Forget Me Not is like bubbly champagne, instantly captivating me with its dual narrative and delightful grumpiness. The inclusion of flower names resonated with me, although the combination of baby's breath and roses felt outdated. While the pacing and writing style were enjoyable, the middle of the story became repetitive, and the connection between Ama and Elliott in his chapters felt lacking. The reasons for their breakup remained unclear, and the reliance on Ama's UID as a justification for not using condoms seemed odd. However, Elliott's character shone in the third act, defending Ama fiercely and making the last few chapters truly delightful.

➸ 4.5 ⭐️
"And he was right. [Flowers] only needed light, water, and attention. But it's not as simple as that. Because you need to know how much light, how much water, how much attention. But if you can get it right—if you can crack the code—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."

It took me like one chapter to get hooked.
This was so much fun, quick paced and angsty, once I started I couldn't stop. I haven't read any of JS fanfics before so I had no idea what to expect but obviously I wasn't disappointed lol.

I'm actually not the biggest fan of second chance romance but this one was so well executed.
Both of our MCs — Ama and Elliot — are well fleshed out and relatable, I was rooting for them from the start and my heart was breaking for each .

I feel like I mention this in almost all of my reviews now but not only do I love and appreciate a dual POV in shorter books I think they are essential if we wanna get to know both MCs better.

I adored the dual POV here and I love that we get Ama's POV in the present and Elliot's POV in the past. Seeing Ama through his eyes created a very interesting contrast and reading the spicy scenes through the male perspective was refreshing, I was very pleasantly surprised.

FMN is also surprisingly steamy but obviously I’m here for it. If this isn't you thing though you've been warned.
The chemistry was electric, the tension between them - palpable.
There's no miscommunication drama, their initial break up makes perfect sense and is due to some very big differences that the characters need overcome and the development is great.

(Side note: I can see why someone may wanna call this enemies-to-lovers romance and he-falls-first, it may seem that way but I disagree. There're no enemies here, the main couple doesn't hate each other. It's a second chance romance and their relationship doesn't end well the first time so when they are forced to work together a few years later, there's a lot of tension and unsaid words between them, and sure Ama suspects that Ellliot hates her, he definitely doesn't try to give her another impression, but there's just a lot hurt between them. The he-falls-first I disagree with because even though he's probably the one to realize that he loves her first and he falls harder I think Ama is the one who likes Elliot first. She mentions that she notices him and is attracted to him when he doesnt even know what she does or her name. She's the one who takes the initiative too.)

This was just everything I look for in a rom-com and I really hope we get to see it on big screen (JS just sold the rights for adaptation yay 🤞)
If you love second chance romance, grump/sunshine trope, forced proximity, Hallmark movies but better, Ali Hazelwood's writing style I definitely recommend giving this a chance!!
Can't wait for JS's next book!!

P.S. if the next book is about Xander imgonnadie

eternal gratitude to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC
all quotes are from an advance copy and may differ in the final publication

Forget Me Not by Julie Soto is the kind of contemporary romance debut we don’t see often. I read about 90% of it in a day and just couldn’t put it down. I am a sucker for a second chance romance told on two different timelines, and that was particularly well done here. Elliott and Ama had really amazing chemistry and I loved seeing both of them grow (bloom you might say). Elliott is the grump to Ama’s sunshine and I loved his quiet intensity through the entire book. My only complaint was I wanted more of them together in the present but man the ending/epilogue was great.

Content warnings: Elliott’s dad died of lung cancer in the past; Ama has to defend herself from an unwanted come on in the beginning of the book

I voluntarily reviewed a gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

Always the bridesmaid, never the bride - by choice.

𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘔𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘵 opens with Ama landing the hottest wedding of the season. It could essentially prove to be the highlight of her career but there are threats at play - namely, her former florist and her heart.
With a past, they'd both rather never speak of - Ama and Elliot have to work together for the opportunity of a lifetime, if only the sparks flying off of them don't almost wilt all the florals.

- ~ -

Ama lives with her heart open for weddings but she's strictly never going to be the one standing at the altar... until he comes along.

I can't lie, Elliot is the gruffest of all grumpy heroes yet also the sappiest of them. The way this man threw open his soul for Ama had me squealing - limbs in the air and all.

This book was the perfect combination of spicy, angsty, sweet, emotional and sugary donuts. I loved getting to live in Ana and Elliot's heads and the tid bits about all the different flowers was my favourite.

Ps. I'm kinda sad Forget Me Nots (the flower) didn't make it onto the cover or the story.

