I loved the setting and the premise of the novel but the character's fell a little flat for me. I would still recommend this to people.

While the author clearly did a lot of research into the destinations, wines, and pastries featured in the story, I unfortunately found the relationship between the characters to be lacking the spark that makes a good romance. Theo and Kit both seemed a bit two dimensional, and I would have liked to see them both have some slightly more pressing/challenging external challenges to overcome-- it was hard to be sympathetic for such privileged and carefree people. The setting descriptions were lovely and well done, I just wish the plot had been a bit more satisfying.

Despite enjoying Casey's other works and finding the summary for this one entertaining, this book fell very flat. Right from the start, the writing style feels as though it is trying (too much, at times) and not as fun or enjoying in previous works. The two main characters have a confusing story that is barely explained - or even shown - until later. The main characters also, despite their age, are immature and act as though they are in a YA novel instead. Overall, my experience was negative and I wish it had been the European summer exes-to-lovers I had been hoping for instead.

I have to start this off by saying that I’m biased in that I absolutely LOVE Casey McQuiston’s books—all of them (and this one is no different). This book was so much fun and loved that “hoe life” was a part of it in all the best ways! Haha! This book was a fun, sexy, cute, and often irritating read (iykyk with these characters!) that I absolutely enjoyed. I loved the writing, the environment was an absolute blast, and the characters are always top notch in McQuiston’s writing. Loved it!

I have read THE PAIRING and am now deceased. Please bury me in cheese and wine.

But for real, this is the horniest, hungriest, dreamiest, wanderlustiest, queerest romance of all time. CMQ is magic. Read this book. Be prepared to blow all your savings on a European food and wine tour immediately afterwards.

Honestly, the only thing I need to tell you about this book is that it’s Casey McQuiston’s newest book. It has all the trademarks of the other beloved gay novels they’ve written; you’ll be highlighting six sentences on every page and biting a pillow to keep from yelling at the characters. This one takes place between a pair of bisexual exes who end up on the same trip across Europe. It’s full of food and wine and gorgeous locations and even more making out with all the other bisexuals who are out there traveling the world. It’s luscious and indulgent and just so very McQuiston.

Theo and Kit have been a lot of things: childhood best friends, crushes, in love, and now estranged exes. After a brutal breakup on the transatlantic flight to their dream European food and wine tour, they exited each other's lives once and for all. Time apart has done them good. Theo has found confidence as a hustling bartender by night and aspiring sommelier by day, with a long roster of casual lovers. Kit, who never returned to America, graduated as the reigning sex god of his pastry school class and now bakes at one of the finest restaurants in Paris. Sure, nothing really compares to what they had, and life stretches out long and lonely ahead of them, but—yeah. It's in the past.

All that remains is the unused voucher for the European tour that never happened, good for 48 months after its original date and about to expire. Four years later, it seems like a great idea to finally take the trip. Solo. Separately. It's not until they board the tour bus that they discover they've both accidentally had the exact same idea, and now they're trapped with each other for three weeks of stunning views, luscious flavors, and the most romantic cities of France, Spain, and Italy. It's fine. There's nothing left between them. So much nothing that, when Theo suggests a friendly wager to see who can sleep with their hot Italian tour guide first, Kit is totally game.

I really wanted to love this one. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as good as the other McQuiston books I've loved. I felt like the plot was mostly missing. I liked Kit, but Theo was annoying to me, and the food p*rn was a little over the top for me. Overall, I enjoyed it, but I feel like it could have been so much better! 3.5⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced digital reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!

Former lovers who find their way back to each other, set against a beautiful backdrop and mouth wateringly descriptive paragraphs about food. Reading this book made me so hungry. No really, I’ve literally never craved a pastry as much as I had while reading this book. Great banter as always with Casey McQuinston books. This book was both a love story between two people and a love letter to food, travel and wine.

