I've been a fan of Casey McQuiston's since RWRB and found I've been chasing those feelings since. The Pairing comes very close to that, but is its own beautiful thing. I absolutely loved Kit and Theo's story. Reading this book truly felt like being on a tour of romantic European stops with them. The food, locations, people, and culture were all highlighted so beautifully and it's very obvious that McQuiston did their research.

These exes are not lacking chemistry and their attempt to rebuild a friendship in pursuit of peace was so entertaining as it was filled with hijinks and exploring Europe together.

I will read anything by CMQ and am so happy I got the chance to review this one.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun and adventurous read that certainly satisfied some of my wanderlust but it was also emotional and sweet and deep. I really found the exploration of the character's feelings and doubts about themselves interesting to read and Casey McQuiston handles so many different character moments with ease and gentleness. I found some of this to be a bit too spicy for me personally but I was able to skim a few of those parts ;)

This novel is so beautifully decadent… delicious, even! The language is evocative without feeling excessive, and the characters are two perfectly flawed, wonderfully queer people just trying to find their way in the world. I loved the way the forced proximity trope was handled in this setting, and I loved being able to go on this trip with them. Kit reminded me that I need to live my life finding wonder in all things, and Theo… Theo helped me finally put words to the reasons I’ve never left my hometown, and showed me some things I hadn’t recognized in myself. This was just such a beautiful story, and I can’t wait to read it again.

Also — I need Calums content!!

Casey McQuiston’s ‘The Pairing’ was a queer romance that captured the beauty of travel, good food, and community. As a foodie and avid traveler, I really enjoyed the vivid descriptions of the food and wine that the characters explore throughout Spain, Italy, and France and I definitely bookmarked several locations to visit on my future travels.

One of the standout elements of the book was the inclusion of a non-binary character, whose gender identity and pronouns were thoughtfully addressed, and their journey felt incredibly authentic. The romance between Kit and Theo was so loving and tender, and they might be my second favorite Casey McQuiston couple (August and Jane 4ever!!!!) .

Overall, 'The Pairing' was a delightful read and I look forward to Casey McQuiston’s next book.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Seeing a lot of the stuff being shared leading up to the release of this book, I began to worry that maybe this one wasn’t going to be my cup of tea and now, after having read it, it turns out I was right. I know that there will be loads of people who love this book, but it wasn’t for me. There’s no doubt that Casey did their homework with all the rich descriptions of the various places in Europe where these characters visited and the copious amounts of food and wine they consumed - it could very nearly double as a travel guide for these places. But there were soooooo many of them that it made the story drag and the plot became buried beneath pages and pages of exposition. Perhaps if I were a little more worldly or a foodie (or a beautiful and perpetually horny European), I would have appreciated it more but it was all lost on me. But again, these are very much “me” problems and if someone who’s into that sort of thing picks up this book, they’ll probably enjoy it more.

The romance didn’t really hit for me either. All of Kit and Theo’s prior relationship happens off-page, before the story starts and we’re just told how much they loved each other and how hard their breakup was for each of them. But, once they were reunited, even though they were extremely sexually compatible, I struggled to see what else their relationship offered. I actually bought into their friendship more than I did their romantic pairing. Second-chance romances are a tricky thing.

One part I did particularly like, though, was when Theo came out to Kit with their new pronouns. I loved the way they framed it and how easily Kit made the mental shift to accept Theo as they were. That was probably the scene that drew the most emotion out to me while reading.

I have a lot more I could say, but it’s nothing that hasn’t already been said in other reviews I’ve seen so I’ll leave it at that. It’s a little bit of a bummer that I couldn’t connect with it but it wasn’t wholly unexpected.

First Impressions: Tourists
What’s Your Type? Second-Chance Romance, Queer Romance, Sleeping Your Way Through Europe, So Much Tasty Business, Seriously, So Much Tasty Business
Meet Cute: Is This Seat Taken?
The Lean: Second—and First—Chances
Dirty Talk: Taste the Continent
We Need to Talk: Packing My Passport
Was it Good For You? Endless Fondue

First Impressions: Tourists
This cover is striking, and I dig the map-print shirts. But I can’t help but wonder why Steve Harrington modeled for it?

