4.5⭐️
2 🌶️🌶️

I devoured this book!!! It literally had me hooked from the very first page!! I went feral for Xander. This book is rock star romance, cellist/violinist, rivals to lovers and has the best angst I’ve read in a long time!

They were beautiful together, they made beautiful music together and I loved their love! The build up was perfection and I couldn’t get enough! Julie Soto has officially become an auto buy author for me! Can’t wait to see what she has in store next because this woman can write some kick ass romance!

Thank you net galley & Julie Soto for this arc🫶🏼

I'm sure there's a really bad dad joke somewhere about how horny these musicians are (AND THEY ARE!!!) but I digress...

As someone who has never been involved with the Reylo fandom and whose only knowledge of the characters comes from watching the movie that one time when it released, I feel like this is the most reylo-y trad published Reylo that I've read so far.

But like... it totally worked for me. These characters made sense. Their backstories and motivations made sense. Even in my limited interaction with the movies, I could tell where the author pulled inspiration and I thought it was really well done. It was fully developed and we didn't just slap an Adam Driver-coded MC in it and call it Reylo. (Although, yes. The cover art definitely is Adam Driver flavored - but that hand placement makes up for it.)

I had a lot of fun with this one. I enjoyed how it was primarily in single POV (with a little interlude every now and then from the LI.) The side characters brought delightful comic relief. The antagonists were really good (I hated them.) And yes, Gwen and Xander were super horny for each other. Sometimes in inappropriate places. I loved that for them.


*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC*

WOW WOW WOW
This was such a perfect book to me!

The MMC is A DREAM (obsessed with the fact she calls him Alex 🥰)
This Enemies to lovers was SOO PERFECT.

Do I know anything about Cellos & violins? Absolutely not. Did I EAT this book up? ABSOLUTELY. I couldn’t put it down. It was all I could think about.

I will say the end was a little dull but the rest of the book was so good, I didn’t even care.

I will be telling EVERY ONE to read this when it comes out!!

Side note- I watched 2Chellos back in black and I GET IT. The way I was giddy watching them flip there hair 🤭🤭

Thank you Netgalley & Forever Pub for letting me read this masterpiece 😙👌🏼

Loved this book so much! The tension between Alex and Gwen had me squealing and kicking my feet! The story was beautifully written and it was a love story I didn’t know I needed.
This was my first romance involving music and it was perfection!!

RATING: 4.5/5

I can easily imagine “Not Another Love Song” as a movie. It wouldn’t surprise me if it became one. With the way the story flows from beginning to end, readers will become enamored by Gwen’s tenacity to achieve what she believes are her dreams of becoming a violinist. Not formally trained as her peers, she moved quickly and unexpectedly to first chair in the symphony. Though those around her tell her that she is merely a tool for better ticket sales —- Gwen is young and pretty. Is she the best violinist, though?

When Gwen meets Xander, a fellow musician and son of one, she wonders whether he is friend or foe. As they spend more time together, she learns more about herself, her music, and what is truly important to her. The spice when the two are together makes the pages go up in flames. The spice is spicin’ when Gwen and Xander make more than music.

Thank you for Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley, the gifted advance reader copy of Not Another Long Song by Julie Soto.

WOW! This book was so good that I didn’t even wanna finish it!! Julie Soto has perfected the way she writes complex characters, and romance. The details and mannerism of characters is unlike anyone else in the romance genre right now.

Gwen and Xander!! I was dying from tension from the very first scene! Julie is amazing at giving each of her characters depth, every character written was so nicely done and had me wanting more. The 3rd act breakup was done in a timely manner and not drug out for drama, which was amazingly well done. I loved seeing the Ama and Elliot cameo and the found family dynamic. The Christmas scene at Mabel’s made my heart is happy!

This will hands down be in my top three books of the year. Can it be July already? I need a physical copy right now!!!

Loved the storyline in this Rivals to Lovers trope! With my love for music, this was so good! Julie Soto wrote this book so well, that you could literally feel the sexual tension through playing their instruments. Who knew classical instruments could be so sexy?! The pacing was perfect and I read through this so fast that I was left wanting to know more about Alex and Gwen!

Thank you NetGalley for the Free EARC! This was wonderful and must read!

