This book was an indulgent, descriptive masterpiece and I can’t wait for people to devour it the way I did. It is SO fun to read. a triumphant celebration of food, travel, romance, sex, and queer joy in so many forms. Yes, it is Slutty! But also just captivating and exploratory and hilarious and at times heartbreaking. A lot of introspection. A lot of yearning 😵‍💫 so much self-discovery for our main pairing, both as individuals and as a couple. You will be rooting for them the entire time 🥲

The descriptions of food!!!! had me wishing I was tasting everything alongside Theo and Kit, and at times it felt like I was — there is a quote from the book where Kit says, “Everywhere we go, I want to experience it entirely. all the way out to its edges. I want to touch it, taste it, drink it, eat it, climb it, swim in it.“ reading this book felt like this — like I was on the tour too, fully experiencing it, a feast for all five senses. Theo and Kit are always dropping obscure but delicious knowledge (about food and wine, yes, but also about the places they visit and their various interests). It was so charming and fascinating for someone like me; I love hearing people talk about their passions. These characters wormed their way into my soul, I love them and I love their love.

Casey’s thorough research, descriptive writing, and tour diary posts + character profiles + other fun stuff leading up to the book’s release had me completely absorbed in the story and the settings while reading. Truly an immersive experience. CMQ ur a genius and a legend 💞

Anyway flowerfield 4ever and now I wanna book a European food and (mocktail bc I don’t drink) tour.

This book was a no go for me. I love the inclusion of different foods and dishes & honestly wanted to make some of the food with my boyfriend. But I cannot look past the jealousy trope. It’s always so overdone and really dragged along in this book. I wish I would have enjoyed this since I adore Red White and Royal Blue. But the pinning in this book was a little too much for my liking

My least favorite book by this author so far by far. Due to the still ongoing St. Martin's Press Boycott, I will not be providing a further review at this time.

"The Pairing" by Casey McQuiston is a delightful romantic comedy that marks a more mature deviation from the beloved "Red, White & Royal Blue."
McQuiston's signature wit and charm are at their best here, with sharp dialogue and laugh-out-loud moments, but more upfront in it's self-discovery and acceptance. It offers a nuanced take on love and relationships, and the ways that sex complicates both of these things.. It's a feel-good read that explores the idea that true love often comes from embracing differences rather than finding similarities.

My least favorite book by this author so far. I won’t be posting a review on Instagram due to the boycott but will include an update when things change.

Thank you St. Martin's Press for the copy of this book.
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Read if you like: second chance romance, traveling setting
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Theo and Kit were meant to go on a European food and wine tour, but they break up right before the tour starts. Four years later, Theo is finally going on this tour, but they are horrified to see that Kit is also on the tour. The two are forced to reconcile their past and figure out if there is any room for each other in their future.
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I loved this book. I loved the European tour setting, and I wanted to eat all of the food that was mentioned. I also loved Kit and Theo as the protagonists. They were imperfect characters who were just trying to figure out what they wanted in life, and how to makeup after their bad split. The book was messy and there was a lot of miscommunication, but this was essentially who Theo and Kit were and I thought this worked well for this book. Kit and Theo are messy individuals who struggle to communicate what they want. Overall, I loved this book so much and This is my second favourite McQuiston, after Red, White, and Royal Blue.

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 3.75⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: contemporary romance📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
This is one of those books where you’re screaming at the characters to just get together already

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Second chance romance
European food tours
Found family
Humor and spice
Sommelier x pastry chef
All the yearning
Pop culture references
Dual POV
Beautiful imagery

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
Great queer rep
Made me want to travel

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
Not a super quick read
There were so many hookups
Characters were annoying at times
Miscommunication!

𝙵𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚀𝚞𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜:
★ “He was the first great thing I ever let myself want. This time, I’m keeping him.”
★ “Love took root in me before I learned its name, and I've sat in its shade for so long now without eating its fruit. This feels as if I've finally taken a piece into my hands and split it open. It's so sweet inside. Sour too, slightly underripe — but so, so sweet.”
★“This is what I get for assuming all women in safari hats can be trusted.”

