Official Synopsis:

An aspiring teenage singer finds herself playing a different tune when she falls for a boy who could jeopardize her future dreams in Olivia Wildenstein’s romantic YA novel, Not Another Love Song.

Angie has studied music her entire life, nurturing her talent as a singer. Now a high school senior, she has an opportunity to break into Nashville’s music scene via a songwriting competition launched by her idol, Mona Stone. Discouraged by her mother, who wishes Angie would set more realistic life goals, she nonetheless pours her heart and soul into creating a song worthy of Mona.

But Angie’s mother is the least of her concerns after she meets Reedwood High’s newest transfer student, Ten. With his endless collection of graphic tees, his infuriating attitude, smoldering good looks, and endearing little sister, Ten toys with the rhythm of Angie’s heart.

She’s never desired anything but success until Ten entered her life. Now she wants to be with him and to be a songwriter for Mona Stone, but she can’t have both.

And picking one means losing the other.

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Review:

Not Another Love Song is a sweet, charming young adult romance novel about family and following your dreams.

You know I love books that involve music, so this one was right up my ally!

Angie is a passionate and determined character, and you can’t help rooting for her. I found her obsession with Mona Stone to be totally relatable — I was obsessed with Selena Gomez all of middle school, which continued well into high school — so I understand the blind dedication we attribute to our musical idols. Needless to say, I was very excited to see a reference to Selena Gomez’s The Heart Wants What it Wants and Taylor Swift references.

Angie’s best friend, Rae, is as loyal as they come. I loved how supportive her and her other friend, Laney, were towards Angie for the whole book. Angie makes a note that Rae is sort of molding herself to fit her new boyfriend, their high school football quarterback, Harrison. It’s not mention that much towards the end of the book, but I think that if Rae were to have her own book sort of exploring that aspect of herself…I would want to read it, immediately! Her name also reminds me of country singer Raelynn, so…double brownie points. It was also nice to see how Angie and Laney’s friendship developed throughout the book, especially since Angie seems to feel on the outside sometimes, as in she doesn’t feel like she fits in with Rae’s other friends.

Tennesse (aka Ten) and Nevada’s (his little sister, aka Nev) names remind me of the short film, The Short History of the Long Road — the lead, Nola, got her name from New Orleans, Louisiana, which was an important place for her parents. I loved the relationship between Angie and Nev — it was super cute and sweet, and when the two of them team up against Ten to go shopping, it’s even better!

I do think that Ten and Angie progressed to the “I love you” stage a little fast, but aside from that, I think that their relationship had a good progression. It was clear that they liked each other even when they didn’t want to admit it to themselves…and definitely not to each other.

I would have thought that Angie’s fear of driving would’ve come up as a little bit of a bigger plot point later on in the book, but I think it worked fine in combination with the subplot it was intertwined with.

Overall, this was a really great book! I tore through it in about 24 hours. I won an ARC in one of Olivia’s newsletter giveaways, and I’m so grateful I had the chance to read it! The book is being released by Swoon Reads on July 7, 2020!

Stay tuned for my own playlist that reminds me of the book, coming this Friday! (Olivia will also be stopping by for an interview soon — so stay tuned!)