Funny and witty and overall messy, this book was something I didn’t want to put down! (And I didn’t… I finished it in one sitting.) If you’ve ever been through a breakup, this story will feel like a big hug and you’ll be rooting for these characters throughout the situations that end up happening because of their choices. Loved it.

What to expect:

🩷 Fake Dating
🩷Ex-NFL player X Librarian
🩷Best Friends Brother
🩷Curvy Latina Rep
🩷Love Square

Review: I absolutely ADORED this book. I haven’t related to a character as much as i did Marcela in this book. She was not only Latina but also had insecurities about her weight, not wanting to be someone’s second choice as well as abandonment fears. She’s watching her very best friend she’s in love with get engaged and is struggling bad.
Theo had issues with his family and his brother of course marrying the only girl he ever loved (hence the love square). I loved how Theo and Marcela navigated through this together. All of the pining after eachother, and kind of miscommunication (without it being annoying). I just adored this romance and recommend preordering for sure!
Thank you @netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

A perfect quick read to get you out of a reading slump! Gorgeous cover and a flirty story! I read this one quickly since it was easy to get into. Looking forward to reading more by this author! Thanks net galley!

This was such a cute and enjoyable read. I’m so glad I took my time reading this. I really loved the ending of the book, where everyone just hates on Ben. The relationship everyone had at the end was good. I’m glad Alice got to move on and accomplish more in her career.

This book had me hooked. First of all, I would love nothing more than to be a librarian. I identified with Marcela in her love for books, how she related to books from the time she was a kid, how she felt about her body at times, and just kind of that feeling of being a backup or second choice. Maybe that makes me biased. Maybe that bias also carries over into fantasizing about the football star sweeping you off your feet. Either way, I loved this book. Theo and Marcela's chemistry was amazing. I kept rooting for them the whole way through. While I'm not typically a fan of the miscommunication trope, the way the author tackled this trope was refreshing and I found myself really enjoying it. It gave the book just the right amount of angst. I highly recommend this book.

I LOVED this book! I really identified with Marcella as a plus size woman. It's nice to see us be included. Theo was so dreamy!

Tropes:
Fake dating
He falls first
Friends to lovers

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed this book! It was a quick read that I didn’t want to put down. I liked that it didn’t take itself too seriously — making fun of the tropes within the book for being cliche. I really fell for Marcela and Theo as I read and wish I knew even more about their story already.

I was hesitant with this book because at some level I was concerned that this was going to have a plot where the FML and the ML would team up to ruin the wedding while the synopsis wasn’t pointing to that I didn’t want a surprise turn of events, it’s not my cup of tea and I think it takes away from the building of the relationship of the FML and ML, but I was pleased to know this isn’t that kind of book while the leads do struggle with their feelings for the bride and groom they're both committed  to completely let go of the feelings that they have for them and lean on each other to move on. The FML and ML lead had a natural progression from strangers to friends to lover that just worked well with the story.  


I liked this book, I liked the characters (with the exception of one iykyk), I love to see representation of a Hispanic plus size main character as the lead instead of the funny best friend,  the pacing of the story was well done, everything in the story was believable to the point that I never felt taken out of the story due to the characters doing unbelievable/ cringy things.


This did have some 2/5 level of spice, nothing crazy.


Really enjoyed this book my only comment is we can do without that Taylor Swift “joke” its 2024 let not.
 

Solid 4 stars 



Thank you NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Next Best Fling features a YA librarian, a former NFL player, Captain America cosplay and revenge? Yes please.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5
🌶🌶🌶/5
🏈🍪📚🍹🍔/5

CW: fatphobia, abandonment, unrequited love, cheap vodka, drunk texts

It was fake dating realtionship where he falls first. It was cute but I am not sure I loved the ending was weird.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The perfect blend of spice, a clever fake dating trope, and an overall sweetness that captivated me. Marcela, our main character, being plus-sized was a refreshing and appreciated representation. I admired how the story addressed her insecurities, and Theo's genuine care for her as a person, beyond physical appearances, was heartwarming. The miscommunication in the plot got a bit frustrating, and I could've done without the third-act breakup, but overall, the story left me satisfied. Considering this positive experience, I'd definitely pick up another Gabriella Gomez book if the opportunity arises. Thank you to NetGalley & Forever Publishing for giving me this arc in exchange for an honest review!

Marcela and Theo embark on a fling when the people for whom they’ve each pined for years get engaged to each other. Of course they don’t intend to develop feelings—what could possibly go wrong? 😅 The relationship between Marcela and Theo is equal parts tender and spicy, and the angst, while plentiful, is never over the top. Overall a delight!