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year! I will be returning with a full review once I have my thoughts compiled. There will be a post on my bookstagram as well!

I'm a huge Casey McQuiston fan so I was so excited to receive this ARC. I did find the first half of the book to be rather slow (the major reason I am taking off a star), it did speed up in the second half. I really loved the POV of both characters and seeing their perspectives as they traveled around and fell back in love with each other. HOWEVER, I loved Kit's part much more (and Theo's was slow and hard to get into which sucked given it was the first part!). This book had me laughing and I loved how both characters were represented so well. The side characters were also so funny. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin Press for the ARC <3

I loved this. I had such a good time and it desperately makes me ready for my trip to Italy later this year. Theo and Kit were great leads and it was a nice change of pace to read in 1st person. I enjoyed the more emotional parts in the second half of the book from Kit's POV.

Two bisexual exes accidentally rebook the same European food tour four years after a devastating breakup. Instead of communicating about what went wrong (which, honestly, is hard work), they challenge each other - who can hook up with the most people during the tour? Note - this is not the book for you if you don’t like it when the leads hook up with other people!

The first half was very slow for me to get into, but the second half picked up! For me, this was better to read (vs. audio) because of all the detailed food, wine, European travel descriptions.

“‘Hmm. Hold on.’ Theo studies the fountain more closely. ‘I know this place. It’s in the seminal rom-com—‘ ‘Roman Holiday,’ I say at the same time Theo finishes, ‘The Lizzie McGuire Movie,’ and we laugh.”

Any book that references The Lizzie McGuire movie automatically gets extra cool points.

“I lean in and give Theo a solid, deep kiss. They taste of coffee and pistachio and sunscreen, like the love of my life.”

The ending was very full circle and satisfying to read. Fans of messy exes, food, wine, travel, and hookups are sure to love this one!

I Received an advanced reading copy, receipt of which did not impact my review.

I can't help but think Casey McQuiston may be a one-hit wonder for me...After loving RWRB, I thought Shara Wheeler was good not great and have not been able to finish any of their other books! I truly don't know where the disconnect is for me because I love CMQ's premises (food tour through Europe is so me!!!!); I just haven't been able to connect with the characters like I did with both Alex and Henry.

I have been such a fan of CMQ, but each of their books has made that fandom a bit shakier. Everything I love about their best work (banter, fully drawn tertiary characters, compelling stakes) were fully absent here. There was a conversation about 30% of the way in that I expected to be the big reveal at the end, so after that happened, I really felt no more investment.

This is a great book if you are traveling in Europe or sitting poolside, but unfortunately it absolutely was not for me.

Many thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have really enjoyed her other books so I was excited to receive this one as well.

I loved the setting and loved seeing Europe through their eyes and I'm a foodie so that was fun to read about but to be honest I just wasn't invested in Theo and Kit. This is a SSSLLLOOOWWW burn and made it hard to connect to these two. I hated the part about the "bet". I feel like it was juvenile and made it harder for them to come together.

I love CMQ and I love the risks they took with this book — it’s a horny bisexual romp about exes who end up on the same food-and-wine tour of Europe and deal with their repressed feelings by competing to have sex with the most locals. If that premise gives you the ick, you will not enjoy this book, and that’s okay! It’s a thrill to watch an author gain confidence and make big swings, and this book feels like a big eff-you to the straight cis readers who loved CMQ’s debut Red, White, and Royal Blue but never touched another queer romance afterward.

I enjoyed the book as a novel but not as a romance. Casey can write a sentence and a joke better than almost anyone in the genre today. This book is so gay, so loud, so sensory, so lush. But The Pairing messes with the rules of the romance genre in ways that frustrated me. It’s rare to read a romance where the main characters sleep with people other than their love interest(s). As a non-monogamous reader, I would genuinely love to see that change, but I don’t know if CMQ stuck the landing on making space within genre romance fore casual sex. Some readers take their criticism in a slut-shaming direction or decry The Pairing for stereotyping bisexuals as promiscuous. I don’t think those arguments are fair, but I think readers are reaching for reasons why this book made them uncomfortable. To me, the various Europeans that Theo and Kit bonk are thinly written and feel more like pawns than people. Pawns is too harsh; they are written like the food and wine the tourist main characters sample on their tour. I was relieved when Theo and Kit finally got together, not because I was all that invested in their relationship but because they didn’t seem to care about anyone other than each other.

