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

Hello slow burn.
Hello unforgettable MCs.
Hello incredible supporting cast with rep 👏🏼
Hello background story on self worth, professional gaslighting, and how we put trust in people that never had our best interest at heart.
Hello book I was told was a romcom but it’s not. It’s so much bigger than that.
Hello life lessons that end with broken feet and a horse meme.

Thank you @lambsbooks (forever grateful 🥹) for reviewing this and telling me I would love it. I ran over to NetGalley thinking I was too late to get an ARC but requested it anyways… and here I am, feeling all the feels over a wedding planner whose mom has been married 16 times and a florist who’s also an architect and somehow still struggles to understand Instagram (don’t we all?! 😂)

Hit preorder. Hit it now. Julie Soto is going to explode. And I’m here for all of it. 🖤🙃

What’s inside:
🖤second chance romance
🖤slow burn
🖤grumpy x sunshine
🖤opposites attract
🖤dual timeline
🖤dual POV

Adult. 5 stars ⭐️

I don't know if it's because I'm currently planning a wedding or not, but this book was everything for me. It's the 31st book I've read in 2023, but I think it shot up to my favorite for the year. Ama is incredible, Elliot is incredible, the setting is incredible, and the sex isincredible. And you're telling me this is a debut book from Julie Soto?! If that's the case, she is going on my automatically read list. Very exciting to see what she writes next.

He's counting backwards....

Elliott Bloom is a florist who tattoos rare and extinct flowers on his body. He counts the days., minutes, from moments of his and Ama's relationship. Spanning years, past and present, we are quickly immersed in wedding planner Ama and florist Elliott's relationship. They are both very self aware new adults, adulting. Fresh and a more accurate take on a leading man and leading woman. Elliott is great, sensitive and emotional, and Ama channels The Wedding Planner perfectly.
Recommend.

Ama Torres is a wedding planner in Sacramento. She spent years working for the towns biggest event planner (Whitney Harrison) before starting out on her own. She specializes is smaller, very personalized weddings. A big name cosmetic influencer with her own brand asks for Ama to design her wedding to a local girl. The stakes couldn’t be higher. If she can pull this off it will secure her future. The only catch is they insist a friend, Elliott Bloom for floral design. Elliott is fantastic at what he does but Ama and he were involved for six months and it didn’t end well.

I was at first put off by the moody, broody Elliott. But Sotos writing and his story arc won me over. I’m not a tattoo person and Elliots made me swoon. The chapters count down to the future wedding and intermix with the story of Torres and Blooms first meeting and their relationship then. Ama's story seems more straightforward I don’t want to spoil anything by sharing specific details. But I love that she gets big moments. I absolutely believe in Ama and Elliotts HEA.

I love that the author flips the script whether it is during their first moments of intimacy and continuing to who says I love you first. The book surprised and delighted me. I’m in the minority by not loving the cover. It gave me vampire vibes. But it is striking and memorable. I will look for whatever Julie Soto writes in the future. Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC and I am leaving a voluntary review. (4.5 Stars)

Forget Me Not is everything I had hoped it would be. An up and coming wedding planner/organizer is forced to work with her nemesis, who happens to be a wedding florist? Sign me up. Julie Soto’s writing style is intoxicating and you can’t help but be fully invested in both her characters and their stories. I love the history between the MC and the love interest and I loved the grumpy x sunshine trope. As it is one of my favorite tropes to read in a book, I absolutely devoured it in this story. I would highly recommend picking this up to my customers and my coworkers. Another romance for the win! I would definitely pick up this author’s future releases.

Forget Me Not is a delight. Florists, wedding planners, and disasters strike. It's perfect for fans of second chance romance, work place romances, and grumpy meets sunshine. I ended up reading this in a few days I was so in love with Ama and Elliot. There's nothing better than a grump who is super protective of you. It's a character type I will never get over. So Forget Me Not is a charming romance which also examines love and commitment.

This book was cute! I found it to be an easy, entertaining read that I consumed in a few hours and I’m happy I did so. It was well-written and the characters were interesting and unique.

