The Pairing starts off very New Adult with a dramatic flair around how these ex-lovers come back together and why they broke up in the first place, with the backdrop of a grand European tour, and then turns into this queer, culinarily indulgent and hedonistic romp. Along the way the two MCs' stories and romantic feelings unfold.

I go back and forth on this book. In parts I loved this book, and in other parts I couldn't wait for the two MCs to realize what was happening and just get on with it. It felt like it could use a heavier editing hand and at the 65% mark I was like, "how on earth are we going to fill another 35%??"

I think this book will benefit from a great audiobook narrator; when I read One Last Stop on audio, I felt strongly that it worked in that format for me in a way that it wouldn't have in print.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for “The Pairing” by Casey McQuinston.

I couldn’t put this book down! It’s a lovely summer read full of European food and wine, friendship, and steamy scenes. The book is amazing in portraying queer sexuality and love as it includes trans and gender non-conforming people. I absolutely adore Casey McQuiston’s writing and this one didn’t disappoint. Amazing read!

As I put this book down I am at a loss of how to even put into words the beauty that is this story. I feel like I was right along side them as they navigated each obstacle in their way, even if it was themselves. The descriptions of the food, sights, and sex had mouthwatering. Casey McQuiston has found a way to make a story an immersive experience that I never wanted to leave but couldn’t put down.

This is a love story for anyone who has ever felt that their partner isn’t a missing puzzle piece but rather a compliment to what they bring to the relationship.

I am IN LOVE with this book! I finished it and immediately wanted to start it again. My wife and I read it together and WOW it was an incredible read. The characters are so relatable and loveable, we both saw parts of ourselves in both main characters. The story is inspiring - we were immediately wishing we could go on a food and wine tour through Europe - and my wife doesn't even like wine! Casey McQuiston has a knack for bringing you into the story and making you feel like you are a part of their world.

This is the book to read if you love books about food and wine. Each stop on the tour, the author talks so vividly about all the flavor notes in the wines and what ingredients go into the food. This book is about friendship, about love, about not giving up on someone, and sometimes no matter what happens or how much time goes by, some people are just meant to be.

Thanks Netgalley for the advanced ebook!

It didn't suck me in as much as other Casey work. However you will like it if you enjoy

Second chance romance
Bi rep
Wine
Food
Frolicking around Europe

A horny little European food and wine tour. If you're a fan of Under the Tuscan Sun, or Eat, Pray, Love you'll probably love this queer love story. This book will make you want to eat all the pastries, drink all the wine, and love wholeheartedly and if that sounds like a good thing to you then definitely read this book.

I really really wanted to like this but man did it drag on for way too long. I think it could 100 pages shorter and we still would've gotten the same story. The chapters were broken up by city and that's it, so that made everything feel excessively long. If it would have been broken down a bit more, I think it would have been a bit more successful in the pacing. It started to feel repetitive and I found myself zoning out at times. This is a second chance romance but you get pretty much no flashbacks or anything to help you see how they fell in love and got where they are now. It's also one huge miscommunication trope, which I also do not usually enjoy. I know a lot of people will love this one, I just don't think it was the perfect book for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Casey McQuiston is BACK with an extremely sexy summer romp through Europe, which seems like something they were simply born to write. CMQ really hasn't disappointed me so far, and THE PARIING is no exception. Warning: do not read this book if you are hungry, or pregnant, like I am, and can't run to Whole Foods and stock up on fancy meats and cheeses and wines to eat like the characters do in this book!

Quick premise -- Theo and Kit were childhood best friends, both harboring secret massive crushes on each other. It isn't until after college that they finally get together, but quickly break up over some classic rom com miscommunication. Cut to a few years later, and they end up on the same food tour of Europe that they were supposed to go on years ago. But, of course, neither of them realize they booked the same tour.

It's a perfect set up for a sexy time, and as we slowly realize these two are meant to be together, CMQ does a fantastic job of also convincing us why they should be apart. Heads up = it gets VERY sexy. A hard R! Unexpected but steamy. It is also so great to read a rom com about two bisexuals, including one non-binary person. I don't think I've come across that in a romance yet and I found it very eye-opening. There is a LOT of food and wine talk, which I started to skim past eventually (hence the only 4 star rating) but over all I had fun reading this book and it was a great escape. I can't wait to hear what everyone else thinks!

