Member Reviews

This was a cute read. I enjoyed the musical aspect of the characters and set. I did struggle with aspects that just felt unrealistic to me. Overall I enjoyed it, but there was no staying power for me.

Thank you netgalley for a free copy of this ebook in exchange for my honest review.

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I ate this up. I really enjoyed Forget Me Not, but this was a whole other level. The slow burn was impeccable, characters were loveable, and plot was intriguing. Loved the cameo's from Forget Me Not too. So excited to see what comes next!!

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I enjoyed this one a lot, I love music and so my music heart was happy with having all of the music talk and also the spice scenes with music just also worked well for me.

The chemistry is so clear between these two and I loved watching the sort of loath to love evolve here.

I will post the links for the reviews on social here shortly.

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thank you Forever Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review! after not loving Forget Me Not (Julie's first published book) I really didn't know what to expect - but this is hands down one of my favorite new romances of the year. the character development, side characters, spice, and POV switches were absolutely divine. I didn't want this book to end because of how much I loved it. 10/10 would recommend moving to the top of your TBR

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I don't even know what to write in this review. I loved everything about Not Another Love Song, I have nothing to complain about.
This was such a sensual and sensuous experience.

People talk about the cello scene but I think it's all of Gwen and Alex's intimate scenes together that altered my brain chemistry.

Speaking of Gwen and Alex I loved them both so much—they're both relatable and fleshed out.
From their first scene together to their last, their chemistry was amazing, their connection — palpable, stunning.
I love how they complemented and challenged each other, how they were each other's match.
I love how obsessed Xander was with Gwen and I love how Gwen was his biggest fan.
And those spicy scenes... *fans oneself* the way that Julie wove the music between them within the intimate moments was *chef's kiss* I cannot even explain what she did, it needs to be experienced, words cannot do it justice.

I also loved the cameos—seeing what Ama and Elliot were up to was a rare treat. Oh and the side characters!! I looooveee Jacob and Declan with undying passion, they were so cute together - my fav couple after Alex and Gwen!

I'm so excited about the next book, I wonder if it's gonna be another character we've already met like Dom? I remember he was crushing bad on a *certain* photographer 😏

Can't wait to find out more but until then just read this, read this, read this!!

eternal gratitude to netgalley and the publisher for the arc

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5 (hundred) stars!

I went into this book expecting to love it after loving Forget Me Not and I was still blown away. Had the authors note not told me about the fanfic inspo, I might not have caught on (but knowing it beforehand, I made a lot of connections). It was hard to like the MMC in the beginning but he redeems himself much better than the character that inspired him! Feel like I learned a lot about music and the world of orchestras in NYC too, you can assume the author did a ton of research (I wouldn’t actually be able to tell if anything was wrong but it felt informed).

Also, the sexiest part to me wasn’t even actual spice. It was the performance in chapter 15. Perfection.

Thank you to NetGally, Forever, and Julie Soto for being lucky enough to read this amazing book early!

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Wow. I lovedddd this book and I could not put it down. I love the way the book started and completely hooked me with the story of Gwen and Xander. There was so much tension, angst and chemistry between the pair. I don’t play any instruments, but grew up in a family of musicians, and really loved the concept behind this book. It was written in a way that those who don’t listen to classical music or are not classically trained, could still feel, see, and hear and relate to the music that is being composed and played. I loved the entire cast of side characters, and felt immersed in their world. It was steamy and I could have easily read it in one sitting.

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Thanks to netgalley and forever pub for this arc in exchange for my honest review!


Can I just say that I went into this book thinking hm how is she going to make this book 🌶️ and well folks she did! I really enjoyed Alex and Gwens rival to lovers story line! Their scenes together were absolutely magically. I also LOVED Jacob, everyone NEEDS a Jacob in their life!! So excited to read more from Julie!

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.5 stars! I loved this book and continue to love this author's work. Julie has a great way of writing with such detail that you can see and hear the music in the story. I could hear the people and sense the tension in the characters. Great characters and storyline overall. Good amount of spice to it too. It makes me want to listen to more classical music!

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Not Another Love Song is the latest from Julie Soto and one of my favorite books so far this year! I love the idea of a romance between rival musicians playing together in a symphony and Soto completely pulls it off. I loved the progression of the relationship between Gwen and Xander- from dislike to friends to lovers. The musical scenes were vivid and filled with tension (especially the scene with the cello!). The chemistry between Gwen and Xander was masterfully crafted.

Soto also incorporates grief, complex power dynamics between mentors, and the importance of understanding contracts. I really enjoyed the side characters and their witty banter. Not Another Love Song is steamy, filled with heart and soul, and not to be missed. Readers who enjoy Ali Hazelwood, Rosie Danan, and Abby Jimenez will love this book. I can’t wait to see what Julie Soto writes next!

Thank you to Julie Soto, Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc.

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Only Julie Soto could make orchestra erotic. The tension was chefs kiss! I really loved how we got Alex/Xander’s perspective every few chapters, but it explained everything. The family drama and secrets along when the love story?! Everyone in this story was connected and I loved it. Special shout out to Ama and Elliott, so happy to see them

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I fell in love with Forget Me Not when I read it earlier this year so I could not wait to get my hands on Julie Soto’s new book Not Another Love Song. I was ready for this romance to sweep me off my feet like Forget Me Not. Unfortunately this book didn’t have quite the same affect.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed this book and my time reading it but I feel like the pacing was a little off in the middle and I just wasn’t as hooked as I was with the first book I read by this author.

I do think it’ll be widely loved and I will definitely read all of her future books.

