I was so excited to obtain an ARC of this book through Netgalley. Julie Soto’s eagerly anticipated follow-up to “Forget Me Not,” does not disappoint! “Not Another Love Song” is beautifully written and an immersive experience as the author shines light on playing instruments, creating music, and some of the highs and lows of the music industry. A romance featuring another strong female lead, the story is full of heart, passion, conflict, and redemption. A must read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

"But, Gwen, please make music with me. I need to be in your orbit in some way, and if you don't want me to touch you and kiss you and fuck you, then let me make love to you onstage every night..."

I LOVED Not Another Love Song! Julie Soto's debut, Forget Me Not, reignited my love for romance books last year, and I was ecstatic to get a hold of her latest book. I played violin for about seven years so I was very interested to see how she would incorporate music into her newest romance. Gwen is your average, people pleasing, late starter violinist content to stay in seventh seat at the Manhattan Pops Orchestra. Xander Thorne is just the opposite; a rock star cellist who was a child prodigy. Their love story is full of sensuality, musicality and originality! Their tension builds wonderfully and I was so excited to keep turning the page. I felt like this book captures the essence of what it is to crave, to be addicted to the emotions that music evicts within all of us. I couldn't put it down!

NOT ANOTHER LOVE SONG from Julie Soto is wrought with tension, taut strings that get pulled and stretched from the moment Gwen and Alex interact. The slow burn is intense, and the scenes where these two play are enthralling. While the cello scene (iykyk) definitely deserves attention, my breath caught when these two played across from each other on stage. I’m not sure how Soto did it, but I felt the music then, heard the emotion that flowed from each bow stroke. This was incredibly moving and fun to read, with fantastic characters and vivid detail that will make you alternately laugh and blush.

Julie Soto has cemented herself as a must-read author for me. I'm still thinking about Gwen and Alex (Xander). Their passion for each other is only matched by their passion for music. I loved the interwoven music industry storyline, and both Gwen and Alex were affected by it in such different ways. I was actually sad when I got to the end of the book because it was such a joy to read.

Seriously, I just loved it. A solid 4.5 stars with lots of spice.

*Did my best to make this a mostly spoiler-free review at the top, but some spoilers may be in the last paragraph & have a break before them.*

I was so excited to get this story in my hands and I feel like it didn’t disappoint. I do recommend reading Forget Me Not before reading this because it’ll make the cameos so much sweeter. If you don’t have the desire or the time to read that first, I don’t think it’ll affect the substance of this story too greatly.

Gwen and Xander’s story isn’t a pretty, linear road, and I loved the angst and tension they had together while trying to figure each other out. I’m not musically inclined and I don’t think the story suffered for it because of how Julie explains it and lays it out.

Julie does a good job of weaving the story and tension around the music in a way that makes you almost physically feel the music. There is so much communicated to between Xander and Gwen through their music and it’s so poetic to see their understanding of each other unfold throughout the story.

I really enjoyed the peeks into Xander’s POV that were infrequent but placed perfectly in the story.

The vibes:
* The tension & build up
* Enemies to lovers
* The spice was fantastic
* Expression & understanding through music
* The cover is 🔥🔥🔥 and you’ll appreciate it more when you get to that scene!

**Some spoilers below, proceed with caution!**

While the vibes were off the charts for me, there were a few things that struck me about their story that may be triggering for some. I still think about the fact that Xander acted like Gwen wasn’t playing to the max of her potential unless she was sight reading a piece for the first time. She had to be better than that to get where she was. This aspect of his critical view may have been a byproduct of how Xander is taken advantage of by multiple people he respects, people who are in positions of power in his life, due to his talent and how these people decided they would profit from it. This makes me so sad, but it’s something that happens all too often in real life. It was great watching him find the strength and support to break free of those chains.

I flew through this book and will probably keep reading whatever Julie Soto writes. Thank you NetGalley for the eARC.

Julie. This book is literal perfection. The chemistry is raw, the characters have such a deep complexity behind them that's so relatable, and the way it ties into and enhances "Forget Me Not".... *chefs kiss!
Don't get me started on the spice. From the moment I started this book, I could practically hear the music just from reading the words on each page, that's how vivid the scenes were. As a music and romance lover, this book could not have been more perfect for me since I could really understand both Xander's and Gwen's perspectives. I even found myself learning new musical terms as a bonus! I want to mention that I would have loved to hear more from Alex's perspective, but I still so enjoyed their story. 🫶

This is officially being added to my favorites list.

