The Pairing follows two childhood best friends become exes as they both take the food tour they were meant to take together, years after they had last spoken. Theo and Kit are both compelling characters. I really enjoyed the main pair having a deep history, but now coming together after years apart where they have grown separately. Seeing how the two navigated relearning the other and finding connection through a hookup competition, all while trying to deny any remaining feelings was fun.

Readers who enjoy books with the below vibes will connect with The Pairing!:
-Second Chance Romance (childhood friends)
-Mutual Pining
-Forced Proximity
-Escapist European travel
-Books heavy on food and wine
-Found Family
-Open door spice
-Queer Representation

I listened to my complimentary audiobook of this one, and while I was swept away by the sights, smells, and tastes of a European vacation, I just never fell in love with Theo and Kip as a romantic couple. I also just felt like the book was heavily grounded in miscommunication and them hooking up with everyone but each other which frustrated me. Is it realistic and messy?? Yes. But maybe I wanted a little more heart to help me root for them. It is still a well-written romance that will absolutely delight readers, it just wasn't up to my RWRB standards.

Childhood sweethearts to exes in a forced proximity vacation? SIGN ME UP.

Casey McQuiston never fails to make me fall in love with her characters - this was such a fun set up, and a truly heartwarming story of love and growth - any fan of hers, and any fan of the romcom genre will love this one!

This was my least favorite Casey McQuiston book but it was still good overall, I think the book came off sort of “high brow” and not as interesting because of the setting and background of the MMCs.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this free ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: August 6, 2024

I tried to save this to read during my own food and wine tour through France+Italy later this summer but resistance is futile. I was desperate to devour this once I cracked it open but forced myself to savor it. This book is gratuitously indulgent in all 3 of its focuses—food, wine, and sex. It is unabashedly queer and slutty…a proper romp through Europe!

This may have some clutching their pearls, and it wasn’t without issue…but if you’re an American who stereotypically romanticizes eating and drinking your way through Europe, this is a delight!

I’ve been a big fan of Casey McQuiston’s work since I first read Red, White, and Royal Blue. I love how different each of the stories of their books are, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed each one. The Pairing has McQuiston’s signature wit and charm, but with a European backdrop.

Throughout The Pairing, Theo and Kit visit some dreamy cities in Europe. They go to Paris, Piza, Rome, Nice, Barcelona, and many more. In each location, the delicious food they eat is thoroughly described. I definitely wanted to join them in the pizza, pasta, and pastries they eat throughout the book. I had a hard time containing my wanderlust while reading about all of the sights and meals they were enjoying.

I love a good second chance romance. Theo and Kit were in a relationship for years, and they were friends for years before that. From the beginning of the novel, it’s clear how much they care about one another. In fact, it felt like it took too long for the two of them to admit they still had feelings for one another. In their narration, Theo and Kit both talk about how much they love the other, but they still pursue hookups with other people for much of the novel.

Dual point of view is another one of my favorite things in romance novels. I enjoy getting into the mind of both of the protagonists in a book, and I also love the dramatic irony it creates. I was suprised when The Pairing switched from Theo to Kit’s point of view, but the change was certainly positive. Kit is more likable and compelling than Theo, which made his perspective a pleasure to read.

About halfway through the book, Theo tells Kit that they identify as non-binary. Of course, Kit immediately accepts them for who they are, and he makes sure that he is using Theo’s correct pronouns. Non-binary representation, especially in romance novels, is so important, and I was so glad to see it here. Not that I would have expected anything different from Kit, but the way he handles Theo coming out also sets a great example.

Red, White, and Royal Blue and One Last Stop, two of McQuiston’s other books feature friends and friend groups very prominently. While Theo has a close relationship with their sister, Sloane, the reader doesn’t really get much information about her. The reader does get some information about the tour guide, Fabrizio, and other people on the tour like the Calums, but there is still a distance there.

The Pairing is not my favorite of McQuiston’s books, but it is a fun and perfect summer read. It’ll have you immediately wanting to hop on a plane to Europe to enjoy a pastry. It is a book that I will certainly return to in the future, and it had me wanting to revisit McQuiston’s other books.

This is McQuiston's best book to date. Not only is it a feast for the senses, it's a beautiful journey of self-discovery for the main characters. The dual POV is lovingly executed in a way that truly brings extra meaning to the story--one that relies initially on miscommunication and assumptions between two people who have become too codependent to trust themselves or each other any longer.

It's clear that the author loved researching and writing this book, and it stands above some of the other entries into the current trend in romance centering on foodie millenials translating lessons from the line to their lives. The backdrop of a luxurious European tour through some of the finest dining experiences available could have been trite, but McQuiston blended character growth with each delicious bite and sip. The ensemble tour group weaves in and out of the foreground, some truly becoming fully-fleshed out secondary cast in unexpected but completely natural ways.

