Delicious and sinfully indulgent, The Pairing is a feast for the senses. This is the type of the book that makes me sad you can only read a story for the first time once. That reminds me why I really, truly love to read. McQuiston's gorgeous prose and captivating, lyrical descriptions mean every detail — from the food to the sex to the destinations — jumps from the page, making the experience of reading an entirely immersive one. I found my mouth watering, my heart tripping and swelling and shattering, my sense of awe reigniting along with Kit and Theo. A unique dual-POV perspective (the first half from Theo; the second from Kit) allows the reader to see each character through the lens of the person who loves them most. The Pairing is everything a second-chance romance novel should be, yes, but it's also so much more: A love letter to travel, to food, to wine, to history, to self-discovery, to love itself. Equal parts romantic and poignant and sensual and laugh-out-loud hilarious — if you can't go on your own European food tour, this is truly the next best thing. Five stars (really, an entire sky of them) to this exceptional novel.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this novel

DNF. I am very sad to say I did have to DNF this book. I was really excited to read it. I love all of Casey’s other books, but I couldn’t get into this one. I wasn’t connecting with the characters or the story. I didn’t really feel like the characters were flushed out or written to be multidimensional. I would definitely give it a try if you’re a fan of Casey’s books, but I’m sadly gonna have to sit this one out.

It's really had for a book to top Casey McQuiston's Red, White and Royal Blue for me, and while it still hold my top spot when it comes to their works for me, there were definitely moments when I felt like The Pairing was going to dethrone it. The Pairing is perfect. I fell in love with Theo. I was enamored with Kit. These characters are perfect and I wanted them to just figure it out and get together yesterday. Plus the way the food and wine is described throughout this entire novel had me hungry and craving all the delicate pastries and indulgent drinks.

I can't say enough about this book except you need to read it this summer. And then plan a trip to Europe.

I wanted to like this a lot more than I did - a food-and-sun-soaked summer tour of France, Spain, and Italy, with a second-chance bi-for-bi romance? Here FOR it.

Unfortunately, a lot of this didn't work for me. I think first off I'm just not allosexual enough for this book - while I knew going in it was going to be two exes flirting their way through Europe and having a hookup competition, it was just /so/ much of it, to the point that it felt repetitive, and worse, much more along the destructive behavior side than the liberating queer joy it was intended to be. Especially since only a third of the way through the tour, Theo's chosen hookup for the night drops them because they're so clearly still hung up on Kit, which then causes them to spiral and view each subsequent hookup as a way of proving something, which then leaves a bad feeling hanging over each one. It means that for both Theo and Kit, their coming back together comes through a weird haze of longing and jealousy and through one-note set-dressing characters who are only there to be attractive and DTF, rather than seeing all the things they loved before and discovering new things to love about the people they've grown into once they've addressed the fight that broke them up four years ago.

I'm also sad to say that even for a fun, summer escapist book (I'm totally willing to believe that everybody in Europe is hot and bisexual and DTF at the drop of a hat with just a small eye roll and a sigh for the sake of a light summer read, but also holy shit it's legit EVERYBODY), it just doesn't hit the mark for me. The place descriptions just don't capture the spark of each of these locations (this may work better if you haven't been to any of them, but even with sense and place memories of what McQuiston was trying to evoke, they just kind of jarred or felt superficial); there's obviously going to be a lot of telling with a sort of location-hopping, tourist-book-esque plot, but aside from some of the art descriptions and a passage from Theo about just standing with one piece and having that be your experience instead of trying to glut yourself on everything, it all just felt like skimming the surface and not connecting with what made it special. It's just flat, and unfortunately, boring in its repetitiveness. McQuiston's expertise lies in emotions, not in descriptions, and the food and meal descriptions show that the most strongly, mostly because they /don't/ tap into any emotions and end up more as lists. Granted, lists that do make your mouth water just hearing about them, but once again, there's no spark of connection about what they evoke, which feels particularly damning when the title is The Pairing and Theo gets a whole monologue about how a food and drink pairing should evoke an experience and be a whole sense memory. (I have a huge bias, but do not get me started on the Italian leg of the tour, I'll be here all night)

The last 20% of the book is probably worth an entire star on its own and almost turned my feelings on the book around, if I hadn't been so disenchanted by that point. This is the part that actually gets to the heart of the matter - the emotions, the different ways love shows and is expressed and traps, and how people grow and need to grow. Unfortunately it is also forced to butt up against the previously established "problems" Kit and Theo had, which weren't thoroughly explored enough to make a resolution feel anything other than both "this took you this long?" and "that's it? you're just...over it?" at the same time, which is a weird feeling.

