🦇 The Pairing Book Review 🦇

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

❓ #QOTD If you could travel anywhere for the summer, where would you go? ❓

🦇 Theo and Kit have been a lot of things: childhood best friends, crushes, in love, and now estranged exes. After a brutal breakup on the transatlantic flight to their dream European food and wine tour, they exited each other's lives once and for all. All that remains is the unused voucher for the European tour that never happened, good for 48 months after its original date and about to expire. It's not until they board the tour bus that they discover they've both accidentally had the exact same idea, and now they're trapped with each other for three weeks of stunning views, luscious flavors, and the most romantic cities of France, Spain, and Italy. Will it be too much, or a reminder that a small taste can make you crave what you can't have?

💜 Pairs well with: healing hearts long bottled up but aged well, a decadent glass of light-bodied wine with hints of cherry (memories of sweet syrup spilling down warm wrists on a hot summer's day), and a lover's kiss (their taste stained against your lips). I don't know what I was thinking, reading I Kissed Shara Wheeler, Red, White, & Royal Blue, then The Pairing all back to back in a rushed, heart-aching CMQ marathon for Pride Month, but WOAH does my heart hurt. The Pairing is the perfect rom-com summer read. This story will whisk you away on a tour of Europe, inviting you to feast on local cuisine until adjectives tantalize and taunt your tastebuds, soothing you like a rich glass of red (smooth and velvety, bursting with flavors of ripe plum, black cherry, and toasted cedar, sparking unfamiliar memories). If you adored Red, White, and Royal Blue (namely, the queer references and quotes pulled from history), the exploration of Europe's never-ending artistry and ageless anecdotes will no doubt tug at your heartstrings. Nevermind the detailed descriptors, the pristine explorations of pastries, pasta, wine, and wonder. Let's talk about Kit and Theo.

💜 CMQ does an outstanding job at Show, Don't Tell throughout the entire novel. Too often, there's a moment in second-chance romances, a piece of the past that broke a meant-to-be couple apart, that SO many novels reveal all too quickly. CMQ doesn't hinge the entire story on that reveal, nor is it unveiled too soon. Instead, we're given the chance to understand Theo and Kit's points of view, not about that ONE defining moment, but about everything; how they came to be, what their lives were becoming, the lost possibility. These two characters feel SO much, but those emotions are never defined with clear-cut words, forcing readers to accept those feelings. Emotions aren't so cut and dry, nor singular; they're a tangle, a messy knot of hurt and longing, love and betrayal. Instead, we experience them through glimpses of the past and present. We heal alongside them. I'm grateful the story focused on Theo's POV first, THEN switched to Kit's during a pivotal moment of their present. We experience Theo's still raw pain and self-doubt before delving into Theo's everlasting love and regret.

💜 I just, I CAN'T. I didn't last a single chapter without making a mess of annotations. I've lived a friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-back-to-lovers, second-chance romance. I know that feeling of one person being your everything, regardless of time and distance. CMQ captures it fully.

💙 My only hang-up: this story relies on the miscommunication trope to survive, not only in the present, but the past that broke Theo and Kit apart in the first place. The execution is flawless, though, giving it realistic reasoning instead of simply using it as a plot piece. I'd also like to point out that the description you read online, regarding the hookup competition, is hardly the story's real focus. It's like the garnish for an already sublime cocktail. You can do without.

🦇 Recommended for fans of Jandy Nelson, 13 Little Blue Envelopes, and all things CMQ.

✨ The Vibes ✨
🍷 Bi4Bi
🥐 Queer Romance
🍷 Europe Tour
🥐 Second Chance Romance
🍷 Friends to Lovers to Enemies to Lovers
🥐 Dual POV
🍷 Food, Wine, History, Art, Culture

🦇 Major thanks to the author and publisher for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. #ThePairing

XM
Bi rep
Miscommunication
Food/drink descriptions for days
Second chance romance

Rating: 3.5/5 - I enjoyed this book but it probably isn't one I will reread
🌶️: 3.5/5 - there were a handful of explicit intimate scenes and they were steamy

TLDR: The food descriptions and humor make the miscommunication worth it.

