this book has the potential to be my favorite release of the year. i’m anticipating so many reads this year, but i’m afraid julie soto just blew everyone else out of the water.

it was ADDICTING reading this book, i read it so quickly and i’m fighting the urge and temptation to immediately reread it. gwen and alex are the most gorgeous characters and their love is so raw and true and powerful. this story had me gasping in awe, kicking my feet, and holding my breath to see what was happening next.

this book is truly a work of art and is so beautifully crafted with love, spice, angst, and spice. i will most likely reread before it’s even released in july, and then again once it’s officially published. thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this work of art.

Julie Soto…you magical writing fairy. I love everything I read that Julie writes and this book was no different. A fan fiction of Rey and Kylo? Say less! This was lovely and I continually pictured this story in my head like a movie. I couldn’t put it down! The only negative is I wish there were more story of the two MC’s. I loved them together! The cover is *chefs kiss*. If you know, you know.

Forced Proximity, grumpy x sunshine, the arts, second chances - you’ll love this book!

I received this as an eARC for my honest review
I want to start off by saying I loved Julie's first book. I also want to say that I don't generally enjoy enemies/rivals to lovers for exactly the reasons I will list below.

Gwen is just trying to get by in life and get as far as she can in her music career. She has a solid position with the Manhattan Pops but silently dreams of a pop solo violinist career. When the cello player Xander Thorne of her favorite band Thorne and Roses shows up to play with the Manhattan Pops she is blown away, until he opens his mouth. At the same time, she is offered the opportunity to play first chair of the Pops only to find out that it was promised to Xander. But Xander can't seem to stay away from Gwen and they begin to make beautiful music together.

First, the thing I hate about most enemies/rivals to lovers is that the guy is an absolute jerk the whole time. It's not banter, it's not snark, it's him being the worst version of himself because he likes her. It's basically being told that it's ok that little boys hit girls, it's because he likes her. I don't mind when there is tension that comes out in heated words, but Xander treats Gwen HORRIBLY through most of the book.

Gwen on the other hand is a people pleaser. She lets everyone walk all over her life and drag her along without saying a word. She lets Xander say the most rude and untrue things to her and she just takes it, and worse, believes his criticisms. Then as soon as Xander gives her even the barest hint of kindness, her pants are off and they are dating.

It's gross. I absolutely hated it. The reason I gave this book three stars is because the romance of the music was absolutely extraordinarily beautiful and were I someone who actually likes enemies/rivals to lovers this would have been a solid five star.

It's a no for me, but would recommend it to others highly.

This was so good! I loved FORGET ME NOT, and I'm happy to say this was a solid follow-up. We follow Gwen, a violinist who gets first chair in the orchestra she's in with Xander; this causes a bit of animosity between the two, but it also leads to a budding relationship and to both of them discovering what's really important, both in life and in music. I'm not a big classical music fan, but boy oh BOY did this make me want to be one! Gwen's a violinist and Xander's a cellist, and I loved reading about them playing together. Their relationship progressed so well through the book and was so fun to read, gah I love them together!! The book was just a masterpiece and I highly recommend it; the only issue I had was that Gwen had some difficulty loosening up in the beginning with her instrument, and it was touched on a few times but never really "resolved"--I understand that Xander helps her relax when they play together and such, but we never really came back to it even though it did seem kinda crucial there in the beginning. Anyway!! Such a solid romance, highly recommend.

This book was incredible!! Julie has consistently been a five star writer for me and I would give this book over 5/5 if I could, I really don’t know how she did it. The way she was able to convey the music across the page was stunning and an absolute feat. I loved that this wasn’t too “simple” of story in the sense there were others characters with backstory as well that tied in. Loved the incorporation of the characters from Forget Me Not. As soon as I was done reading this book I wanted to re read which is saying a lot for me, because I never really read a book twice. I can’t wait for this book to come out on July to add to my bookshelf and read again !

Are you a fan of Forget Me Not?!

This is the newest book by Julie Soto, and she does not disappoint!!

