I fell in love with Casey McQuiston with RED, WHITE, AND ROYAL BLUE! I continue to read and enjoy every book by this author, but I have yet to love one as much as that first one. I do tend to enjoy their gay romances a bit more than their sapphic romances. I did thoroughly enjoy THE PAIRING and the descriptions of the scenery and the food/wine were *chef's kiss*! I enjoyed the "plot" a bit more than the "romance" but overall I really enjoyed this story and will continue to read anything Casey McQuiston publishes.

If you’re into queer rom-coms with witty banter, character development, and tons of of food and wine, this book is for you. It was cute and funny while also being really sweet and tender at times, so like all other McQuiston books. I would say that if you are already a fan of McQuiston, then you will like this for sure.

I really don't know what I was expecting but this book was not it. The characters genders were hard to follow and there was an awkwardly egregious amount of sex.

Theo and Kit were childhood best friends, then took the chance on becoming a couple. It was everything they both ever wanted. On the way to a European food and wine tour, they get into a fight and they break up. When Kit didn't show up on their flight back home, Theo packed up his things and they didn't speak again. Fast forward a couple of years and both are thriving. Theo is living in California and working as a bartender and aspiring sommelie. Kit never returned home, instead has been living in France and working as a pastry chef. The voucher for the food and wine tour is about to expire and Theo plans to go on it as a sort of farewell to their old life, and Kit. When they arrive on the tour bus, who is there but Kit! Desperate to prove that they are over each other, they start a hookup competition. Three weeks in the most beautiful cities, enjoying amazing food and drinks with the ex that you never got over...? What could possibly go wrong?

I absolutely love this friends to lovers vibe. I love that the characters of this book were so genuinely themselves. The biggest takeaway was the realization that if you are going to love someone over the different seasons of their lives, you need to love them fully or not at all. What Kit and Theo had was magic. The kind of love that people dream of. The breakup was devastating but both characters grew so much. The spice was also incredible. This was a great book with great representation for the LGBTQ community. I definitely recommend.

I have a so-so relationship with this author's books. I've enjoyed all the previous novels they've written but upon reflextion I never really LOVED any of them, and I think this book is the same. I do tend to enjoy romances that surround the food industry because it's what I do for work, it's fun to see it in novels! I think the premise of this really saved the book for me. I obviously knew the outcome of the relationship in this book but it didn't really lower my enjoyment at all. Overall, this was a lot of fun but I never liked either of the main characters. I thought they were whiny and a bit annoying and all their problems would've been solved if they just TALKED TO EACH OTEHR from the beginning. Yeah, yeah, drama, plot, all that, but it would've made me like them. I'll always read anything Casey McQuiston writes even though their Saphic books work a lot better for me!

The Pairing was the romance I didn't know I needed. I love Casey McQuiston's books and it's so fun to see how their writing style morphs and grows with each published book. The Pairing is a departure from McQuiston's usual style of writing and is a very different romance. That might have been off-putting for some romance readers, but that's what made me love this book. It's new and fresh and different.

Theo and Kit's story was unconventional to its core, but I think that's what makes it fun and exciting. I don't think I've ever read a second chance romance where the couple is actively sleeping with random people on a bet while still building sexual tension with each other. The way the hook-up bet was woven into creating tension and emotion was really good. I had no clue where the story was going to take me next, other than through a tour of Europe with some great food. It kept me engaging and (metaphorically) flipping the pages wanting to know what would happen next. I listened to the audiobook, which was super well done. And the POV switch? GENIUS!!!

Two highlights: Monacco and the fountain

You know how this love story is going to end, but it doesn't matter, because the journey of getting to the happy ending is so delicious. Sumptuous descriptions of food and art abound, and the spicy parts are extra saucy!

Another hit for Casey McQuiston. I loved the descriptions of the food and wine and scenery. It made me want to take a food and wine tour of Europe, too. Or maybe it gave me the chance to experience it in my mind. The romance is fun. The sex is over-the-top.
I read this first, then listened to the audiobook. I liked the narration. It was interesting that the book was told from one character's point of view for the first half and the other character's the second half.

