"The Next Best Fling" by Gabriella Gamez is an absolute delight! From the moment I cracked open its pages, I was swept away into a world of charming characters, swoon-worthy romance, and unexpected depth.

Marcela, our spirited youth librarian protagonist, stole my heart with her infectious passion for her job. There's something undeniably endearing about her dedication to fostering a love for literature. And then there's Theo, the handsome and genuine hero who captures your attention with his honesty and warmth.

What I truly adore about this book is its ability to blend light-hearted cuteness with meaningful exploration of serious topics. Marcela and Theo's journey isn't just about butterflies and romance; it's about confronting insecurities, embracing change, and discovering the courage to follow your heart. And let's not forget the rollercoaster of emotions brought on by the ups and downs of character growth, especially Ben's (Theo's brother) regression, which adds a relatable layer of complexity to the story.

Marcela Ortiz has been infatuated with Ben Young for almost a decade, so when he gets engaged, she wants to want to move on. Unfortunately, things aren't that simple. When she overhears Ben's older brother, Theo, rehearsing a speech to confess *his* feelings for Ben's fiancée, she knows exactly how he feels and knows that it would be a huge mistake and he'd never forgive himself. Marcela takes a drunk Theo home, and he sleeps it off on her couch. When they arrive at brunch together, everyone assumes they hooked up. Theo and Marcela agree to let everyone keep assuming that, and they also agree to be rebounds for each other. The two are (mostly) very honest and open with each other, and the relationship starts feeling like something more.

The Next Best Fling was such an enjoyable book! I'm a public librarian, so it's always fun to see how accurately authors depict us, and Gabriella Gamez did a pretty great job. I really enjoyed how the roles were reversed - Theo was the one chasing after Marcela and the one who was confident they could make it work. It's unclear who fell first, but Theo fell harder. Marcela was so relatable, and Theo is like...the perfect man - their chemistry was instantaneous and palpable.

A book set in my hometown!? Hell yes!
I will say this had a very slow start for me but I loved the female lead so much! She is plus sized and doesn’t care at all what anyone has to say about it!
Listen this was MESSY and I was here for it and the spice was SPICY

Gabriella Gamez did the damn thing with this book!!
I wasn’t sure if I was going to love this or not because I’m not typically a lover of complicated love triangles (or squares as this would be I suppose lol) but this was done in such a way that I ended up binging it to find out what would happen next!
Marcela is exactly the kind of sassy, hilarious, relatable kind of fmc I love to see and to top all of that off she’s Latina and plus size so even more reasons to love her! She’s so relatable in her dramatics and her daddy issues 😂 her love of books, and empanadas- can’t forget those!
I’m not going to lie she did irritate me but only in the way that I was like “just let him love you girl!!!!”
And the “him” I’m referring to?
Only the most adorable, sweet, and romantic mmc ever Theo Oml what a man! The way he is with her made me literally cry! Ugly cry not just a tear or two😭
I just couldn’t get enough and I can’t freaking wait to get a physical copy because I will definitely be rereading this over and over!

Thank you to netgalley, and forever (grand central publishing) for this e-arc opportunity! And of course thank you to Gabriella herself for writing this adorable amazing read! 🩷

I loved this book! First off, a San Antonio, Texas, location! Ahhh. I don’t see many sets in my city. It was so, so good. I loved the drama of them being in love with an engaged couple. The writing was so intriguing and entertaining. I couldn’t stop reading. The chemistry was done so well. They had so much fun together. Theo was so easily lovable, romantic, and sweet. The characters had such great growth and development. Toward each other but also towards knowing their own worths. I absolutely loved this book.

Thank you to the author, publisher and @NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Swoony and Spicy? A little? Character growth? A TON. Things that bothered me? Just a few but they were biggies.

Loved the bookish/library representation and the plus size FMC 👏

I wanted to love the premise, but it just wasn’t for me. It was like way too much drama and pining for others and it took away from Theo and Marcela’s relationship. Which, also felt a little too insta-love for me and I didn’t like the double love triangle? Or love square? Or love diamond… whatever you want to call it I didn’t enjoy.

This book was great. There was lots of angst, the right amoung of spice and I thought the character develpment was great. I am a sucker for a best friend's brother so I was stoked that this was incorporated. Highly recommend!

