It is an honour to read Casey's book months in advance! That said, I had high expectations and they were all met (the only reason I didn't give this five stars is a spoiler one I might elaborate on that once the book actually comes out). I loved both POVs and how different Theo and Kit's voices were, I loved all the side characters and how you end up caring a lot for all the people travelling with them as you read. It truly felt like going on a journey with all of them throughout Europe (and it's very nice to have an accurate depiction of European countries instead of the usual stereotypical vision tourists have. You can truly tell that Casy did their research once they were here.)

Reviewer’s Note: I received a digital ARC of this book via NetGalley. The book is not set to release until August of 2024 and I am posting this review in February of 2024. This review contains spoilers.

Overall, I think the formatting was good, but does not seem finalized. I am interested to see if the formatting is adjusted for final release, specially some text conversations throughout and page/chapter breaks. I have read a few of McQuiston’s other novels, The Pairing is the first that I have been highly anticipating. Once I had the chance to read an ARC, I was over the moon. Regardless, I always provide my honest opinion when reviewing any work of literature.

Cowboys, flowers. David, Venus, Theo.

McQuiston’s The Pairing touches on themes of second chance love, gender/ identity discovery, and international travel along with a spicy twist. The pining is to die for, and we somehow get the “only one bed” trope a few times, but it’s still refreshing.

Readers should be able to tell that McQuiston, as usual, has done their research. Writing novels this way has to be an absolute labor of love. Every scene from the European tour is perfectly crafted with intentional detail. Though I’ve never traveled to Paris, Nice, or the majority of the other locations, I still found myself relating to the characters’ emotions and thoughts as they traveled to these places. This book has wines and pastries I will probably never be able to pronounce, but this does not bother me. (Instead, I look forward to the audiobook version where someone with a more eloquent tongue can educate me). The inclusion of wines, pastries, sites, etc. is an illustration of the author’s thought and the research put into writing this novel. A well-researched novel, even romance, is something that I love, but some readers may not appreciate.

I fell in love with both Theo and Kit in their own regard I think it was important for the reader to get Theo’s perspective first and get to know all of them. There is an emphasis on Theo being/feeling misunderstood, and I’m not sure readers would like or understand Theo if not provided with their perspective first. McQuistion has really thought through the characters and provides information to readers about them at the perfect times and I some of the most captivating ways.

The flashbacks in this novel, especially Theo’s early thoughts, are utterly breathtaking at times. For anyone who has lost someone special in any way, these moments can be incredibly relatable. I love how McQuiston links memories to the senses. Tastes and smells are linked to Theo and Kit in so many ways, it makes irrevocable sense that their memories would be heavily tied to these senses.

Another aspect of the novel that I liked was the dual perspective. Initially, the midstory perspective change came at an emotionally devastating time in the storyline, and left me distraught. Perfect for the plot; terrible for anyone who feels raw emotions when they read. By this point, I had grown so attached to Theo’s inner monologue and perspective on everything that I didn’t want to let it go. A few pages later, I found myself falling in love with Kit just as easily, and forgiving him for every misconception I had about his character. Getting back to Theo in the Epilogue, felt like the right resolution, getting back to where it all started.

On the topic of gender, I think Theo’s character is important representation. (This may be due to my own bias as a trans/nonbianry person) Prior to Kit’s perspective, I wasn’t exactly sure how Theo identified, but I knew I was like them in so many ways. While not exact, I have had thoughts and feelings similar to those expressed by Theo. Though I wanted to know, I didn’t really need to know what pronouns Theo preferred, initially, because the feelings were familiar. I love that McQuiston leaves this detail somewhat of a mystery for about half the book. The mid-book coming out and pronoun change made me incredibly euphoric. Kit’s easy acceptance and the seamless shift in narration brought a warmth to my heart. I think those who identify under the trans/nonbinary umbrella will find comfort and euphoria in Theo’s story. Kit’s character does this more in the realm of sexuality. For me, spice can be an added bonus to a love story, but Kit and Theo’s love and love making is educational. Readers both LGBTQ+ and non may learn a thing or two from Kit and Theo’s sexual expressiveness. (In other words, if RRWB taught people that gays can do missionary, this is going to teach them a little something else.) It is about time queer people get to read romance novels written by queer people blatantly for queer people. This kind of stuff heals and transforms our community.

The supporting characters in this novel were present enough throughout the story to be likable and not annoying. The scenes including the others were well placed and seemed intentional. Having two Calums was an intelligent writing choice and helps readers to not feel overwhelmed by the number of supporting characters. I found them all likable and appropriately incorporated into the plot.