- ~ -

4.43 / 5✩

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 (𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨) 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
SPICE: 🔥🔥🔥

Ama subscribes to the philosophy of "those who refuse to marry plans them." It's a good thing that she happens to be an excellent wedding planner. When the perfect opportunity to skyrocket her small wedding-planning business lands on her lap, it comes with a steep price: To work with her ex Elliott, whom she has avoided since they split two years ago.

Grumpy Elliott is not too happy with the arrangement -- pun intended -- either. Or much about his life for that matter. He inherited his father's floral business and had to abandon his dream of becoming an architect. Now he has to work with the woman who shattered his heart.

This was a great second-chance romance read. I love the adversarial-to-romance arc that Ama and Elliott go through, even though it took a while to get there. I just don't mean slow burn, but it takes a long minute for the characters to engage as we get the full scoop of their history. When it does get to that point, we hit the ground running.

I really like the main characters, though Elliott does give me pause sometimes with his grumpiness. (WHO IN THE WORLD HATES DONUTS?). But I am soft when it comes to Mentos MMCs - broody guys with a squishy inside, and Elliott is the best of them.

As a Type-A personality, I felt really drawn to their struggles with commitment and lack of control. I love their own personal journeys as well as the development of their relationship. That is really the star of this read, even though I also enjoyed the other components.

** I am voluntarily reviewing an advance copy of this book. Thank you to Julie Soto, Forever, and NetGalley for providing an ARC. **

So as a wedding planner this book gave me serious anxiety, but it also gave me all the swoons and feels! The tension was incredible and I absolutely loved watching these two find their way back to each other. The steam was top notch and I also really enjoyed the side characters. One of the most realistic wedding planner books I've read!

ARC REVIEW

Forget Me Not
By Julie Soto

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Publishing date:7/11/23

Wow. This book was SO UNEXPECTEDELY GOOD! This is a romance that I will DEFINITELY  be recommending when someone says "I need a good romance book!"  READ THIS ONE!

Ama is an emerging wedding planner. After branching out and starting her own business, she is approached to coordinate a celebrity wedding. This is a great opportunity but there is one pretty big problem....the florist for the wedding is her ex who proposed 2 Years ago. Ama  broke up with him immediately after the proposal because she didn't believe in MARRIAGE. Will they be able to come together and co plan this high profile wedding? While trying to not fall in love....

Ok. ELLIOT? UM. Elliot was SEXY. I reaaaaaaaally liked his character.  Elliot is definite book boyfriend material!
I loved Ama as well. I could really feel the chemistry and the unexpected spicy moments were *CHEFS KISS *

This book also made me realize I'm REALLY liking the wedding vibes! My husband and I are renewing our vows in Vegas next April on our 10 year wedding anniversary, so I will take more wedding themed books please!

Make sure you add this to your tbr. IT WAS SO GOOD!

Thank you @netgalley and @readforeverpub for the chance to read this early!

*I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

THE GRUMPYxSUNSHINE ROMANCE OF MY DREAMS!

I'm so in love with this book. I was obsessed from the first chapter, and honestly would've ditched everything else going on in my life to finish this book had my very responsible husband not told me I had no choice but to go to work.

She's the sunshiney wedding planner who doesn't believe in love. He's the grumpy, tattooed florist who does. She works too hard and won't accept help from others. He just wants to help her and protect her and make her happy. Two years ago, something destroyed their fledgling relationship and they haven't spoken since. But they never stopped feeling for each other, and now circumstances have brought them back into each other's orbit. As you can imagine, something has to give...

This book was so tender, so raw, and so wonderful. Like I said, I couldn't put it down. These two had me in a full-on romance reader flail as I rooted for them to just LOVE EACH OTHER ALREADY.

I've already recommended this book to my friends. My local bookstore. Strangers on the internet. And now, too, I shall recommend it to NetGalley. Because holy HELL did I love this book.

!! SPOILERS AHEAD !!

I went into this book last night, <i>knowing</i> that I would stay up and read the whole thing before going to bed. What if I'm running on only 4 hours of sleep this morning? I have no regrets. None.
Forget Me Not is a lovely debut. I loved the juxtaposition of Elliot's character: borderline rude, short, get-to-the-point, suffers no fools, man of few words handling a florist's business. I loved how he added his own to the business and molded it into something for himself, despite inheriting it from his father.
Ama, on the other hand, is not typically the type of character that I love. While I can appreciate a woman who takes the reins, sometimes it felt like she was steamrolling over everyone (read: Elliot) and doing whatever she thought was best, although I know that it was coming from a good place and that more often than not, she indeed had the best way of it.
I see how Ama and Elliot were a match though. Their love story told on a double time-line had me hooked. Usually not a fan of those, but here it worked really well. The past was told from Elliot's pov and the present from Ama's, which is dang effective in the telling of this story, especially when you realise that <spoiler>Elliot was all in and his feelings never changed, and that Ama was the one who needed to realise that she needed him</spoiler>.

