I thought this was such a fun romance, I loved how it focused on two people working in the wedding industry and I always LOVE a second chance romance! Definitely a 4.5 star read.

Synopsis: Ama Torres is a wedding planner who doesn't believe in marriage. Her own mother has been married over a dozen times, so Ama believes that relationships and marriages aren't forever but that you can definitely have a great wedding party. She leaves the large party planning company she works for and is making her own way as a wedding planner for smaller, budget weddings until she lands a potentially career-changing opportunity - to plan the wedding for a huge social media influencer. The only catch is, the couple has already chosen their florist, who just so happens to be Ama's ex-boyfriend, Elliot.

When they had dated, they had fit together so perfectly, both personally and in their business endeavors. But Ama's refusal to commit to anything long-term had pushed them apart. Now forced to work together closely to design and pull off this huge wedding, will they be able to deny their chemistry a second time around?

Review: One thing I really loved about this story is that it was dual POV and dual timelines. In the "now", we are reading from Ama's point of view as she tries to plan this crazy wedding and work with Elliot again. In the chapters set in the past, we are reading from Elliot's point of view from when he met Ama and they start dating the first time. It gives such great context for how their relationship is now and their feelings toward each other. I love how in the past POV chapters, Ama basically just barrels into Elliot's life and makes herself comfortable there, and he is totally perplexed but also intrigued by her.

I also liked that Ama had commitment issues but still was a happy and fulfilled person. She loved her career and the couples that she got to plan weddings for, and always went above and beyond to do her best even though she didn't believe in commitment. I think she was secretly such a romantic but needed to come to terms with how her mother's approach to relationships had impacted her. Now that she's older and more mature the second time around with Elliot, she can see and approach things differently.

I so enjoy a good grumpy/sunshine and that's exactly what this is! Elliot has always been grumpy but in the "now" he is definitely not pleased to be back around Ama and it trying to maintain a gruff exterior even though he so clearly cares about her. You could totally feel the tension between them, this had such a good "slow burn" while still giving us some great spicy scenes.

The wedding storyline was a lot of fun and kept things interesting, I was really rooting for Ama to be able to pull it off. Overall this was such a fun read, thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review!

l'm giving this book 4.75/5. Thank-you to Net Galley, Forever publishing, and author Julie Soto for an advanced reader copy.
We find AMA a wedding planner being hired to do one of the weddings of the year. There is one small problem-one of the brides wants to use her exs flower shop for the wedding. No matter how much she tries to steer them in a different direction-they insist. So a few days later AMA finds herself in front of Elliot Bloom. They have the initial meeting and even the brides can feel the chemistry.
This book takes you back in time and you can see how AMA and Elliott meet and how they progress from there. He falls head over heels for this woman. AMA has a lot of personal things that make her a commitment phone (in the past towards marriage). Their relationship progresses with some hot scenes of past encounters and we finally see what happened to split them up.
Present day: we have now a film crew filming them and AMA's ex boss trying to slightly ruin the wedding. AMA gets the job and injures herself. However, Elliott helps greatly and AMA hears his pep talk to one of the brides and realizes that she still has feelings for him. Read the book to see how this end.
[loved the author's ability to write about emotionally challenged people. Really great read!

This book holds many of my favorite tropes - grumpy sunshine, he falls first being the two best. I enjoyed this book, and it was a quick read. Would definitely recommend to friends!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this book!

I loved this dual timeline, dual POV, second chance romance. Really I should've known it would be great based on the fact that the book boyfriend is named Elliot. IYKYK

Elliot was fantastic- I understood his character and motives easily. Ama was harder to empathize with as her actions didn't match her thoughts/words. She seemed to essentially be taking MMC for granted and using while it suited her. I liked the side characters but did feel like everything was a bit rushed at the end.

I think what kept me from fully embracing Ama was the fact that she KNEW her mother's relationships screwed up her views on love and marriage, even joked about needing therapy, but did nothing to understand or heal.