I am not typically fond of books that include food or eating, just as a personal preference. However, none of the eating in this book was overly focused on and it did not bother me at all, which was a pleasant surprise. When these things were mentioned more in depth, such as with the peach, again, I found myself surprisingly unbothered. The focus on ingredients and experiences rather than eating was a choice I appreciated.

For what it’s worth, I am disappointed that we do not get to see Theo and Kit’s wedding, if they have one. I would pay money to know what they would wear and what would be on the menu. One can only imagine, but I bet it would be great!

Easily one of my most anticipated reviews of the year and it did not disappoint. CMQ always come through with the most soul-searing introspective queer romances that I’ve ever had the privilege of reading. I’d definitely recommend picking this up.

This book is a second chance romance, queer romp through Europe. It is queer with a capital Q. Two former lovers accidentally end up taking a food trip through Europe, the same trip they were going to take when they broke up.

I started out the book very confused by the gender configuration because I expected a queer pairing. The queerness comes hot and heavy after the first couple of pages so just wait. That queerness was one of things I liked most about this book. The couplings, the imaginative sex, and the unapologetic quest for satisfaction. The sex scenes were so fun and super hot.

There were some things about this book were not for me. I had a hard time with many of the choices made by one of the narrators. The first half of the book kept me on a roller coaster. I wanted to throw the book across the room more than once. I felt a gut punch and then was openly crying while reading. I tried to hide from the emotions stirred up by hiding my face behind my fingers. There is also miscommunications in the book which are one of my least favorite tropes.

The emotions evened out for me around the 50% mark when the tone of the book changed. Then it turned into a more even keeled modern, queer romance. And the wild sex was more fun without my roller coaster emotions about choices. I ended up happy with how the book ended and overall really liked it.

Rounded up 4.5 stars.

Thanks, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, for an arc of this!

A lovely ode to love, identity, food, wine, and travel. It felt like I lived in a postcard of each location.

I love Red, White, and Royal Blue, but I couldn't finish this one. The hook-up competition felt toxic to me and I didn't really like either of the main characters. I wish I'd enjoyed it as much as others have. Still, a McQuiston book will circulate well and it seems like I'm in the very small minority of people who didn't enjoy it, so it is a must-purchase for my library.

Casey proved herself yet again as a writer with another masterpiece. The pairing is now my second favourite book of hers I've read (nothing will beat rwrb for me sorry). The atmosphere it creates, with writing so simple yet so transporting, the hilarious scenarios the characters are put through, heck the characters themselves are so *chefs kiss*. This is the PERFECT summer romcom, it's chaotic, it's funny, it's original, it's a proof of her improvement as a writer even more for my fellow long time fans of hers.

Best travel book I’ve ever read. It got interrupted by sex a lot, but that was ok. Truly, though, as a romance, this was good. I loved the two main characters and the sex was very hot and explicit, which was a nice diversion at first, but at a certain point it got overwhelming in frequency. I said out loud at one point “FFS, less porn and more Italy, please!” Casey McQuiston wrote about food, wine, and scenery as if it was also porn and it was amazing. I preferred the sensual descriptions about flavors and vistas to those about bodies. I'll probably keep thinking about Theo and Kit, even though the book is over, though.

DECADENT.

Casey hits every. time.

I knew going in that a food-centric Eurotrip was going to work for me, but this was on another level. Getting both characters' perspectives was, for lack of a better term, *chef's kiss*. It was dripping with intensity and connection, all along the backdrop of some of the most beautiful and lush places on earth. (Not to mention a passing mention of a Formula 1 driver that I'm pretty sure was an allusion to my favorite, which had me giggly).

I will go ahead and say this: if you're expecting McQuiston's usual spice level, don't. Sensuality is a key plot point here, so it's pretty persistent. If that's not your thing, skip this one.

I have thoroughly enjoyed all of Casey McQuistons books up until now. This one I loved so much I can’t describe it. It was fun and sexy but also deep and full of heart and soul. It was like being there with Theo and Kit, tasting everything and experiencing the joy of discovery, particularly the discovery of someone you thought you already knew. Even the moments when I was screaming at them both to get it together were written in a way that made me feel this is exactly as it was meant to be. Sometimes you have to tear everything apart to find out who you really are. Everything is always changing, everything is always different than you dreamed it would be. Sometimes it’s better. Thank you Casey. This is book of the year for me. I will be recommending it to everyone.

i loved this book! i thought it was wonderful although i will admit i’m probably the target audience for this lol. as a queer person who loves salt fat acid heat by samin nosrat this was a food and romcom lover’s dream come true. i enjoyed kit a lot more than theo as a character but i was rooting for them both. on a parting note, st martin’s should address the vile racist and islamophobic comments their employee has made on instagram. free palestine

I keep wanting to say this is my favorite of Casey McQuiston's books, but I know that it's been a couple years since I've read their other ones, and I'm biased by the fact that this is the one currently making me feel A Lot of Things. But that said!! This book was amazing. McQuiston has done it again.

