Beautifully written, wonderful characters and a story that I never, ever wanted to put down. The pay off at the end is completely worth it and the characters are so engaging, you never really want it to end.

This book is exactly what you expect in all the best ways. From delicious descriptions of food and drink to the completely horny trek through Europe, CM takes you on a wild romp. Know what you're getting into before you start and you'll be delighted.

Can I please go to Europe now?? The food and wine descriptions were like art in this book and I feel like I was right alongside the characters on their incredible trip.
As I was reading The Pairing I kept thinking this romance is good and feels fresh and new compared to the massive amount of romance books I’ve read. I felt connected to the characters and was heavily rooting for them to communicate and resolve their issues. McQuiston has another winner here and I definitely recommend!

For context, from the back of the book- “In #1 New York Times bestselling author Casey McQuiston’s latest romantic comedy, two bisexual exes accidentally book the same European food and wine tour and challenge each other to an international hookup competition to prove they’re over each other. And they are over each other, right?”

I’m going to go ahead and start by laying it out there. This book is a gift to Casey McQuiston’s readers. I LOVED Red, White and Royal Blue so much that I was almost scared to read The Pairing.

I had nothing to be scared of though, this novel is SO BEAUTIFUL. I just finished it, and I can tell you now I will be reading it again very soon, because I read the story so voraciously that I’m pretty sure there are whole other levels of detail I missed. This is the kind of book that you can just devour. This story is a journey. Theo is into wine and spirits as a career and Kit is a pastry chef. And they are on a European tour together. The food, drink and sights and scents of the locales Theo and Kit get to explore are described in such vivid, sumptuous detail that you can almost taste the pastries, almost feel the soft breeze warm on the neck while reading. The European tour is such an amazing vehicle for this story, which for me, makes it the perfect summer read. I may be stuck in my windowless, stuffy office this summer, but Casey McQuiston’s writing style is like a portal to every place Theo and Kit are.

The supporting characters like Paloma, Sloane, Orla, and Fabrizio in the story are all fully drawn, beautiful and realistic people. The found family and friends themes are very real in the story and I wish I knew people like these. I pretty much fell in love with almost every character.

Let’s talk about Theo and Kit. This story is blessed with each of their points of view. The way these two describe each other is pure love and poetry. We know from the beginning that they are obviously soulmates, but they are both wonderfully real and beautiful messes. The characters are so realistic with their triumphs and failures and all we want while reading is for them to get it together and realize what we readers already know, they are PERFECT for each other.

Another thing that must be pointed out-this book is SPICY. Theo and Kit have a literal bet about who can rack up the most conquests. The sex in the book is hot and sweet, and oh, did I mention HOT?

Look, this is not so much a review as my thoughts on the book, so I am completely unapologetic for spending whole paragraphs gushing over it, because it is a WHOLE VIBE and reading it made me so happy. Thanks to Casey McQuiston and St. Martin’s Press for the digital ARC for review. I am going to have to preorder it so I have a hardcover copy as well. It’s that good.

The Pairing is a sumptuous, romantic story about Theo and Kit. Theo and Kit grew up together, were in love with each other for years, and at 22 years old finally declared their love for one another and dated for two years. When the book kicks off, they've been broken up for four years, and find themselves on the same European wine and food tour. It's a friends to lovers to enemies to friends to lovers story, with some fun additional tropes thrown in (close proximity, only one bed, road trip, the list goes on).

I loved a lot of this book -- the lavish descriptions of food and wine, the romance, the scenery -- and it made me want to go on a western European food and wine tour, open a bakery+bar, and commit to a professional passion. It gave me lots of feelings, too, and I ~devoured~ it in a very short amount of time. It's highly readable, even with a few food descriptions that run a bit long.

The Pairing didn't hit me quite as hard for me as the desperation, comedy, and forbidden love of Red, White & Royal Blue, though, and I didn't find it as tightly or compellingly plotted as I Kissed Shara Wheeler. I also had a hard time with the core conflicts being mis-/poor communication (and didn't feel like their communication struggles were resolved enough at the end to make me believe the epilogue).

But I still really enjoyed it, and would recommend it highly if you liked CMcQ's other books.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

After breaking up years ago on a flight to Europe, Kit and Theo find themselves on the Food and Wine Tour they both bailed on after their in-flight break-up. Once childhood best friends and later lovers, Theo and Kit have both grown and changed in the years since their break-up.

