I really enjoyed Soto’s, Forget Me Knots (July 2023) and looked forward to this book. Xander Thorne is a famous gifted cellist. He meets Gwen Jackson when she performs at a wedding. He doesn’t recognize her as someone who is in the same NYC Pops Orchestra as him for the last year. She is a naturally talented violinist. Honestly, he is really a jerk to her and she is so non confrontational that she literally flees from him several times.

But they have instant longing and lust which makes for steamy times. I didn’t love their musical world very much. And the fact that there are actual villains in the story makes me like it even less. It is still a good story, it just didn’t work for me as much as her previous book. Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC and I am leaving a voluntary review. (3.5 Stars)

All the emotions in this book!!! I loved every minute of it. Alex was so taken by Gwen as soon as he noticed her at the wedding and then literally just wanted to be around her in any capacity. Gwen was very naïve and that was probably the most frustrating part of the book. Her mentor, who was like a second mother, told her to be careful and she pretty much ignored her. I loved Mabel’s character and Jacob and Declan too. I also was so excited about the cameos from Ama and Elliot! Julie Soto is easily an auto-buy author for me now. Would highly recommend!

I don’t know much about music, but the musical chemistry between Gwen and Xander was totally believable. Gwen is the somewhat naive and not totally confident violin player given a chance to be first chair of a pops symphony, much to the dismay of cello player/rockstar Xander. He’s got the overconfident arrogant attitude that rubs Gwen the wrong way, until he rubs her the right way. He’s both broody and yearning all at once, which is fun to read. While most of the book is told from Gwen’s point of view, we get interludes from Xander’s perspective every 5 chapters or so. Tons of flirting and steam and external machinations from all the grown-ups in their lives, which made me keep reading to find out both backstory and what would happen next. Overall, a fun and emotional read.

This was fun, I buddy read it with a friend, and it was truly like when you’re sitting at a restaurant and you see two best friends in deep conversation, leaning into the table, gasping and out loud going “No way!” “Way!!”.

Things I liked:
-the tension was 100% about their mutual admiration and almost intimidation of each other’s talent and potential, it wasn’t rivals in the way that they were shaking fists and purposefully poking at their ribs. They challenged each other and that made it so much better.
-ALEX/ XANDER POVs, I understood him deeply.
-MABEL.
-JACOB, DECLAN, MEI
-The setting reminded me of the movie, Raise Your Voice, just a room full of talented people, reacting according to the opportunities given and not given to them
-the male antagonists. They did the job right; I did not like them.

Things I was so so on:
-honestly? Gwen… I guess I just don’t understand her. I actually don’t need to like a character to like the book, but I do need to understand the why when it comes to their actions. Felt like they kept telling me why, but never followed through or showed. The drop-in about her grandfather made me put down my kindle for a bit.
-The ending was rushed and I don’t think some characters got the apologies they deserved.
-I wish we got to know Alex’s dad more

That was a spiel all to say I still will read almost everything Julie Soto offers.

Thank you NetGalley and Forever for the ARC!

WOW WOW WOW!! For me Julie Soto made a huge comeback with this book after "Forget Me Not". The tension and angst between Alex and Gwen was sooo good. The "cello" scene!!!! I honestly want to learn how to play the cello so I can recreate that scene with my boyfriend haha. I loved how in the end they realized that their love is so much more important than their "careers". Alex's obsession with Gwen from the beginning really had me going.

I do wish that this book was in 1st person dual POV because I feel like I could of connected better with the characters that way. Sometimes 3rd person in romance books makes it hard to connect with the characters and I just want to be inside their heads lol. If it was in 1st person dual POV it easily would of been 5 stars!

"I need you in my life. I need to be in your orbit in some way, and if you don't want me to touch you and kiss you and f... you, then let me make love to you onstage every night because it's the most alive I've felt in ten years-"

Not Another Love Song by Julie Soto is an exquisitely written book about two very talented musicians, Gwen and Xander that play for the Pops Orchestra. They unknowingly are pitted against one another for first chair. When Gwen is offered the position, Xander, music royalty that he is, is angered and quits the Pops. But there is so much more to his dramatic actions and life than one could imagine. The way I love a good rivals to lovers story.....

I absolutely loved both Gwen and Xander. More so Gwen initially, but their tension is right at the forefront from their very first interaction and it is tangible, dripping right off the page. While they are the two main characters, it is to be argued that the music is a close 3rd. And you couldn't help but be swept along with the music into their orbit. Their love, appreciation and respect for music and the instruments they played was a sort of foreplay for them which gave their story a sort of spice that was an understated sexiness to their interactions. And it is breathtaking. It was the simplicity in many things that held my attention and left me feeling wound up. Their passion in their music and creating music with one another was extremely alluring and I couldn't help but feel the magic.