You could never go wrong with a Casey McQuinston book! I am so honored to have been chosen to read an ARC of one of Casey's books!

2 exes find themseves on the same European food and wine tour where they challenge each other to a hookup competition because they are "over each other" (lol, becasue no ones going to be jealous and still in love, RIGHT?!?)

enjoyable, funny and heart warming. I read this in under 24 hours and would now love to book a European food and wine tour!

The Pairing is a travelogue of sorts, following the star-crossed Theo (a non-binary almost-sommelier with a sharp wit) and Kit (a French pastry chef and world class flirt) through France, Italy, and Spain on a food and wine tour they booked together years before. Only they’ve broken up since then, zut alors! They ended up on the same tour together 4 years later. Let the awkwardness commence.

I have to admit that when I was approved to receive a galley of The Pairing, I was already predisposed to love it. After all, I’ve absolutely loved Casey McQuiston’s previous novels One Last Stop and Red, White, and Royal Blue.

The Pairing is as special a novel as I’ve read in many years. A relatively simple story about a pair of old friends-turned lovers getting their second chance is well-trod territory in romance. CMQ manages to envelope each tender scene and sexy moment with a sumptuous dough of detail like a patissier of only Kit’s caliber could. Each morsel of Theo and Kit’s journey back to each other is worth savoring.

The situation is the perfect setup for memorable moments that are both heartbreaking and hilarious. I won’t spoil any of it here for you. If you’re looking for gorgeous writing and whip-smart lines of dialogue, you’ll find plenty in The Pairing. You might also find yourself falling in love with sexy bisexual Theo and Kit…and all of the side characters as well.

I’d like to thank St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with this copy of The Pairing.

HELLO I LOVED THIS.

Two exes end up on the same European bus tour and must come to terms with being together for a few weeks. This entails finding the truth about the breakup and deciding what’s next for them. WHILE EATING AND DRINKING EVERYTHING AND IT IS DELCIOSO!

I felt like this was one part travel blog, one part study of the service industry, and one part romance. It was a delight to listen to - full of accents and wonderful foreign language moments by excellent narrators. It had incredible queer rep, queer joy, and some “finding themselves” types of moments, concerning queerness, gender fluidity, and also the way brains, experiences, fears, and relationships work. Casey is so careful with Kit and Theo, and I trusted that nothing bad would happen to them, even if the road was rocky.

All in all, highly recommend the audio AND the print/ebook so you can read AND listen to the words, recipes, and pairings. 🩵

My only note that knocked off half a star is the amount of sex - and casual, random hook-up sex at that - that made its way around both the leads. I just…. Couldn’t get behind why it was necessary to the story? But the rest of the book was such a hit for me I’m sure I’ll read it again!

The writing is so glorious and descriptive that it's easy to imagine yourself in the places that Kit and Theo visit. It feels like you're eating and drinking the food and wine they do, seeing the sights they do. However, the descriptions eventually overpower the story as you read further and further on. I was so invested in the relationship that I wanted the story to move a bit faster. And at the point when Theo announces she is non-binary and Kit begins to address her as they/them, I found that awkward. But overall, this is a book to be read and savored.

If there’s one thing you can say about Casey McQuiston it’s that they write with undiluted passion. That fact is evident with this book as well. You can feel it in the intensity of the relationships they build, familial, platonic and romantic, but you can also feel it in the way they flesh out the details. In this one you can envision the European landscapes, you can smell the Parisian bakeries, you can taste the notes of each wine sipped. The amount of research Casey put into this book is astounding. It’s impressive and beautifully done. In fact, at times it felt all consuming. The plot was beautiful and I loved the flaws of the characters and how they were brought to life but it felt like that was overshadowed by the descriptions of monuments and meals throughout the book. With that being said - the way the plot rounded out was so incredibly satisfying and beautiful, I ended the book feeling like not a single word was wasted.

