Oh my lanta, would I take a Theo any day of the week!! I loved that he wasn’t too haughty to take a small coaching job after his NFL career unfortunately ended, like he wasn’t too good to just teach kids. Even from the beginning, his grumpy was barely a mad kitten and I just wanted to squeeze him while making his speech to himself at the party. At least the recipient of HIS affection wasn’t an absolute jackbutt like someone we know that he’s related to. The amount of disbelief regarding his seriousness in general was baffling to me, but also not necessarily surprising from one black sheep of the family to another. Ben definitely seemed to carry far more of his father’s traits than was good for him and I was so stoked reading how things ended up for him! Gabby and her mother had such a sweet relationship and I’m glad she finally began to see her self-worth in total and was able to fix some of her relationships that needed repair, cutting off those that didn’t! So excited for the next books in the seriesssss. 4.5/5 for me!

When I started reading this book, I was automatically drawn to Marcela. Marcela is an enthusiastic youth librarian filled with passion for her job. Theo is a retired pro-football player turned high school coach, who has recently moved back to San Antonio. Their not so “one night stand” turns into a fling to help one another get over unrequited feelings they have for someone else. Their relationship isn’t conventional but it’s something more. It’s filled with depth and embracing change in one another. I loved that as their fling progresses, you can see both of their walls come down. However, Marcela was a little infuriating with her second guessing her feelings and thinking Theo could never actually be into her. I’m not a big fan of third act break-ups but I think what Gamez did here worked for this book and it’s what needed to happen for us, the reader, to get the ending we wanted. One a side note, I loved the references to San Antonio/Texas; Whataburger, UTSA but I wished she had more local spots thrown in for Texas readers. Overall, I think this was a great debut and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series 🤗

3.5⭐️!

this book was the perfect quick & fluffy romcom read! i loved the body positive message in it as someone learning to love their own body. theo & marcela are absolutely precious & i loved how they bonded & made each other better versions of themselves. i do have to say that ya guess the third act breakup pretty early on & that the fmc has a lot of self sabotaging doubt (but that does make sense with her background). i loved the friendships in this book & i love that is highlights having rose colored glasses on for someone that isn’t your person. anyway, i love theo. && i looooooved marcela’s love for books!

if ya need a palette cleanser book, this is the perfect romcom!

3.5 stars!

This was such a fun book! And a DEBUT novel?!?! BRAVO!

I was obsessed with the storyline from the beginning and love that the story was a plus sized librarian falling in love with an hunk ex-NFL player!! Eeek!

But let’s get into the meat of this story. Marcela Ortiz has been in love with her best friend Ben Young since college after they dated for a few months and ultimately decided it would be better to remain friends. Except, Ben was the one to decide that and it left Marcela heartbroken and pining after him for the last decade. So much so, that she hasn’t had any serious relationships because she compares them to Ben or Ben steps in and makes comments about all the guys and she ultimately dumps them… yeah babe, BEN IS A HUGE DICK. This man strings her along for YEARS even as he is ENGAGED to the girl he dated after Marcela!!

Cut to the engagement party, where Marcela finds Ben’s older, hunkier, ex-NFL brother Theo Young pacing and drunkenly muttering to himself about to speak his peace at the party!!! Turns out Theo was best friends with Ben’s fiancé, Alice, and has been holding a torch for her since high school!! Although Marcela doesn’t want Ben to marry Alice either, she knows that Theo will regret his drunken choices. She convinces him to leave the party with her and soon rumors spark that the two are an item! Theo and Marcela start out as a way to get over their heartbreak and over time morph into a beautiful and honest relationship.

I love that Theo was upfront and honest from the beginning about his confused feelings and always gave Marcela 100% of himself whenever they were together. He went on dates, learned all about her, showed up for her unlike anyone else ever had. I loved him. I also love that as Marcela experienced what a real relationship was like she was able to see how fucked up Ben was to her. He basically kept her on the sidelines for years, confused her feelings for him knowing how she felt, and when you read about the moment he changed his mind about her because of her plus sized body, you will want to punch him in the throat. It’s on sight if I ever see that man!!!!

