This book was everything I want in a romance. Funny, emotionally poignant, and unbelievably hot, I fell in love from the first chapter. Casey McQuiston is THE romance writer to me, and this may be my favourite one yet. There was such a sense of overindulgence and art in this story that made me feral and the characters are truly soulmates. I cannot recommend this enough!

The Lizzie McGuire movie if it were gay and extremely horny ✌🏻

——— 🍷🍰🍝

I mean - this is a book about two bisexual exes booking the same wine/food tour of Europe and then dealing with that awkwardness, but yeah, that’s as deep as it gets. Just European city 👏 booze 👏 food 👏 hooking up 👏 another city 👏

And look, as a (retired) slutty bisexual myself, that would normally be enough! But this is Casey McQuiston we’re talking about and I expect a bit more from them.

Which is not to say I had a bad time - I absolutely did not, it was a fine time. The food and art and wine descriptions made me wish I was on the tour with them instead of sweating on public transit. There were moments that got the specifics of the bi experience so accurate it was downright eerie (The Moulin Rouge of it all).

But mostly, I found the writing to be repetitive and self-indulgent (occasionally slipping into full-blown cheesy territory), and a hair too long at nearly 400 pages. Instead of charmed, I kept wondering when this whole thing would end.

And from the subject matter alone, I get that this was a probably a very personal thing to write, maybe even something McQuiston felt they NEEDED to write. I think there is merit in this aspect alone, and I can see this expanding the romance genre further.

Still, there was just something wooden about The Pairing that never allowed it to resonate deeper with me.

Though this one might be a really solid choice if you’re traveling for end of summer vacations or trips - the wanderlust seeping off the page is infectious and fill you with even more excitement for your own adventures.

A food and wine tour of Europe reunites a pair of exes in this delicious second chance romance, my favorite of McQuiston's after 𝘙𝘦𝘥, 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 & 𝘙𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦. I cannot wait for the special edition I preordered to arrive!

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the copy to review.

I struggle with this book because while I definitely had a lot of fun reading this book, I didn't necessarily find it to be a necessarily good book. The setting itself was fantastic - I haven't been to all of the places mentioned in the book, but I feel like I can picture them vividly and it definitely made me want to go visit those places.

I feel like this was much longer than it needed to be. It dragged, and every time I thought we were reaching some sort of inciting incident or anything, it just continued to drag on.

I also feel like it really leaned into the stereotype of bisexuals being promiscuous far too much. And I found the characters to be way too immature; I think their actions would have worked better if this was a YA book, but they were pushing 30 and acting like this??? I also just hate the miscommunication trope, which was a huge reason for their initial breakup.

When I pick up a Casey McQuiston book, I know I'm in for a fun time with a romance that strikes the right balance of comedy and emotion. The Pairing is billed as a romcom about two exes, Theo and Kit, who end up crossing paths for the first time four years after their seismic breakup. In an especially awkward reunion, they realize they've both booked the same food and wine tour through Europe. Theo proposes a hookup competition to keep the peace and make the most of this trip (and manage their lingering attraction). Chaotic bisexual hijinks ensue.

I really love a forced proximity story (and a road trip romance!), but I find second chance romance can be a difficult premise to land. McQuiston's characters have such heart, that they stick the landing. The leads have really fun banter as they slip back into their old familiar rapport, despite the fallout from their breakup, striking a really nice balance with the more vulnerable, emotional scenes. The tour guides and other travelers make a great supporting cast, and the European backdrop (and the sensuous food descriptions) are divine. It's a really good summery read with a lot of heart. The chapters in Kit's POV are a treat. Lots of laughs and feels in a summery book with a lot of heart.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of Casey McQuiston's newest novel, The Pairing.

I thought that the idea behind it was cute and I was SO excited to read this, as I've read all of the author's other books, but I feel like this one fell a little short for me. It took a while to get into and I almost put it down. I'm glad I finished, as it definitely got better, but it felt kind of jumbled to me? I loved that they were on a European tour, and the descriptions of the places & their experiences were vivid! But the character dynamics are what felt a little off to me.

Spoilers ahead:
I did enjoy Kit's POV more than Theo's (it switched halfway through), but I feel like it would have been more enjoyable if the book flipped back and forth between the two of them throughout the book, as is more typical with a split POV. I really liked Kit and Theo as main characters, but would rather them have spent the book finding their way back to each other - rather than them hooking up with literally anyone else they met, then deciding they still loved each other?