This was fun, sweet, and hot. Read it in one sitting on the beach. Julie Soto is a long time fan fiction writer and she pays such sweet homage to the fan fiction world in her arc copies. I really enjoyed this book and I think fans of Ali Hazelwood or Tessa Bailey will love this one as well! Thanks so much to @readforeverpub for the advanced copy!

How is it possible that this is a debut?!?? I could NOT put this book down.

We have so many tropes. And they are all very well done...
-grumpy sunshine
-second chance romance
-workplace romance
-he falls first

Elliot Bloom is my new book boyfriend and I would literally die for him. I loved hearing the past through his eyes. He was a true cinnamon roll hero, so grumpy, but sweet in disguise.

Ama was a bit more annoying. I did like her, but I didn't love how wishy washy she was. I think she did grow, which I love a good growth/development arc.

I will continue to read from this author and am very excited for his next book in 2024!

5/5

This 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍-𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 was so much better than I ever expected! I was 𝕖𝕟𝕣𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖𝕕 from the very beginning and I couldn’t put it down! I’ve been recommending it to everyone! It’s my top July read so far, and while we’re still early into the month, it’s going to be hard to beat! I 𝙖𝙗𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙙 both Ama and Elliot. I’m a sucker for dual timelines and POV and this has both.

Ama is a wedding planner who has just recently branches out on her own. She scored the biggest wedding of the year but it comes with a catch. She has to work with her grouchy florist ex-boyfriend.

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞:
✿Grumpy x Sunshine
❁Dual POV
❀Dual Timelines
✿Second Chance Romance
❁Brooding MMC
❀Spice
✿Feel Good Romance

4.25 stars

“No one should have to wait for happiness a second longer than they have to.”

I don’t think I’ll be able to say anything different than what most people are saying about this book. Forget Me Not is such a great debut novel. There is so much depth of feeling, that it had me laughing, crying, & my heart breaking & soaring. The writing was fantastic & I felt as though I could watch all the scenes play out in my head in such a colorful way; everything jumped off the pages.

I always find myself saying that I don’t like second chance romance, but I think maybe I do actually! I really enjoyed exploring the relationship between Elliot & Ama, their push & pull, especially with the flashbacks from Elliot’s POV. Tbh, I loved Elliot so much, he’s such a great character in an “I’m angry at the world but underneath I’m a soft little flower” way! I felt I resonated more with him than with Ama, & definitely agree with him that “flowers are better than people.” (btw did anyone have Reindeers are Better than People from Frozen stuck in their head after they read that? Just me?) He felt things so deeply & it was refreshing to see a MMC that wanted to pursue a girl seriously & make her a priority. He was a hero in every sense of the word for Ama & the wedding they were planning. He is a total sweetheart & I just know that Elliot is going to be the new book boyfriend of the summer!

In reference to Ama, I felt that in the flashback chapters, even though Ama was saying she wanted to keep things casual, it more felt like she was taking advantage of Elliot, just for sex & personal gratification- to get what she wanted from him but always keeping him guessing & at arm's length. For some reason, the more she denied her feelings, the more I started to get frustrated with her. It took me a really long time to warm up to her, & it wasn’t until basically the end that I found myself really rooting for her character, when she was confident in her decision making skills & was honest with herself.

Jackie & Hazel were such great supporting characters & I loved that they meddled in Ama’s love life. I think that the relationship of client vs. friend could have been explored a bit more since one of Ama’s struggles was to “be a professional”. Clearly, she had been scarred by Whitney’s words & she carried the hurt from it & allowed it to affect her work. However, it was interesting bc even though she put up walls, we could still see that her way of connecting & relating to her clients was extremely successful. Jackie & Hazel were able to balance work/play really well so it would have been nice to see that expanded with Ama.

My one point of contention for the whole entirety of the book (besides Ama in the beginning) are the last handful of chapters. I felt that they took away all the angst Elliot & Ama had working in the present during this wedding, & from their budding whirlwind romance in the flashback chapters. I’m dissatisfied bc I am not sure why or when Elliot’s feelings changed about his wants. He had been desiring this for so long, that when Ama made her big gesture to show Elliot how she really felt, he didn’t deny her, but he made it seem like this is not what he had been looking for all this time. It left me a little confused & I suppose this is a HFN ending, so there is hope for the couple, but with the entire story about marriages & weddings it felt a bit off for me.