I really enjoyed this story, and looking forward to whatever the author writes next!

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Ama and Elliot are the perfect example of the grumpy-sunshine trope. Ama is so driven and sure of herself, which she should be considering how much success she’s had as a wedding planner. Elliot is such a grump, but he completely owns it. He’s an amazing florist that incorporates his architecture into his work. Naturally, Ama and Elliot used to be intimately acquainted after collaborating on weddings. However, things went wrong, they didn’t talk for a while, and now they are back in each others orbit. With plans to throw an amazing wedding for an influencer, Ama is depending on Elliot and their chemistry… wow! It’s so palpable and I love how it completely pops in both the flashbacks and present time. The book was so well planned, and the plot line was executed perfectly. I loved the supporting cast of characters, and I only wish we got more depth from all the characters. Granted, Ama and Elliot had a decent amount of depth, I just wanted to know more. I’m still in love with these characters, no matter what, and I really look forward from seeing more from this author. 4.25⭐️, 2.75🌶

When Ama is presented with the opportunity of her life-time, there's only one downside: she has to work with her ex, Elliot. Ama is organizing a celebrity wedding that she's hoping will give her endless opportunities, but she almost turns it down because working with Elliot is too painful. However, she's convinced, and spends the next several months working near her ex. Despite the fact that things didn't end well, Elliot and Ama are able to create magic when they're together.

I so enjoyed this book, and I will highly recommend it to friends and patrons. Elliot is a lovable grump (although he's *thisclose* to bordering on mean), and Ama is powerful and wonderful and so relatable in her vulnerabilities. Whitney makes a great villain, honestly.

I don't think I've ever read a book before where I went from hating the love interest to absolutely LOVING him so quickly. At first, I thought Elliot was so rude to AMA but then...THEN I kept reading and learned why and I fell hard for him and kept falling until the very last page. Between great chemistry, a strong and ambitious main character, a grumpy leading man with a heart of platinum and so much love for the MC, and a celebrity wedding as the backdrop, there was a lot to like about this book. I would love to see a follow-up with Mar (and maybe Xander - I feel like there was a reason he was introduced and he's grumpy which I can tell will be this author's signature.) Whatever it is, I'll be reading it.

A great read! Good characters and plot with some spice. I like Julie Soto's writing and recommend this book!

Thank you NetGalley and Julie Soto!

This book is EVERYTHING. I’m upset that I waited so long to read it?? I literally loved every second?! It has everything. Grumpy/sunshine, second chance, dual timeline, a wedding planner who doesn’t believe in marriage or long term commitment but somehow ends up a label-less exclusive…thing with a HOT tattooed florist who FALLS first and has no idea why this girl makes him so happy??! I loved it so much!

I loved the way the story was told. Seeing the past only through Elliot POV made perfect sense to me. And watching Ama SQUIRM in the present having to work with him again made me so happy?? Because even though she’s the one that called it all off, she was CLEARLY not completely over him. In denial? ABSOLUTELY. Over him? Definitely not.

I loved them so much. They were both so complicated and contradicted each other so much. But somehow they WORKED. They believed in each other, loved each other the best way they knew how, they were FUN together. I just love them.

I was about 15% in and I went and preordered a singed copy because I KNEW I was going to love it and needed it in my hands in a couple of weeks.

Thank you so much to Forever for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I am GRATEFUL!

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever for an e-arc of Forget Me Not in exchange for an honest review!
I really enjoyed reading this book and learning about Elliott and Ama, two very different characters who share a passion for their professions and…each other.
Being someone who watched lots of wedding reality tv shows as a teen, it was cool to see the process of Ama’s wedding planning and her constant dedication to make things work no matter the challenge. I was on the edge of my seat near the end because of how stressful the wedding planning was and it only further confirmed it is NOT the job for me😂
Although I loved seeing Elliott and Ama interact and work together, I don’t feel like I ever truly understood them and their relationship. Near the end, their relationship felt a bit rushed to me and the deeper issues of why things didn’t work out in the beginning were never really resolved.