DNF @ 22%. I am just not vibing with "The Pairing" by Casey McQuiston. I may go back and read this at a later date, but I have started and stopped the first 20% three different times, and it's not gripping me like I hope it would have. This is such a bummer because I have loved McQuiston's other novels. I was really looking forward to this one. I will say, I love the vast, visceral descriptions of trekking across Europe and the food that Kit and Theo eat, but apart from that, I don't love these characters and the things they do. I am all for $luts, we do not $lut-shame in this house, but the prospect of having to read about Theo and Kit sleep their way through Europe while trying to make each other jealous, instead of having an actual conversation with one another about how they feel, seems tedious and daunting to me. There is an air of entitlement and immaturity about these characters that is rubbing me the wrong way, too. I did enjoy the audiobook narrators, Emma Galvin and Max Meyers. Any success I had reading this book was entirely because of them and their voice performances.

Thank you to NetGalley, Casey McQuiston, St. Martin's Press, and St. Martin's Griffin for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

This is one of those books that I requested on here knowing full well that I would not be one of the chosen ones to actually get picked. I'm pretty sure I screamed when I got the email! I love Casey McQuiston's novels and this one is no different. I loved reading Kit and Theo's journey on what sounds like the most incredible food and wine tour (seriously, it made me want to sign up for every wine tasting in my area) but also how they confront their personal fears and struggles but that as a couple as well. I took my time with this one because I knew it would probably be one that I devoured in a day if I didn't and then I would be sad it was over and I was sad anyway. The characters, the story, the writing, it all came together to create a beautiful story of love, loss, growing up and getting older. I will definitely be getting a physical copy of this one because I know I will want to read it again over some summer vacation!

this book was an absolute delight! second chance romance is far from my favorite genre but when it's done, it should be done like The Pairing. eating and drinking our way through Europe while watching Kit and Theo fall back in love really made for the perfect summer read. while I felt like the reveal of their breakup/the actual explanation was a little dragged out (or really more like underdeveloped), them discovering each other again felt authentic and based on their current experiences not just previous attraction. stylistically, the perspective switch was EXCELLENT and made for a better reading experience than if we were getting both POVs the whole time. the ending was done perfectly and I found myself a lil emotional over it. overall, definitely one people should be putting on their vacation TBRs

DNF @ 10%. I normally try to get through 20% or more before determining it's not for me, but I paused reading this a few weeks ago and have yet to feel the desire to go back to it. I did not enjoy the characters, I do not enjoy second chance romances, and I could not be less into the idea of this travel/food romance.
Thank you St. Martin's Press & MacMillan Audio for the review copies.

my three loves in life are books, travel, and food.
some of my honorable mentions: banter, wine, flirting, hot people, scenery, public transit, cities, fun facts, desserts, getting drunk, the lgbtq+ community, old friends, inside jokes, sluts, and movies. 
all of those things, and also more things, are in this book.
i have spent my whole life (or the last few years) wanting to like a casey mcquiston book. prior to today i have tried three times, and i have failed three times. some, including a fictionalized version of albert einstein (potentially the college dorm room poster version with his tongue sticking out), would say this meets the definition of insanity.
i'd call it perseverance.
and i'd point you in the direction of this book as exhibit a.
when i first started this, i chanted "i am going to have fun" like a mantra, hoping my sheer stubbornness and inability to learn a lesson would translate into a minor miracle. and guess what. it worked.
this book was A Lot, including in its overlong page count and overwritten yearning (ESPECIALLY by the end), but otherwise in all the ways i like. lots of dumb hot people doing dumb hot people things, and lots of food, and lots of bad jokes. 
it's what life is all about.

I was excited to dive into this book after I heard it was a food and wine tour around Europe with a romance thrown in.

Theo and Kit broke up four years ago only to have both of them unknowingly cash in on the voucher for their European food and wine trip at the same time. They embark on an envious tour of Europe tasting the best foods and sipping the best wines while (re)discovering their buried feelings.