This book was long! Do I think it needed to be this long? No. Was it a slog to get through? Also no. I noticed the length but didn't really object. The book kept the pacing fairly well but I think you should be prepared. There is a fun style choice made by the author that I don't want to spoil but really enjoyed. This book is full of food and drink descriptions. I am finding that I love this in a book. I enjoyed this book despite the miscommunication. I normally can't stand a miscommunication troupe but I was prepared for it based on the description of the book and didn't fight it. You as the reader definitely saw where the MCs were going to end up long before the characters did but it was still a nice ride. Casey McQuiston has a wonderful voice that I really enjoy reading. The author's turn of phrase had me smiling throughout the book.

OK, so. CMQ hit it out of the park on this one. It's bright and delicious. It's giving bisexual Europe yearning. Two ex's, both guilty of bad breakup communication, end up on a European food and wine tour together. It's got a long arc: friends to lovers to enemies to friends to competitors to lovers. There are multiple narrators. The reader is dragged right into that yearning and self-discovery, alongside each sweaty encounter. The passages about food and wine will devour you, and the sexy moments will too. You're going to want to read this book with good snacks nearby because it is going to leave you hungry.

Thanks to the publisher for a free advance copy of this book. My opinions are entirely my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for an advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Theo and Kit were best friends. Than they were together. On their way to a European tour, they broke up. Four years later, they're both going on the tour they never got to do, not expecting that the other is planning to do the same thing.

Friends to lovers to enemies to friends to lovers, and what a ride. McQuiston captured so much personality in these characters, and so many food and drink descriptions (seriously, they have me questioning why I've yet to visit Italy and France). I didn't totally love their journey, but the side characters added a lot to the story, and I loved how normalized it was to have a multitude of queer characters. Here for it!

CW: mentions death of a parent, sexual content

This was a second chance romance that I actually liked.

Theo and Kit were childhood friends turned into a couple. They broke up on the way to a food/wine tour.

A few years later they both go on the tour not realizing they’ll each be there. They must grapple with their feelings for each other.

I really enjoyed seeing how Theo and Kit decide to compete with each other. And seeing how they interacted with other people throughout the tour.

This book made me so incredibly hungry and made me want to book a food/wine tour through Europe.

I would definitely recommend. .

oh my GOD I loved this book. Theo and Kit were childhood best friends until they discovered they both wanted to be more. Then, 4 years ago, on the way to a European food and wine tour, they broke up. Now they realize they've both joined the same tour again. The only solution? To have a who-can-have-sex-with-the-most-people competition. Definitely not because of all the sexual tension between them, nope. This book was a delight. The visual descriptions and the food descriptions were lush and the pining was gloriously intense. Like Red, White & Royal Blue, this book is an ideal, optimistic world, but this book is more mature at the same time. Incredible.

This was a difficult storyline for me to get through… I considered giving up several times but I stuck with it hoping it would get better (spoiler alert… it never did). I’m sad about this because I’ve been a fan of most of McQuiston’s previous releases, though I struggled with One Last Stop also, though nothing like this. RW&RB is one of my faves ever, but they let me down this time… and I was so looking forward to this new release!

Theo (Theodora) and Kit were bffs in grade school, eventually leading to being in a relationship. They’re both bi, but being together just fit. After graduation they took a big trip to Europe together, but a big fight about their future on the plane ended it and Theo flew home while Kit took a train to Paris (he had been born there and his family was there), to begin his future. Four years later, they both decided to use the tour voucher they received from the company before it expired and wound up together on the same trip.

They end up having a contest to beat each other with how many people each can sleep with as they travel through Europe - kind of disgusting, when they both clearly still have unresolved feelings for each other, and the storyline is clearly heading to a resolution of their relationship. Theo also has something major she needs to tell Kit so the reader is guessing about this the whole way.

If this wasn’t an ARC, I would have DNF around 50%. I barely struggled through to the end, and it was mostly skimming the last half. The storyline was truly not good. It was just bad. I’m sorry for those that enjoy it - they are normally a great author! I see there are plenty of other reviewers of the same opinion…

I received an advance copy from NetGalley, St. Martin's Press (St. Martin's Griffin), and this is my honest opinion and feedback.