What’s Your Type?
Second-Chance Romance
Queer Romance
Sleeping Your Way Through Europe
So Much Tasty Business
Seriously, So Much Tasty Business

Dating Profile
Theo Flowerday is the eldest child of a famous Hollywood family and the only member who isn’t in the limelight. Content with life working as an assistant sommelier and cocktail bartender, Theo is happy with life and a long list of casual lovers.

Kit Fairfield thinks Paris is the right place for him and his life as a pastry chef. Half-French, he too has experienced his fair share of sexual partners and lives a life that delights the senses.

Meet Cute: Is This Seat Taken?
Four years ago, Kit and Theo broke up after twenty years of being best friends and many years of being lovers. They haven’t spoken since that fateful day when they argued on their way to a three-week food and wine tour of Europe, and Kit moved to Paris while Theo went home to California. Theo decides to take the very last opportunity to go on the tour and gets a huge surprise when Kit’s on the bus, too.

The Lean: Second—and First—Chances
When they realize they’ll be stuck together for three weeks, Theo and Kit attempt to be friendly. But their friendship quickly turns into a competition to see which of them can hook up with more people along the way—even though both of them want desperately to get back together. Although the competition soon leads them back to each other, the actual romance of the thing takes nearly to the end of the book to come (heh) to fruition. There is so much sex in this book, but the swoon takes a serious backseat, which disappointed me quite a bit.

Dirty Talk: Taste the Continent
So much of The Pairing boils down to the five senses and the gift that is good food and drink. The spice level of the book is high, in every sense of the term.

Ms. Perky’s Prize for Purplest Prose
There’s so much beauty in The Pairing, as one might expect from a book about a sumptuous European tour, but the descriptions of food and locales can veer toward purple territory at times.

We Need to Talk: Packing My Passport
As much as I felt like I needed a shower after reading The Pairing, it still made me want to take a tour like the one Theo and Kit go on. The food! The drink! The museums! The scenery! The architecture! I’d gain 15 pounds every day from all the rich eating and lose (some of) it thanks to all the walking.

Was it Good For You? Endless Fondue
I love Red, White, & Royal Blue and One Last Stop, so I was eagerly looking forward to The Pairing. Where McQuiston’s other books have a magical mix of swoon and spice, this book leans too heavily in the spice direction, at least for me. I saw a Goodreads review that described it as McQuiston’s “sluttiest book yet,” and this is an apt description. (No shame meant!) I wanted more than a few passages about the love shared between Theo and Kit and needed more than the physicality of their relationship to believe it.

Thank you St. Martin's Press & NetGalley for the ARC!

I have been a big Casey McQuiston fan for a while now and was so excited to see this approval ARC in my inbox. I appreciated Theo and Kit's journey back to each other and through Europe - the love story was woven through beautiful descriptive language about food, scenery and sex.

I think for me personally, I found the sex a little too much for my taste. I am not a prude, but there were certain scenes that made me uncomfortable. This is all personal preference, but I would have preferred a couple of trigger warnings before reading.

Thank you again for the ARC!

This second-chance romance definitely scratches a late-summer itch. Theo, Kit, and a delightful and wacky cast of characters take the reader with them on a fabulous (and delicious) European tour filled with McQuiston's signature mix of snappy banter and deep emotion. Theo and Kit's history is beautifully woven into the story, and each point of view has a wonderful and distinctive voice. Foodies, wine afficionados, and readers who love a spicy LGBTQ+ romance will all find something to love here.

This was such a layered summer read--a second chance full of McQuiston's wit and humor, lust and longing, and wine and SPICE! Kit and Theo are childhood friends turned lovers who endure a brutal breakup on a flight to their three-week European food and wine tour. Things are said, and not said, and they don't speak for years until they both use their travel vouchers and wind up on the same food tour. As they traipse their way through Europe drinking and eating, they continue to miscommunicate all while running a bet on who can sleep with the most people (to ignore the fact that they just want each other).

