I love Casey McQuiston but The Pairing was really a slog for me. There's only so many descriptions of food, Europe, drinks, and sex I can take - along with a predictable plot and not a lot of action.

This was a messy and lustful gallivant across Europe, following Theo and Kit along their second chance romance. These two bisexual exes find themselves on the same European food and wine tour and end up engaging in a hook-up competition to see who has truly moved on from their relationship long ago. I was originally on the fence, given the vengeful and flippant sexual encounters, however ended up finding both these characters to be a bit damaged, emotionally complex, and overall charming. Plus the descriptions of European destinations and food/wine was a major plus! I really enjoyed the narration and found they added depth to the characters and story.

Sincere thanks to NetGalley & Macmillan Audio for an advanced listener copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Finally going on the trip of a lifetime, Theo never expects to find the person who broke her heart - and who she was supposed to go on the original trip with - sat next to the only available seat on the bus. Kit had been her best friend, and partner, and broke her heart. Now trapped for three weeks on a romantic European wine and food tour, they have to make the best of a bad situation, and try and come out the other side with their hearts intact.

I've been putting off writing this review for so long. Like the rest of the world, I loved Red, White and Royal Blue, and found I Kissed Shara Wheeler enjoyable too. So I was expecting that The Paiing would be as good too, but I found I was forcing myself to finish the book, and was just pushing myself to the end so I didn't have to DNF it. I mean, the book wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either, at least in my opinion. I found this book so frustrating. It was the biggest case of miscommunication and dramatic actions that I've read in a long time, and both Theo and Kit were characters I found lacking, and I wasn't engaging with them. I found myself not bothered about their love story, or even if they got together in the end. Not something I would expect from this author, and I'm not wary on reading another of her books in the future.

I love Casey's other books so I wanted to pick this one up as soon as possible. I really loved the concept of these two characters who were together and planned a trip together but broke up before it happened so they reschedule and find out they are both end up on the same trip a few years later. I loved the European setting of this book and how each chapter starts with their location and a wine/food pairing. Plus if you have the physical book each chapter has the outline of whatever locale they are currently visiting. I loved all the food and drink references and really made me crave for a vacation like this myself. I liked the characters on their trip with them, but I found the sexcapades were a bit much. They were constantly trying to one up each other by hooking up with randoms and it felt a bit icky. I really did enjoy the ending though it felt so sweet and right.

After reading the digital copy back in February I was excited to hear how the story came to life in the audiobook and it didn't disappoint. I loved this story just as much the second time and hear Casey narriate parts of it was a nice touch.

I had a fun time listening to these chaotic bisexuals. The author clearly researched trips like this and it makes me want to do one. Now gotta convince my bf to go with me. Haha

Absolutely loved the audiobook of Casey McQuiston’s latest, The Pairing. Both narrators do an excellent job bringing these very unique characters to life.

4.25/5 stars, rounded down

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the advanced listening copy!

This was a super fun, super smutty journey through Europe! First off, setting was 10/10. Reading about all of the cities, big and small, that the tour group visited was super fun, and the food/drinks they consumed made me want to book a flight immediately. The descriptions were well-written and gorgeous. I thought this was really well done and added a lot to the story, but didn't take up too much time. The romance itself was pretty cute and a well-done second-chance romance. Theo and Kit had pretty good conflict resolution in the present and no super annoying misunderstandings. The POVs were done REALLY well, giving us a non-traditional glimpse at the past and present from both characters' eyes. This book was SUPER smutty. These scenes were creative, steamy and fun. Having bisexual characters with varying gender identities added so much unexpected dimension to the spice that was pretty cool to read. There were definitely parts of this book that I just didn't quite connect with and I think this was just a bit too long, but I enjoyed it overall!

SYNOPSIS -- Theo and Kit always said they would go on a European food and wine tour together. That is, until they broke up almost 2 years ago. Now, the last month to use the nearly-expired voucher, Theo is determined to go on the tour alone and enjoy it themselves. Enter: Kit. Theo and Kit have been childhood besties, deeply in love, and now, estranged exes forced to spend three weeks together traveling Europe. While the last two years have been pretty different for each of them, they're both determined to reconnect as friends, and prove to the other that they're totally okay with the breakup. So okay, in fact, that they set up a sex competition to see who can hook up with more people throughout their trip. Only one rule: they can't hook up with each other. This will go well, right?