I expected to love this book and really wanted to, but it just didn't meet the mark for me. The characters didn't feel well-developed and there were no real "stakes" that the two main characters were facing-- the drama felt manufactured. Additionally, I found the spice to be really clinical, it lacked emotion and had weird descriptors. The phrase "he licked at her" was used in abundance, as an example, and it was off-putting. No one would describe an intimate encounter they had to a friend in this way, and that's generally what I'm looking for in a spicy scene.

I appreciated the unique idea of two competing string musicians falling in love, and I liked Mrs. Mabel as a side character. Other than that, it was a strong pass for me.

What a beautiful love story - one for the ages! I haven’t been this gobsmacked by a romance in recent memory!

This lovingly and stunningly story of Alex and Gwen, two musicians who find each other in the midst of their careers who help each other discover who they are — and what they want.

I loved every second of this - my first from Julie that won’t be my last! This was full of depth and nuance and more than once, i got goosebumps.

Grateful to have read this — and couldn’t recommend it more!

Amazing. Could not put it down. Julie Soto has written a perfect live story where the music felt like a valuable character that helped influence the story.

This is basically the story of how a cello fell in love with a violin. It did take a little bit to pick up in the beginning but overall I really enjoyed it. The tension and angst was amazing. I also really appreciated the character development of both main characters.

Not Another Love Song is a fantastic second title from Julie Soto. The transition from rivals to lovers was so well done, and the tension between these 2 main characters was just...chef's kiss. I'm going to be completely honest, I never thought a cello could be sexy, but daaaaaaaaaaamn did Julie prove me wrong! I can't wait for everyone to get to read this book!

This is the second book that I’ve read from Julie Soto and she is now one of my auto-buy authors! This book was so sweet and spicy, I loved it! It is a Reylo inspired romance and I think the concept and the characters were absolutely brilliant! Xander(Alex) is written perfectly and I loved his story! I also loved Gwen, she is so smart and wonderfully written, their chemistry is very hot!
I would definitely recommend reading this book and I look forward to reading what comes from Julie in the future!

This was my first ever musical romance (Is that a thing?), as well as my first Julie Soto read, and wow! Just wow. The way Julie writes romance should be studied in a lab! 'Not Another Love Song' is one of the best contemporary romances I've ever read. I sincerely hope it's picked up for a film adaptation, because I need to see Xander and Gwen's love story unfold on the big screen! I think it's safe to say that Julie Soto has been added to my short list of auto-buy authors.

Thank you to the author and Net Galley for providing me with an eARC of 'Not Another Love Song'. My first ever 6-star read.

Another winner from Julie Soto! I absolutely loved Forget Me Not and was counting the days until I got my hands on Not Another Love Song. NALS is different from a lot of other contemporary romances I've read in the sense that it is set in the orchestra world amongst a violin and cello player - introducing me to a whole new world of music.

NALS was a slower start for me, but once I got into it, I was incredibly invested in Gwen & Xander as well as their families and backgrounds.

I look forward to more from Soto in the future!

Julie Soto knows how to write tension SO WELL. These two were so hot and electric and I was blushing every time they were on the page together. However, I had a hard time understanding WHY they loved each other so quickly. I wish we got to see them going on dates and hanging out outside of work/ hooking up, instead of being told "We went on a date". I also wish we got more from Alex's POV as he to me had a more interesting background. I also think the plot sorta fell apart/ was rushed towards the end. But overall this was a solid read and Julie Soto is a new auto-buy author for me.

I loved this book. I was so excited to read this having loved the first book and it did not disappoint. Will definitely be reading again.

5 stars 🌟 I loved this book SO much! I couldn't put it down. The spice in it was 🤌🥵 the romance in it, which had me smiling from ear to ear.

This book was amazing from the word go! I loved how detailed the music information was and how the FMC & MMC communicated through their music. He fall’s first is a a gold mine trope and this man is smitten! I cannot wait for more in this world!

I absolutely devoured this book. Not Another Love Song is a beautifully written story about Alex and Gwen, two musicians who find each other at different points in their careers and ultimately help each other discover who they are and what they want in life.

I’ve been looking forward to this book because Forget Me Not was one of my favorite reads of last year (and certainly my favorite 2023 debut). I love that Ama and Elliot make appearances in this book as well. Julie Soto is certainly an auto-buy author for me.

Thank you so much to Julie Soto, Forever Publishing, and NetGalley for the eARC. Not Another Love Song comes out on 7/16/24.