Gwen and Xander are perfection. The burn is slow, the tension is vibrating and the spice hits all the right notes. Once they give in and create music with one another, as a reader, you can't look back. It was a thing of beauty and turned an acoustic story electric! #iykyk

Honestly, I didn't expect to love this story as much as I did, but the connection brought together by undeniable talent was everything. I also appreciated the way Soto included the supporting characters for not only the growth of the MCs, but also for them to bring together a past and present giving them something so much stronger. I can literally hear these two and the music they play.

If you're a music fan and love a good rivals to lovers story with a bit of grump/sunshine mixed in, don't sleep on this one. I think now I will need to listen to the audio, since I'm obviously obsessed ;)

I know nothing about making music, but I know what I like. I know nothing about writing love stories, but I know what I like. And what I liked - no, swooned over - is this gem of a book by Julie Soto. Steamy, sexy, tension filled, raw, and emotional all rolled into something that is clearly NOT ANOTHER LOVE SONG.

Ah, so where to start? Maybe with our protagonists. One dark, brooding, and insanely talented. The other hopeful, uncertain, and equally gifted. Neither realizing they are incomplete until they meet the other. The attraction is instantaneous and powerful. They try to resist the pull, but everyone around them can see that together they are magic. Everyone wants a piece of them for their own selfish reasons. Only by collaborating can they realize their potential as artists and lovers. Literally, swoon.

If you like your romance novels to leave you breathless, this is your book. You’ll be on your feet shouting , “BRAVO!” and demanding an encore.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely ADORED "Forget Me Not", so I had high expectations for this book. And quite honestly, it blew them all out of the water.

What I loved the most about "Not Another Love Song" was the pacing. The plot and writing all sped along pretty quickly, but the emotional rollercoaster it put you on almost mimicked the music. It was melodic in a way, sometimes slow and melancholy, other times fast and frenetic. I don't know how she possibly did that, but she did and it was amazing!

The characterization was strong, as was the character development. The secondary cast of characters were fleshed out, not just mannequins. And the romance was excellent. I also loved the cameos from "Forget Me Not"!

Highly recommend this book, I'll be forcing it on all of my friends, followers, and the bookstore I work at.

*I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Another great release from Soto - but this time it’s music instead of flowers. I come from a musical background myself (wind, not string instruments, but concert band and wind ensemble isn’t really so different from orchestra when it comes to the members and the intense competition).

I can absolutely relate to the characters in this story and did enjoy reading. I loved her debut immensely - it was one of my top reads of last year. Her sophomore release had a lot to live up to (she set herself an extremely high bar). This nearly got there but wasn’t quite as high … maybe I am a bit too critical because I’m comparing the two books and my own musical knowledge, but this one is only a 4-star read for me. There were a number of places I felt things were missing or that weren’t accurate in the setting or true to reality in the music world.

Otherwise, the romance aspect was pretty darn good. I know other romance readers are going to eat this one up! My personal views about the musical aspects aside, it was fairly easy to ignore those if you don’t know otherwise… Gwen and Xander (Alex) have a great enemies to lovers relationship from their meet cute at the wedding when she needs to borrow his cello, through their rivalry at the Manhattan Pops Orchestra, when competing over First Chair and top billing spot. Don’t listen to me about the unrealistic musical things and just enjoy it for romance’s sake!

I received an advance copy from NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and this is my honest feedback.

I really enjoyed 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐌𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐭 and knew whatever Julie Soto writes next would be an auto-read for me.

Violinist Gwen Jackson has been with the Manhattan Pops for four years. To make extra income, she also plays at wedding venues. As she arrives for a last minute replacement wedding gig she is informed that the bride had requested a piano and cello, not a piano and violin. Although Gwen has played the cello before, the violin is her chosen instrument. In comes Xander Thorne, the recording artist and cellist from Thornes and Roses, with one of his cellos for her to use. Xander doesn’t seem to recognize her, but they have both been part of the Pops for the last year. As Gwen returns the cello to Xander she is met by curious, yet snarky comments from him. She expects that this will be the end of their interactions, but is quickly proven wrong when they start exploring music and feelings together.