Theo is a stellar bartender owning a p0p0-up trailer for mixing drinks, and set to take the Sommelier test for the third and hopefully last time. Kit never returned to California after the break-up and has honed their baking skills. It's a pairing that's meant to be.

The biggest obstacle to Kit and Theo getting back together is Kit and Theo. As friendship and more sparks between them, they'll have to make peace with the past in order to create a future together.

Another stellar read from Casey McQuiston!

This is a book about childhood friends that then became lovers and broke up on the way to a good and wine tour, and then when they each finally redeem their separate credit for the tour, they end up on the same wine tour. So, this book combines second chance romance with childhood lovers which are two of my favorite tropes, and I was not disappointed. It was a great balance between heartfelt and hilarious, continuing with Casey McQuiston’s amazing streak of books.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

I really enjoyed this book. I've been a Casey McQuiston fan since Red White and Royal Blue. That book is very near and dear to me. This book is just as fantastic. It is very different then their other books but it truly feels like they've grown as an author and shows in this book. The food, wine, people, and places are vibrant and vivid, having been carefully crafted to create a whole story. Kit and Theo have wonderful stories in the book but also they are so well developed separately and together. The book made me want to travel so badly and experience the places in it and the food. I want to be friends with Kit and Theo and a lot of the other characters in it, even the minor ones. I probably rate more books than I should 5-Stars but this would be 6 or 7 seven stars if I could. I already want to reread it.

i've been highly anticipating this release due to my love of one last stop (and i've read all of CMQ's books). the pairing follows a pair of bi exes who are stuck on a european food tour, their past feeling and competitive nature causes them to set up an international seduction competition. it fails to replicate my favorite thing about OLS, which is the rounded out cast of queer supporting characters. while The Pairing had fun side plots, those characters aren't fleshed out due to the main characters being out of their home environments. this book is a fun summer read (light and obvious plot) and spicier than previous CMQ novels

thanks netgalley and st martin's press for the eArc in exchange for an honest review.

I had a lot of fun reading this story, and while I can definitely picture the audience for this book, unfortunately, this one was not for me. And that's okay!

Across their social media platforms, Casey McQuiston has coined The Pairing as their "horniest book," and I definitely agree. This book was filled with passion and romance, and the European food and wine tour made for a fun summer backdrop, but I felt the story was lacking in plot and more focused on the hookups for Kit and Theo.

The romantic tension between Kit and Theo was excellent--the pining between them was strong, and I was rooting for them the entire time. But for their actual characterization, I didn't find myself connecting with either Kit or Theo the way I have with previous POV characters that McQuiston has written. Don't get me wrong--I enjoyed the cast of characters immensely; I just couldn't quite connect with them.

I couldn't help but notice the book was filled with summary as well; there was a lot of internal monologuing where the characters summarized events that had happened or conversations they were having, and I wanted more "show" and less "tell" throughout. I think the amount of summary contributed to my inability to connect with Kit and Theo as well.

Overall, this was a quick read and a fun story, but I'm not sure I can see myself rereading it; I'm more likely to pick up a book from McQuiston's back catalogue.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for a review!

3.5

If you distill The Pairing down to one word, I think that word is “indulgence.” This book is an abundant feast for the senses, with lusciously described locales, food, wine, art, sex, history and more. The thing with indulgence, though, is it’s fairly easy to slip into overindulgence, which I do think this book ultimately suffers from. If you’ve read Casey’s other books, especially RWRB, you know their love of research and art and history is well-established, and I don’t begrudge them this opportunity to get to really dive deep into these subjects here. But with any good vacation, there comes a point where you’re just overstuffed, tired, and ready to go home, and unfortunately that’s how I felt by the halfway point of this book when it came to all the detailed descriptions.

All of the above would probably work for me just fine if the romance here did, but unfortunately I just didn’t fall for this pairing the way I wanted to. I love a second-chance romance, in large part because you often get to see the couple fall in love twice, both in the past and the present. But the reality is we get neither here. The book opens immediately with past Theo and Kit essentially declaring their love at the age of 22, but their love stretches back before even that. “Love took root in me before I even knew its name” is what Kit thinks when reflecting on their meeting at age 8. 8! Kit and Theo then break up and spend 4 years apart before they are reunited on a tour through Europe, and the thing is they’ve never really fallen out of love. And while this sentiment is lovely, and the book is filled beautiful passages about their love, my favorite part of reading a romance is watching the characters fall in love, and I felt deprived of that here.