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Gwen is a violinist with a bit of imposter syndrome. She has a spot in the Manhattan Pops and is thankful for the opportunity to make a living doing what she loves. Enter Xander Thorne, the arrogant and often inconsiderate cellist of Gwen’s favorite band, Thorne and Roses. He has joined the Manhattan Pops and immediately becomes Gwen’s enemy/rival. Things change quickly when Gwen and Xander realize that they play music beautifully together.

This book was a page turner, and I found the world of professional musicians fascinating. Julie Soto did an amazing job making the music world accessible to someone with little to no music knowledge. Do I want to go see a live orchestra after reading this book? YES! Will I be paying particular attention to the first violinist and who they have in their direct line of sight? Also YES!

While I usually love enemies-to-lovers, I didn’t completely buy into this love story. For a while, I felt like Xander only liked Gwen because she played music beautifully and she only liked him because he liked her. I did eventually come around, and I thought the ending was adorable.

Thank you to NetGalley, Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and Julie Soto for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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4/5 stars.
This books was one of the most sensual romances I’ve read. The music component really heated things up. The characters were complex and well developed and the plot was engaging. The only critique I have is the third act break up and how quickly that seemed to be resolved.

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Julie Soto has done it again!
This story is for all of those people who sat in practice and stared across the sections at a mysterious hottie. The way in which music is incorporated into the story is a true love letter to everyone who has gotten chills
while listening to a cord progression. The invisible string (thank you taylor swift) that ties these characters together is so beautiful and leaves you giddy.

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SPECTACULAR book! This is one of my favorite reads so far this year! This story is so beautifully written, it flows perfectly, like the music written into the pages! The premise is a unique thing that I haven’t seen in a romance story, so it doesn’t feel overly “tropey.”

I truly loved the MMC, and the difficulty he has really expressing himself and his feelings. It feels *real,* for someone who is so gifted and hyper-focused. It causes frustration, but when he finally gets to the point of revealing what he feels and wants, you can FEEL his desperation dripping off the page.

The scene from the cover of the book?? HOT HOT HOT! It is SO good! I have a bit of musical background, as does the rest of my family, but you absolutely DO NOT need one to appreciate this book. I cannot recommend it highly enough!!

Julie Soto has hit it out of the park…AGAIN! After this book and Forget Me Not, she has become an auto-buy author for me!

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If Julie writes it, I’m going to read it.
I felt like I could truly hear the music with this one.

The romance seemed a little shallow; it didn’t feel like Gwen and Alex’s relationship had that natural pacing I typically like to read, but I still loved these two hot music nerds making music together! I was so enthralled with this book and finished it in two days!!
The plot kept me intrigued and I may have shed a little tear at the end.

Reading about music and getting to remember what it was like to play in an orchestra was so nostalgic for me.

And

Um

The cello scene ?!

Listen. I already knew cello’s were sexy. Julie Soto has made them sexier.



[thank you NetGalley and Forever publishing for allowing this delicious book to grace my eyes and brain in the form of an arc in exchange for an honest review]

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I was so excited after giving Forget Me Not 5 stars earlier this year. I will say I enjoyed this one a lot, but it really felt like it leaned into the fan fiction origins this author has. Which isn't a bad thing, but the tropes were a little much. The romance also just didn't feel as well developed as the author's first book.

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4.75 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the arc.

I loved this book. I loved it because the violin and the cello are two of my favorite instruments in an orchestra, and because my husband and I have season tickets to the LA Philharmonic, I can totally picture the FMC and MMC looking at each other throughout a performance.

The story is about Gwen Jackson, a gifted violinist who currently seats as the seventh violin chair in the Manhattan Pops Orchestra. While performing at one of her side hustles, a wedding in New Jersey, she happens to borrow a cello from a member of the wedding party, Xander Thorne. Xander is the front man for an electronic rock band called Thorne and Roses, but he is also a cellist for the same orchestra. Xander has no idea that he and Gwen work for the same orchestra, but he's struck by how well she plays the cello, an instrument she hasn't touched for 8-9 years. Gwen is a huge fan of Thorne and Roses, and she is annoyed with Xander's dismissive critique of her cello play. But there are sparks between Gwen and Xander, and they both feel it.

From that starting point, the story continues with both Gwen and Xander trying to stay away from each other, pretty much not wanting to acknowledge their attraction to each other. This is the main gist of the story, mixed in with family drama and controlling recording agents / bosses. The description of the music created by both Xander and Gwen, and the impact to their senses by both the music they play, and their acknowledgement of their feelings for each other, is sensuous and hot. Very hot. Julie Soto's descriptions of the musical passages were very clear - I could hear and feel the music, while visualizing the impact they had on the MCs. It was very good. And very hot.

I can't wait to read more of Julie Soto's work. Her writing captivated and thrilled me, everything I want to get when reading.

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I am the first to admit, I maaaaayyyy have a reylo-fanfiction-to-trad-publishing-pipeline bias, but I do not see a world in which this isn't in my top three books of this year. I fell head over heels in love with Forget Me Not last year. This is better. This is hotter. He is hornier, grumpier, more feral, down right obsessed with her. All things I did not think was possible but HERE WE ARE and I couldn't be happier.

Julie Soto (along with Ali Hazelwood) is on another level when it comes to pining men and the degree to which they are FERAL over a woman. This book was literally the definition of screaming, giggling, kicking my feet. I wanted to throw my kindle across the room and also inject them into my veins.

Something very important to me about this book is that it gives me the same feelings as some of my all time favorites likes Check & Mate and From Lukov With Love in the sense that its a book about two people so deeply passionate about the same thing and who are the very best at what they do so finding each other is like finally finding the ONE person in the entire world who understands you fully and completely. It's intoxicating. It's like they're speaking their own language and it makes me incredible emotional to watch these characters be seen and loved and understood. I think this is my favorite niche type of romance.

Can confirm the cello scene will change your life.
BUT the bathroom scene will also change your life. Justice for her.

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