I love music but I just don’t have any natural talent when it comes to playing an instrument- my high school instrument was the saxophone.. obviously nothing came of it as I am now a flight attendant. I was curious to see if I’d be able to connect with a story surrounding two MCs and its musical setting and the answers is yes, I loved everything single aspect of this novel. The tension, the banter and its musical vibes. Reading Gwens POV, you really can’t help but be drawn to her story while Xander’s POV is more of an explanation of how he became who he is now. I loved how Gwen went from being a fan of Thornes and Roses to exploring a wild chemistry with Xander. To add to this greatness, Julie Soto delivered some good spice! Also, I absolutely loved the tiny glimpses of Ama and Elliot from 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐌𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐭!

I can definitely see this one being a very popular summer read- as it truly should be!

I’ve had my fair share of crushes on singers/guitarists/drummers, but who knew classical musicians could be so hot?! 😮‍💨

Julie tells such an intricate story with music being the underlying thread. The tension she builds is extraordinary, and I’ve never read a book like this one before.

💭 overall thoughts:
This one took me a little bit to get into, and then I LOVED it!
I think it might have been the 3rd person pov, it usually takes more time for me to connect with the characters and the story.

📖 story:
Both Gwen & Xander have been left by their parents, in different ways, but this is something that bonds them. They are both seeking a place to belong, and someone to call home (whether they realize it or not).

So many elements of the story & their histories tie them together, and I love how they each have their found family (and then find it in each other). Gwen & Xander both also have something to teach one another, in helping them to become who they’re truly meant to be.

There were definitely many super hot moments, and so much tension around playing music - I’ll never look at instruments/an orchestra the same way again!

A studio scene & an on-stage moment will live forever rent-free in my head 🥵

🤍side characters:
This isn’t listed as a series (and definitely is a standalone) but we do see several appearances from Ama + Elliot from Forget Me Not! I also felt like there were maybe some hints to a next book with Dom? Which would be AMAZING!

tropes + topics:
🎻 violinist + cellist (musical prodigies)

🌦️ grumpy sunshine
💙 he falls first (but she crushed first 😉)
🎼 music scene drama
🔗 forced proximity
🫶🏼 found family
💜 dual 3rd person pov

Thank you to Forever Grand Central Publishing & NetGalley for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

If you are publishing Reylo fanfiction that landed you an agent please stop telling me that you are writing Reylo fanfiction... It would be greatly appreciated.

I really loved Soto's debut book, it was so good that even though I have no interest in classical musicians I really thought how could I not read this book? Particularly when the love interest of this book makes a brief appearance in a book that I was really vibing with?

Imagine my surprise when I am told that this story was actually written first. This is the book that landed Soto an agent and this book is actually Reylo fanfic. Not good Reylo fic either. If you are going to turn your fanfiction into an original piece of fiction we gotta do a better job of making this characters actually feel divorced from their fandom origins. Honestly I've read better fic on Ao3 int he past 24 hours than this book. If you told me that someone else wrote Forget Me Not I would almost believe you.

Never have I seen a bag fumbled so badly.

Alexander/Xander whatever this man's name was is so stupid and foolish. All the character motivation in this are stupid and foolish. Gwen is giving unserious. Her mentor is unserious. Both in the context of this book and as their Star Wars counterpart....

Giving us only six chapters of the male perspective? I'm sorry but ELECTRIC CHAIR. And with how weak they are we could 100% cut them and marginally improve the story. The same with these side characters that give nothing and are just paper cutouts dancing around the narrative. Again, wild given how the side characters in Soto's previous work did feel like they had something to contribute.

I think it was meant to be some kind of forced proximity moment given how these two characters are lowkey forced to work together in a sort of duo situation and that leads to boning. Just at no point did I feel a romantic connection between these two. Everything about their dynamic felt tortured and not in a romantic way but in a way where an author was trying to force a thing that was never going to feel organic.

This was a hard pass for me. It's definitely turned me off of Soto a little bit, and if I were to give her another chance it would be off of the strength of Forget Me Not and knowing that she wrote that after this and has clearly grown in her craft.

I like books in which music is a theme and that is what led me to pick up this one.

Gwen and Xander, both in their early twenties, play strings with the Manhattan Pops orchestra. They both have musical aspirations yet they are both being “stringed along” by the schemes of others who have plans for them both.

Music is powerful and healing and I think the author uses this to great effect in a story full of rivalry, manipulation and stunts. I do think some of the plot devices are unrealistic and it is pretty predictable with not a lot of character development.

Thanks to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really appreciate that Julie Soto acknowledges the fanfic origin of this book from the very beginning. That's how I first encountered her writing (not this specific work!) and it's what made me a fan. That said, I think that if I hadn't known about its origin story, I might have been able to judge how well this succeeds as a standalone book without the readymade tropes/plot/character dynamics.

