this was the EASIEST 5 stars I think I’ve ever given. Julie Soto’s writing is just exceptional and the depth she gives her characters are just *chefs kiss* I loved Gwen’s character so much, she’s relatable in a lot of ways. Having Xander’s POV every few chapters was such a power move. I absolutely loved that music played such a major role, it was everything and more. Just the way she writes these characters!!!! the plot!!!!! Their interactions had me literally giggling like Xander is so GONE for Gwen. I love them so much, I just knew I was going to be obsessed with them. This book was so much fun and I cannot wait to buy the physical copy later this year.

I just finished this book and I feel…conflicted. I loved Julie Soto’s last book, Forget Me Not, so I’d been really looking forward to reading this one. And while there were parts of it that were good, it felt a bit chaotic to me overall.

The characters were all likable, but the plot was sort of all over the place. The music aspect was interesting, though. It’s made me want to go to a Pops concert now. I really wanted to love this book, and I can’t quite put my finger on what it’s missing, I just felt a little underwhelmed when I finished it. That being said, I’m still definitely going to read anything else Julie Soto writes in the future!

Thanks to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC of this book!

Oh…my…GOD!!! My heart did not stop racing the entire time I was reading this book. The passion Alex and Gwen had for music and for each other was simply off the charts and rocked me to my core.

This book is definitely not for the faint of heart. It had more spice to it than any popular romance book I’ve read to date and I could not put it down if I tried.

Julie did such an amazing job bringing depth and tension to the book with the different struggles each of the characters had in the past and present. I loved, loved, LOVED both Gwen and Alex, and all of their friends and family I met along the way.

Julie Soto really comes into her own with this story, and it’s such an evolution from “Forget Me Not.” While this book is stand alone, I smiled when we got snippets of Ama and Elliot.

I can honestly say “Not Another Love Song” will easily be one of my favorite reads of 2024, and I can’t wait to see what Julie has in store for us in 2025.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the ARC!

4.5⭐️
I absolutely loved this book!! It was my first Julie Soto book and I can’t wait to read her other book and recommend this book to everyone! This book was everything I wanted and more and had me giddy. I loved the entire story, and the tension, and the surprising depth to the characters was amazing.

I'm obsessed with this book! Julie did it again, but even better!

So, we have here a rivals-to-lovers set in NY with two incredibly passionate characters.
As we all know, artists are the type of people who usually breathe poetry into their way of seeing life, and this is what this book made me feel. Xander is poetry! The way he describes his feelings is top-tier. Everything about this story was fascinating.

Its only defect is that it ends! I wanted so much more... more Xander POV's chapters and more about what happened after, but what we got, was perfect!

Julie has become a must-read author for me!

At the end of this book, there is a discussion question which reads "Which parts of Xander do you think are real? What makes Xander, Xander and Alex, or Alex- and is there any over lap?" this whole book I was trying to get a grasp on his character, but he is so inconsistent. It's honestly kind of a shock finishing the book and taking an inventory of all of this man's interactions with Gwen. This multiple personality aspect of Alex was confusing and ended up coming off as really emo.

This paired terribly with one of my least favorite things I see in romance books which is random avoidant behavior. That shit triggers me so much. I cannot stand when two characters start building intimacy, and then in a social situation one of them just goes "I wasn't aware we were even friends". That's so disrespectful. I don't need or even want my characters to be flawless individuals, but at the very least, I need them to actively work towards developing secure attachments with people.

I played violin for two years in high school, so I was able to enjoy and understand the orchestra setting, however I am concerned for the non-music girlies who will be reading this. Does the average romance reader know what rosin is? Bow markings? Transposing sheet music? An Arpeggio? Staccato? Legato? Additionally, there were times where plot around the orchestra got a little stale for me, and that's coming from someone who understands all the jargon.

When Gwen was offered to open for U2 with Alex, I was so shocked at her unyielding loyalty to the Pops. I understand that she has been working her whole life for first chair violin for this orchestra, but to not even consider this extraordinary opportunity, especially after multiple events throughout the book where Gwen expresses she loves doing solo "all eyes on her" music performances AND when she had an onstage big crowd moment that she loved? I'm not sure why she seemed to not even consider it. I would have expected some hesitancy since it's a big commitment to start going on tour with a new boyfriend, but that wasn't even it, it was "I can't leave Pops".

