Literally screamed with joy when finding out I'd been approved for an ARC of Casey McQuiston's newest novel I'd been excited about since it was first announced. 'The Pairing' is a stunningly rich, queer, and simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking journey unfolding via food, travel and Theo and Kit's romantic relationship unlike anything I've read before. Will make you want to immediately buy a ticket to travel continental Europe and wish you had access to all the incredible-sounding snacks they enjoyed.

I fall in love with all of CMQ's characters and these are possibly my favourites so far - cannot wait to reread and experience it all over again.

This was a beautiful book that we need more of. Love the topics it covers, queer relationships, gender, need more of this kind of romance in books, there are not enough! I can’t tell you how hungry I got while reading this delicious book. Come on, I got to read about a dildo going around over 10 times on a luggage carousel at the airport! This book made me laugh, cry, it had all the emotions. Thank you NetGalley and St Martins press for the arc in exchange for my honest review. Will have to buy this book when it releases, look at the awesome sprayed edges.

"The Pairing" by Casey McQuiston is a captivating and heartwarming romance novel that will leave you smiling from ear to ear. McQuiston's writing style is engaging, with witty dialogue and well-developed characters that draw you into their world from the very first page.

The story follows the journey of two individuals who come from different backgrounds and have contrasting personalities. The author beautifully portrays their budding romance, filled with ups and downs, humor, and genuine emotions.

What stands out in "The Pairing" is McQuiston's ability to address important themes such as acceptance, self-discovery, and the power of love to transcend barriers. The characters' chemistry is palpable, making their love story all the more compelling and relatable.

Overall, "The Pairing" is a delightful read that will leave you feeling uplifted and believing in the magic of love. Casey McQuiston has once again delivered a charming and memorable story that will resonate with readers long after they've finished the book.

Absolutely delightful! Casey McQuistion is a child of the late-90s-early-2000s-teen-rom-com-renaissance in the best way possible! Is it trope-y? Yes. Is it cheesy? Yes. However, there is also a level of sincerity and earnestness within the story that many romance writers fail to achieve. Using the somewhat odd and unbelievable elements of. a classic rom-com, McQuistion is still able to explore characterization and human relationships in a real and meaningful way that I find to be quite impactful. With their novels, there is always an undertone of honesty, no matter how unbelievable the plots themselves may be, which I really enjoy.

Within this novel, I absolutely love the thirty (though technically slightly younger), flirty (nothing sexier than a cheese and wine tasting), and thriving (okay, so maybe thats a facade sometimes, but fake it 'til you make it, right?) nature of the book. The characters are relatable and fun, and exceptionally well developed with strong internal monologues. The pacing is also great, as you travel quickly through Europe with the two leads and the tour group.

Overall, I loved this novel and will be quick to recommend!

The Pairing will definitely be a fun summer read! This is the first work by Casey McQuiston that I’ve read and I really enjoyed it. I loved the different settings and all of the characters. I genuinely think Fabrizio was one of my favorite characters__that man is a mood <3

Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read this book early in exchange for my honest review.

4/5 *s
Second chance romance, with steam up to your ears, and also, it makes you hungry.

Theo and Kit broke up four years ago on their way to a European food and wine tour, and have not spoken since. They cancelled their excursion and each got a voucher to go on the tour later. Well, now that voucher is about to expire, and Theo figures it’s better to use it than let that happen. Unfortunately Kit has the same idea, and now they’re both in Europe, on the same tour together, with no escape. What entails on this tour is indulgence to it’s highest level, with so much pining and amazing descriptions accompanying it.

Favorite Quotes
“I came to drink champagne and eat tortellini until I throw up.”
“Kiss me, haunt me, handle me recklessly.”

Review
Casey McQuiston is my favorite author, and they did not disappoint with this new novel. From the start of the novel, I got that signature writing style and humor that I’ve been missing in my life. I loved the plot lined and the way the story was structured, and to me it lent well to the over all narrative. I ordered this book on presale back in December and I’m glad I did. I’m already so excited to reread this with a glass of wine and some delicious baked breads, cheeses, jams, everything. The description of the food and the locations is amazing, though I have to admit I am not familiar with a lot of the food words/flavors/descriptions, so some of it went over my head, but what I got was sublime. The flirting, the banter, the connections, all fantastic. This is the second book I’ve read that is second chance romance, and I can’t believe I’ve been sleeping on it. The second half of the book is probably my favorite, and connected me to the story more than the first half.

(Spoliers below)

I love how Theo’s gender was handled, and how Kit responded to it both in day to day and when they were intimate. Their growth over the tour was believable and realistic, and I love how they overcame their issues and communicated.

