The Next Best Thing is an affecting romance with good banter and interesting characters.  Marcela is a plus size woman. Her experiences as such are well portrayed. She has confidence in herself, and Theo is attracted to her as a fat woman, but she has to deal with a world that sometimes is not accepting or kind. I thought it was a well-balanced portrayal of life today as a larger person.

Marcela’s love for her unavailable friend struck a true chord for me. While not being in the same situation, I had a lot of experience when I was younger accepting only crumbs from the wrong people instead of what I deserved. The depiction of the ongoing inner conflict in Marcela over her feelings for Ben was true to life for me.

I am looking forward to the next book in the series. Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for the advance reader copy. All opinions are my own.