The food and travel descriptions in The Pairing are what made it an enjoyable read. It's so immersive and the writing is great! I just couldn't get behind Kit and Theo's romance rekindling. There was so much miscommunication and one conversation could have solved everything. Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The Pairing pairs exceptionally well with Casey McQuiston fans of any demographic!

Casey McQuiston is BACK! Not only have they triumphantly returned with this book, but it is delicious & invents a brand new trope for the romance world. This book features two bisexual exes as they finally redeem a food tour through Europe. But while Theo & Kit agree to see who can sleep with the most people, they start to realize that the old feelings are still there. If you cannot tell, the angst generated from this particular trope is DELICIOUS. It is steamy and creates some of the most amazing sexual tension that builds between the two characters. I appreciated this sex-positive approach and hope that it is received as well as I think it was intended.

The storyline here is a bit two-fold. There is the first literal half from Theo's point of view (TV) and then there is the second half from Kit's point of view (KV). (Also, I loved the Taylor Swift reference here it's spot-on). The first half of this story had me SALIVATING over the food and wine pairings. Honestly, the food descriptions are truly one-half of this story. The descriptions are going to make you hungry and you'll be grabbing snacks left and right imagining that you are having more of the rich foods/wines that are contained within these pages.

The other half of this story sort of gets revealed as soon as we switch perspectives. I can honestly say I was very surprised by the sudden revelation that takes place when Kit starts describing Theo. It made me sort of overhaul all of the internal mental pictures that I had of Theo and that isn't a problem in the slightest. I loved both of their characters regardless, but I guess it just forced me to completely reevaluate some parts of it. I don't think this is a bad thing and perhaps I missed earlier clues in the story, but I found myself a bit jarred for better or worse.

The ending of this story is truly everything that we as readers have come to love about Casey McQuiston's writing. It feels good to the point of tears. (Truly I teared up reading the last couple of chapters). The ending felt like a celebration of these fictional lives and I am truly going to miss Theo and Kit (pardon me while I continue to mourn that these characters are fictional).

All in all, check out this story. Casey McQuiston is a phenomenal writer and knows how to write a book that will put you through the entire emotional gamut.

Come hungry, leave horny! Casey McQuiston is back with another pair of complex characters caught in a fraught international love affair. But they have undoubtedly stepped up their game: this world is rich not only in culture and history, but also in sexual exploration. Be warned that the sex is spicier than the food! But watching these best friends-ex lovers find their second chance romance makes a rich, satisfying reading experience...in every sense!

A feast of the senses! Glorious food and drink descriptions, a lot of hot people having a lot of sex, believable relationship (if slightly unbelievable problems of the "people in romance novels cannot communicate if it would increase the drama" variety). You root for these two to figure it out. Relatively minor things kept bugging me that maybe wouldn't bother other people (This is a really limited idea of Europe! There is just no way anyone could eat this amount of food every day! Drinking as much as these characters drink every day would make every following day unbearable! Nobody is ever drinking water!!). I feel very nitpicky, but for me these were really constant, distracting thoughts.

I'm not sure what I loved more - the heat between Theo & Kit, the description of the European countryside OR that of the food and wine they consumed. I left this book longing for Italy and also STARVING. I really enjoyed the chaotic and quirky characters, their witty banter, the realistic arguments and miscommunication that can so often happen with couples and even just people who've known each other for a long time. Lastly, the side characters on the bus became a little family, which I always adore. This is my 3rd book by Casey McQuiston, and it's definitely up to par with the others, which I also loved! This also makes for a great beach read this summer.

brb gonna go drown my sorrows in Aperol Spritz.

I'll get the good stuff out of the way - queer rep, delicious sounding food, and a way for me to personally relive my trip to Italy.

Now the bad... the first half of this book is told by Theo who is inherently unlikable, immature, and pretentious. When the narrative flips to Kit, it is MUCH more enjoyable but at that point you have him longing for Theo and you're kinda like "but, why?" There's a lot of stereotypical portrayals of characters, side characters don't add to the story, and the hook-up wager comes off as try hard and strange.

The real big issue is that too much of the romance with Theo and Kit happens off-page, and I think this really hurt the story of their relationship getting back together. I didn't feel that I cared one way or another if they got together in the end. It lacked that "will they, won't they" feeling that second-chance romances thrive on. It was just ... boring?

