“Not Another Love Song”, Julie Soto
Published July 4, 2024
Two string players fight their attraction for each other as they compete for center stage in this spicy and emotional romance.
Gwen Jackson and Xander Thorne are both musical prodigies, but each has had very different paths to success. Xander was born into classical music royalty, while Gwen had a natural ear for music that was nurtured by a kind shop owner.
After Gwen performs at his friend’s wedding, she’s mortified when she realizes Xander has no clue who she is—despite having worked together for a year at the Pops Orchestra. But she’s more furious that he arrogantly critiques her performance.
When Gwen is offered the role of First Chair of the orchestra, something Xander had secretly coveted for years, their existing hostility goes up a notch. But their respect for each other's music is undeniable, and their onstage chemistry off the scale. As they begin to explore their feelings for one another, suddenly they're box office dynamite and the fragile romance that's growing between them is in danger of being crushed beneath a publicity stunt…
If I had to condense this book into one emoji, it would be this: 🥵
Julie had no business writing something that reduced me into an emotionally compromised mess and a liar muttering “just one more chapter”, running on four hours of sleep because I just had to devour the book in one sitting. When your body is ascending, who needs frivolous things like sleep? Julie “Professor Utonium” Soto was tossing tension, spice, and heartache into her cauldron and delivered angsty romance on a silver platter with a chef’s kiss. Diabolical.
Who knew that a story about two no-nonsense musical prodigies in (the fictitious) Manhattan Pops could be so spicy? Three million Scoville units. This man pined for her like a tree. He is considered one of the best in his field, but he spared no second thought in recognizing and appreciating her talent to her face. He treated her as his equal, not his competition. That’s so refreshing.
But no matter how much I loved this book, there is one thing that truly bothered me, and still does to this day even though Julie addressed it during book tour: THE TACOS.
Fun fact: This story started as Reylo fanfiction. It was originally titled “The Food of Love”, derived from the opening line of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night—”If music be the food of love, play on.” You can read Julie’s fics on AO3 under the name Lovesbitca8.
Content Warnings
Note: This is not an exhaustive list of content and trigger warnings.
graphic sexual content • gaslighting • emotional abuse
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Owned: signed & personalized paperback from Gallery Bookshop; signed paperback from author event hosted by Wild Sisters