The pairing is a story about two bisexual exes who are suddenly reunited on a European food and wine tour. In an attempt at friendly competition, Theo and Kit decide to see who can seduce more locals at each of the stops on the trip. But as they travel from destination to destination, experiencing all that these cities have to offer, they realize that they may not be over each other after all.
I actually shrieked when I got the email that my NetGalley request for this book was approved! Red White and Royal Blue is my favorite book and I know the storyline like the back of my hand. I wasn’t as much of a fan of Casey McQuiston’s other books, but I had a lot of expectations coming into this story. The premise sounded really exciting to me, and I couldn’t wait to dive into Theo and Kit’s adventures. After finishing, I definitely enjoyed it but I feel like I have mixed feelings overall. I’m going to share some of the joys and qualms that I found below.
My favorite thing about this book was probably the point of view from which it was written. It starts off in the first person pov of Theo, one of the main characters, and switches halfway through to Kit’s pov. This allowed an interesting perspective because we get to experience the story from both sides, but not simultaneously. I didn’t expect this format either, given that Red White and Royal Blue came completely from Alex’s perspective.
I also really loved the focus on food and drink. Honestly, it seemed like the majority of the book was just describing the setting that the characters were in and the food they were eating in that place. There was something so extremely "summer" about it that I felt like I was being transported to the European coastline and enjoying my own vacation. It also contributed to the overall theme of absolute indulgence that is highlighted throughout the book.
One thing I didn’t enjoy so much was that this book didn’t come across particularly deep to me. That certainly isn’t a requirement for everything I read. I love a surface level, fun, summery book and I felt like this delivered on that end. But I could tell that the author was trying to get deeper with The Pairing than that, and I’m not quite sure it got there. I was expecting some of the same complexity I found in Red White and Royal Blue and I didn’t find that. That said, I don’t know if holding all of the author’s subsequent works to my favorite is necessarily the fairest marker of quality.
Additionally, the ending was a little bit lackluster. There seemed to be more that could have been done in terms of dynamics and personal growth among the characters. I’m not sure I saw a complete character arc in either of them. Theo struggled with insecurity and feeling the need to independent to a fault while Kit fell prey to getting carried away and expecting others to support all of his visions. While these issues were certainly being recognized and worked on at the end, it wasn’t as concrete as maybe I would have liked to see.
Overall though, I think that The Pairing was just what I needed to kick off my summer. I could imagine reading this while on vacation or when I feel like I’m needing a little break from reality. I’d recommend to anyone who is a fan of the summery romance genre generally. It reminded me of stories from Emily Henry, Christina Lauren, Elena Armas, and more.
As soon as The Pairing comes out do not hesitate to pick up a copy!
And as always thank you to NetGalley for sending me an arc copy of this book.

I loved this audio - hearing the characters' voices.
The tension between Kit and Theo. Gah smoking! Learning about each other, reconnecting and a new maturity. Loved it.
Second chance. Miscommunication. I was HOOKED.

Sweet and (very) spicy in equal parts, this book is a feast for all the sense. A second chance romance that is as much about falling in love with travel, the strangers who become become friends, the delights of food and wine, and opening yourself up to any and all possibilities. Perfect for reading in the sun on a beautiful beach in the Mediterranean while drinking a glass of champagne.

I have enjoyed even loved all of McQuiston's previous books, but this one was not for me. Sure this one was fun and I loved the sex positivity, but ultimately it didn't have the qualities that make McQuiston's work what I associate with it (well developed characters, strong side characters, etc).
The first half of the book (which felt SO long) is told from Theo's POV, which was exhausting and felt very surface level. I much preferred Kit's in the second half. I wish there would have been more development in their love story so that it felt believable and not just about sex. Unfortunately, the amount of miscommunication turned me off the most. For characters that could communicate so openly and confidentiality about what they wanted sexually, they were too emotionally closed off for me. The ending was cute. Just wish we had gotten there in a different way.