The Pairing is a second chance romance between two high school besties turned lovers who break up at an airport and reconnect over a long delayed Europe trip.
I really wanted to love this book but if I'm being honest I was bored reading it. I love the various settings as they travel through Europe and the food porn is devine. But this was the slowest slow burn in the history of slow burns and the bet made to see who can sleep with as many people on this trip just didn't do it for me. Theo and Kit came across as really childish and they couldn't seem to get it together until the end of the book.

3 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

If you like:

-traveling/ European landscapes ✈️
-2nd chance romance 💘
-childhood friends to lovers 🥰
-lgtbqia+ main characters 🏳️‍🌈

This might be the book for you!

Casey McQuiston is an auto-buy & read author for me! They have the ability to write some of the sweetest lines I have ever read that left me kicking my little feet.

Thank you to NetGalley for access to this ARC.

The Pairing was an okay read. While there were elements I enjoyed I definitely think I just had different expectations from the romance.

I was able to listen to the audiobook as well and the dual narrators were fantastic and made the story more enjoyable.

The first half of the story is in Theo’s POV and the second half is in Kit’s POV, which I liked. There were some great tropes like forced proximity, best friends to lovers to exes to lovers, and a second chance romance.

The LGBTQIA representation, with Theo being non-binary and both Kit and Theo being bisexual was refreshing and just beautifully presented.

The overall premise was interesting. I loved the wine and food element and the European setting. There were some great side characters and some sweet and amusing moments as well.

I will say though, the first half of the story was very slow-paced and not really my favorite. I definitely enjoyed the second half more, especially because it was Kit’s POV who I liked more to be honest.

The romance was the biggest issue for me in this book though. It was very underwhelming and just not what I was hoping for. While they did have some angst and pining, I just didn’t believe in their connection. The main reason for this was because they both continuously hook up with other people during their trip. While, the sexual wager was a big subplot I just didn’t expect there to be so many scenes and moments with other people. The sleeping with other people last until 50% into the story. So it just made it hard for me to believe in their romance when there was no real development or growth in their relationship until almost the end.

There were some spicy moments and scenes but again some of those were with other people. Theo and Kit do have some sweet and heartfelt moments though.

The last few chapters were pretty good and the epilogue was nice. Overall, not my favorite book from this author but still an okay read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for allowing me to read an ARC of The Pairing by Casey McQuiston.

Heartbroken exes and childhood best friends on a European food and drink tour together? What could possibly go wrong...

OMG ALL THE FEELS. Reunited exes is one of the tropes I struggle the most with (bear with me...) simply because it often makes me feel so sad and emotional, and boy does Casey McQuiston make me feel all the feels (in a good way!). The longing. The desire. The emotional growth. The food. The drinks! All of the senses and all of the emotions were involved in this book. Also, prepare your credit card for the upcoming purchase of plane tickets (or the strong wish for them like myself) because this book truly takes you along for the tour, and while you get a lot of time with the characters, you also get so much time with delicious food and drink descriptions and gorgeous travel notes. Just putting it out there....The Pairing movie would be SO good!

Definitely Recommend!

Reading this book was an absolute treat. After loving Red, White, and Royal Blue and liking One Last Stop I was so excited for The Pairing. This follows two exes Kit and Theo who end up booking the same three week European food and drink tour after not seeing each other for four years.

The love and passion between these two characters is just so palpable on the page. Mcquiston creates such a rich back story for the characters and blends together the way they fit then, and the way they’ve changed and could still fit together now. It is also unapologetically queer and erotic in a way I haven’t seen very often. The descriptions of the sights, sounds, and especially tastes of each European city are described to perfection and made me endlessly hungry. I wish I could read this book again for the first time.