I have loved Casey McQuiston's previous books, but this one was not for me. This was a second chance romance on a whirlwind trip through Europe. I didn't have any attachments to the two main characters, Theo and Kit. In the previous books, the supporting characters played a big part in the story and in this book that wasn't the case. It was really a struggle for me to finish the book. I really didn't care if they got back together or not. I had to switch from the audiobook to the book because I didn't enjoy the narrator for Theo.

My ranking of their previous books are: 1. One Last Stop, 2. Red, White, and Royal Blue, 3. I Kissed Shara Wheeler.

Thanks to St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for the advanced digital copy of the book and Macmillan Audio for the advanced digital copy of the audiobook.

I’m going to be honest, this is not my favorite of Casey Mcquiston’s books. I think my biggest problem is just how much sex there was. And I know I should have seen that coming based on the summary but I didn’t. I also did not feel invested in Kit & Theo & their relationship. There was nothing about either of them that I really felt connected to.

4.5/5 ⭐️

Four years ago, Theo and Kit were supposed to go on a culinary tour across Europe. However, they ended up breaking up. Now, in present day, they find themselves both unexpectedly (as in without knowing the other would be there) on that tour. After some tension, they decide on a contest to see who can have the most European hookups. However, they soon realize that maybe the romance between them is not dead.

This has been my favorite of McQuiston's books since Red, White, and Royal Blue (which is still number one). It did take a little while for me to really get invested in it - I think once you realize that the love is still there, you're hooked. This one also returns to the spicier scenes like we got in RWRB, which I think the author does a great job of writing. There is also an unexpected POV switch about halfway through, which was a little weird at first, but overall I'm glad we also got to see Kit's point of view. I think it also allowed for the new info about Theo to be processed in a meaningful way. Overall, a really enjoyable romance (although it will make you want a bunch of pastries!)!

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I'm just disappointed. I wound up DNFing at 26%. If you are going to write a second chance romance, please give us more from the first chance portion of the relationship.

Thanks for the ARC!

Typically, and almost famously I have been a "hater" of the friends-to-lovers trope. While I still stand by that, I also found it hard not to fall in love with our two main characters seeing if they would end up back together, and rooting for that outcome. McQuiston has been a beloved author since I read One Last Stop and Red, White, & Royal Blue. Both having complex characters and unique "what if" storylines. The Pairing is no exception.

While reading The Pairing I keep falling in love with (and becoming hungry over) Kit and Theo's travels through Europe. I also enjoyed how the dynamic of their POVs were written. Rather than bouncing back and forth between the thoughts of each main character, we read about Theo's struggles, the perspective of the breakup, and how they handled the aftermath. Halfway through the book we switch to Kit's side of the story and how he's doing post-breakup and now traveling with his former love.

This book gave me so many laugh-out-loud moments, lovable side characters, and a want to travel more in Europe (mostly for the food). If that sounds like your cup of tea (or wine) then you are going to also fall in love with The Pairing as I have.

The Pairing is my third novel by Casey McQuiston. While I was not a huge fan of One Last Stop, I loved Red, White & Royal Blue. This story follows two bisexual exes who go on the same European food and wine tour. Years after their break-up, Theo has become a bartender and aspiring sommelier while Kit has become a pastry chef at a restaurant in Paris. Instead of the usual back and forth POVs, the story starts with Theo and then switches to Kit. Theo comes from money but refuses financial help to get his business off the ground, which I felt was incomplete. While I do have a few friends that came from money and prefer to do things on their own, that is not the usual scenario, so I wish McQuiston spent some time to explain why these choices were important to Theo. It, instead, was written as just trying to make a “poor” Theo set-up rather than a fully explored background for his character. His POV almost made me stop reading multiple times as I just could not connect to his character.

Theo and Kit travel together on the tour where they get to see the sites and eat/drink all the amazing things. The two end up forming a competition to sleep with the people they encounter on the tour where they may or may end up seeing if they could work together again. There is a lot going on with the two characters reconnecting after years apart and I enjoyed the tour settings across Europe. I enjoyed the background of the two characters being childhood friends turned lovers followed by exes, but I wished the story explored more about why they still belong together. As this is mainly a romance tale, I think more focus was needed to explore the connection between the two characters. They have sexual chemistry, but that wasn’t enough to make me root for them. Overall, I think this story had great potential, but did not quite get there; however, I do look forward to read more from McQuiston in the future.

