Update: I read the first 30% and while the characters are sweet, and I do find myself rooting for them, there isn’t anything yanking me personally into the book. It feels somewhat muted and lacking in the Casey charm.

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Easy to read, solid hook, and good pacing through the 2% mark. Looking forward to coming back to this one. Easy three to four stars for Casey’s fans and five for the right readers.

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

This book had me mentally planning a food and wine tour around Europe for myself. I loved Theo, Kit, and every single side character in this beautiful story. The dialogue felt cringe at times, but it improved as the characters matured which felt appropriate. I don’t normally like a dual POV book, but having it split in the middle was perfect and it brought Kit and Theo’s thoughts and feelings full circle. Overall, I adored this book and I’m so happy I got this ARC!

This book immersed me in the world of Kit and Theo immediately and I found myself unable to stop thinking about it!

I love a second-chance romance and all the descriptions around Europe. I also thought the queer representation and discussion about love were well done. I did feel the book could have been shortened a bit- some of the spicy scenes went on for pages.

Thank you St Martins Press and Netgalley for this eARC, these opinions are my own. Adored! Theo and Kit were long time friends who had been in love since the beginning. Then they became a couple and everything was great. That is until they decide to go on a food and wine tour in Europe. They fight on the plane from America and Kit walks away from Theo. Theo assumes that they broken up when Kit doesn’t return. Kit makes his own assumptions about that day as well. Now it’s 4 years later and they haven’t seen or spoken to each other since. Theo decides to do the tour before the tickets expire but they’re not the only one who has that decision. Now faced with Kit for 3 weeks how will they survive? Especially if they’re still in love with him? To make things easier and get them back into a friendship mode Theo suggests that they have a sex competition, see who had have sex in each stop on the tour? Both do well in the sex department so it should be an interesting competition. But the more time they spend together eating delicious food and drinking great wine and other concoctions the more they remember the familiarity of each other. Who will win the competition? Can they heal from their past hurts? And what happens if the memory of what was and the growth of both of them develops into more? I love the way Casey McQuiston tells this story! A dual pov but half the book is told from one perspective and the other have is told from another! Readers become familiar with one voice but yearn to know what’s going through the head of the other voice! It’ll have you consuming it quickly! I also love the slow burn aspect! It’s interesting because you have two characters that are so familiar with each other but have also changed and they slowly relearn one another! A slow burn with a warm and familiar feel! Also if you love food and wine you’ll love the details in this book! Plus the beautiful details of French, Spanish, and Italian places! The imagery is fantastic! And if you like spicy romance you’ll love the depictions in this one! All the charm and warmth of two people whose love is engrained into their souls mixed with the fear and anxiety of being hurt and hurting one another! If you’re like me Kit and Theo will leave you swooning! Highly recommend for those who love slow burn & second chance romances!

Theo and Kit are bisexual disasters and I would die for them. I’d really love to know how Casey creates and develops their main and side characters. Found myself relating to both Theo and Kit in many different ways.

This book not only explores the exes-to-lovers trying foods and wines all over Europe but also touches on gender and being in your twenties and feeling so much behind everyone else in life. The yearning, the miscommunication, the smut — it is all just so *chefs kiss*.

(also, Casey had mentioned before that this would be ACD’s favorite book of theirs and I couldn’t help but think of how he would be texting Henry screenshots of the part in Chapter 4 mentioning ITMFL and be like “okay. fine. let’s watch it.”)

First, I’m so happy that I was able to read an ARC copy of The Pairing (ebook version). I’ve read three (Red, White and Royal Blue, One Last Stop, and obviously The Pairing) of Casey McQuinston’s books so far and ended up falling in love with each unique story.

I’m not going to lie, initially, I was iffy when I started the book, but after a chapter or so ended up loving it. I love the queer rep. and the interesting plot line. Near the end of the book I was starting to get anxious that the ending that I was hoping for wasn’t going to happen… let’s just say I was pleasantly surprised at the last minute.

