DNF at 45%

Thank you NetGalley for providing this EARC in exchange for my honest review

I really tried with this book but I just could not power through it after they had an “intimate encounter” where it involved his fingers you catch the jist. Anyways they proceed to have this encounter while she is PLAYING THE CELLO? Also she resolves herself WHILE THE SONG ENDS?! And then the next morning she uses the fingers again but to herself to THE MEMORY!? This is not “spicy” this doesn’t make no sense. Also both of them could not have fit in that chair they had that encounter in. No hate to the author I’m sure you have a great audience who will love this but it is NOT me. Also I feel bad for the poor cello who had to interact in this which is also named RUBY 😭

This was SO!!!GOOD!!!!
Julie Soto's writing is just so refreshing to me in a way I cannot quite put into words. I love the way she paces her stories, the way she creates such intensity between her characters, and the way she sets such a rich backdrop and interesting plotline and story for them to live in. I loved the premise of this book, and it was so entertaining. I really loved the character of Gwen and the way she moved through the world. Not knowing anything about violin or cello, Soto's words really made me feel the music and I loved all the times where the music Gwen and Alex were playing was described, and when they played music together. The romantic tension was sensual and crackling and did not leave me wanting in the slightest. Overall, I loved this book, and am really excited for the continued works of Julie Soto!

It has taken me awhile to write this review because I don’t believe I can do this book justice. I loved it! Gwen and Alex have my heart! I can’t recommend it enough! Anyone who has been obsessed with Stevie Nicks performance of Silver Springs in 1997 (iykyk) then this is the book for you! Now I’m going to listen to some classical music and pretend it is Gwen and Alex playing it to me.

I loved the first half! I really enjoy Soto's writing style generally. The second half unfortunately fell apart for me. It seemed like the characters no longer developed and their relationship didn't seem to have a lot of depth beyond initial chemistry. I will still follow and read Soto, I think she has good ideas and a lot of talent as a writer, this one was just a miss for me.

Thank you for the ARC. I really enjoyed this book. It was spicy, enemies to lovers. I loved learning about the music aspect and how they had so many things and people in common while trying to keep their distance. The booked slowed down for me a little in the middle but overall I really enjoyed it.

This was my introduction to Julie Soto, and hi, hello - consider me OBSESSED. I loved so much about this story - the pacing, the slow burn and the spice. As a New Yorker I also absolutely loved the journey through different parts of the city, and it felt like a love note to different neighborhoods. I think Julie Soto balances a myriad of topics well and then does a great job of circling back to be sure that nothing slips through the cracks. All in all, I couldn't put it down and will be immediately picking up Forget Me Not! Thank you so much for a copy of a digital ARC!

𝓘𝓽’𝓼 𝓼𝓲𝓶𝓹𝓵𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂. 𝓘𝓽’𝓼 𝓪𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓪 𝓬𝓮𝓵𝓵𝓸 𝔀𝓱𝓸 𝓯𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝓲𝓷 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓪 𝓿𝓲𝓸𝓵𝓲𝓷.

To say I loved this book would be an understatement. I am OBSESSED! It's been awhile since I binge read a book, but I found myself unable to put this one down.

Julie Soto is one of my favorite authors and the stories she writes never fail to hook me. How she turns a budding romance between a violinist and a cellist into a passionate, steamy, tension-filled love affair is on a whole other level. Gwen and Alex's connection with music and how they play both their instruments was beautifully described that I can hear their euphonious duet come off the pages.

𝘈 𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘴. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘥𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥. 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙙.

I loved both Gwen and Alex individually and together. The chemistry between them was nonstop. And the spice was incredibly spicy, like cover worthy spicy! 😉

I cannot wait to get a physical copy once this hits the shelves! Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘺𝘮𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.

