Amazing amazing amazing,
I've honestly said the words "this is a life changing read" multiple times whilst reading the pairings.
Wonderfully paced, horny in all aspects. deliciously done. I don't want to leave them!
Who wants to go on a food and wine tour of Europe with me!

2.5/5 stars

The Pairing is a new queer romance from Casey McQuiston following two bisexual exes who go on a romp across Europe. Their and Kit were once childhood best friends turned lovers turned stranger exes. Four years after breaking up, they accidentally go on the same three-week European food and wine tour. To cope, they wager on who can pull the most locals in a hook-up competition.

This book was a disappointment. It didn’t offer anything that could hook me so I just wasn’t ever invested in the romance. And normally, the romance should be able to carry me through subjects I have no interest in (like the sports in sports romances), but this wasn’t the case here. I was just painfully bored and found myself skimming through paragraph after paragraph of descriptions of food, wine, art, and architecture that just went on and on with each tour stop. I really couldn’t appreciate any of it. And for a book about sexual conquests, it wasn’t particularly sexy (except for that almost threesome and that one mutual spicy scene).

The story is told initially from Theo’s perspective then switches to Kit’s perspective halfway through. And my god is Theo such pain of a character who you could not get me to root for. They are nonbinary (FtNB) with a huge nepo baby complex, tendency to self-sabotage, and poor coping skills. And every flaw people put on them I just agreed with completely, so that can’t be good. I did actually like Kit, who is just so helplessly and hopelessly in love. He’s got golden retriever energy for someone who doesn’t deserve him. And the only reason I eventually wanted them to be together was just so Kit could actually be happy because he wants it so much and not because of anything Theo had to offer.

The book didn’t have any tension or stakes because you could tell from the get go where the story was going. They were so obviously going to get together because Theo states it in their perspective and Kit was so blatant. I really didn’t get why they were still carrying on with the pretext of the competition by the time they were hooking up again. And I just rolled my eyes at the no kissing or pelvic contact while they were at it. The only part I really liked was the ending, which was indeed romantic, but the getting there was a struggle.

The Pairing is not as fun, sexy, nor romantic as it was promised to be.

This is definitely Casey’s sexiest book and I am HERE FOR IT.

I loved exploring all the different European places on the food tour the pair take together. If you love good food, sex and Casey’s writing this is a match made in heaven.

3.75 stars *

i love the way in which casey writes characters they're so beautiful in every possible way!

i can't lie i did read this during my slump era, so my critique is biased from that

i enjoyed the characters and the way they were around each other but im not a wine and food girlie so a lot of those terms flew right past me.

i would defo recommend this book to my friends, especially those who want queer representation

REVIEW
cw: mentions of grief, abandonment issues, imposter syndrome

Theo(dora) (they/them) and Kit (he/him) have been best friends since childhood and eventually became a couple. But four years ago they broke up and never spoke again. Now, these two bisexual exes accidentally book the same European food and wine tour and challenge each other to a hookup competition to prove they're completely over each other. Except they're not. At all.

Like Theo and Kit, I went on quite the journey with this book. To be upfront and honest, I almost gave up on it several times in the first third, and I still can't quite put my finger on why. I liked all of the characters immediately. The story's first half is told through Theo's POV and the second from Kit's. I liked Theo a lot, and their insecurities about themselves in comparison with their successful family members were well-written. I also appreciated Theo's self-exploration of their identity and loved the way they explained this to Kit and how he responded.
Theo and Kit's little game of pointing out attractive people was fun to begin with, but I began to struggle with the way Europe, and by extension, Europeans were portrayed. In this story every single person they met living in Spain, France, and Italy was hedonistic, bi, beautiful, and DTF with these two virtual strangers. I understand that was the purpose of their competition, but it never felt like either had ever faced a single rejection, and it felt a little unbelievable. No man, woman, or peach was safe. Still, somewhere around 40%, something finally clicked, and I really began to root for both of them. It was so clear that both were still carrying feelings for the other. Kit's pining was sublime agony. I absolutely ADORED how utterly gone he was for Theo. And he was such a cinnamon roll. I ADORED his description of their night together in Chianti. As for Palermo. It was perfetto. The intimacy between them made me swoon, and I loved their banter and the good-humoured snark that can only come from knowing each other intimately and for a very long time.
The other passengers were wonderfully eclectic, but by far my favourites were the Calums. I loved their little 'polygon' dynamic, and the revelations in Chianti left me as surprised as Kit. Meanwhile, I absolutely ADORED Fabrizio the tour guide, and he gave the BEST advice. I was a shocked as Theo and Kit at his secret, but it was heartwarming.
I appreciated the amount of research the author clearly must have done for the many descriptions of food and wine, although I sometimes found myself skimming over them as the book progressed. But that's on me. I'm starting to understand from this and other similar books that I'd much rather eat than read about eating! That said, though I've travelled extensively in Europe, and actually lived in Barcelona, the descriptions of the art, architecture, and culture made me desperate to travel again.
I'm SO glad I didn't give up on this book. I absolutely ADORED the second half and will always love Theo and Kit.

