The Pairing: Special 1st Edition

> End: First, I loved it. Every second of it - every line and every (amazing) word pairing. I loved the fact that I now want to tour Europe with strangers on a bus with a backpack (I absolutely would hate this). I want to have unabashed queer love of all kinds paired with beautiful foods and drinks (okay that part I'd love). & I want to sink into the love story where you let yourself be vulnerable and paired with sea-crusty hair and sunkissed vine ripe grapes, plump for wine.

The way the story wound around itself and surprised you, while holding love safe and painfully right out of reach kept me thinking of Theo and Kit each time I sat the book down. The tender, beautiful but also matter of fact way queer humans were represented brought me joy. And the depth of the love shared. The dreams found.

Ugh I wish it wasn't over but I'm so happy with how it ended. Love.

Page 232: I have highlighted so many things my fingers are tired. This is a beautiful story.

Page 203: I am realizing this book is going to break my heart while also making me think I'm the type of person who can now wear linen shirts and stay in hostels as I tour Europe. Did I eat my airplane cheese "plate" tonight and imagine I was sharing cheese and cherries and lavender honey on a beach before skinny dipping. Yes. Yes I did. This is who I am now. >

Thank you St Martins Press and Netgalley for this eARC, these opinions are my own. Adored! Theo and Kit were long time friends who had been in love since the beginning. Then they became a couple and everything was great. That is until they decide to go on a food and wine tour in Europe. They fight on the plane from America and Kit walks away from Theo. Theo assumes that they broken up when Kit doesn’t return. Kit makes his own assumptions about that day as well. Now it’s 4 years later and they haven’t seen or spoken to each other since. Theo decides to do the tour before the tickets expire but they’re not the only one who has that decision. Now faced with Kit for 3 weeks how will they survive? Especially if they’re still in love with him? To make things easier and get them back into a friendship mode Theo suggests that they have a sex competition, see who had have sex in each stop on the tour? Both do well in the sex department so it should be an interesting competition. But the more time they spend together eating delicious food and drinking great wine and other concoctions the more they remember the familiarity of each other. Who will win the competition? Can they heal from their past hurts? And what happens if the memory of what was and the growth of both of them develops into more? I love the way Casey McQuiston tells this story! A dual pov but half the book is told from one perspective and the other have is told from another! Readers become familiar with one voice but yearn to know what’s going through the head of the other voice! It’ll have you consuming it quickly! I also love the slow burn aspect! It’s interesting because you have two characters that are so familiar with each other but have also changed and they slowly relearn one another! A slow burn with a warm and familiar feel! Also if you love food and wine you’ll love the details in this book! Plus the beautiful details of French, Spanish, and Italian places! The imagery is fantastic! And if you like spicy romance you’ll love the depictions in this one! All the charm and warmth of two people whose love is engrained into their souls mixed with the fear and anxiety of being hurt and hurting one another! If you’re like me Kit and Theo will leave you swooning! Highly recommend for those who love slow burn & second chance romances!

I have loved all of Casey McQuiston’s books to date, so I was so excited to get a review copy of their newest book. It does not disappoint!

The setting was amazing. It made me so envious! And so hungry! I want to do the same food & wine tour through France, Spain, and Italy. But only if Kit and Theo and their fellow travelers can join me.

I loved the two main characters so much. They were so cool, but also so real as they traveled through Europe, working through their issues while sampling the best local cuisine and culture. I loved the frank discussions of gender and sexuality. This book actually helped me understand more about what being bisexual and nonbinary means.

The romance was a slow burn with lots of tension and plenty of spice. But there was also so much emotion. Their relationship was just beautiful.

I loved this book so much and the sprayed edges are gorgeous!

🦇 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

💬 Quotes ❝ The problem is, we’ve only ever been everything or nothing to each other. I don’t know how to start being something to him. ❞ ❝ It’s not just that I want him. It’s that he taught me what wanting was. ❞ ❝ I wonder if anyone else in the whole blackberry-jam galaxy has ever loved someone so much that it made their soul feel fixed in their body. ❞ ❝ An expression of delighted awe dawns on Theo’s face, and in it I see layer after layer, old self after intermediate self after current self, the Theo I met as a child and the Theo I got to call mine and the Theo who fills her own body. They’re all here, hanging in the air, harmonizing with one another. Maybe they’re always here. Maybe she feels so familiar and so new to me now because I’d heard the beginning note but not the completed chord. I knew her before her arches had points, before the paint to finish her had been invented. What a wonder, what a miracle: somehow, more of her. ❞ ❝ My favorite parts of me are the ones that Theo brings out, the ones that grew to match theirs. ❞ ❝ I could love that ongoing, extant Theo again. There’s so much romance in that, so much beauty in learning how much my heart can endure. Sometimes I think the only way to keep something forever is to lose it and let it haunt you. ❞ ❝ If I can give my whole heart to love without fearing the cost, I will regret nothing. ❞

This book made me laugh, cry, get turned on, and feel breathtaking heart ache and love - all within a paragraph. It made me want to enter even the most repetitive and mundane experiences in my life with the wonderment of experiencing it for the first time. Im in love with theo and kit. The way casey poetically describes gender and sexuality in such a beautiful way was so validating and made me giddy. It was also so slutty and im obsessed. Chaotic bisexuals for the win.

Let me be very clear, I will read whatever Casey McQuiston writes- books, restaurant reviews, grocery lists... I was thrilled to receive this ARC. I'm a huge fan of McQusiton's work, and The Pairing is no exception. The Pairing follows Kit and Theo, former partners who find themselves on the same food and wine tour of Europe. Their travels together are full of food, humor, and sex.

