This audiobook and the story are amazing! I love Casey McQuiston books and the narrator for this book was fabulous! I would highly recommend it!

What an incredibly heartfelt and inspiring story of love! I absolutely could not put this down. From the rich characters, the story arc and the journey of the plot it was simply unputdownable. It is sure to be yet another beloved book hit for the author and is equally love to see it also adapted for film as the storyline of travel would be so fun on the big screen. This has representation that is dearly needed and feels impactful in its timeliness. Speaking of time, the dedication to flashbacks were big for me here as I felt like it truly gave us a whole experience in understanding our MCs deeply and thoroughly. It might feel like a lag for others but for me it truly helped me understand these characters and their relationship in a deeper way that truly fed the plot for me. I think with such complex and complicated characters it’s vital! Overall I loved the journey and couldn’t have asked for more. It’s heart warming and full of hope and forced proximity heaven.

The narration was so much fun and truly added a special spice to the already rich storytelling and helped a lot with the POV switches. I think the audiobook will be key for anyone struggling with the pov differentiation.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to ARC read I was given both a physical ARC from St Martins Griffin and the ALC from Macmillan Audio & NetGalley

🎧 + E-book- The Pairing- a standalone

✍️ By Casey McQuiston- read Red,White, and Royal Blue & One Last Stop gave 4/5*

🗣️ Narrators: Emma Galvin & Max Meyers.The narrators' voices fit the characters with standouts from Theo and Fabrizio.The reading style brought the text to life, and the author and narrators worked together well. The pacing and flow allowed me to get lost in the story . The narrators paused and announced new chapters with music and each location of the tour.

📃 Page Count:  432

🏃🏾‍♀️Run Time: 14:14

🗓️ Publication Date: 8-6-24  | Read: 7-31-24  

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Griffin, and Macmillan Audio for this ARC and ALC ❤️! I voluntarily give my honest review and all opinions expressed are my own.

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Adult Fiction, LGBTQIA+

Tropes:
❤️BFFS in love
❤️friends to lovers
❤️forced proximity
❤️1st POV
❤️European tour
❤️found family

⚠️ TW: Both H&h sleep with other people


💭 Summary 💭: Theo and Kit have broken up and went their separate ways while on a plane to start their European tour of France, Spain, and Italy. A terrible misunderstanding kept them apart for four years Kit staying in Paris and Theo back to LA. They both decide to finally go on the tour before their vouchers expire. When reunited old feelings come back, but they agree to a hook-up competition.



Heroine: Theodora"Theo" Flowerday- from a famous family where her parents and sister are actors and writers in entertainment.

Hero: Kit Fairfield- his mother died when he was thirteen. Fell in love with Theo and hasn't gotten over it.

Side cast: Fabrizio- funny tour guide; Sloane- Theo's sister a multimillionaire;


My Thoughts: This was OK for me. I didn't care for Kit's POV which started around 48% because he didn't show as much emotion as Theo. They both slept with other people when they claimed to still be in love. I wasn't into the hook-up competition because I like my main couple crazy over each other. Things were messy with the threesomes and both trying to sleep with the same people.

Range of emotions: 😬🤔🙄

🌶️: Spice 3/5 open door
🎧:Narration  3/5, didn't like Kit
😭: Emotion 3/5
❤️: Couple 3/5
⭐️: Rating 3.5/5 *

I absolutely love Casey McQuiston books, but this one was just okay for me. I don’t mind a messy relationship, but this may have been just too messy for my taste?

I also wish that we had more in the past with the characters or really see their love, it was told more than shown.

Loved the narrators!!

Casey McQuiston is never a disappointment! This book was amazing in every way. Theo and Kit are the main characters. They end up on the same trip and the rest is history. Very intimate and detailed. Loved every second of it.

Feeling very mixed about this story. Second chance romances are always a hit or miss for me. This one takes it to a whole different level with exes hooking up with different people was a bit much for me. I did enjoy the dual POV and the start of each chapter with the pairing and setup for the chapter. The story felt just a little repetitive as well. I did enjoy the ending and how they finally got their HEA.

Emma Galvin and Max Meyers did a great job with the narration. Thank you @smpromance @macmillan.audio for a copy of this.

I had high hopes for this book and unfortunately it didn’t quite hit the mark. 😕

There were things I liked about it: 1. All the food and wine descriptions. 2. All the touristy things. 3. 💕Kit💕
But there were things I didn’t like: 1. The POVs being half and half; I think the story would’ve really benefited from the POVs alternating as that would’ve really helped the pacing and the flow of the story. 2. The hook up competition part of the plot was just kind of immature and a lot of the scenes that went along with that plot point felt really unrealistic. 3. 🙄Theo🙄 - they were absolutely insufferable and I found them exhausting. (However I really appreciated the gender identity rep they brought to the story.)