Overall Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Heat Rating: 🔥🔥🔥

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. The Pairing is published on 6th August in the UK*

Casey McQuiston never disappoints and The Pairing was no exception. Truly, they've outdone themself this time. I loved RWRB and OLS - both 5 star reads for me - but honestly after finishing The Pairing I might have to give it the top spot of the three. In fact, The Pairing might just have already taken spot for my top release of 2024.

There were so many things about this book that I loved. Theo and Kit were both characters that I loved instantly, I really enjoyed getting to see some small glimpses of what they were like at the start of their relationship, to where they were post-break up, to how they're evolving now. 10/10 on the character growth and self-awareness, love that!

I'm also a big fan of the writing style in this book, the POV switch was interesting and I liked the placement of it. Everything we saw after switching to Kit's POV felt very much like events we needed to see through his eyes.

The romance, the fun sluttiness of it, comedy - ahhh, all of it was so well balanced. The book is defintely spicier than their other 2 adult novels, and I personally loved the way it was done in this book.

Even outside of the characters and the romance plot, I loved loved loved the subplot of the food and wine tour. I am a big fan of any travel content and this just hit the spot! I would love to go on some sort of culinary tour like Theo and Kit did so I was happily living vicariously through them. The descriptions of the cities and the culture and the vibes was immaculate, really good job on the immersion

Theo's entire gender journey and how they was woven into their relationship - wow. Incredibly well done, had me feeling so many feelings.

Casey - thank you for writing this story. Thank you for writing Theo Flowerday into existence and making me feel seen in ways I never even knew I needed.

I could gush about this book for hours, and I've probably missed 100 more things I loved but honestly, it was just that good.

I felt so many emotions over the course of this book - I laughed, I cried, I awwww'd. I felt a deep connection with characters in way I haven't felt reading a book in a week.

Massive thank you to Pan Macmillian and of course Casey for giving me an ARC copy to review!

I can only describe this book as ‘incredibly horny’. It's a fun romp around Europe that samples all of the great wine, food, culture–and the locals. I get the sense that McQuiston really enjoyed writing this. It has a different, more grown up vibe to their previous books, and it's unapologetically queer, which I loved so much.

Theo and Kit are exes who end up on the same coach holiday, and instead of letting themselves realise they're still in love with each other, start up a competition to see who can hook-up with the most people on the trip. Whilst it's very obvious to the reader that they're both harbouring feelings for the other, the pacing felt good and I enjoyed their gradual reconciliation. The second half of the book, which is from Kit's POV, was especially enjoyable.

However, I'm not a huge fan of reading a book’s love interests sleeping with other people, and that might be a squick for others as well, so be warned.

It's a perfect summer read that will make you crave wine and fine pastries (and has me tempted to book a trip to southern France myself).

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Very different to Casey's other work. The first half of the book is essentially a food, wine and s*x tour of Europe. Two bisexuals challenge each other to sleep with as many people as they can. Its fun and flirty don't get me wrong. But just feels a little odd when they are so clearly into each other. It also wasn't that exciting really, after the first place or two it was very samey.
Also between this and Red, White and royal blue i think McQuiston should stop writing about Europe. Its all incredibly stereotypical. I think if you're not from Europe you might love it, as it fits that image in your head but if you are, it might grate on you a little.
The second half of the book greatly improved for me. We switch POVs to Kit and its clearly the love story half. And honestly I'm not sure we needed the full first half. It was much sweeter and nicer to see Kit's feelings and depth of love.
However ultimately, it felt a bit light on the fun romcom side, there just wasn't that witty banter, or funny events to give it lightness, just a lot of alcohol and s*x. Not a bad book just maybe not what I expected and I didn't gel with it.

I absolutely adored this. The attention to detail when describing the locations and food were lovely and really transport you to where the characters are! Kit and Theo are such glorious characters, explored in all their flaws. Would highly recommend!

I’m not really sure what to say about this book. I enjoyed it in parts but overall I can’t say I loved it.

I’ll start with the characters. I liked Kit a lot more than Theo. There was something about Theo that I just couldn’t warm to. She was pretty insufferable at times. Her actions, her attitude and her responses were immature and because of that I preferred the second half of the book to the first, as it was from Kit’s point of view instead of Theo’s. Kit felt much more genuine and likeable to me.