I felt kind of lost and overwhelmed by the interconnected nature of this book. The way that all these characters are connected to each other and how much our main character is in the dark about it all doesn't seem realistic. And it was frustrating how cryptic people were people about giving her advice. This seemed to give Gwen anxiety which translated into my reading experience too. Like why is everyone around her just not being helpful? And also how no one knows Xander is Alex! I'm supposed to believe this man went full Hannah Montana but 1) when making zero appearance changes 2) after over a decade of building a musical career as Alex and 3) after going to Julliard for a year. No one recognized him? In this day and age of the internet?

The positives of this book. First, the cover is GIVING and it helps to paint a beautiful image in your head when reading. I think Julie Soto really delivers with her physical chemistry in her novels. When Alex decided he was in a loving mood, I was kicking my feet and giggling at some of the sweet things he did. There were a few Taylor Swift references, some pretty meaningful ones towards the end of the book, so major points for that from me! Also, as cheesy as it was with Forget Me Not, I enjoyed the way she wrapped up the ending of this book with a cute lil bow (music pun intended? lol) 3 stars

I loved this story. I'm a sucker for a romance but add in an orchestra (pops) I am sold. I've read this author's previous book "Forget Me Knot" which I enjoyed immensely. This book was so much more than a romance as it gave voice to former child prodigies. It also touches on the issue of the rights of composers and musicians.
The cello scene on the cover. Wow. Perfection.

The tension was strong from the very first moment Gwen and Xander interact, we are doomed to fall apart. The deadpan tone/delivery from Xander is literally jaw dropping, 3 chapters in and I had to pick up my jaw because this man was like “that wasn’t a compliment”. The duet partner wedding scene was the sexiest thing I’ve ever read until they were in his recording studio.

3.5-4 stars.

I was initially captured by the premise of this novel with its setting surrounding classical music and an orchestra. This book did not disappoint when it came to the setting, unlike other romance novels where the setting and plot seem like an afterthought. Also, I really enjoyed these characters and their stories. They did not feel one-dimensional at all.

Where this novel fell flat for me was the resolution and the relationship. This novel is so close to getting me to believe these characters are in love, but ultimately relies more on tell than show, which disappointed me in the end. That being said, I am very hard to convince so this is probably a me problem.

Overall, I would highly recommend giving this one a shot!

I received an ARC of this novel from NetGalley. Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for this ARC. All reviews are my own opinion.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/201627074-not-another-love-song

Wow! This ended up being more fun than I expected. I read Forget Me Not and enjoyed the grumpy sunshine of florist Elliot and wedding planner Ama. Grumpy sunshine is my sweet spot but the rivals to lovers has the amount of obsession that I was craving. Gwen and Alex are both in the Pops orchestra and rivals for the same spot. I don't understand much about music so I couldn't connect with it on that level but I could feel the pining and frustration so deeply between them. The cello scene is as hot as Ali Hazelwood said it would be and it still has me distracted. I would give it 4.5 stars for my feelings about the inclusion of the social politics of orchestras and not enjoying that as much. Overall though I think it was wonderful and I'd happily read any Julie Soto books instantly! Thanks Netgalley for the copy!

An absolute masterpiece, I honestly don't know how I'm going to move on from this magnificent read but Julie Soto just blew me away all over again!

"𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧," 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 "𝐎𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐭."

I loved Ama and Elliot but I may love Gwen and Xander even more and that feels like blasphemy or something. Gwen is a self taught violinist who plays for the manhattan pops, and when her and her roommate agree to play a wedding for some extra cash she's prepared except for one thing. They want a cellist not a violinist, and even though she hasn't played since she was young she agrees because they need this job. She's not expecting the Cello she's given to play on to belong to none other than rockstar cellist Xander Thorne. Xander is the best, he knows it, everyone knows it so he is thrown for a loop when a violinist turned cellist for the night blows him away with her playing. He's transfixed. What he doesn't know is they've met, they're regularly in each others or it with him also playing in the pops. After seeing her play he finds himself seeking her out and being intimated by her ability but he can't stay away.

Every bit of this read was absolutely fantastic, I cannot wait to devour the next Julie Soto novel!

