[Thank you to Julie & Forever Publishing for this ARC]

This boooooook ugh it was actually so captivating. I was sucked in from the beginning and literally could not put it down. I could feel the tension between Gwen and Xander from the second they met. The spice was beautifully written, and I loved every aspect of this book.

While this is my first Julie Soto book, I loved the cameos from the characters in her first book, and I will be reading that next! You most definitely do not have to read that book first, so do not keep that from you reading Not Another Love Song.

The only reason it is not a 5-star read is because I was slightly disappointed by the ending. I wish the characters would have communicated a little bit more. Other than that, I am in love, and Julie Soto has become an auto-buy author.

5⭐️

If Julie Soto writes it, I will read it! I loved Forget Me Not and could not wait to read this one, and it was absolutely fantastic!

A musician rivals to lovers with ALL the tension and angst. YES PLEASE! I mean I know absolutely nothing about music, but man did Julie make it so sexy! I just couldn’t get enough of Gwen and Xander! Their tension and banter had me devouring this book. I was so invested in their relationship from start to finish!

Not only was I invested in their relationship together, but their individual stories and growth as well! And it was just done so perfectly. They were 2 completely different types of musicians (and people) but when they came together they flourished. As not only musicians, but as individuals and as a couple. THEY WERE EVERYTHING!

And can we please take a moment for the cello scene…. I mean 🥵

Also.. the cover is STUNNING!

What a book. This is one of the best books I've ever read. I don't mean this lightly. Not Another Love Story is a chemistry-filled and unforgettable romance. It's sexy, romantic and reminded me why I read this genre. The authentic and realistic representation of the passion of music mixed with the incredible romance makes up for one of the best books of 2024. I loved this from start to finish.

Julie Soto is an auto preorder author for me. I adored Forget Me Not and Not Another Love Song was on my most anticipated list for the summer. I squealed when it was available on Netgalley and it did not disappoint. My only regret is i finished it so fast and didn’t pace myself to savor it more.

Julie Soto is now a one-click author for me! I don’t know what kind of magic she puts in her books, but let me tell you… she has me under her spell! She’s now 2/2 for me with absolute bangers that will be making my 2024 top reads. If you loved her debut, Forget Me Not, I guarantee you will love Not Another Love Song!

This book captivated me right from the start and I didn’t want to put it down. I was a giddy school girl giggling throughout so many parts of this book. Julie knows how to write romance. She writes some of the best tension and passionate scenes I’ve ever read.

Gwen, a violinist, and Xander, a cellist, both play in the Manhattan Pops orchestra. When Gwen is offered the position Xander has been wanting for years, they are forced to work closely together. The tension is through the roof and they can’t fight their attraction. Let’s just say they make beautiful music together! 😉

This book was magical! I loved everything about the music! I was in concert choir in HS so it was speaking to my soul. And Gwen and Xander are so hot, y’all.

I won’t ever stop thinking about them or this book! Please go read it on release day! 🫶🏻

Another home run from Julie Soto. Not another love Song was not another enemies to lovers rom com. Gwen and Xander were well written and relatable and they lived in a world that you would think would not be relatable. But they wasn’t the. Case at all. Their talents were e optional but their insecurities, feelings of loneliness and anger are familiar to us all. This was a sweet, slow burn love story. Pick it up on July 16th!

4.5/5
I loved Forget Me Not so I was so excited to get an ARC of Not Another Love Song and it did not disappoint!
Thank you to Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Expected publication: July 16, 2024

I absolutely love this book! An amazing rivals to lovers story. I had a hard time putting the book down and never wanted it to end. This was my first Julie Soto book and will be starting her other one as soon as I submit this review!

Julie Soto is officially an autobuy author. After devouring and loving her debut Forget Me Not I had high hopes for this sophomore release. And it did not disappoint.

I honestly loved this, the New York Orchestra scene was original and had me craving some brass and string melodies. But beyond the setting I adored our two MCs. Alex officially is my new book boyfriend and Gwen was such a talent, strong, courageous and wise beyond her years.