At times, I was frustrated by their inability to open their mouths and proclaim their love, but McQuiston mindfully develops their backstories and their baggage--Theo is studying to be a sommelier and feeling lost in their inability to make a profit off their cocktail bus business and avoiding taking money from their actress sisters and director father; Kit is a successful pastry chef who still smarts from the loss of his mother and his awkward relationship with his father. Because their formative lives were so entwined, it's easy to root for them, and their shared history creates such electricity of wanting...their sexual chemistry is just everything, and I was happy to go along for the ride. McQuiston's prose is gorgeous and decadent, just like the main characters, and makes me want to expedite my return to Europe. Foodies will enjoy this book as well, as long as they know they are in for trysts and threesomes and no vanilla sex. The side characters are charming and funny (that flirty Fabrezio!), but lack the true connection and depth I felt with some of the side characters in Red, White, and Royal Blue (long live the Whitehouse trio!).

Thank you to NetGalley and St.Martin's Press for the e-ARC.

I feel so sad that I didn’t like this book. Maybe it just didn’t vibe with my forte of romances in books and honestly, that’s on me. This has been marketed as a very sex-positive book and it is! Love that. However, it’s somewhat unrealistic in my opinion that everyone would want you all of the time, everywhere. Maybe I’m just not hot enough lol. Anyway, I’m forever a Casey McQuiston fan, this just wasn’t my cup of tea.

I always love McQuiston’s writing, and the characters really came to life in this novel. I enjoyed the settings and the minor characters, but I almost felt like there was too much teaching going on of the food and wine. There were parts where it felt more like a travel guide than a novel, and I tried too hard to think about what I was supposed to be learning. That’s the only thing that made this novel 4 and not 5 stars. Still very enjoyable read and I will recommend it.

I wanted to love the latest romance from Casey McQuiston so much, and for a while I was really enjoying it. We're in Europe! Second chance romance slash kind of enemies to lovers! But then it just kept spinning its wheels - the same events kept happening and happening, and it honestly felt like the author was just delaying the couple admitting their feelings until we got to the end of the trip - because that's how it should be. Literally nothing felt even remotely realistic and everything was so simple and convenient.

On paper this seems like the perfect story, and some parts were enjoyable, but overall it just had me rolling my eyes :(

I have a very love-hate relationship with this book.
-Two exes run into each other on a food tour through Europe. Forced proximity, second chance, Europe, food?? LOVE
-miscommunication trope. HATE
-start a competition with your ex to see who can hook up with more people on this tour HATE
-ACTUALLY following through and hooking up with multiple people?? LOATHE ENTIRELY

Side note: I’ve never been to Europe but this book is trying to convince me it’s full of hot people ready to fuck our main characters over a smile. Maybe if you’re going to bars looking for a hookup but the fish monger? The chocolatier? The guy pouring wine? Random guy on a pier that owns a giant yacht? Sure sure, ok. If that’s the case, someone send my gay ass to Paris maintenant, s’il vous plait.

-Kit. LOVE LOVE LOVE
-CMQ’s comedic writing style. LOVE
-MORE MISCOMMUNICATION. DOUBLE HATE
-queer representation and how different that can look with each person. J’ADORE

I love McQuiston’s writing style so much and I was so ready for this to be my new favorite book but I feel so let down. I love a second-chance romance but you still have to earn my belief in their love. And perhaps I’m more traditional (brother eugh) than I thought because I absolutely did not like reading about them hooking up with other people. I needed them to be so in love, they didn’t even see anyone else. That’s what I enjoy reading about. I’m sure there will be plenty of people who love this book just the way it is and I’m so happy for them but simultaneously disappointed for myself.
I think I’m going to go comfort myself with a reread of RW&RB 😭
Thanks NetGalley, I guess