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, St. Martin’s Griffin, for the opportunity to read this entertaining novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

Rating: 3.5/5

I have a lot of mixed feeling about this book. I really struggled with it in the beginning. In the beginning, I didn't care much for the characters and didn't feel like they had much chemistry. I also didn't love the hooking up with strangers plot line at first. But as I read more, I slowly found myself starting to enjoy the book more. I think that the second half of this book is definitely the strongest part of the book. It was in the second half of the book that I found myself finally starting to understand and enjoy these characters and their love story. Some things that I did enjoy the entire way through though included the setting, the great discussions on sexuality and gender, as well as how sex positive this book felt. While it took a while for me to get there, by the end I was rooting for the characters and I found the ending to be really cute and romantic. I definitely did not enjoy this one as much as Casey McQuiston's other books but it was still enjoyable.

Thank you so much to the publishers and to NetGalley for gifting me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

In New York Times bestselling author Casey McQuiston’s latest romantic comedy, two bisexual exes accidentally book the same European food and wine tour and challenge each other to a hookup competition to prove they’re over each other—except they’re definitely not. This bisexual contemporary romance was not for me. This book might appeal to foodies or sexually adventurous people. It’s apparent that the author put a lot of research into this novel. ARC was provided by St. Martin’s Griffin via NetGalley. I received an advance listening copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. #thepairing #caseymcquiston #netgalleyreview #foodie #bisexuality #romanticcomedy #contemporaryromance

Loved Theo and Kit’s dynamic and really made me want a european tour romance. The slow burn was slow burning and the emotions with each pov were literally oozing out of my screen. 4/5!

If you love to travel, if you are a foodie or a wine/drink connoisseur, of you've always wanted to indulge in travel, food, anything, everything or anyone, this story will delight you. Red, White, and Royal Blue was an amazing story, and I wanted a story that topped that. This is close. Much more evocative and intimate (trying to use words that won't get me flagged, lol)if you know what I mean. Casey brings us love in many different iterations, whether it is about food and wine "pairings" or lover "pairings." Beautifully descriptive of areas I just returned from (London & Paris) and countries I look forward to visiting like Spain and Italy. It is a story about finding yourself and being your best self and accepting the hand that wants to help you become that which you are meant to be.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC. I have read all of McQuiston’s books to date and was thrilled to receive this to review. Overall, it was a very readable story of an indulgent in all meanings of the word vacation. Definitely a lot of spice - I actually had to turn my kindle off while riding the Long Island railroad home because I was too embarrassed for my seat mates to look over my shoulder.

I would love to be a participant on this tour and I was rooting for Theo and Kit, but it did seem to run a bit long and repetitive to me with another hookup in every city. Overall a totally enjoyable read but I think I ultimately prefer One Last Stop or Red White and Royal Blue for the plots. That said, this is a great vacation read and people are going to love it.

4.5 stars! The Pairing was better than I was expecting and really had me rooting for the MCs to get together. Theo and Kitt were childhood best friends who ventured into a loving/sexually adventurous relationship in their early twenties. While on the way to Europe, they break up mid flight then don't see each other for 4 years. They accidentally meet up again on a European food tour they booked together years ago before the break up. The readers get to follow along on mending their friendship.

I love how the author took us on a journey through their relationship and how they changed since the break up. The details of the tour were fun and I loved the focus on food/drinks. I'm not a non-binary or bisexual expert but I think the author did a great job on handling the complexities with care.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I will forever and ever be a Casey McQuiston fan. This book, sadly, will be lowest in my rankings from them. The premise is fantastic. Two exes go on a wine and food tour of Europe four years after their split. I am here for the second-chance romance. What I'm not a fan of is the lack of communication about their real feelings and waiting so long to talk about what happened that fateful day 4 years ago. That being said, the sex positivity is great and I love the unapologetic queerness in the book. I do wish there wasn't as much hooking up with other people during the tour but that is most likely just a personal choice. I have a hard time wrapping my brain around "I love you but I'm going to go do this with them over there." The queerness, though, and the discussions around how they both changed was everything and the reason this book was saved for me. If you are a foodie, you will salivate at all the descriptions of their meals and snacks throughout their journey. It felt very European throughout, providing the best escape from my own couch here in the States. The personalities of all the characters on the tour were so much fun!