The Next Best Fling
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Okay I want to start by saying that if you hate the miscommunication trope, like have a really hard time reading those stories this one may not be for you, there was a part of me that felt like we could have had one awkward conversation and moved on lol BUT with that being said I throughly enjoyed this book! I absolutely loved Gabriella Gamez’s writing, she made me forget all about my disdain for miscommunication, I had a lot of fun with this one and keeping my eyes open for more books by her! I read the first three chapters and was hooked, ready to see what came next! Gamez wrote a book with loveable characters, funny banter, and is just an overall fun easy read, and we get some spice! It was giving me Funny Story ish vibes so if you were a fan of that definitely check this one out! We get a single POV and ya’ll know I always love dual POV better and I would have loved to hear from Theo more, but Gamez wrote in a way that I didn’t necessarily miss it like I sometimes do. There was one character who was not lovable 😡 Lets call him He Who Must Not Be Named and leave it at that. I do feel like if Ben and Marcela dated longer in college I would have understood the torch she was holding for him, but ugh I just did not see it!! I would say this is an easy romance, but we still do get those deep feelings, those moments that push us out of our comfort zones, and are introduced to people that completely change our lives for the good and the bad. “I don’t want to be the kind of person who’s too afraid to try.” LOVE THIS 💕 AND we get a playlist at the end!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
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Also sis says she has a flat booty, but cover art is saying otherwise 😂
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Thank you so much NetGalley, Gabriella Gamez, and Forever Publishing for this e-arc. Mark your calendars for July 9th so you don’t miss this librarian’s love story!

Spoiler ** he buys her all signed books and special editions to refill her library and if that’s not the greatest act of true love.. I don’t know what is.

I loved this book, thought it was well written and enjoyed the plot. Loved it

The next best fling 3.75⭐️3🌶️

Contemporary romance
Plus size Latina FMC
Blond MMC
Texas setting
Best friend’s brother
Rebound relationship
Fake dating
Toxic friendship

This was a solid debut contemporary romance! I’m excited to see where the author’s writing goes from here!!

The characters were fun. I enjoyed the retired-footballer and plus size librarian vibe. Some of the side character’s presence could have been stronger. One small character, the kid from the library, seemed like came out of nowhere with very little context then disappeared again. I would have loved that character to have been a little more established.

I didn’t enjoy the toxic friendship. It made me question the FMC’s judgement throughout. But she also didn’t trust her own judgement… so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

The themes were really great and well explored. I enjoyed the relationships diving deeper than fluff and digging into, and addressing, insecurities in themselves and each other.

The timeline sped by with big breaks in the plot. I’m not a big fan of “10 days later”.

But overall I liked it and I’m excited to read more from this author!

Thank you NetGalley and Forever for an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own

THIS BOOK HAD ME SCREAMING! IT'S JUST SO GOOD. LIKE SO GOOD. EVERYONE TELLING YOU TO READ IT IS RIGHT. YOU NEED TO READ IT!!! like my god!!! it was just funny and the romance aspect had me wanting finish so fast. Like I know that when it starts both of them have feelings for someone else, but they do end up actually getting to know each other and like making time to share about their lives and what they want.

Like I loved this so much!!!!

I got an e-arc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Next Best Fling follows Marcela who is a librarian who has been in loved with her best friend Ben for years. There’s just one problem Ben is getting married. Theo is Ben’s older brother and an Ex NFL player. Theo plans to confess his feelings for his brothers fiancée at there engagement party. But before he can do it Marcela stops him. The day after the engagement party they both show up to brunch to celebrate the new couple. Soon everyone thinks that Theo and Marcela are together. They both decided to keep up the lie. Soon they start a no strings attached relationship. However, they end up starting to fall for each other. Will they go for it?

I thought this book was so dang cute. I loved that the main character was a librarian ( because duh I love books). I also loved the it was a plus sized main character. I really liked though Theo made her feel loved for who she was. I am also such a sucker for a brothers best friend romance book. I thought this book had the perfect amount of spice. I can’t wait for book two because I loved this book. Also for debut book this was so so so good!!!

This was such a cute romance. We love a curvy, woman of color main character. Best friend in love with the groom, brother in love with the bride - what could go wrong? So Marcela and Theo the solution is to fake date each other and we all know how that goes. Super Cute.