Overall, this is a book I would highly recommend. The writing was great & the chemistry between the characters is undeniable. The spicy scenes were done so well, & this is such a refreshing story! Forget Me Not is for sure going to be talked about for a while! Also- can we give it up for the cover bc omg it's so beautiful! If you’re a fan of dual timeline, dual POV, second chance, angsty romances, you’ll be sure to love it!

Thank you so much to Netgalley & the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for a review!

I want to read every book that Julie Soto is going to write. It’s as simple as that. To say that I enjoyed this book would be an understatement, I adored it. Certain novels just seem to hit the mark for certain readers, well, this one hit me right in the heart.

A book is nothing without its characters, and Ama and Elliot were great characters. Other than working in the wedding industry, these two were opposites in every way. She was a bubbly, charismatic sweet tooth who was all about making a couple’s special day perfect. He was a brooding, grumpy man of few words who would rather eat dirt than sugar. Oh, but their chemistry was off the charts.

Ama’s goal was always to be a wedding planner and never a bride. She didn’t believe in the longevity of romantic relationships, her mother proved that point over and over…and over again.

Elliot wasn’t too experienced with relationships, but he believed that they could last. While he had a gruff exterior, he also had a vulnerable side that, I will confess, made my heart pitter-patter. He may have come across as rude and uninterested much of the time, but I don’t know, there was just something that I found endearing about him.

In my opinion, Forget Me Not was a perfect summer read. Okay, also the perfect fall, winter, and spring read. My point is, just read this book. It had great banter, plenty of humor (I actually laughed out loud), sizzling chemistry, and just an overall wonderful story.

*5 Stars

This book is still on my mind DAYS after reading which is always a good sign! Elliot is the owner of Bloom flowers and Ama is an up and coming wedding coordinator. Being forced to use Elliot as one of her vendors for an influencer’s wedding has Ama on edge because of course, they used to bang. I say that because Ama would NEVER admit that what they did was dating, let alone entering into a relationship with Elliot because commitment is strictly off limits for her. So banging it is. Elliott is the grump to Ama’s sunshine and yet this book was not tropey at all. I cannot put my finger on why I loved this book so much but I feel like I devoured it. And the more I read, the better and better it got. I think its uniqueness lies in the dual timelines: Elliot’s POV is firmly in the past and Ama’s is in the present. This allows the reader to see how Elliot falls for Ama and learns to love her (the past) while seeing the fear and awkwardness Ama has of working in the present day with Elliot as coworkers. The reader sees both MCs fears from these POVs and the tension builds as we work towards the “how will they handle their past now that they’re confronted with one another?” Being kept in the dark about what happened to Ama and Elliot keeps the anticipation of their interactions sizzling.

Which brings me to things I’m obsessed over:
-Elliot’s tattoos (like I actually Googled and looked up all of them)
-sex on a table with roses and dirt
-Love showing up when it counts
-All things flowers and wedding creativity
-FMC who asks for what she wants physically
-Ama’s gift to Elliot—SWOON!
-Really hot steamy scenes

I would hate to say more to ruin a good time, but definitely pick up this book if any of the above sounds interesting to you. Julie Soto is a force to be reckoned with! I received an advanced copy from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Well this was an amazing debut!

It’s a second chance romance between Ama, an up & coming wedding planner, and Elliot, her ex boyfriend and the florist already contracted to do the wedding Ama has just signed on to plan. It’s a well known influencer’s wedding that could launch her wedding planning career, so she’s forced to work beside the man who she shares a history with, which is unraveled through flashbacks as the book progresses.

