The Pairing markets itself as both a sexy romp through Europe and a second-chance romance, but it fails to effectively pull off either genre. Although the premise is intriguing — two bisexual exes accidentally reunite on a food-and-wine tour after years separated — the meat of the story gets lost in repetitive, gratuitous descriptions of food, wine, and sex. While the prose is beautiful, the book fails to answer some key questions. Why do Theo and Kit love each other? Why do they care about each other? Overall, The Pairing does not catch McQuiston at their best, favoring style over substance.

Casey Mcquiston has done it again. She made falling in love with Kit and Theo's story seem as easy as picking a delicious wine or dessert. I will definitely be adding this to my reread list. Her descriptions of the food and destinations were poetic and powerful.

Red, White, and Royal Blue is one of my favorite books, so I had to get my hands on a copy of this ARC! However, I quickly found myself not liking this one as much as Red, White, and Royal Blue. I love Casey McQuiston's characters in RWRB - they all feel like real people with flaws and insecurities. And the world feels deeper than just the main two characters. All the side characters feel well developed and fleshed out - with their own goals and experiences. The Pairing, in comparison, just fell a little flat. The characters just didn't seem that well developed - the main ones, but especially the side characters. However, I'm still going to try whatever McQuiston writes!

I think the only two ways I could have loved this story more would be if 1) I got Kit and Theo’s POV for every single moment or 2) I was literally there with them. I don’t even know what to say. I liked this from the start, back when I was just thinking that Theo and Kit were infinitely cooler than I could ever be and that the setting made me want to hop on a plane to France. But by the end, I was so invested in them individually, them as a couple, every single person on their trip, every other person in their lives, everything they were sightseeing and eating. I was empathetically feeling these fictional characters’ feelings an unhealthy amount, but it’s because they were so relatable. I felt so seen in different parts of these characters and these stories despite being nothing like Kit or Theo in actuality.

Seriously though, I do wish the POVs were rotated a bit more, because I missed getting Theo’s thoughts the second half of the trip. But other than that, I’m so happy we got to spend time in Kit’s head for so long too.

Casey McQuiston has a way of making me think everything will be okay in the world and in my life, even if just while I’m reading their work. It’s just an escape from reality, but it’s one that leaves me with so much hope and new will to live and to try. That’s something so special about very few books for people and I’m so thankful for it.

The Pairing is the perfect read to savor by the pool or on a beach. And if you're not on a vacation of your own, it'll absolutely transport you. Kit and Theo are two exes who find themselves on the same tour across Europe. The first half of the book is in Theo's POV, and the second half is in Kit's POV. Both are engaging and nuanced, and I enjoyed piecing together their "whys." Why did they break up in the first place? Why did they choose to go down this path? Why do they see themselves in a certain way? The book is, in a word, sumptuous. The Pairing is full of gorgeous descriptions of food and wine, scenery, and beautiful people. I loved the secondary characters and their personalities, too! This is such a special book, and I know readers are going to love Kit and Theo's adventures.

I'm sure this book is for someone. Someone who has watched Call Me By Your Name enough times to have the lines memorized, someone who gets lost in the flavours of food and wine and the romance that seemingly floats around all the highly erotic crevices of Europe. I'm sure this book is for someone, and they will treasure the experience of reading it for a long time: unfortunately I am not that person.

There's a few reasons, the biggest one being I'm not necessarily a fan of reading gratuitous casual sex that doesn't have much meaning (apart from yearning for someone you wish you were with), or a relationship driven head-first by wanting to make love to someone. Not saying that is not something that's possible, it's just not something I care for, and for most part in this book, that is all I got. I was repeatedly told to believe in the love Kit and Theo had for each other, but it was mostly substantiated by them thirsting for each other. I saw glimpses of what I wanted to read about more (their past relationship, the way they navigated everyday life, the fall out and its repercussions outside of them realizing it was a misunderstanding), but I never got as much as I wanted. And as a Casey McQuiston enjoyer (idk what they put in r,w&rb that makes me lose my mind), I just think not every book by an author will hit you the same way, and that's okay.

What I did truly appreciate about this book was the subtlety in which LGBTQ+ representation was handled: in that it was not the main plot point of the book. There were clear conversations about it, but it was never the standout, and instead a mellow undercurrent, which I appreciated a lot. It felt everyday, and normal, like it should. Props to Casey for that, they did a fantastic job.

I do find it hard to believe that things just fell in place for our main characters everywhere in Europe (everyone's bisexual, incredibly interested in both of them, and immediately catering to their needs? Pretty privilege is everything, I guess, but it did feel like I had to suspend disbelief for most part).