I had such a fun time reading this one and I can't wait for it to officially come out so I can listen to the audiobook when I need a pick me up. I became a fan of Julie Soto when her debut was released and had impatiently been waiting for her next one. She has officially been added to my favorite authors list as well and I will read anything she writes from here on.

Not another love song is a kylo Ren X Ray fanfic turned novel and you can definitely see its influence from the characters and supporting characters. I have read a fair number of Reylo inspired novels at this point with the increase of popularity of the ship and their dynamic inspiring more and more traditional novels. Julie Soto however took a fresh take on the two characters and their relationship that was a breath of fresh air. You can definitely tell the characters were inspired, but she gave new light to them and showcased their trauma and internal struggles till we have a full circle healing moment. We also got the HEA that we never got from the characters in the movie (rip). Going into this story I didn't know much about the highly competitive world of classical music (besides it being really hard to get a footfall for yourself) so I had a great time learning and seeing behind the curtain on how everything works. I also loved the idea of a bad boy electric orchestra group and desperately wish their band was real so we could see them jam and listen to their work. Hopefully this gets picked up for a movie adaptation *HINT* *HINT*.

I Highly Highly reccomend this one and can't wait to force this on all my Kylo Ren fangirl friends.

Thank you for this ARC. Wow. I really enjoyed this story. My heart hurt for Gwen losing her mom so young, but also grateful that her path crossed with Mabel’s and she had someone to look out for her. I can see why Alex went off and left his name behind and took on a new one. He needed to make his own way without a legacy for a name giving him things he know he didn’t rightfully earn. He needed to accomplish things his way on his terms so he could be proud of what he alone achieved and earned.
Together, Alex and Gwen are pure magic. While I personally don’t have music knowledge or background, Julie made it so simple to follow. I was so intrigued by the musical moments and really wish I could hear Gwen and Alex’s pieces.
I look forward to more novels by Julie. She’s forever an auto buy/read author for me.

I’m so lucky to have received an ARC of this book from Netgalley. Not Another Love Song is my new favorite book. It’s a combination of everything you’d want in a book: grumpy cello prodigy, SO MUCH PINING, found family, spicy scenes (feat. cellos!!). More than anything, it’s a love story told through music. I don’t know if I should be admitting this, but I never buy the books I receive as ARCs-even the ones I really like. I will be buying this book, maybe even in multiple editions. That’s how much I love this book.

I absolutely adored Julie Soto's first book, so much so that I recommended it to everyone who would listen. I will dutifully read her books from here on out.

That being said, this one was just a tiny bit of a miss for me. I loved the characters, the musical concept, the pining. The steam was even top notch! But I do feel like the overall conflict was just a little bit lacking. The way the MC never pressed for more details about how all of these people in her life were connected was frustrating and left a lot of details on the cutting room floor. Also it doesn't make a lot of sense that she was apparently the world's best violinist but... didn't know it? I am all for being humble but give my girl some confidence! You can recognize your greatness while also admitting how much work it really took to get there.

Overall I really enjoyed this book! There was just a dip in the middle I feel could be remedied. Easily another romcom smash.

Julie Soto is a genius. I absolutely devoured this book. The romance. The chemistry. The spice. I was completely sucked in by Gwen and Alex’s love story. I also really enjoyed the way the music played a role in this book. This book had me thinking about who or what holds us back and influences our decisions, what it means to have the support of people you trust and care about, and the power of knowing your full worth. This book is for sure going to be a top book of the year for me.

This is 4.75 rounded up!! I DEVOURED this book. I went in with no expectations and not having read the summary, just vibes. I loved Gwen’s character, I loved the duality of Xander/Alex, and I enjoyed the pull between the role models in their lives. Few things hit better than a MMC POV sprinkled in throughout. I wouldn’t be surprised is parts of this have mixed reviews but for me it was great. I can’t wait to put this on my bookshelf as soon as I get my hands on the physical copy.

How do I even start about this? I was lucky enough to get a ARC and oh my god!

