absolutely loved this book. julie soto can do no wrong, i am still shocked she managed to do better than forget me not. 6/5⭐️

The central premise of two musical prodigies fighting their growing attraction to one another is a great one. It's always a joy to read about talented people and this has a fun plot set in the classical music space.

One drawback for me was how passive and bland the main character Gwen is. Her talent mostly makes up for her lack of personality and I was still invested in her relationship with Alex (who comes off too strong in some moments, because Gwen is often wishy-washy). In any case, an entertaining romance with plenty of tension.

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

If you love tension ooooweeeee do I have a book for you! Another deliciously fraught hit from Julie Soto. I breezed through this. I loved the drama, the steam, and I also loved the third-person dual POV that centered on Gwen, but was peppered throughout with Xander. It was the perfect mix for me. The cello scene, as expected, was Excellent and I'll be returning to it time and time again lmao

Thank you to Forever and Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is your classic grumpy x sunshine, rivals to lovers books, but he’s literally been obsessed with her from the start and hates everyone (except her and their friends).

As someone who knows absolutely nothing about music, I found the writing to be so easily understandable & captivating. Although this story is focused around our two main characters, Julie Soto does an exceptional job with the supporting characters, and it really emphasizes Gwen and Alex as characters, and brings almost a sense of comfort and found family at times. Yes, Gwen and Alex are both flawed in their own ways, but they bring out the best in each other and their dynamic in general, was everything.

The only thing that held this book back for me was the amount of scenes that there were, especially towards the end. Although it really is just personal preference, I found myself struggling to read through the last 70% just because things definitely got heated as there would be a scene in every chapter. Apart from that, I enjoyed this book for what it was, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a fun romance.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I would read Julie’s shopping list if she posted it. Not another love story is absolutely everything you could want in a romance and the music playing such an important role - basically a main character- was such an unexpected surprise!! Preorder this book NOW

Thank you to Forever Pub and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for the honest review!

Not Another Love Song is features Gwen, a violinist trying to find her voice and Alex, a cellist with the determination to unleash the passion within Gwen.

The chemistry between these two main characters was insanely off the characters. The fact that their instruments also fueled their chemistry making it nearly mind-melting made the experience much better.

I loved how Alex pushed Gwen to find her own voice as a violinist and composer. I also love how Gwen was able to teach Alex to love all aspects of his natural talent (for sakes of spoilers: I cannot share exactly what). They really pushed each other to be better, which is what I always enjoy in romance book .

As an ex-violinist player, this book proved to me that we need to have more romance books featuring the string instruments.

Although I did enjoy most of the book, it did have its flaws.

*coughs*

The last 20% of the book loses the original pacing of the book and in fact throws away the character development with your typical "third act break-up". Which just reminded me how much I hate the trope. I also wasn't a fan of how it was "resolved" because it didn't feel as if anything had been resolved, it simply felt brushed aside. Which was unfortunate. (This would have been a 5 star read if it weren't for the last 20%).

I did have a blast reading this though, I am full heartedly an Alex girlie. In another life, if I would have continued to play the violin I would have loved to have him as a partner.

This book should be a reminder to y'all how much the string instruments are superior!!

All the shiny stars to no end! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I freaking loved this book Julie really knocked it out of the auditorium with this one! (Haha get it?!). I enjoyed Forget Me Not, but this I ate it up!

I adored Gwen and the passion she had for her music and commitment she makes. She was a strong FMC. The was she was just a natural at the violin is just phenomenal!

Then there is Alex ( Xander) while he did get on my nerves several times in this story for being a typical stubborn hard headed man he truly shined a lot to me, and his talent was beyond impressive.

I really enjoyed most of the characters.. well excerpt Lorenz and Nathan! Julie did well at writing them as villians in my eyes.

I look so forward to this book coming out. I’m already raving about it!
Thank you to Forever publish and Julie Soto for this wonderful e- arc! Truly a gem!

PUB DATE: 07/16/24
Do not miss getting this book! You won’t regret it! 🥹🫶🏻

Let me just say Gwen is a much stronger person than I because if Alex was that mean to me one single time I would cry every time he made eye contact forever and that would be the end of the story.

But I LOVE how she absolutely refuses to let him get the upper hand even when he gets under her skin. And then he grovels and WE LOVE A GOOD GROVEL. He brings her coffee and says please and blushes and then we realize he’s just a hot mess trying his best.

I also loved the complex family dynamics in this - both found and biological - and how those relationships shape us as people. How blood doesn’t necessarily matter and sometimes the people you choose and find are even more family than you planned for.

(Also: Ama and Elliot 😭 hello old friends)

I don’t know anything about orchestra but I’m gonna make a Spotify playlist tomorrow okay byeee

An addictive romance with dynamic characters with nearly polar opposite life journeys who end up colliding through a shared passion. Julie Soto is a master at developing realistic, relatable characters and worlds with intriguing plot and natural conflict — not to mention the way she can illustrate the emotion behind, tension between, and motives that drive her multifaceted characters. “Not Another Love Song” really is Not Another Romance Novel…plus, it may inspire you to queue up some solo cello or violin next time you open up your favorite music streaming service.

