I almost didn’t read/request this because of the premise/tropes but I did after all the great reviews. Unfortunately, I should’ve listened to my gut because this just wasn’t for me. I severely struggled with the drama, messiness & lack of communication. I think the author is talented. This just isn’t a premise that I enjoy reading personally. I would definitely try another of the author’s work though!

Thanks to NetGalley & Forever Publishing for the gifted copy, which I voluntarily read & reviewed.

2.5 stars

Because of my lower rating, I will not be sharing this anywhere else

This was such a fun, sweet (and spicy) debut novel! I had a great time reading it and loved how much depth was added in to a fake dating rom com. I loved the set up with them both being in love with the bride and groom and wanting to get over the other person and enjoyed the side characters and dynamics we got with friends and family.

The characters in this were enjoyable. Theo was perfection. So sweet and open with his feelings. He was great at communicating everything to Marcela and was such a supportive MMC. I really liked Marcela’s character too (yay librarians!) and found her character arc to be enjoyable, especially when she started realizing her worth. She had some abandonment issues from the past which made her a little closed off, and had her not communicating as well, so I did get a little annoyed with this. I don’t enjoy lack of communication/miscommunication, so this did make me struggle a little bit with her character, especially in the third act, but overall I enjoyed her as the FMC as well. The two did have great chemistry, so it did make up for a lot of the miscomm. Ben was such a punk and I hated him. It was hard at times to understand why she was friends with him for so long and let him control her like that, but I guess love makes us do weird things.

The plot overall was a lot of fun, but did get a little on the slow side nearer to the end. The third act breakup was predictable with their lack of communication, so again not my favorite trope but something that others can enjoy more than I do! There were also lots of grand gestures, so depending on how you feel about those, they are in here too!

If you’re looking a quick fake dating with extra drama, lots of sizzling chemistry, and a side character you want to punch in the face, definitely check this one out!

R E A D I F Y O U L I K E
📚 Librarian FMC
🏈 (Ex)-Professional Athlete MMC
📚 Fake Dating
🏈 Best Friend (and secret crush’s) Brother
📚 Latine Heroine
🏈 Allll the Pining and Tension

3.75/5 Stars

What a fun and messy book! I downloaded this on a whim on NetGalley a few months back because I thought the cover was so cute. This story reminded me of Funny Story because of the dynamic between the characters, but it was also different it its own way.

I actually really enjoyed this book, despite the messiness of the situations. If nothing else, it was super entertaining. But even more than that, I loved Theo, our male main character. He was such a sweet, lovely, cinnamon roll hero who really stole my heart.

My one qualm with the book that stopped me from awarding it a 5 star was our female main character, Marcella. And this was a 5 star until around the halfway point when Marcella began to leave a sour taste in my mouth. In the end, I didn't care for her at all. I didn't like her attitude or the way she treated Theo while he was working so hard to win her affection.

I did really enjoy the writing, so I will continue with this author's books!

I received this as an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

The Next Best Fling follows Marcela and Theo, who are in love with people they cannot be with–Marcela has harboured a crush on her best friend Ben for a decade, but he’s getting married to Alice, who Theo has pined for since childhood. Mess! On the night of the engagement party, Theo gets drunk and plans to make a scene until Marcela stops him and lets him stay with her for the night, which causes the wedding party to think they hooked up. They agree to be casual rebounds, but feelings inevitably develop and they must deal with how to get over their old crushes and respective insecurities. Through their relationship, the book explores abandonment and always coming second best, body image, and the struggle to feel desired.

Overall, this was a delightful read, with big emotions, a bit of spice, and juicy twists and turns. Marcela and Theo had good chemistry, and their relationship from strangers to friends to lovers developed at a good pace. I liked how they mirrored one another–they were the only ones who could truly understand what the other was going through, which I thought was done interestingly and with tons of angst. However, the drama became a bit excessive and suffocating, extending almost to the end of the novel as secrets were revealed and the leads navigated complicated and muddy emotions. While Marcela’s insecurities and fears–mainly forever coming second to Alice–stemmed from a believable and understandable place, they were overly repeated to the point where bringing them up became nonsensical after certain plot developments. At one point, I thought that maybe it would be best if they did not end up together! 😂

That being said, it was good–a breezy summer read, perfect for anyone who loves drama.

