This book.. this BOOK.. was just. So. GOOD. I loved this book. I read it in under 12 hours. If you’re a romance reader, this book is for you. I’m not really a romance reader and yet.. this book was just amazing. I needed a break from fantasy and my god, I couldn’t put it down.

Julie Soto is a master at romance. I used to read her work in fanfiction, so I don’t know why I expected this to be any different. This is a fast paced story about two music prodigies. The story was addictive and emotional and had me crying by the end. Gwen was such a likable character and I loved her so much. Xander was hot and his POV was my favorite. The spice was.. *chef’s kiss* so spicy.

I can’t wait to read more from Julie. This is going to be one of my favorite books this year. A strong 5 stars from me. Thank you Netgalley, Julie Soto and Forever Grand Central Publishing for the ARC.

wow, this was the loveliest, steamiest, tenderest story! while I loved FORGET ME NOT by Julie Soto, this story absolutely delivered in every possible way :)

Gwen is such a lovely character who goes on the realest journey of self-acceptance, shedding her imposter syndrome and anxieties about her talent in order to become so much more comfortable in her self, her dreams, and her relationships. I loved seeing Gwen find her self-worth and her happiness in this story. and Alex has his own growth in this story as well. I loved seeing him become Gwen's biggest support and motivator to make her become her best self. he is such a sweet and tender boy wrapped in a cynical and untrusting shell built from years of heartbreak and betrayal. I absolutely loved seeing his pov in the few chapters throughout the story so we can see the loveliness in him before Gwen does.

overall, Gwen and Alex have the loviest, rhythmically romantic story I've ever read. the plot and character development was unique and completely wonderful. an absolute joy of a read from Soto, thank you so much for the arc :)

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

I would recommend if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-m/f contemporary romance
-rivals to lovers
-horny music nerds in love
-found family
-he falls fast and hard
-falling in love with you is the symphony

Gah what a book. The aboslutely poetry of prose that just tosses you livewire into a musica. Julie Soto's writing is absolute poetry, you can just feel the msuc, her words weaving a gorgeous love story, in a backdrop of fame, power hungry figures and two horny idiots who just need to figure out what they want out of this world rather than what everyone tells them they should want.

Music brought Gwen family as an orphan her guiding light as she navigated life. But she's bumping up against Alex/Xander and suddeenly in the first chair position he wanted. I adored how Julie played with dual POV in this book I won't say much but it was so unique. I loved how Gwen had power in this story but also was making mistakes, figuring it out, and still figuring herself out.

BUT ALEXANDER 'JUST KEEP PLAYING THE CELLO HONEY' THORNE just wow. Gruff, a bit of a jerk, and just becomes obsessed with Gwen. How he saw how talented she was, and wanting more of her always. I lvoe a man obssessed and gosh was he, doting on her, wanting any piece of her he could, and every consent check in was just so hottttt. How he needed Gwen to reconsider where he was in his life and what he should fight for, and how much her talented turned him on.

Put your favorite music on, get comfortable because you won't be able to put this one down. Another masterpiece.

I absolutely devoured Not Another Love Song. I’m a huge sucker for rivals-to-lovers slow burn, and this book did not disappoint!

The tension and chemistry between Gwen and Alex was incredible. Julie Soto’s captivating writing fully immersed me into the world of classical orchestra to the point where the music itself was almost a character.

This was my first time reading Julie Soto and a week later I’m still thinking about it, like a song stuck in my head! I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy of this book.

Thank you netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Julie Soto could write a grocery list and I'd read it. I loved the musical aspect of this novel. The tension was very good between the two MCs. As always, she writes a very hot brooding man. We got cameos of our favorite characters from Forget Me Not. All in all, it was a great book.

4/5 ⭐
1.5/5 🌶️

This was 4 stars for me!

I love Julie Soto and everything she has written is straight gold.

The story of this is so magical and musically beautiful. I almost felt like I could hear music through the pages. The dynamic between the MCs was well developed and I really enjoyed their chemistry.

Absolutely loved this story!

I loved the setting of an orchestra in NYC. A violinist and cellist feeding off of each others' energy was delicious. I wanted more from their emotional connection. I still enjoyed it a lot!