My main complaint about this book (besides be being too ignorant about food and wine) is the miscommunication that led to the characters break up four years ago. Miscommunication is very hard to pull off right, thus a lot of people hating it, but if it’s done right it works well. In this book, it simply didn’t work for me. Thats what stopped it from being 5 stars, but other than that it’s an amazing read.

Content Warnings
Alcohol, Blood, Misgendering, Sexually explicit scenes

Annotation Guide
Green - Positive Notes
Red - Critiques
Yellow - General reactions/commentary
Blue - Gramatical/Plot related notes

I have so many thoughts and feelings to share about this book... after St. Martin's Press responds to the Readers for Accountability boycott!

I love Casey McQuiston so much. I went to an event of theirs some time ago and I asked them to initial a bottle of nail polish because the color was featured in their Shara Wheeler book. I don’t know how, but now I need to have them sign a baguette or something because they have won me over again.

This book was beautiful. It is absolutely delectable, set on a European food and wine tour with a special surprise. I don’t know how many tropes are in this book, but all of them are fun. It has exes, competitions, one bed, misunderstood threeway invitations, “Will they or won’t they,” along with lovely scenery, food everywhere, mucho sexo, and endless references to Jaws and Anthony Bourdain. With ongoing discussions and exploration of queerness and gender, this is a book with a “resonant homosexual flavor.” Even when I briefly got annoyed with one part, it pulled me back in again pretty quickly. It’s long but too short. And it’s the perfect base on which to plan your euro trip.

And of course, as with all of their books, Casey McQuiston has written something that is so sweet, spicy, and special for queer folks.

I read an advance copy and I only noticed 2-3 little errors (missing words, that type of thing). I will be purchasing this when it comes out.

I don’t think there was a lick of research done on this book. It’s hard to get past the glaring issues but once’s you do it feels empty. It lacks the heart of RWRB and Last Stop with vibrant background characters. It just fell flat.

The Pairing—for me, un mauvais goût.

I wanted to love this book so much, because I want to love everything that Casey writes. I’m their loyal fan and will continue to read their books. And they’re successful enough I feel I can be honest that this book was aggressively not for me. I’m just so relieved I’m done reading it and nearly DNF’d at 75%.

It really should’ve been for me, too. I’m an art historian of European art. I love wine. I’m a queer person. Ive been privileged enough to travel in a (somewhat, because, my god) similar style to that described in this book. But, friends, a trip itinerary is not a plot. And maybe ten years ago I would’ve enjoyed the celebratory romp through Europe, but in 2024 it just didn’t have a great mouthfeel for me. The long, excessive descriptions of European destinations, the elaborate meals and granular details of tasting notes in wines were both alienating and, frankly, boring.

Second chance romance is already a difficult trope to work with, and here it was a classic case of I-didn’t-tell-you-something-at-the-appropriate-time-but-was-planning-to so we break up, but an honest conversation could’ve totally solved the entire problem. As a result, the entire story is pining at close range with everyone on exactly the same page but just not owning it.

There were many ideas and characterizations happening on every side, so that the development felt very unfocused. it was strange that the tour group was so undefined? A few side characters (all apparently being poly together) are named and included, but it seems like they’re also traveling with a bunch of nameless, faceless tour people. How is everyone in Europe hot, gay and under 30? I must admit I found their contest a little tokenizing of local people in the places they visited … in one passage the people are even equated to items on a menu, as if the people the leads encounter merely exist for their sexual or aesthetic pleasure. I think personal growth storyline of one of the main characters felt very meaningful and effective, but overall this book just didn’t hit the right notes for me.

2.5

I promise I'm not a prude, but this book almost ruined sex for me.

Thank you Netgalley for the e-arc!

I am a huge RW&RB fan. I own merch, it's an annual re-read. I temporarily DNf'd One Last Stop because I couldn't get into it, but I'm adamant that I'll like it when I go back. Casey McQuiston writes a book, I WILL READ IT. So I was very, very excited for The Pairing, which has been advertised as a spicer, second-chance queer romance through Europe.

"Spicier" is a loose term, here. I'll get straight to the point: this book is horny. The characters are horny. The cities they travel to are horny, somehow. Everything has a raging boner, and nothing else matters. Kit and Theo have two personality traits each: Kit likes baking and sex. Theo likes mixology and sex. That's all you need to know.

And sex isn't a bad thing yall, especially in a romance. However, this book lacks ANY depth because the writing is so repetitive. They travel to a new city, they eat food, they have a drink, they have sex with someone. Repeat, repeat, repeat for ~400 pages. It gets boring after the first few sex scenes, especially because you know that these characters sleeping around means virtually nothing, because they will end up together in the end. That's how romance goes. So why do I care to read hundreds of pages of them having sex with other people, wishing it was their True Love instead?