As a whole this book was fine but I can’t say it’s a new favorite from Casey McQuiston by any means.

2.5 stars. This just wasn’t great and never grabbed my attention. It sounded so good, I love a second chance romance, but this one just wasn’t it. This author has been hit and miss for me in the past, so I was hoping this one was more of a hit.

Basically we follow two exes, they were childhood besties who fell in love and became an item, they split up after a European trip and went there separate ways. Now it’s a few years later and they both end up booking the same wine tour. Instead of splitting between chapters and getting the different character’s POVs, we don’t get the other MC’s POV until halfway through the book. I think it would have helped having it sooner. Lots of European adventures! The bit with them making a bet to see who could hook up with more people while on vacay together, and then having the deets of that playing through, was a choice…

I received an audio ALC from the publisher, all thoughts in this review are my own.

Casey McQuiston can write a steamy book with a lot of foreplay, tension, and a lack of penetration.

While I enjoyed the descriptions, the food, in particular, was divine, I wished the characters were a bit more likable. I was not a fan of Kit or Theo. I wanted them together so no one else would have to deal with them.

The narrator's voice for Theo was grating and made the character more annoying. Once the POV switched to Kit, the story got significantly better and I was more willing to listen.

I have enjoyed other books by the author more in the past and will continue to read this author. I am not sure I am the intended audience for this one.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC! All opinions are my own.

I fear that this book has the potential to become my whole personality.

Everything about Theo and Kit made my heart so happy. Add to their incredible connection the setting of a Hot Girl Euro Summer.? The vibes are immaculate. I loved the wine pairings at the beginning of each location section were not only super cute but also made me feel even more connected to the story.

The way that gender and sexual identity and expression were explored throughout this story made my heart so beyond happy. I felt so incredibly seen and there were times my heart absolutely sank, but like in a good way? I’ve never been able to describe how I feel but while listening to this book I felt like the words were pulled right out of my brain.

Don’t get me started on the spice - I am obsessed. No other word for it. Yeah, it was quite plentiful but personally, I L O V E D it. The one-star reviews based on the spice made me giggle.

This book feels like a great happy medium between RWRB and OLS - and thus I believe it is perfect and I love it. No further questions.

I'm withholding my review for this because of the SMP boycott and apparently a lot of you need reminders that this is an SMP title.

All I will say is that this is very different from CMQ's previous books and I didn't love it. (2-3 star)

I wanted to like "The Pairing" more than I did. And, don't get me wrong, there are a lot of things I really liked about this book. I love the descriptions of the places Kit and Theo visit on their tour. It made me so badly want to do a food and wine tour of France and Italy! The characters were likable enough for the most part and the writing was vivid, fresh, and fun. Unfortunately, I found myself dragging through parts of this book, desperately wanting it to wrap up and be over with. It was a bit too long, perhaps. The use of both Theo and Kit's voices in the books (Theo's in part 1 and Kit's in part 2) were nice, but again, towards the end of both parts, I wanted that part of the story to just wrap itself up.

Overall, it was a fun read but paled in comparison to the author's previous book "Red, White, and Royal Blue," which I found to be much quicker paced and enjoyable throughout!

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Griffin for the arc of this book.

The pairing is a delightful romp full of sex, yearning, and the most deeply bisexual characters that have ever been written. I had so much fun following our two MCs romp around Europe and watching them resolve past grievances. I would recommend this book to lovers of romance and unrealistic plotlines.

Thank you in advance to the publisher for an early copy for review.

Audio Review: The audio is a good way to give this book a try. There are added sounds and voices throughout that help the story come alive and feel more immersive.

Story Review: this is going to be a difficult review to write. This book just simply was not for me. I have thought hard about who may enjoy this book, and I think I've been able to seperate that. For my own enjoyment, I just didn't. The two main characters were written in a way that felt very immature and unrealistic for me. However, I do believe that there are people who may share similar thoughts and actions out there, my own lived experience was just a little irritated by these characters. I feel like this book, let out a different part of Casey McQuiston's heart and desires and it should be consumed by people who could appreciate that. This story is very carefree, do what you want, be who you want, no consequences considered. There is nothing wrong with that, we all need a little of that in our life. It just didn't hit well for me right now.

