so so happy to be able to read this book early

I went back and forth on how to rate this book. I eventually settled on a 4 because I'm living off a high of the ending so do with that what you will.

but it took me a couple days to get through this, mostly because the beginning felt really slow to me. it took a lot of time for me to really care about the characters, especially kit.

but once we got into kit's pov that sort of all came around for me and I really enjoyed him as a character. that was really the time I became invested in the relationship as well. listen im a sucker for unwavering love and devotion, what can I say

Kits descriptions of their relationship and how he loves theo was just so beautiful to me. everything about it just made me felt with how soft it all felt

the whole breakup being because of a miscommunication though... bugged me.

im also just not someone that loves paragraph after paragraph of description and so I was just sort of skimming parts of this book no matter how bad I felt about it

I'm sure the food and architecture was amazing and i know casey put a lot of work into it but it simply wasn't for me.

this sounds negative but I really did like it! I really enjoyed some of the side characters and just how silly it was to poke into their lives (though to my disappointment we didn't get particularly close to any of them).

but yeah, decent book from one of my fav authors so I'll definitely keep reading everything they write.

Thanks for NetGalley for the ARC.

Kit and Theo reunite 4 years after their break up on the European food tour they had intended to take together. They reconnect and try to recover a friendship, Their journey through Europe has them discovering new flavors in food, drink, art, sex and romance in each city. As they remember their shared history and work though their emotional baggage, getting closer at each stop along the tour, can they also rediscover love?

I enjoyed this book and it really makes me want to visit Italy. I loved getting to know Theo and Kit. It was fun to live vicariously through them, to learn and grow with them in each city. They are both openly bisexual and it is refreshing to have that point of view represented in a romance.

That said, friends to lovers and second chance romance are my least favorite romance tropes. Both of these tropes are about fear - fear of losing a friendship and fear of failing a second time. While I understand the hesitance, there is just so much waiting for these characters to get past their fears and make any sort of progress. This is the main drawback of this story for me. The unexpected switch from Theo to Kit's POV at the halfway mark made it seem even longer. It was nice to get Kit's much more romantic viewpoint, but it dragged out the waiting. Maybe it's just my impatience, but I did want them to stop playing games and get on with it.

Overall, I did like this book and would recommend it to those who enjoy second chance romance.

Pastry, Wine, European Travel, and Your Ex...what could go wrong? I loved this book from the first page to the last. Kit and Theo each have a distinct voice and character that you can't help falling for. Both of these characters are charismatic and sexy and deeply human. Careful- reading this might make you want to spontaneously take off to Europe for your own sensual food and wine vacation.

Red White and Royal Blue is one of my favorite romances and I really enjoyed their two latter books as well so when I heard they were writing another queer romance and literally jumped for joy. I was not disappointed! This novel follows our two queer main characters who were once friends and also lovers reconnect through a European wine tour. Watching them reconnect and love again was so fun and of course McQuiston’s trademark wit is there in abundance. I really loved Theo and Kit and their chaos. This was exactly what I needed after reading several dark and depressing novels. It is pure serotonin and I had a wonderful time reading it!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Maybe it’s the high of finishing a great book but I think this is my new favorite Casey McQuiston book. Everything in The Pairing is heightened from their previous works, and I say this as someone who worships Red, White and Royal Blue.

The writing is Casey at the top of their game. Everything is so rich and indulgent. I felt like I was on this tour across Europe with them. Everything is so cinematic and vivid. Their descriptions of art and food and love and gender and sex were so incredible they made me weep. There’s a section about Venus and David that’s so beautiful I could die. And it’s maybe the sexiest book I’ve ever read. Casey wasn’t kidding when they said it was their horniest, smuttiest book yet. Bravo.

I also love the dual-POV here. It’s the perfect approach to Theo and Kit’s story. Theo’s chapters made me fall in love with Kit and Kit’s chapters made me fall in love with Theo.

I could write a million different reviews highlighting different things I loved about this book. I haven’t even touched upon how funny it is too! I can’t wait to read it again when it’s released in August.