The side characters chefs kiss. The steam was steaming and I devoured it all in 24 hrs.

Highly recommend.

“Not Another Love Song” is the story of two people, coming from very different backgrounds, but sharing the same love of music. Gwen is an orphan who found solace in the violin, while Xander Thorne is an arrogant celloist, who doesn’t seem to care about anything.

I loved watching Gwen and Xander collide and attempt to fight their attraction to each other. The banter was top notch, as was the sense of found family. I especially loved the supporting characters and how they contributed to the story.

The one aspect of the story that I found a bit disappointing was how quickly the ending was resolved. I felt rushed through and wanting a bit more time to explore the scenes.

Overall, I loved this story and can’t wait to read more of this author.

The tension and angst in this book was so good. Julie Soto outdid herself. Even though I don’t know much about music I thoroughly enjoyed it. Xander and Gwen are musical prodigies who grew up totally different. They go from musical rivals to lovers. And let’s not forget about cello scene. Hot!!! I also like that we got Xander’s point of view every few other chapters because it helped understand and know him better.

I seriously enjoyed reading this book and would totally recommend!

After the success of her debut last year, Julie Soto’s sophomore novel NOT ANOTHER LOVE SONG is surely to be one of this summer’s hot read. Once again the author has penned simultaneously cute and spicy enemies to lovers romance that will make you hear the music lift of the page.

Some of my favorite things in the book 👇🏻

🎶 highly picturesque passages of music
🌸 cameos of Forget Me Not characters
💙 found family
🎻 the cello in apartment scene 🔥
😍 love ☺️
🔐 Taylor Swift reference (Alex’s version)

Not such a hot thing👇🏻
👎🏻 third act brake-up

A whole another thing that is clearly working for Julie Soto: THE COVER!! Once again she (and the cover artist) slayed. And scene 😮‍💨

This has some of the best tension and chemistry between the main characters that I've read in SOME time, but I didn't love the 3rd act break up in this one, which is what kept it from being five stars for me.

I adored the original fic, and I was a little surprised by how Julie managed to include so many of the original scenes in this (complimentary, because I LOVED those scenes then and now). I really feel like Julie did the work to make these characters feel original and all their own. I was highlighting lines the whole time I was reading. Her prose is unmatched!

3.5 stars

I really hoped to like this book more than I did but unfortunately it missed the mark. I felt like we were missing a lot of connection between the characters. Gwen starts off hating Alex (I’m not entirely sure why?? I feel like it wasn’t super clear) but then after a few 2 sentence interactions shes like, meh he’s hot I’ll date him. I just felt like we didn’t have any character development leading up to that point and it didn’t make any sense.
The plot was also just kind of bland. About 60% of the book was just them practicing for the concerts and not in an interesting way.
The conflicts came out of nowhere and were poorly explained and poorly resolved. I know this was Reylo fan fiction (which was another problem I had with it but that’s more personal opinion) but it definitely read like bad fanfiction instead of a published book.

I really enjoyed Forget Me Not so I was surprised by how much I didn’t enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the Arc!

Thank you to NetGalley and Juli Soto for the eACR of this book, the receipt of which does not influence my review.

First thing's first: I enjoyed this book WAY more than Forget Me Not. Alex had depth and complexities I personally didn't find in Elliott, and while I enjoyed Ama as an FMC, I felt more connected to Gwen.

I have a fascination with niche communities, their politics, and celebrities, so this book was right up my alley. If I'd lived in this universe, I could have met Ava Fitzgerald and thought "she was nice" or "I liked her hair," meanwhile someone who is into classical would have tripped over their own feet to have the privilege of pulling toilet paper off of her shoe.

I'm not a fan of the miscommunication trope, which made a minor appearance in this book, but the ANGST absolutely made up for it. The way Soto uses music as an aphrodisiac is absolutely masterful. It made the intimate scenes so sensual and delicious. I can't wait to see what she writes next!