Buy two copies of this book. One to get messy with when you invariably cry or highlight the hell out of it. #1 love about this book: it stars bisexual and gender fluid characters. These are characters you want to be friends with, and the settings and descriptions of the tour make me want to go back to Italy. No matter your sexuality or gender, this book will make you invest in their relationship and wish you were there with them on the tour cheering them on. #2 the writing! I could have stepped back in time to when I was at some of these places and never described the splendor as the author did. #3 “If I can give my whole heart to love without fearing the cost, I will regret nothing.” So many poignant quotes will be highlighted and relived when I buy my copy- this is sticking out for me now. Dammit, just buy this and treasure it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance reader's copy of the book. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. I absolutely loved this book. I could not get enough. This book has the magic that the author's first book has. The characters and their story just moved me and if it hadn't ended the way it did, this review would be different. I loved all the characters and their uniqueness. I loved the setting and the descriptions of everything; it mad me feel like I was there with the characters. Small spoiler, the sex is graphic but it didn't bother me. I will be recommending this to everyone o know who reads. All the stars for this book.

I was unfortunately very disappointed with The Pairing by Casey McQuiston. I found the entire premise a step backwards in literature- how have we gone in a complete circle back to being okay with objectifying others? A bodycount competition as the plot of the novel to get the characters back together felt so icky. And there is no remorse for it by the characters. It's one thing to use that premise as a plot device to show how objectifying people is bad and the repercussions of it, but here it was purely used as the tension-building device. At the end when Theo is explaining why Kit's original 'living in Paris' was the reason for the breakup, they say "Nobody should be that to anyone, Kit, that's how a person becomes a thing." Are you kidding me? The two just spent the past 300 pages in a bodycount competition so Theo could spite Kit throughout their vacation and then turns around saying they felt hurt that Kit planned a future with them in it. I was shocked.
Furthermore, Theo was incredibly immature to the point where I thought it was intentionally part of the plot and that they were going to have some sort of character development. That I would have loved; but no, Theo's entire development went from having ambition of becoming a sommelier to a selfish and spiteful hedonistic prick that suddenly doesn't know what they want to do in life and is ok with that.
And lastly, the relationship between Kit and Theo was so toxic and it made no sense how they ended up together. Again, I thought this was going to come into some sort of character development of starting a fresh relationship but instead, Theo decides they're better off figuring out whatever they want to do with their life in Paris with Kit... which was literally what Kit wanted originally... but I guess that's okay now because Theo decided it.
The writing felt so unlike the other books I've read from this author. I hate to be more negative than constructive but I had a hard time getting through this book. I don't mind when toxicity is used as a device to call out said toxicity but it just continued the entire way through like it was totally normal and romantic.
Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for this Advanced Reader's Copy.

DNF @ 44%... i just can't do it anymore

i LOVED red, white & royal blue and one last stop by Casey McQuiston. i kissed shara wheeler didn't wow me but it wasn't bad and i still enjoyed it. this book? The Pairing is McQuiston's worst book by far. maybe that's an unpopular opinion that will have people with pitchforks at my front door, but it's not for me and i think it's just not good.

i've read only 44% of this book and i just don't care anymore. the main characters have already talked about the big conflict that separated them years ago and agreed to get past it and "be friends" despite their romantic past and obvious unresolved sexual tension (at least on Theo's part). yet as a reader, it felt like there was no chemistry between the pair other than Theo's incessant pining and horniness.

my favorite part of McQuiston's other books has always been the cast of characters and the side characters who have captivating personalities and quirks to them, yet the side characters in this all fall flat. Theo and Kit are on a tour of europe so you think there would be some development of the other characters who are part of the tour, right? absolutely not! they have no personality and no depth to them whatsoever. even the people that Theo hooks up with get no exploration and just go home to sleep with Theo after an introduction of two sentences and a smile. i understand the blurb says "sleeping their way through Europe" but it could have been done so much better and i just didn't care about anything that was happening.

I received an arc of this book through NetGalley and Macmillan Audio.

I gave this book 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5.

I love the way Casey McQuiston writes! This is my fourth book by her and this did not disappoint!

This is about Theo and Kit and their relationship from kids to adults. They started out as best friends, always there for eachother. As they got a little older they realized they loved eachother V and tried a romantic relationship. Due to a mistake/misunderstanding, they both believed the other didn’t want to be with each other anymore and’ stopped talking.

Years later, they coincidentally met up on a tour (lots of wine, food, and alcohol in this book) and rekindle their friendship and maybe more.

I loved both Kits and Theo’s personalities, especially together! It was fun to experience each one through the eyes of the other because they both held eachother in such high esteem. They definitely had me swooning throughout!