I'm sad to say that this book wasn't for me, but most of the reasons it wasn't are not the book or author's fault but my own. First, the positives: you are going to want to go right out and buy a ticket to Europe if you have the travel bug at all. This book takes place almost entirely over a long gourmand tour of France, Spain, and Italy, and the food, drinks, and settings are transportive. Far and away my favorite part of the book. What I didn't enjoy so much: lots of sex, all the time, in every way and place. Nothing wrong with that, it's just not what I want to read. And pretty much every single character in the book in every country is gorgeous, cool, and bisexual, which had me rolling my eyes a bit. The idea of living in a big, loving, rainbow world is wonderful, but not exactly realistic. I knew I was taking a chance with a second-chance romance, my least-favorite trope, and that's where I feel like this book drops the ball. The majority of Kit and Theo's reasons for being together take place off-page, giving a strong tell not show vibe. I was left feeling uninvested in their relationship because I wasn't there for the falling in love. I really loved the author's first novel, "Red, White, and Royal Blue", but this doesn't quite have the magic of that one. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin for a digital review copy.

I really loved Red White and Royal Blue by this author but I had a hard time getting into this one personally. I feel like this book will be a great read for those who love details and imagery. If you enjoy traveling or dream of traveling this details surrounding the food tour are amazing. This wasn’t for me but I would recommend it to those wanting a book that details imagery and scenes well.

I was highly anticipating reading this new one from McQuiston, but it fell short of McQuiston's other novels. It felt really slow at times and it transfers POV about halfway through, so it was a little hard to separate the perspectives in the first few chapters after the POV switch.

Overall, it was an alright read. It had a lot of traveling experiences in it and there were a great deal of hookups with other characters during the course of the novel. It felt really repetitive and overall was a miss for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for this ARC!

Casey McQuiston has been an auto-buy author for me ever since RW&RB, so The Pairing was one of my most-anticipated books of the year! I don’t normally love second chance romance, so the idea of exes running into each other on a european tour made me a little nervous. But I should have trusted Casey! Theo and Kit were such interesting, dynamic characters and I really felt for both of them for the entire book. I loved the format of the novel, with one perspective for the first half of the book and the other for the second half.

Theo’s identity, as well as the sexualities and identities of all of the characters, was handled with such care and nuance and was truly a joy to read.

The author promised that this was their horniest novel yet and that was the TRUTH! I’ve literally never read about two hornier characters. Definitely go into this prepared for smut!

The Pairing follows two childhood best friends become exes as they both take the food tour they were meant to take together, years after they had last spoken. Theo and Kit are both compelling characters. I really enjoyed the main pair having a deep history, but now coming together after years apart where they have grown separately. Seeing how the two navigated relearning the other and finding connection through a hookup competition, all while trying to deny any remaining feelings was fun.

Readers who enjoy books with the below vibes will connect with The Pairing!:
-Second Chance Romance (childhood friends)
-Mutual Pining
-Forced Proximity
-Escapist European travel
-Books heavy on food and wine
-Found Family
-Open door spice
-Queer Representation

I listened to my complimentary audiobook of this one, and while I was swept away by the sights, smells, and tastes of a European vacation, I just never fell in love with Theo and Kip as a romantic couple. I also just felt like the book was heavily grounded in miscommunication and them hooking up with everyone but each other which frustrated me. Is it realistic and messy?? Yes. But maybe I wanted a little more heart to help me root for them. It is still a well-written romance that will absolutely delight readers, it just wasn't up to my RWRB standards.

Childhood sweethearts to exes in a forced proximity vacation? SIGN ME UP.

Casey McQuiston never fails to make me fall in love with her characters - this was such a fun set up, and a truly heartwarming story of love and growth - any fan of hers, and any fan of the romcom genre will love this one!