Both characters were interesting and I liked Ama’s growth throughout the book, but the real winner for me here was Elliot. He comes across as grumpy and maybe a little rude but he’s so soft and gooey on the inside and is such a caretaker of Ama. He’s absolute book boyfriend material and I’m still swooning over the deliberate way he took care of Ama, even after she broke his heart. Also, he has a thigh tattoo.

Look, I’m not a fan in general of dual timelines (I lose interest when the timeline changes and I never feel like we get enough of them together in the present day because so much time is spent in the past) but I did appreciate that the past chapters were told from Elliot’s POV. He’s an outwardly stoic character so it was a much needed insight into what he was thinking.

The writing is light and funny but still emotional at times when it needed to be and it was honestly hard to believe this was a debut. There’s a good bit of steam, excellent supporting characters (I’m going to need Mar’s story next, thx), and a fun plot set around planning a splashy wedding.

Overall this was a really great read! Especially if you like dual timelines!

HOLY CRAP. This is tied with Yours Truly for my favorite read of the year so far. It was so dang good, and I saw EVERY SCENE like a movie in my mind. Incredible. Loved the wedding mischief, the dual timelines, Elliot is so DELICIOUSLY grumpy... their relationship evolution...and the spice? yummy. 5+++

Second chance romance featuring a wedding planner and a tattooed florist? Yes please 😍 Loved this debut ARC from @juliesotowrites —big thanks to @readforeverpub and @netgalley! Elliot Bloom is so swoony, y’all… like he’s so grumpy but also gets tattoos of extinct flowers 🌺🪻🌸 You will love him. I can’t wait to see what Julie Soto does next! Look out for this one on July 11th!

(Review originally posted on instagram @alyssaunabridged)

GO READ THIS!!

I loved this book. Ama is a badass wedding planner who is cute, personable and puts her 100% into the weddings she plans. Elliot is a grumpy florist who has a special touch and super creative mind. They worked amazing together... until Ama's fear of commitment and Elliot's want for more put a screeching halt to their relationship and business partnership.

It was so cool how this book was not only dual pov, but Elliot's chapters were in the past, showing us the memories and moments between the 2. The spice was phenomenal and I loved how Ama usually was the one teasing or "taking control".

The only thing I wish this book had was some more tension/longing visible between Ama and Elliot in the present day scenes. There were many scenes where Ama/Elliot still showed that they loved the other, but I wish there was more of that in the form of conversation/interaction. Regardless, this was a cute quick read that I will 100% recommend and can't wait to read more from Julie Soto.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for an e-copy ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Oh. My. God. Y'all, this book??? PHENOMENAL. Infinity stars all around! Was there crack in this?? I'm quite literally obsessed with this book.

Some people know I'm not a fan of second chance romances (with a few exceptions) but this book completely changed my mind. The tension between Ama and Elliot throughout the whole book had me on my toes wanting more! The chapters were the perfect length and the dual pov/timelines flowed so easily that I didn't realize I was powering through it. I had to pace myself because I was obsessed with them and didn't want this story to end!!

Any time Elliot was grumpy (which was most of the time), I couldn't stop giggling and blushing because deep down he adores Ama so much. Even after the end of their relationship, he still would do anything for her. And his tattoos?? HOT. Also, the spice in this book?? DOUBLE HOT.

This quote alone should convince you to read this book:

"Tell me why you want to know."
"Because I want to know you. I want to know what you like, what you hate—even if it's me... I want to love what you love, even if it's instinct."

And another quote I really liked, because why not?
"No one should have to wait for happiness a second longer than they have to."
(I literally started tearing up)

It'll take me at least 3-5 business days or more to fully process how much I loved this book and I am already itching to read it again. This has quickly become a favorite of mine for the year and I can't wait for it to hit the shelves on July 11th! Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Publishing (Grand Central Publishing) for sending an arc for my honest opinions!