Overall, I'll say this book will appeal to some people thoroughly, and maybe others not quite as much. Sadly, I lie in the latter group. Am still looking forward to what Casey has in store for me next!


(honest ARC review)

I had a really fun time with The Pairing! First of all - this made me so hungry and also made me want to go on a trip so bad! The way the places and foods were so thoroughly described is making me want to book a trip to Europe ASAP!!! I thought the story itself was fun and unique compared to a lot of recent romance I've read. its been a long time since I've read RW&RB so I'm rusty there but this felt really different in comparison! I get why some romance readers might not be a fan of the messiness that takes over the first bit of Kit and Theo’s trip but I kinda liked it? as mentioned, it was refreshing and different for me. I liked the pov switch halfway through too. Overall would recommend I had fun :)

I love Casey McQuiston's books, and I was so excited for this one. I loved it. My favorite thing about Casey Mcquiston is how well they capture all the layers of emotion that can be folded into a single experience - love, insecurity, magic, wistfulness. This book does that so well. I think in a lot of respects we got even deeper experiences of the characters because they had so much history together. I felt the dual POVs helped build up the dramatic tension in the story.

The one thing that I love about McQuiston's books that I don't feel like we get as much in this one is the side characters. They're usually so fleshed-out for supporting characters, and delightfully lovable and quirky. Since this is set on a vacation tour, you don't get much from the side characters because Theo and Kit don't know them very well. Even with that, there are still some funny moments.

This one also gets extra bonus points in my book for the descriptions of food. I love cooking, so that part was extra fun.

A hedonist's delight in both form and content. Maybe the best representation of greedy bisexuals I have ever seen, being a greedy bisexual myself.

Casey McQuiston has written a horny, decadent feast of a story. Our two protagonists Theo (they/she) and Kit (he/him) are exes who broke up years ago on the eve of a European food tour. Both end up on the food tour again and circle around each other like destined, star crossed lovers both of our protagonists claimed to love and outgrow, even while avoiding the pull or at least attempting to let it settle into a comfortable spot that isn't the deep, consuming devotion they both miss and previously had.

Compared to their previous books like Red, White and Royal Blue or One Last Stop, this felt to me like McQuiston unleashed - free to be as extra in both words and plot as possible and I loved it. The food descriptions made me hungry, the sex scenes left me wanting and the unabashed, untranslated use of French, Spanish and Italian substantiated what Theo and Kit must have felt as tourists, unmoored in both feelings and geography.

Theo describes one of the most successful meals in the book as "Not perfect. But the most." I can only hope that McQuiston realizes they achieved the same with this story.

DNF @ 17%

I really enjoyed Red, White, and Royal Blue so I wanted to give this author another try. What better premise than a love story set in Europe on a food and wine tour. Should have been perfect; it was anything but….

The characters were barely one dimensional, and none of the side characters were even remotely interesting. The plot was so blah, I just couldn’t care enough to keep reading.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC.

I love Casey Mcquiston's books, but I'm sorry, these characters are so pretentious!!! I can't do it. I have never wanted a book to be over so fast. There was absolutely nothing for me to like about either of them, and that ruined the entire romance aspect for me. Theo was so pompous and arrogant and a self righteous bastard, I almost don't blame Kit for running away to Paris. Theo thought everyone was just so damn cool, and that Theo Flowerday (what kind of name is that), daughter of famous move producers and godchild of Russell Crowe, could never be as cool as these people!!! (seriously, why feel the need to flex so much) and Kit was ... he was kit. also arrogant. Parisian bastard. I thought maybe this book would be good seeing as I love Mcquiston's other works, and seeing as I've read a few foodie romances before (shout-out to Tarah Dewitt) but this was utter garbage fire.

A hedonist's delight in both form and content. Maybe the best representation of greedy bisexuals I have ever seen, being a greedy bisexual myself.

Casey McQuiston has written a horny, decadent feast of a story. Our two protagonists Theo (they/she) and Kit (he/him) are exes who broke up years ago on the eve of a European food tour. Both end up on the food tour again and circle around each other like destined, star crossed lovers both of our protagonists claimed to love and outgrow, even while avoiding the pull or at least attempting to let it settle into a comfortable spot that isn't the deep, consuming devotion they both miss and previously had.

Compared to their previous books like Red, White and Royal Blue or One Last Stop, this felt to me like McQuiston unleashed - free to be as extra in both words and plot as possible and I loved it. The food descriptions made me hungry, the sex scenes left me wanting and the unabashed, untranslated use of French, Spanish and Italian substantiated what Theo and Kit must have felt as tourists, unmoored in both feelings and geography.