I highly recommend this, and I’m glad I got to read this during summer and Pride month! Definitely a beautiful story!

3.5 ⭐️

Liked: the setting. It made me wanna go in a food and wine tour in Europe. Dual POVs. I appreciated how it was done almost in like 2 parts.. it was like there were 2 sides of a story and we got to see both. I also really liked the ending.. it fit. I like that it was a certain character that made the move. Oh I also appreciated the research put into the book. You could tell the author spent lots of time researching the cuisine and architecture.

Disliked: Theo did annoy me a bit especially in the beginning but I did grow to understand them. I could understand their reasoning and decisions.
The book was also a bit too wordy.. overly descriptive. Too much sex and not enough intimacy tbh.

Overall, I did enjoy it and will continue to read more by this author.

thank you to NetGalley for giving me the arc in exchange for an honest review!

i wished i liked this but i unfortunately didn’t. i really loved One Last Stop by Casey McQuinston and the premise of The Pairing sounded so interesting. but i didnt like this :(

i really loved the Europe backpacking and thought that was cool but i hated the main character. Theo was so immature. i just didn’t understand any of their wants and they were such an annoying nepotism baby.

i wish that there was more on page flashbacks to Kit and Theo’s childhood. it would have given them more chemistry and made the reader care more about them getting back together. i also feel like the dialogue was cringey. and the story was over sexual for my liking.

i loved Theo’s coming out though! it was really sweet and heartwarming.

This is it. This my favorite CMQ book. I have SUCH a tender spot for RWNB that I truly didn't think anything else they wrote—no matter how amazing—could ever top it. But this did.
I love Kit. I love Theo. I love their relationship, their flaws, their obsessions.
As usual, this narration style is just exquisite, the dialogue is hilarious, and the angst is gut-wrenching. The backdrop of the story is such an adventure through France, Italy, and Spain, and the descriptions of both the scenery and the food are so gorgeous that it feels like you're there.
I'm going to recommend this to literally everyone who has ever enjoyed a queer romance, especially one with nonbinary rep, bisexual main characters, and childhood friends-to-lovers-to-exes-to-lovers storylines bc ho. ly. crap.

If you loved RWRB but wished it was hornier, Casey McQuiston has you covered with their newest book. It’s got all the longing/pining/heart of RWRB but with 100% more threesomes. (And food descriptions that will make you famished.)

This book was absolutely delicious, and the perfect slutty summer read. I felt like I was travelling right alongside Theo and Kit through Europe. From the food and wine descriptions to the pining and angst, this book has a lot to love.

One of my top reads of the year. Casey McQuiston is at their very best, both in their writing, but also in their storytelling. It's their most romantic book, and celebrates the queer experience in an intoxicating, indulgent adventure. I want to read it again and again.

3 stars

I've read and enjoyed all of McQuiston's books, and while I wouldn't say I DISliked this book, it does not match the enjoyment I've experienced with most of the earlier efforts.

Kit and Theo have known each other for a very long time. They played important roles in each other's childhoods, entered into an intense romantic relationship, and broke up, and now it's time for some second chance romance action. While their backstory is compelling, they are somewhat challenging to encounter in the present: especially Theo, who is - at times - intolerable. Theo grapples with the very difficult situation of having famous and wealthy family members, and they just want to strike out on their own. Ugh. Okay. While some of this sentiment is relatable, it's mostly irritating to hear about and NOT exactly relatable to the masses. Theo is also a p-r-o-c-e-s-s-o-r. They both are, but it's more noticeable with Theo. This is a lengthy book - too long IMO - and in addition to cutting out some of that excessive processing and hand wringing, I'd have loved to see about 600 fewer ingredients on the menu (IYKYK). Both central characters have particular affinities for food and drink and are on a tour that centers on this subject, but at times, I felt like I was just reading someone's weekend gathering grocery list. I can recall more about what the characters were eating versus thinking or doing in multiple instances, which is not as cool as it sounds.

I really appreciated this author coming into this novel, and while this book was not my favorite by any means, I will still be clamoring to read whatever McQuiston offers up next.

*I do strongly recommend the audio version when and where accessible.

