If you loved Forget Me Not, love Julie Soto's writing style, or are looking for a binge-worthy contemporary romance that pulls at your heart strings (pun intended), you will not regret bumping Not Another Love Song to the top of your TBR. I could not put it down.

For all Star Wars fans that ship Reylo, Julie Soto wrote this for you because it was their dynamic that inspired this story.

Not Another Love Song reads like a ballad and tells the love story of a violinist and a cellist. It is told in 3rd person, dual POV—primarily told from the POV of Gwen, our perfectionist, independent, violinist FMC, with some chapters from the POV of our moody, "wild child," swoon-worthy MMC, Xander (also known as Alex). They are both musical prodigies but with different backgrounds that shaped them into the musicians and people they are today.

This love story gave me ALL the feelings I was craving: it made me laugh, cry, curse out loud, and swoon all at the same time. Julie Soto has a way of making you feel a part of her characters' love story, and I ate up every. second. of. it.

If I haven't convinced you to read this book yet, here are other quick reasons I loved/devoured this book:
🎻 Xander/Alex is the perfect moody rockstar/musician (yes, YUM)
🎻 The spice scenes are SPICIN'
🎻 The comedic moments are *chefs kiss* and highly relatable
🎻 I felt like I was at their performances and jam sessions—I could FEEL the music
🎻 The complicated parental relationships/dynamics added complexity to the story
🎻 Julie Sotos writing style hits every time—it's so easy to dive into and live in her books
🎻 Julie Soto beautifully builds these characters to the point I feel like I personally know them
🎻 The side characters were fantastic and built up the main characters

Like Forget Me Not, this is a perfect book to buddy read—Julie Soto makes it easy to do so because she includes discussion questions at the end.

A huge thank you to Julie Soto and NetGalley for the eARC!

Honestly— this book could be called sexual tension, the novel, because oh boy, can Julie Soto write some sizzling build up!! I don’t know if it’s because I read this in one feverish sitting (thank you, 10 hour international flight) or if Julie’s writing has something addictive in it, but I seriously couldn’t put it down. I read A LOT of romance and it’s rare to find something that truly takes me by surprise, but Not Another Love Song did that with ease. And yes, Ali Hazelwood was right… that cello scene is MEMORABLE.

Following the story of Gwen, up and coming violinist turned sudden first violinist for a prestigious Manhattan orchestra, and Alex, mysterious, brooding cellist with more secrets than he can count, when they’re pitted together at the orchestra they play for, and secrets start to come to light. Slowlyyyy they start to find a shared connection in music, in belonging and purpose. And by god, did I eat it up.

I’m going to circle back to the tension because I truly have never seen anything like it. Something about Reylo just makes for the perfect setting for some deliciously slow burn pining. And the comparison between music and… other things… Who knew stringed instruments could be so hot?

All jokes aside, this was really a wonderful book that surprised me with how it took tropes and spun them on their head. It took these two a long time to trust and I really appreciated how real they were— flaws and all. I especially liked Alex’s battle with wanting to be someone important vs wanting to be seen for who he is. The slow crumble of the walls between them was expertly done, proving Soto as a standout voice in her genre. I’ve been a huge fan of her work since ye olde AO3 days, and it’s such a delight to read her stories on a whole new stage as her career continues to grow. Can’t wait to see what she’ll write next!

AS GOOD AS I KNEW IT WOULD BE!!! After ready ‘Forget Me Not’, I knew Julie Soto would be one of my “buy now, ask questions later” authors. When I saw this book I had high hopes and they were all met beautifully. The tension? A+. The smut? A++! Pulling at my heartstrings with a few string instruments?? A++++++!!!!! I really enjoyed the story between these two characters and the healing they did for the generation before them in the book. The pacing I felt was done so well and gave all the feels. The side characters in this story were also such a great comic relief and I hope to see a future story brewing with a certain photographer and violinist!! Overall 4 and 1/2 stars!! I loved it!!