Theo describes one of the most successful meals in the book as "Not perfect. But the most." I can only hope that McQuiston realizes they achieved the same with this story.

Casey McQuiston is an all time fave as my love for Red, White, and Royal Blue and One Last Stop runs deep. Receiving an ARC for this made me so incredibly excited that I abandoned all my TBRs I had planned and jumped right into this.

This had everything I could want in a book with finally some real in depth bi characters and a story full of wine and food and European traveling. I loved all of these aspects so much, and it made the read incredibly enjoyable by making me want to book the next flight to Europe.

Everything in me was wanting to absolutely love this book so much and give it an overwhelming 5 stars, but there was just something off about the MCs here and their relationship with each other that just made it hard to connect to. The chemistry at times seemed so strong, but then the decisions they made felt like they were in complete contradiction of that. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy seeing characters be messy and how they navigate that, but there were some points here where I found myself being taken out of it a bit by really not understanding the chemistry at all.

Overall the read was really enjoyable and I did love the Euorpean food and wine tour aspect of this story so much. Theo and Kit had great moments with each other, and I did enjoy the ending here and how it came together.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review. The pub date for this book is 8/6/24 and I highly recommend checking this out, as it is very different to a lot of romance reads I have been reading lately. I already have my physical copy on preorder for my "shelf trophy".

✰3 stars✰

To summarize the blurb: Theo and Kit are exes. They were once in love and planning a European food and wine tour… and then they broke up on the flight, instead going separate ways rather than on their vacation. Years later they accidentally book the same tour they were supposed to take together all those years before. To then prove they are over each other, Theo challenges Kit to a hookup competition.

The rating I landed on for this novel was so hard to decide. I love Casey so so so much, so it hurt me that I didn't love this as much as I wanted to going into it. I finished the book and knew I had to sleep on it before even writing anything because I didn’t want to be hasty before I thought my emotions through. Even after that I still have a lot to say… so, buckle in friends, this might be a long one.

I want to start by saying there were so many moments where I was like, “Theo is me, I am them.” As a character I really appreciated so many aspects of how they were written. That being said, their POV of the book was my absolute least favorite part.
Not because it was their POV but because of lots of things that were happening in the plot during that first 50% that were exactly what I worried about before I picked up this novel.
When I read a novel, sometimes I want to hurt and I want to be on the edge of tears, I want my heart to sting for a minute. There were a few moments that were good for that heart twinging pain, but there was as least one that wasn’t and made me feel dirty and actually horrible. Not dirty because it was wrong or anything like that, just so sick to my stomach because my emotions personally couldn’t handle it. It hurt for too long, and far too much. I wanted to put it down and not come back for a minute.

I did like that Theo is a self-proclaimed slut though. I like that they get to have a bisexual buffet of Europe for a hot second because yes please I would love to do that too. There is just a point where Theo seeing Kit repeatedly with their competition conquests that bridges too far and too many times for the romance chemistry between them to feel like it was building anywhere in that first half, my personal emotions of it aside.

Then we switch to Kits POV, and it’s immediately the change into what I thought this whole novel was going to be. In the second half the prose was decadent, it was charming and full of painful emotion (but in a much better way this time), it was sexy, and everything I had hoped Theo’s POV could have been too. Obviously their character voices needed to be different but I wish Theo got a better POV end of the stick, you know? That some of their love and relationship could have came through more during their section of the novel.
All of my stars essentially come from the second 50%, which again is so sad because I would have loved to love more parts of Theo’s section.

For other miscellaneous things that I did actually really like…

•Holy hell, Casey McQuiston can write some good sex. This was beyond what I even anticipated and it was good.
•You could also tell they did their research for a lot of the locations and food. That’s always appreciated.
•I loved that chapters began with what food or drink to best pair with the chapter, they were very funny and clever and I quite enjoyed that.
•The one liners, as always with Casey, were great. Humor laced in is a strong suit of theirs and for that I’m always thankful.
•Beautiful, insightful prose woven in is always another strength Casey has too.

In general I think some people will absolutely love this novel, even with—or maybe because of—the parts I had trouble emotionally with in the first half. Then I think you’ll have people who hate it because of those moments too.

Unlike Casey’s previous books that have been comforts, favorites, and/or irrevocably changed me… this one will sit as the sexy one that got away from me in the first half.

Overall, what I liked — I liked a lot. It just wasn’t enough to save the pieces that fell off so hard for me in the beginning.

Still, I’m glad Casey wrote their smuttiest novel yet, that certainly hit the mark and I hope they keep it up. I’d love to see where they go with whatever story they write next.

