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.

I genuinely don’t know how I feel about this book. It took me over 2 weeks to read - which is super rare for me.

I've decided to go with a 4/5, because once I got into it, I did enjoy it. I also can see others enjoying it, depending on what they like to read!

This is quite a spicy & horny book 😅 and heavy on the food descriptions too. If those are your thing, you might love this one 😍

What I did like:
💜 Theo & Kit - I really liked both MCs, how they were trying to figure out their lives individually and together. I was rooting for them to figure things out, both personally and as a couple.
🏳️‍🌈 All the queer rep, in many forms.
🎧 The audio - I thought both narrators were perfect, they really felt like their characters.

What didn't work for me:
💜 Having only Theo's POV for half the book, then Kit's. I believe the author was trying to create a bit of mystery, but I would have liked to have known Kit's feelings from the start.
💜 The MCs hooking up with other people. This is a personal preference, I prefer my main couple to only be with each other intimately.
🥗 The lengthy food descriptions - again, this is a me thing, and not why I took off a star - I can see many enjoying this!

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press & Macmillian audio for advanced copies. All opinions are my own.

I was so excited to receive an early copy of this book, as I am a huge fan of McQuiston‘s Red, White and Royal Blue. This book was unfortunately did not live up. The premise was intriguing, but fell flat because the characters were hard to root for and the writing felt like a slog to get through. I do plan on giving the Pairing another shot, when my library hold comes through for the audiobook. Hopefully a slower read will allow me to feel the indulgent atmosphere that this book is meant to provoke.

The descriptions of the food, wine, drinks, and locations were absolutely amazing, however, I just could not get on board for the main characters and their relationship. I also think dual POV back and forth might have worked better (at least for me) than split down the middle.

✔️ Second Chance
✔️ Childhood Friends
✔️ Love on Vacation
✔️ One Bed

For those of you who read seasonally, this is the perfect romance to end summer with. The setting is various gorgeous locations around France, Spain, and Italy where the two main characters eat and drink and soak in culture and local sights as well as each other's company.

I love a read where the couple used to be best friends and have to figure out how to be around each other again. Their breakup was painful so there is a ton of angst and pining and sorting through feelings then and now.

All the descriptions of food, drink, locations and their feelings were superb - I could practically feel the summer heat; I drooled over the descriptions of food - texture and flavor; I ached at all the emotion and all the love that was buried and now coming back to light.

I think this is my first chaotic bisexual read and I'm here for it.

If you loved People We Meet on Vacation or Slow Dance or The Ex Vows, this is another second chance friends to lovers that just tugs hard on your heartstrings, but only to propel you to the swooniest swoon.

And look, yes don't judge a book by its cover but this one is gorgeous inside and out. 5⭐️ and it feels like a must for your shelves!

Steam 🔥🔥🔥
Banter 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️
Swoon 💕💕💕💕💕

I was so grateful for this ARC from Netgalley & Macmillan Publishers. I also grabbed the audiobook thanks to BOTM!

Casey always has a way with conveying big emotions that always get me. This was no different as we follow longtime best friends turned lovers Theo & Kitt. After an awful fight on a plane to attend a food and wine tour across European cities, the two break up and go their separate ways. They are reunited 4 years later to redeem their voucher for the tour and are forced to embark on the journey they were meant to take as a couple.

They have both grown so much since the last spoke and slowly warm to one another again as friends competing in a conquest challenge as they travel city to city experiencing the culture, food, and good wine. I loved how sexual preference and identity was tackled in the book. As such a sensitive topic for most, it was refreshing to see both Theo and Kitt explain how they don’t have any standard or preference when picking a sexual partner. Both self proclaimed bisexuals, and as one myself, I kind of loved how the two went after both men and women during the challenge. Granted, they should have communicated with each other better as both are still madly in love with the other, it was a great plot point to help explore their characters better.

I also love that Theo defines themselves as nonbinary. There’s hardly any nonbinary characters in literature and I absolutely adored how once Theo made their claim, that Kitt switched to use they/them pronouns. These characters were explored with such authenticity and care, making it a truly beautiful story.

While some might find issue with all the food and wine talk, I personally loved it. As a self proclaimed foodie, I was 100% here for all the delicious descriptions. I was even more in love when they traveled to Rome and Florence as I went there for my honeymoon and could picture all their locations. I was reminiscing so hard and if someone ever wanted to visit Europe, this was a love letter enticing you to book the flight!

I think that the themes or found family, self sabotage, childhood trauma and relationships were explored beautifully within the story. Riddled with complexities and depth, the story analyzes Theo’s feeling of displacement in life in almost every aspect (body, work, family) while also following Kitt’s journey to self discovery after his revelation that his life isn’t as fulfilling as he hoped.

This is a heartwarming second chance romance filled with laughter, tender moments, and delicious treats that will leave your heart so full.

The things I liked about this book:
Being taken on a splendid wine and food tour through Europe, although the descriptions became to detailed and slowed the pace of the book
Kit’s vulnerable love for Theo
Non-binary representation
Fabrizio
An tearful ending

What didn’t work for me:
The immaturity, especially Theo
The sex competition that felt demeaning
The numerous side characters that didn’t add to the story
The first part of the book is Theo’s POV and I almost DNF. I’m glad I made it to Kit’s POV because the book picked up there and flowed better.

The Pairing was more of a miss for me, but I think others who are looking for a second chance romance with a lot of spice may enjoy.

any review for this novel is being withheld as part of the ongoing boycott against st martin's press & imprints

This story made me feel like I was along for the ride on a European culinary tour - and it was an absolute blast! The travel/food aspects of this book were so well written, they gave me the whimsy vibes, made me hungry and had me laughing along with the cast of tour characters.

McQuiston’s writing really sucks me in - the descriptions are detailed without bogging down a story, her dialogue is witty and the banter is just so much fun and her characters are always so interesting!!

However, I found the conflict between our main characters to be quite repetitive and their reactions to be very immature for people of their age. I became frustrated as the story carried on, I was still rooting for them but I wanted to GET ON WITH IT!!

I would read a hundred more pages about any of the side characters, the main characters not so much.

It’s a solid book! I enjoyed the descriptions of place, food, wine, and the atmosphere they made. The spice was good and nicely paced. I just didn’t love the main characters and wasn’t rooting for them much but overall decent!