Oh my gosh!!!! I absolutely loved this book! I read this in a day and went feral for Gwen & Alex!! This was stunning, gorgeous, swoony sexy, addictive, sweet and emotional! I felt all the feelings and all the chemistry! Tbf a lot of the music talk went over my head bc I don’t have a musical bone in my body but I didn’t care at all! The tension and angst really drew me in and the yearning and passion between Gwen and Alex kept me on the edge the whole time. The spice was insane, that scene where Gwen plays Ruby for the first time! I about died!!! I will be snagging a copy of this as soon as it releases I cannot wait to re read and annotate!!

Yeah, alright, Julie Soto is great. I had just finished Forget Me Not (which got me out of a serious reading slump), so I was looking forward to this one, but one good book doesn't necessarily make a good author, so I was prepared to be disappointed. Luckily, this one was even better than the first one.

(I'm saying first one because even though both of the books can be read on their own, Not Another Love Song takes place after Forget Me Not and certain characters have small appearances. Some readers may have even noticed that Xander had already been mentioned in Forget Me Not, so it's not a big surprise that our old friends may appear in this one as well.)

I loved the whole music-part of the book. Writing about certain topics without either turning the novel into a manual or making the reader feel stupid is something that I truly admire. While I've never played in an orchestra and know next to nothing about playing the violin or the cello, the descriptions made me feel exactly what it was supposed to feel like. Where Forget Me Not gave me the urge to go to a wedding, Not Another Love Song made me want to play a string instrument. Discriptions of songs are something I either love or hate in a book, but in this case it was definitely the former. I could actually feel the music. It was amazing.

The characters were also great. Gwen did have her faults, but she was a very realistic character and I could completely understand all her actions. I may not have agreed with them, but with the context of her past experiences they were very true to character. Same for Xander - some people may call him rude, and he is, but I never felt like he was purposefully cruel. There was a lot of depth in both their characters and while miscommunication does play a role in this book, it's not so big that I would hate it. I could empathise with both of them and they were very well developed. The relationship between them was fantastic. The tension? The pining? Love it.

The writing is simply really nice. Flowing and emotional and just the right mixture of sweet and lighthearted, with a sprinkle of heavier topics.

As for the little easter eggs from book one - I really appreciated them. Always a nice touch, if it's done with a light hand, like in this book.

Thank you, NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, Harper Fiction for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

i had requested this book on a whim.

it looked interesting from the cover and as a former violin student, i wanted to see what a romance would look like.

when i say i devoured this book in one single sitting.

what a masterclass in love and sensuality.

As a longtime reader of Julie Soto (since her ao3 dramoinie fanfic days), I instantly fell in love with the title and cover of this book and I just had to have it, so firstly thank you so much to the publishers, netgalley and Julie Soto for my arc.

God where do I begin? As a novice to violin/cello, I thought I would be confused and miss all the references and terminology, but Julie has such a way with writing things vividly that I felt like I was a prodigy myself. I could picture Xander and Gwen, both playing their pieces as first chair and every detailed description of their movements, and how they contort their bodies played like a movie soundtrack in my mind. I was enchanted with this little world Julie created and it was utterly mesmerising to read.

Gwen is the kind of heroine who is a girl after my own heart. She’s self assured yet a little naive, determined but also questions herself, and so so talented. I adored the fact that she was a fan of thornes and roses but never made a fool of herself in front of Xander. I loved her witty comebacks to Xander and the way their foreplay was them playing together. My favourite scenes by far are at the wedding when they play together and also composing pieces in xanders studios. Their chemistry was a furnace and I was just waiting for them to go up in flames.

Which brings me into Xander. Julie Soto the woman that you are creating a man this perfect 😭 I loved his arrogant, icy cold demeanour, he had me the second he criticised the way Gwen played the cello which mind you she played for the first time in YEARS. My man was fuming she upstaged him 🤭 I love how obsessed he was with Gwen, the way she played, the way she smelled, this man was utterly enchanted by her and I loved how down bad he was.

The storyline, the secondary characters, everything about this book was pure perfection and I need Julie Soto to keep feeding me new book boyfriends every 6 months. The ending was so emotional, I felt so fulfilled for Xander/Alex. Ava finally grew some balls and did the right thing. I’m probably going to go and reread this book again because once is just not enough 😭🩷

i got approved for this one back in february on edelweiss and am only getting around to writing a review. i would say to not get your hopes up too much if "forget me not" was also one of your favorite romance reads of last year as the build up is very anticlimactic for how good the build up to gwen and alex's relationship is. the third act breakup was unnecessary (full of miscommunication) and made me think the couple may not be one that lasts. i will still read whatever soto writes next though always.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'Not Another Love Song' by Julie Soto.

This was SO good. The chemistry they had was evident from the start and I really loved the plot of two people in the same orchestra. If you don't enjoy scenes of a sexual nature, you may wanna give this book a pass because I would get drunk on how many sex scenes is in this book but I overall really enjoyed this book.

Violins, cellos, New York.

Top-notch entertainment. I was looking for a book that I can devour in two or three sittings, and that was exactly it. Both the characters and the musical plot clicked with me, and I was twenty-five again!