Reviews

The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez

bookedwithbonnie's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

4.0

 

Two broken hearts decide that the best way to get over their first loves is with a no-strings-attached relationship in this spicy and charming debut romance.

Seriously - a great debut by Gabriella Gamez. So much emotion and growth in our main characters! Marcela and Theo make each other better people, they can be themselves and see what it's like to have honesty and trust in a relationship, even if it's terrifying at times. They were embracing change and insecurities, and we are here for it!! 

Our antagonist was such a narcissist and a lot of it was written so subtly that it's easy to see how he was able to keep Marcela close by, knowing her history with her dad, and not letting her move on from him in the first place. The way he treated his own brother and fiance!! Hello, RED FLAGS! 

And Marcela was written so beautifully - the moments we get about her body image/confidence and her first time being intimate with Theo are so real. They aren't moments of weakness because our FMC is strong, but it's a realization so many of us women have and it was great to see this representation in a romance novel. 

While I loved Marcela and Theo together, I wish we had seen a little more chemistry between the two. Theo's grand gesture was sweet but Marcela's was a little weird for me... And there were many times where being reminded about who they were trying to get over was a little repetitive. 

Give this one a read if you're on board with:

- A Love Square 

- Plus Size FMC

- Best Friend's Brother

- Fake dating/Rebounding together

Thank you, NetGalley and Forever Publishing, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review! Can't wait to see what comes next in Librarians in Love!

whatsellorareading's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted 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? Yes

3.5

sm_almon's review

emotional funny 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

3.5

This debut novel was a fast and fun read, perfect for fans of the fake dating trope, and was a solid 3.5 star read for me.

After Theo and Marcela find themselves stuck in an awkward wedding situation involving the groom Ben (Marcela's best friend and Theo's little brother) and the bride Alice (a formerly-close friend of Marcela's and Theo's longtime crush), it was rewarding to see these two lean on each other for mutual support and ultimately find their way to a fulfilling relationship.  

I really enjoyed the slow entanglement of Marcela and Theo; their restaurant and library dates were cute and the relationship evolved so naturally from there.  My main critique in this book lies with Ben; he was so clearly not a good guy who routinely took advantage of Marcela, and even though I can understand why years of friendship and constant exposure would blind Marcela to his serious character flaws, Gabriella Gamez was so successful at making Ben a heel that I wanted to see more of a comeuppance for him in the end - that being said, everything was ultimately resolved satisfactorily among the characters.

After enjoying The Next Best Fling, I will definitely be on the lookout for future books by Gabriella Gamez!

I received an ARC for this book from NetGalley; all opinions expressed here are my own.

_angiemarieb's review

emotional lighthearted relaxing 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? Yes

4.0

Got it as an ARC

melissasmith's review against another edition

funny reflective

4.5

The Next Best Fling was a cute fake dating story. Marcela has been in love with her best friend Ben for 10 years but when he gets engaged she isn't excited to go to the party. At the party she meets Ben's brother Theo right before he's about to go in and ruin the party. They decide to fake date. You really need to read this book to see what happens.

I had a great time reading it! I'm about to start school to become a librarian so I enjoyed the fact Marcela is a librarian.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the arc. 

tenderbench's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad tense 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

3.25

hideyourspoons's review

4.0

If you're rebounding with your crush's brother, but that brother is pining for the crush's fiancé, is that a love square? Yes, you read that correctly - a love square. Let me simplify:

Marcela loves Ben.
Ben is engaged to Alice.
Theo (Ben's brother) is in love with Alice.
Marcela & Theo agree to be each other's rebound fling.

Maybe its not a square. Maybe instead its a telenovela / CW network drama with secrets & lies, steamy attraction, miscommunication, and grand gestures.

Seriously can not over emphasize the melodrama of it all. I wanted to cry when Marcela self-sabotaged. Had to restrain myself when Ben showed some toxic behavior. Was absolutely baffled by Alice's choice of brothers. Meanwhile, if I could protect Theo from all harm, I would.

This is the book you buddy read with a beatie or a club. Because you'll have opinions about who was right or wrong in each conflict. And sometimes its not so easy to judge when you k ow the deep history amd hurts of these very real-to-life characters.

A critical note, I feel the story was hampered by repetitive conflicts. The number of times Ben & Alice gave Marcela cryptic vague warnings drove me crazy. Theres also a few bookish references that elicited a LeoPoints.meme reaction that took me out of the story. But! If a book can inspire more reading - diverse reading - then yes please give me more name drops and help me build a TBR.

Thank you Netgalley & Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for this advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

jkowalski87's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

readsbykatj's review

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

1.0

Dnfing this @ 42%.  I made it so far so this is kinda ruining my brain rn but this book and I were NOT getting along!!!! I didn’t love the writing, the FMC was so annoying to me. And so nosy. And so annoying. And the mmc was just there? Like he was so boring to me. And they had zero chemistry (in my opinion) and read more like friends? And not love interests??? I don’t know, it was just not my favorite. But I loved the poc & plus size representation!!!!!!!!!!! 


Thank you NETGALLEY and Forever for this arc!!!

kimberpoi's review

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? Yes

4.0