Marcela is secretly in love with her best friend Ben, who is about to propose to his girlfriend. But when Ben's handsome, former NFL star brother arrives, who happens to be in love with Ben's soon to be bride, Marcela finds herself in the middle of a very interesting fling.

This was such a fun read! I devoured it in a day! The chemistry between Theo and Marcela was perfectly sweet. I really loved how the author navigated through some touchy subjects like fat phobia, and friend breakups. It made the story so relatable.

This book is perfect for you if you love:

👫 Fake dating
📖 Library vibes
🏈 Football references
⚗️ Great chemistry

This is available now!

Thank you to Netgalley, Forever Publishing and Gabriella Gamez for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m always in for a romance that features a character who works in a library so I was excited to read The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez, which was released on July 9. I wanted to love it but, ultimately, this debut novel let me down.

Here’s the book’s description:

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.

I know this is supposed to be a romance but…sitting here, trying to write about this book…none of the romance elements are coming back to me. I think because I just didn’t really “get” Marcela and Theo. I do think they’re good together but I just don’t think Gamez was clear enough in her writing. That may sound contradictory, I know. It’s just a little hard to put my finger on the specifics of why the love story was lacking for me.

I love a romance that has more to it than the two main characters falling in love (or serious like) over the course of a book. But the relationship Marcela had with Ben, one of her best friends and the person she’d been in love with for almost a decade? And all the BS he put everyone through over the course of his life? Oof. It was too much for this kind of story. He was a gaslighting, narcissistic asshole who didn’t deserve that many words written about him.

I work in a library. I’m pretty much always behind the scenes but I’m sometimes out and about on the desk, interacting with customers, tidying shelves. Therefore, I have a pretty good idea of what makes a library tick and tasks that need to be done and how well they should be done. Granted, I don’t know exactly how large the library was that Marcela worked at, but she should not have spent most of the day shelving books I through L. That’s just…no. That’s an extremely quick task for someone who’s good at shelving. It’s such an extremely small and, admittedly, stupid, thing to focus on but I think Gamez is just yet another author in a long line of authors who don’t really get what it takes to work in a library and tries to write too in depth about it. You’re a reader, since you’re here, and I bet you’ve probably been a life-long library user (if you’re not, get yourself to your local library immediately and sign up for a card). I also bet you have a somewhat glamourized idea of what working in library would be. I freely admit that I kind of did when I started back at a library almost three years ago. Things have changed. Libraries are being attacked from almost all sides for so many reasons and staff are working hard to keep libraries open, let alone the same, magical place you remember from when you were a kid. Gamez tried to touch on the book banning problems that are happening in the US but it never quite landed for me (maybe because I’m Canadian?). All of this isn’t a dealbreaker and others might not feel the same as I did. But I think all of this paired with a few other issues I had just meant it bothered me more than it probably should have.

The Next Best Fling was a big miss for me. I wanted to like Gabriella Gamez’s novel but I just couldn’t get past a lot of the issues I had with the characters. I might consider reading the next book in the Librarians in Love series but I’ll be, not surprisingly, checking it out from the library.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Forever, via Netgalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

The best friend was the actual worst and I hated him so much. The main couple was delightful. I enjoyed the banter, and the premise was absolutely amazing. Two people being in love with both the bride and the groom, and instead, ending up together, fantastic. What I didn't love is that he didn't know it was his own brother that she was hung up, despite her knowing some of the worst moments of his life. That knowledge imbalance, and the intentionality behind it, brought this down for me. This ended up being a level of messy that just wasn't for me.

Marcella has harbored feelings for her best friend, Ben, since college. She knows it's time to move on when he gets engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Alice. Then Ben's brother, Theo, steps in and he's always had a thing for Alica. It's messy. Marcella and Theo decide a no-strings-attached relationship is the best way to get over their unrequited crushes.

"The Next Best Fling" is cute and lighthearted but also has genuine depth and angst — all with a little bit of spice thrown in. We see Marcella truly develop and grow as a character. Plus, she's relatable as she struggles with self-confidence, fear of abandonment, etc. Theo's a giant cinnamon roll and Ben is absolute garbage.