However, I did notice about 2 possible grammar issues.

The first one occurs on page 249 (about 69% through the book)
”Part of wants to move their….”

I think within the context that I won’t spoil the author meant to include the word “me” between “of” and “wants.”

The second issue was on page 300 (83% of the book) where it says “Valentine” instead of “Valentina.” I suspect that this is an error because the mention of her name before and after “Valentine” was “Valentina.”

“….Valentina, love, where did you say the opener was? “Valentine floats off to show her…[Name omitted for spoilers] and Valentina’s table in the adorable kitchen….”

above is all on the same page (at least on my phone).

Anyways, outside of that, I rated this book 4 stars instead of 5 because I wasn’t immediately invested & obsessed with it like I was with RWRB.
But I will for sure be preordering a physical copy of this book... in fact I already did!

thank you to net galley and st. martin’s press for this eARC!

i enjoyed this book so much more than i expected to. i don’t normally love the exes to lovers trope because it usually involves a lot of miscommunication, which tends to drive me insane, but it was done so well in this book and the miscommunication didn’t even bother me that much. i love all of the characters in the novel. one of my favorite things about casey mcquiston novels are the side characters (the supporting characters in one last stop i particularly loved), and this book is certainly no exception. i think i forgot how much i love casey mcquiston’s writing, because if i had been thinking about how much i love the other three books of theirs that i’ve read, i would have had much higher expectations for this book. it also was an interesting blend for the two sides of romance that i have often read. this type of smut isn’t something i have yet delved into in the world of novels and have only read in a fanfiction setting but it was done very well and it fits so well with these characters and settings. i just love the concept of a smutty trip around europe, visting cities of love and greek/roman art which are inherently erotic, and it played so wonderfully. this book was fantastic and i can’t wait to own a copy! would one hundred percent recommend, and i’m so excited to talk to people about it.

This book was so lush and loving. Every chapter had tempting descriptions of food and European scenery. The YEARNING was out of this world. This book is everything a romance should be!!!!!!

i savored this book in a way that would’ve made kit and theo envious. i’m depressed it’s over and can’t wait to read it again. this is by far the Casey’s sluttiest novel and for that i thank them endlessly.

I don’t read enough Casey mcquiston. I just read I kissed Shara wheeler and jumped right into this one. I do think I like Casey’s adult books for than YA but I do enjoy both! The pairing is my favorite one yet. 2 bisexual lead characters who are exes?? a European food and wine tour?? Sign me up. Theo and Kit have my heart I love them I love them I love them.

I didn’t think I could love a Casey McQuiston’s book more than RWRB but I did. I do. With this one. OH MY GOD. OH MY DEAR GOD. This book. This book is everything. It seems written especially for me. Here there are all the tropes I love (except for age gap) and I feel Theo so damn much. I’m a cis woman, but I feel them so much, I love them so much, I want to be them. I think I am them, in some ways.
I love Kit too, my ethereal elf prince. And oh my God I love the pining. The slow burn. The sexual tension between the characters. And the spicy. Oh my God, the spicy! The scene where the two of them fuck with other people while Theo thinking of fucking Kit is just the best. I’m sorry but it is.
I want to write a coherent review, I swear, but I just can’t. I love this book. I love it and I can’t love without it anymore. I want more of them, I want more books written by Casey McQuiston.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin Press for the opportunity to reading this book in advance. Thank you so much!