Is there every a Casey McQuiston book that doesn't slap? This one, though, is really a different creature from their others. This book is unapologetically hungry, dripping with desire and rich sensory detail. I fell in love with the way McQuiston described the stunning landscapes of southern Europe but most of all, how the food was a character in and of itself. Oh! To be on this tour with Kit and Theo, if not for the sexy eye candy of each other and the beautiful Europeans surrounding them, but the food -- definitely for the food. If this trip existed, I would take it in a heartbeat.

But most importantly, this book is about queer sexuality and love. I mentioned in another book review how queer romance authors are still catching up with how to portray trans and gender nonconforming people on the page and in sex scenes, and they are all getting better and better at it. What McQuiston does in this book in particular is really show the reader how it feels to come to grips with these feelings, not just how to have sex with a gender nonconforming person, what it could and should be like. Theo's journey from AFAB to nonbinary, at least how it's portrayed on page, was an important on to articulate. So many of us can find ourselves in Theo, I think. And Kit! Kit is such a beautiful peach of a human. They really outdid themselves with characters to fall in love with in this one (I mean -- no one will be Alex and Henry, but I think these two will come close).

Anyway - read this book. It's a delight, a trip--a journey, even.

McQuiston's latest novel is an sensual delight, full of mouth-watering descriptions of the pleasures of a European vacation. Four years after they broke up, Theo and Kit find themselves on the same European tour that they meant to take before they broke up. To ease the tension, they propose a friendly competition to see who can sleep with their tour guide first. Warning: this book is sexy and will make you very, very hungry.

⭐️⭐️

I love Casey McQuiston so I was very excited to read The Pairing. I really wanted to like but unfortunately this book just wasn’t for me.
I never felt invested in Theo and Kit’s story. I kept waiting to feel more for the story and the characters but it never happened.
Thank you NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review

Synopsis: 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.

Time apart has done them good. Theo has found confidence as a hustling bartender by night and aspiring sommelier by day, with a long roster of casual lovers. Kit, who never returned to America, graduated as the reigning sex god of his pastry school class and now bakes at one of the finest restaurants in Paris. Sure, nothing really compares to what they had, and life stretches out long and lonely ahead of them, but—yeah. It's in the past.

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. Four years later, it seems like a great idea to finally take the trip. Solo. Separately.

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. It's fine. There's nothing left between them. So much nothing that, when Theo suggests a friendly wager to see who can sleep with their hot Italian tour guide first, Kit is totally game. And why stop there? Why not a full-on European hookup competition?

But sometimes a taste of everything only makes you crave what you can't have.

Review: This was hands down my favorite read so far this year. Not a single question in my mind. It made me cry 5 minutes and 33 seconds into the audiobook and it basically didn't stop pulling on my heart strings from there. I listened to about 30% and then read the other 70% in a single sitting. Just like RWRB, I could not put this book down. This is, in my opinion, Casey's best book. And yes, I've read them all. Just for an idea of this book, the quote five minutes in that made me cry: "Every person I take to bed from now on will be fighting his ghost for my attention." So, yeah. This book is a masterpiece.

The book is divided into two parts and I have vastly different opinions on both.
The first half was with Theo's pov was frankly so frustrating that I actually contemplated DNFing but only continued because of this being a Casey McQuiston book. Theo most times came off as a whiny teenager when even actual teenagers in Casey's previous work didn't sound so whiny. It's not all Theo though. The plot seemed to move at snail pace with barely any notable development at all. Both the MCs came off as annoying. Plus reading about the effortlessly charming and hot young people who everyone seems to want was tiring and all that traveling and even the delicious food got boring pretty fast for me which was basically all that happened for a long time. The banter was sharp and witty as in every McQuiston book though. And I liked the hookup competition they had going. The jealousy, the yearning I loved it all!

The second half with Kit's perspective was everything that was right in this book, it was so beautifully written. Kit is just pure poetry. I related and felt more for Theo through Kit's pov too. Seeing Theo through Kit's eyes actually made me love them. The chemistry between the MC's really came alive in the second part. I can see why the author did it this way but if the book was only in Kit's perspective I would've loved it more.

I absolutely adored this story, and it was accidentally perfectly aligned with summer reading and Pride month!