This was my least favorite Casey McQuiston book but it was still good overall, I think the book came off sort of “high brow” and not as interesting because of the setting and background of the MMCs.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this free ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: August 6, 2024

I tried to save this to read during my own food and wine tour through France+Italy later this summer but resistance is futile. I was desperate to devour this once I cracked it open but forced myself to savor it. This book is gratuitously indulgent in all 3 of its focuses—food, wine, and sex. It is unabashedly queer and slutty…a proper romp through Europe!

This may have some clutching their pearls, and it wasn’t without issue…but if you’re an American who stereotypically romanticizes eating and drinking your way through Europe, this is a delight!

I’ve been a big fan of Casey McQuiston’s work since I first read Red, White, and Royal Blue. I love how different each of the stories of their books are, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed each one. The Pairing has McQuiston’s signature wit and charm, but with a European backdrop.

Throughout The Pairing, Theo and Kit visit some dreamy cities in Europe. They go to Paris, Piza, Rome, Nice, Barcelona, and many more. In each location, the delicious food they eat is thoroughly described. I definitely wanted to join them in the pizza, pasta, and pastries they eat throughout the book. I had a hard time containing my wanderlust while reading about all of the sights and meals they were enjoying.

I love a good second chance romance. Theo and Kit were in a relationship for years, and they were friends for years before that. From the beginning of the novel, it’s clear how much they care about one another. In fact, it felt like it took too long for the two of them to admit they still had feelings for one another. In their narration, Theo and Kit both talk about how much they love the other, but they still pursue hookups with other people for much of the novel.

Dual point of view is another one of my favorite things in romance novels. I enjoy getting into the mind of both of the protagonists in a book, and I also love the dramatic irony it creates. I was suprised when The Pairing switched from Theo to Kit’s point of view, but the change was certainly positive. Kit is more likable and compelling than Theo, which made his perspective a pleasure to read.

About halfway through the book, Theo tells Kit that they identify as non-binary. Of course, Kit immediately accepts them for who they are, and he makes sure that he is using Theo’s correct pronouns. Non-binary representation, especially in romance novels, is so important, and I was so glad to see it here. Not that I would have expected anything different from Kit, but the way he handles Theo coming out also sets a great example.

Red, White, and Royal Blue and One Last Stop, two of McQuiston’s other books feature friends and friend groups very prominently. While Theo has a close relationship with their sister, Sloane, the reader doesn’t really get much information about her. The reader does get some information about the tour guide, Fabrizio, and other people on the tour like the Calums, but there is still a distance there.

The Pairing is not my favorite of McQuiston’s books, but it is a fun and perfect summer read. It’ll have you immediately wanting to hop on a plane to Europe to enjoy a pastry. It is a book that I will certainly return to in the future, and it had me wanting to revisit McQuiston’s other books.

This is McQuiston's best book to date. Not only is it a feast for the senses, it's a beautiful journey of self-discovery for the main characters. The dual POV is lovingly executed in a way that truly brings extra meaning to the story--one that relies initially on miscommunication and assumptions between two people who have become too codependent to trust themselves or each other any longer.

It's clear that the author loved researching and writing this book, and it stands above some of the other entries into the current trend in romance centering on foodie millenials translating lessons from the line to their lives. The backdrop of a luxurious European tour through some of the finest dining experiences available could have been trite, but McQuiston blended character growth with each delicious bite and sip. The ensemble tour group weaves in and out of the foreground, some truly becoming fully-fleshed out secondary cast in unexpected but completely natural ways.

This particular book has the added bonus of queer characters who will (and do) lust after anyone they meet. The sexy competition that develops between them is more than just a trope, it adds to the development of both plot and character. As Kit and Theo turn on the charm, readers are challenged to resist their individual perspectives of the world, the characters within it, and where everything really went wrong between them.

Personally, I devoured the Pairing as soon as it downloaded on my tablet, and I can't wait to dine upon the details again once I've got a physical copy in my terribly uncultured hands. Can't wait to see what's next from CMQ and crew!