Theo and Kit are two bisexual exes who swear they’re over each other – except they’re totally not. Then they accidentally find themselves on the same European food and wine tour, and they are trapped with each other for three weeks. Not so bad, right? Get ready for a tons of sex, food and gorgeous views in this wild ride of a romance novel.

I love me some Casey McQuiston, and she has a reader for life in me. I just don't know that this one hit home for me. It read more like a food and travel guide with sex scenes sprinkled throughout than an engaging story about two people falling and their life story together. One thing I have to say is that McQuiston always nails the humanity of the characters, so while it is can be categorized as an LGBTQ+ novel, it just reads as two people who happen to have fluid desires. I have to applaud her for that.

Hedonistic romp through Europe, but not in a good way. Not for me, even as a fan of McQuiston's earlier works. Almost seems like it was ghost written.

This is probably the steamiest book I've read of Casey McQuiston. I really enjoyed this childhood friends to lovers, second chance romance. If you are a fan of food and decadence (after all, love and food do go together), you will enjoy this romance. The audio book was well done as well, and it really does lend to the atmosphere this book is rich in.

I would like to thank the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for the ARC of this book. I read an advanced copy of this book, so the final edition of the book might be slightly different. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

The Pairing is McQuiston’s return to adult romance after their recent YA release, and I was super excited for it. I’ve been following McQuiston’s writing since Red, White, & Royal Blue was released, and each new release continues to show their skill and range when it comes to writing.

While I’m not sure if I can say this one is my favorite book of theirs, I really enjoyed this one overall. Something about this book just fully gripped me, to the point where certain parts of it made me extremely anxious (showing I was fully invested in the story!) There were just so many layers to the story for me to sink into, from strong emotions Theo felt about themself and their ex to the exploration of gender. There were points where it felt like a book written especially for me, with so many of my fears and emotions reflected in the characters (and especially Theo).

The setting of Europe honestly felt like a set dressing to me, because my focus was always more on the internal journeys of our characters than the actual physical one they were taking. For that reason, the characterization or stereotypes of the places they visited didn’t really affect me that much, even though I can understand the criticism of it afterward. I think your experience with this part of the book will really depend on what parts of the story are most interesting to you and what you end up focusing on more.

The one thing that keeps me from giving this book a perfect 5 stars is the POV shift that occurs halfway through. On the one hand, I loved the sudden shift itself and it felt like it hit me really hard in the moment to see it. However, I ended up disliking that the shift was so complete, and losing Theo’s voice and narration really hurt my enjoyment of the final half of the book. I still really enjoyed it, but I felt like I’d connected strongly with Theo, and losing their POV felt like losing a lot of my favorite parts of the book. Even though I enjoyed the surprise shift, I think I would’ve enjoyed the book more overall if the story was more consistently split POV instead.

Overall though, I really enjoyed The Pairing and the comfort and understanding I could find in its pages. I can’t wait to see what’ll come next!

I heard on Bad on Paper that this book was the perfect vacation book. I saved it for a family cruise, and it was the best escape to read by the pool. Usually, I like one character more than the other but that was not the case for this book. Instead, I was yelling at both characters to go for it! Not only were the characters well developed but the descriptions of the food, setting made me want to book a trip immediately.

Thank you to Casey McQuiston, St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The best way to sum up The Pairing is pure indulgence. This book is about traveling, food, drink, sex and love and it was so so good!

The Pairing follows Theo and Kit, two exes who wind up on a European tour they were supposed to go on together years ago. Theo and Kit had a dramatic break up and their two years apart had a big impact on both of their lives. Now they are reunited and have to figure out how to spend the next three weeks together. The two slowly warm up to each other again and decide to add more fun to the tour with a hookup competition. Each city brings Theo and Kit closer and closer together, until they have to decide what it is they both truly want.

The Pairing was one of the most engrossing romance books I've read in a while. Not only are Kit and Theo fascinating characters with an extremely strong connection, but you as the reader also get to tour Europe through them. It was so fun! This book made me so hungry and now I have a full list of pastries, meals and drinks I want/need to try. The writing in The Pairing is also so enthralling. McQuiston does not hold back on setting the scene and building up the complexity and charm of each character. You get to know Theo and Kit, but also so many great side characters which really added to the overall story. I hadn't picked up anything by the author since Red, White & Royal Blue, but reading The Pairing reminded me of how well McQuiston writes romance. I loved how sex positive and inclusive this book was. I also loved how passionate Theo and Kit were about their interests and about each other.

If you haven't picked up The Pairing yet, do it! This is the perfect summer read!

No one is more devastated than I am about the fact that I didn't love this book. :(

As you all know, RWARB is my favorite book so I know that I love CMQ's writing, but for some reason The Pairing just didn't do it as much for me. I enjoyed both of the main characters, but I feel like maybe I was disconnected because of the French through out the book? Maybe this is a sign that I need to learn French.

The Pairing stars Theo and Kit who are two bisexual exes who accidentally book the same European food and wine tour. While on the tour, they challenge each other to a "hook up contest" to see who can hook up with the most people during their excursion. Of course they figure out that they aren't quite so over each other in the process.
I loved Theo and Kit and I loved reading their story about falling in love again. I especially loved Theo's character arc and where they landed at the end <3
Despite not LOVING this book, it's still VERY good and I did enjoy it.
Perhaps I'm being too critical because I love RWARB soooo much.

regardless, if you love CMQ you must read The Pairing.