Read if you like:
🎻rivals to lovers
🎼workplace romance
🎻orchestral music
🎼he falls first & harder
🎻cello + violin romance
🎼spicy scenes 🌶️😉

Julie Soto can write tension and longing and passion between two characters like no other, I swear. I loooooved Gwen and Alex together. They BELONG together. I know absolutely nothing about orchestra, so sometimes the descriptions felt drawn out and meaningless to me. I really knew next to nothing about the characters beyond their passion for music (and each other). We're given their backstories but EVERYTHING connects back to the violin/cello. But that one scene with the cello in Alex's home studio??? HOT HOT PIPING HOT. The third act conflict/breakup was silly. I feel like the conflict didn't have to break them up. I did thoroughly enjoy reading this book. Julie is very transparent about the fact that this is published fanfiction (as was her previous book, Forget Me Not). It feels original enough but you can definitely feel the fanfic roots. So this book obviously isn't for you if you consider fanfic ~lowbrow~ LOL (which I think is very narrowminded but whatever). I think if you enjoyed Forget Me Not, you'll also enjoy this book (there are some Ama Torres cameos!). It's written very similarly.

A big thanks to Forever and Julie Soto for the advanced copy of this book!

Oh hi Julie Soto. You changed my life with this book. It was actually incredible. Amazing. So good. So HOT!!!!!! The tension between the two of them had me actually biting my arm. Xander is a man down horrendously and I am LIVINGGGGG FOR IT! Like…… why was I searching up videos of men playing cello on YouTube at 9 in the morning reading this….

I was not anticipating to love it as much as I did, but I’m so happy I did. Honestly truly so good. I just can’t get over the chemistry between Gwen and Xander and the tension and just how much they both believed in each other? Idk this was just literally everything and more to me. Thank god for Julie Soto like fr. And thank god for the cello??????

4.5 ⭐️

Huge thank you to NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review 💖

I absolutely adored this book! It took me quite a while to get through it, which normally means I'm bored and just pushing through for the sake of finishing. But that was not the case here! Even though it took me a while, I enjoyed every single second of it! Not to mention, even several days later, I actually remember what happened in the story and the characters and such (which doesn't happen often thanks to my book amnesia 😂)

I loved Forget Me Not, but Not Another Love Song really took the cake for me. The romance between Gwen and Xander was absolutely beautiful! The spicy scenes were well done, which was a nice change of pace from the amount of cringing I have been doing with other books as of late. I also really adored all of the side characters. This was a nice, refreshing breath of a story and I can't wait to see what Julie Soto has in store for us next.

I feel pretty similar to this one as I did about Forget Me Not: I don’t know if I can say this is ~good~, but I had a great time. Listen, it’s a predictable romance and there are a handful of things that I would have changed, but I don’t really care. The tension between of the two of them was so great and I just loved living in this world.

Julie Soto’s books remind of me of Ali Hazelwood, and in some ways this reminded me a bit of Check & Mate (if that book weren’t YA). Two people who live and breathe their shared passion and who are professional rivals (barely), plus a man who is immediately attracted to the FMC’s talent.

It doesn’t surprise me that Julie Soto is so open about this being fanfiction, but hey, I was into it.

Bury me with this book. That's it. That's the review.

Just kidding! Julie Soto truly knocked it out of the park with this one. It felt fresh, whimsical, and truly unique. Coupled with her beautiful writing and an intricate and well thought out storyline, I could not put this down. You'll read this and go through all the emotions. I laughed, I teared up, I giggled, my heart raced.

Now as for Gwen and Xander. The tension!!! The pining!!! The acts of service!!! The SPICE? These two were made for each other. AND she really ate with that cello scene, I'm not gonna lie.

Read if you love:
- slow burn
- rivals to lovers
- orchestra music
- tension
- pining
- found family

Also loved seeing some faces from Forget Me Not!!!

Thanks to Julie Soto, NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for this ARC!

“It’s simple really,” he said. “It’s about a cello who fell in love with a violin.”

Wow. I went into this book with high hopes because I had loved Julie Soto’s first book, Forget Me Not, with such a passion and guys…. She did NOT disappoint. LETS TALK ABOUT IT.