On top of this, we would have pretty lush descriptions of each city they visited, what they were eating, etc. although it was boring because each chapter would literally start the same way (intro to city, vivid details of city and food and wine and etc, cool location description), it would always screech to a halt with an immediate sexual innuendo. "wow that statue has a big cock" "I think all of these paintings would fuck each other senseless" "am I the only one who has a raging boner for that peach?" and then we're back to the horn-dog paragraphs until the chapter is over.

We had moments where Casey tried to flesh out our characters, tried to make us care about them, but it was so temporary. The sex-to-character-development ratio was unbalanced as hell. ALSO ALSO, Kit and Theo have no chemistry. I think they make great best friends, maybe even loose lovers? But maybe it's just me, but I have a hard time understanding how these two people can fuck so many others so intensely and then be like, "but I only have eyes for you bebe, you're my whole life." I simply don't believe you!

Kit's chapters were more interesting than Theo's, but we only get Kit's POV halfway through the book. I never became emotionally invested in this story, and it sucks.

I wanted so badly to love this. I just don't think I knew what I was getting into, here, and maybe a lot of you don't know, either.

This book REALLY made me think. In some ways it is a typical friends-to-lovers trope, exes reuniting trope, contemporary romance. The book is pretty gay. And the love story is believable and I absolutely found myself rooting for Theo and Kit. The first 50% of the book is Theo's POV first person, the second 50% of the book is Kit's POV. Kit is a nickname, he has some super French name, his mom is French and dad is American. Theo comes from a Hollywood family and is privileged although not famous in their own right. They accidentally meet on a European group trip that they both happen to book. I am rating 4 stars because I thought the first half dragged a bit- maybe a 2.5 stars, but once the story changes to Kit's POV that is when the story is great and the romance comes alive. I love the idea of having a "yes and" relationship.



Spoiler below





















<spoiler>SO I assumed Theo was a gay man I WAS ACTUALLY PICTURING DAN LEVY and I didn't find out until it turned to Kit's POV at 50% that I noticed Kit was referring to Theo with She/Her pronouns! They are both bisexual and the narrative talked about hooking up with men and women, but because of the name "Theo" I was expecting a man, a gay man. Turns out Theo is actually non-binary and asks Kit to refer to them with they/them, which Kit does the rest of the book.

And the thing that really made me think on this was that when I discovered Theo was assigned female at birth, my first instinct was "Now I realize I read this incorrectly I need to go back to the beginning and re-read this." And then I realized that I absolutely do not need to, that it actually doesn't matter. And I wonder- jeez do I have some sort of hidden bias- like- why does it matter? And so I have to sit with that and examine that maybe there is a part of me that doesn't truly believe men can be bisexual but that they are all REALLY gay. I don't want to think that about myself, I like to think of myself as being more open-minded. But then when I felt like I needed to re-read it kind of exposed my own hidden bias so I am thankful for that. So yes, that definitely made me think. </spoiler>

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC- here is the link to my Goodreads review. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6139137133

Thank you to the author and publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I am consistently impressed by how Casey McQuinston manages to write stories that are incredibly fun and spicey as well as sweet and insightful. The world really blurs and creates tunnel vision around the two main characters in a way that's different from her other novels, which I've read other reviewers don't love, but I think it allows the internal experiences of the two main characters to unfold in front of the audience. I enjoyed that the locations serve as supporting characters in themselves, though I may not be enough of a foodie to have fully enjoyed the lengthy descriptions of tastes and experiences of food and wine! That said, the pacing of the book was interesting - at times it felt slow and luxurious to match the enjoyment of the characters, and other times the pacing picked up as the plot evolved and the characters' minds raced. I also enjoyed the exploration of gender identity and how it was handled by the author's voice and characters' responses within the novel.

I wanted this to be a 5 star read more than any book I’ve read so far this year. I love Casey’s writing style and stories so much. This one had so much to love- a non-binary main character, a dual POV that’s done well, and lots of fun side characters. My only issue with this book is it’s long, and it felt long. I got bored very quickly- even with the wonderful world being described on this tour through Europe.. it was difficult to get through the whole thing and I felt like I was forcing myself to finish it.

I'm admittedly not a big romance gal, but even I can't resist a Casey McQuinston book. And this book, like all their other books, was an absolutely joy to read. The story was sweet and silly, the characters were deeply endearing, It felt like a cozy vacation in a book. It's everything you could ask for, just an absolute treat.