I love music

This book reminded me of how wonderful music is and how it makes you FEEL! Reading about these characters who have dedicated their lives to music and playing their instruments was amazing. God the recording studio scene was 🥵I have never wished I knew how to play an instrument more than after reading this book. Highly recommend!

Not Another Love Song is a romance centered around the first violinist and the first cellist of an NYC orchestra. I have to start this review off by saying that I have never read a romance book set in the orchestral world before and it was really interesting for me to read about! It’s clear that Julie Soto did quite a bit of research to prepare for writing this book. I was fully immersed and it made for a fast-paced book that I enjoyed and rated 3.5⭐️. The main characters were quite young- 23 and 26- and it was very apparent in their naïveté. They navigated their musical career with choices I felt were befitting of their age, so if you’re interested in reading a more mature love story with complex characters, I don’t think this would be a fit for you. However, if you don’t mind two horny young professionals, it’ll be a great fit!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC! This is my honest review.

Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
Character Development: ♥️♥️♥️♥️


This was a very beautiful love story. I really enjoyed the musical element to it all and how the music was used to tell the story too. This was wasn’t as funny as I was hoping though. Much much more serious of a story. I wished we had more time with some of the side characters. I loved Jake and Declan!

It was hard at first to figure out how these two feel I love outside of just the music. Months and months go by in this story but we don’t see very many conversations between the two characters.

The spice was spicy but also just a little boring. Like each science was kind of the same and it was a lot of describing but the characters need to talk more during that spice.

I absolutely loved the ending. The resolutions to many of the conflicts were great. I felt really happy for all of the characters by the end.

Over all I did truly love this story. Beautifully written and the musical element was gorgeous.

The way this book consumed me is unbelievable I literally finished it in one day. I was BLUSHING SO HARD I SAW RED. Who knew that music can be both secy and romantic. I’m at a point in my life where I want to become a musical prodigy just to have that tension the mmc and fmc had. It was so ANGSTY, TENSION FILLED, PHENOMENAL story. I cannot recommend this enough, this was a complete step up to Julie Sotos other work “forget me not” which was another amazing work by her. But this book? I want to see it on TV.

I'm really not sure what to say about Julie Soto's sophomore novel. It got to me on such an emotional - yearning level. I started it at 9 pm the date I received the ARC, thinking I would read a few chapters before falling asleep. I ended up finishing the book at a little past 1 am. I have a 4:30 am alarm.

You see the illustration on the cover? yeah, it's an actual scene in the book. and oh boy, was that a good scene.

Bonus - little nods to the Forget Me Not gang.

I really enjoyed Julie Soto's debut but i LOVED Not Another Love Song. I can not believe how much I enjoyed this book! I did not think that a romance in am orchestra would pull me in as much as it did. The charcters were so interesting and felt very fleshed out. I figured out pretty quickly that this was going to be a book written for me. The dynamic between Gwyn and Alex was so good to watch evolve and see flourish by the ending. I loved every second of it and can not wait to tell everyone about how great it is.

5/5 ⭐️

Wow holy cow Julie really did the damn thing with this one. Not Another Love Song is a story of two people yearning to find their places, and they end up finding eachother. In this story you have our fmc Gwen, the orphaned violinist who was taught by sweet grouchy Mabel, grow from being this timid people pleaser to someone with a newly grown backbone. Did she frustrate me from times? yes, but i can understand her running away from goodbyes trauma issues so it was an easy to get over being annoyed.
Alex/Xander is that type A music prodigy all band kids wished they could have been growing up. He dealt with his struggles of feeling "enough" throughout his teen years until he had enough and became 'Xander Thorne' to let go and know he was the best at what he did. This man had me giggling with his words and how he expresses his love to Gwen, even though i wanted to throw hands in the beginning of the book not understanding his feelings for her until they were explained 😅😂

These two come together so beautifully, and the music they create with one another had me teary eyed multiple times. I absolutely adored this couple and the ending made me so fulfilled.

Thank you again NetGalley and Forever books for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion ♡

An enemies-to-lovers romance set in an orchestra?!! I think Julie Soto wrote this SPECIFICALLY for me!!! Started this on a plane ride and COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. Loved everything about this book!