3.25⭐️

Bring on the love squares!! Forget about love triangles, love squares are the new thing.

Marcela is a YA librarian who's been in love with her best friend for years. The problem is Ben is recently engaged to her former friend, Alice. At the engagement party, Marcela is reunited with Ben's older brother, Theo. The prior encounters with Theo were less than stellar and this time Theo is ready to make one heck of an announcement. Before he can do it, Marcela rushes a drunk Theo from the party, but this causes more drama as everyone now things Theo and Marcela slept together. Oh the drama!!

I really enjoyed Gamez's debut novel. It had a good amount of spice and pining. I really loved all of the characters except Ben, who's definitely the most problematic character. I did thing the novel was a tad too long, but this could be my personal preference. Regardless I loved the friendship turned relationship that Theo and Marcela share. You can tell immediately how smitten Theo is with Marcela. I look forward to seeing what Gamez has in store with her next book publishing in 2025. I could see her easily becoming an auto-buy author for me.

Thank you to Forever Pub and Netgalley for a copy in exchange for review consideration.

This is a fun and very steamy romance about a curvy latinx woman who starts fake dating her best friend’s brother because she’s in love with her best friend, and the best friend’s brother is in love with his brother’s fiancée. If that sounds a little convoluted it’s because it is but in the best way (messy!). I was immediately rooting for Theo and Marcela and kept rooting for them through all the ups and downs of this book. It was also wonderful to see a super hot NFL player worship a curvy woman.

A delightful and charming romance that is a perfect fit for readers who adore lighthearted, humorous, and sexy stories about fake dating, unrequited love, and the complexities of family dynamics, with a dash of sports romance and a whole lot of heart.

That was fun and steamy romance. I love how it went from being a fake romance to a no strings attached affair. Rela and Theo are both upset by the engagement between Marcelus best friend and Theo‘s ex with his brother. Theo is a football player and he is the most lovely person in a book that I’ve read for a while. Marcella has had misconceptions about Theo since they were younger because of her friendship with his brother. I loved how as soon as they realize they had chemistry they just decided to go for the new strings affair. The development of the relationship made sense to me and I thought they had chemistry that came off the page. This is a book that I enjoyed from start to finish a

I love that 2024 is turning out to be the year of AMAZING debuts! I immediately fell for Marcela, a plus size, Latina YA librarian working in Texas who has been hopelessly in love with her best friend Ben for years.

Sadly, when Ben gets engaged Marcela has to reconcile with her unrequited feelings AND help Ben's former pro NFL player brother, Theo with his longtime feelings for Ben's fiance, Alice.

This was a bizarre love square, fake dating romcom about learning to love yourself and trust in the love of others and I absolutely ADORED it!

I can't wait for the next Librarians in Love book (hopefully starring Marcela's bestie, Angela). It can't go without saying that Theo is definitely TOP notch book boyfriend material, planning the PERFECT date for Marcela and wanting to share in and celebrate her passion for books.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Forever for an early digital and finished gifted copy in exchange for my honest review! Book lovers and sports romance fans don't want to miss this great debut that will have you swooning and that was also great on audio!

Steam level: mild open door scenes

Fav quotes:

"And why are we suddenly playing this terrible game with my feelings? ...[choosing a favorite book]..."is like choosing a favorite child."--Marcela

"Call me whatever you want...As long as I get to call you mine." --Theo

Book Review: The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez

"The Next Best Fling" by Gabriella Gamez is a spicy and heartwarming romance. Librarian Marcela Ortiz, in love with her best friend, turns to his ex-NFL player brother, Theo, for a no-strings-attached fling. Their chemistry is undeniable, and what starts as a cover-up for their true feelings leads to a deeper connection. Marcela, a relatable fat woman of color, and Theo, a refreshingly honest and attentive man, navigate their complicated feelings and messy family dynamics. This debut novel is a delightful read, full of charm and authentic characters.

The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez is about how young adult librarian, Marcela, finds herself in a love square after she’s spent nearly a decade holding out hope that her best friend, Ben, will wake up and realize that she is in the love of his life, only to seek a no-strings-attached rebound in Ben’s brother, Theo the NFL player, after Ben gets engaged to his long time girlfriend, Alice. This romance is messy and fun and heartwarming, and I loved every second of reading this book.

