Even though I knew that this book was going to be a steamy experience (considering it’s about two bisexual exes’s serendipitous food and wine tour of France, Spain, and Italy) I don’t think anything could have prepared me for the level of heat Casey McQuiston concocts for their readers in The Pairing. So spicy!

A variety of readers will enjoy this book, but it feels truly meant for the lovers of fine food, wine/cocktails, art, and deep, intimate connection. It’s hard to decide which was more intoxicating; the description of the French pastries, Italian dinners, Spanish pinxtos, and all the boozy beverages that accompany them or the incredibly descriptive, insanely sexy hookups the two main characters were enjoying throughout their European travels.

Yet even more well written is the unique bond these two characters share and their immense love and yearning they have for one another. I think every reader will be left wanting a Theo or a Kit in their lives once they’ve finished reading The Pairing.

Even beyond their compassion, McQuiston’s characters are also endearing for their sensitivity when it comes to challenges surrounding gender, expression, and how open and accepting they are of every character’s preferences. Their descriptions of Theo, Kit, and the other tourists have left me dreaming about galavanting around the Mediterranean with similar such caring queer people.

The audiobook, narrated by Emma Galvin and Max Meyers, was incredibly well done and very fun, but I did find myself preferring the voices of Kit and Theo better as they were read by Emma Galvin. While Max Myers was a wonderful Theo, I had a hard time getting into his voice for Kit. But this little quirk by no means ruined the enjoyment of the story. It just led to a little bit of cringing here and there.

Overall, I highly recommend The Pairing in its audiobook form, by Casey McQuiston, and think it is THE perfect read for a hot summer’s day.

A big, satisfied thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the pleasurable opportunity they provided in accepting my request to listen to the ARC of The Pairing.

The Pairing is set to be published on August 6, 2024.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC for an honest review
3.5/5
Spoilers!
Although I did enjoy listening to this book, even found myself oohing at some parts and laughing at others. I am not the biggest fan of the miscommunication trope, and that is what brought the score down for me mostly.

The Pairing is such a triumph - a decadent, sexy tour of indulgences and the promise of second chances; I was rapt. McQuiston has always excelled at creating characters who feel like a new best friend in stories full of prose so beautiful you have to stop and highlight and screenshot lines, but nowhere has that been put to better use in their oeuvre than in The Pairing. It's impossible to not be immediately in love with Kit and Theo, to not be deeply invested in what they've left behind and what lies ahead for them. The premise sounds so gauzy and light - two exes who end up on a vacation together after 4 years apart and make a little bet about who can woo the most locals along the way, but it becomes the vehicle for this beautiful exploration of sexuality, identity, the dreams we keep and set free. The book sings - there are these big moments of bacchanal where the food the drink, the scenery are all so much but they put in stark relief moments of quiet introspection, of pining, of being surround by everything but wanting the one thing you can't have. This book is truly brilliant as it brings the journey of this tour and the journey of Kit and Theo's relationship together - you'll want to read past your bedtime and maybe have a cry with the best glass of wine you can possibly find or go sneak away to the French coast to drown yourself in sea foam or pastry - whatever you pick, you'll certainly be moved. And the narration only adds to how delightful the experience is - we spent half the book with Theo and half the book with Kit and it's so delicious and a little dramatic and I loved what this pair of narrators brought to the story. The interstitial music and pairing notes from CMQ themself was a perfect touch!

After 26% of the book was done I was still... just not interested. The prose used to describe the beautiful European country and the food was amazing. I love the representation of a queer character who is more genderfluid. This isn't something we see a lot in literature. However... I didn't get enough details about our two main characters to keep me invested. I'm surprised that I didn't enjoy this book as other books by this author are five star reads for me.

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 did not do it for me. I felt a lot of it was forced and weird and just tried way too hard. I thought I would love the food and wine parts, but some of them were off the mark on the real world that I couldn't bring myself to appreciate the rest. I really wanted to like this book like her others, but it's a no from 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 listen 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.

Emma Galvin and Max Meyers did a wonderful job bringing Kit and Theo to life. Both narrators were a pleasure to listen to.

3.5⭐

Unfortunately it was not for me. I normally love the author’s books so when I saw this book was by them it was an immediate read. Unfortunately I didn’t like the plot or the characters so I was somewhat disappointed. I liked the descriptions and imagery used when discussing the places and foods they were discovering, but the characters were sadly boring. They both lacked any real character development to the point where I was rooting for them to not be together, because honestly they need to figure out their own stuff by themselves before jumping back into the same relationship with the same communication problems.
Not to mention that their whole reason for breaking up in the beginning was over a miscommunication and not being able to fully talk about something plainly. It also felt incredibly forced how “amazing” they both are at sleeping with people and how easily every single person they met wanted to sleep with them as well. Besides travel, sex, and secret (not so secret) pining, nothing else really happens. As an audiobook though, I do have to say that the narrators did a fantastic job and they sounded perfect, which is why I’m rating it at 1.5 stars rather than 1 star (2 since there’s no option for 1.5).