This is a slow burn, contemporary romance about musicians! String players, Gwen and Xander both are musical prodigies from different lives. One has been classically trained and the other has learned to play by ear. Not to mention that they both play in the same orchestra. But when Gwen plays at a wedding is when she catches Xander’s eye. And when she gets offered first chair, something that Xander has been wanting for years.

There is tension and jealousy (within work), and the slow burn pays off!!

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for the eARC!

Well done dramatic romance between a bad boy cellist and an up and comer violinst. The author builds the tension so well. I was impressed at the use of music to build the tension, almost as though you could hear the song. Definitely open door but each spicy scene furthers the story. Characters from the Soto-verse make appearances so you’ll recognize them from Forget Me Not. I actually preferred this story over Forget Me Not.

Thank you Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Julie Soto is climbing that fave-author list! This is a beautifully-written romance intertwined with music in the best (and spiciest!) of ways. I am recommending this book to my gal pals, but as I work in a high school library, I won't be purchasing this for my patrons (that spice level!).

“Not Another Love Song” by Julie Soto

5⭐️/5⭐️
3🌶/5🌶

“She looked up at him. He was staring down at her like she was the sun. It was familiar. The same fascination she’d seen in him at the wedding, at the Plaza. Like she was an answer to a question he’d been asking his whole life.”

-I’m going to try to keep my thoughts as organized as possible, but sometimes it’s the books you love the most that are the hardest to review. I read “Forget Me Not” last year and became an instant fan of Julie Soto’s writing. I’m not in the Dramione fandom, so while I know of the fanfics she’s written, I’ve never actually read them (nor the Reylo fic, despite belonging to that particular fandom). So consider this a disclosure if you’re interested in reading this story: this was originally a Reylo fic. Now, is distractingly influenced by Reylo? Not at all, and I actually found myself forgetting it was originally centered around Rey and Kylo. This is a romance that stands on its own.

-Julie Soto writes my favorite types of MMCs: quiet in a crowd but friendly once you gain their trust, intelligent, utterly obsessed with the FMC, broody, moody, and a bit of a sad boi overall. It didn’t take long for me to fall in love with Xander Thorne. To the outside world Xander is a total asshole, he arrives to rehearsal late, he’s rude, he’s dismissive, he’s overly confident. But then you get to know him, and you understand why he acts this way, and that he doesn’t act this way towards everyone. By the time Gwen figures out who Xander is, everything makes sense and I found myself looking forward to his ‘bad’ behavior.

-Gwen is an interesting character, and I really liked how she was written. She wasn’t a child prodigy, she picked up the violin when she was eleven years old and worked her butt off to get better. She’s not the absolute best, and she doesn’t present herself as that; she has dreams and aspirations beyond where she is currently. I love that she isn’t some genius violin player. She doesn’t play every song perfectly, she knows when she messes up and what she needs to do differently the next time she plays.

-There’s so much tension built between Gwen and Xander without them talking very much to one another. It’s a lot of looks from across the room, or secondhand revelations heard from secondary characters. So when it gets to the point where they’re forced to interact, it’s electric.

-I loved all of the music references, and how every facet of the story revolved around playing music.

-On the one hand I’m so thankful to have read this story early, but on the other I’m kicking myself for reading it in April when it comes out in July! This is definitely going to make my ‘top reads of 2024’ list at the end of the year, and I’m absolutely going to buy a copy when it’s released.

I was so happy to be able to read this early because it was one of my anticipated reads for the summer, it was really good. I did get lost a few times when there was talk about music and such but, nothing a quick google search couldn’t fix 😅 I think that was one of my favorite things about the story line, was the music and how it played into their love story.
Julie Soto really knows how to write sexual tension on paper cuz you can feel it between Xander and Gwen as you’re reading 😂 when you get the THE SCENE, the cover art makes sense 🫡🥵😂

Thank you NetGalley and Julie Soto for this ARC.

Who knew a Cello could be so sensual and sexy!