4.5 stars. I was admittedly not a huge fan of Forget Me Not. I wanted to give Not Another Love Song a shot and heard about the April 1st ARC promo. I’m so glad I tried again because I LOVED this. This gave me exactly what I was looking for. You can have a ‘grumpy’ character that actually holds conversations with people instead of just grunting. Was our MMC a little pretentious and rude? Yes, but we had enough of a backstory for it to make sense to me so I could look past that. I usually find the weakest parts of romance novels to be the male POV. I loved the fact that we got very few insights into our MMCs mind during key points in the plot. I have never seen a structure like that and I ate it up. I had one minor gripe with this story. Very minor spoiler, but our MMC repeatedly asks our FMC to call him by a certain name and stop using the other…..and she just ignores him? I understand why this was done, but I do think it was a little excessive and probably wouldn’t be cool in a real life setting. Other than that, no complaints and so happy I was able to read this early! I look forward to reading more from Julie Soto.

This was definitely a steamy binge of a read. The characters were well developed and their chemistry was *fire*. Now excuse me while I go get my hands on more of Soto's work!

Oh my goodness. What a read!!! I was not-so-patiently awaiting this book as I loved Forget Me Not, Soto’s other novel. My expectations were high and Not Another Love Song still blew them out of the water! The tension between Gwen and Xander rolls off the page. If you like (misunderstanding-based) enemies to lovers, this is the playbook on it. I wasn’t sure how the orchestra piece would read to someone who is tone-deaf (me) but it was described so perfectly I felt like I was hearing the music and definitely understanding how it added to the passion between the characters. Unfortunately, Xander has now ruined all men for me, and I will promptly be moving to NYC to meet a celloist. Six stars!

I encourage this book be read on a kindle if possible. There are alot of musical terms in this book that I had to look up and that’s just easier with a kindle then pulling out my phone and googling. Now me not knowing the musical terms didn’t affect my enjoyment or understanding of the plot. However, if the authors is going to go through the trouble of researching and correctly using these terms I want to know what they mean. I am a glossary type reader so the inclusion of one would have also been great.

That being said, I really enjoyed this book. Not Another Love Song is a slower burn than Soto’s pervious novel and I enjoyed that. It really let me appreciate how music was used to portray the characters interactions. It’s a fresh way to show romance. It wasn’t just “oh look there at it again” like regular spice. I also that I totally got into the feel of the music despite not being musical inclined.

I think this book is fresh. The dual POV isn’t every next chapter is the other main character and I liked that. It kept me hanging on for next chance for the MMC had to express himself. This books isn’t like the other 20 romances I’ve read this year. It’s 100 percent a book you don’t want to skip over.

I didn’t think that Julie Soto could out-do herself but (and i’m being so bold here) this is so much better than her first book. I remember that i was SO irked reading Forget Me Not because of the miscommunication trope and this book has it too, but it’s not so much ignorance rather than forces that interfere and make it impossible for them to communicate. I am SUCH a sucker to smut that isn’t on the overly vulgar side and she knows just how to do it. Her characters are always so insanely complex and multi-faceted. Normally one can kind of guess what direction the character is heading with their growth and something this can be disappointing, but I didn’t expect the growth from these characters in the way it happened. AND ALSO, her description of music??? she made it so understandable that now i want to go see a symphony and pick up an instrument myself. BEAUTIFULLY done miss julie soto. i love love love it !!! THE CELLO SCENE!!!!
my review: ate (literally. so much.) and left no crumbs.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

This was really cute, and had enough of a plot behind it that I was invested in more than just the love story. I don't know a lot about music but I really felt immersed in this world. I would randomly remember while reading that this was originally a Reylo fanfic, and had some fun trying to guess who the background characters were based on. The one part that dragged for me a but was Gwen's career aspirations, which were constantly alluded to but never really spelled out. I was told she never envisioned herself as first chair so many times, but I didn't actually feel like her actions supported those statements. Other than that, a fun love story with a side of heartwarming friendships!

I genuinely loved it. I’m not much of a music person. I don’t know anything about instruments or Mozart or the politics of symphonies, but that didn’t matter. The author did a great job of giving plenty of clues about all of that so that you can understand what the characters are thinking and feeling and why it matters.

I really enjoyed the author’s first novel. This one is right up there with it.

Julie Soto is an author to watch.

I must admit I had no idea what this book was about. I went into it completely blind and boy did I have a grand ole time. I never knew reading a romance book centered around an orchestra could so be so enjoyable. I enjoyed the music aspect so much more than I thought i would and it just fits so well with the characters.

