This book is a sexy romp through Italy, Spain and France full of delicious descriptions of decadent food and the drinks that can be paired with them. In McQuiston’s capable hands, it felt like I was traveling, eating and drinking along with the characters. I learned A LOT about wines, pastries and art and have added several tourist attractions that I’d like to visit some day. Casey Mcquiston wrote two of my all-time favorite books, Red White & Royal Blue and One Last Stop, so I had high expectations for this one. I give McQuiston kudos for writing something that felt so drastically different from those novels. I love how McQuiston writes a world that you want to live in where literally everyone is queer and/or accepting. The main characters and the supporting cast of characters are all vividly brought to life. I was just as invested in the main characters romance as the other people on the tour. And McQuiston is funny and a master of banter. I will definitely be reading whatever she writes next.

FYI the two bisexual main characters take their “body count”competition seriously so there’s multiple scenes where they’re having sex, making out or flirting w other people. In fact it seems like these two pick up literally everyone, to the point where it was kind of unbelievable. I started to lose interest a quarter of the way into this book when they were too busy making each other jealous, because it’s not really my jam when the focus is solely on sex, but eventually there’s a shift and we get back into their complex relationship and the growth both theses characters have gone through. It was well-written and having the European backdrop felt like the vacation I can’t afford, so thank you Casey McQuiston for letting us live vicariously through these characters. Unfortunately I’m more plot driven and my expectations for this book were too high. Did I end up enjoying most of it, yes, but it wasn’t nearly as good as Red White & Royal Blue or One Last Stop. I was disappointed but will still be reading Casey McQuiston. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

⚠️⚠️⚠️ WARNING: Do not read when hungry.

Thank you to NetGalley, Casey McQuiston, and St. Martin's Griffin for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review (Unpaid).

How do I describe this book in more than one word? It is simply art. Food and music and poetry and literature and film and wine and food (yes I know I said it twice) and nature and paintings and sculptures and the human body and carbs, so many carbs - art is infused in every single sentence - it consumed me. I underlined so many sentences to share with my best friend when this book releases because I need her to be consumed by this masterpiece as well.

On the craft of writing, I would like to applaud Casey McQuiston for their detailed descriptions of literally everything but also for being able to write two so similiar but also so utterly unique point of views in this novel. I was worried when it switched to Kit's pov, it would sound too similiar, but it DIDN'T. I was amazed really. On a similiar note: WHAT A FANTASTIC CAST OF CHARACTERS. So distinct, so easy to obsess over, so many beautiful faces and voices and minds to love.

The Pairing by Casey McQuistin

Pairs well with:
- Warm feelings
- Lost love
- Second chances

The amount of joy this book left me with absolutely makes me put this near the top of my favorite reads so far this year. Casey writes the most perfect love stories and their joy on the pages can be felt right in my own heart. The ending had my cheeks hurting from smiling so much. Adding this to Red, White, and Royal Blue for books that I can listen to on audio 1000 times and never get bored.

The food vibes and travel vibes are BEYOND dreamy in this book. I could barely focus because all I could think about was how I needed to travel to every place in the book. This was just written so beautifully. Some of the metaphors throughout the book gave me goosebumps. I personally was not a fan of the challenge between Theo and Kit, but that doesn’t over shadow any of the really amazing things about his book.

This was one of my most anticipated book of 2024 and to say I am disappointed is an understatement.
Kit and Theo are so insufferable especially Theo that it was so hard to have any connections or feelings towards either of them. All they cared about was sex which includes their sex competition. This is not the spice that I like as they just seemed like horny teenagers. I am not sure what type of story she was trying to get across but this just wasn't it.

Guess I will be returning my copy when it arrives

This book was...fine. I wanted to love it because I enjoyed both <i>Red, White, and Royal Blue</i> & <i>One Last Stop</i>. But it just fell short for me.

The positives - I like this author's writing style, and I like how the characters are flawed and slightly unlikeable. Makes them more realistic in my opinion. I also enjoyed all the travel, and the food/wine descriptions made me want to book an extended European vacation. I also typically enjoy the second-chance romance trope, and that was true here as well.