What a wild ride. I loved both characters and how messy and real they were. The only bad thing about this book is it made me so hungry! But it was so much fun to read and travel vicariously with them.

This was personally a disappointment for me. I loved RW&RB, and I had really high hopes for more from this author. It simply fell flat in the romance department. Kit and Theo’s relationship was immature and felt entirely dependent on their physical attraction to each other. Everything about this screams horny, from the settings, to the descriptions of food, to the actual plot, but I couldn’t really connect with any of it. I feel like we spent so much time on the humorous aspects of the hook up and the overly decadent food/drink pairings, and not enough establishing a genuine rapport between our mc’s.

I am a HUGE Casey McQuiston fan, and I’m so sad that this one fell flat for me! Though I loved the characters and their journeys, including LGBTQ+ rep, there was truly no plot. Sometimes I can stay just for character development and vibes, but there wasn’t enough to keep me hooked.

The Pairing is another uniquely creative story by Casey McQuiston, author of Red, White and Royal Blue and my favorite, One Last Stop. It's the love story between two friends who are bisexual who have known each other since childhood and become romantically involved, until one day while heading on the vacation of a lifetime together have an argument which ends up tearing them apart. It's very funny and extremely adorable as well as charming. In my opinion also one of the main characters you may say, is the beautiful, imaginative scenery McQuiston creates for the reader to envision as the two characters trapse around Europe.

Theo and Kit had been best friends since childhood, then turned boyfriend and girlfriend. But after a horrible fight at the airport when they were going on a dream vacation to Europe to visit beautiful countries and eat their way through cities and towns, they break up. Never to see each other again.

But, a few years later, Theo has decided it's time to take this trip no matter what. The ticket is expiring, and she could use a break from her chaotic life in California where she is the daughter of an all-famous acting family, (except her) who has decided to do life on her own and has not really been able to find exactly what her talent should be. But as soon as she boards the bus in Paris to begin the eating and drinking tour of Europe, she is taken aback when she sees sitting in one of the seats, her ex-boyfriend Kit. Now, the two must attempt to get along, play nice and try and stay away from each other so they can enjoy the trip.

But, of course, that begins to become extremely difficult as they start to remember what their relationship used to be and just how much they enjoyed each other's company. So, as a joke, they decide to participate in a bet. But of course, things begin to go downhill because of jealousy and misinterpretations.

And then something starts to happen as they travel to beautiful areas with gorgeous scenery and delightful food and very wonderful friends they begin to make at each stop. But what about the bet? They both know this will never work. Kit, a chef in Paris and Theo a sommelier and catering company owner in California are not going to change their lives...are they? With so much to lose, how could whatever this is be a win?

The Pairing is an apt name for this enchanting, humorous wonderfully sensitive story with delicious food and beautiful scenery to admire in your imagination. The book will have you so delighted by the end that you will be booking your very own trip to experience what you have created in your mind's eye!

Thank you #NetGalley #St.Martin'sGriffin #ThePairing #CaseyMcQuiston for the advanced copy.

I think this author just isn't for me. I tried to read one other book from them and ended up dnfing too. I am 25%
into the book, and it's just now getting into the plot. However, I can't connect with the characters, and I just find them awkward. Also, the banter isn't bantering enough for me.

As much as I adore Casey McQuistons other titles this one wasnt really for me. It was an okay read but I didnt really connect with either character and felt their backstories/plot a little lacking. The spice and food seemed to take up the primary focus and while the settings and everything were amazingly written (I felt like I could easily be on the tour with them), it didnt really stick out to me as a whole.

Two bisexual exes accidentally book the same European food and wine tour and challenge each other to a hookup competition to prove they're over each other—except they're definitely not.

Theo and Kit have been a lot of things: childhood best friends, crushes, in love, and now estranged exes. After a brutal breakup on the transatlantic flight to their dream European food and wine tour, they exited each other's lives once and for all.

