This Casey McQuiston read was not like any of McQuiton's other reads. I did struggle with it, but found the banter and the competition to be very entertaining once I got into the story. I just recommend going into this one without thinking it is a McQuiston book!

If there's a Casey McQuiston book hitting the shelves you better BELIEVE that I'm waiting with stars in my eyes. And they've done it once again. As many of my reviews will reflect, I am a HUGE fan of food/beverage based stories, especially with fantastic descriptions. Casey spared no beautiful scenery, complex flavor palette, or gorgeous baked bread scent mention. Additionally, I loved Kit and Theo and their connection. Admitedly, I preferred Kit's perspective, as I was ready for some straight up love at this point! Another favorite queer romance just found.

A story that revels in its own decadence in the best way. Read for a riveting romp through the world of European food and wine, told through the lens of a pair of pining disaster queers. If you love stories filled with steamy queer sexcapades and food porn, this is absolutely for you! Honestly my favorite of Mcquiston's so far (and I've loved them all)!

{AD} I'm a huge fan of Casey McQuiston but this was probably my least favourite of their books. It's an ode to hedonism, pulsating with wild pleasures. It feels too gluttonous to read in one sitting though as it can be an overwhelming experience.

What I Loved:
🍷 The descriptions of the food tour across Europe - the places, food and wine.
🥐 The LGBTQIA+ representation.
🍷 The beautiful prose with some exquisite quotes.
🥐 The side characters.

What I Disliked:
🥐 I didn't *love* Kit or Theo as main characters. Both were a bit bland and I didn't connect with either.
🍷 The sex scenes were almost too much for me (but that's my personal preference entirely and other readers will disagree as pleasure is the entire thesis of this book!).
🥐 It was missing the humour of earlier books.

But I am sure the right reader will adore this story and I'm still glad I read it even though I won't be re-reading.

Such a cute book. I was alittle worried since I DNF’d one last spot for its pacing issues but I felt like this book fixed it!

THE PAIRING is Casey McQuiston at their steamiest and most unapologetic and it is 5/5 stars so good, the perfect escape.

This story follows Theo and Kit, exes who end up on the same culinary tour of Europe. What follows is a sexploration of France, Italy, and Spain, full of Casey McQuiston’s beautiful descriptions of settings and food and emotion. I read this on my way to Germany and it was exquisite to be reading about the magic of traveling while actually traveling - swipe for an early passage I loved!

The reason I say this is Casey McQ’s most unapologetic work is because there’s a lot that shouldn’t work here (which you can find details of in Goodreads reviews if you’re curious). RED WHITE & ROYAL BLUE feels near-perfect to me in its character development, its build of emotion, its somehow-realistic plot despite the premise; whereas THE PAIRING lounges in its imperfections, its literary/romance “rule” breaking, its blatant ~miscommunication~ issues. And yet I loved it!

It was interesting to read this after ALL FOURS because both books have a focus on pleasure but are (obviously) very different. I love the exploration of escapism both have at their core, the question of, “What if I just said “fuck it” and genuinely did what feels good for me, despite long-lasting impact, despite the status quo?”

This book is two things: hungry and horny.

If you like beautiful descriptions of probably delicious food, you will get more enough here. That part was just fine for me. I don't care that much about reading about meals.

Now, the horniness. Theo and Kit, who haven't seen or even communicated with each other since their break-up, are quite surprised to see each other on this tour. Kit is a bit more happy about it than Theo, who generally seems like they want to crawl into a hole and hide at all times. And that was the main problem I had with this book -- Theo's point of view is so hard to read. Theo is incredibly frustrating. I can buy a lot of things about this story, like everyone is somewhere on the bi spectrum and hooking up with beautiful strangers is just *the* thing to do on vacation in Europe, but I could not buy that Theo was at all pleasant to be around. When the POV switches to Kit, it was a breath of fresh air, though then we also get him dealing with the frustration of Theo.

I was hoping this would have the magic of McQuiston's other books, but it just wasn't there for me.

Casey in fantastic and always an auto-buy. I think their books sell themselves! But I will still absolutely be book talking this one and adding to lists now that the marketing boycott is concluded.

This was such a beautiful story. The journey and love story flowed well. I enjoyed the dual perspectives!

The Pairing follows Theo and Kit, childhood best friends turned ex-lovers, who find themselves on a food and wine tour through Europe years after a devastating breakup. What was meant to be a once-in-a-lifetime trip is now a reunion neither expected. To ease the tension, they create a playful game—competing to see who can hook up with the most people. But as the tour takes them through the stunning backdrops of France, Spain, and Italy, it becomes clear their connection runs far deeper than any competition.

McQuiston masterfully blends humor, heartbreak, and chemistry, bringing Theo and Kit’s complex relationship to life in a way that feels raw and real. The journey through Europe was beautifully written, with rich descriptions of food and culture that made me feel like I was right there. The unique POV shift halfway through that is unlike any other romance I’ve read, letting us see their love from a new angle. If you're a fan of second-chance romances, this one will steal your heart!

I recommend for fans of spicy contemporary romance, especially those who love travel, found family, and a bit of emotional chaos.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/St. Martin's Griffin for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I think I have two caveats to this review. 1 is I hate second chance romance. 2 is I love Casey McQuiston. Lucky for me, Casey’s writing made me love this second chance romance. Theo and Kit are my new book boyfriends (I think Theo wouldn’t mind that distinction). I loved the use of dual narrator, I’ve never read a book where the first half was in one POV and the second half was in the other. I think it was very effecting to get me to fall in love with the characters in real time. I felt like I knew Theo and Kit, they felt like friends before the book was 1/4 of the way done. I also LOVED the food and travel content. I now must go to San Sebastián and while Barcelona was already on my list, it has skyrocketed to the top. This is now in my romance novel hall of fame next to Red White and Royal Blue. Highly recommend

This book was another great publication from Casey McQuiston. It was interesting, thoughtful, and full of great characters.

