Not Another Love Song – 5/5 ✩
Not Another Love Song is a spicy love story about Gwen and Xander, two musicians who, from the very beginning, have a hard time fighting the chemistry that is working so hard to sizzle between them.
I’ve never read Julie Soto’s work before and boy did this book impress! I was lucky enough to get an ARC of Not Another Love Song (thank you NetGalley!) and from the moment I opened this book, I could.not.put.it.down. I finished the book in a single sitting and I wish I could go back and read it for the first time all over again.
Gwen’s and Xander’s chemistry was so beautifully written; they both just wanted each other so.bad. and as a reader, it was so fun to see how everything played out. These two were falling for each from the moment the story began and I loved seeing them fall harder and harder until they couldn’t fight the chemistry anymore.
I think the way in which this novel was written was genius and helped up-play their chemistry. The story was told primarily through Gwen’s point of view, but Soto sprinkled in moments of Xander’s perspective and I LOVED the parallels between how both characters were feeling, especially when one didn’t know the other was feeling the same way. They said so many of the same things in their narration and did so many of the same things as they fought the way they were feeling for each other and I think they were just such well written and realistic characters.
With that being said, I think Soto is a phenomenal storyteller. She knew exactly the right moments to divulge pieces of information about the dynamics of Gwen’s and Xander’s relationships and their relationships with the side characters as well. I was on the edge of my seat the entire book to see how all of the pieces were going to come together and once they did, there was a moment of such satisfaction.
Something else I think Soto did extremely well in this book was show how critical Gwen and Xander’s careers were; I don’t think this is something every author can convey on the page. In this novel, Gwen and Xander’s passion for music was at the heart of their every move, even their love and attraction for each other at times.
Music played such a crucial role in the story overall and I love how much music and the characters’ chemistry seemed to go hand in hand. I know I couldn’t actually hear the music as I read, but it felt like the spicy scenes got spicier as the music built up and as their chemistry overall intensified and I think Soto was genius for being able to achieve this.
Can’t wait to grab a physical copy of the book once it’s released in July!
Anchored Musings 