This story was a rollercoaster ride I had mixed feelings about that I took part in. To be honest, this isn’t really my cup of tea in terms of tropes, I’m not one for second-chance romance but I’m a fan of the author and I wanted to give this story a try. I’m sad to say that it wasn’t what I cracked it up to be. Objectively, the writing is great and it was more of an intellectual read but that can be attributed to the fact that the author took their time and did research on the topic that they’re writing about. I loved that fact because I was able to pick that up instead of being a confused reader. Now to premise this, just because it wasn’t my kettle doesn’t mean it won’t work for you, everyone’s different. The story follows Kit and Theo who went from childhood friends to lovers to exes to friends to friends with benefits with restrictions to lovers (yes, it really was one big rollercoaster😂). Their breakup was something that really boggled me in how unnecessary it was and it played to the miscommunication trope which I’m not privy to (frankly I hate it). However, I felt like the distance did some good in solidifying both character's individualities. Theo was able to come into their body more and Kit branched out and found himself. The story had a great setting with some fancy wines that I wished at times magically appeared in front of me(sadly that wasn’t the case🥲). The story between Kit and Theo was very simple and easygoing for their situation and I feel like it went back to their love for each other. Kits and Theo's love are two very different things and are expressed in a form that I wanted them to be both familiar with (they did and it was one of the sweetest things ever, knowing your best friend even when time flowed but the love remained). Kit was a prime example. Love his true name, wished it was exhibited more😅.

All in all, it was a ride that you would need to experience yourself to make a decision but from me, it’s not something that I want to do again. I loved Kit and Theo but the premise of the story didn’t stick out to me. Thank you to Netgallery and St.Martins Press for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I read this as an eARC but I want to buy a copy and eat it.

But more seriously this is one of the rare times I wished I had a physical copy while reading so I could annotate or at least make note of some things that really rang true to me -- Theo's feelings on gender and pronouns specifically, a lot of the way Kit sees the world so purely... special love for deeply loving faun fairy men like him...

I have the privilege (???????) of not liking wine so I could easily enough get lost in the scent descriptions without having to have that disappointing (for me!) hand-in-hand alcohol-taste along with it, nor am I good enough at picking up notes in scents or food, so for me a goodly chunk of this book is just a feast for my eyes (reading.. words...) and imagination into the depths of a Western European tasting tour, of a second-chance romance from childhood best friends to lovers to young adults who made mistakes and the adults-of-four-years-later who will still make mistakes but this time are better equipped with understandings of themselves and the humans they've grown into to sort of... work with said mistakes and into making their lives better, both as individuals and together. I enjoyed the slut-romp through Europe (though somehow I was expecting more of that??) and the fact that sex really wasn't described much/open door until the two of them were involved.......... one way or another (including thoughts, many thoughts).

Maybe the longer I sit with this instead of my habit of slamming up reviews for NetGalley books ASAP there will be things that linger in my brain as less than my initial outcome of ~vibes~ but there was a lot in here that spoke to me personally and even outside that I had a good time!

Like so many of us, I really enjoyed Red, White and Royal Blue vand Casey McQuiston. So I was THRILLED to get an advanced copy of their latest book, The Pairing which is out TODAY!!! This feels unlike any book I've read before - and that is some high praise! I devoured it in less than 24 hours. And ooooooh this one was SPICY!!

Kit and Theo are many things - childhood best friends turned lovers turned partners who broke up in an epic fashion - on an airplane, in the middle of a mid-Atlantic flight. They had saved up to do a food tour across Europe, but they didn't make it. They didn't speak after the plane landed. Until they shockingly end up on that same tour four years later.

They've both changed a lot - they've explored, they've evolved, and at first they don't know how interact. Slowly, but surely, between trying new pastries, exploring some of Europe's hidden gems, they begin to get to know each other again. And yet despite the years, some things have remained the same - their love of food, exploration, and a good competition. So in an attempt to ward off the sparks between the two of them, they decide to engage in a contest of who can bed more locals on their travels. And while the men and women these two bisexual exes find catch their eyes, Theo and Kit still keep finding themselves drawn to each other.

It is a story of love, of loss, of exploration and of finding yourself. It is also a story steeped deep in food, in travel, in self discovery and in lust. It is both one of the horniest books I have ever read, and one that made me want to immediately book a food tour in Europe. And truly, what more could we want?!

Happy Publishing Day to Casey and this FABULOUS book! Please read it so we can talk allll about it! And of course big thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's press for letting me experience this one early!

Will post on my bookstagram @scottonreads, goodreads and retail sites.

