Julie Soto's "Not Another Love Song" is an absolute must-read for fans of grumpy-sunshine romances, especially those who love a Reylo-inspired twist. Gwen Jackson, a self-taught child prodigy violinist, and Xander Thorne, a legacy musician and rockstar, are forced to work together when Gwen is promoted to first chair violin. Still reeling from their initial interaction at a celebrity wedding, things go from bad to worst as they find themselves frequently in close quarters.

The secret pining and mutual attraction between Gwen and Xander create an irresistible tension that will leave you breathless. Xander sees his musical match in Gwen and feels a strong pull to create music with her. The anticipation and tension between the two make this book impossible to put down—I was completely consumed by it. Soto impeccably writes vivid scenery and intimate details.

Can we please take a moment to love on this cover?! It is stunning, perfectly capturing the thrilling tension of their relationship. If you’re looking for a romance that will have you fanning yourself and swooning, look no further.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I devoured this book in one sitting. Julie Soto is a new (? unsure if new is the right word since I've been reading her fanfic for foreverrrr) auto-buy author for me. I know what I want when I order a romance and Soto always delivers. Her books are hot, fast-paced (even when they're slow-burn), full of angst and emotions, and gorgeous build-up to two characters falling in love that I feel like I will never forget about.

One of my favorite parts of this book was very obviously the drop-in characters from the last book. I loved getting to see my favs on the page again. But other than that, Julie Soto, writes TENSION. She puts two idiots in love together over and over again until they figure their shit out. And these two were obsessed!!!!

I also loved all the twists and turns of how these characters are tied up together getting revealed throughout the book. This book is about family as much as it is romance, and the happy ending had me in tears.

I cannot wait for more from Julie Soto, and I hope everyone is picking up ALL her books! Recommend specifically to those who want their next favorite romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC!

Julie Soto wowed me with the first installment of this series and I could not wait to get me hands on this. I really enjoyed this story. The push and pull of the characters felt well thought out and well written. I can't wait for the chance to read more of the magic Julie Soto writes.

This was an enjoyable read, and I'm not even into orchestra performances. I could definitely see the reylo skeleton that this once was, not a terrible thing since I read a small about of reylo before switching to dramione.... Speaking of! Julie's next offering will be a version of The Auction, her dark Dramione romance.

Anyway back to this book. It was just okay for me. Good in the beginning but then fell off towards the end. That being said, Lovebitca8 is a queen and I hope she doesn't abandon us at AO3.

First, I would like to thank NetGalley, Julie Soto and Grand Central Publishing for allowing me this ARC. I do not have a strong musical background at all, but I absolutely loved this story! It was such a sweet romantic read! I definitely have recommended this book to a few music loving friends who all thought it was amazing!

I have reviewed on Goodreads and Amazon!!

This was my first Julie Soto book, and it was really good!

I know nothing about Star Wars or Reylo. What I do know is that if a book is former reylo work or inspired by reylo, I'm going to really enjoy it. I also know nothing about classical music. Julie Soto was able to write a story about things I knew nothing about and made it easy to understand and really fun!

Gwen and Xander were great characters to get into the heads of and complimented each other really well. Gwen was a very likable MC for me, and her struggles felt realistic, and I found myself rooting a lot for her. Xander is exactly the type of guy in a band that I'd also fall for, so I totally understand Gwen's infatuation, LOL. His backstory and flaws were also done very well and felt very realistic.

Overall, I'll be keeping an eye on any of Julie Soto's future releases (and finally starting Forget Me Not like I keep planning to...)

Gwen and Xander were very hot! (Like hello THE CELLO SCENE) Julie did such a good job building up the tension between these two! From glances across the room to their banter, it’s felt in every interaction between them. I loved their chemistry, passion, and connection through music. This was such an enjoyable read!

Not gonna lie: I was hesitant to read this one since I wasn’t the biggest fan of the author’s recent book, Forget Me Not, but… I liked it!

Putting aside the whole insta love thing, it was cute—and obviously wildly unrealistic, but hey, that’s fiction, baby!

Spice was surprisingly detailed, so I’d say it was 3.5-4/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️

(Thank you, Forever and NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.)

This book was sooooo good! I love how the author uses music in their love story. The main characters come together in such a sexy, unique way.

Julie Soto did it again!! I fell in love with her writing style when I read her last book and knew I just needed to get my hands on a copy of this one. I highly recommend this book

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eGalley.

This was my first book by Soto and I thought it was okay. I personally didn't connect with either characters and found our FMC attraction to the MMC a bit odd. She went from hating him (no reason) to being attracted to him. Also, the third act break up? Why?