This book is a sexy romp through Italy, Spain and France full of delicious descriptions of decadent food and the drinks that can be paired with them. In McQuiston’s capable hands, it felt like I was traveling, eating and drinking along with the characters. I learned A LOT about wines, pastries and art and have added several tourist attractions that I’d like to visit some day. Casey Mcquiston wrote two of my all-time favorite books, Red White & Royal Blue and One Last Stop, so I had high expectations for this one. I give McQuiston kudos for writing something that felt so drastically different from those novels. I love how McQuiston writes a world that you want to live in where literally everyone is queer and/or accepting. The main characters and the supporting cast of characters are all vividly brought to life. I was just as invested in the main characters romance as the other people on the tour. And McQuiston is funny and a master of banter. I will definitely be reading whatever she writes next.

FYI the two bisexual main characters take their “body count”competition seriously so there’s multiple scenes where they’re having sex, making out or flirting w other people. In fact it seems like these two pick up literally everyone, to the point where it was kind of unbelievable. I started to lose interest a quarter of the way into this book when they were too busy making each other jealous, because it’s not really my jam when the focus is solely on sex, but eventually there’s a shift and we get back into their complex relationship and the growth both theses characters have gone through. It was well-written and having the European backdrop felt like the vacation I can’t afford, so thank you Casey McQuiston for letting us live vicariously through these characters. Unfortunately I’m more plot driven and my expectations for this book were too high. Did I end up enjoying most of it, yes, but it wasn’t nearly as good as Red White & Royal Blue or One Last Stop. I was disappointed but will still be reading Casey McQuiston. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

⚠️⚠️⚠️ WARNING: Do not read when hungry.

Thank you to NetGalley, Casey McQuiston, and St. Martin's Griffin for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review (Unpaid).

How do I describe this book in more than one word? It is simply art. Food and music and poetry and literature and film and wine and food (yes I know I said it twice) and nature and paintings and sculptures and the human body and carbs, so many carbs - art is infused in every single sentence - it consumed me. I underlined so many sentences to share with my best friend when this book releases because I need her to be consumed by this masterpiece as well.

On the craft of writing, I would like to applaud Casey McQuiston for their detailed descriptions of literally everything but also for being able to write two so similiar but also so utterly unique point of views in this novel. I was worried when it switched to Kit's pov, it would sound too similiar, but it DIDN'T. I was amazed really. On a similiar note: WHAT A FANTASTIC CAST OF CHARACTERS. So distinct, so easy to obsess over, so many beautiful faces and voices and minds to love.

The Pairing by Casey McQuistin

Pairs well with:
- Warm feelings
- Lost love
- Second chances

The amount of joy this book left me with absolutely makes me put this near the top of my favorite reads so far this year. Casey writes the most perfect love stories and their joy on the pages can be felt right in my own heart. The ending had my cheeks hurting from smiling so much. Adding this to Red, White, and Royal Blue for books that I can listen to on audio 1000 times and never get bored.

The food vibes and travel vibes are BEYOND dreamy in this book. I could barely focus because all I could think about was how I needed to travel to every place in the book. This was just written so beautifully. Some of the metaphors throughout the book gave me goosebumps. I personally was not a fan of the challenge between Theo and Kit, but that doesn’t over shadow any of the really amazing things about his book.

This was one of my most anticipated book of 2024 and to say I am disappointed is an understatement.
Kit and Theo are so insufferable especially Theo that it was so hard to have any connections or feelings towards either of them. All they cared about was sex which includes their sex competition. This is not the spice that I like as they just seemed like horny teenagers. I am not sure what type of story she was trying to get across but this just wasn't it.

Guess I will be returning my copy when it arrives

This book was...fine. I wanted to love it because I enjoyed both <i>Red, White, and Royal Blue</i> & <i>One Last Stop</i>. But it just fell short for me.

The positives - I like this author's writing style, and I like how the characters are flawed and slightly unlikeable. Makes them more realistic in my opinion. I also enjoyed all the travel, and the food/wine descriptions made me want to book an extended European vacation. I also typically enjoy the second-chance romance trope, and that was true here as well.

The less positive - While I liked the first half, I found the perspective shift in the middle of the book to be jarring, and it didn't work for me. I enjoyed Theo's character and voice in the first half more than Kit's in the second. I also found the second half of the book to be really predictable in a way that made me want to just hurry up and get to the end of it.