I know I'm going to be in the extreme minority with this book but I really didn't enjoy how it was written. There were food metaphors in every single sentence, often with multiple in one sentence. That doesn't include the sentences that were actually about food which was at least 50% of the book.

I didn't find Theo all that likeable but I'm sure that was supposed to leave room for growth but I'm not entirely sure they grew enough. I especially didn't like they way they objectified people, seemingly, only interested in their physical characteristics - I would be embarrassed if someone heard me even thinking about people the way they spoke about people. When at the half way point, the point of view changed to Kit's, I was relieved! Finally, I'll get a break from being in Theo's head (and the food metaphors will be over). Nope. I felt like Kit's and Theo's voices were too similar for me and the food metaphors absolutely didn't stop.

Pretty early on, I was hoping the characters didn't end up together (and to die alone preferably) which to me, is a critical failure in a romance book.

***This part didn't have any baring on my rating but it was something I personally disliked. I'm demisexual and these two characters were as far from ace on the scale as it is possible to be. That's fine, most people are different than me and it doesn't bother me. But I found the way they both thought about people as sexual conquests and just really only caring about their physical characteristics really grossed me out. I did however appreciate the way the author used that as a way to add some painful emotions in (I love a lot of MC driven emotional pain in my books) but it certainly wasn't enough for me to make up for the amount of time the book spent on both characters chasing sex with strangers (probably at least 85% of the book).

I was so excited to recieve this ARC and it did not disappoint! I've read all of Casey's adult books and this one might be my new favorite. The way this book made me laugh, swoon, and cry - it was so hard to put down. Side note... the description of food literally made me hunger. Someone, please send me to Europe STAT.

Let me be very clear, I will read whatever Casey McQuiston writes- books, restaurant reviews, grocery lists... I was thrilled to receive this ARC. I'm a huge fan of McQusiton's work, and The Pairing is no exception. The Pairing follows Kit and Theo, former partners who find themselves on the same food and wine tour of Europe. Their travels together are full of food, humor, and sex.

McQuiston made me want to book a trip to Europe immediately, their descriptions of the various sites, food, and drink were rich and detailed. I also enjoyed how McQuiston switched viewpoints halfway through the story, we see the first half through Theo's perspective, and the second half through Kit's perspective. I found the half-point switch to be a unique and very effective story telling device.

Thank you to Casey McQuiston and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of The Pairing in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to @Netgalley @stmartinspress and @casey.mcquiston for the opportunity to review this lush, stunning, deeply romantic, and quirky second-chance love story. McQuiston’s Red, White and Royal Blue is the book that revived my love of reading, so this was a special one to have the opportunity to read in advance. Here is my honest review…

Four years ago, Theo and Kit broke up on a transatlantic flight to London, where they were supposed to start a dream European vacation. They’ve pieced their lives back together on separate continents, not having seen each other since that fateful flight. They each have non-refundable tickets with the tour company that must be used within 48 months. When Theo shows up only to find Kit has booked the same tour, they must face heartbreak and regret. But as their guide and quirky fellow travelers traverse Europe, exploring art, architecture, food, and wine, Kit and Theo find themselves slipping into familiar patterns that only come from a lifetime of love and friendship. As the ice thaws and they talk about what broke them up, they begin to discover the people they’ve become in their time apart and wonder if there are some people that you will always love.

I felt this book in my chest - full of beauty and excess. Kit and Theo both work in the restaurant world, and their passion for food and drink is evident on every page - wine pairings, pasta, bread, pastries, sandwiches, cheese, olives, grapes - this book is a tribute to the romance of a great meal. As they travel city to city, you witness Kit and Theo evolve, and Casey has one of the most effective uses of dual POV I’ve ever encountered. Their love story is unique, and the story makes you feel these people who grew up together, helped each other through dark times, and (despite years apart) still know each other better than they know themselves.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of The Pairing by Casey McQuiston.

If it were possible to consume a book with all five senses, this would be that book. The story is almost secondary to the incredible descriptions of places and people and food and drink. While I’ve never been to France, Spain, Monaco or Italy, I can now imagine myself there vividly, complete with texture and taste, smell and feeling.

In general, I prefer my books to be story and character driven. I’ve been known to skip long descriptive passages entirely. For that reason, this book could have been just a little bit shorter. But let me be clear - I did not skim or skip any of this book. It’s beautifully written and fully immersive.

The story of Kit and Theo was sweet, if a little predictable (as most book romances are) but their relationship is a good vehicle to travel along on this luscious tour.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this arc. Omg! This was so cute! I loved every second of it.