In “The Pairing,” Casey McQuiston weaves a captivating story about love and second chances that immediately drew me in. While I wouldn’t say I am a huge romance reader, Casey is a must-read author for me every time!
This story revolves around a European tour vacation and our two main characters, Kit and Theo. They find themselves stuck in this whirlwind trip together despite ending their relationship years ago and assuming they would each be doing this trip alone.
Their first reunion in years is set against the backdrop of Rome, Paris, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, and SO many other European destinations. The narrative explores the challenges and joys of love between Kit and Theo’s reconnection. I was hooked from the first chapter.
The characters in “The Pairing” are so well-written and developed in their flaws and charm. Through the dual POVs (which I loved!), I found myself rooting so hard for Kit and empathizing with Theo, making their journeys all the more compelling. Kit wins the golden retriever boy of the year for me already, but in Theo, I saw such a reflection of myself and my inability to ask for and accept help, as I tend to get in my own way due to personal insecurities. I felt so connected to Theo and Kit, and I’m still thinking about them days later as if they became my friends.
The plot unfolds with a perfect balance of tension and resolution. Casey McQuiston skillfully navigates the twists and turns of the romance, keeping the pacing and (to be honest) the miscommunication just right. The well-crafted plot twists throughout the book added such an element of surprise that kept me eagerly turning the pages, dying to know how this story would end.
At its core, this story delves into themes of gender, emotional maturity, acceptance, and highlights the transformative power of love and time apart. The author skillfully explores the nuances of relationships, portraying Kit and Theo’s growth and self-discovery.
The setting also plays a crucial role in this story and is used so skillfully in feeding into the emotions in every chapter. Personally, my favorite scene was the children’s boat ride scene in San Sebastián, as McQuiston wrote the setting to match the plot’s tension perfectly. The setting and use of objects in this story also excellently highlighted the main characters’ passions in the food and wine meals throughout their tour, which helped in keeping the setting still directed around them and grew complexity in each character. While I was not familiar with a lot of the pastry/meal and wine knowledge in this book, I still appreciated that it was there!
Ultimately, “The Pairing” is a must-read for anyone who enjoys a well-crafted, second-chance, friends-to-lovers spicy romance - as well as anyone super interested in a fancy vacation to Europe with forced proximity to someone who broke your heart (and you have presumably hated for the last four years)!
Thank you to NetGalley and St.Martin's Press for allowing me to read this book ahead of release in exchange for an honest review!

Incredibly lovable main characters, charming supporting characters, a beautiful and interesting back drop of a food and wine tour of Europe. It's truly just such an amazing read. I flew through it while making myself slow down so that I wouldn't have to finish it. As someone who has traveled to some of these places, CMQ writes them love letters as they describe the best parts of these cities and make you want to hop on the next flight out to them. CMQ's prose made me yearn for these cities and this couple it was just that mesmerizing.

Months ago I manifested a dual POV book and this was absolutely everything. I understand why more authors don't do them in romance novels but this is the perfect example of how to do it and how to do it right. I fell in love with Kit and Theo and their love. I fell in love with every meal and every wine. I fell in love with the cities they explored. I have enjoyed every CMQ book before this but this is arguably some of their best work.

this book was beautiful, and painful, and bittersweet. the heartbreak was so raw and tangible in these characters, and so was the love. its very rare that i feel genuine pain over books, but this one really made my heart ache. i already want to reread.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and Casey McQuiston for allowing me to read an ARC of this book in exchange for my review.

The Pairing is about Theo Flowerday and Kit Fairfield, two ex-lovers that decided to cash in their almost expired vouchers for a food and wine tour through France, Spain and Italy at the same time. We get the first half of the book from Theo's POV, they tell us a wonderful story of their current journey through the tour while weaving in their backstory with Kit. It's really quite amazing to witness these early interactions with Kit through Theo. The emotions they go through are many and heavy, which leaves you wondering what Kit is thinking, but Casey took care of that by writing the second half of the book in his POV. Through the second half of the tour, we learn what Kit has been feeling since seeing Theo again, and one thing is very clear: they're both still wildly in love with each other.

This book was incredible for its imagery. The way Casey writes the descriptions of these gorgeous European destinations makes you feel like you're right there with Theo and Kit, experiencing the atmosphere, the food and drink and the people they encounter along the way. The characters are all rich and plentiful, just like the food and drink they taste on their journey. They all held a special place in my heart, especially Fabrizio! What a darling man.