This book was delightfully messy, but with still so much heart and warmth. The European setting descriptions were excellent, however the exploration of identity, love, and success were what really moved this book forward. Some of the conflict is derived in poor communication which was fairly realistic, but sometimes I was left a little confused about what the characters wanted, especially after the POV shift. My only real negative of the audiobook in particular is the shift between the two voice actors. Whole both did a fantastic job, I feel like there wasn’t a consistent vision on how Theo was going to verbally come across. The tonal shift for Theo was just kind of jarring after falling in love with the first narrator’s characterization of them.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. Very messy, very sweet, I’d generally recommend it to those who enjoy queer romances, European settings, second chance romances, and/or other Casey McQuiston novels.


This book was delightfully messy, but with still so much heart and warmth. The European setting descriptions were excellent, however the exploration of identity, love, and success were what really moved this book forward. Some of the conflict is derived in poor communication which was fairly realistic, but sometimes I was left a little confused about what the characters wanted, especially after the POV shift. Without giving too much away, this book is about two former flames re-meeting four years after their last encounter in Europe on a food and wine tour. This book is about what relationship they could possible have in the aftermath, who they’ve grown into in between, and how they might change after.

My review is specific to the audiobook which opens each chapter with a bit of music and a narrator that doesn’t appear elsewhere, this was fine to me but could occasionally take me out of the story at certain points. There are two narrators that split the book. The first narrator feels absolutely perfect. Employing an excellent heir if androgyny and confidence with an hint of unsureness. The second narrator gives us a much more masculine perspective with a shocking amount of vulnerability. My only real negative of the audiobook in particular is the shift between the two voice actors. While both did a fantastic job, I feel like there wasn’t a consistent vision on how Theo was going to verbally come across for each narrator. The tonal shift for Theo was just kind of jarring after falling in love with the first narrator’s characterization of them. That said, both actors did pretty well with the numerous accents within the book.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. Very messy, very sweet, I’d generally recommend it to those who enjoy European settings, second chance romances, and/or other Casey McQuiston novels.

The Pairing was such a fun trip across Europe. I loved the development of the main and side characters throughout this story. I have been eagerly awaiting this book and Casey McQuiston did not disappoint!

This was a fun, inquisitive look into how your own gender identity influences sexuality (instead of our attraction to gender). For the bisexual and non-binary perspective, I think the strangeness of the premise was necessary to create those moments of reflection. This is a falling-back-in-love story between Kit (average bi guy) and Theo (who Kit knew as a woman, but is now bi and non-binary). Based on previous reviews, I think there are three areas of concern for perspective readers. But with more information, I think you'll be interested in reading this:

1: Is this an MM or MF romance? I wish the author had just been upfront about Theo's identity because it shapes the social pressures and experiences that Theo & Kit faced as teens. I ended up rereading the first three chapters because I mistakenly thought this was a MM romance. Hooking up with your best friend/roommate is a different experience as MF instead of two teen boys. And having your looks compared to your sisters (who are famous actresses) is more distressing if you're also a teen girl. Those are the two experiences that Theo dwells on in the early chapters so it was confusing.

The second time around, I used the audiobook instead, which helped since Theo is voiced by Emma Galvin (the narrator from the Divergent series). I'm rating it 4 stars because it was very difficult to find your footing. But from that point on, the rest of the writing involving gender and attraction was really enjoyable and 10/10 worth the read. In fact, I adored Theo's internal voice because it was so gender neutral. After 50% is switches to Kit's POV and he makes the journey from remembering Theo as she/her to interacting with them in their nonbinary identity.

2: How much sex are we talking about? Kit and Theo meet up years after their break up on a three-week wine tour across Europe. They now have very similar fashion style and romantic tastes so they both pull a lot of the same people. They agree to a friendly competition to see who hooks up in the most cities. They are NOT together, but of course feelings get involved. So it tells the very real experience of being a single person these days. Most of the early encounters are fade to black while the detailed scenes are reserved for when Theo & Kit hook up with each other.

I don't think the scenes were too frequent or too detailed. It's pretty standard for a steamy novel except that there are multiple people involved. But allowing that storyline is what opens a fuller discussion about the bi perspective. For Theo especially, it's less about who they're with and more about who they get to be when they're with different people.