DNF @ 22%. I am just not vibing with "The Pairing" by Casey McQuiston. I may go back and read this at a later date, but I have started and stopped the first 20% three different times, and it's not gripping me like I hope it would have. This is such a bummer because I have loved McQuiston's other novels. I was really looking forward to this one. I will say, I love the vast, visceral descriptions of trekking across Europe and the food that Kit and Theo eat, but apart from that, I don't love these characters and the things they do. I am all for $luts, we do not $lut-shame in this house, but the prospect of having to read about Theo and Kit sleep their way through Europe while trying to make each other jealous, instead of having an actual conversation with one another about how they feel, seems tedious and daunting to me. There is an air of entitlement about these characters that is rubbing me the wrong way, too. I did enjoy the audiobook narrators, Emma Galvin and Max Meyers. Any success I had reading this book was entirely become of them and their voice performances.

Thank you to NetGalley, Casey McQuiston, and Macmillan Audio for the complimentary ALC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

DNF @ 10%. I normally try to get through 20% or more before determining it's not for me, but I paused reading this a few weeks ago and have yet to feel the desire to go back to it. I did not enjoy the characters, I do not enjoy second chance romances, and I could not be less into the idea of this travel/food romance.
Thank you St. Martin's Press & MacMillan Audio for the review copies.

Silly romance book that was so predictable and had kind of a dull storyline. The steam was honestly too much for me and took away from me buying into other parts of the story.

I genuinely don’t know how I feel about this book. It took me over 2 weeks to read - which is super rare for me.

I've decided to go with a 4/5, because once I got into it, I did enjoy it. I also can see others enjoying it, depending on what they like to read!

This is quite a spicy & horny book 😅 and heavy on the food descriptions too. If those are your thing, you might love this one 😍

What I did like:
💜 Theo & Kit - I really liked both MCs, how they were trying to figure out their lives individually and together. I was rooting for them to figure things out, both personally and as a couple.
🏳️‍🌈 All the queer rep, in many forms.
🎧 The audio - I thought both narrators were perfect, they really felt like their characters.

What didn't work for me:
💜 Having only Theo's POV for half the book, then Kit's. I believe the author was trying to create a bit of mystery, but I would have liked to have known Kit's feelings from the start.
💜 The MCs hooking up with other people. This is a personal preference, I prefer my main couple to only be with each other intimately.
🥗 The lengthy food descriptions - again, this is a me thing, and not why I took off a star - I can see many enjoying this!

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press & Macmillian audio for advanced copies. All opinions are my own.

Second Chance romance is not my thing. Casey McQuiston is.

There's lots of angst, misunderstandings, digging into old wounds. I usually avoid the second chance trope because of that- it can get messy and throws me out of the story if the tone isn't exactly right and handled thoughtfully. Frankly: I don't like reading unhealthy relationships when they're being thrown up as romantic goals. So, my only exceptions are authors I trust to deal with the baggage of a romantic reconnection properly. Thus Casey McQuiston.

If you've only every read 'Red, White, and Royal Blue', trust me, you're missing out. 'One Last Stop' and now 'The Pairing' are far and away the better stories.

'The Pairing' is the story of Kit and Theo, former childhood best friends, turned lovers, turned.... dramatic breakup on a transatlantic fight. After 4 years of no contact and no resolution they both end up on the same European food and wine tour- non refundable. (*Now here's a big warning: to those who do not like when a Main Character hooks up with anyone other than the love intrest..... Skip this*) The two manage to be civil, and slowly come to something like a friendly balance. Culminating in a 'friendly' competition. Who can hook up with the tour guide first? And really just the tour guide's not enough to determine who has the superior sexual prowess, so who can pull the most people in the cities the tour will be visiting? Both characters go on to have sex with multiple other people before the relationship between our main characters is rekindled.

That's of course not the only obstacle to overcome though. Frankly, that's hardly an obstacle in any substantial sense at all. Physical connection (to each other or others) takes a back seat to the emotional draw that Kit and Theo have towards each other. What's truly a roadblock to be overcome is the misunderstandings of the past, and the reconciliation of who each of them have grown into on their separate paths in the years since. I honestly thought this was handled so well, and while there's a lot of bittersweet feelings to work through I (a HEA loving, feel-good, sucker) still found a lot of enjoyment in the process of reading. Ultimately more fulfilling for feeling earned when the complexities are ironed out, perfectly balanced.

TL;DR - On paper, I might not enjoy something like this- but Casey McQuiston wrote the story so well that I loved it.

I think I understand now that Casey's books are not really for me. I loooooved Red White and Royal Blue. Everything after that was just... ok.

I wanted to like this more than I did. It was fun, cutesy travelling but I struggled with the sex challenge of two lovers clearly drawn to one another.