One issue I had was with believability. This is a second chance love story, however, in the first 10 percent when they are meeting again, one main character start talking about how good at relationship-ing the other is and how perfect they are. Now, how could that make sense when it's your ex. I understand break ups are confusing and multifaceted, but we aren't even going to acknowledge that? I don't typically get hung up on these small details but they really bothered me in this story.

If you are at a point in your life where you want to experience a character who lives without thinking, has a ton of sex (including a competition about how much sex one can have), etc... then give this a try.

I don't actually think I should rate this book but because netgalley and goodreads makes me, I think a 3 star is a fair representation.

This was my first Casey McQuiston book I've read and was very pleased to have liked it so much! I love a good second-chance romance trope and was obsessed with the dynamimcs between the two main characters. The switch of the two main characters being the narrotor suprised me, after aa little while I got used to it and ended up not minding it. I did like Theo as the narrator over Kit.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this advanced audiobook in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

This book was fascinating on so many levels. The in depth descriptions of foods and places and breathtaking views and amazing once in a lifetime adventures were merely the background to so many relationships, (romantic or otherwise). Kit and Theo were incredibly interesting characters and I really enjoyed their journey through Europe as I listened to this book.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

The Pairing by Casey McQuiston
Release Date: 8/6/24
Format: audio/ebook
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

This book took me a month to read. Normally that means a book was a slog or I didn’t like it, but that certainly wasn’t the case with The Pairing. It felt like a book that, much like the food and wine Theo & Kit experience along the way, deserved to be savored.

This book had so much of what I absolutely adore about McQuiston’s writing. They give us impeccably hilarious pop culture references, top notch found family vibes despite this being a romance book, and a queer romance that feels truly unique.

This second chance romance is indulgent in every single way possible. I’ve read early reviews saying it is too much…too much sex, too many long winded food descriptions, too pretentious. I agree it might not be for everyone, but I thought the entire on page journey felt so true to these specific characters. I truly adored it.

Let yourself go and get lost in these pages. I think it’s more about the journey and while I would have loved a litttttttle more on page character or plot growth and development, I understand why McQuiston wrote this the way they did and freaking loved it overall!

3.5/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I think I was hoping this would be better than it was, but I still enjoyed it by the end. To be honest, I think the first 75% was a bit of a drag. They're basically going around a city, eating food, drinking alcohol, having sex, repeat. I got tired of it pretty quickly and skimmed through parts of the book. My interest was really piqued at the end when they finally clear up miscommunication, where the author explores the roots of their relationship and how two people can make it work when there are so many other factors in their lives.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audi, and Casey McQuiston for an ARC of this audiobook performed by Emma Galvin and Max Meyers with narration by Casey McQuiston in exchange for my honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this second-chance romance of best friends turned lovers turned exes as they navigate their emotions and unresolved issues and a European Food Tour they both happen to book a year after their break up. This story is filled with vibrant characters, picturesque settings, succulent descriptions of food and drink, and exquisite yearning from both of our main characters. As someone who experienced my first European trip earlier this year, this story have me yearning to go back and I wish I had spent my twenties booking food tours of Europe at every opportunity. This is truly a love letter to European food and culture and how the two can transport anyone to an immersive experience unlike any other.

I really love Kit and Theo and the palpable tension and yearning I could feel in my soul. I love a childhood best friends to lovers story, and the emotions and history between these two was just beautiful to experience. I’m not a huge fan of the miscommunication trope that led to their initial parting, however once learning about each characters’ flaws, it is understandable how they ended up where our story begins.

I enjoyed the narrators as well, however I wish the who book had been dual narration from the beginning rather than switching performers halfway through. In doing so, I had a little bit of a hard time staying focused on the story. But overall, I really enjoyed them!

I highly recommend picking this up, just be ready as you’ll want to book a foodie excursion immediately!

I really enjoyed this book. This is a great second chance romance. Childhood best friends, turned exes Theo and Kit just happen to be on the same wine and food tour of Europe. They haven't seen each other in four years, so to smooth over the awkwardness they have a friendly competition to see who can hook up with the most people during the tour. Did I mention that this is probably Casey McQuinston spiciest book?

This book felt like a bisexual version of People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry, You get the same deep in you soul pining from the main characters, and the same frustration from the reader for the couple get together already! The travel aspect was appealing, I loved hearing about all of the European stops, plus there was major food porn. You also get the humor and detailed historical facts that you expect from McQuinston.

Thank-you to NetGalley and MacMaillan Audio for the advanced listener copy. I enjoyed both narrators Emma Galvin and Max Meyers, they really brought the book to life. I highly recommend this book.