OH!!?! Prepare to be SICK of me talking about this book...Calling it now that this will be my top romance of 2024... this was incredible! One thing about me, I love a FanFiction, especially of the Dramione variety, so naturally I have been a fan of Julie Soto longer than I even realized. Like so many of her works before this, I was hooked from the first page. From their first on page interaction, I had high hopes for Gwen and Alex, that chemistry was off the charts immediately. I don't think I could have predicted how beautiful their love was going to be. I cried, I laughed, I smiled and kicked my feet, I was BLUSHING!!!! Perhaps an even bigger shining star for me was the way this new found love between Gwen and Alex served as a catalyst for some powerful self-growth and realization within Gwen and Alex themselves, but also Mabel and Ava. I am already looking forward to rereading this. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review this absolutely stunning masterpiece of a book ahead of its release. I am now its biggest fan!

Absolutely loved this book! Orchestra rivals, enemies-to-lovers romance in which the main characters fall for each other based on their musical talents first. I will definitely be buying this when it comes out in July!

Not Another Love Song is the first Julie Soto book I've read & it will absolutely not be the last! A truly Fantastic story that I just couldn't put down. Please do yourself a favor & run, don't walk to read Not Another Love Song. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book on #NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Alex & Gwen have such an amazing relationship in this story after they've both taken two such different paths to get where their paths cross when the timing is finally right. Such passion & chemistry are written into the story between these two as well as a little drama & an ending that'll make your heart swoon.

God Julie Soto can WRITE. Like I'm just gonna say Reylo isn't my thing - I'm not a fan of b the new Star Wars, grumpy/sunshine is rarely done to my taste and one of my biggest gripes is "He's the biggest man in the world and she is just soooo petite" and even with this being Reylo, it was just. So frikkin good. I literally read most of this at work because I couldn't put it down. I'm so grateful an ARC was available because it was just the book I needed to read.

I devoured Forget Me Not the day the book delivered and when I had a chance to read this? SIGN ME UP.

The way Julie makes me want to learn violin is crazy. She made it so easy to feel the emotions the musicians would feel in their passion perfectly. So many moments of butterflies in my own stomach as if I was Gwen hearing them in reality.

Not being super familiar with music myself some of the descriptions went a bit over my head but I got them well enough to want to be able to share this book with everyone I know.

I love Julie’s writing all the way from AO3 and just need more stories!!

Ya… you’re going to want to pick this up. 4.5 stars rounded up and miss Soto DID IT AGAIN.

She was already an autobuy author for me but this book solidified that even more if possible. When you read a lot of romcoms as I do, some of them start the blur together a little. That is NOT the case with Not Another Love Song. There is a scene in here that is imprinted onto my prefrontal cortex. When you get to that scene, I’ll buy you dinner and let’s chat.

It’s clear that Soto knows how to write a romance, but what she also knows how to do, is deliver a completely fresh story in the romance genre which can often feel like a ceaseless rotation of tropes and conventions. I’ve read rivals to lovers but I’ve never read rivals to lovers quite like this… a la rival musicians style. But truly the music aspect of this book, the research clearly put into it, made this story TRANSCENDENT. This is a story about music through love and this is a story about love through music. And I don’t care if that doesn’t make sense to you yet.


Why did I hold my full five star after consuming this skin tingling read in a matter of hours? Mostly due to the last 25%. I have some QUALMS. Most are spoilery but also I just couldn’t read any more chilli pepper scenes. I don’t think anyone else will have a problem with that though…I just get bored.

Piece of advice - read her debut Forget Me Not before you read this. The cameos are divine.

Another piece of advice - have not a doubt that violins and cellos are the sluttiest things to ever exist. I’ll never look at those instruments the same.

Thank you NetGalley for this earc <3

There are few books that make me feel like I need to finish it quickly because the plot has me hooked. Not Another Love Song joins that list. The dynamics between our two main characters is so good and the tension that is between them both in their respective chairs at the Pops and away from the stage had me closing the book to compose myself. I would love to hear the perspective of someone who is a strings player on the scenes in this book, but it brought out a desire to want to try string instruments. I loved the main characters, but I also have a fond spot for Mabel who many times made me nearly cry. The feelings between Gwen and Xander felt like many things I have felt before and I could not put it down. Thank you Netgalley and Forever publishing for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book!!!!! I loved every bit of it. I especially liked that although we got a dual pov, it was to better understand what was going on in Alex’s head instead of being specific to a particular scene.

A modern/fresh romance novel for lovers of Ali Hazelwood & Emily Henry, that’s perfect for fans of the YA classic “If I Stay”.

I read this is one sitting, it felt like I was drinking it in. The perfect he-falls-first character.