Kit and Theo are so perfectly flawed, I was invested in their personal stories, friendship, and love story from start to finish. This is a love letter to queerness and acceptance, showing our characters growing into themselves and accepting each other fiercly.

The cast of side characters throughout the book didn't take away from the main progression, but provided just enough charm and humour.

While I'm a big fan of Casey McQuiston's previous novels like One Last Stop and Red, White & Royal Blue, I found The Pairing to be a bit of a miss for me. The premise of two commitment-phobes making a wager to see who can hook up with more people during a trip across Europe had potential, but the execution fell flat.

I’ve been trying to narrow down what my issues were, and what I think what hits the hardest for me -- is that I just did not like the MC’s. They just were not likable, and I didn’t have enough information about their previous time together to really get why they might be destined or why I should like them. Someone else referred to them as “blowhards” and I kind of tend to agree. I also got tired of their super seduction skills, and just kinda came across as shallow, but yet not fun either?...It honestly pains me to write this review because I wanted to love this book so much!

I am still a Casey McQuistion fan, and this book was well written, sharp and witty as you’d expect. I will be there for the next one! This story just wasn’t it for me, and the characters didn’t endear me -- but could very well be loved by someone else!

Thank you for the ARC!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an early copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.

I didn’t enjoy this book and it’s partially my fault.

The whole premise of their lack of relationship was so frustrating. I hate miscommunication tropes as is, but this was so extreme that it was ridiculous. It also wound up being fairly inconsequential in the end, which made everything more annoying.

I found the switch to Kit’s POV odd and confusing at first because it wasn’t clear. I also thought it was kind of a weird choice to have Theo’s conversation about their gender happen while we were in Kit’s perspective?

The part that’s my fault is that this book was so sex-centric which is not for me at all. Had I known this going in, I wouldn’t have requested it in the first place, but here we are.

Bottom line: would not read again.

I am mad because I want to really enjoy Casey McQuiston books; I absolutely adored Red, White & Royal Blue but I DNF'd One Last Stop. I was coming into this 50/50 but I had an open mind.

Theo was one of the most insufferable, whiney main characters I have ever encountered. The flip to Kit's perspective somewhat saved the book for me, but he was also incredibly frustrating.

Kit and Theo were supposed to be in their late 20s but this read like they were 18. I wanted to take both of them by the shoulders and shake them into reality. An abroad moment was supposed to make for a really romantic, unexpected reuniting but they turned it into a challenge to see who could sleep with more people while undoubtedly hurting each other further while doing it instead of just talking to each other?

OH AND this all started because they broke up and didn't speak for four years because of a stupid miscommunication that somehow was never addressed among mutual friends the entire time? Come onnnnn. I'm happy I stuck it out to the end, but this was not for me.

Years after a terrible breakup on what was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime, Theo cashes in on the European excursion before it expires…only to arrive and find their ex Kit *also* booked the same re-do trip. Both have their own lives now - Theo a hustling bartender and aspiring sommelier, Kit a pastry chef in Paris — but somehow this trip brings back old feelings and the two must grapple with either reuniting and letting the past go, or stick to their separate paths.
I enjoyed the setting and could easily picture the settings throughout Europe. However i found the MCs somewhat unlikable. Grown adults lacking basic communication skills and found Theo to be immature and annoying…and the “nepo baby” of it all didn’t click. I would’ve loved more of Kit’s backstory.
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press, and for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I unfortunately did not finish.

At the very beginning of the book, the main couple (Theo & Kit) have a very sudden break up without any details on what happened.

Post breakup they go no contact in order to heal/recover. As a final “celebration” of getting over breaking up Theo decides to use a travel voucher for a trip they had planned together. Big shocker, they end up on the trip together.

Both Theo and Kit are passionate about food, wine, cooking etc so when they end up on the same food tour they decide to put aside any animosity and be friends so they can enjoy the trip.

With the breadcrumb details of their relationship paired with the awkward circumstances of their meet up, I found it difficult to like the characters.

Another factor that contributed to my inability to connect to the story was how much emphasis was put on PARIS. It’ is not a new concept to romanticize Paris in books and movies but unfortunately I felt like the romanization was an attempt to distract from the characters and it didn’t work for me.

In order for me to want to read a book I need to feel invested in the characters first. The pacing of the story was not for me and I do not plan on finishing.