3: Was the food talk too much? It is shocking at first BUT if you have ever enjoyed a wine tour or watching the Great British Baking Show then I think you will settle in comfortably. This is where the audiobook really shined because I love a dreamy voice telling me about delicious recipes. It's soothing. Theo and Kit LOVE food so I think that it is incorporated well as a genuine part of the story. There are apricots but this is not a reach for 'Call Me By Your Name'. Both characters are far more secure in their sense of self.

In the end, this is a heartfelt, ultra-contemporary romance that dives deeper than you may expect. There's a HEA and the spice supports the relationship between them. Even though they make a lot of friends, it also teases Americans for their unrealistic fantasies of sleeping across Europe (I was cackling when it reveals who wins the tourguide's attention). The voice is always queer AF and fans of the bold energy in RWRB show will enjoy it.

A PERFECT book. McQuiston is known for their richly developed settings, larger-than-life characters, and painfully real emotional storylines, and The Pairing feels like a culmination of all of their best work. This book is lush in every way imaginable - it oozes with decadent food, travel, and sex, tied together with a romantic bond for the ages. Kit and Theo are written as two sides of the same coin, expertly conveyed through the even split of their POV's halfway through the book, and reading their reconnection and love story felt inevitable. This is the best of friends to lovers AND second-chance romance dynamics; their 3 weeks of reconciliation are riddled with unbridled jealousy, poorly hidden attraction, and emotional confessions throughout.
I could talk in depth about Kit and Theo individually and the exquisite detail woven into each of their characters. I could talk about their undoubted flaws that only add to how easily lovable they are. But it truly feels like I cannot talk about one of them without acknowledging the other; they are interwoven together throughout the story. The time they spent apart before the beginning of the book emphasized the necessity for independence even in a soulmate-type relationship, but watching them come back together illustrated how they are best able to grow and be at peace with themselves when they are together. A true partnership, or pairing, if I'm able to be that on the nose.
The audiobook version of this book lived up to the perfection of the story. The narrators, Emma Galvin and Max Meyers, embodied their characters so smoothly and read with such deep emotion and humor, it felt like a friend relaying their fantastical European romance story directly to me. The interspersed music before each chapter and brief narration by Casey was an extra treat for big fans of theirs and really rounded out the production of the story. Casey's narration almost felt like that they were on the trip as an observer, maybe as another guest on the food tour themselves, rooting for Kit and Theo all along. And I was right there with them!
Whatever book of McQuiston's I've read most recently often ends up my favorite of theirs, but I really do think this one takes the cake. I can't wait to reread and visit Kit and Theo, and share with anyone who will listen.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio arc in exchange for an honest review!

REVIEW: The Pairing ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 (4.5)

I was so excited to see that The Pairing was written by Casey McQuiston who also wrote another book that I love, Red, White, and Royal Blue.

There are so many things that I love about The Pairing. First of all, I love the representation throughout the book of bisexuality, nonbinary, and other kinds of relationships. I really loved the chemistry between Theo and Kit, and you could tell that they really care about one another. The Pairing also has a whole lot of spice because Theo and Kit have a contest to see who can sleep with more people on their vacation. Casey McQuiston also does such a fantastic job on descriptions. Describing the different locations on their trip, the various food and drinks, and even the characters they meet each gives us a strong image based on their descriptions. It was also fun that at the beginning of each chapter, there was the location, food and wine pairing, and music (in the audiobook) from wherever they were. I really enjoyed the narrators in the audiobook as both of them were very expressive and even got some excellent accents down.

The only thing that I thought could be changed was that the first part of the book was all in Theo’s POV, and the second part was all in Kit’s POV. In each section, I wondered what the other character thought or felt during an event. I would have preferred to have their POVs switch off each chapter so that we could experience both sides together.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Pairing. It was a great European adventure with many laughs and romances throughout. This book is excellent for anyone who loves a good slow burn, second chances, spicy scenes, and a fun European tour.

**Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this audibook**

This read for me was just full of sighs. I couldn’t stop thinking about my rating throughout the listening experience which is…well it’s kind of a bad sign isn’t it? I ended up going back and forth between 3 and 4 and 3 and 4 and 3 and 4 again, before realizing that if I was so hesitant to award it 4 stars maybe it wasn’t one in the first place. Final verdict 3.4 stars (if I did 3.5 I’d have to round up wouldn’t I?). The problem here, regarding my reading experience at least, is that The Pairing, while very cute, never managed to recreate the absolute feel trip that was RW&RB for me. For example:

One of my favourite things about RW&RB was the very vague spicy scenes which felt intimate and plot relevant without being very graphic. The Pairing has *multiple* not safe for work scenes and while McQuiston always writes them very beautifully, there is no denying that they are both always longer and MUCH more explicit than in RW&RB, which definitely not something I had expected going into it.