I enjoyed the rich descriptions of the gorgeous locations and the delicious food and drink, they helped me imagine being there myself. I didn’t love the stereotypical European character depictions though, this felt like a way to avoid having to put any effort into creating interesting side characters and as such as didn’t feel much towards any of them.

Whilst I’m glad there was so much queer representation in this book, it started to feel vapid when everyone they met on the trip was young, beautiful, single, queer and up for anything. It didn’t feel realistic that both Kit and Theo were irresistible to everyone they interacted with. Their competition initially sparked some interest with me but this unrealistic approach soon turned me off the whole idea.

The Pairing is a second chance, slow-burn romance packed full of queerness, food, drink and travel. I wanted to love it so much but sadly I didn’t.

2.5 ⭐️⭐️💫 rounded up.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher, Pan Macmillan, for my early copy.

Four years ago, Theo and Kit's lifelong friendship and years-long romantic relationship imploded on a plane somewhere over the Atlantic. Due to go on a food and wine tour of Europe once they landed, they instead went their separate ways at Heathrow.

Four years later, with Kit having completed their culinary studies in Paris and Theo a small business owner prepping for the sommelier exams back in California, and they have reached the deadline by which to take their cancelled trip. What neither expects is for the other to have chosen the exact same week to do so.

The Pairing is a lush and sensual journey across Europe's food and cultural capitals and for anyone who likes their romance as steamy as their food, it will be a hit. For those (like me) who aren't particularly foodies, it might hold less appeal but is still an entertaining read.

3.5 stars

The best part of this book was the last 20% because it finally picked up the pace. The rest of the book felt like such a slog to get through and there were a few times when I was so tempted to DNF it because everything dragged so much.

I appreciate that the characters were on a food and drink tour, but I could have done with all the descriptions cut in half. This would have really sped the pace up and allowed the focus to be on the characters rather than telling me every single thing they ate. There are only so many wine descriptions one book needs.

While I thought the dual POVs were good, I feel like cutting the book in half meant it didn't give the full experience of what the characters were thinking and feeling. I really wanted alternating POVs and the sudden shift to Kit from Theo was quite jarring.

I also thought we were going to get a good twist with this and I was actually ok with it but then it went back to being predictable. There's nothing wrong with that but it could have gotten there much quicker.

For a book that includes a sex competition, there is remarkably few detailed sex scenes. Sorry to say that if you're expecting spice, you need to get through 80% of the book first. I also didn't think the sex competition added too much, it was just another complication that slowed things down.

I just wanted more from this book and I wanted to enjoy far more than the final 20%.

Ultimately not for me. CMQ is an author who obviously enjoys experimenting a bit in different genres (magical realism, YA, new adult) but I don't think this foray into kind of literary, smutty romance has worked for them here and seems like more of a stopover book than one that fully realises its concept. It’s also far too long.

I think one of CMQ's main strengths is writing group dynamics, and in this book that facet of their writing is parked in exchange for being more of a character study of the two protagonists. This insularity of both the setting (a tour through many countries, sure, but ultimately little more depth than elaborate descriptions of beautiful settings, art, lovely food and hot locals) and their relationship made this book lack a lot of the whimsy I've enjoyed about their previous work, and the side characters felt one dimensional. I also thought it was quite a slog to get through - again because we're really only exploring these characters thoughts about themselves and each other for 400+ pages. The main romance journey seems to be about expressing the love they have for each other as changed people in a more mature and communicative way but they still felt quite emotionally immature for 28 and their love felt present but stagnant enough that I just didn't really feel invested in it. The change up to create a dramatic, tropey ending felt at odds with the rest of the book.

The queer representation is great - it’s rare to get such good bi rep and non-binary rep - and I respect the author wanting to go in a more literary direction with their romance but this book feels torn between wanting to be a serious, literary novel, and a fun, smutty romance and ultimately failed to entertain me either way.

Sun-drenched, gorgeous, glorious, bisexual chaos. I loved this book - I inhaled it over the course of a weekend and absolutely loved it. McQuiston is supremely talented and the character that they. have created in this novel are some of their best so far. Kit and Theo are glorious and I just didn't want the book to end, if only so that I could spend more time in their company. I am going to be manically hand-selling this title and will definitely be re-reading this one several times. Thank you so much to MacMillan for the proof copy.

Thank you to Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for this advance copy of The Pairing.

It's no secret that I love Casey McQuiston's work, Red, White, and Royal Blue was a favourite book of mine from a couple of years ago. When I saw The Pairing, I picked it up immediately and fell in love. Kit and Theo are a magnetic pair, and I found myself pulled into their orbit and unable to let go. This book does a fantastic job of dealing with sexuality, gender, longing, and rekindling an old relationship. It's sunny, succulent, and oh so sexy. I loved it SO much, my favourite McQuiston yet.