The most standout thing for me was author Gabriella Gamez's portrayal of what it's like to be a plus-size woman. It's so real and relatable. Gamez depicts the complicated mix of self-awareness and size inclusivity/body positivity without making Marcela's weight feel like her only character-defining feature. Instead, Marcela is so much more — something I hope to see more of in the future.

Many thanks to the author, NetGalley and Forever Publishing for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

What a fantastic debut!

it's super horny in a delightful way that the cover is fantastic. As much as I spent a lot of the book cursing Ben I was so excited watching Theo and Marcela slowly fall for each other. The moving on from heavy pining has just been fantastic.

Adored so much of this. Including the big romantic gesture.

As a San Antonio girl, I loved reading about my city in a book. However, this book didn't totally grab my attention. Loved the messy love geometry though

This was a cute, fun, sweet story with a bit of spice mixed in! The main character faced relatable problems like self-confidence struggles, fear of abandonment, and unrequited feelings. They incorporated size inclusivity/body positivity without making weight the most important aspect of Marcela's character. Overall, it was an enjoyable read!

This book was way too raunchy for me! So I had to dnf, but I enjoyed the authors writing 💖The characters also had humorous banter.

DNF
This book sounded promising. Unfortunately I cannot get with the characters. Both the heroine and the hero are in love with other people and decide to be in a fake relationship that then turns into a sort of friends with benefits sort of thing. It was really hard to read how the heroine wanted to kiss the hero but then at the same time was in love with his brother. And this was still happening at 40% into the book.
I did like certain things, like the heroine’s friend, Angela, and that the heroine is a librarian. I just didn’t like the story.
Thank you to Forever Pub for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this romance. It was a quick read and a cute fake dating storyline. And I liked how the author handled the FMC being plus sized - it was realistic.

I thought the premise sounded fun. Unfortunately this one was a miss for me. The characters felt very immature and while this definitely wasn’t YA, there were times it felt that way. This also felt too long for me. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free ebook to review.

💞💞💞WOW💞💞💞 This book was one of my favorite romances I’ve read this year. It was real and raw. It was sweet and honest. It was challenging and healing. I could see myself in parts of the main character and all the relationship dynamics (friendships, siblings, lovers) felt so real. I’m a sucker for the “get over someone by getting under someone else” trope and this did not disappoint but it was also so much more than that. I LOVE that the couple used communication and were open and honest with each other from the jump (well….for the most part..) The progression of the main characters holding on while letting go was such a beautiful unfolding. 😭 brb gonna go cry that it’s over now

This "damaged friends with benefits" is SO DELIGHTFUL <3 Marcela is a plus size Mexican American librarian who's in love with her best friend who happens to be her ex who ALSO happens to be newly engaged. Enter the ex's older brother, Theo - an ex NFL player who's nursing an unrequited love of his own - who's now back in town and down for a no-strings-attached relationship with Marcela in hopes they both get over their first loves. Both main characters are such SWEETIES with great banter and wholesome, thoughtful gestures they extend to each other <3

Loves:
- I have never read a plus size FMC written in such a relatable way - "my butt, however, is surprisingly flat"; "The lavender dress squeezes my middle so tight that love handles are clearly visible on my sides."
- Librarian FMC - book clubs, necessity of diversity in libraries; he gets signed up for a LIBRARY CARD and is so excited about it :')
- MMC is a terrible liar; loves a front clasp bra; "i'm not the type of person to pine in secret"; he asks her for book recs!!!
- I have a fondness for San Antonio, so to read about UTSA, Whataburger, the River Walk and more was such a nostalgic treat <3

Quotes:
- "I've found that I don't have to work hard to get the answers I want from him. I just have to ask."
- "Unqualified therapy sessions on the couch that lead to other kind of sessions in the sheets,"
- "I like you. I like getting to know you, no matter how hard you make it."
- "I don't just want more kids to read - I want them to see themselves in the books they're reading."
- "But I want to save myself from the pain of loving and losing him more than I want to protect him from the pain of losing me now."
- "I want the expectation, dammit. I want you to demand more from me, and I want you to believe I can give it to you."

