I enjoyed the slow burn romance of this one - as well as the slow move both the characters make towards choosing a new person to love. I like the growth experienced by Marcela, and that she learns to love and accept who she is. I also appreciate that the main character is a curvy one who doesn't shy away from the nature of her body. This story was a quick read for me and I enjoyed it in one sitting.

Unfortunately, I didn’t love this as much as i had hoped. The mmc really rubbed me the wrong way for the first chunk and I couldn’t quite get over it no matter how much I liked the fmc. I would absolutely read this author again, but this book specifically wasn’t for me.

Marcela and Ben have been friends since college and even though Ben said they were better off friends; she has a crush on him. She is devastated when he proposes to Alice and she accepts. Marcela is asked to pick up Ben’s brother for the engagement party. Theo has always loved Alice and is drunk, threatening to ruin the engagement party when Marcela takes him home to her apartment. Their friends talk suspecting there is more to the relationship. Theo and Marcela decide to date to get over their love for Alice and Ben. This is a wonderful book with characters that really draw you in to their relationships. I loved seeing the trust issues both Theo and Marcela worked to dissolve. I marveled at the things Theo did for Marcela to help win her over.

The Next Best Fling was a delightful, fake dating, romantic love triangle story that would make a fun summer read. Marcella is a strong female lead who is the perfect match for sensitive football player Theo. They've got great chemistry, and Theo's thoughtfulness is such a nice compliment to brainy Marcella's independence.

Their love triangle (square?) gets a little tedious at times, with minor miscommunications becoming much bigger speed bumps in order to draw out the plot. I found myself hating toxic, narcissistic Ben from the beginning, and he never grew on me. Luckily, love and calmer heads prevail in the end.

Thank you Forever and Gabriella Gomez for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

A fun read, I enjoyed the drama between Marcela and her friend and that the abusive nature of his actions wasn't clear until later in the narrative, ensuring the conclusion didn't feel wrapped up early

There was so much going on with the relationships in this book (it starts off pretty messy), but ultimately I was rooting for Marcela and Theo from the start. This book really explored the dynamics of both friendships and romantic relationships. I really enjoyed the character growth throughout this book with both main characters learning how to trust and love both themselves and someone else. I found Marcela’s relationship with her body to be very relatable (content warning for fatphobia). Also you could tell this book was written about book lovers by a book lover for book lovers.

I really liked this one!!! had me laughing a few times! Definately recommend. it was cute, funny and spicy.

thank you for the ARC!

This was such a cute romance. I love the whole fake fling aspect and felt it was well done. I really appreciated the LatinX representation as well as the plus size rep that we get with our FMC. And I mean, she’s a librarian so of course us bookish gals are going to eat that up! I’m happy they fell for eachother after thinking they were in love with other people, because obviously fate had other plans 💕
I will post on my bookstagram @thatbookishteach on release day 😀

I didn’t want to put this down!! I loved the library elements (as a library assistant myself). I loved Marcela and Theo and their fake fling - to real fling - actually being together. This book was very messy but so fun!

I didn’t end up finishing this book, not very invested in the story once I started reading, but I really wanted to love it because I liked the description.

I really enjoyed this book! Marcela and Theo both have it bad because Marcela is in love with her best friend Ben, & Theo is in love with his brother Ben's (yup that ben) fiance, Alice. So after Marcela is seen stopping Theo from doing something he will absolutely regret, people just start assuming they are together!! So of course in any good romance book, they take this as a sign to start fake dating each other so they can hopefully get over their feelings.

One thing I really liked about this book was Marcela was a Plus size FMC, but that was not the whole focus on the book! As a plus size girl myself, I love when there is representation of it, but it doesn't take over the whole plot! The love, communication, and flirting these two share between each other is SWOON WORTHY. My man Theo here has such a big heart despite the reputation Marcela had for him based of the couple times she met him beforehand. And Marcela is a librarian so she shares the love for books I had which I really loved. Definitely recommend!

I loved this book. It was such a cute romance of fake fling to the real thing. A taboo of being in love with your best friend for years to only end up with his brother. When the best friend gets engaged and his brother is is also in love with the bride to be. With all the emotions and feelings and grand gestures of love.

The cover grabbed me, and the blurb sold me. It was cute, angsty, a bit messy, but I ate it up — right up my alley!!

As a Latina myself, I also appreciate representation in romance books. Can’t wait to read more from this author!

Wow this has me excited for more from Gabriella , this was Juicy book full of angsty tension and plenty of emotional moments. I was instantly hooked from the very beginning until the end and for the entirety I rooted for Theo and Marcela! I loved these characters so much! Also the plus size representation was beautiful in this

Marcela is a bookish Mexican librarian who's been in love with her best friend/ex for ten years but now he's engaged. On the day of his engagement party, she finds out his brother, Theo, is in love with the fiancée.

She stops Theo from drunkenly confessing his love and they leave the party together and everyone assumes they hooked up. Marcela and Theo play along and then decide to try and get over their feelings by hooking up for real and things get pretty steamy.

I loved the representation in The Next Best Fling and I also loved all the bookish things, the way Theo turns out to be way different than what Marcela first though, and how Marcela learns to be honest with and respect herself and open herself up to the real love she deserves.

I simply can’t express how much I’m in love with this book
It’s a sweet romance with lots of positivity
You are beautiful, you are unique in your own way. Don’t let other people tell you otherwise.

I typically don’t go for books with a love triangle or love square, but this story was so good. We have the main characters who despite their broken hearts, really connect with each other and realize there might be more to their fake relationship. I love Marcela and her love of books. Theo is a dream and not at all what his brother painted him out to be. They made sense to me from the beginning.

Cute, lighthearted romance where two keep each other from emotionally destroying an engagement. If you want a quick romance read, this is the book for you.

This was a really solid debut novel! If you love fake dating and books that talk about books then The Next Best Fling will be right up your alley!

I loved the premise of the book and thought it was a really interesting and new take on the fake dating trope. I loved Theo’s character growth and I definitely think he was my favorite character in the book. I actually even wish the book would have been dual pov so his background could have been even more fleshed out.

I love the conversations about Marcela’s struggle with her weight and body confidence. That was a very related part of the book and pulled at my heart strings because I have felt the same way many times in my life.

I will say I wasn’t crazy about the actual progression of the romance. It felt like too much too fast. I wanted more moments with Theo and Marcela that didn’t revolve around Ben and Alice. It felt like some scenes were a bit repetitive and the book could have been a bit shorter.

Overall, a solid book and I look forward to reading more form this author in the future. Thank you to Gabriella Gomez, Forever Publishing, and NetGalley for the arc.

Thanks to Netgalley & Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for access to this
E-ARC! So cute! Loved the characters & the plus-size rep. Definitely recommend!