This particular book has the added bonus of queer characters who will (and do) lust after anyone they meet. The sexy competition that develops between them is more than just a trope, it adds to the development of both plot and character. As Kit and Theo turn on the charm, readers are challenged to resist their individual perspectives of the world, the characters within it, and where everything really went wrong between them.

Personally, I devoured the Pairing as soon as it downloaded on my tablet, and I can't wait to dine upon the details again once I've got a physical copy in my terribly uncultured hands. Can't wait to see what's next from CMQ and crew!

3.5 Stars

There were a lot of things that I liked about this book, like the amazing european vibes as well as the bomb found family energy that Casey is so amazing at writing, but there were also a lot of aspects that I was not a big fan of. I historically hate the miscommunication trope, and the reason for the book couple’s original breakup heavily featured that. I also think that while the couple had amazing sexual chemistry, I did not get too much romantic chemistry vibes from them.

I'm a big of Casey McQuiston, but I sort of hated The Pairing. It's vibe heavy, which is fantastic, but so ridiculously cliched, I just didn't like this

Fantastic vibes (although stereotypical at times when it came to the european descriptors) for a summer read but unfortunately for me most of my positives remain in the setting. I struggled with the writing style of the communication between our two main characters, especially when major plot points continued to revolve around miscommunications.
I also kept feeling a sense of unrealistic side characters, though I was willing to suspend my disbelief to enjoy a few absurd moments and have fun with them.

I love food, I cook semi-seriously, I love travel, and at least some of the time I swoon happily over second-chance romances, the uglier the breakup and the more mutual the pining the better. Also, Casey McQuiston is very funny and I have a deep personal vendetta against sexual shame.

The Pairing, which is a second-chance romance with all the fixings cited above, including a whole lot of sex with sexy third, fourth, and fifth (etc.) parties, and which is set on a food and wine tour of Europe, should really have suited me down to the ground. So it did, until the endless details of wine flavors and aromas, and perfect patisserie, and meals comprising the finest and freshest and most superbly combined ingredients suddenly got to be too much. CMcQ seems to have lost focus on their characters and the growth/collapse/growth of their relationship, in favor of showing off their -- the characters' and the author's -- expertise. It got boring, just the way someone monologuing, on any subject, gets boring, and then gets more boring, and then more boring still, until all you want is to escape.

2.5 stars rounded up because I couldn't quite bring myself to round down.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC. It will be apparent that this is my honest opinion.

I am a huge fan of Casey McQuiston’s One Last Stop and I Kissed Shara Wheeler. Red White and Royal Blue was good too (but not great). The Pairing was one of my most anticipated reads this year, and I checked Netgalley frequently to request it as early as possible. Unfortunately, this one really let me down. I just really did not enjoy it. I hated all the cliche stereotypes, the excessive hooking up and the lack of chemistry. It just made me so sad.

This book is utterly indulgent. I spent six straight hours on the couch devouring it. I’m already planning for a slower re-read so I can savor each page. This book felt different from McQuinston’s earlier novels. They treat Theo and Kit with such reverence; the two characters are truly the heart and soul of this novel. McQuinston is known for dynamic casts of characters and side characters that leap off the page. This book deviated from that, focusing whole-heartedly on Theo and Kit. I still fell in love with some of the side characters (Fabrizio, my heart), but they were not as fully developed. I found this to be very intentional. In a crowded bar, Kit describes seeing Theo with a quote from Ms. Dalloway, “All this was only a background for Sally.” He says, “To me, Theo is the eternal foreground.” Theo and Kit are the eternal foreground of The Pairing. Everything, from the homoerotic relationship between the Calums to the hypersexual Italian artwork feel meant to deepen the reader’s understanding of Theo and Kit and their relationship. The scene where Kit sees himself and Theo in The Birth of Venus was beautiful. The descriptions of food and art and sex never disappointed. I simply cannot wait to read this book again.

This is my second book by this author and they do not disappoint when it comes to their main characters. I absolutely loved and hated both of them. They are the definition of chaotic bisexuals. Kit is so Timothée Chalamet-coded it’s insane, in a good way. Theo I’d punch from time to time. The book felt very Call Me By Your Name in its aesthetics. It is a story set in Europe around a food and wine tour so the descriptions on these are heavy. At a point it felt like too much google-research and I found myself skimming over some paragraphs.

The story itself is very focused on sex, the main characters are exes and the whole plot premise is a hook-up competition to ease the tension. So I’d say the spice levels are high for this book. I am also not a fan of the miscommunication trope so that part frustrated me. Overall, the book was thoroughly enjoyable although it could’ve been significantly shorter.