There are so many things about this book that I loved. The friendship. The heartbreak. The different kinds of love and relationships and sex and closeness. The queerness of it all. The way it shifted perspectives at the best times. The way it handles Theo's gender. The way even when I thought I could see a problem coming, it always managed to surprise me instead.

This book made me feel so many things. It made me tell my partner that he's my best friend. It made me want to go back and reread McQuiston's other books. It made me want to taste everything and see everything and experience everything (and it made me very excited for my upcoming trip to Europe haha). I don't know how to compare this to their other books, since again, it's been a couple years since I read those. But The Pairing exceeded my expectations and I can't wait for my friends to read it so I can talk about it with them.

(My only complaint that isn't a standard romance "why didn't you talk to each other ugh" is so minor I hesitate to include it, but I will here just to get it off my chest, and so people who know me don't read this and think I loved this part of the book too: oh my god the rich white people vibes of this book. Any time all their bougie LA nepo baby shit came up I was struggling not to roll my eyes. In some ways the book addresses and makes up for this, but in some ways it doesn't. But. Again. I'm still giving the book five stars, so. Take all that as lightly as possible!!)

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the chance to read and review this ARC.

this is my first Casey mcQuiston (I watched the movie adaptation of red white and royal blue and I really liked it) there was a lot of chemistry between Theo and kit 🤭🤭 its such a fluffy, comedic (and spicy) book.

Until the following items are met by the SMP team, I will be withholding any promotion or review of any St. Martin's Press titles (including SMP Romance and Wednesday Book titles):

1. Address and denounce the Islamophobia/racism from your employee.
2. Offer tangible steps for how you're going to mitigate the harm this employee caused.
3. Address how moving forward, you will support and protect your Palestinian, Muslim, and Arab readers, influencers, and authors in addition to your BIPOC readers, influencers, and authors.

Theo and Kit have grown side by side since they were kids - first as friends, then as lovers. After it all falls apart, they’re forced to grow on their own. But years after the breakup, they stumble back into each other’s lives on a three week tour of southern Europe. Trapped on a bus and series of hostels together, Kit and Theo set out to prove the past is in the past and they’re definitely over each other. Because they are, right?

Casey McQuiston never fails to write captivating, sweeping love stories that settle between your ribs and love there forever. Each and every character has a rich, colorful backstory that had me rooting for the side characters’ romances just as much as Theo and Kit. I also was left craving food I can’t pronounce the name of and a week on the French Riviera. CMQ is a masterful storyteller, and The Pairing is proof enough that they will be known and remembered as one of the great romance authors of our time.

Pairs well with: fresh grapes, pasta salad, cheese, olive oil, and freshly baked bread.

Sometimes I wonder what an alternative me in an alternate timeline would do, and I think this would be it. Taking in art in all its forms and glory. Indulging in the decadence, the abundance of something someone, somewhere worked hard to create.
There’s something about Casey McQuiston’s characters and stories that make me think about the universe in a way I never thought of, and yet in a way that sings to me, like it’s made for me, in a strange ethereal way. I’ll always think of Kit and Theo, and I’ll always come back to them.

Extremely grateful to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC.

I’ve found a new obsession with this book. This might take the top spot of Casey McQuiston’s romances for me. I felt so languorous and indulgent the entire time I spent reading; I never wanted it to end.

Theo and Kit are childhood best friends-turned lovers-turned exes who find themselves both redeeming a trip voucher at the last possible moment—for a trip they intended to take together. Four years after their breakup, they’ve both grown and changed and tried to get over each other, to no success (although they might not want to admit it). Theo and Kit are similar in so many ways: confident, passionate, competent, stubborn, funny, sexy, slutty…they’ve even started to mirror each other’s haircuts and fashion taste despite the years apart. In their attempt at a truce, they decide to slut their way through this trip, making it a competition to see who can sleep with the most people. And as hot bisexuals, nobody is off the table.

The first half of this book is from Theo’s POV, and they spend all their time and energy trying to convince everyone, especially themselves, that they’re strong and independent and over Kit, and that him being on this trip isn’t destroying their mental clarity. I found myself desperate to get in Kit’s head, to see if he was struggling as much as Theo to keep it together.

The second half, in Kit’s POV, was just…such a deep breath. Kit has wholly accepted the depth of his love for Theo, and gives himself over to it so completely and poetically that it’s almost overwhelming. He’s so charming and sexy and open, and everyone wants to sleep with him (including me!). I loved being in his head, but I once again wanted to see inside the other’s mind, to see how Theo was reacting to all of the love Kit was constantly exuding in their direction. It’s such a strength of the writing and the characters themselves that I really loved being in both of their heads.