The clever title has the multiple meanings: The Pairing of food and wine, The Pairing of two people, The Pairing of the genders, The Pairing of sexuality, and perhaps even more Pairings. Despite the deep thinking invoked by the title, McQuiston falls short in this one. The plot was rather predictable and I got bored halfway through the book. That said, there are some delectable food and drink ideas nestled within its pages. Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

I was hoping to like this more mostly because I enjoyed all of Casey's other books. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. I found the plot very good. Like yes, two bi men, in Europe, and having a little game going on. I just don’t think I like the writing. It just wasn’t my favorite. Theo and Kit were amazing, both characters were great by themselves. On the other hand, with each other, I think they didn’t have enough chemistry and connection with one another.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC. Can I give more than 5 stars? Like, can I give all the stars? Casey McQuiston has done it again with this absolutely stunning, funny, heart breaking, heart expanding, delicious, achingly beautiful book. The story of Kit and Theo is initially a lovely, fun contemporary rom-com. About a third of the way in, I knew my heart would at some point be shattered into a million pieces by this pair. Not only was I correct about that, but I sincerely loved soaking in their world as it happened.

Good god - the art and the food and the drinks and the cobbled streets and the azure sea - McQuiston's descriptions make it all come so alive you'd swear you were smelling salted air and oven fresh bread. If A Room with a View and Anthony Bourdain had a smutty, sweat soaked affair, this would be their baby. But instead we're given two amazing characters in Kit and Theo who lead us down a hidden, ancient alley and reveal the deepest parts of their hearts to us and each other. Also, holy hell is it sexy!

I truly hope there will be a special edition of this with Kit's sketches and Theo's tasting notes, and I hope it inspires hoards of readers to follow their footsteps and explore gorgeous art and unfiltered history.

This book was in most ways absolutely fantastic. The main characters, Theo and Kit, are quite likeable and their romance is deep and spicy in very goods ways. The other characters are engaging and the setting for the book is lovely. The only criticism that I have is that at times the descriptions of places, etc. got to be a bit too much.

I love love loved this book. I had recommended it to at least 3 different people before even being a quarter of the way through. I sped through it in half a day. I wish I could read it for the first time over again.

This book was good, but also not my favorite by Casey. I loved following them through Europe, reading about the locations and the food and the people. I like smut in books but honestly there was maybe too much here? Idk. The book could have been shorter too. Overall, a cute and pleasant read that I’m glad I read and I think people will enjoy.

On a purely technical level, this is easily Casey McQuiston’s best work. It’s also unequivocally their sluttiest and possibly most romantic book.

Theo and Kit broke up en route to a European food and wine tour four years ago. Now, during the last chance to use their booking, the two find that they both had the same idea and meet again for the first time after complete silence during the intervening years. How are they going to cope? Well, by a purely friendly competition to see who can hook up with the most amount of people during their weeks together traveling.

I savored this book and read about one chapter a day. I didn’t want it to end. McQuiston has described this book as indulgent and that’s honestly the best way to describe it. The plot of this book is about sex, food, wine, and love. The conflict is about sex, food, wine, and love. The vibes? You guessed it. Sex, food, wine, and love. If you’re going to read it, be prepared to be the hungriest you’ve ever been. Almost immediately, I was craving (and eating) croissants, borrowing Italian pastry cookbooks from the library, and reaching out to friends who bake to see if they could recreate some of what Theo and Kit eat across Europe.

I was captivated from start to finish and so deeply invested in Theo and Kit’s story. I finished it yesterday morning and I haven’t stopped thinking about it, about what these two go through separately and together. I can’t believe I have to wait until August to get my hands on a physical copy of this book that I can mark up with tabs and highlights and notes.

On a personal note, reading about Theo was the most that I’ve ever read my own experience and personality in a book before. There’s a lot to unpack there and again, I credit McQuiston for helping me unlock a part of myself. We’re four for four on that now.

This book is exceptional and I’m going to read it forever.

So I adore everything this author publishes, with “Red, White, and Royal Blue” as my favorite. So I had high expectations for this. While it has moments of real depth— especially in discussions of gender identity— at times it felt like it got too in the weeds with the travel narrative. I didn’t care about the flavors like I should have. I appreciate frank discussions of sex, and I think this will be eye-opening and progressive for many people, but the fact that the romance leads turn this into a competition felt a little off, too. Kit is an amazing character and so sweet, I felt like he needed to be developed more.