I was kind of disappointed in this book. I love Red, White and Royal Blue, it is a comfort read with some of my favorite characters ever created. And I heard great things about the storyline of One Last Stop, which has been on my TBR ever since I read RWRB. I hate to compare novels from authors because I understand everything is a different experience and its own moment, but when an author creates your favorite characters in one of their novels it’s a bit of a letdown to read another of their books and have the characters be underdeveloped and somewhat annoying.

Everyone has read the plot summary, so we all know the general plot of the story, which I thought could be kind of fun, interesting and a good way to do character studies, but alas. The first half of the novel is from Theo’s perspective and then the back half switches to Kit’s. I wish the book did dual POV that switched every chapter to make it more engaging.

Theo was low-key annoying and could not express their feelings if their life depended on it. I think that’s what made the overall novel so frustrating for me. I hate when a character is aware of how they feel and do the opposite of it both internally and externally. (It is very obvious Theo knew how they were feeling and what they wanted). Kit’s POV was a light at the end of the tunnel. Seeing him so clearly express his emotions to himself was so refreshing. (A POINT ON THIS: Kit’s POV could have been better because there was a major plot detail shared between the two mc’s right before his POV started that cleared up some of the tension, so maybe this is why he was freer with his emotions, but I digress).

Overall, these characters were not multifaceted and it seemed like Kit and Theo were written for only the relationship and conflict with each other and all other traits were underdeveloped. I am also a sucker for some good side characters. While this book didn’t have bad side characters, none of them were fleshed out enough for me. It almost felt like they were there as pawns to help move the plot along and not real people. Also, the humor (or the com to the rom as I like to say) was nowhere to be found in this book.

Overall, I say give it a chance if you like second chances, miscommunication/lack of communication, and are there more for the aesthetics plot or good well-thought-out characters (which I, unfortunately, need to thoroughly enjoy a book).

Arc from NetGalley

So I really liked the premise of the story and I liked the way it started out.

And I loved how sex positive this book was, but a book over 400 pages of them having sex with strangers after strangers for a bet was off-putting.
One night stands are one thing.
One night stands to try and win a bet of who can seduce more people is gross.
You could try and spin it and say that they treated the other person well and they both consented to spending the night, but I would still feel gross and used if I found out that someone was keeping tally of the people they slept with and was trying to win a bet.

I liked this author's first book, didn't love her second one, and was happy to receive an ARC of this one, hoping it would be as good her first. Sadly, after about 40% I was a bit bored of the two main characters and -- maybe because I am 2x their age and just too old for this?? -- didn't really get the plot of "I am in love with this person so to prove I am OK with him not being in love with me, I will challenge him to fuck as many people as possible right in front of me during this 3 week trip."
If you like food porn and real porn, this might be for you, but each chapter -- a new place, new food and wine description, new watching each other hit on someone else and pretend not to be jealous -- got a bit repetitive for me. By about 40% in, I was skimming it.

That said, I still am happy to support LGBTQ+ authors and books and glad they are being marketed mainstream and not separately, as if you need to be LGBTQ+ to enjoy them. I just happened not to love this one.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

In McQuiston's 4th major release, Theo and Kit are a pair of bisexuals who went from best friends to lovers to exes after a big implosion on the way to a European food and wine tour. They run into each other 4 years later on the very same food and wine tour before their tickets expired and they strike up their friendship with a hookup competition.

There was a lot to love here: I alway's love McQuiston's writing is particularly great. I loved the explorations of sexuality and gender, which have really stuck with me. There was also a lot that threw me. The characters were especially obnoxious (specifically Theo at times), while still being lovable. The plot often plodded for me. While I enjoy descriptions of food and travel, it somewhat took away from the overall flow of the book at times and it might have been a bit more of a slow burn for me than I wanted. I wanted MORE from the supporting cast. And finally, I will admit that I struggled with the shear number of sex scenes. This book was Horny. They were not poorly written or devoid of emotion, but I desperately wanted them to contribute to plot development and they often just didn't. Also, I read this on an airplane next to my daughter who can read and it just got pretty awkward trying to hide my Kindle. ;)

The struggle with this is that I have thought about it a lot in the past few weeks. So, it obviously impacted me in some way. I think I'm sticking with my initial rating of 3.5, because it really isn't my favorite CM book. BUT, it has a lot of value and I think it's an important one. So, if you've been a McQuiston fan and/or want a queer summer read that has a lot of on and off page sexy times, pick this one up!

3.5 stars rounding up. Thank you NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.