I will say that the travels and descriptions of the food tour were to die for…it made you feel as though you were right there sampling all of these delectables. On the romance front, though, I was pretty bored. I just didn’t feel a connection to either Theo or Kit and didn’t care whether or not they ended up together. The romance dragged for me and I started to skim to find out what happened.

I’m usually a big fan of McQuiston, but this one wasn’t my favorite.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I was super excited to read this after finishing one of my favourite reads of this year which was Red White and Royal Blue.

I loved the scenery and imagery of this book! Set in Europe, I liked the descriptions of the places and the food, and enjoyed immersing myself in the setting.

It was super interesting to learn about both Kit and Theo, and their backstories both individually and together. Even though I am not a fan of break-ups or second chance romances in the books I read, I feel like this was executed better than I expected.

There were some things I didn't really enjoy but are more of a personal preference: I wasn't really fond of reading about them hooking up with other people, and felt like the competition itself was a little repetitive and immature. Kit's POV IMO was also a lot better and interesting compared to Theo's, and I found myself almost waiting to get to Kit's POV to actually feel more engaged. I also didn't quite understand why Theo's POV was the first half and Kit's was the second half, instead of alternating, as I think it would have been an easier read if the latter was true due to how I found reading Kit's POV a lot easier.

All in all, I feel like this one was a little bit of a disappointment to me especially after going in with high expectations after RWRB. However, this definitely hasn't put me off McQuiston and I'll for sure be picking up another one of their books in the future.

I really love Casey McQuiston, but I’m not sure this book was for me. It started with a break up and had the main characters trying to hook up with other people, which is just not my jam. You may really enjoy this book, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. I’ll still run to read the next thing Casey writes!

The writing in The Pairing is lovely. The descriptions of the locales, food, and wine make me want to be there (more than I already did!). The love story just didn’t quite hit where I had hoped. I felt the residual love and longing between Theo and Kit, but I didn’t see much in the way of growth to get past what splintered them four years ago. In the last chapter (before the epilogue) they finally communicated after 3 weeks of dancing around each other. The lovely writing is what bumped this up to 4 stars.

While I enjoy a second chance romance, and I love the idea of forced proximity on a vacation with your ex and reconnecting (if they’re a good couple, and it was more of a “right person, wrong time” situation in the past), I cannot get on board with a “romance” that centers around two people who make it a challenge to sleep with other people during said vacation. I just can’t. I don’t buy the HEA at the end. I just really, really don’t like that kind of plot line. I’ve loved Casey McQuiston books in the past but this was a miss for me.

Casey mcquiston is royalty. Their ability to write queer stories is top tier. I loved the bi relationships here. Casey can do no wrong

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book had the best imagery! I loved the setting of a European food and wine tour. And what's even better is the main characters are exes who just so happen to be on this tour together.
The food and drink descriptions were amazing. I want to taste all the food Theo and Kit got to eat. I want to go on a tour with Fabrizio as my tour guide. I want Orla to drive the bus. I want to make friends with everyone on the tour. It sounds so chaotic in the best way - the kind if chaos that makes you feel warm inside.
The only reason this loses half a star is because I found the tourist attraction descriptions to be very long and not pertinent to the actual story. Sure, the places are cool but the focus is the food (and Theo and Kit). Those parts just dragged a bit for me.
Overall, very good, very spicy, very delicious read. If you're a fan of second chance romance, spicy reads, and food, you'll enjoy this one!

CW: a lot of food! If food is something you struggle with, please take care before reading this book 🫶🏻

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this one at 50%. I tried to dive back into random chapters throughout the rest of the book and even read the final few chapters to see if I could get into it, but I just couldn't. The Pairing is a second-chance romance, but I wasn't rooting for them to get back together at any point. I didn't feel Theo and Kit's connection during the trip or when their past was revisited. The writing was great - the descriptions of the places they visited and the food they ate made me feel like I was there with them. I wish I could've gotten into this, as I liked the author's prior books. I hope other readers will enjoy it more.

Thank you to author Casey McQuiston, publisher St. Martin's Griffin, and NetGalley for an eARC of The Pairing in exchange for my review.

Casey McQuiston has done it again. I truly don’t think there is anything they could write that I wouldn’t absolutely adore. They are a national treasure and so are their stories. The Pairing was such a beautiful story about love in all its forms amd felt like a the warmest hug and eating the best comfort meal on earth.