Two broken hearts decide that the best way to get over their first loves is with a no-strings-attached relationship in this spicy and charming debut romance.

Let me start by saying I knew absolutely nothing going into the book, but I was quite pleasantly surprised just how cute it was. I love that the romance that blossoms is between a librarian and a retired NFL player. It doesn’t get more swoon worthy than that.

I think my favorite part of this book was how real the relationship and the personal dynamics felt. It wasn’t always hearts and butterflies. There was real work that had to go into it. And Marcela’s personal growth was *chef’s kiss* perfectly written.

All in all a sold 4 star read!

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever Publishing for the advanced copy.

Okay, let me get this straight.

She’s in love with her best friend, even though he’s been in a committed relationship for almost a decade and is even engaged. This best friend has a brother, who just so happens to be in love with his brother’s fiancé.

So these two end up together instead? I’m only at 9% after over a week of trying so I’m giving up.

A quick and cute read. I loved watching Marcela learn more about herself, who she is, and what she needs throughout the course of the story. This was a romance first but also full of emotion as each MC grew into who they are without the attachment beliefs of what past them has told them. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free advance copy.

Spicy!! I always love a Latina main character. As someone who married a white man, the love interests being white and the way the different cultures collide was cutie.

I thought I knew how this would end, but the author had me wondering for a while! I loved this book, it was so dramatic, romantic, and sweet. The summary immediately dragged me in for the sake of the family drama?! Brothers?! In love with each others partners?! Get me out of here, but love to watch it happen to others! I love book drama. The drama in the summary definitely delivered!!

I love this author, but the workplace grand gesture threw me off simply because my husband is a teacher and if I did this grand gesture at his rural high school, I think he would leave me and I would totally deserve it! Cringe.

I’ve never read a book that had an epilogue only be a month later, but in this case it made sense and it was the perfect amount of hopeful without being delusional.

I can’t wait for book 2 in the series — even though this one just came out! There’s a playlist at the end of the book to be enjoyed only after you finish since it contains spoilers. Also so unique! I’ve always seen the playlists at the beginning. Can’t wait for more from this author!

Overall, I loved the chemistry between the characters and that they had so much substance to them.

Thank you NetGalley and Forever Pub for this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an overall enjoyable and fun read! I loved the character growth throughout the book and can’t wait to see what the author puts out next

The Next Best Fling is a fantastic debut romance with thoroughly developed characters and inclusivity I love seeing in this genre. Theo was so much more than the usual himbo jock and I loved getting to know him as Marcela did. I’ve read several romance books now where the FMC has trauma regarding her father walking out on her family when she was a child - so I wasn’t a big fan of seeing this storyline again. However, Marcela was multifaceted and I appreciated witnessing her growth and self analysis of her flaws so she was able to become more trusting. I loved the chemistry between Marcela and Theo, it was seriously top notch! I enjoyed this read and think it’s a solid choice for any romance lover who enjoys a few messy characters.

Thank you to Forever, NetGalley, and the author for sending me an early copy!

Lost track of time but managed to finish this arc right in time for release day!!! We get: humor (some very niche for librarians, which I absolutely loved), fat rep with realistic occasional body confidence struggles, fake dating (ish), conflict that makes sense (external and internal). And come on, the most gorgeous Leni Kauffman cover (I think I maybe found out about this book when Leni shared her art, so thanks to her for that!).
There is also:
-smuggling books home
-flat butted curvy FMC
-chemistry and spice that felt classy (less descriptive than some things I've read recently but not in a way that made it feel lacking)
-swoony he falls first
-third act "break up" that I liked but at the same time really gave me "yelling at the tv" style rage and had me admonishing Marcela in my head and out loud a couple times.
-family dynamics that don't necessarily end the way they would in other books but are true to life (including a really good "villain" character who kind of had Hans from Frozen vibes)
-an ace side character!! Love to see it and Loveless referenced
Etc etc etc

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the ARC!