As always with their books, The Pairing is beautifully written. The depiction of gender and sexuality is really thoughtful and clearly carefully done while also seeming effortless. I’ve seen Casey post a lot about their goal of celebrating sluts with this book, and I think that goal was successfully met in a way I’ve never seen before. To sum it up, there is a lot to love here, but maybe it’s all just too much of a good thing.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-arc. All opinions my own.

4 stars!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖 The Details
The Pairing by Casey McQuiston

⏱️ Quick Summary
Kit and Theo were once best friends and are now exes, four years after a disaster of a breakup right before going on a European food and wine tour. They both end up back on the tour since the voucher is about to expire and try to be friends again, plus to show how OVER each other they are, they make a bet on who can have the most European hookups.

💁‍♀️ My Take
Ok, this one restored my hope in Casey McQuiston after not really enjoying their previous two books since RWRB (which I would give ALL the stars to). These characters were lovable (though sometimes not likable 🙃), the storyline was unique and kept me interested, the banter was BANTERING (!!!) and the relationships felt real. Side characters were also A+. It really made me want to take a wine tour through Europe and to also be friends with Kit and Theo. Of course you had to suspend reality a bit that they were able to find hookups literallllly everywhere (or maybe that IS reality for some people). Anyhow, would def recommend!!

Casey McQuiston does it again!! Deeply obsessed with everything they write and The Pairing is no different. I absolutely fell in love with Theo and Kit. The writing is amazing, the locations, food, drinks etc. were all so perfectly described. Lucky for me I read this while traveling in Italy and loved reading about the sights and food while there myself. I love a queer love story and this angsty bisexual friends to lovers to exes to lovers was the perfect read. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-ARC. Everyone needs to read this book!

I really loved Theo and Kit. Their relationship and personal struggles are so complex and I loved watching them grow over the course of the book. The miscommunication that lead to the initial breakup didn't bother me like it does in some books because it felt very true to the characters. I'm not much of a food and wine person, so all the details there sounded really well researched but I understood none of it. And the excessive amount of hooking up be every character in this book was a bit too much for my tastes. So all in all, a good book, but not one of my favorites by this author.

After breaking up at the airport 4 years ago from their life-long best friend, Theo decides to cash in on their European food and wine tour before the voucher expires. Unbeknownst to them, their ex, Kit, has also waited until the final expiration date to take the trip. Because they are definitely both over one another, they begin a competition to see who can hook up with the most people during the tour. But when memories resurface and more truth comes out from their break up, their worlds collide again at the exact right moment.

Rating: 5/5
Spice: 4/5

Tropes:
Dual POV
The One That Got Away
International Adventure
Second Chance Romance

Triggers:
D3ath of parent
Breakup from Best Friend

My thoughts:
I loved how this book intertwined a love of food, wine and art into a love story between two people who were meant to be but needed to grow before they could reunite. This is a beautifully written story about how no one knows you better than your best friend. The reader will be rooting for Theo and Kit the entire time they are reading this book and might just learn a few new things about sexy times between the two bisexual characters 😉

Queer European adventure between two ex's - what could go wrong?

Well...lots.

Kit and Theo were childhood best friends, lovers and now exes. They planned to go on a 3-week European food and wine tour but there was a breakup on the flight over from LA and they haven't spoken to each other in 4 years.

They are now smashed together on the same tour they were meant to take - honestly, I'd have said "F it" at this point, I would absolutely not be in close proximity with an ex if they dumped me in that way.

But they both stay on the tour, because vouchers, and even though both have the money they are too cheap to opt out of this misadventure.
There's a sex wager - who can sleep with more Europeans along the way?

I loved the place & food descriptions - but that's about it.

I will be brutally honest- this is probably my least favorite McQuiston. But despite this, I do think it is a testament to Casey McQuiston's skill and expertise in romance writing. They were able to write something that felt brand new, different than anything they've written before. If you hadn't told me this was Casey McQuiston, I would not have guessed it. That's always impressive to me!