The writing in this book was so detailed and descriptive, especially when it came to the food and wine. I loved the childhood history of Theo and Kit, that they knew each other so well, not just their childhood experiences but what made each other tick and could guess the others feelings or thoughts with just looks. And of course, my favorite part in this book was the non-binary representation and the coming out scene, it felt so right *chef’s kiss*. I felt it was a little bit too unrealistic that when it came to their little competition, they seemed to always find someone super hot and be able to take them to bed after just talking for a short time. But overall, it was a cute book and would definitely recommend!

this was just fun ok!! I love the way cmq writes banter, i love that the horniness for both food and people was turned up to 11, and i am so jealous of this tour i could scream. as someone who is a big-time hater of the subway sex in OLS, i was nervous going into what promised to be a spicy book, but a majority of it was so much better, thank you Casey, i’m sorry i doubted you.

1.5 stars rounded up because you can tell this was casey mcquiston’s passion project…but i wish they had kept it 200 pages shorter because oh, my, god, this was so long and nothing happened.

took me three months to read this and at the end, it was just a personal vendetta to finish it and not dnf it. got stuck at 70% for an entire month where i’d do anything except pick up my kindle because i knew i had to finish this.

i was SO excited about it because i have loved all of their previous books and the concept of bisexuals in europe sounded awesome. however this felt like watching a very long documentary on a 12-hour flight where they only have the discovery channel available and you don’t even like the show.

the food and wine tour concept was really cool in theory but the incessant amount of descriptions added little to the story because at one point it stopped being interesting and just felt like i was reading a travel guide. it felt very pretentious but in a way that was not enjoyable. i think as a movie it would’ve worked better because the visual aspects would’ve actually attracted the eye but unfortunately there’s only so much description i can tolerate before i feel like i’m reading a manifest.

additionally and very sadly, the competition that theo and kit had going on didn’t even make sense nor it was interesting to see it play out.

also i feel like their reasons to not be together were just not valid enough for me to believe they had any weight. like…i was just like “okay that is literally not a problem???”. and the rant about theo not wanting to act like a nepo baby even though they are was annoying. they were trying to live the poor lifestyle so badly that they forgot that any actual poor person would take their millionaire sister’s gift of money immediately if they were struggling the way theo thought they were.

don’t get me started on theo, actually. i actively disliked them because they were just a contradiction of themselves but also thinking everyone was trying to control them. it was incredibly frustrating to see theit attitude towards everyone in their life. kit was constantly trying to make amends and rebuild bridges, but theo’s reactions were far too impulsive and apathetic about it all.

there is absolutely no development for any side characters and they just seem caricatures at a point because they are severely underdeveloped. the only one i was genuinely interested in was (i forgot her name. oops) kit’s best friend but that was as far as it went.

lastly, and most importantly in the genre, i did not feel a connection between them. the reason behind their breakup and going no contact for 4 years seemed ridiculous at best. but ultimately i did not feel a strong connection between them other than sexually. and they were fighting a lot.

the “bagging people on Europe” bet seemed cool in theory but truly there was never any indication for me to believe they actually could get with all these people, and truly it felt kind of pointless considering most of the bet came from them trying to suppress their feelings. i don’t know, i am not the greatest at difficult talks, but i am of the humble opinion that if they had called each other and talked for thirty minutes, 90% of the problems would’ve been instantly solved.

HOWEVER i will not let these things go unnoticed :
~ lovely exploration of gender and i liked the way kit immediately switched pronouns in his inner monologue for theo. felt refreshing and very sweet and inclusive.
~ i loved that gender nonconformity and acceptance of nonbinary pronouns was never put in question and was not a major plot point. just lovely people being lovely but unfortunately in a very long and tedious book.

i am so incredibly disappointed but will be picking up future CMQ books because as i said, i love them and their books - this one just wasn’t for me.

Kit and Theo, childhood best friends turned lovers, stopped speaking after their devastating breakup. Four years later, they accidentally meet again on a month-long food and wine tour of Europe. After weeks of sightseeing, eating, drinking, and having sex (with other people and each other) they finally come face to face with their still-strong feelings and the reason for their long-ago breakup.

