In a scorchingly hot follow-up to Forget Me Not, Julie Soto does it again, this time with a broody rock star cellist and the young violinist who’s learning to truly feel the music. What may have started as Reylo fanfiction quickly becomes an unputdownable romance that sizzles from Gwen and Xander’s very first meeting and only turns up the heat from there. Not Another Love Song by Julie Soto is a must read.
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Not Another Love Song by Julie Soto
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Standalone
July 16, 2024
Read this if you want:
- Broody rock stars
- Steamy scenes with string instruments
- Reylo fanfiction
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.
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