I don't regret reading it, and I'll continue to read this author's work. This just isn't their best, in my opinion.

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

Fun story! I love a good exes to lovers. Thought some of it seemed a bit too good to be true, but it was easy enough to overlook.

Casey McQuiston knows what she's doing. She writes in a manner that allows us to be so connected to fallible and perfectly imperfect characters. This was a beautiful queer story. Buckle down with this book and some great snacks!

Thank you to Casey McQuiston, St. Martin’s Griffin, and NetGalley for an ARC of The Pairing, one of my most anticipated books of the year! All opinions are my own.

4.5 rounded up. I’ve been sitting on this ARC for what feels like forever, and kept putting off starting it because then it would be over. But I’m so glad I finally decided to give it a shot because it really was such a beautiful book.

The entire book just felt so cinematic in every way. The food, the sights, the memories, the love were all so perfect and had me craving more. While at times I did feel like the food and drink descriptions were made for someone smarter or more worldly than I could hope for, overall the entire book made me desperate to leave everything to travel across Europe on a food tour.

McQuiston’s decision to split the book into two POVs, with each character having one half of the book, was absolute genius - instead of a full back and forth between POVs, I thought it was perfect getting to experience Theo’s thoughts and feelings about their breakup with Kit and reunion at the beginning of the book and living in their emotions fully before switching to Kit. It made Kit’s hidden yearning so much more powerful, in my opinion. I’m so glad to have had the opportunity to read this story💕

POV: dual first person

You can expect: exes to friends to lovers, second chance, pining, food tour, sommelier MC, pastry chef MC, forced proximity, only one bed, “it was always you”.

Rep: bisexual MCs, nonbinary MC, French-American MC

Spice: 2/5

Wow! I absolutely loved this romp through Europe with two bisexual disasters! It was so well-done that I didn't want it to end, but I also didn't want Theo and Kit to have to be apart any longer.

Highly recommend!

I can think of nothing worse than being stuck with an ex on a European food and wine tour--but, I mean, at least there's alcohol? Theo and Kit, two chaotic bisexual disasters, in order to survive the trip, challenge each other to a hookup competition because they're soooo over each other (spoiler alert; they're not). I really wanted to love this one, but it was just too horny for me. The Pairing has all of Casey's classic humor and heat, just turned up to a ten.

Also, to be fair, this probably colored my perception of the entire story--I'm demi. I have a hard time relating to/enjoying "hook up" scenes as compared to scenes where the characters already have an established connection. If you've loved McQuiston's other books AND love spicy spice, then The Pairing should be on your menu, I mean TBR in August.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my ARC.

I'm calling it: this is my favorite book of the year. Simultaneously devastatingly horny and achingly romantic, this romcom is full of intense yearning and lush food and drink descriptions. I couldn't put it down!

Had a hard time getting into this one. It got more interesting when the pair begin to have a competition, but ultimately it kind of fell flat for me.

📣 a second chance romance set during a freaking SUMPTUOUS feast of a European tour

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

📖 what’s a food & drink you think pair well together? I’ll say coffee & donuts (very high-brow tastes over here 😆).

I finished The Pairing by Casey McQuiston & was shocked TO MY MARROW that I wasn’t actually on a tour of France, Spain, & Italy.

This book takes you on such a luscious tour of food, drink, & sights that I felt like I was on a sexy, sexy vacation (that wasn’t always super relaxing given the second chance events going on 🤣).

Second chance. You know how I feel about you.

But The Pairing is hard to pin down when it comes down to an evaluation of how it’s carried out. The book is romantic & sexy & I adore how bone-deep supportive the leads are of each other. That kind of friendship is so special.

& yet, there’s an element of their journey on this trip that I found immature, & as another reviewer wrote, Theo & Kit’s journey is “messy.”

But underneath it all, & surrounding it all, is so much love & acceptance & adoration, not to mention such a well of appreciation for food, travel, & what humans have created, & all of it left me with this big feeling when I finished.

So do I have quibbles about this one? Yes, a bit. But also, I will be thinking about this book for a while. Casey McQuiston really did it big.

I think I’m at 5 ⭐️. Out 08/06.

Please a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.

[ID: Jess holds the ebook while wearing a purple & white striped dress & an aqua cardigan & standing in front of a yellow wall.]