Descriptions: emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial

Premise:
-Ama Torres is a fairly new wedding planner in the Sacramento area in California
-She often enlists her ex or current step-siblings in her work, as her mom has been married 15 times
-Ama used to work for Whitney, a renowned wedding planner & has doubts about measuring up to Whitney
-Ama's first-person POV is told in the present
-Ama scores the wedding of the year of influencer/beauty connoisseur Hazel & her fiancé Jackie Nguyen (Jackie is from the area & always dreamed of getting married at the local rose garden)
-Elliot Bloom is the owner of Blooming, a florist in the area and has taken over since his father's passing
-Eliot's first-person POV is told in the past, starting with about five years ago and provides the backstory as to why Ama & Eliot no longer speak
-Eliot & Ama navigate working together & being around each other again for the first time in over two years

Thoughts:
I am so glad I never read premises because this was an absolute delight! I'm ecstatic to have found another new local author to support (I'm from the SF Bay Area). Ama's backstory & upbringing was unique, as I haven't met anyone whose parent has been married that many times; thus, Ama's feelings towards marriage and commitment made sense and made me feel for her. I can only imagine how that shapes and impacts you when it comes to romantic love especially.

The wedding planning aspect of this was an absolute romp; I used to work for a party rental service and my favorite clients were the wedding planners. It was magical to see their visions come to life, and Ama's passion and enthusiasm for her clients' big days were fleshed out so well. Her well wishes were evident in how badly she wanted to cultivate the perfect wedding day to represent each client. Even though she never saw herself getting married, she took reverence in these weddings and that was something so admirable in Ama that I think we can all take a lesson from!

Eliot on the other hand, was so rude for no reason in the beginning. It took me a bit to warm up to him but I guess that was the point hahaha. I enjoyed reading the scenes of him sharing the stories behind each of his six tattoos, and similarly to what I respected about Ama, Eliot is so clearly passionate about his work. I don't know much about flowers but Eliot's excitement rubbed off on me! I want to know more about all of these flowers now! Who am I?!

I appreciated the millennial angst in not knowing if you could ever measure up to your mentors, and the way this is displayed in the uncomfortable power dynamic between Ama & Whitney. The fact that Whitney tells Ama she needs to be "more professional" is such a boomer x millennial conflict, and I think many of us can relate to this. As someone who continues to learn about anti-racism, intersectional feminism and abolition theory, I've pretty much thrown the boomer idea of "professionalism" out the window. It's antiquated and tired. Yet, I can empathize with how Ama wants to run her business, with care and a personal touch. What Whitney interprets as unprofessional makes Ama feel guilty and second guess herself as a wedding planner. Ama's willingness and enthusiasm in getting to know her clients only provides an even more intentionally planned day for them. Ama's clients end up with a day that feels intimately theirs, rather than a cookie cutter Instagram-worthy wedding that screams copy & paste.

Anyway, I will absolutely read more from Julie in the future & I can't wait to see her on tour this weekend!

Tropes:
-second chance
-forced proximity
-grumpy x sunshine
-opposites attract
-workplace romance
-main character scared of commitment/doesn't believe in it (& changes her mind hehe!)
-sneaky public rendezvouzs!

Representation:
-child of divorce
-child of parent who passed away
-lesbian side characters

Steam: 2.5/5 -- a lot of fun tension and great steamy scenes!

Quotations that stood out to me:
I can always get a good sense about a couple when I ask about their engagement story. I’m not saying it’s a proven method to know if they’re going to make it, but…the brides with the loveliest engagement stories are the ones I haven’t done twice.

“A wedding is not a marriage. Marriages will never be perfect. They’re always a work in progress. But weddings? Weddings are just a moment in time, striving to be perfect.

That would require sacrificing a bit of my brand, which up till now has been Millennial Modern Affordable with a personal twist.

I’ve been trying to set clearer boundaries. The line of professionalism with the clients and the vendors has always been my weakness. I love getting to know people and finding out what makes them happy. But blurring the lines always gets me into trouble. Always.

I decided to break from the millennial stereotype when I stopped renting. Don’t worry—I still spend $6,000 a year on avocado toast. They let me keep my membership card.

There is nothing in the world that cannot be solved by the first bite of a perfect donut. I am, of course, excluding serious world problems—but even then, I think that if we could all just sit down and have a donut, things might get better.

“We like it tight!” Jackie gasps. “And that’s not a sex thing! That’s just something that came out of my mouth!”

flowers are infinitely better than people. Because you can find a person’s ratio of light, water, and attention, and it still won’t be enough. For flowers, it’s enough.

I don’t believe long-term commitments like marriage work out, but I do believe in love. It can be fleeting and undependable, rarely long-lasting, but I do believe it exists.

My favorite of my mother’s husbands are the ones with kids who need job experience.

I’m addicted to my phone. One day we will have support groups for this—our backs curved like croissants, our thumbs twitching with the need to swipe, all blinded from the blue light.