Goodness, Not Another Love Song brought out all the feels l've been craving since finishing anothet contemporary earlier this year. Julie knocked this one out of the ballpark.

I loved her debut Forget Me Not, but I LOVED Not Another Love Song! Alex and Gwen had me in a chokehold from beginning to end. Safe to say Julie is a new autobuy author for me

I adored Forget Me Not so I jumped at the chance to read this one and boy was I not disappointed.

I LOVED it. It is immediately going into my comfort read rotation. If you enjoy Ali Hazelwood books and/or liked Forget Me Not this is a great choice for you.

The relationship was adorable and I loved how well researched the musician parts of it seemed (I'm not a musician but it seemed like it was all intensely accurate lol)

Also, THE CELLO SCENE. The blurbs and posts about it were not kidding. I was not prepared and it was *amazing*. You'll wanna read it for that scene alone lol

Honestly Julie has yet to disappoint me and after this book she's definitely now an auto-buy author for me

I really loved this one. Maybe even more than her first novel? The music component was perfection, and the realistic connection between the leads gave allllll the butterflies. It never bogged down like so many romances do and stood out amongst all the other contemporary romances.

Not Another Love Song follows violinist Gwen and celloist Xander, two coworkers at a New York small symphony as they clash and come together as collaborators and in love.
Gwen is an orphan with almost no friends, content with a small existence playing in the orchestra. Xander is a superstar is the world of classical music, a childhood prodigy and the lead in a rock opera style band. When Gwen is hired to perform at a wedding that Xander is attending he finally notices her and her untapped potential after not even realizing that she is in fact his coworker. He convinces her to collaborate with him as sparks fly. This is more like academic rivals/coworkers to lovers than enemies to lovers. Once they finally come together spicy and music become intertwined.

Thank you for Forever and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book in exchange for my honest review. I am giving this book 3.5 stars. While I did enjoy the first half of the book (the angst, the tension) the second half of the book (while spicy) started to fall apart. Their actual relationship was just ok, the fight leading to the third act breakup felt forced and not a natural part of the story. I was satisfied by the resolution, but it was only in the first 50% of this book that I found much enjoyment. This book is (again) Reylo fan fiction by this author. I did enjoy her first book, but probably wont read any more books by this author until they step away from writing things of this nature and start to broaden their horizons,
I will post video reviews of this book to my social media (TikTok and YouTube) closer to the release date in July.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. There were pieces that dragged for me, but I really appreciated the resolution. 4 stars, "Really liked it."
 
Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the ARC.

Julie has done it again! Her writing is addicting and the little cameos from Ama and Elliot from Forget Me Not had me squealing!

This story follows Gwen Jackson as she gains notoriety as the youngest first chair violinist playing with the Manhattan Pops (inspired by the New York Pops). We see increased tension between her and the famous Xander Thorne, bad boy cello player and the lead of her favorite band, Thorne and Roses, and there's nothing I love more than Rivals to Lovers. There were parts in the middle that dragged for me a bit but ultimately the story kept me interested and at the edge of my seat as the romance progressed. Majority of the book was told from Gwen's perspective but every 60 pages or so we got a small chapter from Xander's perspective and I think it was just enough to round out his character and I actually loved that the book wasn't completely duel POV. I think a lot of people will see themselves in Gwen and the struggle she went through with pleasing the people around her and trusting her gut to know what the right thing is for herself.

One thing Julie KNOWS how to do is write a romance! The tension and yearning these two characters had for each other was so consuming and it was hard to set the book aside once they came together. I meannnn once you read the scene that inspired the cover I think you'll also be foaming at the mouth to devour the rest of the story. There is a third act breakup but this was one I actually didn't mind. It made space for both Gwen and Xander grow as individuals and gave them the change to make decisions that weren't completely dependent on their relationship.

I really loved this book and I'm excited to see what Julie comes out with next!

"he was staring down at her like she was the sun. like she was an answer to a question he’d been asking his whole life.”

Thank you NetGalley and Julie Soto for giving me the chance to read this early!