Theo made her feel important, special, and threw her around like a rag doll and I am 100% happy for her and their relationship!!!

With all of this, you might be wondering WHY I only rated this 3.5 stars, and its simply this:

-There was so much repetition. We absolutely know for sure that Marcela has abandonment issues from her father leaving and has been pining for Ben for forever. It’s a point that is driven home over and over and over again.
-Marcela doesn’t tell Theo that she is in love with his brother but he tells her the truth up front. She has multiple points in time to tell Theo it is Ben but never does and when it’s found out, HE DOESN’T CARE and she just wastes time!!
-I think it was clear to the reader (me) that Theo has developed feelings for Marcela through his actions but it was just SO messy! Each of them pining after one half of an engaged couple!? Marcela running to Ben and questioning Theo’s intentions but never Bens? Alice in the mix? Is she a nice person? Is she leading Theo on? What is the deal? At times I wondered if Marcela truly liked Theo or if she was just interested in having sex with him. It was a messy chaotic time.

It was a strong book and I will absolutely read anything else Gabriella Gamez writes!

As a plus size girl myself, I really enjoyed this read. It was super relatable and loved the story. I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it early and will definitely be recommending it to multiple people who enjoy these types of novels. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!

Not sure when the last time I've disliked a "nice guy" more than with Ben. Ugh. I was so happy to see Marcela find what she deserved with Theo, even if it took them a while to see what was right in front of their faces!

Gabriella Gamez gives us angst and swoon in this one! It was very interesting to see these two love interests come together in response to the failur of one of my favorite tropes (they are in love with their best friends but those friends are marrying each other!!)

Can’t wait to see what Gamez does next!

I think this is a case of "it's me, not you" but I seem to have come across a trope I don't like. This book revolved so much around the MC and LI both pining for other people for so long, that I failed to see the romance in their relationship. I do think they were better off together, but I didn't enjoy the road to getting there, because so much focus was on the other couple that they were each pining for. It just absolutely didn't work for me, which is a shame, because I did like the writing.

What an amazing debut by author Gabriella Gamez! The Next Best Fling was a quick and entertaining read filled with bookish shenanigans for all book lovers.

At the center of this story we have Marcela and Theo both caught up in unrequited loves with Ben, Theo's brother, and Alice, Ben's fiancee, respectively. Yet, they can't deny the chemistry between them and pursue it in an attempt to move on from their one sided pining.

This is such a fun and unique premise! I haven't read many romance novels with this focus. This story shines a light on the grief of loving someone deeply when they don't love you back and being unable to move on until you make space for someone new.

While I didn't feel deeply connected with any of the characters, I thought Marcela and Theos fears and concerns were handled very realistically. I enjoyed seeing them be cute and have fun with each other while slowly falling in love. What I loved even more was the amount of honest and communication between the two!

I am so keen to continue following Games' works.

Thank you so much Forever Pub for the opportunity to read and review!

I really loved the diversity. Latina author and characters, fat main character and more. But sadly I found that the lack of communication was bad. I got really irritating with the lack of communicating esp at the end when they were suppose to be talking - they instead just decided to fuck. 😤 Honestly disappointing.

I enjoyed this story! Marcela has been in love with her best friend, Ben, for the longest time. Now that he is getting married, she realizes she needs to move on. Theo, Ben's brother, is back home for the wedding. Problem is, he is in love with Ben's fiancee. Marcela and Theo start a casual relationship to help each other get over the ones they love. Marcela and Theo had their own issues to work out along the way, which created its own set of problems. Neither has been in a serious relationship so they had no clue.

Marcela frustrated me at times. She let her insecurities get the best of her on more than one occasion. I loved Theo. He got a bad rap but he wasn't the person everyone thought he was. I enjoyed seeing the growth of both Marcela and Theo. Through this "casual relationship," they learned a lot about each other and were good for one another.