Not Another Love Song is about two musicians who have an enemies-to-lovers-esq arc and filled with music, life lessons, and delicious smut. As someone who had lived a life in music (former marching band player and lifelong dancer), I can attest that this is basically a musicians wet dream of a romance novel. The love between Xander/Alex & Gwen builds so beautifully & is so believable that I felt I was right there with them. Julie hit it out of the park with Not Another Love Song! Solid 5⭐️, 10/10 would recommend, definitely buying a physical copy for my trophy shelf.

First off, I would like to say thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC. Secondly, I could NOT put this book down. I read it in just over 24 hours and the only reason it was not under 24 hours was because I fell asleep reading! I do not know how to play an instrument, but Julie’s writing and characters made me want to learn. The characters in this book are so beautifully and uniquely written, none fell flat and all had their own traits that made you love or hate them. The dynamic between the main characters was palpable off the page, and the SPICE was so well done. Again, I never have played an instrument, but how Julie wrote and described the musical aspects of the novel was so well done I felt like I could hear and see and feel all of it: the joy, anger, heartbreak, love, all the feels. Truthfully, this book took me a while to pick up because Forget Me Not did just not click with me. But I am so glad I picked up Not Another Love Song! I adore these characters and their loved ones, and will be continuing this series. Thank you Julie for writing a beautiful story and making people fall in love with music through your words!

I absolutely devoured Not Another Love Song - it was everything I wanted from an orchestra-setting rom com and more. Soto has a way of making you fall in love with even the minor characters as hard as you fall in love with the main two - I personally hope Mei has her time to shine, either through her own book or a short add-on story. Additionally, the spice was absolutely amazing --- I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but, if its your schtick, I'd give it 3/5 on the hot pepper scale. Overall, I give this book a solid 5/5, and would recommend it to fans of Ali Hazelwood and Ashley Poston. I truly loved it so, so much - it's easily made its way into my top-3 rom coms of all time.

As a side note - this book made me want to pick up my violin again after 10 years of not playing, something which is very difficult to make me want to do!

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC.

It's not always guaranteed that the second book in a series you love will match or even exceed your love for the first book, but it was more than true in Not Another Love Song by Julie Soto! This book was a masterpiece just like the music created on its pages. Gwen and Xander are musical rivals in public, but behind closed doors, they each idolize the other. Gwen has fangirled over Xander Thorne and his band for years and quickly becomes Xander's muse after he hears her play. Their passion for music mirrors their passion for each other as their chemistry ignites into an incredible love story.

The writing was intoxicating, particularly when the characters were playing their instruments, which often acted as an extension of themselves. It's the kind of writing that hooks you and keeps you reading until 1am. Julie Soto did an amazing job describing the emotions that are felt by both musicians and audiences when listening to orchestras. When Xander and Gwen were playing, Soto captured the enthralling dance of a duet in her words, putting the reader right into the moment. Readers will fall in love with Xander and Gwen, the beauty of live music, and the need to create something incredible in Not Another Love Song by Julie Soto.

I cannot say enough amazing things about this book. I loved the background musical/orchestral elements. The chemistry between the two MCs was sizzling. Julie Soto has quickly become one of my favorite authors. Her writing style feels like a warm story told by a dear friend that turns into a spicy tale. Will be first in line to order all of her future publications!

I have loved Julie Soto since AO3 days. That being said I was a little devastated at how deflated Julie’s first novel Forget Me Not turned out. It just wasn’t how I expected it would go. However this book? ROUND OF APPLAUSE. The tension, the characters and the cello?! Beautiful I LOVED this love story. Genuinely loved how music appreciation there was in this (my inner band kid who played the flute was screaming). Love this book!

Fun, original characters, excellent emotions and spice, great plot arc and pacing, satisfying conclusion. A perfect romance read for summer.

Oh my gentle Jesus, WOW!! Just WOW!! I thought Forget Me Not was good, but Not Another Love Song absolutely blew me away!! This book was so captivating and engrossing, I almost forgot to eat for an entire day! I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning finishing this book because I could not put Gwen and Alex down! This book was so amazing, Julie Soto absolutely knocked it out of the park. And the cello scene?!?! Chefs freaking kiss!!!