This definitely cemented Julie Soto as one of my go-to authors for romance.

I've never played an instrument and I know musicians speak another language, so at times I felt a little lost with some of the musical terms. But it all plays to the strength of the story...at the core, these were two musicians falling in love, so of course, they're going to relate their relationship to music. And Julie does it beautifully.

Gwen, the 'untrained' violinist and Xander, the cello rockstar. They offically meet at a wedding she plays at and Xander falls hard. But you wouldn't know since he's a prickly, broody, genuis musician. But Gwen and Xander play in the Manhattan Pops together. Gwen knows, since she followed his electric strings band, Thorne & Roses. Xander couldn't be bothered to show up on time or give anyone in the Pops respect, since it's a weird, new side hustle for him. Cut to their next rehersal and all he does is stare her down. Bam - she's on is radar now.

People take advantage of Gwen's naïvety - she jumps from seventh chair to first chair following the retirement of Ava. Xander and a few others tell her that she's being used. And Gwen comes to that realization months later. Xander constantly pushes Gwen to be better, or at least to let go and play with passion.

I loved Gwen's growth and Xander's love for her. The only thing that raised a flag for me was the chapter where Xander said he always outgrew things.

Bonus points for appearances from Ama and Elliot!

-rivals to lovers
-forced proximity
-music playing is foreplay
-cellist x violinist

4.5/5⭐️
3/5🌶

thank you to julie soto and netgalley for an e-arc of this book!!

gwen and xander meet unexpectedly when gwen (a violinist) is asked to play the cello at a wedding when there's a music mix-up. xander is the man of honor to the bride. xander isn't good with words and isn't the friendliest upon gwen wrapping up playing. the two continue to be thrown together when gwen is offered first chair of the symphony that they're both part of - a spot that xander had been vying for in the past year. chaos and flirting ensue from there.

i can't explain how much i loved this read. being familiar with classical music, i felt like i could HEAR the music that gwen and xander were playing. the way julie soto chose to describe the music composition process was beautiful. the comparison to raindrops and storms to the plucking of strings was just magical

i'll never stop thinking about that cello playing scene between gwen and xander. holy heck. imagine the pottery scene from the movie ghost, but both of these characters are very much alive and are playing a cello LOL

IT'S SO GOOD. read this when it comes out in JULY

Thank you to netgally and the publisher for allowing me to read the ARC.
This story was truly beautiful. I don’t think any book as made me feel the tension, longing, and want between the two characters as well as this one did. The author knew her characters really well and as a reader all their actions made sense and were the right amount of unpredictable.
The love story was weaves throughout it the books really well, it encompassed every corner of the plot while also giving the storyline its own structure. The story didn’t get lost to the romance.
I highly recommend picking up this to read and I look forward to reading more from this author.

This was such a nostalgic read for me! Julie Soto brought in concepts from my time in orchestra, that I did not expect to add to this beautiful romance. I loved Julie's writing style and how she mixed the spice with the plot, and boy was there spice! I will be looking forward to Julie's future releases as this was a wonderful read!

“Not Another Love Song” by Julie Soto is a story of contrasting musicianship and simmering tension. Gwen’s introspective violin mastery contrasts with Xander’s larger-than-life cello skills and prickly demeanor. Their clash in the Manhattan Pops orchestra adds depth to their evolving relationship. While I felt it was more of a 3.5-star read, I rounded up to 4 stars for its engaging storyline and the palpable chemistry between Gwen and Xander. Soto weaves music, passion, and rivalry into a compelling narrative that keeps you hooked till the last note. Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for the ARC.

The only problem with absolutely falling in love with a new author’s debut is bracing yourself for disappointment as you hold their much-awaited second book. I am relieved to report that Julie Soto’s Not Another Love Song is a masterpiece of pure delight and captured the fiery passion I will be burning with for weeks to come. It is hot, it is angsty, it is perfection. I need #3!

Xander's been told since the time he could hold a bow that he was destined for greatness—and he's delivered. Gwen is just happy to be making a living doing something she loves. And then they realize that together they make sweet, sweet music...

Okay, I'll be honest: I picked this up because I wanted to make music puns. Don't get me wrong, I'm as happy as the next person to read a romance between a violinist and a cellist—but mostly I wanted to make music puns. Bad ones. Consider this your warning.