This book was rough to get through, mainly because the main female character was an amalgamation of “not like other girls” tropes

I got the absolute privilege of reading an ARC of The Next Best Fling. To say I’m obsessed might just be the biggest understatement of this century. This book came at such an important time for me, as I truly saw so much of myself represented in Marcela’s character development throughout the book. Gabriella Gamez’s writing is impeccable. It was a rollercoaster of emotions, ranging from “I don’t want to put down this book! I need to know what happens!” … to “I don’t want to finish this book! I want it to go on forever!”Award to the author too… for being the first to actually make me cry. If you’re looking for a fictional couple to become way too invested in, this is the book to read.

Boy is this one tangled fake relationship. Participant 1 is the best friend of the groom and has been in love with him for 10 years.
Particiiant #2 is the brother of the groom and is in love with the bride.
These two have met before. Now here they are both wishing that they could break this couple up but at least she understands that is a bad plan.
I love a fake relationship and really enjoyed these two trying to figure their shit out. I would have liked a spicier book. It also went a bit off the rails near the end.

I really enjoyed this book! I related to Marcela in so many ways, and I’ll be adding Theo Young to my list of top book boyfriends! That being said, I do feel like a couple of the spicy scenes were a little rushed and I would’ve loved to get a chapter or two in Theo’s POV.

Not only is the Next Best Fling a wonderfully spicy, tender and honest romance, it's also a love letter to librarians, to YA literature, and to those of us living in larger bodies who know we're worthy of all good things but struggle to hold onto that conviction when faced with the world's censure.

I loved this book, and I think you will, too. There's so much to love about it.

Marcela and Theo's relationship starts in an unconventional way. They're each hung up on someone else- Theo on his brother's fiance, and Marcela on Theo's brother. They're both trying to hold it together watching the person they've been secretly pining for prepare to marry someone else, and neither are handling it particularly well when they run into each other at the engagement party. Marcela talks Theo out of confessing his feelings to Alice and invites him back to her place to sleep off his drunkenness on the couch. When they attend the family brunch the next day, everyone assumes they hooked up, and eventually they start to wonder, "Why shouldn't we? Maybe we can get over our hangup by getting under someone else." And so their "rebound-ship" begins.

What I love about this book is that even though their relationship begins in kind of a weird way, it begins honestly. They're honest about what they're feeling for other people (Theo more so than Marcela) and what they need from each other, and they negin to develop a real friendship by supporting each other as they process these really difficult feelings and situations.

Gabriella does an AMAZING job with the pacing & tension building, whether it's relational tension based on what's said and unsaid or the romantic tension from the number of times they plan to hookup and end up not being able to.

I love the way she highlights the importance of libraries as public treasures and YA literature as a genre that helps people discover and understand themselves at any age. And I love that as Marcela struggles with the differences in their conventional levels of physical attractiveness, she never seems to doubt that she is wortht of love herself. She only doubts that other people will be willing to love her the way that she deserves. The first time they have sex is such a rich moment of vulnerability for them both, and it end up being a really beautiful scene.

This is usually the part where I recommend the book for specific audiences, but honestly this might become one of the few contemporary romance novels that I recommend to everyone. It's just that good.

This got me over a tiny reading slump.

This was precious and I can’t wait for the next one. This whole story just felt so real and honest, which is funny because of… well everything lol. But it felt like a real persons journey.

I'd give this a 3.5 star rating. I wanted to give it a 4, as I enjoyed the characters Angela, Marcela and Theo but I felt parts of the story were just dragged out for far too long and not nearly as polished as similar tropes that I've read. Other than that, I really did enjoy this book.

3.5: I mostly enjoyed this, but did think it was a smidge too long (by maybe 10-15%?) and some of the messy emotions, particularly towards the end were a little much/convoluted for me. I have a hard time with stories where a character pines for someone else for YEARS. While there was some emotional growth, I don't know, it was complicated for me Some other thoughts:
1. Ben is trash (but we knew that)
2. Everyone is this book could REALLY benefit from therapy.
3. I appreciated the fact that this was a plus size main character and while there was fatphobia, it wasn't the entire premise of the book). Also, plus size librarian has a hard time comprehending that the love interest is actually into her? Just call me out by name, why don't ya.
4. I almost threw my Kindle during the "she sneaks books out of the library to read at home without checking them out" part. That is not a thing! Even if your library system has check out limits or fines, that's typically not the same for staff! That is bad librarianship, Marcela! Treat your collection better!
5. I think a dual POV would have been interesting as a liked Theo but wanted him a tad fleshed out more other than football + Alice.

Thanks to the publisher/NetGalley for this I'm exchange for an honest review.