If there’s one thing Elliot Bloom is not, it’s casual.

“Well…” I hesitate. “She stood in front of his house every day, carving a golden arrow into her heart. On the thirtieth day, a crimson flower sprouted from her chest. And he finally noticed her.”
“Oh, that’s beautiful,” Jackie says. “Gotta love the Greeks. All that unrequited love and sacrifice.”
“Sacrifice?” a deep voice resonates. His hands are hard at work at a bouquet without our notice. “He didn’t want her, so she carved herself into something he liked, something he wanted.”
I feel that golden arrow now, carving, carving.
“Of course, you would identify with the man,” Jackie scoffs. It’s supposed to lighten the mood. I force my lips upward.

“What the fuck is on your lips?”
She blinks quickly, and then reaches up as if I’ve told her she has a mustache. “No, I mean…” I sigh. “Is that some designer shit? Is that why it doesn’t get messed up when I’m kissing you?”
“It’s Hazel Renee,” she says, simply. As if that answers it.
“I don’t give a fuck who it is. I want you to look debauched when I’m debauching you.”

She’s saying the most insane things—things that only get whispered to you in dreams.

I had a good childhood, so it’s not like I’ve never received an excellent present before. But it’s the surprise from someone who knows you on a level no one else will—someone who’s opened up your chest and fit themselves inside.

There’s a flower in my chest, just now starting to meet sunlight, finally blossoming.

Growing up, it was a truth universally acknowledged that Sacramento was a place to leave—at least in my experience. The theater was in New York. The beaches were in LA. The culture was two hours west in San Francisco. And what even was CSU Sacramento? I grew up surrounded by people who agreed that Sacramento is a great place to raise a family, but if you’re going to be an artist—get out. And I did. But like most Hallmark love stories where a city girl must return home from New York and learn to love her hometown roots with the help of a rough and rugged carpenter or mechanic or boatswain, I came home to Sacramento. And that boatswain, for me, was Forget Me Not.
----From the author's note & I love this lil reflection!

This book was a lot of fun! I don’t normally enjoy the grumpy sunshine trope, but this one felt different.
Ama is a wedding planner who runs her own business. When she is approached by a celebrity to design the wedding of the year, she’s absolutely shocked and excited. That is, until she finds out that she will have to work with her ex.
Elliot is a florist with experience in architecture. After his father’s death, he reluctantly takes over the family’s floral business. When he realizes that his architectural experience can be used to his advantage, he slowly begins to love what he does. His amazing floral displays make up for his lack of manners.
Ama and Elliot haven’t spoken since they split three years ago. Now the two must find a way to work together and create a wedding that could make or break their careers.
I loved the characters in this book and the way the author describes the scenery and floral designs made me feel like I was watching a movie. The only negative thing I could say is that I wished there was a little more of Elliot’s experience in the present (the book has multiple timelines with Elliot’s POV as the past). Overall, this book is a must read for romance readers. I highly recommend it!

This is going to be a lot of people’s read of the summer! It’s grumpy x sunshine, forced proximity, second chance romance and a lot of fun!

Ama is a wedding planner who doesn’t believe in marriage. When she gets the client of a lifetime whose social media presence could skyrocket her career it seems too good to be true. Of course, the client insists on working with a florist that Ama has a history with.

Julie Soto’s characters are so lovable, and the pacing of this story was great. Also, the execution of dual timeline/dual POV was seamless. There is a lot to like about Forget Me Not, I had multiple laugh out loud moments and the romance was authentic and interesting.

“I want to love what you love - even if it’s extinct.”

I am telling you right now, this is going to be one of my top books of 2023. I loved it so much I want it injected into my veins. I want the cover of this book made out of a flower wall. I want to dance with it on the rooftop of an abandoned building. I want Elliot…just, like, in general. It was just so good.

Ama Torres is a wedding planner who has just landed what could be her big break - the wedding of a major influencer/actress. Unfortunately, the couple is already set on a florist - Elliot Bloom, Ama’s ex. With a chance too good for either to back out, Elliot and Ama are forced to work together for the first time since their break up. Will their relationship blossom into what it once was? It’s a second chance romance - what do you think? Of course it does.

I loved these two so much. I am always a sucker for grumpy/sunshine, and I loved this one especially. Within the flashbacks we see all of Elliot’s walls break down as Ama works her way into his heart. In the present we see Ama struggle as she craves the old normal.

