The Next Best Fling

By: Gabriella Gamez

Narrated by: Ruby Corazon

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.

Librarian Marcela Ortiz has been secretly in love with her best friend for years—and when he gets engaged, she knows it’s long past time to move on. But before she gets the chance, she has a bigger problem to contend with in the form of Theo Young, ex-NFL player and older brother of the man she’s in love with. When she discovers Theo's plans to confess his feelings for his brother’s fiancée at their engagement party, Marcela is quick to stop him—despite how tempting it is to let him run away with the bride-to-be. She manages to convince Theo to sleep off his drunken almost-mistake at her place and when they arrive at a family brunch the next day together, everyone wrongly assumes they hooked up.

Since Theo needs a cover for his feelings for the bride and Marcela needs a distraction from her unrequited feelings for the groom, they decide to roll with the lie. Until one late night at a bar, they take it a step further and discover a layer of attraction neither realized existed. Soon, they find themselves exploring the simmering chemistry between them, whether in library aisles or Marcela's bed. There are no boundaries for the rebound relationship they form—just a host of complicated feelings, messy familial dynamics, and uncovered secrets that threaten to tear them apart before they can even admit to themselves that their rebound is working. Maybe a little too well.

©2024 Gabriella Gamez (P)2024 Forever

Critic reviews

"Funny, smart, and spicy!"—Abby Jimenez, New York Times Best Selling Author

"Palpable tension. Charming characters who self-reflect. Laugh out loud moments. A plot with so many emotional layers. The Next Best Fling has absolutely everything I want in a romance book. Bravo."—Mia Sheridan, New York Times bestselling author

"Sweet and funny, with just the right amount of spice, Gabriella Gamez’s delightful debut is everything you can want in a romance."—Farrah Rochon, New York Times bestselling author of Pardon My Frenchie

I wished I liked it more

I wanted to support this first novel of a Mexican American author. Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy the book. The narration of Marcela (FMC) was like robotic and without emotion. Listening to Marcela’s thoughts was draining. That woman couldn’t decide something and was so insecure. It pained me that someone (yes, I know it’s a book) can feel that way.

LOVED!!!!

I couldn't stop listening to this audio book, I literally read it in a day.

if fairytale were real

I enjoyed the book. The way the characters were introduced to love then hate them was great. I'd honestly love to read more about the two of them and see where their love takes them.

Great Romance novel!

Loved the story about using each other to get over a past love and falling for each other!

Wow

Wow, this book was amazing in every way Ben got he deserved and love wins at the end

Relatable Love Story

Overall I loved this book. It felt like a real love story in that is was messy, feelings all over the place, it had many relatable moments. Marcella did get repetitive in her thoughts at times but I felt like it was true to real life. It allowed me to remember and reflect on my past as I was reading it. It feels different than a lot of other romance books in its authenticity but also still has lighthearted moments that give you the warm fuzzy feeling. It was hard to distinguish Marcella’s thoughts from her dialog at times so I did a lot of rewinding, but it didn’t distract too much.

FINALLY! an ACTUAL latina writer

I LOVED this book for many reasons. My main pet peeve with some of the more recent romantic novels written by a Latina is that the Spanish that’s often used is peppered in unnaturally (and quite frankly unrealistically). If I have to read another “Ay Dios Mio!” Or “Ay ya yai !” I’m going to throw up.

However, the author of this novel managed to beautifully integrate the language and culture in a way that didn’t oversaturate the story and it made the story relatable to the real Mexican American experience. ACTUAL representation! From the plot,
to the language and character development- I truly enjoyed this book and it will definitely be on my repeat comfort listens/ re-reads.

And the tension! Whewww!!!

Surprisingly good.

The narration by Ruby Corazon was amazing! I felt the emotion of each character. This was in singular POV which is what made me love it more. I loved that a hispanic character was voiced by a hispanic narrator.

The story was actually really good. The book description is what really got me and it didn’t disappointment. This book touched on a lot of issues as a plus size women/student/friend which kept drawing me in. The only drawback was the fact that the FMC “problem” kept being repeated. The reader/listener understood from the get go and understood this was a secret. No need to say it as often as it was said. Overall, i definitely recommend this book.

Snooze fest

Honestly this book was actually bad..as a Latina I expected to relate to it more than I did. Narration felt so monotone that i couldn’t really grasp who was actually talking at some points. Overall not a good book if you’re actually wanting a good romantic story to swoon over. Mostly they are pining for other people and it gets truly repetitive. Save your credit!