2.5 rounded up to 3. I really wanted to enjoy this one as I love a second chance romance. I felt like there were missed opportunities to highlight Theo and Kit’s emotional connection, as this book was very physical. They were also on a trip across Europe and nothing really happened. I can barely recall the places they visited…

There were some positives for me. I loved the way this book brought more awareness to the fluidity of things like sexual orientation, dress, attraction, etc. This honestly is what made me keep listening as I enjoyed the topics this book shone a light on.

Thank you @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

i’m a HUGE fan of this book oh my god is was perfect!! i listened to the audio and the narrators/production was amazing! i felt like both narrators really embodied the characters and kept me entertained while listening! the little music between cities was such a cute touch!

kit & theo have the most beautiful love story. i wanted to cry at times and was so captivated by how beautiful the two of them are.

we start of with theo’s pov and switch to kits halfway through and i love that we’re able to see the other characters through each others eyes. you can tell how in love both of them are but how hurt they were from the past and why they’re hesitant to move forward.

the plot of this one is perfect for anyone going on a european summer vacation. in the book, they travel around different cities in france & italy on a food tour and the vibes are immaculate!! i visited 7 of the cities they mentioned this summer and it was SO cool to know exactly what they were talking about since i had the pleasure of experiencing them first hand!!

& i just have to mention that the non-binary rep in this book was amazing!! casey did such a wonderful job of portraying theo’s character and their thoughts and i’m just so happy to see more & more representation included in romance books

If you're looking for a queer, horny, European summer romp then look no further. This book is a shallow but fun little palate cleanser. The food and wine references are a bit gratuitous and most of the book is pretty over the top, but I'm surprised there are so many negative reviews for this, as it seems clearly what it is marketed as. I did find Theo's character to be rather annoying and self-absorbed, but you now what, queer people can be annoying too, and you gotta love the annoying gay visibility.

Thank you to NetGalley for the audio ARC!


Spoiler below ----

I think the part I was most confused by was that Theo had a non-binary coming out. They were so clearly nb to me the entire time, that I had a harder time reading them as a woman at the beginning of the book. The actual coming out to Kit was heartwarming and lovely, but they were just so obviously non-binary the entire time that I wished it had been addressed earlier.

I’m a super fan of RED, WHITE, & ROYAL BLUE; I enjoyed ONE LAST STOP and obsessed with I KISSED SHARA WHEELER. So when Casey McQuiston announced their next book, THE PAIRING, I was excited. It’s been a long time since an author I adore has disappointed me.

The plot was so repetitive. The plot was so repetitive! Did I mention that the plot was so repetitive? I expected some of the same occurrences, given that they had a bet about who could sleep with more people on a European tour when they really just wanted to be with one another. But it felt like nothing new. And they were in different countries with different people! The only parts I loved were their conversations with other tour group members about life, love, and relationships.

Typically, I become a big fan of one or more of CMQ’s characters. Sadly, I found I did not want to be friends with any of them, which I think made a big difference in my liking the book. I made it to the 47% part before I DNF’d it. By that point, I loathed being in Theo’s head. I learned from a friend that the narration switched to Kit shortly after, but I was so not invested in Theo’s side and had no urge to see if Kit might invest me in more. There is not enough time in the world to read books you aren’t head over heels for.

I hope I adore whatever CMQ puts out next, like the first three books, because this one was not for me.

PS - One positive note: The narration of the audiobook was excellent. I had a tough time reading the arc, but it was much better to listen to because of the superb narration. I wish I were listening to a better story with that narration.

Thanks, Wednesday Books and Macmillan Audio, for the arc and ALC!

Thanks you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the Arc for my honest review.

Another WIN for Casey McQuiston.

Absolutely loved the between chapter Pairings by the Author such a cute touch!

First half is done in Theo pov 2nd half is done in Kit pov and its perfection.
I will say I thought this was just another male/male love story but man was I so glad to be wrong! In the 2nd half we learn that Theo is non binary bio female they/them and Kit loves them so deeply and accepts them for all they are.

The story is one of heartache and relearning love, Theo and Kit have been best friends since a very young age, on night they decided to see what it would be like if they dated. They had bought tickets for a vacation around Europe and a mistaken chance of communication caused them to break up. Theo went home and Kit went to Paris. They both held on to the ticket promising to go on their own, and when the tickets were about to expire they both went and ended up on the same tour, same bus, same row. They go thru the tour to end up becoming friends again and even go as far as create and who can get more action game…that they both cheat at! Theo runs their own rolling bar in a bus they transformed while Kit became a pastry chef and they blend with each other so perfectly! They end the story with LOVE and redemption!