What's clear from the word go is Theo and Kit's connection. The way they banter is unlike anything I've read in a very long time, and it's wonderful. The game they play with pairing foods and drinks tethered by one similar ingredient was so fun to read, and the spicier scenes were beautifully written. Detailed but not vulgar (vulgar doesn't bother me, btw, just an observance) and I love the fluidity of sexuality that Theo and Kit experience both separately and together. It makes their challenge that much more exciting and limitless.

My only complaint here was the same complaint that I had with past Casey books I've read: the chapters are LONG, and as someone that likes to read chapters in a single sitting, it's not always easy to carve out a solid hour to read one chapter. But that didn't take away from the quality of the book or the writing in any way. It's just a personal preference of mine.

Overall, another incredible book from Casey McQuiston. I am a fan for life.

CMQ does it again! This book made me laugh, cry, scream and believe in love. It also made me want to move to a small coastal European town. Casey does an incredible job personifying these characters and making them larger than life in the first person writing style. It’s such a unique and deeply queer take on Europe and trying to get over someone you’re still in love with. There are so many moments I could highlight that I loved, but I’d basically be rewriting the book if I did.

Casey McQuiston really tossed everything I’ve ever loved or wanted—LOTR references! Devastating Rilke quotes! A European food and wine tour with chaotic bisexual exes!—into a blender, added a bottle of champagne, and wrote THE book of the summer. Beautiful, devastating, hilarious, un-put-down-able. I loved it, and I’ll be dreaming of Kit and Theo until I can get my hands on a physical copy in August.

“Sometimes I think the only way to keep something forever is to lose it and let it haunt you” “If I can give my whole heart to love without fearing the cost, I will regret nothing”
WOWWW i am in love with theo and kit.…. this is easily my favorite cmq book. there are so many little details that make it such a perfect book to me. the love for horror, the gender of it all, finding love through art, and ALLL the tropes, friends to exes to friends to lovers, one bed trope, a bet. you literally can’t get any better than this but id like to see casey try!

The Pairing takes us on a deliciously hedonistic food and wine tour through Europe with Kit and Theo. This book is joyful romantic comedy, with description and tasting notes that made me want a 1am baguette with lavender honey and wine. It manages this while at the same time being so full of heart and small shared moments. It was a delight.

This is one of the horniest books I've read in recent memory and I LOVE it! I really enjoyed the structure of the story from the different points of view. I want to take the same tour as Theo and Kit. I love them almost as much as Alex & Henry. Thank you Casey McQuiston for introducing me to these lovely flawed humans that let their love guide them through life and back to each other. Not afraid of making mistakes and trusting each other.

Wine. Europe. Love.

I always love the second chances trope alongside a European road trip.

I loved Theo and the chapters with their perspective. They're the ultimate I'M FINE EVERYTHING IS FINE character while everything is chaotic in the background. Their love for Kit is pure, and they don't feel worthy of that happiness.

Kit has such a wise poet's soul and I think EVERYONE in this book wanted to sleep with him, lol. I didn't enjoy his perspective as much as Theo's. His POV just felt slower and lacked connection.

Overall, solidly good book. Loved the representation.


Actual rating between 3.5 and 4
🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for this ARC

I loved this book!! It was fabulous and well done. The characters were on point and I thought the plot was well developed. I would recommend this book to others.

I have a new CMQ favorite.

Friends-turned-roommates-turned-lovers-turned-exes accidentally book the same European wine and food tour in this latest queer romance by Casey McQuiston. Theo Flowerday and Kit Fairfield had been friends since the moment they met in elementary school, remaining each other's anchor through parental death, cross-country moves, college, injuries, and first love. Their relationship reaches an inevitable peak one night, and the friends become lovers, a new status lasting two years until a fateful trans-Atlantic flight severed any chance they had at a happily ever after. Or so they both thought. Until four years later, when both have grown and changed and attempted to get over each other, they find themselves side-by-side on the trip they'd planned and abandoned long ago.

There are no two people more meant to be than Kit and Theo, matched both in their equal stubbornness, and their love of food, wine, culture, and sex. Both confident, clever, sexy and slutty, they quickly move from estranged exes to amicable friends, creating a wager to keep their three-week European tour interesting: see who can sleep with the most people. This is by far McQuiston's sluttiest novel (and this is meant in the most loving and respectful way), having two bisexual main characters who literally shake on, "May the best slut win." That being said, I wouldn't put its spice level as high as some other sexy romance books popular in the queer genre; this would rate a solid M (mature), but wouldn't reach an E (explicit). However, the reader looking for sex, passion and lust will not be disappointed.