Time apart has done them good. Theo has found confidence as a hustling bartender by night and aspiring sommelier by day, with a long roster of casual lovers. Kit, who never returned to America, graduated as the reigning sex god of his pastry school class and now bakes at one of the finest restaurants in Paris. Sure, nothing really compares to what they had, and life stretches out long and lonely ahead of them, but—yeah. It's in the past.

All that remains is the unused voucher for the European tour that never happened, good for 48 months after its original date and about to expire. Four years later, it seems like a great idea to finally take the trip. Solo. Separately.

It's not until they board the tour bus that they discover they've both accidentally had the exact same idea, and now they're trapped with each other for three weeks of stunning views, luscious flavors, and the most romantic cities of France, Spain, and Italy. It's fine. There's nothing left between them. So much nothing that, when Theo suggests a friendly wager to see who can sleep with their hot Italian tour guide first, Kit is totally game. And why stop there? Why not a full-on European hookup competition?

Loved it. I thought it was a great read.

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I picked this book up as a "read now" option on Netgalley in the hopes I would like it since I've liked a previous book from this author. I haven't been able to read any of their books since RWRB which is so disappointing and this book was no different. I did really like the concept of this book, but I felt like the execution was not great.

I didn't enjoy how we didn't get to read from the other main character's POV until the "bet" commenced, I didn't like how the bet was approached, and I didn't like the writing style. The details of the bet was definitely... a choice. I've now liked two books and disliked two books from this author. I try to stick to a three-book rule for authors, so the next book will be a game changer for me and this author's books.

I'm sure there are a group of people out there who LOVED this book, but I wasn't apart of it. I didn't feel like the characters were developed enough (something that could have helped was having the other main character POV before 50% into the book!!!) And I hate when all the development and emotional baggage that the characters experience are experienced OFF THE PAGE and i'm just supposed to know what they are feeling and how much they love each other. Truly detest that.

I loved that this book was SO QUEER, but it really failed me on all other fronts. I hope other readers connect with it more than me.

Thank you to the author and the publisher for a free review copy in exchange for my honest opinion. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Look, I love Casey McQuiston's writing but I was so not into this book. Asshole sluts in Europe just do not do it for me, I suppose. I appreciated the queerness but i don't know this just seemed way more unrealistic than Casey's debut where a queer Mexican kid thinks Texas will turn blue. There are not that many hotties down to bone, I feel. Travel groups are mostly people you do not want to bone, in fact. And the romance? Inadequate.

i absolutely love this author, they are amazing.

i loved how the dual pov and how Casey used it in this story. It was really heart warming to see Theo and Kit reconnect surrounded by fun locations and food! I also really enjoyed all the quirky side characters that were in their tour group.

it was a really beautiful story about gender identity as well and i loved how they used the dual pov to reveal certain things about the characters.

3.5 Stars for The Pairing.

I love that I know what I am getting with a Casey McQuiston novel. I know I will get a heartfelt love story, with good queer representation, and an ending that will leave me happy. The Pairing held up to my level of expectations.

I received the eBook through NetGalley and got the Audiobook from MacMillan Audio and I ended up listening to the audiobook.

The narrators were great, and I felt really represented the characters well. Though the book was dual POV, it was not set up in the traditional way with alternating chapters. It was split into halves with each character getting to give their side of the story and experience within half the book, thus allowing you to compare the scenes of the book from both sides. Very fun way to go about it. The audio also had fun little European song intros for each chapter, which added to the experience.

As for the story, it starts out with a pretty big misunderstanding. I am not usually one for the misunderstanding trope, but it was way in the past, so it didn't bother me in that respect. This is very much a story of first loves and wanting what's best for each other, even if that means saying goodbye.

The connection between Theo and Kit was very real, best friends, turned to lovers, then separated over several years, they are brought back together by the trip they never took. A tour of Europe provides much in the way of hooking up by many, but also a rekindling of a relationship long in the making. Worth the read

I had high expectations for this one and i let me down. I wish it would've had better banter, conversation and deeper love. I just didn't really like the plot or writing style in this one.