The less positive - While I liked the first half, I found the perspective shift in the middle of the book to be jarring, and it didn't work for me. I enjoyed Theo's character and voice in the first half more than Kit's in the second. I also found the second half of the book to be really predictable in a way that made me want to just hurry up and get to the end of it.

I don't regret reading it, and I'll continue to read this author's work. This just isn't their best, in my opinion.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Fun story! I love a good exes to lovers. Thought some of it seemed a bit too good to be true, but it was easy enough to overlook.

Casey McQuiston knows what she's doing. She writes in a manner that allows us to be so connected to fallible and perfectly imperfect characters. This was a beautiful queer story. Buckle down with this book and some great snacks!

Thank you to Casey McQuiston, St. Martin’s Griffin, and NetGalley for an ARC of The Pairing, one of my most anticipated books of the year! All opinions are my own.

4.5 rounded up. I’ve been sitting on this ARC for what feels like forever, and kept putting off starting it because then it would be over. But I’m so glad I finally decided to give it a shot because it really was such a beautiful book.

The entire book just felt so cinematic in every way. The food, the sights, the memories, the love were all so perfect and had me craving more. While at times I did feel like the food and drink descriptions were made for someone smarter or more worldly than I could hope for, overall the entire book made me desperate to leave everything to travel across Europe on a food tour.

McQuiston’s decision to split the book into two POVs, with each character having one half of the book, was absolute genius - instead of a full back and forth between POVs, I thought it was perfect getting to experience Theo’s thoughts and feelings about their breakup with Kit and reunion at the beginning of the book and living in their emotions fully before switching to Kit. It made Kit’s hidden yearning so much more powerful, in my opinion. I’m so glad to have had the opportunity to read this story💕

POV: dual first person

You can expect: exes to friends to lovers, second chance, pining, food tour, sommelier MC, pastry chef MC, forced proximity, only one bed, “it was always you”.

Rep: bisexual MCs, nonbinary MC, French-American MC

Spice: 2/5

Wow! I absolutely loved this romp through Europe with two bisexual disasters! It was so well-done that I didn't want it to end, but I also didn't want Theo and Kit to have to be apart any longer.

Highly recommend!

I can think of nothing worse than being stuck with an ex on a European food and wine tour--but, I mean, at least there's alcohol? Theo and Kit, two chaotic bisexual disasters, in order to survive the trip, challenge each other to a hookup competition because they're soooo over each other (spoiler alert; they're not). I really wanted to love this one, but it was just too horny for me. The Pairing has all of Casey's classic humor and heat, just turned up to a ten.

Also, to be fair, this probably colored my perception of the entire story--I'm demi. I have a hard time relating to/enjoying "hook up" scenes as compared to scenes where the characters already have an established connection. If you've loved McQuiston's other books AND love spicy spice, then The Pairing should be on your menu, I mean TBR in August.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my ARC.

I'm calling it: this is my favorite book of the year. Simultaneously devastatingly horny and achingly romantic, this romcom is full of intense yearning and lush food and drink descriptions. I couldn't put it down!

Had a hard time getting into this one. It got more interesting when the pair begin to have a competition, but ultimately it kind of fell flat for me.

📣 a second chance romance set during a freaking SUMPTUOUS feast of a European tour

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

📖 what’s a food & drink you think pair well together? I’ll say coffee & donuts (very high-brow tastes over here 😆).

I finished The Pairing by Casey McQuiston & was shocked TO MY MARROW that I wasn’t actually on a tour of France, Spain, & Italy.

This book takes you on such a luscious tour of food, drink, & sights that I felt like I was on a sexy, sexy vacation (that wasn’t always super relaxing given the second chance events going on 🤣).

Second chance. You know how I feel about you.

But The Pairing is hard to pin down when it comes down to an evaluation of how it’s carried out. The book is romantic & sexy & I adore how bone-deep supportive the leads are of each other. That kind of friendship is so special.

& yet, there’s an element of their journey on this trip that I found immature, & as another reviewer wrote, Theo & Kit’s journey is “messy.”