I am so lucky to have gotten to read this book early;
I want to start by saying I love Casey McQuiston. Their writing of characters is so in depth and fully fleshed out and REAL. seriously, I feel like these are real people, their personalities and likes and dislikes and mannerisms are all so real, I felt like I was watching a documentary of two people falling in love again.

This book wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows in my mind, though. I absolutely hate to speak anything negative about a book by a beloved author like McQuiston, but I promised I would be honest in my reviews. I guess the documentary comparison is apt, because man was a big portion of this book boring. I found myself skimming paragraph upon paragraph of minute details about the wine they were drinking. Like, okay, I get it, it’s good wine. I don’t care to read about it for three pages. That’s barely an exaggeration. Maybe some wine connoisseurs will appreciate the depth this book went into about it, but I definitely didn’t.

In addition, I found the writing and characters to be a bit pretentious. Like I said, the characters were super fleshed out and real feeling, but that doesn’t mean I liked them. They had this air about them that made them feel better than everyone else, even when they had moments of “doubting” themselves. Like only they mattered. I get it’s a romance book and they’re the main characters, but there was very little fleshing out of side characters apart from Fabrizio. The wine talk, the feeling of superiority even if it’s not explicitly stated in the text, just made for a very pretentious read. Like the text wanted to prove that it was “sophisticated” and more “cultured” than you. I’m definitely being too harsh here…. But am I really?

Apart from overall being way too long, the ending was very underwhelming and like everything just fell into place. I liked the direction it was going in the beginning of the end of the book— it was realistic and kind of a twist on your run-of-the-mill romance book. No spoilers, it’s still a romance after all! But the end-end just seemed… dull. I mean, I liked it, but I didn’t love it. After a whole build up of fighting feelings and hiding declarations of love, you would think the ending would have been a big showcase of the pent up feelings, but it wasn’t. At least to me it wasn’t. Again, no spoilers, because I couldn’t really predict how this book would end… I just didn’t love it when I got there.

Okay, that’s a lot of negatives. I didn’t hate this book as much as it may seem. Again, the characters were super interesting and real— while pretentious— and the backstory really added to the overall plot in an entertaining way, I just feel it could have been written so differently to make it more intriguing. You can appreciate the culture and environment of Europe without making it your whole personality (*cough* Kit *cough*) or making it the whole book. For example, (I hate comparing books but I feel this comparison is necessary) in Edward Underhill’s This Day Changes Everything, New York City as a setting actually acts as a character in the book, and I think that’s what McQuiston was trying to do here, but it ended up taking over the whole story and overshadowing the MCs. It didn’t work WITH the story, it stepped on its toes. Maybe even its whole foot.

I did love the representation in this book, and how everything just seemed to be accepted and understood— it was refreshing. It’s so important to see in books, and I think coming from a genderqueer (I hope that’s the right term) author it makes it even more impactful.

I didn’t hate the book, I just had very high expectations for it after reading Red, White and Royal Blue. Yes that one had a lot of politics, but it didn’t overshadow the story, it worked with it. I hope I got my point across.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Casey McQuiston for allowing me to read this book early. All opinions are my own.

DNFed @ 45%

I wished that I had more to say about this book, however I just really don't. There was nothing particularly bad no note on, but there really wasn't much good either. It was actually kinda... boring, which is sad to say because I absolutly loved the authors previous releases. I am far from the only one excieted to see them return after their 2022's I Kissed Shara Wheeler.

While I liked Theo and Kit individually, I found them almost dull when they were together. Even though they did have a lot of steamy moments, it felt hollow because I just didn't get what they saw in each other besides just the physical. Other than that, the whole plot was very repetative and I wasn't too keen on finishing a book I wasn't invested in.

two stars

This book was just OK. I love Casey and their writing so I think I expected more than I got. I enjoyed the premise as well as the development of the relationship. There was just some thing off that I can’t put my finger on which kept it to 3.5/5 for me.

I'm sorry to say that this one just didn't work for me. I tried and tried but I just couldn't connect with it. Everything felt so superficial and the second chance romance didn't work for me at all.
It's so unfortunate because I've loved Casey McQuiston in the past.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.