The Pairing is delicious, intoxicating, and sexy, a beautiful read from start to finish that you'll never want to put down. Hands down CMQs best book yet!

I loved the first half of this book, I was engaged, I enjoyed Theo's POV, the chaos, the yearning, the way they interacted with other people, the way they talked about wine and the dynamic they had within their family, among other things, I just loved Theo.

But then we switch to Kits POV halfway through the book and it was so jarring. First I was confused bc I thought Theo was nonbianry, so why is Kit using the wrong pronouns? Then we find out why, okay, weird way to tell us, why not make it dual POV from the start?

It felt like halfway through the book we were thrown into a different storyline and for me the book never truly recovered. I felt like Kits whole personality was telling us that he would blow up his life for Theo, Theo is ruining him in the best way, he would die for Theo, oh and he hates his job. Other wise Kit doesn't have much of a personality.


I usually love Casey McQuinstons books, but this one is just meh. Dual POV throughout may have saved it, but idk. Anyway thank you for the ARC!

Casey McQuiston has never written a book that I haven’t loved. This book made me ache in the most beautiful way. The way that the main characters truly loved each other but were so afraid of that love - it was perfection. I will say, overall, I preferred the second half of the book to the first. Kit’s point of view just resonated a little more with me. But I loved the love story. I was also very much drawn in by all the descriptions of food and wine. It made me want to go on my own European adventure!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

This book is, as so many people note, extremely horny. In a world where the “doors” in trad published romance feel like they are trending more and more toward closed, this is a good thing. Add on the rise in book banning in America and the fact that this is a traditionally published queer romance about two people who unapologetically like sex? It’s more than a good thing. It’s an important thing. If you are uncomfortable with it, I think it says more about you than the book, so maybe sit with your discomfort for a min.

If you are a traditional romance reader, this book breaks a romance rule, but I think McQuinston does it well and that it makes sense for the characters. The dialogue is sparkling, as it always is in a Casey McQuinston novel, they have truly top notch banter skills. The yearning is also next level. However, while I was glad to have gotten the dual POV, the shift from all Theo to all Kit didn’t work as well for me. I think McQuinston was separating the POVs to provide for a greater unveiling of the miscommunication between the two characters, but I think the unveiling still could have occurred by degrees and the desperate yearning still could’ve been there, or even better mixed in had the POVs been more regularly alternating.

If this book doesn’t make you lust after good food, wine, and travel, you must already have those things, but for me it’s as close as I’m getting to a European vacation this year, so I’ll take it. I will however be perpetually jealous of the trip I imagine Casey McQuinston took in the name of research. Good for them, get that tax write off.

I will be withholding my review of this book in solidarity with the St. Martin's Press boycott.

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin

I began this book but could not get through it. It was sad, because I usually like this author’s books, but I felt like this one was a stretch for her.

Let me start this by saying Casey McQuiston is one of my all time favorite authors and I will read ANYTHING they write. Which makes this even more difficult when I say...I did not love this book. I went into this expecting to fall in love with these bisexual foodie exes and I just didn't. Theo was borderline insufferable with their constant inability to acknowledge their privilege. Kit was more likable and I did enjoy when the POV switched but it became so repetitive that I found myself bored. It didn't show me the usual banter and wit that I normally LOVE in McQuiston's other books. The food and alcohol in such vivid detail was exciting for a while, but slowly became distracting from the main plot. I just really struggled to root for these character to even be together. I really wish I had enjoyed this more than I did.

2.5/5 rounded up to 3

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first time reading a McQuiston book, though her other works have been very popular. I really liked The Pairing! I deducted a star because the endless details of their travel, tourism, scenery, and foods got tedious and I ended up skimming a lot of those. The book's description "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" is a bit misleading in that it trivializes Kit and Theo's journey towards reconciliation. Their competition is only a small part of the novel. The first 40% of the book is a bit slow in a boring way, and the remaining book is still a bit slow but in more of a slow burn tension where you just want to savor the characters and the journey. Both characters are flawed, complex, and quirky. You can't help but like them and root for them.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advanced copy of this novel via NetGalley.