Gwen is sweet, if often naïve: She's worked hard to earn her seventh-chair position, and while she's aware that it's unusual for someone to leap from seventh chair to first chair—and to suddenly be in a leadership position and a spotlight—at least four people (Xander, Mabel, *and the two people who choose to hire her*) have to spell out that she's being used before it clicks for her...several months later. Also, while she might be one of the orchestra's high notes, it's interesting that she's at her best when playing unprepared and often without the correct sheet music—a position that she finds herself in almost exclusively outside the confines of the pops orchestra so determined to promote (and use) her.

Xander I had a harder time with. He comes in with an ego, dancing to the beat of his own metronome, and it never fully clicks for him that being a prodigy, a virtuoso, is not enough to make one a good person. He complains that Nathan and Ava have been stringing him along, but it never occurs to him that he's consistently been the discordant note in their pops orchestra—that maybe if he put in the barest effort (or gave the pops orchestra the barest amount of respect), they'd be singing a different tune. Given that he's the hero of the romance, it worries me that I don't think there's a commitment in the book that he sees as unbreakable. Whether he's playing with his band or with the orchestra, he's perfectly happy to cast off his responsibilities with no notice as soon as something better comes along.

Where that leaves us, then, is with a romance that doesn't sit quite right with me. It's hot, sure; readers who like some spice will get a kick out of this. But Xander assumes things in his professional life and he assumes them in his personal life, and I'm not sure there's ever really a moment where he stops to think about whether Gwen is okay with him making choices for her—about her music (pushing her to think outside the Bach?), about the public or private status of their relationship, about their sax life. There's a *lot* of assumed consent throughout, and although Gwen is okay with Xander's poor conduct (and starts taking cues from him to cast off her own commitments), it's not a duet I'd buy a season ticket to.

There's an author's note at the beginning saying that this is Reylo fanfiction (I had to look this up; something to do with Star Wars), and I'd sort of forgotten about that until I got to the later parts of the book with Thorne & Roses (where there's A Major sense of fanfiction that can B flat if you've forgotten you're getting fanfiction...? I might need to workshop that one). I don't mind a solid nod to fanfiction (see Rainbow Rowell's Simon Snow series), but in this case I think I'd have preferred something that didn't have the wish-fulfillment aspects of fanfiction, because Gwen and Xander should have plenty to deal with on their own. I'm likely to be an outlier here, but I wouldn't have minded a coda in which we learn that Gwen has decided to more actively conduct her own life and strike out on her own as a solo act.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

This book totally rewired my brain chemistry.

I've lost count of how many smiles this book has brought to my face. And OMG, Alex... he's the new book boyfriend I'm totally obsessed with. 🤭

The chemistry between Gwen and him just melted me. I think I've reread Chapter 10 like 5 times in a row. And it totally upped the game on love declarations without even saying "I love you." 🫠

This book has officially become one of my all-time favorites.

Thank you so much, NetGalley and the publisher for sending me this ARC.

(Will post a more detailed review on social media closer to the release date.)

As a long time fan of Julie Soto’s writing, I was not surprised when this book had me in its grip from the first paragraph! I fell in love with the characters, I felt everything they felt, I lived the story.

I laughed, I cried, and I felt the butterflies.

I also looked up all the intricacies of orchestras, and listened to the symphonies as they were mentioned in the book! Imagine the passion this might ignite in someone unsuspecting — maybe future Gwen or Alex!

Loved the book from beginning to end, and I look forward to re-reading it many times, along with all future works Julie Soto shares with the world.

A love story between a cello and a violin! This book follows Gwen, a violinist who has been promoted to first chair in the orchestra she plays for, and Xander, a cellist who was secretly pining for that same spot. The tension, angst, banter, and romance between Gwen and Xander is everything. They’re both such complex characters and I love them both individually and together. Gwen and Xander both grew up in dramatically different circumstances, but are equally talented in their musical abilities. I adored the way they both brought out the best in each other. Their relationship was beautifully written.

Julie Soto has made me take a step back and realize that music is sexy! The tension and angst that I felt when reading about Gwen and Xander’s performances was everything to me. The chemistry and explosiveness between the characters throughout this book kept me from putting it down. Xander is the definition is a man obsessed and I ATE IT UP!

This was a refreshing read from the typical contemporary romances I have read in the past. It explores more about the music world and it’s inner workings, and Julie Soto did a great job exploring these topics while keeping it interesting. The writing is easy to grasp and hooks readers in. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a beautifully written book between characters you can root for and grow to love.