Full review to come closer to release date, but I absolutely loved this!

It made the musical nerd in me happy. If you love enemies to lovers romance please pick this up when it releases in July!

Thank you to Netgalley for an e-arc of this.

I received this ARC in return for an honest review. I loved this story. It was sweet and fun, a little predictable, but it's a romance, so it's fine by me.

I absolutely devoured this book! I first fell in love with Julie Soto’s writing through fanfiction, so of course I didn’t hesitate to purchase Forget Me Not last year. I adored it, and was thrilled to have the opportunity to read an ARC of Not Another Love Song.
The chemistry between the two main characters was phenomenal. I loved their journey of falling in love and finding themselves along the way. Julie has a way of making dialogue in romantic/spicy scenes feel natural and not cringey, which is what makes me not enjoy most romance books.
I will recommend this book to everyone, and I will also be impatiently waiting for the opportunity to read Julie’s grocery lists or something until she writes her next book!

Thank you NetGalley and Julie Soto for this advanced copy of Not Another Love Song.

Julie Soto does it again. This book is beautiful. It reads like music, with characters deep and flawed. I know nothing about Reylo, but I could definitely see some of the influence. Yet it didn't take away from the story or the characters.

i loved the side characters, and the character progression. I need Julie's next book already.

tell me why i stayed up till 4am to finish this book and ended it sobbing into my pillow. gwen and alex’s relationship was so pure and tender it tugs on your heartstrings! i loved the character exploration, especially alex’s; the couple chapters we got in his perspective really helped in understanding his motivations and how he views gwen (also how down bad he was for her). i loved their little domestic moments like the week they spent in his apartment just getting to know each other intimately and just spending time with each other baking and of course making music together. quality time is my favourite love language so it really warmed my heart. i also loved all the side characters in this story; found family is one of my favourite tropes so i adored that but also!!! new york city also being a side character was so charming.

You know those rare books where you're sad while you're reading it because you know it's going to be over soon and you're already missing it??? This book gave me that feeling within the first few pages, and it did not let up. Every time I saw my percentage read going higher, I was lowkey sad but also... I COULDN'T STOP READING (even if I wanted to...which I didn't.). I never say that I wish a book was longer, but I WISH THIS BOOK WERE LONGER.

If you couldn't tell-- I loved it. This book was so good and gave me everything I didn't even know I wanted??? The tension, the banter, the FUCKING JOKES???? THE COTTON-EYED JOE REFERENCE??? PLEASE??? Gwen and Xander are both such great and complex characters and I loved them apart and together. I loved the Xander POVs (even though we got so few of them-- which maybe that made them more special??? idk I loved them), which was actually less a POV and more like Xander narrating some of the history that had formed him into the person he is when he meets Gwen.

But on top of being an amazing contemporary romance, all the side characters and parental-esque relationships were SO GOOD too. Julie Soto is so good at establishing these complicated relationships and really making the reader feel all the heartache and love that exist in these intricate bonds. And all the friends??? MORE PLEASE.

This will definitely be a book I reread and get on audiobook to experience it in that way. I have hopes that this audiobook will by like All the Right Notes by Dominic Lim, where it'll have music interwoven with the story. ALSO: I would love we got more stories from wide cast of characters (MEI? JACOB? ...DIANE????).

(apologies for this unhinged review) (but also you're welcome) (PLEASE ADD TO TBR/REQUEST FROM LIBRARY/PREORDER)

A MILLION THANK YOUS TO FOREVER FOR THIS ARC!!!

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Not Another Love Song by Julie Soto had everything I LOVE in a romance novel. A little bit of rivals to lovers, a LOOOOOOT of tension and then even more spice. It introduced some deeply interesting characters, had some guest appearances, and the musical aspect was so fun and refreshing to read, and unlike anything I have read before. I felt al the emotions, I laughed and cried and wanted to slap some sense into some characters, but I also learned a lot about strings and orchestras. Overall this was an incredible read, and I highly highly recommend!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

This book was, cover to cover, an absolute breath of fresh air. It felt cozy and comforting, the main characters were likable, and you really felt the emotion on every page. Set in New York, it really gets a feel for the city, and does an amazing job of immersing the reader into different stories and settings. I can't recommend this enough.

Not Another Love Song emotionally destroyed me and I loved every minute of it. Julie Soto’s writing, her character development, THE TENSION- fantastic! 6/5 stars for me. I will read everything Soto writes.

This was so cute! I loved Gwen and Alex together. Fans of Julie Soto's first book will love this one. The cover is gorgeous, and I loved all the details about what it's like to work as a professional musician outside of being a pop star or in a rock band.

3 stars because while I had issues with it, it was enjoyable and I didn't want to put it down. It started off really well but I soon realized the characters felt really surface level. I couldn't connect with them and their motivations didn't feel strong enough to justify, for example, (mild spoiler...) a third act breakup. The musical descriptions were the strongest part of the book for me. There was a lot of information but I didn't feel that it was dragged out or unnecessary. I will definitely be looking out for this author's future works, I feel she has a lot of potential.