Both the premise and source material intrigued me with this one - inspired by the author's previous Reylo fanfic, <i>Not Another Love Song</i> features two string musicians playing for a Manhattan orchestra as the main male and female leads. This might get categorized as enemies-to-lovers but I think it's more of an annoyed-to-lovers trope.

From the very start I really enjoyed Soto's description of how the characters experienced music, especially the emotional aspect of playing and composing. But ultimately with the romance genre I'm here for the romantic tension, and I just felt like there wasn't as much angst/chemistry and I was hoping for. I was also wayyy less interested in the managerial issues as I was in the romantic relationship, so these sections felt a little slow.

Overall, entertaining and notable b/c of the musical slant. I'm not sure I could have identified this as Reylo fanfic source material, but having known it going in - the male lead definitely had a Kylo Ren vibe.

I got my eARC from Netgalley. Thanks to the author and Forever publishing for the advanced copy!

3.5 stars! As a former violinist in a youth orchestra for about 10 years, I was excited to read this for obvious reasons. Julie Soto creates some strong chemistry every time. But why do her MMCs have to be such jerks? 😫 Xander Thorne (aka Adam driver) has a lot of immaturity and needs some growth. Despite his tragic backstory, he’s still a 26 year old adult who throws temper tantrums and I think Gwen could do better lol. I couldn’t put this book down but I’d be concerned for those who don’t have a music background if you’d be confused about a lot of the terminology used? Like are they able to picture how things flow as much if you’ve never played a string instrument? Also the references to a certain pop star towards the end made me roll my eyes but all in all was a cute story!

If Ali Hazelwood’s Love, Theoretically had a musical love child, it would be this book and I’m not complaining.

4.25⭐️

This is my first Julie Soto book, and it will definitely not be my last. This is enemies to lovers in a stare across the room at you type of way. The way music was used to express feelings throughout the book was just.... perfect!! I've been waiting for a book like this for so long and finally it's been done! Then the found family aspect of it was just so beautiful. It really taught me so much about music and the orchestra life that I just wasn't privy too. I also appreciated how Julie Soto didn't make characters so black and white. It was just so beautiful; I definitely see the Julie Soto hype and easily one of my favorite books of the year!!

I was given an ARC from Net Galley and Forever publishing in exchange for an honest review as always, all words are my own.

From rivals to lovers!!! What a book! Just looking at the cover you know it is going to be hot and steamy. There was a lot of tension and hotness. I recommend this book if you want to be giggly and blushing over love scenes.

Ahhhhhh!!! I'm so excited for another Julie Soto novel! "FORGET ME NOT" was one of my top favorite reads of last year, so I am thrilled for this opportunity and am already loving "NOT ANOTHER LOVE SONG" so far!

4,5 / 5

I don’t know what Julie puts in her books, but I hope she never stops!

I read Forget Me Not almost a year ago to the day and was therefore more than excited for Julie’s new book!

Not Another Love Song felt (different) compared to Forget Me Not, not only in the way it was structured (which was really on theme) but also the whole tone throughout the book felt more serious.

I cannot speak for the accuracy of portraying an orchestra or the logistics of such, but I definitely enjoyed the music-heavy setting.

Some minor things that I’m not 100% happy about:
Anything and everything regarding Ava’s & Nathan’s marriage is just mind blowing to me. Especially when I think about all the on page situations where Ava seemingly decided to just not intervene when it was absolutely necessary and basically stop whatever Nathan was doing and saying right there and then? How ?
In the same vein, the reason for Mabel & Ava’s fight was hovering over the story up until very late, and almost the end, of the book, which I understand to a certain degree, but would have loved to have been handled slightly differently.

Extra bonus points for the Forget Me Not cameos! Absolutely loved those!

I'm already really excited for Julie’s next book!

What a fantastic read! This a new author for me and she did not disappoint. I loved the complexity of both family and work.

So much chemistry and tension between Gwen and "Xander" *cough* Alex. J want to jump into the page and just shake those two lol.

Very enjoyable read and highly recommend for anyone looking to get lost in the music of love❤️

This book really ticks all the boxes! It carefully unveils characters’ histories in a way that strings the reader along and maintains intrigue. The chemistry between the characters is off the charts, but it’s not insta-love, it’s definitely earned. As someone who has a decent background in music I really loved how Soto described the music—it’s by far the hardest thing to describe in words in my opinion, and she did it so well. I literally can’t find a fault. I highly recommend Not Another Love Song.