Overall, this wasn't a top read for me but I still enjoyed it and loved certain aspects. I will always be wanting the next Casey McQuiston. One of my favorite things about their books is how very different (and yet fantastic) each one is. I cannot wait to see what's next.

I am fully, truly, absolutely in love with this book.

what starts as 2 exes winding up on the same European food & wine tour turns into a hookup competition to see if they can *really* prove that they're over each other

& surprise - it gets really messy, really steamy, and really, really fun to read

some of my fav things:
🤍 Kit & Theo are so quirky, definitely flawed, & have amazing chemistry
🤍 the rep, yet again (thank you, Casey), is amazing with bi & non binary main characters
🤍 the dual POV is such a fun surprise - my jaw actually DROPPED when I got to the 2nd POV
🤍 the writing & descriptions of all the food & wine actually had me attempting to book a flight and recreate their trip because WOW
🤍 so much amazing self-discovery
🤍 2nd chance romance with SO much pining & a good dash of miscommunication (again, it's messy and they are flawed)

I was so excited to jump into this one. The synopsis had me excited for an adventure between exes that end up on the same European food and wine tour. I appreciated all of the travel content, I really felt like I was in these locations with them. But some parts were too detailed and made me lose interest, however I’m admittedly not much of a foodie. The story between Kit and Theo was complicated for me. I liked the premise but am not a fan of the miscommunication trope. This was also very spicy, maybe too much for me. I very much appreciated the topics discussed, I learned a lot. This might not have been the right time for me to read this or just not the book for me as it felt very long and I was ready for it to end. However, I liked the ending so I’m glad I stuck with it! Read this if you like travel, food/wine, and forced proximity with an ex. Overall, 3 stars. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for this eARC via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

First off I want to say, I love Casey McQuiston's books, and each of them has been a 5-star read for me. I was really disappointed I didn't love this as much as I wanted to. The side characters didn't feel as fleshed out as they normally do in their books which I missed in this one. Also, I'm not a "foodie" in any form, so all the food and drink descriptions dragged the book down for me, I just found myself wanting to skim over those parts. I think it picked up a lot in the second half with the switch to Kit's POV making me wish the POVs had alternated throughout the book. While this isn't my favorite book of theirs, I still enjoyed the ending, and I will be looking forward to their next book.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the digital arc of this book!

I love seeing bisexual main characters. I love seeing sex positive journeys. I love descriptions of Europe, particularly Italy. I like Casey McQuiston’s writing.

So why on earth didn’t The Pairing really work for me?

Probably because I couldn’t STAND Theo and was just ok with Kit. I like when MCs aren’t perfect and constantly sympathetic. But Theo’s abrasive personality really put me off, and I also didn’t understand why (no matter how much Kit waxed poetic) everyone she met wanted to hook up with her. It’s a shame because I don’t see a lot of bisexual representation or bisexual couples in books, but maybe I also need to branch out more. Their sex competition didn’t bother me because they weren’t actively trying to hurt anyone, but it was just so immature. And I can’t stand the lack of communication trope, especially considering in this case it lasted for 4 years!

I love food and culinary descriptions, and I get why there was a focus considering Theo and Kit’s careers, but it just started getting boring after a while. Their 2 week excursion felt like forever while reading it. I thought Good lord they’re still traveling?! towards the 75% point.

It was well written and there will be lots of people who love it, but it was just kind of a meh read for me.

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

I loved this book so much I went out and bought a special edition! Sexy and fun ride with really great characters. Highly recommend!

As an enthusiastic fan of Casey McQuinston’s Red, White & Royal Blue, I was eager to get my hands on The Pairing. This was, by far, my most anticipated book of 2024. However, I found myself sorely disappointed.