Admittedly, I’ve had the ARC for this book for solid minute, but I held off on reading it because I had a feeling that this would wind up being one of my favorites for the year, so I wanted to wait for when the mood reader inside me felt it was the right time to pick it up. Whatever reason I had for procrastinating reading this book, I was right. I felt so *seen* by Marcela as a fellow book lover whose favorite series is hyper-specifically Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes as well as being a fat woman of color who longs to live out her own happily ever after that she often reads about.

Marcela *is* the fat woman of color who’s the main character in her own romance that I am actively always searching for within my books. Her size is not The Obstacle of her life, but her opinion and fluctuating love for her body in a world where hers doesn’t fit conventional western beauty standards feels so realistic, so true to (at least my own) life!! How her size affects her dating life and honestly her view of herself as not being a viable option to date an NFL player— I understand these. While Marcela’s size doesn’t *define* her and despite loving her body, the fact that she’s aware of how she can be perceived by general society and therefore moves accordingly, I get that. Incredibly relatable. And I love that Theo loves every part of her. That’s!! what she!! deserves!! A man who loves her, not in spite of her body, but instead loves and embraces every single part of her.

My favorite thing about Theo is his pure honesty. He is so communicative and upfront with his intentions once he feels like he can no longer live in the in-between of no-strings-attached. The way he actively listens to Marcela and the way it shows in what he does for her and gives her in his big surprise box of gifts. He might not necessarily be every book lover’s dream, but he is certainly mine. I can only hope to one day find someone as *good* as Theo.

Additionally, this is such a minor thing, but I also *loved* Marcela’s relationship with her mother. The way her mom takes care of her and shares her love by keeping her in stock with tortillas and other essential foods. Part of my experience in being a part of an immigrant household translates to the language of food— cooking food for and sharing food with the people we love, honestly a universal love language, shown beautifully via Marcela’s mother.

<non-plot spoiler for minor character>
Another thing I absolutely loved about this book was the explicit inclusion of Marcela’s best friend Angela saying that she’s asexual and how her reading Loveless by Alice Oseman gave her the language to figure out her identity. As a person who’s also currently trying to figure out if she’s somewhere on the asexual spectrum, I want to highlight how The Next Best Fling feels like I was so specifically part of its targeted audience, for I have also read Alice Oseman’s Loveless in an attempt to figure out my relationship to asexuality. (I, however, didn’t seem to find home in the label, unlike Angela, but the significance and impact of Loveless to the asexual community is not lost on me as a person who has turned to this book in hopes of finding home and answers in a label. While I may not have landed on finding home in a label from reading Loveless and while Angela may be a fictional character, I still find it validating to be reading another adult who has read this YA book and found an explanation for their identity because of it.)

I once again want to emphasize how much I love The Next Best Fling, how much fun I had reading it, and how much this book means to me, personally. Also, this cover is everything; I am such a fan. Sign me up for every book Gabriella Gamez writes, for she has gained a loyal reader out of me. Thank you, Netgalley and Forever, for the ARC!

She was in love with her best friend. He was in love with his best friend. The two best friends are now engaged. The ones pining make a plan to fake a relationship. Say what?!? Marcela once dated Ben, but he deemed them to be friends. Theo loved Alice and Ben knew it but went after Alice any way. Theo and Ben are brothers. Marcela and Alice were once best friends. You with me still? Marcela stops Theo from making a fool of himself at Ben and Alice's engagement party. Many assumptions are made when they show up together the following morning to brunch and they ran with it. Why not? Life can't be any more depressing. Somehow after spending all this time together and getting to know each other, they develop feelings. It's also an eye-opening time for Marcela as she thinks back to all the dates she cancelled, boys she broke up, plans she changed for Ben, and she begins to see him for who he truly is. There are many people who don't believe that Theo and Marcela are really together. He's a NFL player and she's a plus sized woman. The author did a tremendously great job portraying a plus sized woman in a tiny-eyed society. Overall, I enjoyed this book. The main characters ended up with the HEA.

I received an advance copy of this book at my request and voluntarily left this review.

Thank you Netgalley and Forever Publication for this advanced copy of The Next Best Fling.