Immediately upon opening this book, I could tell that our two main characters, Theo and Kit, had been friends for practically forever. It was so easy to tell the similarities in the two growing up together that I didn’t need to even be told that they were best friends in their childhoods. They so obviously were that it didn’t need to be said.

Their story–and past–is an interesting one. Theo and Kit, childhood friends turned lovers, had signed up for a food and wine tour, which would take them through Europe as they tasted the best of the best. But somehow, on the plane ride there, a fight broke out, and the two parted ways, never to see the other again.

Or so they thought. Because 47 months later, they make their way to that same tour, separately, and end up finding each other again.

This book, being set during a food and wine tour across Europe, has a lot of food and wine descriptions. Which makes sense, of course, but I want to reiterate that. Really stress it. The Pairing has a lot of food and wine descriptions. Pages and pages of it. Entire paragraphs dedicated to how a wine smells like the leather that can only be made from a beloved pet, brought up as a member of the family until the moment it was slaughtered and its essence was poured into a bottle aged to perfection in the basement of a man who spent his years devouring art for a living, traveling to different galleries and imparting his wisdom on the careful brushstrokes of a master painter who–

You get the point. There’s a lot of description.

I’m not going to lie. Sometimes I just straight up didn’t read all that description. It’s nice to see how involved Theo and Kit are in their food and wine tour and the history behind it, sure, but there are definitely moments in this book where enough is enough.

Moving onto the characters of this book, Kit and Theo themselves, I found their story to be interesting and enjoyable. Seeing how Theo wanted to push away from their family’s popularity and be their own person, while Kit wanted to be closer to his family and chose to settle down in both an occupation and a country that reminded him of his mother made for compelling characters.

I also enjoyed the way this book was split up, the first half being in Theo’s point of view while the second was in Kit’s. Through Theo, we get one side of the story, one point of view to their argument and eventual reunion, and we feel like we know all the details we need. And then Kit’s point of view starts, and readers are treated to an expansion of their viewpoint as they realize that Theo doesn’t know all of the facts that led up to this moment.

Readers will probably, as well, end up enjoying one point of view over the other. If I had to guess, I feel as though most readers will like Kit more than they like Theo, and find the first half of this book a bit of a slog to get through. Still, I think that slog is worth it for the end product. By the end, I enjoyed comparing these two and seeing how, at their cores, they were exactly who the other person needed in their life.

I was OBSESSED with this book. CMQ is such an amazing storyteller. Every time the relationships are unique and so kindly and warmly written. I loved the dynamic of Theo and Kit and I’ll be reading this one again ASAP.

While this wasn't my favorite Casey McQuiston book, I really enjoyed it and think they are an incredible writer. Thank you for the chance to read this book early!

Absolutely love Casey McQuiston and each of their novels I have read. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to read this.

I love McQuiston’s work and this was no different. very detailed, gorgeous writing set on an even more beautiful backdrop of Europe. I understand that the writing is meant to be indulgent like the themes of the book, but I do think Kit’s POV was over written for me

The way this book is stuck on repeat in my head and will not leave! Casey, I love you. This book was perfect. Please make this into a mini series.

This book was a delight to read! The chemistry between Kit and Theo was a joy to witness. Their banter was great but they also had tender moments. Watching them rebuild what they had lost was inspiring. I think is a great addition to CMQs already amazing body of works.

I should preface this by saying that I was a big fan of Casey McQuiston's other adult novels (RW&RB, One Last Stop). For the first half of 'The Pairing,' I was sure this was another hit for McQuiston, but every time I felt the story reached a logical conclusion point, it just. kept. going.

For the first half of this book, Theo's perspective, I was sucked into the story. I cared deeply for the character and enjoyed seeing the world through their perspective. The pacing felt right for the story and I could not put it down. Then, halfway through the novel, we shifted to Kit's perspective and the story lost me. I don't know if it was just that Kit was a less compelling character, or that the 'switch' point truly felt like it could have been the end of the story, but from that point forward, I could not wait for this to end. I started skimming chapters and every time I felt like it simply must be the end, we had the same story play out in a new city.

This was a 3/5 for me - I enjoyed it enough and it was well-written, but it was a bit repetitive in a way that ruined the overall experience for me.

I don't think it was the books fault, but my mood. Right now this wasn't for me. I may try to read it again in the future.

I loved this return to McQuiston's writing, and the deft handling of complicated queer identities. I can tell this either went through several sensitivity readings or that McQuistion has excelled at doing her homework to properly represent the demographics her characters are emblematic of. There is only support and understanding for all life choices therein. This was my first 'spicy' book by McQuistin and that was handled with such delightful aplomb and skill writing as well. The fascination with food, travel, love, and self-possession as well as self-identity absolutely runs this one.

I enjoyed The Pairing, but I will say that it is not my favorite. The main characters were a little immature and it took me out of the story a little bit. I love the talk of food, I was STARVING while reading. Overall, I had a good experience reading it!

Literally obsessed I had to buy the physical copy !!! I loved it. 🥰 It’s always great to read Casey’s books!