*The Pairing* is a second-chance romance novel following ex-lovers Theo Flowerday and Kit Fairfield through a chance encounter at the very same wine-and-dine vacation tour they missed four years prior.

The Romance:
I’ll be the first to admit I struggled reading this novel. The writing provided little reason to believe the main romance beyond an empty promise of past chemistry. As for the emotional beats expected of Romance genre fiction, they were tacky and misplaced. Neither character felt ready for a successful relationship and I couldn’t bring myself to ignore the significant red flags from both parties.

“Is that all this has been to them, with me? Self-destruction?
I don’t know what difference it would make if it was. Does it matter if Theo is fucking me to destroy themself, if I’m destroying myself to fuck Theo?”

In the end, I could not root for Theo and Kit and dreaded that they would give their relationship a second chance at all.


The Plot:
While the writing seemed to sacrifice romance for plot, there was no real conflict or drive to begin with. Between erotic material that made little attempt at a narrative, the constant barrage of food and wine descriptions, and a lack of emotional payoff, I had long stopped caring about the hook-up competition or the characters, and very little remained after that. By the time Kit’s POV brought a besotted freshness to the writing, I was beyond exhausted and soon, that too became frustrating.

*The Pairing* felt like a wonderful concept badly executed. Left and right, characters outside of Theo and Kit dropped everything for the tourists’ pleasure and needs. Outside of their convenience as attractive bodies to use, transport, or timely advice, the side characters seemed to exist for little else. For a select few, a scarce attempt was made at character development, but this came near the end of the novel. In a way, that accurately summarises many of the plot devices and developments—badly-timed—and perhaps the novel’s meandering pace would’ve benefitted from being shortened.

This rendition of a painfully Americanised Europe makes for good summer escapism. I was seeking something with a little more depth. A lot of research clearly went into the various settings; however, the overwhelming paragraphs of food and wine detail had me skimming more often than not.

In its celebration of hedonistic culture, this novel featured explicit content nestled in YA tropes, with grown adults whose behaviour seemed to conflict with their age. This wasn’t personally for me and I was somewhat expecting this read to be more mature.


Theo & Kit:
I must say, however, that my experience of this novel wasn’t all doom and gloom. If you can look beyond the lack of realism, there were certainly moments of charismatic humour and some brilliant prose and dialogue.

“Here, now, under a shower of sparks, he looks like just the person who would have missed me, the one who wouldn’t have left.
The truth is, I never stopped loving that person. I only stopped believing he existed.”

McQuinston’s expression of Theo's gender identity is masterfully planned and executed. Several craft decisions such as the order of Theo and Kit’s POVs and their stylistic choice of withholding Theo’s pronouns in the first half of the novel produced quite a profound effect.

When Kit’s POV—unaware of Theo’s nonbinary identity—addresses them incorrectly and leans toward feminine impressions of them, the deep wrongness felt as a reader was rather stark. I came to read this novel already aware of Theo’s gender identity. Beyond that head knowledge, it was something else to experience the discomfort of being misgendered and the deep satisfaction after Theo’s pronouns were corrected.

Outside of this, I found the characterisation of Theo and Kit to be flat. Theo’s nepo-baby complex irritated me throughout the novel and I did not see the purpose of it—the late 20s unease and guilt of accepting financial assistance could have been equally communicated without the odd sympathy for Theo’s voluntary poverty. As for Kit, his POV orbited wholly around Theo. It quickly dawned that Kit did not seem to exist without them; his hero-worship was either concerningly obsessed or shallow.


The Bottom Line:
On many occasions, I should have chosen to DNF this book; however much I wished otherwise, this read was not for me. The genuine characterisations and emotional arcs that I came to love from Red, White & Royal Blue were dearly missed and most of all, I finished this novel frustrated at not having come to know any of the characters.

On the other hand, there are definitely readers this novel will appeal to. I appreciate how well McQuinston’s fresh experimentation with writing form expressed Theo’s nonbinary identity.

For these reasons, I have rated *The Pairing* 1.3/5 stars, rounded down.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending this Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this ARC!

I tried so hard to finish this book. I picked it back up several times and just could not get into it. I found myself not caring about the characters. Maybe it was the old lovers coming back together that I didn’t care for but overall this book was not for me.