Thank you kindly for the ARC, NetGalley!

THIS WAS SO FUN!! i love cmq's dialogue, the way they have their characters converse is so hilariously relatable (i think that we need to be friends but whatever)

i really enjoyed how the back story was revealed to us as we read, rather than having the plot be linear. i also have learned so much about food and wine (two things i don't particularly enjoy so what am i to do with all this knowledge i'm not sure) ?? the scenery of southern europe in the summer was gorgeous, and made me nostalgic for a vacation i've never been on.

theo's pov of their gender identity - along with kit's response/reflection on it - was so well done, and i feel that i've gained a new understanding of what it is like to struggle with this. i also feel more connected to cmq now, as i couldn't help but infer that they put a lot of themselves into theo.

circling back to the dialogue: this book has some of the nicest descriptions of feelings toward your friend that i have ever read. the way that kit describes how he feels toward theo is so beautiful, and something that all friendships should strive toward. i have so many annotations of me crying and hoping that my friends say those things about me.

lastly, i enjoyed the older-20's pov of these characters. they're each 28, so they still feel very baby to themselves but are starting to become real adults as far as the world is concerned, and this is such a deeply relatable struggle lol. seeing the unserious way cmq tackles that mindset was so fun and reassuring to read.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for an advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review. What an absolute delight! Casey McQuiston takes us on an incredible journey with this new book, traveling through Europe and into the hearts of Kit and Theo. There were so many things I loved about it: the setting, the beautiful detail of food and drink, the weaving of art throughout, the slow burn romance, the queer rep, the spice (whooooa 🥵). There were times that it was perhaps a bit TOO slowburn to the point of angst but it definitely was worth it and I found myself highlighting so many beautiful quotes. Loved this and I just can’t wait for more releases from McQuiston if they are anywhere near as fantastic as this one! 5 ⭐️

I was so excited to see this ARC in my inbox. The Pairing was my most anticipated book of the year and it did not disappoint. Casey McQuiston has done it again, enchanting readers with their lovable/relatable characters, crafting the most ridiculously hilarious situations for said characters, and single-handedly keeping bi representation strong in the contemporary romance space.

Reading this book gave me the feeling of watching Call Me By Your Name for the first time - longing, bliss, butterflies - that sensual European summer feeling. I laughed, I ached, I yearned. I found myself constantly salivating over all the food and drinks described. This is a book for the senses.

The references to fine wines and European dishes, places, and people are all pretentious in an accessible way. If you don’t know the references, it doesn’t take away from the story or make you feel stupid for not knowing, but if you do know, your experience is made all the richer for it. I admit to not being much of a fine arts lover, but the way some of the classical pieces were described made me want to be an art historian.

By far my favorite character in this book was Kit Fairfield. He is the blueprint and I am truly addicted to that young man. The switch to Kit’s POV midway through knocked me on my ass in the best way possible. It was perfectly timed for maximum emotional impact. Absolutely adore Theo as well (and all of the minor characters). I wanted to be a part of that tour group more than anything!

Another favorite thing about this book is the fact that Kit (or anyone else) doesn’t misgender Theo at all after they come out. That is just *chef’s kiss*. Queer books don’t have to be traumatic or sad to be important!

And the perfect cherry on top to this book was the sweet ending!

A well deserved 5/5 stars.

Sometimes time apart helps old flames to recover and burn again. Theo and Kit have been childhood best friends, loves and now exes. The have a terrible break out and try to explore the world separately. But they once again are drawn together and make a friendly bet to see who can hook-up with the most people.

If I hadn’t been closely following every tiny announcement, mood board, and snippet of information about this book, I probably would’ve been caught off guard by it. However, McQuiston promised slutty bisexual exes on a decadent European food tour, and that’s what they delivered.

I did genuinely enjoy this book, and I liked that we didn’t go back and forth between Theo and Kit’s perspectives, but the first half was Theo’s POV and the second was Kit’s. The “miscommunication” trope didn’t even bother me, because I believed that these two did probably need some time apart before they could be good together.

I do wish that there was a little more of their backstory, because I’m all in on the childhood friends to lovers to exes back to lovers story, but wasn’t entirely clear on what made them so indispensable to each other as kids, and if they were truly that close for that long, how they severed any semblance of relationship in the way that they did.

I know that this book won’t be for everyone—it’s definitely got more sex than CMQ’s other books. And the premise is built around having sex with other people (and not in the “we baited each other into this competition but can’t actually go through with it” way.) Another review that I read said that they liked that the sex was genderless/not what you typically see in a romance, and I agree that I liked that aspect a lot. I hope that Casey McQuiston continues with this level of steam in future novels.