My least favorite tropes in romance are second chance romance and excessive talk about food, which is why this is my least favorite. I did find myself disappointed at the lack of characters that felt complex and interesting, and the lack of connections beyond brief moments with stock characters.

What this book did do well was queerness. This is an unapologetically queer book, and it does not shy away from sexuality and gender in any way. It's fun to see Casey write a queer book that may not be as easily beloved by straight audiences, and I think that's such a powerful move here. This is a book for the queer community from the queer community. I love that.

I am recommending this to the bookstore I do IndieNext reviews for, because I see many people absolutely adoring this book. I have a feeling it will be very divisive- either a 1 star or a 5 star for the people involved. And I think those are the best sorts of books. Excited to continue on as a Casey McQuiston fan!

A romance book like you've never read before, The Pairing is a tour de force through Europe, queerness, food, and persistent love. The Pairing is Casey's most unique and innovative book yet- pick it up for the perfect summer read!

What a special experience to be able to read THE PAIRING on my way to Paris! This was truly the perfect book about two messy, slutty, hot, bisexuals who find their way back to one another four years after their sudden break-up on an epic two-week European food and wine tour! 🇫🇷🫶

As expected, this book was phenomenal! I loved every second of it! I found myself relating so much to both Theo and Kit. They were both so special and unique in their own ways and I’d protect both of them with my life! 🫶 Also, the only one bed tropes were tropin’ in this book and I was HERE FOR IT! We also get dual POV here but it was unique because one half was Theo’s POV and the second half was Kit’s POV. I thought the half/half POV format made their story even sweeter.

I loved this book and can’t wait for you all to read it when it’s out on August 6th! 🫶

Casey McQuiston's The Pairing harkens back to what I most loved when I read her first novel, Red, White, and Royal Blue. Although this is a very different work in many ways, it shares a great deal of the banter between the primary characters that we saw in McQuiston's debut, and that was undoubtedly one of my favorite aspects of both books.

We follow a pair of childhood friends, Theo and Kit, who, after taking their relationship to the next level had an abrupt and catastrophic breakup several years prior to the action of the novel, and only now find themselves accidentally on the same trip through Europe for various reasons. As the tour progresses from city to city and the pair, along with an assortment of colorful and entertaining traveling companions, indulge in food, wine, and scenery, the reader learns about both their early relationship and present awkwardness from Theo's point of view until the halfway point, when Kit takes up the story. I enjoyed the structure because it gives us the opportunity to understand each character separately and more thoroughly than just a single POV or a less deep POV might have. And by giving us bits of the past along with the present, McQuiston allows us to see how much the characters have changed over time, as well as what is innate in their personalities and what lessons still need to be learned. I found it a very interesting way to get to know them and to see the layers of their personal growth, both as people in a relationship and as people still getting to know themselves. It's a story of people maturing as individuals just as much as it is the story of a relationship's ups and downs, and I very much enjoyed it. And the delightful romp through Europe was just icing on the cake.

With thanks to the publisher/NetGalley for the ARC. I was under no obligation but am happy to have read and to share my thoughts.

Casey McQuiston normally gives me the romance novel equivalent of a sugar rush and it’s irresistible. In The Pairing, McQuiston whets the appetite with a gourmet meets gourmand approach. Both refer to a particular obsession with food with the former being more high brow and the latter being more low brow. Each end of this spectrum is represented by the main characters: a French aspiring pastry chef and an American aspiring sommelier.

The delicious twist is that it’s a second chance romance spanning a once in a lifetime European food and drink tour. We learn more about how they met and why they fell apart through artisanal bread crumbs throughout the book. The book features both of their first person narratives of the situation, making the switch about halfway through the trip. I personally enjoyed the latter half because of the more poetic point of view and the emotional depth that had built by that point. The first part of the story heavily focuses on a superficial sexual conquest competition that just wasn’t as interesting to me.

Each chapter starts with a meal pairing including food, drink and vibes, which creates a nice through line. The descriptions of travel really capture the fleeting moments so many of us chase and then can only revisit in fragmented mementos. McQuiston captured it all: the itineraries, the thwarted plans, the spontaneity, the sublime and all the senses that perceive these pains and pleasures.

If you’re lucky enough to have a vacation to read this book on, I recommend it if you want a spicy romance a-go-go. And if you don’t have the ability or means to travel, this story can transport you to new places.

I received an advance reader copy from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin in exchange for an honest review.