I noticed that this was #1 in a series. I am looking forward to reading whatever comes next. Hopefully it will be about Angela. There is a lot more to her than meets the eye.

He loves the bride-to-be and she loves the groom: how better to get over their feelings than a fling together?

It's not quite that simple, and thank goodness, because it made The Next Best Fling a pleasure to read. I was rooting for Marcela to trust in herself and to trust in Theo. Luckily she did.

I loved the bookish aspect of Marcela being a librarian and truly enjoyed how she described books and access to them. And on that note: thank you to NetGalley and Forever for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thanks to Forever and Netgalley for this advanced copy!

This was a fun romance about two people who decide that the best way to get over two people is to, I guess, get under each other. Marcella has been in love with Ben forever. Ben's brother Theo has been in love with Alice, Ben's fiance. This has some predictable moments, but I really loved how Marcella and Theo just start to adore each other and how much he wants to hear her thoughts and loves her for who she is. The conflict between Ben and Theo is given exactly the weight it should have, leaving room for Marcella and Theo to spend more time on themselves than dealing with, shocker, Ben being stinky about, well, everything. This was fun and flirty but not sappy or too light. Adored it.

Wow. I don’t know what I was expecting with this book but wow. Be sure to add this one to your tbr. Trust me.

This is actually 3.5 ⭐️, but I rounded up.

Overall, I enjoyed Marcela and Theo’s story, but there were times where it was a little cringey for me and I struggled to get through those parts. That being said, it was a cute read and I would recommend it depending on the reader.

plus size librarian and sexy man yeah i was on board immediately -- unfortunately the fmc kind of annoyed me a little bit </3 still liked her and overall enjoyed the dynamic so not a huge deal. it was still so fun and i can't wait to read the rest of the series :)

Librarian Marcela Ortiz has been secretly in love with her best friend for years—and when he gets engaged, she knows it’s long past time to move on. But before she gets the chance, she has a bigger problem to contend with in the form of Theo Young, ex-NFL player and older brother of the man she’s in love with. When she discovers Theo's plans to confess his feelings for his brother’s fiancée at their engagement party, Marcela is quick to stop him—despite how tempting it is to let him run away with the bride-to-be. She manages to convince Theo to sleep off his drunken almost-mistake at her place and when they arrive at a family brunch the next day together, everyone wrongly assumes they hooked up.

Since Theo needs a cover for his feelings for the bride and Marcela needs a distraction from her unrequited feelings for the groom, they decide to roll with the lie. Until one late night at a bar, they take it a step further and discover a layer of attraction neither realized existed. Soon, they find themselves exploring the simmering chemistry between them, whether in library aisles or Marcela's bed. There are no boundaries for the rebound relationship they form—just a host of complicated feelings, messy familial dynamics, and uncovered secrets that threaten to tear them apart before they can even admit to themselves that their rebound is working. Maybe a little too well.

A beautiful bookish romance between a librarian and former NFL player. This book has angst, spice, emotion, and rich characters.

An absolute delight and a must read for all contemporary romance readers.

What. A. Read. Coming off of two weeks on non-stop Olympic coverage, I couldn’t have picked a better time to read a romance with an athlete for a main character. I loved Marcela and Theo, both as individual characters and as a couple. Particularly watching them both work through the unrequited crushes they have had for so many years and how quickly you can move past that when there’s someone in front of you who does take that interest.
I also really appreciated Gamez’s nod to the asexual community, and the way she wove each character a complex and meaningful backstory. And also for not letting Ben off the hook. Sometimes there is a villain who needs to be cut off!
I just loved this story, loved the writing, can’t wait for the next in the series.

Loved the characters. It was okay. I loved how petty they both became. Will continue to read the rest of the series when it comes.

This is a super cute romcom and I adored the plus size rep. It's a cute read that goes by quickly! Thank you netgalley for the arc.