Thank you to Gabrielle Gomez, Forever, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I was really excited for this book - librarians in love? That cover? Hype af - but unfortunately it didn't quite hit. All of the characters are in their late 20s but all felt pretty immature - I feel like the plot would have been more enjoyable and made more sense if the characters were college students or just aged down. I think the romance was cute but there were just some plot holes and storylines that felt a bit weak.

All of the spice felt very repetitive as well. Each scene felt just like the previous - there was really nothing distinguishing them from each other.

I think overall, almost every character in this book needs therapy that it doesn't seem like they are getting. This is the author's first book, so I am definitely willing to read more from her in the future as she improves her craft!

POV: single first person

You can expect: best friend's brother, fake dating, FWB, he falls first, librarian FMC, former pro-football player MMC.

Rep: Mexican American FMC, asexual side character

Spice: 2/5

CW: mentioned fatphobia (previous, off page), emotionally manipulative friend, injury (off page, discussed very briefly and not in detail)

This book was capital M messy but also very fun. The author navigated the messiness well without totally losing me or making me hate our protagonists so that’s good!

I loved the fat representation in this book, and of course the love of reading and books. Both made Marcela an awesome heroine. And Theo was a swoony love interest who was obviously gone for Marcela if she’d just open her eyes. I appreciated that all the loose ends of the “love square” were tied up in a satisfying way. I wanted a little more clarity on some of the backstory and history between everyone, and this would have Beene great if told in dual POV. But overall a very enjoyable debut and I look forward to the next in the series.

Content flags: parental abandonment, sports injury, fat phobia and references to diet culture

I voluntarily read an early copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Regardless of how it started, Marcela and Theo’s relationship felt really real. The angst, the unease, the excitement, the overwhelming feelings - all of this reflects what a relationship often looks like. It’s not simple and it’s not easy, but it can be so rewarding.

This was cute! I’m always down to read about a librarian, and also down to read about a girl trying to get over an unrequited love. I appreciate the development we get from our FMC and the amount of detail that’s used to get us through that development.

The Next Best Fling follows our main character, Marcela who is a librarian who is hopelessly in love with her best friend: Ben. Unfortunately, the book starts out with him getting engaged to his long-time girlfriend, Alice. While everyone else saw it coming, Marcela is completely blindsided and it leads her to consider a lot. Ultimately, she decides to try to work through her feelings and get over him.

In comes Theo who is Ben’s brother and also a retired NFL player. The trouble with him is that he’s in love with Alice. As you can see, it starts off completely messy as Marcela ends up talking Theo out of confessing his feelings to Alice during their engagement party. The two end up going home together and rumors begin flying immediately.

Rather than correct everyone, Marcela and Theo decide to fake-date. From there, it ends up being more of a friends-with-benefits situation as the sexual tension between these two is palpable. I truly could not get enough of these two together as I could have read 100 more pages of them going on dates, hanging out, and hooking up as they were so much fun.

Coupled with all the drama and tension surrounding the wedding, The Next Best Fling has a lot of mess. Regardless, it makes for a fast-paced and fun read that will have you screaming, crying, and throwing up before the end. You might not end up throwing up but my goodness, this book takes you on a ride.

While this is a fun romp, The Next Best Fling also focuses on some tougher topics including parental abandonment, strained sibling relationships, and dealing with a lot of complicated emotions related to previous relationships. If you’re able to handle it, I’d highly recommend The Next Best Fling for your next read.

You think love triangles are messy? Try a love square 🫣

The main characters of this story were so well written and despite their rough edges and issues are so lovable. Marcela is such a relatable character and her struggles really pulled at all of the strings of my heart. Theo is such a surprising character in his quiet mysterious way. He is so honest and it’s so refreshing. I wasn’t sure which direction the ending was going to take but I’m so happy with the result! This was such a pleasant read!

Thank you to NetGalley for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review! Keep your eyes out for Next Best Fling hitting shelves in just a few shorts weeks on July 9th!

Love triangles are one of my least favorite tropes, and I didn't know that Ben would be such a constant in this story. He was such a huge red flag that I got irritated with him every time he was on page. If that's the feeling the author was trying to evoke in her readers, mission accomplished.
I really liked Marcela (her feelings for Ben aside, bc brother eeugghh), recognizing myself in some parts of her. Theo was a breath of fresh air, upfront about his feelings and himself, skeletons and all. I was rooting for Theo and Marce all along, and even though the basis of their relationship was messy, I am glad they found their way to each other.

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.