3.5/5 stars

Admittedly, I went into this book with very high expectations. Both RWRB and OLS were 5 star books for me, and my favorite books of the year when I read them, so naturally I was pretty hyped for this book. I think something I’ve learned is that I shouldn’t overhype things in my head, because ultimately I think that caused me to like this book less. While this book had a lot of great things to offer, I also didn’t connect with it the way I have their other adult books. Let’s unpack my thoughts!

Pros:
- This book is wonderfully queer! Both MCs are bisexual, and one MC is non-binary, plus there’s a good chunk of queer side characters and even open relationships!
- Casey’s writing never fails tbh. Every time I pick up one of their books, I’m totally engrossed in what’s happening because of their superior knack for telling stories, and this book was no exception. Casey always finds a way to make me literally laugh out loud and I love that about their writing.
- The vibes throughout this book were IMMACULATE. I mean, a food and wine tour throughout Europe with two main characters that work in the industry? Fuck yeah, sign me up.

Cons:
- Something I loved about RWRB and OLS was not only the intriguing MCs, but also the fun side characters. However, I felt like this book was really missing that. What side characters we had didn’t seem very fleshed out unlike their past books, and I wish we had gone deeper, as the potential for some great characters seemed there. In fact, some of the side characters just felt like an accessory to Theo and Kit’s weird sexcapades during their travels with not much more depth besides that.
- I realllllllly disliked how multiple POVs were handled here. Now, I do love POV switching, especially in a romance novel. However, in this book, we basically read from Theo’s POV during the first half, then switch to Kit’s halfway through. While I can sort of see what the intent was with this, it honestly felt more like whiplash than anything, and made it hard to make that adjustment.
- The plot felt very…repetitive in the first third or so. It just felt like “visit new city -> eat and drink -> go out to look for a hookup -> rinse and repeat.” That’s all well and fine, but this felt like it went on for SO LONG before things finally started getting switched up. Tbh if the book had glossed over some of that and shortened the book by like 50-100 pages or so, I think it would have packed a bigger punch.

All in all, I DID have a good time reading this, especially Kit's chapters, but I think I've learned not to overhype things too much in my head. I will ALWAYS pick up Casey's new books because I love them as an author, but even our faves don't crank out perfect reads for us sometimes and that's okay.

Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel. I have adored McQuiston since I got Red, White & Royal Blue as an ARC print years ago. I also really liked this book but does not compare to that. This is, however, great in its own right. Hearing all about the different locations was amazing and the switch of narrator halfway through was well-earned. Kit and Theo are evolving people and the story of them coming back together was enjoyable. Another great addition to my collection. 4 stars.

I was so so excited to receive a Casey McQuiston ARC! I've read all their recent big hits so I was super excited to receive this one and I think this might be a favourite of theirs for me. I loved Theo and Kit and I'm just such a sucker for a they broke up and now they might get back together but what if it just repeats history and also they think theyve grown but not as much as they can but its okay because they will! Great book

The Pairing follows Theo and Kit as they unintentionally take the same European food tour that they broke up on 4 years prior. On this tour they must contend with their long past as childhood friends to lovers to strangers, their explosive breakup years ago, and their still just under the surface feelings and attraction to one another. To help distract them from all these feelings they form a wager--who can sleep with the most people on their European Tour. If they're sleeping with other people they won't possibly sleep with each other right?

The Pairing is great for those who love Second Chance romance, miscommunication, queer love, and just steamy eroticism.
This book is HOT and filled with almost painful sexual tension and longing.

What a joy to read! Thank you to the publisher for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Spoilers ahead!!
Casey McQuiston manages to balance a fun, slutty Euro Summer with the heartbreak and longing of a missed love. Typically, I do not like second-chance romances because I can tell the characters are going to break up for the exact same reason that they originally did. However, McQuiston found a way to grow not only the characters but also the ways in which they interact with each other. Four years apart allowed Kit and Theo to grow, find themselves, and become ready for the relationship they always wanted. Not only was the sexual tension between them off the charts, but the emotional tension was even better. I felt the yearning in my chest!
McQuiston also explores Theo's gender identity beautifully. The change in perspective was a pleasant surprise and enhanced their coming out for me.
All in all, this is my favourite work of Casey McQuiston's so far!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC. I was not a fan of this book. I have enjoyed McQuiston's prior works but found this one to be a slog to get through for multiple reasons. I did not appreciate the perpetuation of harmful bisexual stereotypes nor the overall plot of using others for a sex competition. I found this in poor taste and while I loved the setting I didn't love the story.

I loved this. I read it in one sitting (on a plane, to be fair, I didn't have anywhere else to be) and barely looked up from it the entire time. Probably my two favorite romance tropes are friends to lovers and second chance romance and The Pairing is BOTH of those. I loved Kit and I loved Theo and I just wanted the best for them, even when they may not have known that the best for them was each other, I certainly did, and I rooted for it the whole time. Even the fact that their initial breakup was the result of a miscommunication - something I normally hate - didn't even bother me too much here. And the travel! The food! The interesting and fun side characters! I loved everything about this book.

I think the book accomplishes what it says it does which is smutty romcom, but I don't feel as though it dived too deep past that. Overall an okay read but nothing truly spectacular or special.