Also, random thought, but if i had a nickel for every time the phrase “up to my nips” is said in this book i’d have 3 nickels, which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened more than once.

Also also, Theo and Kit, not lesbians as i thought this was before starting to read.

I love the premise of this book, I wish we got more flashbacks of Kit and Theo when they were younger. I found them both to be lovable characters. You can tell the author put a lot of work into researching and the food/drink sounds delicious I want to taste them myself. I loved how both characters were unapologetically bisexual. CMQ writes the best queer books but unfortunately I did not enjoy this one as much as their other books.
I gave this book 3.5/5 stars

Four years after BFFs turned lovers Kit and Theo abruptly broke up on their way to a food and wine tour through Europe, they separately decide to return to the scene of the crime for trip before their vouchers expire—unbeknownst to the other until Theo quite literally falls into Kit's lap on the tour bus. The duo decide to put aside their differences for the tour and soon find themselves in a bet over who can hook up with the most people during their travels through France, Spain and Italy, and find their spark hasn't fully gone out. Told from both points of view, the book delves into each of their perspectives throughout their romance and the breakup and the miscommunication that left them not speaking for four years.

At times I struggled with Theo's character and specifically how they got in their own way both in love and life—I almost wish Casey had fully committed to unpacking the Nepo Baby situation as it played heavily in the character but never fully got delved into because it lent to a *massive* chip on their shoulder. And while I did enjoy a lot from Theo's POV I generally favored the storytelling from Kit's perspective. But overall it was a poignant story about lost love and second chances.

What happens when you and your ex accidentally book the same European food tour? You make a competition for who can sleep with the most people, obviously.

I know this is a bold statement, but I think this is my favorite CMQ book so far??? It's by far the sluttiest, and honestly that's what I want in a summer read. The Pairing is so incredibly indulgent and makes me want to spend months on end in Europe in the summer. The bi4bi childhood friends to lovers to exes to friends to ??? just really hits different with the bonus of them eating and drinking like there's no tomorrow.

The addition of the food and drink pairings (ha) at the beginning of each chapter is honeslty so genius and makes me wanna reread the book while eating all of the listed food and drinks. I think that'd be so fun!

As with all of CMQ's books, the side characters are the perfect compliment to the main story line and make me feel like I can truly transport myself into the book. The relationships feel so authentic and honestly make me want to keep reading so I can know what happens to them, too.

Overall such an incredibly slutty fantastic book and I hope everyone reads it!! 5/5 stars.

Casey mcquiston is one of the biggest names in queer fiction at the moment, and wrote one of my favorite books of all time. This however missed the mark for me. I didn’t thoroughly enjoy either character so it was hard to root for their relationship

Sigh. This one is hard. I LOVED her other books so I was so excited to get an ARC of this one. Sadly, this did not live up to my previous experiences. The second half was better for me when it switched to Kit’s POV, but marginally. What I did like was all the descriptions of the food and wine and the different locations in Europe where they visited. That made me want to go to all those places right now! I just didn’t like how the characters were written and didn’t really feel their connection. The sex bet was pretty cringey to me as well. I did enjoy the ending, but some of the journey there was rough. Again, I have loved we books in the past and will read what is to come, this one just didn’t hit the mark for me. But I know this will connect with a certain audience. That audience just isn’t me.

I've waffled for a couple of days now on my review since finishing The Pairing by Casey McQuiston. I was highly anticipating this one ever since reading the synopsis several months ago! I was (and still am) delighted to have received the opportunity to read to this one in advance of its August release.

I dove into this one and loved it right off the hop. Two bisexual exes, Kit and Theo, who broke up explosively four years prior find themselves booked on the same European food/wine tour. They haven't seen and/or spoken to each other since the day the broke up, and after navigating the awkwardness of their relationship status, end up starting a competition with each other to see who can hook up with the most people as they travel through Europe. Sounds kind of fun?

The first half of the book WAS fun, but when I felt like the conclusion was on the horizon, I realized that the SECOND HALF of the book was just beginning. And then from that point on, it just felt long, and drawn out. The second half also was quite heavy on the graphic sex, although I can't fault the author for that because I literally signed up for a book based on two characters daring one another to see who could have the most sex, and who have a history of a very open sexual relationship themselves.

I still adore Kit and Theo, and I adore their respect and consideration for one another. It was quite refreshing to read a story where the two characters' feelings for one another are raw, unapologetic and tender.

I just think the entire story could have been 150 pages shorter. And after a while, the abundance of hot bisexual supporting characters waiting at the ready to have sex, well... It felt redundant.

Despite my mixed feelings, I think The Pairing has a lot to offer-- it was refreshing, and McQuiston has done such a fabulous job describing the food and drink on the tour, that I spent the better half of the book jealous that I was not sampling the same food that Kit and Theo were.

3.5⭐