This novel follows two individuals who are deeply heartbroken, who decide to start a " simple" fling. This fling turns into something more but also opens up a lot of secrets, feelings and revelations along the way. We see two people grow not only as their own person but as an item as well.
Marcela has been in love with her best friend for years and has some insecurities and doubts about finding love, While Theo, the brother of her best friend is in love with his brothers fiancé, He also struggles with a few battles of his own and doesn't know how to let that go, but throughout this journey together everything falls in to place.

If you love hook-ups to love, some messiness, cute moments that will make your heart be filled with joy and so much more, this book is definitely for you. It was nice and sweet, the perfect read if you want something spicy & complicated.

Note: Ben annoys me. lol

3.75/5 stars for me! :)

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

I loved this! I had been reading several dark fantasy and romance books before starting The Next Best Fling so this was a perfect book to dive into after all of that darkness. It was so much fun, made me giggle a ton, and the chemistry between the main characters was insane!

Some of the things I loved about this book:
-MCs are 30+ years old
-The banter was top tier
-MMC bought the FMC BOOKS! And not only any books, but signed copies of her favorite books!

Lastly, the main thing I loved about this book was how the author handled fatphobia and internalized fatphobia. I saw a lot of myself in Marcela. I adored how she loved her body but even she had her moments when she was self-conscious. And in comes Theo. He is obsessed with her in the best way and always makes her feel as beautiful as she is. He treated her like a queen from the beginning and we love that energy!

Tropes:
-MF Contemporary Romance
-Fake dating
-Rebound hookup
-Best friend's older brother
-Plus size rep
-Librarian x NFL player
-Latinx FMC
-Best friend's older brother

The Next Best Fling is book one in the brand new Librarians in Love series by Gabriella Gamez.
Wow! A freaking outstanding romance debut!
The characters in this book are so fun and entertaining. So realistic and very relatable!
Such a cute, breezy romance with an excellent storyline.
This was a fun, romantic, incredible read. I highly recommend picking it up when it comes out, and I know that I will be purchasing a physical copy for myself to keep on my shelf for rereads.

Thank You NetGalley and Forever for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I DNFed this book at 33%.

🩷 librarian FMC
🩷 plus size rep
🩷 pulls you in right away
🩷 San Antonio setting (and all the little Texas references!)
🩷 interesting premise

What really bothered me is that the MMC and FMC decided to hook up SO fast. Maybe it’s not the speed but that it came out of nowhere? It seemed ridiculous that she was still not over the guy she’d been in love with for YEARS and decided to hook up with his brother? I just couldn’t get on board with it even though I wanted to give it a fair chance.

I was so hopeful about this one, but sadly I couldn’t get past one of the main plot points.

**4.25

This was SO CUTE!! I had this book on my radar and could not have been happier when I was lucky to get an ARC for it. Let me just say it exceeded my expectations. I loved the premise A LOT and the characters were so easy to fall for. It was fun, it had so many references for us book girlies, and the romance was fantastic! This was an incredible first book by this author and I will absolutely be reading more by her in the future.

3.5 stars.
This book was good, kept a good pace, but honestly I didn’t like the whole ‘I’m not going to tell him cause jr doesn’t matter’ when it actually does.
The spice was really good though and I loved the build up leading to it.
Theo and Marcela didn’t really have that good of chemistry if that makes sense but Theo’s amazing character made up for it. Him and Alice were the only redeemable ones in this whole book if I’m being honest

3.5 stars

This story started out strong for me. It's easy to read and I liked both Marcela and Theo's characters. The story just got a little muddled in the middle. The back and forth between both of them was too much. Does he like Marcela for herself or to get back at his brother? (His brother, Ben, is Marcela's best friend.) Is she with Theo for the right reasons? They both seemed genuine but could have used a little more trust and communication. Plus, I do think the "I love you's" were too soon after both pining for other for so long. Seemed too unrealistic.

Overall, I enjoyed it and would read another book by this author.

Thank you to Forever Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy. Thank you to Booksparks for the #gifted physical copy of the book as part of the #SRC2024 campaign. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Next Best Fling was such a fun read! I felt like I was watching a Latin telenovela.
I found myself rooting for Marcela and Theo with all the plot twists. Marcela’s mom reminded me a lot of my own mom and Angela was such a fun character. Hoping her story is next.