Writing queer as only a queer person can, McQuiston brings to life all of the beauty of bisexuality–feeling horny for literally everyone. With absolutely no queerphobia in sight, Kit and Theo (and other tour guests) have a judgment-free romp around wine country, and find themselves in the arms (and sometimes between the legs of) many beautiful locals. There is also dealings of gender, and the way some people fit into theirs, or even fit their gender into themselves. McQuiston is non-binary themselves, and everything written about such is done with the utmost respect and adoration. Everything, really, about this book is written with the utmost respect and adoration.

McQuiston's writing and storytelling, while always impressive and entertaining, has definitely grown with time. This book feels the most mature (despite some hilariously immature quotes such as, "...smooth as Swayze's tits in 1988," or, "You look like you suck dick at Ceasars Palace"), with some of the most beautiful imagery I've read in a long time. I've never been to Spain or Italy, but I feel like I have with McQuiston's words; they leave me feeling like I'm wrapped in a brioche, under the warm Sicilian sky. A "brown sugar sun," as they eloquently say. Every time I read one of their books, I fall a little bit more in love with the world, and am happy to report that McQuiston has yet to let me down. I hope they never do.

Five breathtaking, beautiful, slutty stars.

I finished this book 6 days ago and can’t stop thinking about it. My first book hangover of the year and instantly on my best books of 2024 list. The maturity of the writing and creativity of the story structure is akin to the bonus Henry chapter in the special edition of RWRB. But CMQ is really on fire with this one.

Prepare to be hungry. And really thirsty. And drunk from the words. And a little bit sunkissed. And immediately booking airline tickets to Europe. The romance is wonderful too and by midway in the book you are so invested in Theo & Kit you can't get enough of them. But it’s the lush travel and food and people on the bus tour and scenic descriptions that are incredible. It’s visceral and immersive. It’s a love affair with food and wine and pastry and France and Spain and Italy and I couldn’t get enough.

Theo-and-Kit. Theo-and-Kit. Theo-and-Kit. They are so charming, horny, gorgeous, fun and swoony. The perfect soul pairing. I want to hang out with them. They are a bisexual nonbinary dream love story. I don’t want to say too much because there are so many twists and turns, plenty of angst, some steam and a few surprises which are a delight to experience for yourself without spoilers. All I can say is this is a perfect summer beach or pool read, and I can’t wait to read it again.

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

I read this book in 6 hours. I laughed, I cried, and now I get to tell you how amazing it is.

The bad. Yes, there are things I didn't like about this book but its short and simple and maybe you will like the things I did not.
1. Nosebleeds.
2. With Casey's other books, I have always found a connection to their side characters just as deep as the main characters. Maybe it was because the food tour is a temporary setting, but I did not get that same connection with any of the side characters in this book. (Casey, if you read this, please consider a Novella with updates to all your side characters)
3. If you are not knowledgeable in the world of art, food, or European geography, you may be spending an equal amount of time looking up the places/foods/artwork mentioned. I personally knew some of them and didn't care to look up the rest.

The Good.
1. With each book they write, Casey grows in their ability to write a character without actually saying the words "neurodiversity" (Insert Twilight meme, "say it. out loud"). Theo is by far the most relatable character to me yet. Seriously, I wish that Casey would teach a class to the writers of Hollywood on how to portray/write/have neurodiverse characters.
2. Yes, this is by far the steamiest book that Casey has written. Still they managed to write some of the hottest scenes without ever saying anatomically correct body parts or even slang words while in these scenes. I am in awe and I will be rereading some of them for inspiration in the future.
3. There a million other things that I love about this book, but I will not have the space to detail all of that and why. Rest assured, I now have a long list of foods and wine that I need to search for and even some songs to listen to.

Get the book. You won't regret it.

I loved everything about this book! It was a love letter to adventure and romance, European cuisine and art, to second-chance love, to finding yourself and seizing what makes you happy. This was beautifully written and so different from McQuiston’s previous works. I loved the way both Theo and Kit narrated the story and I adored every single person they met during their tour. I always love an adventure romance and appreciate how the locations and food were equal stars in this story. While nothing can top the sheer genius of Red, White, and Royal Blue, I think The Pairing might actually be my favorite!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.