I expected this book to be a carefree romp, and it was. Kit and Theo both have traumas and pasts, but the present and its sensory joys take center stage. There are many lovely and interesting descriptions of wine and food and the sights of France and Italy and Spain. But - there are just so MANY of these descriptions. The tour, and the book, goes on and on, city after city, meal after meal and enticing stranger after enticing stranger, and eventually I began to get indigestion.

In a novel of this length, I wanted more depth, and I had a hard time finding that. Although I liked the writing and found the main characters distinct and relatable, I didn't feel invested in their relationship or in their personal journeys. We never saw either of them in the context of their regular lives, and although references were made to their families we never saw those relationships play out in real time. On top of that, the vacation was (apparently) amazingly well-designed and Kit and Theo amazingly resilient: there was not a single bad meal, linguistic difficulty, unpleasant fellow traveler, or unlivable hostel in the whole trip. (There was one excessively warm room somewhere in Italy. One!)

This gave the novel a leisurely, indulgent feel - but also removed any sense of urgency or conflict. Eventually the beautiful sights and delicious foods and gorgeous bodies began to blend together, an endless romp, a pairing of sweet and more sweet and even more sweet that overwhelmed the palate.
3.5 stars.

I love Casey McQuiston so very much. Their writing is some of my favorite of all time and I’ll happily read anything they write, even if it were a dinner menu.
However, I hate miscommunication tropes, especially when it can be solved incredibly quickly with a simple conversation. I have zero issue with a slutty era, as other say, but perhaps it’s the former abstinence only sex-educated kid in me, but the lack of any kind of mention of STI protection just takes me out. I know, I know, it’s not a fun thing to write about, but I have read other books that specifically mention grabbing a condom or whatever and I love that.
I would also love to go on this vacation, mostly to just enjoy the food and views.
Do I love this book as much as I love RWRB? No. But I will still gladly ready anything Casey publishes and I will read this again later this summer. I do think it’s a fun summery read that many people will enjoy.

I am not sure where to even start this review, because I absolutely adored The Pairing and I don’t quite have the words to summarize my feelings on it. It is rare that I encounter a book that I want to take my time and enjoy. I wanted to lavish in this book forever.

I have read all of Casey McQuiston’s other books and enjoyed them, but they have swept me away with this one. I am a big foodie, so the European wine and food tour was an enchanting setting. I just wanted to sit on my deck with a glass of crisp white while savoring the story.

When Theo and Kit find themselves on a 3 week European food tour together 4 years after their breakup, they have to find a way to coexist. What starts as a fun bet turns into a journey of self discovery, friendship, and love. The ancillary characters are just as complex and fun as the main characters. I wouldn’t mind a spin off following Fabrizio and his tour adventures!

I left this book with a warm fuzzy feeling in my heart. I am excited to share this with my family and friends when it comes out in August!

I’m so sad to give this a low rating because I love Casey McQuiston and their books normally. However, this one bored me and honestly left me confused too many times to count. So much of the book was just jerking off about food and the art, which I didn’t care or know enough about. They often used phrases from other languages without translation that I didn’t care to look up. I ended up skimming often because I didn’t want a history lesson, I wanted a romance.

I thought the spicy scenes were a great representation of a bisexual couple with a nonbinary person, but the actual romance was boring and didn’t really give me anything to root for.

Overall, loved the concept, but it fell flat and was way longer than necessary.

There’s always that sense of anticipation I feel when I pick up the latest release from an author whose work I enjoy. Sadly, the upcoming book by Casey McQuiston (author of my all-time fave, Red White & Royal Blue), resulted in disappointment for me. There were definitely things I liked, but overall, I just didn’t enjoy it.

Kit and Theo were childhood best friends who became lovers, until their relationship disintegrated on a plane to Europe. The breakup led to their canceling a European food and wine tour, and after all their history, they were out of each other’s lives for good.

After 4 years apart, both have moved on. Theo is a bartender who is studying to be a sommelier; Kit went to pastry school, and he now bakes at a fancy Parisian restaurant. When both decide to use their tour cancellation vouchers at the last possible opportunity, they see each other for the first time in 4 years.