I think those who like insta love, music, and third act breakup tropes will enjoy this one.

I had some reallllly high hopes for this book after Julie Soto's popularity last year (though I still haven't read Forget Me Not) and then seeing some really positive early reviews for this one. I'm admittedly not a musical person myself, but I have LOVED books with musical elements in the past (Symphony of Secrets & The Violin Conspiracy are two of my all-time favorites) so I was hoping it would be the same case here. And I did love the musical parts of this book - especially the opening scene and how immediately we could feel how talented the main character is and the love interest's respect for her. What I didn't enjoy as much was the romance. I think this might be because the main characters have a past together that we don't get to see, so I was missing the emotional connection once they went right to the physical one. Also the workplace aspects... I don't know how realistic this part was, with the Manhattan Pops and the political nature of the main character's role in the group, but it just annoyed me more than anything. Overall I'm disappointed that this wasn't a new favorite, but now that I know this was actually Julie Soto's FIRST book that she wrote, and that it was originally intended as Reylo fanfic, I'll be more likely to read her future books as she gets more practice and hopefully gets out of that fanfic space.

Gwen is a concert violinist who performs with the Manhattan Pops, a popular orchestra that performs contemporary music. Coming from playing in the subway for tips, Gwen’s musical experience is wildly different from Xander Thorne’s, the star cellist of the Pops and a rock star-ish performer in the concert scene. Gwen and Xander are drawn together by their music and sparks fly. When Gwen is promoted to first chair, Xander questions the motivations of the heads of the orchestra in doing so, leading Gwen determined to prove her promotion was based on talent and not because she’s a beautiful face that can sell tickets.
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A really great story with a strong plot and engaging characters. It was a unique plot that felt fresh. I love reading something that feels completely new to me. I loved the world they lived in and thought their chemistry was off the charts. However, when I finished it, I didn’t feel like Gwen and Alex would be a couple very far into the future. Despite the theme of music and performance drawing them together, I felt like there were too many differences between them for their relationship to last long. They worked well together and performed well together but this wasn’t necessarily a romance in my opinion. It didn’t feel romantic or full of love. The spice was great though. That aside, it didn’t really stop my enjoyment of the book.

Thank you to Julie Soto, Grand Central Publishing (Forever) and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

If you are a musician, this book is for you!

Not Another Love Song, was exactly that. It was a love song to musicians. Julie did an excellent job at showing how music can impact our emotions. Music makes us feel so much more when we open ourselves up and allow it to flow freely in us.

I believe that is what Gwen and Alex are portraying in their story. The impact music has on us.

Gwen was an amazing violinist. She gave it her all, when she was paying her violin. But, she struggled with wanting to please others and not actually feeling the emotion of the songs she was playing.

Alex was the opposite. He put his entire heart into playing the cello. But, there was still something missing in his life.

Gwen and Alex both had different perspectives on how and why they played their instruments. But, in the end, they realized that they both wanted to same outcome.

Julie Soto never misses. Ever. Love her, her books, her characters—she’s an auto buy author. Her prose never fails to rope me in and invest me so thoroughly in her characters and storyline. Her works are truly in a league of their own.

This book kept me on my toes from the very beginning...
It's so well written that every line is just a picture before your eyes... no moments with a lot of questions.
The characters and the scenes are beautifully written.
I've never had the desire to go to an orchestra concert or to learn more about it, but this book made me want to.

Not Another Love Song started off really slow for me, where I couldn't decide if l even liked both MC's. Then around the 50% mark, the book hit me with an Uno Reverse and all of the sudden, l couldn't put the book down and was cheering on the MC's. I think Julie Soto is quickly becoming a fav author!

Thanks to Netgalley for the E-ARC. This book was like listening to sweet sweet music. Gwen and Alex what can I say the MMC was sooooo troubled but in a way that you just wanted to hug him and say shhh its gonna be okay. This book was a little bit dark but still gave all those gushy feels everything just flowed together. I hope there is more in this series because I want to see more of Gwen and Alex

This book. This beautiful book with characters you love but also want to strangle. You need this book. This is rivals to lovers with some I hate you but oh I want you thrown in. I loved Xander/Alex even though he was kind of a jerk. I think he wasn't so much a jerk as much as a person who had no idea how to people and Gwen just brought out the best/worst in him. The two make such beautiful music together and I had a lot of fun reading this. I may never look at string instruments the same way again.

This was my first book by Julie Soto, but it won't be the last. I can't wait to go back and read Forget Me Not by her as well. Gwen is a people pleaser and Alex comes out to feel a little snobbish and like he thinks he's better than everyone. The way Alex treats Gwen is so beautiful, and shows just how much he loves her.