McQuiston made me want to book a trip to Europe immediately, their descriptions of the various sites, food, and drink were rich and detailed. I also enjoyed how McQuiston switched viewpoints halfway through the story, we see the first half through Theo's perspective, and the second half through Kit's perspective. I found the half-point switch to be a unique and very effective story telling device.

The Pairing is a summer story, a second chance romance, an ode to food and wine and travel and love.

Theo and Kit have been friends since childhood--a friendship that grew into love, romance, a relationship. A relationship that abruptly ended on a plane on the way to their dream vacation, a food and wine tour in France, Italy and Spain. Four years later they're somehow on the same trip, having used their vouchers before they expire, and find themselves thrown into each other's orbit, seat-mates on the bus from the very first day.

How do they navigate the feelings that simmer below the surface-- the anger, the longing, the yearning, the confusion, the attraction? Avoidance is a challenge, ignoring each other nearly impossible. So they declare a truce of sorts, diverting their brewing tension into a competition that brings them even closer to each other as the trip progresses.

The first person narrative is engaging, intense, and very personal. Whose version is the accurate one of this story? Of these memories?

Theo and Kit are layered characters, characters who slowly unwind the tightly controlled layers of themselves as they spend more and more time together. They're challenging, flawed, messy, entrancing, vivid. We learn— and they learn— so much about each other as they traverse the big cities, the small towns, the stunning vistas, glorious art, heady wine and spirits, and mouth-watering culinary treasures.

I couldn't help googling art, locations, food, while I was reading this book. There is such a lush richness that imbues the book. It's a meal itself, in courses, with a story that lingers long after you close the book.

The romance sizzles. It's such a deep exploration of self, of love, of happiness, of contentment, of vulnerability. All with a backdrop of such richness, a vivid background that dazzles and envelops the characters, allowing them to expand and grow as the story progresses.

Such a rich and satisfying book. Lush, layered, vivid. Definitely a happy ever after and a visual, sensual, emotional journey.

I so want to travel after reading this!

My thanks for the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC. This is my honest opinion.

i will admit the first half of the book was very slow for me, which made me sad because Casey Mcquiston is an auto-buy author for me. i will literally read anything they write.

the way Casey switched povs was also confusing and it took me a moment to realize who’s thoughts i was reading. 😭 i really loved how the conversation of Theo’s identity was written, and i definitely cried a couple times throughout the book.

overall, i’m rating this 4 stars because even though Theo’s pov was basically insufferable for me, Kit’s pov made up for it. 💕

This book was everything I was pretty much expecting it to be. It was an enjoyable, romantic read. I think this book delivered exactly the way it promised to. The characters were both interesting to follow, and the romance was unique and full of life.

I really enjoyed Kit's character. He honestly is the real MVP in this book. The switch to his POV halfway through was a twist I wasn't expecting, but I enjoyed it. And I think Kit's POV is what really redeemed this book for me. Theo was interesting. I didn't find myself as invested in their POV throughout the first half of this book. I found it at times hard to relate to their struggles especially with the whole NEPO baby thing. But overall, I liked both characters. Kit was just a little more of an enjoyable MC. I thought the emotions really came through the best in the second half. The pacing also took awhile to click for me. I do think the plot worked for the most part, and I enjoyed most of it. Like I said, I really only struggled to get into it in that first 30%.

This book made me long for a European summer vacation so bad though! Honestly just all the wine and food sounded so delicious. Overall, this book was fun and enjoyable. I think this book is definitely worth the read. Perfect way to end the summer vacay!

Rating: 4.5/5

The Pairing by Casey McQuiston Narrators: Emma Galvin; Max Meyers

Rating: 3 stars Pub date: 8/6

I need to start by saying that I love Casey McQuiston and that Red, White, and Royal Blue is one of my favorite romances of all time. The Pairing is one of my most anticipated reads of 2024, but unfortunately, it fell flat for me.

In The Pairing, Casey McQuiston takes readers on a bumpy ride through a European food and wine tour, where exes Theo and Kit unexpectedly reunite. Despite a messy breakup, they find themselves trying to mend their friendship by competing in a hookup contest to prove they're over each other. But as they travel through stunning cities and savor delicious cuisines, it's clear their feelings are anything but resolved.

The book sets up an enticing premise that I could not wait to dive into: a hookup competition between exes who are still pining for one another…in Europe?! That sounds great, right? Unfortunately, the story ends up being a whirlwind of superficial experiences, with the characters hopping from one meaningless hookup to the next while claiming to still be in love with each other. My poor romantic heart just couldn’t take it.

And while I laughed out loud a few times at Theo's antics, the portrayal of Europe as a utopia for young, beautiful people ready to party feels a bit over the top and unrealistic. Everywhere Theo and Kit go, there’s someone there who’s willing to sleep with them. Also, while the food sounds delicious, the whole first half of the book is about eating, drinking, and hooking up with strangers. That’s it, in that order. There’s very little substance to Theo’s character, and I found them to be a bit insufferable most of the time.

The second half switches to Kit’s POV, and I enjoyed his character a lot more. Unfortunately, the romance lacks the emotional depth that I expected. For a second chance romance to work, there has to be some on-page conversations about the past relationship and why it didn’t work, etc. Most of the relationship’s history and feelings happen off-page, making it hard to root for these two and connect with their love story. While the idea of a second-chance romance is appealing, the lack of meaningful moments makes it fall flat. This book is getting great reviews, so you should still check it out and form your own opinion!

Read if you like: *snappy one-liners *bisexual representation *books about food and travel