Both Theo and Kit haven’t been lacking for sexual relationships during their time apart; both have had male and female lovers. While neither likes watching the other flirt during the tour, they’re both over each other, so why not challenge each other to see who can hook up with more people?

As both throw themselves into the challenge, of course, they realize they’ve never stopped loving each other. But have they truly changed in four years?

One of the things I dislike most in romances is miscommunication. So much of the plot hinged on their inability to express their feelings to one another or discuss what went wrong between them. And while I enjoyed the sumptuous, detailed descriptions of food, wine, and tourist attractions, neither character really appealed to me, and I never believed they really loved each other.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advance copy! The book will publish 8/6.

The Pairing (PUB 08.06) I wanted to love Casey McQuiston's upcoming release, but found is good, not great. What worked: Breathtaking European destinations with copious amounts of mouthwatering food and wine. Dual POV (first half- Theo. second half- Kit). Gender, queerness, and queer relationships represented so well. Sexually open and diverse. So.many.hookups. What didn't work: Sexually open and diverse (yes it worked and didn't). Lack of trademark humor. Pacing- 2nd half was better, but it was slow going. Second chance romance where the emotional back story isn't impactful enough to buy in to the 2nd chance-ness.

A dreamlike road trip around Europe, a delicious food tour, an enthralling romance, and all of the feelings, Casey McQuiston's latest has it all! The food descriptions were chef's kiss and the prose always a delight. A perfect summer read!

Casey McQuiston does it again! With the beautiful backdrop of a European food tour (sign me up please!), McQuiston takes the reader on a journey so rich in detail you'll feel like you've stepped into a French bakery along with Kit and Theo. I was completely wrapped up in Theo's side of the story...until we get more of Kit's side of things. This was a completely different type of novel than McQuiston's previous work but the same humor and LGBTQ+ themes will make her current fans feel right at home too.

Be prepared to order takeout and have a cocktail as you get into this one!

This is an incredibly steamy book that is erotic in all the self indulgent ways - having sex in every possible configuration with every possible person, binge drinking in gorgeous locales, and endless pastries and gorgeous lovers. Having been on similar European vacation itineraries, the fictional tour Theo and Kit take makes all the stereotypical stops and highlights one would expect - wineries in the south of France, riding Vespas in Rome, visiting the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona - and as overindulgent as any vacation tends to be, but with all the boring parts (like long hours in the bus and the sleep and water breaks) completely skipped over. The result is an extremely rich experience that feels very over the top, like eating the fattiest and booziest of tiramisu.

In my opinion, it ultimately worked, because it was very much on theme with the European vacation, and it was also very much in line with who Kit and Theo are as a couple (or a former couple) - ones who overindulge in food and drink and sex, including bringing other people into their sex games. I loved that the one night stands didn't ultimately detract from the main romance. Even while sleeping with other people, both Kit and Theo were thinking of each other, and details of the other hook ups are brief and forgettable.

I loved that Kit and Theo are lifelong friends before becoming lovers, and we enter into this existing relationship at the set up of the book. Their connection is deeper than a typical second chance romance, they have both shaped and been fundamentally shaped by each other from their youngest moments, and are a continuum of each other whether their relationship is romantic or not. It also makes their forgiveness and reconciliation much easier to accept - you may stay forever angry at a lover, but you will typically forgive a family member, knowing you still have an entire lifetime to spend tied to them. Kit and Theo's relationship feels like they are tied together for life.

The bit that is frustrating is that this book has taken the miscommunication trope and spread it out over the entire 432 pages. From their initial break up, to four years later starting up a sex competition to avoid talking about it, Kit and Theo are a couple who are utterly incapable of understanding their own feeling, let alone saying them out loud. While this is eye rolling-ly frustrating at times, it does set up a novel that is also full of some of the most intense pining that I have read in a romance love. Their love for each other fills every page, even as they are denying it, sleeping with other people, running away from it, or are otherwise avoiding it. McQuiston's prose is beautifully romantic, and the deep longing from both Theo and Kit's points of view comes across for the entire book.