But underneath it all, & surrounding it all, is so much love & acceptance & adoration, not to mention such a well of appreciation for food, travel, & what humans have created, & all of it left me with this big feeling when I finished.

So do I have quibbles about this one? Yes, a bit. But also, I will be thinking about this book for a while. Casey McQuiston really did it big.

I think I’m at 5 ⭐️. Out 08/06.

Please a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.

[ID: Jess holds the ebook while wearing a purple & white striped dress & an aqua cardigan & standing in front of a yellow wall.]

The Pairing is a raw emotional journey that encapsulates bisexual and queer hookup culture, situationships and coming to terms with romantic feelings. Casey McQuiston stunned me with beautiful descriptions of Europe and the food in the tour. But overall, I was wowed the most by the gentle but thrilling relationship between Theo and Kit.

God, this book. Casey McQuiston can do no wrong. My favourite author has given me a new favourite.

I loved everything about this. The romance, the setting, the growth, the joy, the food. Even the sex was beautifully written and I’m someone who usually skims those parts.

What I love about McQuiston’s writing is how earnest and raw it is. You really feel every bit of what their characters are feeling. It’s all-encompassing, intoxicating, and they knock it out of the park every single time.

Theo and Kit are both so vibrant and messy and emotional and god, I adored them both. So much it’s difficult to put into words. I have very little in common with them - I’m aroace, I don’t drink, I’m broke af - and yet I felt such a connection with them anyway.

I particularly loved Theo’s coming out to Kit. The conversation about gender was such a small piece of this whole book, but it felt so relatable to me and my experience with gender.

This book NEEDS to be a movie. It’s so cinematic to read and it would make such a fantastic film.

*thank you to netgalley & publishers, for providing the digital ARC*

a sexy, fun, emotional, and heartwarming summer read! if you can't go on a trip to europe like everyone else, this book is a great substitute lol. it had really beautiful descriptions of landscapes and food, and did a wonderful job painting a picture of each stop along the tour.

theo and kit were such great characters and i found the perspective switch halfway through the novel to be really interesting. i think it worked really well, but part of me would have rather had dual pov throughout the book. there also were A LOT of side characters, which were fun! but most of them were easily forgettable/mentioned once and then brought up again 100 pages later and i was like 'who is this??'

overall, i thought it was a really fun summer read and a good read if you love a second-chance romance or best friends to lovers!

rating: 3.5/5 stars

“𝘿𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 […] 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙯𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙤 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙮, 𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚?”

As someone who has fond memories from her own European bus tour, loves food and wine/cocktails, and has some knowledge and appreciation for Renaissance art, I can say that I enjoyed this book. Did I “love” it? No. Do I see some problems and why other people might not enjoy it? Yes.

If you hate miscommunication, this probably isn’t a good book for you. If you hate when MCs hook up with other people, this is definitely not a book for you.

The premise is that Theo and Kit, best friends all their lives, and eventually a couple, had a major fight on their way to a European Food & Wine tour 4 years ago, causing them to break up. Now, 4 years later, they have both cashed in their tour vouchers before they expire, and find themselves on this tour together.

They also take part in a “hookup competition” because…well, because these are very horny people. 😝

I enjoyed the journey. I thought the way the book was laid out with their different POVs was effective. I thought Theo’s journey, in particular, was very good. And the ending was very sweet. Sometimes I felt the two MCs were frustrating, but still, overall, I found myself unable to put it down, and enjoyed myself while I was reading.

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

What this book is giving:
✅ Contemporary Queer Romance
✅ Second Chance
✅ Chaotic Bisexuals
✅ The Horniest European Food & Wine Tour
✅ Hookup Competition

Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5
🌶️🌶️🌶️½ / 5

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. A fantastic summer read that gets you itching to travel a bit. The beginning was a bit slow to really pull me into the story, but once I was locked in on the romance I was eager to keep reading. The perspective shift also threw me at first but I honestly think I ended up liking reading from Kit's perspective more! McQuiston has managed to do it again, another great romance.

Overall, I think this book was very good. It was the best for me but I still very much enjoyed it. I liked the plot and characters and it was a fun read