The Next Best Fling

April 1, 2024

DEBUT Marcela's best friend and secret crush, Ben, has just announced his engagement to Alice, who was Marcela's friend, once upon a time. Marcela, a librarian, is crushed--all of her dreams about Ben one day realizing she's the one for him are dashed. At Ben's engagement party, Marcela intercepts Ben's drunk brother, ex-NFL player Theo, on his way to declare his love to Alice. Marcela understands Theo's pain, but there's no way she can let him ruin his brother's engagement. She hauls Theo back to her apartment and tucks him into her couch to sleep it off. The next day, everyone seems to know that Theo left the party with Marcela and stayed the night. She debates telling the truth about their non-relationship but then realizes that a rebound fling with Theo might be the perfect way to get over Ben once and for all. The novel's protagonists are likable and realistic, and readers will enjoy watching Marcela find and embrace her power. Secondary characters are well-developed and instrumental in the protagonists' growth, as well as setting the stage for the next book in the series. VERDICT Gamez debuts with a contemporary rom-com, featuring hot chemistry and emotional depth.--Heather Miller Cover

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 13, 2024
Gamez puts a saucy twist on the fake-dating trope in her fun and flirty debut. Librarian Marcela Ortiz, 27, has harbored feelings for her friend Ben since college, when they briefly dated. When Ben announces his engagement to his girlfriend and Marcela’s ex-friend, Alice, Marcela realizes she needs to finally put her feelings to rest. Her solution appears the night of the couple’s engagement party in Theo Young, Ben’s hot NFL player older brother. Marcela prevents disaster when she stops a drunk Theo from confessing his own long-held feelings for Alice and, when the pair leave together, it sparks a rumor they’re dating. Marcela and Theo agree to go along with it, hoping to conceal their real feelings from both bride and groom. Fake dating leads to authentic chemistry and they agree to rebound with each other. As feelings change and grow, however, the lines of their situationship start to blur and the love quadrangle demands to be untangled. Marcela and Theo’s emotional journey to overcome past baggage and messy family dynamics adds depth to this swoony read. Marcela is the sole narrator, leaving Theo feeling a bit less developed by comparison, but he’s still a worthy hero. Readers will enjoy the ride. Agent: Samantha Fabian, Root Literary.

June 1, 2024
Never in a million years would librarian Marcela Ortiz think she had something in common with Theo Young. However, it turns out that both of them have some experience with unrequited love. Marcela has secretly been crushing on Theo's younger brother, Ben, for years, but Ben is about to announce his engagement to Alice Cho. Theo has been torturing himself with his love for Alice for an equally long period of time. After Marcela keeps Theo from drunkenly confessing his feelings to Alice by bringing him home with her, everyone in the wedding party assumes Marcela and Theo are now romantically involved. So, why not take advantage of this situation to keep everyone from guessing Marcela's feelings for Ben and Theo's attraction to Alice? In her delightfully engaging debut, Gamez deftly manipulates the crackling sexual chemistry between her two relatably messy protagonists into a splendidly sexy romance that not only champions body positivity but also delivers a love letter to the joys of reading and books.

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July 1, 2024
Two singles pining for other people fake-date to avoid complications--and surprise themselves. Librarian Marcela Ortiz has been in love with Ben Young for years, though he friendzoned her after a few dates and began seeing someone else. Now that he's engaged to his girlfriend, Alice Cho, Marcela needs to move on. But after she finds out that Ben's brother, Theo, plans to declare his own love for Alice at the couple's engagement party, she convinces the drunken Theo to come home with her, leaving their friends and family to think they're involved. They decide to be each other's alibis to salvage the situation (though Marcela doesn't tell Theo whom she's trying to get over), but the line between allies and friends-with-benefits keeps blurring. Marcela seems to be sexually and emotionally hooked on Ben for much of the plot, which fits the backstory of her decade-long pining but is jarring in a romance in which another man is meant to be her true mate. That Ben is fat-phobic and stringing Marcela along makes him increasingly villainous, a portrait that turns to caricature when he's also identified as unwilling to let his fiancee or his brother find professional success. Marcela's library colleague (mentioned in passing as attracted to other women), her mother, and Alice are all drawn with some nuance, as is Marcela, suggesting that more thought went into developing the female characters. The narrative is compelling but teeters on the edge of staging a train wreck, with secrets, jealousies, and confrontations resembling a soap opera. The story of a woman involved with two brothers who both want another woman might not grab all romance readers.

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