Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - The Next Best Fling

Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez

8 reviews

booktribe's review

emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Before I picked up this book, I was in a HUGE romance slump. I was DNF-ing romance after romance & I had only enjoyed one ALL YEAR. I had decided to take a break from the genre for a while, but I randomly picked this book up and I’m so glad I did. This book has renewed my love for romance🥰

This is the perfect romance read! It had everything I ever want in a love story. It had lovable main characters, so many adorable moments, lots of pining, and even drama👀

I loved the characters so much. Marcela and Theo were so great. They had such amazing chemistry. Their relationship had such depth. And the characters individually, had so much depth as well. ALL of the characters were so well developed to the point where I understood everyone, both the good and the bad parts. Theo has made his way into my book boyfriend hall of fame. From his grand romantic gestures to how attentive he was to her feelings. He was the perfect man.

Fake dating is my favorite trope and this was fake dating done well. The scenario which caused the fake dating felt so natural to the story. And this book had a third act breakup that made perfect sense. It wasn’t just some miscommunication where grown people don’t know how to explain their emotions. There were layers to it that they really had to sort through in order to come back together.

I feel like this review doesn’t even begin to convey how much I loved this book. This story had me cheesing and giggling at all the cute moments & beautiful confessions. It had me cussing people out. It had me tearing up. It just took me through so many emotions, in the best way. It was literal perfection from beginning to end. This book is for the real lovers! I can’t wait to read more from this author!

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for this arc. All opinions are my own.

TW: abandonment & fatphobia

Content Warnings

lavenderbtcpodcast's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

The more I read romance books the pain of no love in my life grows sharper. This debut ARC I have some wishes that are too late to be done now: trigger warning for fat phobia and body image issues (which is added to the authors website), would have loved more Spanish specifically in Marcela & angela convo, the love interests are white and everyone knows by know how I feel about that *deep sigh*. Overall I really enjoyed this book. I can relate to the body type, abandonment, foreign culture, fears, and ugh the smut was so good. I especially wished the penetrative intimacy wouldn't be seen as it is but that is the heteronormative misconception. I wanted to cry and probably will. Ugh to be lonely but at least I have romance books like these.

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amburrella's review

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funny lighthearted tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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emrosenq's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨/5

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️/5

This book was messy y’all. So very messy. And I was here for the mess, but I wasn’t here for the self sabotaging behaviors. It was so fun, loved Theo and his big huge heart, and I wanted to just poke Marcela in the face repeatedly until she said three nice things about herself. It was a fun read, but definitely wasn’t the lightest of RomComs. The football date though? That was adorable.

Five Emojis to Describe This Book: 📚🫣🤡🏈😗

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bridgetlovesbooks's review

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Next Best Fling' is a sizzling romance set in the heart of San Antonio. With plus-size librarian Marcela, as the relatable protagonist, the story offers a refreshing spin on the fake dating trope. The chemistry between the leads is electric. But it's not just the romance that shines; Gámez tackles some more serious issues of trust, healing from the trauma of past relationships and family conflict. The supporting cast adds depth and humor, making this thoroughly enjoyable. I found myself rooting for Theo and Marcela every step of the way. Thank you to Forever and Net galley for the eARC.

Content Warnings

gretchreads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Librarian + Retired NFL Player? Sign. Me. Up!

Marcela's best friend, Ben, is about to propose to his girlfriend, and on the surface, she is happy for him. But deep down, she is crushed. She has been in love with him since college and her dreams of them getting their happily ever after are dashed. At the engagement party, she catches his brother, Theo, pacing outside the engagement party, practicing his declaration of love for Ben's fiancé. She stops him from making a drunken mistake and convinces him to sleep it off on her couch. They end up heading to the engagement brunch the following morning together, and everyone believes they hooked up. They don't refute it and ultimately decide that being one another's rebounds might be just what they need to get over their unrequited love. The more time they spend together, though, the harder it is to what is fake and what is real...

As lighthearted as this book may sound, the author broaches several difficult topics - from parent abandonment to body insecurity. - authentically. I appreciated how the author showed a relationship in which the main characters allowed the other to be vulnerable on their own timeliness - making them feel all the more relatable. I loved seeing Marcela and Theo help one another heal their past wounds and believe that they were worthy of love.

I absolutely adored this book - I just wish it had been a dual POV! Maybe we can get a bonus chapter / epilogue from Theo's POV in the next book in the series! (A girl can hope, right?) I squealed with delight when I discovered there was a playlist to go along with the book! Listening to playlists after reading is such a great way to relive the magic of the book! Needless to say, I will be reading the next book in the series and cannot wait for Gabriella Gamez's writing career take off!

Read this if you are looking for a book that includes:
-Fake dating
-Diverse characters
-Fat and Mexican representation
-A love square

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Content Warnings

dogbuttsandbooks's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

I loved this book! The plus size book loving heroine, the San Antonio vibes, MCs having actual emotional growth and sizzling physical chemistry made Next Best Fling a read I couldn’t wait to come back to multiple times day until I finished it.

At times I worried about our main character, Marcela, and her self sabotaging habits built from a cycle of family trauma, but major kudos to the author for actually having our girl do some much needed self reflection and have a honest to goodness character arc! We love to see it!

I don’t know what tropes I would use to describe this book, and I love that fact! It’s a refreshing read, shaking up the sometimes over-relied on romance tropes. Will “getting over someone by getting UNDER his brother” be romance’s next big thing? Because this was HAWT.

I loved the themes of friendship, how family can hurt you, and self acceptance woven throughout the book. And praise the romance gods for giving us a plus size MC who doesn’t hate her body!!! As a plus size reviewer, I connected with some of Marcela’s very real thoughts and insecurities about previous dates and interactions, but she ultimately never let them become intrusive or stop her from loving herself. Seriously, the bar shouldn’t be so low but I adored how the author allowed Marcela to convey some realities of plus size life without ever leaning on fatphobia to show us.

All in all, I loved this one and will absolutely be recommending to all Texan and Plus size romance readers.

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sarahsbookstacks's review

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Thank you to Forever for a free advanced copy of this book.

3.75 stars and a good time! I almost DNFd during chapter one and I am very glad that I kept going. While this book was not perfect and I had to majorly suspend belief at times, there is a lot about it that I really loved and I look forward to the author’s next book.

The main character is fat, she’s obsessed with books, and she doesn’t trust her feelings or the hunky hunky love interest’s feelings. So like, is this effing play about me?!

It’s set in San Antonio and all the Texas things made me very happy, especially the H-E-B tortillas shout out.

Also it was very hot. My jaw was hanging open multiple times lol.

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