Not Another Love Song continues Soto's legacy of writing swoon worthy, sensual romances. The hottest scene in romances is in this book. Tension, longing play wonderfully throughout this love story. Gwen and Xander are misfits who find the right notes for love.

I think I'd enjoy having this read to me in audiobook format.

This novel is music on a page! Must read novel for the summer.

Thank you, Forever

This book solidifies that if Julie Soto writes it, I will read it. I could not put down this story. I was so involved in these characters and their struggles. As a past band nerd, I was living for how the music played a part in their stories and lives. I am absolutely obsessed and will be making everyone I know read this book!

I LOVED the cameos from the Forget Me Not characters<3

That you, NetGalley, for the earc!

Love. Love. Love. ❤️🎶

This book has now made Julie Soto one of my favorite romance authors now! I absolutely adored this book and could not put it down. I was actually sad to finish this because I just wanted to keep reading Gwen and Alex’s story.

The opening of the story was amazing and drew me right in as we have Gwen and her best friend hired for a wedding to play their musical instruments only the bride wanted a cello and not a violin, which is what Gwen plays. Who other than the infamous Xander Thorne (one of the greatest and well known cello players), to loan her his cello. The story kept getting better and better! The way that Alex (Xander) secretly admired and respected Gwen and her talent was unmatched. He was always looking at her like she hung the moon and she had no idea.

This reminded me a lot of the way Ali Hazelwood writes her stories and I was all for it!

5 ⭐️

ARC Review

This was genuinely incredible. Julie Soto infused this with so much tension throughout the book that my chest physically ached for the characters. So much angst and constant fear of both who the bad players actually were and then what it was they could do to Gwen and Alex. The book has a masterful amount of angst that kept me gripped start to finish. This book has a lot of characters that you don’t know if you can trust and ultimately I spent most of it screaming for everything to work out for the couple.

Julie Soto also had the task of translating musical experience and sound through text, which I was a little skeptical of before diving in. I was shocked by how she used words to make the reader feel the music as if we were in the room with the characters - whether that was in an apartment or Carnegie Hall.

One of my top reads of the year by far. If I could give this more than five stars I would. When I pick up a romance this is what I’m hoping it will be.

Julie Soto never fails! Loved this book so much! Loved how the characters from Forget me Not appeared in this book too. This is definitely one of my top romance reads this year. It stole my heart and made me feel all the feelings!

I absolutely loved this! Julie Soto will definitely be an auto-buy author as both of her books have been 5 stars for me! The writing in this was beautiful, and I couldn't bring myself to put this book down.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. THIS WAS SO GOOD. I'm just getting into my contemporary romance game, but Julie Soto is automatically an instant-buy author for me. I love her characters, the storyline and the TENSION. So authentic feeling, nothing feels forced, and everything has such an organic progression. Can't wait to read Ms. Soto's next book, and can't wait to add this one to my physical shelf!

This wasnt good until it was and then it wasnt again... LOVED the music parts although it could be a bit overwhelming at times how like when you read a sports romances and its literally so sporty and you just wanted jerseys and locker room sex???? YEA it was like that but with cellos and violins. He was definitley down bad for my girl. The middle really did carry but Lorenz really pissed me off and I feel Like Xander couldve dropped those big ole balls I'm sure he has and stood up for himself. But it was defintley a fun read. If Teddy Hamilton narrates Ill listen and see if i change my mind.

It's an adult romance, so not the best fit for a high school library, but it was cute, full of that beautiful anticipation that Soto builds so well, just like the flawless music the two main characters are creating together. Fun read.

I've never wanted to play the violin or cello so bad in my life! I was hooked from the start with this book and I loved that the main characters are musicians but not in the normal way books tend to write about musicians. I love that we got to see multiple sides on what it means to be a musician and where your path could take you.

The tension, woooweeee, the tension was GIVING. You could literally feel the sexual tension as you were reading the words and things were getting spicy. I think a lot of people who like spice, music and a medium burn will devour this book.

It is a three star for me because I did not connect deeply with Gwen or Xander but I did enjoy their story and I would recommend this.