What to expect:
-second chance romance
-dual pov/timelines
-wedding planner/florist
-spice!!
-he falls first and hard

Quick Synopsis:
Ama and Elliot both work in the wedding industry and immediately there is a connection between them that they can't ignore. Ama, who is a wedding planner, is afraid of commitment from her mom constantly re-marrying (16 times to be exact). When Elliot's father passes away, he takes over the flower shop and has been intertwining his architectural work into his floral designs.
Years later after an abrupt breakup, they both have to work together on a celebrity wedding. This might be the wedding that kicks off Ama's business, but when her toxic ex-boss and a film crew come along on the journey, will her and Elliot be able work with their past creeping back in?

Loved this one so much! I am floored that this is a debut novel because it was so well done.

I loved the alternating timelines between Elliot’s interpretation of the past and Ama’s perspective of their current situation. You cannot help but want to know right away what went wrong between Elliott and Ama and why their relationship is so strained, when it seems so amazing.

Ama is on the cusp of a breakout with her wedding planning business and Elliott’s flower shop is integral to the success of her biggest wedding ever. The way they work together is flawless despite the animosity, and with every chapter you hope for reconciliation.

Elliott and Ama are opposites but support each other in the best ways. Together they are such a creative force and it was so fun to imagine this wedding along side them. They also have some steamy chemistry on occasion, although that is not a big focus of the story.

The ending of this story was just everything you wanted to happen! So wonderful!!

This dual timeline, second chance romance was unforgettable! I was immediately drawn to is because - HELLO LOOK at this COVER 😍 and it did NOT disappoint 💜

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️

In this book we have the love story of Ama and Elliot. Ama is a happy, sweet wedding planner, running her own business and landing a celebrity wedding that will bring her a ton of exposure. Elliot, her ex, is a grumpy florist that the couple HAS TO have design their flowers.

We get the present day chapters in Ama’s POV, showing what it’s like to be near Elliot again. Elliot’s POV tells us what happens in the past, how they first fell for one another and what broke them apart.

This book was different and refreshing - I loved how each POV was a different timeline.

What you’ll find in Forget Me Not:
💐 Second chance
💐 Dual timeline
💐 Grumpy sunshine
💐 Wedding planner & Florist
💐 Forced proximity
💐 Opposites attract
💐 Tattooed hero
💐 Dual POV/first person

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own!

This book unfortunately didn’t hit the mark for me. I can see why everyone loves it, the premise of a florist hero and a wedding planner heroine is just lovely.
My personal opinion is that their relationship didn’t have a lot of emotional depth and relied on steam.

📖 ARC REVIEW 📖

Thank you @readforeverpub for an early copy of Forget Me Not by Julie Soto. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. 🤍

Forget Me Not is a enemies to lovers, second chance romance between Ama and Elliot. Ama is a wedding planner who does not believe in marriage, with her mother’s marriages not lasting long, but she believed in weddings and finds them amazing. Elliot, meanwhile, is a florist who hated owning a flower shop, until he met Ama. Two years ago, they worked on a lot of weddings by day, and spent their nights together, until Ama broke his heart and never spoke to Elliot again. Now they’re working on a wedding that could make and break their careers after two years of now speaking to each other, and the two brides they’re working with are determined to set them up together not knowing their history.

I honestly felt that the first 80% of this novel felt too slow; I felt like that big chunk of the book was just the foundation and wasn’t giving on many details regardless of how it’s giving the present and past POVs. It took me a while to finish this and was so close to DNFing it, given that I wasn’t feeling the chemistry between Ama and Elliot at all except when they had sex; their attraction outside of sex felt too forced in the past, and they barely interacted in the present.

Some of the things I loved were the MCs individually. I enjoyed Ama’s determination and passion for each wedding she plans, down to the very last detail (I honestly felt like this could be a wedding planning novel, not a romance one 😅), and I enjoyed Elliot’s POV since his parts always come with the spiciest scenes. 🔥

This novel has a lot of potential, but I feel like the entirety of it is all over the place. Rating Forget Me Not ⭐⭐⭐ /5. Released last July 11th, 2023, and available to purchase from book retailers.

I really enjoyed the writing and the characters, but having it be dual POV and different timeliness was a little much for me personally. I think it really broke up the flow of the story. Regardless I liked it but didn't vibe with the style of storytelling.