This review was also shared on my Goodreads account: www.goodreads.com/kaylapearce

Julie Soto the woman that you are! When I met Julie last August at a book signing I told her point blank, “I will read anything you write,” and this was after just reading her debut Forget Me Not—and that statement still stands! I will read anything Julie Soto writes.
It’s been a little under two weeks since I finished reading this and I am still thinking about the cello scene, every time I look at the cover I get thrusted back into the cello scene and I feel myself going feral. Not Another Love Song was quite literally addicting, I could not put it down, I needed more of Xander and Gwen, I needed more violin and cello scenes, I was absolutely hooked. If you want to giggle and kick your feet around, as if the words on the pages are actually happening to you, then you need to read this.
This book had me talking to my dog and to the invisible camera in the corner in my room (The Office style) trying to make someone, something, understand how crazy I was going over what I was reading.
Although this book is not dual pov, you do get “cello suites” that act as a pov for Xander and I loved them. I think I’m in the minority when I say I would rather not have dual pov in a romance but when Julie Soto does it, I eat it up. I find that she does the dual pov so well.
Listen, I’m not a classical music fan by any means but since I was in high school I’ve listened to Yo-Yo Ma religiously, he was the soundtrack to all my endless nights doing homework, and being thrust into the dynamic of first chair cello and violin was an absolute ride that I never knew I needed and now need more of. I loved the dynamic between Xander and Gwen and couldn’t get enough of them. I know this book isn’t even officially out yet but I need whatever else Julie Soto is working on immediately!

The tension from the very beginning was to die for. I would die for Alex tbh. I completely fell head over heels over these characters and their love and devoured this book in one day. HELLO REYLO FANFIC. I don’t usually read fanfic but now I’ve read three of these so maybe I should from now on?? Completely amazing to have Adam Driver in my head while reading this.
The way their lives have been so different yet overlap in such a beautiful read? I will 100% be buying the physical copy the second it releases, but in actuality I will have preordered a long time before that! I know we have all heard of the Cello scene but LET ME TELL YOU you are not ready. Is he douchey sometimes? Yes. But does that make him hotter for me, also YES.
This man is a rock star! Yet takes time to admire this girl who has never been classically trained for her skills. The way they create music makes me want to connect my headphones to this book and listen in. I’m only a week from reading it and I desperately want to read it again.
In the beginning it almost seems that he hates her, but we slowly find out his admiration for her and her talent. All the secrets we find out throughout the way are all placed so beautifully and it makes such a well rounded story.
I was so lucky to have been able to download this book from NetGalley and I am so thankful to Julie Soto and Forever for making this possible.

3.75 🌟🌟
I absolutely ate this book up! Not Another Love Song was the perfect rivals x lovers I’ve read in awhile. The tension between Gwen & Xander was hot!!!!! The cello scene will forever live rent free… it
was sooooo hot.

The music aspect was very interesting!!! I know nothing about instruments but this book explained it very well. Also the New York setting was perfection!

This book wasn’t a five star for me just because it lacked emotional depth between the characters for me. But other than that I definitely would recommend this book to everyone! Thank you so much Netgalley for this arc!

A cello and violinist rivals to lovers story where the tension was through the roof!!! This did take a moment for me to get into due to the music talk and not being very familiar with it, however around 25% in the story really picked up and we got to see Gwen and Xander interacting more which had me SAT!!! Miss Julie Soto literally ate so hard with sexual tension and the yearning between these two and the cello scene?! Seriously, Jaw on floor, because she really did that! so freaking hot!!!

A moment for the cover as well because this is hands down one of the hottest covers I’ve ever seen!

I thoroughly enjoyed this and would certainly recommend!

Squealing, giggling and kicking my feet. I’m giddy. This whole book had the biggest, goofiest smiles on my face.

It’s a top read for me. I’m absolutely obsessed.

🎻 Musicians
🎻 Teenaged Crush
🎻 Co-Workers
🎻 Soulmates

It was funny, provocative and one of the best things I’ve read. Julie Soto is masterful. I learned so much about music, string instruments and orchestras. I smiles endlessly. The chemistry between these characters is top tier.

Thank you Forever pub for the e-arc to read and review