One of CMQ’s biggest strengths is fleshing out the side characters in their novels. Fabrizio is a gem amongst tour guides and amongst men, and I absolutely loved every moment he was on the page. I fell in love with Montana and Dakota and the Calums, and following their journey throughout the book was such a treat. I would even read another novel (a pairing, if you will) of this exact same trip with the first half POV from Montana/Dakota and the second half POV from the Calums.

I could go on for ages about the lush descriptions of art, of food and drink, of the scenery, but I couldn’t capture it half as well as they have. I felt warmed from the inside reading it, in a way I liken to when I watched Call Me By Your Name for the first time. It’s so drenched in sun and I feel like I can feel and see and taste it. And not for nothing, this book has added another unforgettable sex scene with a peach to the queer canon.

The most important part of this book to me is how genuinely and honestly Casey McQuiston writes queer people. I felt seen in many of these pages. I really love the way Casey handles Theo’s coming out, and how carefully and casually it’s treated. The discussions Theo and Kit have about attraction and gender and sexuality, how being attracted to different genders feels different, or comes from a different place—all of that rings so true for me, and I’ve never seen it put so plainly to page. The sex scenes are steamy and hot and reflective of all the different ways queer people have sex and I really loved reading them.

There’s a scene where Kit is looking at Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus and seeing aspects of both Theo and himself in it, thinking of Theo simultaneously looking at Michelangelo’s David and maybe, hopefully seeing both of them in that as well. I cried and reread it maybe fifteen times before continuing on. The kind of love where you don’t know where you end and they begin, seeing yourself and them in everything you love most, hoping they see the same…it’s truly so special and Casey has captured it so beautifully.

The Pairing is warm and luxuriant and immersive in all the best, most decadent ways. It is so lush and inviting and I want to live in it forever. I found myself at odds, wanting to both race through it and also to savor it, enjoying each chapter one indulgent mouthful at a time. The descriptions of food and drink in this book are almost hornier than the sex scenes, and I was drunk on all of it. I’m about to start planning my own trip.

Major thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for making this ARC available!
Pub date: 06 Aug 2024

Oh my gosh, this book was so cute! It was just so wholesome, sexy, and easy to read. It didn’t quite hit the mark to be a five-read read for me, and it’s probably between a 3.5 and 4 for me but I’m just gonna round it up to a 4 — but there was so much to love about this book, honestly.

I have to talk about the format and POVs in this firstly; I absolutely adored starting this story from Theo’s POV and finishing with Kit’s in the second half. I was slightly peeved in the beginning cause … what? But it just worked ?? Theo in the pining stage and then moving to Kit in the when-will-they stage worked so well, and I have nothing bad to say about it.
Aside from the POV switch, I just loved following them through their trip around Europe and all the chapters or “cities” they went through. I read a review mentioning Call Me By Your Name and they were so right. The vibes in this are so strongly like that in aesthetic and backdrop (cough, peach scene, cough).

The combination of imagining Kit and Theo slutting it out in gorgeous Europe was so immaculate, and the way their relationship progressed over the course of the trip was so organic it just felt right. Nothing felt forced, no trope was too stretched out, and there were no awkward scenes. It was just them being friends with sexual tension and in denial, to finally giving up on said denial and it was so satisfying to read.

Somewhere in the middle, towards the end of Theo’s POV in San Sebastián, it felt like things were getting a little too dragged out and nothing was really happening. It was taking me a while to get through those few chapters until Monaco, hence a star taken off, but when the switch to Kit’s POV happened I was hooked again and then I couldn’t stop reading! Special mention to Theo’s coming out scene, it was so so beautiful.

I mean, what could go wrong with two hot bisexual exes knowing they’re still in love with each other, and then competing to hook up with other people, to build up to actually telling each other? Exactly.

The Pairing is a breezy, spicy, second-chance romance and I had so much fun reading it — definite recommend!

As I was reading this book, I kept thinking of it as a fairy tale (an extremely sexy, extremely queer fairy tale) and in many ways it is, but that doesn’t really do justice to how perfectly Casey threads the needle of beauty and hurt, glorious sensuality and painful self-degradation. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again— what always sets Casey’s work apart from other romance writers is the strength of their language— reading the ways they write about love is transcendent every time. Similarly, the way they write about loss. I can’t wait to read this again and again.

Beautifully full of lust for food, drink, and people. As in all of McQuiston’s work I was delighted, compelled, and just a bit heartbroken by each character. Couldn’t put this book down for a moment