So what's this one about? A first chair violinist falls for a celebrity cellist who's working as temporary first chair cello at her pops orchestra. Julie Soto knows her music, so I appreciated that she didn't get any references wrong (although I found some of the metaphors a little ridiculous... playing legato on her body, really?).

The book reads fast and goes down easy, and although it won't be a new favorite, I had a ton of fun.

This review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.

So torn on this one because on one hand it was highly unrealistic to the point of being distracting to a music person, but on the other hand I was highly entertained and stayed up past midnight reading it.

The writing was great, and the story was fun and easy to read. I loved the setting and the themes of music-- but that's also what had me cringing because so much of this would absolutely never happen in real life! From the opening chapter when she could magically just play a cello well enough to perform at a wedding despite never having played it before, to when she was selected as concertmaster just for the publicity... I really had to suspend my disbelief. I don't even think some of these things were necessary to the plot so not sure why they were included. Was there an expert she used to make sure she got it right? I looked in the acknowledgements and didn't see one. Hmmm.

But the romance was great, the tension was spectacular and I loved them together. I wanted a little bit more about their life after they got back together in the end. Would have loved to see them perform instead of using the interview as a way to bring us up to speed on their lives.

Overall I was entertained but as someone who is around orchestras a lot, I wish there had been more precise and realistic depictions of what could actually happen. I will definitely read this author again!

3.5 ⭐️

I am upset I couldn’t rate this higher! It was my most anticipated book of the year, having absolutely loved Forget Me Not last year.

I loved Xander/Alex. Soto always writes characters so well. I love following their journeys in her stories! This was no different. I loved the setting! Reading a book set in a favorite place is always so fun and made it so easy to picture in my mind.

Alex and Gwen’s chemistry was fun and electric. They were a fun couple to read about.

I always struggle with 3rd person POV. So that is a definite me problem, but the first half of the book was a little choppy and hard to connect with. (I did love see brief cameos from Ama though!!)

I’m not a musician and am completely ignorant to musical terms, so that made understanding a lot of this book difficult.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this arc in exchange for my honest review.

What a wilddddd ride! Sign me up for more musical prodigy enemies to lovers romances because I had no idea that this is what was missing from my life…First Julie Soto book, definitely gonna read everything else she has😭

Love this one! This is my first by Julie Soto and it will not be the last. I adored these two characters so much, the chemistry was there. I just felt so giddy while reading!

In Not Another Love Song, Julie Soto fine tunes her craft and gets a standing ovation as the orchestra takes center stage and tension builds between Gwen, the new violin first chair, and Xander, a cellist rock star with dreams of more.

This romance was truly a symphony of delight. I will be the first to admit to not being a canonical Reylo fan (sorry, Reylo fans!), but romances that start off as Reylo fanfiction? I will devour them every single time. Gwen and Alex/Xander had all the markings of the perfect Reylo template: a moody, talented man who fell out of grace by pursuing his own interests, a young woman - innocent of the larger world around her - who shows promise and becomes the one everyone pins their hopes on, a struggling organization desperate to survive one more season. . . Reylo fans will definitely appreciate the parallels between Gwen/Xander and Kylo/Rey, while non-Reylo fans will be swept away in the scorchingly hot scenes between our two main characters.

Soto took playing a string instrument to a whole new level of hot. I doubt I will ever be able to look at a cello the same way again. But none of these scenes would scorch the page the way they do without the fantastic dynamic between Gwen and Alex. Their heat is palpable, and as much as I loved Elliot in Forget Me Not, Alex can’t be beat in the broody, bad boy department.

The instant tension between Xander and Gwen flowed off the page as beautifully as any sonata. I was immediately swept up in their competitive nature, and loved every second of their back and forth conversations. From the concert hall to the rock show, I couldn’t put this book down anytime these two were together.

I adored Alex/Xander, and for many reasons that didn’t involve a very steamy cello practice with Gwen. Alex was just so vulnerable, and it was beautiful to see. As much as I didn’t want this book to end, I loved turning the page just to see more of Alex’s heart spill out with every new music piece he composed.

Like any good piece of music, Not Another Love Song was moving and something you’ll want to return to again and again. There was emotion in each movement, and Gwen and Alex/Xander soared with each rising arpeggio.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the main characters. I wasn’t entirely sold on their chemistry either. What I did enjoy was the musical background of the story even with limited musical knowledge.

The villains weren’t that hard to uncover. You literally have a side character waving a flag in your face from the get go saying these guys are not good.

The side characters are rich and enjoyable, almost more than Gwen and Alex/Xander.

It was not a book that I will have second thoughts about.