Speaking of past and present: If you are a musical theatre nerd who likes The Last 5 Years, might I recommend this book and its similar format without all the overwhelming toxicity of the relationship. With Ama’s POV we get the present, and with Elliot’s we get the past. You’re able to see what went wrong and how, while also seeing them try to manage being around each other now in the aftermath of it all falling apart. It’s such a great method for dual POV and I loved seeing them in love contrasted to them struggling to be around each other.

I could go on for so long )and I will to all my book club friends who I am already begging to read it), but please. Please read it. It’s so good. Give this book the love it deserves.

Tropes: Grumpy/Sunshine, second chance romance, forced proximity, dual timeline, dual POV, flower shops, slow burn, hot man with flower tattoos and few words, woman with a tooth as sweet as she is and too many words, cat with a literary pun name, if you don’t take care of yourself I will, sex everywhere but a bed (genuinely I’m not sure if these two ever actually had sex in a bed….)

Thank you NetGalley and Forever for the ARC!

Forget Me Not by Julie Soto is a swoon worthy romance revolving around wedding planner Ama Torres as she organizes the dazzling upcoming wedding for viral influencer, Hazel Renee & her bride, Jaqueline Nguyen…did I forget to mention that she must partner with her ex, once love of her life & florist, Elliot Bloom because that happens too?! This story is sure to captivate any romance fan & maybe even make you want to plan a Pinterest wedding.

The author does an incredible job of creating such picturesque environments where the reader feels like they are apart of this story. The wedding planning aspects were just incredible. I gained a new found respect for the intricacies of wedding planning but also an appreciation for the beauty of flowers, especially rarer ones. Elliot was such a unique hero with his broody nature but also the deep well of his creative side that flowed naturally onto the pages. His love for flowers was very attractive & made for a character with depth. I also loved that the heroine was such an ambitious & career driven woman. I love seeing woman in power succeed & reap & enjoy the benefits of said success.

The passion for their careers, their talents & their love is next level & makes the reader ache for them to get together. The flashbacks to the past as their story is unveiled little by little slowly paint such a lovely picture.

I can easily see this being one of the hit romances of the summer.

If anyone is looking for their next romance, I would recommend not forgetting to add Forget Me Not to your list!

Massive thanks to NetGalley & Forever Publishing for the gifted arc, which I voluntarily read & reviewed.

I have been looking forward to this book/audiobook for months. I have heard such good things about it, so it bums me out that I didn't enjoy it more.

Ama Torres is a wedding planner and has the opportunity to plan her biggest wedding yet--one that will get her name out there. If she can pull it off in seven months. Of course, the brides only want to use the florist that she does not and will not work with anymore--owned by her former boyfriend, Elliot.

This is in dual POV. Ama is in the present and Elliot's is in the past. I am not a big fan of back and forth of past and present, and this was throughout the whole book. I had no idea what their problem was with each other until the very end, which annoyed me. The wedding planning with the brides was interesting, but it took up a majority of the story. I didn't feel that we got to know Elliot that much. I did like how he did show he cared about her still in the present regarding her car issues and then, later, stepped up with the whole day-of wedding.

Thank you to Forever Publishing for an advanced readers copy. Thank you to Libro FM for an advanced listener copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a beautiful debut novel by Julie Soto. It was a good mix of plot and character development, and I really enjoyed how the story flowed. I loved how this story was a dual POV and flowed through past and present, which really helped understand the relationship between these characters.

The highlight of this book for me was definitely the writing! The writing in this book was amazing. I was able to see everything that was described in the book very clearly and I loved that. I felt like I was there with the characters at the weddings, and I loved how detailed some of the event planning in this book was. However, despite really loving this, I felt like the weddings were such a big topic in this book that it sometimes took the focus off the romance and the two MCs.

Overall, I liked the characters but I felt a bit annoyed with our FMC Ama at some points in the story. I loved how both characters were deeply invested in their careers and how they supported one another to be the best version of themselves, but their romance unfortunately was not the highlight of the book for me and it felt a bit strange at times.

This was a beautiful second chance romance and I loved the use of grumpy sunshine and forced proximity in this book, and I also really enjoyed that the characters in this book were complexe and had struggles to overcome. Overall, I enjoyed this book; the beginning had me hooked but I felt like as I read more, the story dragged on a bit for me and some of the pacing in this book didn’t feel consistent, and I lacked a bit of connection between the characters. I think this was a good book and I would recommend it to romance readers out there, especially ones who love the second chance romance trope.