This is my first book by Julie Soto and I can easily say it will not be my last. The book for me moved from a slow to medium pace although it is dual POV you get a lot more of the FMC than you do the MMC. I would have liked a little more of the MMC POV in present time but I definitely appreciated the past POV scenes from him. I thought the romance was good there is some spice but honestly at a point I skimmed through it which I usually don't do and this is really because I wanted to get back into the story and see what was happening next for the MCs. I loved how much I could identify with how bad a broken heart hurts. I wish I could see a clip of this scene in real life !
Overall this was a great read for me , it was romance but also found family and good character development. I would give this book 3.5-4 star rate

When I tell you I LOVED this book. This contemporary romance novel has it all: dark and brooding mmc, strong fmc, music, passionate love, and fun side characters.

The relationships, both platonic and romantic, in the story were beautiful and realistic. The triumphs and flaws of each of the characters were shown in their interactions with each other, and I love how much they were developed. Mabel was my absolute favorite. She was an incredible role model and lovable side character.

When I first started Not Another Love Song, I was very skeptical of the mmc, Alex due to his behavior toward Gwen at the beginning of the novel. Things quickly changed as his hard exterior melted away and he began to realize that insulting Gwen was not the way to her heart. While Gwen seemed to know a lot about who she was and wanted to be, Alex showed an incredible amount of character development and I LOVED watching him grow as a person.

Last, but not least, the spicy scenes in Not Another Love Song were so good (I mean the cello scene are you kidding me). I really loved this book - it had everything that you could hope for in a romance novel.

This book was everything I wanted it to be! It had romance and humor and lots of really good music. It reminded me of Ali Hazelwood’s stem books in that it was so immersed in the musical aspect of it as well as the romance! This ticked all the boxes for me!

Why didn’t my parents make me learn an instrument?

Do I need to purchase CSO tickets immediately?

*googles violin lessons for elder millennials*

Gwen Jackson, a former subway performer with no formal violin training, has raw talent. Xander Thorne, Juilliard dropout and musical prodigy, has made a name for himself playing the electric cello in a rock band. After she arrives to a wedding gig and realizes they meant to hire a cellist, Gwen is forced to play Xander’s cello…and is horrified to discover he has absolutely no idea who she is despite working alongside him in the Manhattan Pops Orchestra for over a year. When she is offered the First Chair position over Xander, tensions simmer…until they boil over into something much more intense than a work rivalry.

This was my first Julie Soto novel and OH MY GOD???? The writing? Exquisite. The chemistry? Off the charts. The spice?! There is one scene that is so 🥵 that I thought I might faint on the train ride to work. Do you remember the Amalie Howard hero who played that ballerina like a cello? Xander Thorne said “hold my scotch, your grace.” I will be shocked if Not Another Love Song isn’t featured on the 2024 “best of” lists because if it’s not I might have to call the United Nations to report a crime against humanity. Like. I’m looking for more articulate words than MORE SEXY ORCHESTRAS NOW and I cannot seem to find them. This one will be very, very hard to top.

Not Another Love Song is out on 7/16/2024…which gives you three months to read Julie Soto’s debut novel if you’re an absolute schmoe like me who somehow missed that one last year.

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this eARC via NetGalley! All opinions are my own.

This is one of the best romances i've read in soooooo long. I ate it up & loved every second. i really enjoyed Julie Soto's first book but this one topped it in my opinion.

It's rivals to lovers and they're classical musicians. It's clear that so much love and thought went into writing this book, the amount of research the author must have done is astronomical. The music is what set this book apart from so many others, it pulls you in and it's a huge part of the plot & their relationship. I'm also a sucker for a dual pov & really enjoyed the way that it was done here.

Every single relationship in this book was so well fleshed out and written, the "parental" relationships especially. The author did an amazing job representing different types of parental figures and the way those relationships impact children as they grow.

I will 100% be adding this to my yearly romance rereads!!!

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC <3

So readable and fun! This romance between two classical musicians was steamy, intense, and gave me the wholesome love story I wished Daisy Jones and the Six could have (yes, I know, controversial). I rly enjoyed Julie Soto's debut and this just sealed her in as an author to keep on my radar.

Julie Soto did it again. Not Another Love Song will probably live in my head forever. The tension, the romance, the heartbreak. This book was a masterpiece. There were too many moments that left me squealing and kicking my feet and plenty that made my heart drop. Xander and Gwen are top tier characters and their love story is so beautiful.

Thank you to Julie Soto, NetGalley, and Grand Central Publishing for the eARC.