I have to be honest, I thought this would be a much fluffier romance than it was, but it turned out the angst of the first part, specifically, was heartbreaking. Theo and I are completely different so it was strange that I would identify to them so much, but their pain in the first part literally broke my heart. Their inability to sometimes function day to day on basic tasks and the way they have to cope with digital communication made me relate so bad to them that I was much more involved than I had planned. There was also the fact that that trope of seeing the love of your life moving on and trying to be happy for them has never been something that has inspired inner peace in me.
Theo and Kit are so endearing and agonizing over each other that you can’t help but root for them. I was so relieved to finally get to Kit’s point of view mid-book, if only because I wanted to finally have the other version of some events, but also because I needed a relief from Theo’s angst. Kit was deeply poetic and caring, he surprised me often and I felt the two halves gave us such a moving picture of their relationship.
I had also not expected the spicy scenes to be this hot, but they absolutely were. Theo and Kit’s connection and tension was incredible.
The author handled the topics of gender identities, life changes and personal growth in a considerate and just way, which made this into a book that I cannot help but recommend.

This was a deligthfully atmospheric novel that made me feel like I was travelling with Kit and Theo through these idyllic locations. It also made me very hungry.

But of course, the element of this book that stands out the most is of course the relationship between our main characters. They have such a strong history and unique connection that you can't help but root for them and yell at them when they make bad choices. (Which, they do. Communication is not their strong suit.)

In short, Casey McQuiston never disappoints.

Thanks to NetGalley for my review copy!

POSSIBLE SPOILERS:

And so I kiss her.
I kiss Theo because I’m in love with her. I always have been. I always will be.

Bisexual exes who are slutty, love food, drink, sex and more sex, who still love each other even after four years apart, what’s not to love?

I absolutely adore Theo and Kit.

Theo’s big personality and big thoughts were so endearing. From the beginning they stole my heart. You truly come to understand them as a person by the end of the book and I’m happy they found their one thing.

Kit’s poetic thoughts and feelings grab your attention so fast in his chapters, especially when he grabs passages from Rilke. My favourites were:
Rilke wrote, “Even your not being there is warm with you.”
Rilke wrote, “How will I keep my soul from touching yours?”
Because they best described how he was feeling at different points in them four years without Theo.

The different places you travel on this trip with them is written so well you feel like you could also be a passenger on the trip (I wish). The descriptions of the food, drinks and monuments paint a truly beautiful picture in your mind. Also, the side characters, you can’t forget the side characters, I loved them all but I also fell victim to Fabrizio. He’s such a delightful character.

There is so much feeling in Casey’s writing and their work has only gotten better. The love that was poured into Theo and Kit’s story is so present and I enjoyed it all the more. Also, just their writing overall, it really takes you on a journey of discovery and I loved every minute of this book.

I really really wanted to love this! Casey is such an incredible author and I’ve adored all their other books. But this just did not do it for me, and l am so sad to say that!
It wasn’t bad, I have to say. I generally enjoyed it. There just wasn’t anything special.
I read another review (soz for definitely stealing but these two words stuck out to me and can’t not use them!) that described the characters and situations as vapid and pointless and that is exactly what they were.
Every single person was rich and hot and eager to sleep with both Kit and Theo. Okay fair yeah some people would be fine. But every single person they meet??? No.
I just could not connect to either Theo or Kit, and bisexual people having a life crisis is usually my jam. I think it felt a bit like ooh rich kids with all these pointless problems, and honestly that’s normally fine as it’s fiction, but omg it was almost mind numbing once the thought occurred to me. I did like both of them to some degree, but not enough.
I loved the food and travel descriptions! It occasionally started to lean into the side of pretentious but it’s probably going to when it’s a weeks long food and wine tour of Europe (ie basically just France Italy and Spain okay).
I can see a lot of people loving this. It does have Casey’s spark of charm that finds its way into all their writing. I am just sad and disappointed.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing the earc

THIS WAS SUCH AN AMAZING READ!! I wasn't aware at first but my city is one of the tour stops and the descriptions are so freaking accurate, especially when talking about a 100 year old amusement park. All the food talk made my mouth water, it added a new layer to the trip and I'm definitely having a Gilda soon
I adored both Theo and Kit since the first page, their struggles felt familiar and I felt for both of them, i loved their banter. As someone who has loved all other Casey Mcquiston novels & humor, I knew i would like it but this one, this one is definitely the one that has made laugh the most.
Definitely recommend picking it up, Kit and Theo's trip if one to keep an eye on.