I am fully aware that the comparison mindset is fully my fault, and this is where I am going with my review: If you are coming from RW&RB thinking that you will feel the exact same thing now than you did then, stop. This is a different book. The Pairing is about art, food, love, sex and discovering the world to learn about oneself. It has very different characters, a different dynamic, a more mature plotline and not even the same the same type of narrator for crying out loud.

So, if you were like me, going in and wishing for it to be RW&RB 2.0: don’t. Let The Pairing be its own thing, let Kit and Theo get to you in their own way without any à priori. Be open to discover something new, and I am sure that you will love it more than I did.

2.5 stars rounded up

The Pairing follows Kit and Theo, two bisexual ex’s who find themselves on the same food and wine tour of Italy many years after their breakup. What follows is a chaos of hookups, miscommunications, and pining over each other.

Unfortunately this just was not for me. I absolutely love Casey McQuiston’s bi representation (also adored it in Red White and Royal Blue) but I just didn’t find myself caring about any of the characters. I’m not a huge romance reader to begin with so maybe I should have avoided this novel but I was drawn in by the premise. The tour of Europe was my favorite part of this book and I loved the settings and the food/wine descriptions. The writing was also engaging and well done.

My rating is being rounded up for the audiobook narrators who were so fun to listen to and nailed the accents! I’d recommend picking this up via audio if available

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for access to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to the publisher for providing me a copy of The Pairing in exchange for an honest review.

Actual Rating: 3.5 ⭐️

Overall enjoyed many moments of this book. The descriptions of the food and all of the various locations Kit and Theo traveled was top notch. I loved the imagery and can tell a lot of heart and soul went into these descriptions.

I’m glad I listened to it on audio, because I think I would’ve had a hard time powering through the middle portion. The “will they won’t they” did get kind of repetitive, especially for a book of this length. Both narrators absolutely killed it which helped, and has also been my experience while reading/listening to the last 3 books by Casey McQuiston.

My overall criticism of the book and the reason for my rating is that this book is kinda’…pretentious 😬. I don’t mean that as harshly as it comes across, but I think I struggled with that more than some readers may when this book is released. I’m interested to see more reviews and if anyone else agrees with me. It was just hard to enjoy these characters when I felt like I couldn’t connect to them.

I did LOVE the raging bisexuality, however. And the spice was creatively written and believable, which I have come to expect from this author!

Decent summer read, not my favorite overall of all of the novels they’ve written, but still has me excited to continue reading more of their work in the future!

this is a fantastic book, the characters are wonderfully written. they felt so alive and real and i find myself missing them now. the naration of the audio book was perfectlty done i am super impressed with all of it!

I reviewed this when I received a text ARC earlier in the year, and that review is below. I echo everything I said earlier: this is a beautiful and also hot book. I loved the narrators, and the instrumental bits and start-of-chapter narration from the author is a great touch. Read this book!

Review from March 2024:
CMQ knocked it out of the park. Wow, I love this and am working on describing how much.

For the first third or so of the book, I was telling friends it's a fun romp of a Eurotrip. After that, it's not that it becomes any less of a romp, but things get deeper and we really get to know Kit and Theo (and their baggage). And I love Kit and Theo and their baggage and Fabrizio and the Callums, etc. etc. I feel very mushy and privileged about getting the opportunity to meet these characters ahead of publication - it feels like I've had a private moment to get to know them before the (warranted) buzz surrounding this novel picks up.

I would challenge anyone who says there's any other book quite like this out there. Somehow it rolls some pretty advanced gender and sexuality discourse into a wild ride of a rom-com, but also there's an element of self-discovery, and AND there's a lot of hot smut. Also, discussions of medieval architecture. Like, well done. Round of applause.

What an absolutely fantastic read! Casey does such a good job expressing true emotions and full fleshed out real humans. The joy, the sadness, the smut, the longing, the desire, the hurt. It's all just so so so wonderfully done and what a treat to get to experience this masterpiece early.

I'm so happy for Kit and Theo and the leaps of faith they take throughout this book. I especially love the secondary characters and how much they bring to this book.

I understand fully the gender experience that we were going through in this novel but there were moments during the first quarter of the book that I did struggle to know what pronouns Theo used.

I absolutely LOVED THIS!!! Casey McQuiston has such a way that sucks you right into the characters they've included in their novels. WOW!

Theo and Kit were childhood best friends, telling each other everything, spending every second together, planning to travel Europe together, all the things, until one day they no longer were friends.

Making good on the Europe voucher, Theo decides to go on the trip, do all the things, see all the sites, but they don't plan on running into Kit on the train to do all this. The two decide to put things aside and enjoy this trip together, not realizing that they might just be falling in love.