I LOVED this one! I couldn’t put it down. It was fun, fast-paced, and the music sung from the pages. The chemistry was so good. The plot was well-developed and I loved the found family elements. I loved following along as the characters grew, also. I can’t wait to read more books from this author. Highly recommend!

Thank you Julie and Forever Publishing for the Netgalley ARC of Not Another Love Song. Julie’s previous book, Forget Me Not, is one of my very favorite books, so I couldn’t wait to devour this book. And devour it I did!! I had no idea cellos and orchestras could be so sexy! But get me to an orchestra concert pronto please!
I loved the journey our FMC, Gwen, made during the book. She was so broken and had so little confidence in herself at the beginning. This is more than just a love story, its a story of found family and knowing who your people are.
Xander was everything you want in your male lead. Tall, dark, handsome and very moody. But he and Gwen made the perfect compliment to eachother. And can we just talk about the cello scene in chapter 10 🔥🔥🔥. Im still drooling!!

I could not put this book down. Julie Soto has hit it out of the park again with a love story between the lead violinist and cellist of an orchestra. The heat and passion fly off the pages as their music soars. Every character in this book is amazing and when they all come together in this story, it is perfect. I cannot recommend this book enough!

not another love song by julie soto / ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

she’s done it again, folks!! julie soto has created something so so beautiful with alex and gwen’s story! the tension was chefs kiss, the spice was chefs kiss, the DRAMA was chefs kiss - kisses all around! this also felt like a grown up if I stay with the rockstar/classical music aspect and that was one of my favorite books growing up so this has a special place in my heart for sure

Shoutout Julie, Forever Publishing, and NetGalley for this ARC!! Best April Fools surprise ever!

tropes:
🎻 rivals to lovers
🎫 musical prodigies
🗽 rockstar boyfriend
🎼 (grumpily) workshops her 🙈
🌮 he’s in denial of his feelings but then goes on to write the most beautiful song about her???!!!!!!!

Thank you to NetGalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

I didn’t love this one as much as Forget me Not and as a Reylo Stan that pains me.

You definitely can tell who the characters are if you know Star Wars and I was captivated by the story but I wasn’t invested. It was good but I wasn’t chomping at the bit to keep reading. There were even parts I skimmed just trying to get to the end.

A lot of it felt predictable (maybe also because I know all the classic reylo fanfiction tropes and plot moves) but it overall fell slightly flat. Still cute and a fun romance but it didn’t blow me away.

3.5 ⭐️

Not Another Long Song has a super fun and interesting plot that had me intrigued immediately! I really enjoyed the first half of this book and was obsessing over the longing stares and the general premise of the story. However, I didn’t love the second half of the book and the romance fell flat for me. I felt like it could’ve had more emotional depth to it outside of the spice.

This is definitely a great summer romance book, though. I definitely would recommend it to people who love the genre.

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the advanced copy. Not Another Love Song releases on July 16!

I don't think I will ever have enough words to explain how beautiful this story was. Julie Soto has solidified herself as one of my forever favorite authors with this new release, maybe even in the top 3. The intricate and complex way that she conveys the emotions of her characters to her readers will never fail to astound me!

The chemistry between Alex and Gwen was explosive, well developed, and made my heart do so many summersaults. Both characters were vividly portrayed as individuals, but when their relationship developed their personalities intertwined in such a romantic way. They complimented each other in a way that screamed soulmates from the very first moment they were on page together. As they communicated the hardest of emotions with each other through their music, Soto drew the reader into those conversations as well. I never knew so much could be said through music composition, especially as someone not well-versed in music theory, but Soto described the pieces Gwen and Alex performed in a way that even I could understand thoroughly!

This book was a beautiful, perfect, show-stopping five star read for me. I will be recommending it to every romance reader I know!

This was my first musical romance book and I thought it was delightful - cozy and emotional without being overdramatic. I have no musical training at all, but I felt the emotions pouring off the page with each performance. I also loved the complexities of the different relationships and the found family aspect of it all.

Thank you Netgalley for the e-arc of this upcoming title!
I am very hit or miss when it comes to romance. Like horror, which I love, I expect romance to grab ahold my feelings. It’s supposed to evoke all these different emotions. This, did not. Soto is definitely a talented writer and for that I give her 3 gracious stars. But for plot, I just didn’t ever care.