I found the first half a little slow, but then things got much more spicy and more interesting. Overall, worth the read.

what a great summer romance!! the entire time i was reading, i was like i wish i was in europe right now sitting outside at a cafe reading. casey mcquiston does it again!!

Theo and Kit grew up together, totally in love with each other, but never knowing how the other felt. Eventually they figured it out, for a while anyway, until a fight on a plane over the Atlantic before they ever got to their European tasting tour. Four years later, they are on that tour together and learning all the ways they still love each other while watching each other fall in and out of bed with beautiful people in each new city, and still not truly knowing how the other feels.

This is the book I was looking for when I went to Italy. Immersive and rich in detail, excellent characters, and many steamy scenes make this a tasty summer read.

I was provided a complimentary arc via NetGalley by St Martins Press.

The profound queerness of this romance is only one of the reasons it's so spectacularly good.

For me, as for so many people, I enjoy romance because of the tropes - I know where a book is going, I know I don't have to stress about the ending, so I can enjoy how we get there.

This book has one of the most spectacularly hedonistic premises - pleasures of food, wine, companions, gorgeous scenery - and also manages to throw in nearly every trope you can think of and still make them funny and interesting.

But back to my original point - this isn't a romance that has gayness painted on top of a heterosexual plot. So much of it is profoundly queer, including the sex, which is steamy and delightful.

One of the best books I read this year. Highly recommend! By far the best book McQuiston has written.

I genuinely enjoyed this book, but I do think it's going to be incredibly polarizing- especially if you're familiar with McQuiston's other works. You're either going to find it pretentious, or you're going to love getting lost in the details and the yearning.

There is an abundance of detail in this book, which I feel is important to know going in. McQuiston takes the time to painstakingly describe the tour at each stop along the way, from the places they go to the monuments they see to the food they eat. It's rich and often immersive (I spent so much of this book hungry, oh my god), but a lot of it is cumbersome and unnecessary. I got the feeling McQuiston was aiming to paint a picture exactly as they wanted it to be shown in case it's ever translated to a visual medium. As a writer myself, I get that, but it felt excessive. 40% of the details could have been taken out and the rest would have been sufficient. My advice going into this book is to not get hung up on a lot of the descriptions, because you won't remember a lot of them. The goal is to create atmosphere. Lean into the fun, delicious, artistic, vacation-y vibes the descriptions create and don't overthink it.

Kit and Theo are as fun as they are frustrating, but where they shine the most is in their enthusiasm. They are the most themselves when they lean into the things that make them happy, the things they're good at and know a lot about and want to share with the world. It's this enthusiasm that they love them most in one another- mirror images reflecting in the best sense. The first half of the book is in Theo's POV, whereas the second half of the book is in Kit's POV. This sort of works in places (keeps some of the mystery alive in a way I'm not sure was super necessary), but some of the emotional punches toward the end of the book get a little undercut because the build is paced a little oddly. I think alternating POVs might have served McQuiston a little better here if only to layer the emotional build better and have a stronger impact at the end.

That being said, I did feel like I got sucker-punched in the chest toward the end, because I was constantly stopping to write down lines that got me (and once very nearly cried). Exes to lovers is easily in my top three favorite tropes of all time, so I was always bound to love this book based on that alone. Kit and Theo's love feels genuine, and I found myself rooting for them right up to the very end.

A couple of side notes:
1) Theo's nepo-baby complex really did not get the development it deserved in the back half because of this POV switch-up, which was a little disappointing.
2) This book is far less about the international hook-up competition than I think the synopsis prepares you for, but in my opinion that's a good thing. The focus is ultimately on working its way toward Kit and Theo being friends again, first, and potentially exploring the possibility of reconciliation, second.
3) The cast of secondary characters is delightful, if a little under-developed.
4) Casey, the waterboarding joke wasn't funny the first time; it's time to let it go.

[NetGalley was kind enough to provide me with an ARC for this title.]

Page references for some of my favorite lines:
285: "peace"
301: "he wanted to join her forever to history"
314: "even the parts you don't think you deserve"
317: "I never stopped"
347: "The only thing I'd regret more"
348: "with all the momentum of twenty years and a hundred thousand miles"