What to expect:
-Rivals to lovers
-Tension
-Love through music
-Banter
-He falls first

Thank you NetGalley and Julie Soto for the free arc download!

WOW! It has been a while since I have read a 5 star romance book. There is not a single thing that I would change about this. The writing is beautiful and funny without being unbelievable. The characters are clear and their character arcs are satisfying. I was really worried that the author was going to mess up the typical "third act breakup" which is usually where authors lose me, but no. it was perfect.

Finally a book where the characters can talk to each other rashly in an argument, but not with malice that in reality, might not ever be able to be forgiven.

I will be reading a lot more from this author in the future!

Loved this book. It’s a great story of two people coming together from different upbringings and completing each other. There heartbreak, found family, love, and finding one’s self. I can’t wait for Julie’s next book!!

I enjoyed my time reading Not Another Love Song- it was easy to read and I found myself engrossed in the story. It was highly anticipated after Julie Soto’s debut Forget Me Not— which i LOVED. I felt that Gwen and Alex had such good chemistry and the romance I really loved! I also thought the writing surrounding the musical elements of the story was beautiful. However, I felt that the beginning of the book took awhile to get into, and I didn’t find myself fully invested until around 1/3 of the way into the story. I also had trouble connecting to the musical elements of the story but I consider that more of a me problem. Finally, I felt that there were a lot of “villains” in this book and I felt myself getting kind of lost toward the end (like who am I supposed to be rooting against?) anyway, overall I did enjoy this story and I recommend! 3.5 stars

It takes a lot for a romcom to leave me teary-eyed on the last page. Especially if I've read it before (even if it was in a somewhat different form). But this book did just that. I was sad to see it end, but so glad to have read it.
Not Another Love Song hit every note (pun intended) and hit them each with all the passion and expertise they deserved. It's funny, sexy, and sappy in all the right ways, and at all the right times. The characters were beautifully written in a way where I could feel their struggles as if they were my own, while the villains of the story were so awful and believable that it hurt to read the scenes they were in.
Sometimes the characters made me so frustrated that I wanted to throw my Kindle. Other times, they made me so giddy that I wanted to throw my Kindle. That's a sign of a good book.
I love this book to pieces, and I can't wait to be holding my own physical copy so I can revisit it time and time again.

I loved this book. Gwen's difficult childhood and experiences with loss and poverty were juxtaposed with Alex's experience of plenty and privilege creates additional tension that hits beautifully.

The way this story is written and the strong development of the side characters added rights richness to the plot and really advanced the narrative. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys angsty enemies to lovers romances.

Such a fun take on musical romance and a intriguing plot.

It did fall flat for me a bit though. I absolutely loved Forgot Me Not so I dropped everything to read this when I got approved for an ARC. But I just didn't feel the chemistry and wish there was more tension or enemies to lovers. Maybe it was my mood, I just did connect to this like I wish I did.

But I see a ton of great reviews so far so give this a read and meet Xander 👀

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I actually liked this book better than her last one! I can't wait to read more about this world and all the great characters. I kind of wish the the book hadn't let so much time pass in the last bit. I would've liked more details as things were happen rather than the recap.

I have to be honest, while I loved Julie Soto’s first book, I am really not interested in classical music or orchestra in any way. While the book was written wonderfully and I cannot wait to read everything Julie writes, this simply wasn’t the book for me! But I highly recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in music :)

When I heard this book was available on NetGalley I dropped literally everything I was doing to make sure I got it. I have zero regrets. (Thank you NetGalley for the early read!!)

This was beautiful, amazing, I'm absolutely in love. It gave me exactly what I am looking for when I pick up a romance novel. The angst was perfection, the rivalry, the pining, the tension, the music, the love - how many times can I use the word beautiful in this review? The little things Xander just casually says had me kicking my feet and squealing. The last sentence is one of my all time favorite endings to a romance. Excuse me while that takes over my brain for the next forever.

I did feel like it was a bit of a slow burn to get started, and it took me a few chapters for me to get fully sucked into the story but once I was there was no going back. I will absolutely be rereading this when it comes out in July, and gently bullying my friends into reading it also.

If you liked Julie Soto's Forget Me Not, you will LOVE this. This has solidified her place as an auto-buy author for me.

Julie Soto…. you know how to write a down bad man and I love you for it.
I loved how Gwen and Alex communicated through their music. They truly had me giggling and kicking my feet every chapter.