Out July 11th, thank you @readforeverpub and @netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for a review,

3.75⭐

One of the best romances I've read recently! Very full and fresh characters with a dynamic that is to die for. Ama is a wedding planner (that is, ironically, anti-marriage) that has scored a client that could be her big break, but everything could fall apart when she learns that she has to work with her ex-boyfriend Elliot, florist extraordinaire, whom she has not spoken to in two years. This story is told in both dual POV and interchanging of past and present where the reader learns how Ama and Elliot fell in love and how they ended up with broken hearts. I absolutely ate UP this story. I think I read it in one day. Ama and Elliot were both great characters that I was rooting for the entire time. Not to mention, the spice was a nice touch as well. Julie Soto has automatically become an auto-buy author for me. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

A truly good read.
I liked Ama’s tenacity and gumption as an entrepreneur. I also liked how creative she was and nudging her clients to think behind what they thought they could have. I hated her objequieness to Whitney. I cheered when the veneer was ripped off about that person.
Elliot was the real rock star of the story. He was such a sweetheart and one scene was so painful afterward, my heart hurt for him. He saved the day in so many ways when he could’ve just walked away. He is the ultimate sweetheart.
I liked the ending and was glad Ama quit tiptoeing through the tulip patch and wised up.

Wedding planner Ama is dead set against marriage after watching her mother get married--and divorced--fourteen times. She's finally planning a wedding for an influencer that has the potentially to jump-start her career, but the couple insists she works with Blooming, owned by her broody florist ex, Elliot. Told in alternating timelines (Elliot, years ago, when they first met; Ama, present day), we see how their first go-around ended and their reunion progresses.

I love, love, LOVED this book! I love the wedding planned-florist combo, I loved seeing both of them succeed professionally, and I thought the alternating time lines and perspectives worked surprisingly flawlessly. This couple is truly OTP, and brought both the heat and sweet I crave in a romance. I have no complaints and cannot wait for Soto's next novel.

Thanks to Forever for my eARC and finished copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 10/10

Ama is building a successful wedding planning business over the past few years. When a former client refers a famous social media influencer to Ama, Ama knows that this wedding is going to be the biggest event she’s ever planned. The only condition is that they use a particular florist who just happens to be Ama’s ex, Elliot.

Elliot is as surprised as Ama to learn that they are being teamed up for this wedding. His business is thriving and his next-level floral creations are gaining popularity but with no real social media presence, he’s limited his business to locals.

Told in dual perspectives and timelines, Ama and Elliot’s relationship turns from icy cold to steamy in a matter of a few days. The reader discovers these characters’ backstories and what happened to this couple a few years before. The book was both engaging and entertaining and the characters were likeable.

The wedding business is highly competitive and the reader is witness to this. I loved the descriptions of ideas for this wedding and the way it all comes together. This book would translate nicely onto film.

I recommend this book to those readers who appreciate contemporary romance.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher, but the thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.

4.5 stars (rounded up to 5).

This book is an IMMEDIATE YES! Love me a good Grumpy/Sunshine romance novel. Elliot is perfect, and AMA is so much fun. I couldn’t help but laugh at the crazy things she said throughout the book.

AMA is a wedding planner, she loves weddings and she’s also new to the business, she knows she needs to get that ONE wedding to put her in these famous magazines and then some, and she gets just that with Hazel and Jackie. We can’t leave out the 14 marriages her mom went through, YIKES WOMAN!!! and They also hired a florist already and it’s her ex Elliot who she hasn’t seen or spoken to in 2 years.

Elliot runs Blooming after his dad passed away, even though it wasn’t his dream to run the business, he knew that eventually he will. And he’s so damn good at it. I loved how we go back and forth between the countdown to this huge wedding, their relationship and NOW. We got to read more into Ama, and her fears, why didn’t they work out? And also we get these two beautiful brides trying to set them up, if only they knew they already have history.

The chemistry between them was inevitable, I loved how much of a SAP Elliot is, about flowers and about love and about Ama. And I can’t leave out the steamy scenes!!! But aside from that I loved how Elliot always had her back, and the support and love she has for everyone she works with, it was a very emotional read, I had to catch myself from tearing up, I loved this book.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

I'm always down for a grumpy/sunshine romcon, and this one is absolutely delightful. I adored the MMC, Elliot, the grumpy, rude florist with a secret heart of gold; I loved Hazel and Jackie as a couple and as side characters; I loved Ama, the sunshine-y FMC who grows a lot during the story. I love how the story is not only told from dual POVs, but also from dual timelines, as it works really well to slowly unfurl this second-chance romance. Don't miss this one, out july 11th! Thank you to @readforeverpub and @netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.