An intense romance set in the orchestral world of New York City. The angst is real. Highly recommend.

alex fitzgerald is OBSESSED with gwen jackson. he falls first, ya’ll. big time.

this book was so good that it has me reconsidering my previously awarded ratings. i need a sixth star to rate this one.

so much about this book read like a song; tension, ebb, and flow within gwen’s (FMC) relationship to herself, her loved ones, colleagues, career, and music. i love a book with character growth and, while these characters were not written so introspective on page as other authors, it was clear through the plot that our FMC and MMC changed one another.

5 out of 5 on this one. can’t wait for the audiobook!

thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. will absolutely be adding this to my book club this summer.

Thank you so much Forever for this ARC! This book was so fun and addicting! I love how our main characters had more depth to them and the spicy scenes were very well written! For this being my first Julie Soto book I adored it! Gwen and Alex have my whole heart and I can not rave about this book enough!

This was my first Julie Soto book and I can’t wait to read her other books!

I love a good rivals to lover book and Soto did an amazing job illustrating the tension between Gwen and Alex. I enjoyed both characters and especially loved that the book heavily revolved around music. Soto’s writing and the storyline kept me hooked!

MY GOD. In two books, Julie Soto has firmly become an auto-buy author for me! Her books are FOR ME. She puts SOMETHING in them, I swear. They’re so addictive!

I liked this even more than Forget Me Not! Flewwww through it in one evening, giggling and grinning and kicking my feet and gasping the entire time. I loved Gwen so much and my GOD, loooooooooooved her and Alex’s dynamic. That man was quite literally DOWN BAD. Down HORRENDOUSLY Bad. It was thrilling to witness. The tension and the buildup was all so delicious and their relationship was adorable!

Just absolutely obsessed with this from start to finish. I cried at the ending, I loved seeing everything come together! Will be gobbling up everything Julie writes from now on nom nommmmmm

I loved this book! Julie Soto is becoming one of my favorite authors. Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity to read this ahead of time! I love the chemistry between Gwen and Xander/Alex and their story together! The ending was 🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼

the tension???? the YEARNING??? oh i’m so down bad for Alex + Gwen. this book gave me everything!! as someone who knows absolutely nothing about orchestras and musical terminology, i still found this story impossible to put down. learning what *that* scene from the cover was, was a pleasant surprise 😌. this book was STEAMY and at the same time, so so sweet.

thank you to netgalley for the free arc! <3

I love when an author makes me care deeply about a niche subculture I know nothing about and now I want to go to an orchestra and speculate about who is in love with whom. This book was enjoyable from start to finish and those spicy scenes were great! I loved the side characters, especially Mei, and I would love to see a spin off with her. I loved the Forget Me Not cameos as well! I love Julie as an ao3 author and I love all of her published work she writes lovable characters. Can’t wait for her next book! Thank you NetGalley and Forever Books for my copy!

JULIE SOTO OH MY GOSH WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY BRAIN?!?!?! I enjoyed Julie's first book, Forget Me Not, but wow wow wow does Not Another Love Song blow that one away! The tension, the musicality, the drama.... this book is everything. I couldn't be more thrilled for Julie, because she's definitely knocked it out of the park with this one. And THAT cello scene? Yes please.

Thank you thank you thank you to the publisher, Forever and NetGalley for BLESSING ME with this ARC copy in exchange for my review.

I really liked this! I don't think I've ever read a romance centered around classically trained musicians, so I found those aspects very interesting. It definitely was heavy on the music, but I didn't mind that at all. I also loved how spicy this book was. I haven't really the author's other book yet, so I wasn't sure how much to expect in terms of spice level, but was pleasantly surprised.

The only thing keeping me from giving this a higher rating was that I didn't love the male love interest. There were times were it just felt like he was a jerk. We did learn more about his past and his tough upbringing, but to me that wasn't a good enough explanation for times that he seemed just plain rude.

I would definitely still recommend this and I think that readers who love a grumpy MMC could probably look past my issues!

Not Another Love Song is a hot romance for the summer, I was very into this musical world, the characters, and the STEAM!!! The banter and spice are a-plenty here and I loved the Reylo vibes, it was very well done!

All the scenes between Gwen and Xander composing and playing were everything to me. The drama in second half was a little off but I really enjoyed this story as a whole. Julie’s first book Forget and Not was a huge favorite of mine and I liked seeing those characters make a cameo!

Secretly wishing we had a real Thorne and Roses band to obsess over, classical pop is having a resurgence and I caught myself imagining my favorite songs on violin, great concept for a catchy book!

Thank you to Forever for the review copy if this book expected to publish July 16, 2024