writer she is. If you're like me and have been obsessed with her writing for awhile, then you will not be disappointed with her debut! She blew me out of the water with this one.

This is a second-chance romance, and she waves the past and the present together so well, giving you a full view into Ama and Elliot's story in a way that I haven't seen done before. Their romance is so sweet and I just love them as a couple.

And of course, Julie gives you all the most delicious tropes, include grumpyxsunshine, talk dark and tatted, and "I have everyone but you."

All this with some delicious spice to book.

5 stars, no doubt.

If you are like me and wore out your VHS copy of The Wedding Planner, this book is for you. Ama, like J. Lo's Mary, is dedicated to creating the perfect day for her couples but is less convinced she'll find her own forever relationship. Meeting Elliot Bloom (of course he's a florist) throws a wrench in her plans and in dual timelines, we see how they met, their relationship and how it all fell apart. I'd recommend this if you like grumpy book boyfriends, weddings, second chance or workplaces romances and as bonus you'll learn about some expired plants and flowers too ;)

Many thanks to Forever Grand Central and Netgalley for the ARC.

So many people loved this one and raved about it that I was ready to be wowed and I...well I wasn't. It was good but not great. Ama was incredibly annoying and Elliot's grumpiness didn't come off the page in a way where I had hopes for him to turn it around. I didn't buy the two together one bit and while I understand they both have baggage, I just kept screaming go to therapy. It sounds like I hated the book which isn't the case. It was absolutely fine but when I don't like the main characters in a romance, I'm not going to find the book to be as amazing as the rest of the world. Thank you to Forever for allowing me to read an early copy.

I know that so many of us have been loving the cover of this book. It’s stunning and totally what hooked me into reading it. I am so lucky to have had an ARC of this book. I think this was a strong debut and I’ll be looking out for more work from Soto in the future!

Ama was a character that I had a love/hate relationship with. I struggled with her inconsistent character development. I know, we are rooting for her but I didn’t quite understand. I loved how she was branching out on her own with her business. I really disliked how she relied so much on her past job and didn’t really see the red flags. She also had a lot of issues with commitment but it was all over the place. It just came off confusing. I understood her past and why she had certain stances but she didn’t realize her reality.

Elliot was the stronger character for me. I saw more of his development through their relationship but I wanted so much more of his past. He’s definitely a gruff character but we have no context from it. I would have loved more depth there. Don’t worry, there are plenty of things he will do that will make you melt and love him!

The romance was insanely steamy and very cute. If you love a second-chance romance then I think you’ll love this one! We get two different timelines throughout. Anna’s is mostly in the present and Elliot’s in the past. We get to see what happened in the past sprinkled throughout the book. I thought it was done really well and it added so much to the story. I thought a lot of the book was original and I loved the floral/wedding planner aspect.

Overall, I really enjoyed this and I can’t wait to read more from Soto! I would not be opposed to a novella or something about Elliot. haha. There are a lot of spicy moments in this one, so if you’re into that, you’ll love this one.

Many thanks to Forever and Netgalley for an e-arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to Netgalley for the E-ARC. I enjoyed this book so much. I loved the POV of both Ama and Elliot but I loved Elliot's more. I wanted to get Ama into therapy ASAP and wanted to hug Elliot and say now now everything will be okay. I loved banter between then I loved how the story started and how it ended. There was time I was like AMA lets get it together now but I enjoyed this story so much