I love Julie Soto's stories, and Forget Me Not is no exception. Like a rose, there was layer after layer to go through with both Ama and Elliot, but both of their story arcs became that much sweeter with each petal that was examined.

Professionally put together and on the path she always wanted for herself, Ama is, quite frankly, a total mess when it comes to her personal life. That juxtaposition between a calm exterior and a chaotic, self-doubting interior is, really, a goal for anyone in their mid-twenties, and Ama carries it so well. Ama is a blur of contradictions: she loves weddings, but doesn't believe in marriage; she remains close to her former step-siblings, but not to her former step-fathers; she wanted Elliot in her life long-term, but didn't want any commitments between them. Ama's surety in what she wanted - even to her own detriment - made her an entertaining, if a bit predictable, character.

This story has the grumpy/sunshine dichotomy twofold: once between people-pleasing Ama and the gloomy Elliot, and again within Elliot himself. It's rare for me to love the male perspective more than the female in a m/f romance, but Elliot's chapters truly shined bright in regards to temperament, thoughts, and feelings about the world (and people) around him. Elliot was such a complex character, and it took both his and Ama's perspectives to really see that and highlight who he was as a character. It's hard not to love a grumpy, tattooed main character who falls first.

Soto made a great choice in making this story both dual POV and dual timeline. I loved getting both perspectives and watching the events of the past slowly collide with the present. Both Ama and Elliot brought so much to the story that it was hard to say whose perspective I looked forward to reading more. I thought the story flowed nicely, even by alternating past and present and both points of view.

Forget Me Not was an easy five star read from me. Even when main characters aren't ready to commit to each other, it was easy to commit to reading, and falling for, this romance.

This was my first Netgalley approval and it did not disappoint, I devoured this in a day! I loved the main characters Ama and Elliot, their chemistry was just *chefs kiss* and the spice, so good 🔥this book had me laughing, crying and kicking my feet. I enjoyed every second of it…I didn’t even realize till the end that Julie Soto wrote some of my favorite Dramione fanfictions 🤦🏻‍♀️ probably why I liked her writing so much.

Thanks to NetGalley and Julie Soto for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thought the book was very cute, decent spice, but it also didn't seem like a lot of the subplots/story were developed very well. The main conflict stopped being an issue so randomly that it really didn't make a lot of sense to me.

There were so many unanswered questions, and not enough writing about how they ACTUALLY felt about each other. It was a strange take on second chance in my opinion.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 stars
🔥🔥🔥(4 detailed spicy scenes)

[ Thank you @readforeverpub for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own! ]

PUB DATE: July 11, 2023

THOUGHTS:

So thankful I was able to read this book! I enjoyed every single minute of it! ❤️

Read if you like:
•grumpy/sunshine
•second chance
•enemies to lovers
•dual pov & dual timeline

I loved the dual pov with Ama and Elliot. Ama’s chapters were told in the present time and Elliot’s were all told in the past. This gave so much tension that I was dying to know what happened between them!!

Ama loves donuts, Elliot doesn’t. She’s happy and sunshine-y and he’s very grumpy and doesn’t hardly say anything when she’s around. He’s just a man of few words. And they both are so amazing at what they do! That wedding for Hazel & Jackie sounded stunning.

I loved their chemistry. It was hot, hot, hot. 🔥 and it broke my heart each time when they both knew the exact date it’s been since they seen each. Like down to the years, months, weeks, and days.

Overall, loved this one. One of my top favorite romances for this year!! 💜

The book is told from two point-of-views and they come from Ama and Elliot. Elliot’s are mostly in the past as the reader is shown what happened in the past between the two. I thought it was an interesting way to understand the turmoil between them, especially after you learn they had something between them.

Ama is a wedding planner and it’s definitely a job I like to read about. It’s probably because I loved the movie The Wedding Planner with Jennifer Lopez in it. Such a classic! It was cool to see how her job status progressed over time and why she chose to part ways from a company that she started out at. She learned a lot along the way.

The romance between her and Elliot was cute but I just never fully connected to their romance. I do think that he truly cared for her since he seemed to be the one who always believed in her and took a flower out of his shop because it reminded him of her. He definitely never forgot about her.

The problem for me with this one was not finding a connection to it. It was a popcorn read for me. I went on vacation for a week and half and didn’t pick it up once or thought about it.

Overall, this was okay. I can see the appeal for it and I do think that it will work well for others. Sadly, it just didn’t work for me.