Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this e-arc!

I wanted to love this so much but I think it was the set up of it. I felt like it took a very long time for them to get back together because you could just tell it was going to happen but for so long it just seem physical and kissing the past and not getting to know each other again.

I felt like it could’ve been shorter than it was by 50-100 pages.

It was okay and I did enjoy some parts but I feel it was definitely dragged out

A heartfelt and romantic second chance romance following Theo and Kit as they take a journey through the cities of Europe on a food and wine tour and try to convince themselves that they’re definitely over each other.

I loved how this story was told from both povs, however unlike most books the povs didn’t alternate and instead each of the two protagonists got a chunk of the book with Theo starting the story and Kit taking the second half.

If you love a romantic, swoony book with a cast of great supporting characters then I highly recommend McQuiston’s latest!

🍷 second chance
🍷 non binary and bisexual main characters
🍷 road trip
🍷 there was only one bed
🍷 dual pov
🍷 so much pining

This book was filled with everything that I wanted and expected. It did not disappoint. Great relationships, well developed characters, good food, good wine and amazing locations. I wanted to book a tour of Europe straight after reading this. I laughed, I cried and kicked my feet with happiness.

"The Pairing" is a deliciously stunning read that will leave you craving more. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone in search of a heartwarming romance filled with laughter, love, and plenty of delicious treats. Trust me, you won't be able to resist falling head over heels for Theo and Kit's enchanting journey.

Thank you #netgalley for the eARC in return for an honest review.

Four years after Theo and Kit broke up on a flight to the UK for a European food tour, they find themselves on that tour together and have to endure being in each others company.

Sexy food, sexy scenery, sexy people.
Every mention of food made me hungry for tasty European goods. Closest I'm going to get at the moment is a pain au chocolat from Lidl, but that will do.
I was routing for Theo and Kit the whole way through. Their cheeky friendship and competition was something I can imagine some people thinking up. The perspective flip halfway through made it heartwarming and the ending rather predictable and cheesy, but sometimes you need that in a book!
I read a 1 star review the other day which said it was unrealistic. I'm pretty sure this isn't meant to be a realistic portrayal of a food tour? It's escapism, pure hedonistic, beautiful, glorious escapism and I am totally here for it.

I very much love everything Casey McQuiston touches and this is no different. What a delight to find an author who continuously writes such great books!

**2.5 Stars**

I have SUCH mixed feelings about this one, I think I did like it a little more than I kissed Shara Wheeler, but I do think it's time I admit that Casey McQuinston has fallen off for me. I enjoyed RWRB and I LOVED One Last Stop but these last two releases have just been meh to me.

The first half of this book was harder to get through than the second, I just didn't vibe with being in Theo's head, they were just a little bit insufferable and idk I do understand being a nepo baby has it's difficulties but the woe is me thing got a bit much. However, once the book shifted to Kit's Pov it vastly improved, it was kinda crazy how different Kit was to how Theo perceived him and I liked being in his head much more. So perhaps alternating chapters would have worked better?

The whole miscommunication was silly and the plot ended up being pretty predictable.

However, I think my biggest issue is probably 'travel writing'. There were times when I enjoyed it because it did conjure a vivid picture of France, Spain and Italy but it ended up feeling like 60% of every chapter was just flowery descriptions of the locations, foods etc and It honestly gave me the vibe of when you're friend comes back from overseas gives these over the top recollections of their trip for the next decade. It just felt like it took up wayy too much space in the book.

All in all, I think a lot of people will love this book, it's definitely not objectively bad - it just really wasn't for me.

Thank you to Netgally and Pan Macmillan for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly, I can't decide if the travel tour in this sounds amazing because you go so many places or like hell because you're in a different bed every night 😅

This is...OK. I think an alternating pov throughout would have made the characters more likeable, I couldn't stand either of them.

The tour seemed to drag but the cast of background characters was great and I liked the calm and realistic way Theo's gender journey was written.

The Pairing is an exquisite sumptuous feast of a book. I cackled out loud, I wept, I wanted to sweep all of th characters up in a massive hug. It was a visceral experience of a book that made me feel hungry and sunburnt in the best way.
Put simply, I adored it. It is their best work, and I say that as someone who adores all of their books.
This is a delicious treat of a novel that absolutely wrecked me, and I will be pushing it gently into people's faces the moment it is a released and demanding they read it immediately.

Prepare to be swept off your feet and taken on a rollercoaster ride of emotions with "The Pairing" by Casey McQuiston. This book is an absolute gem, filled to the brim with humor, sensuality, and an abundance of pop culture references that will leave you grinning from ear to ear.

I loved this book! I truly felt the indulgence of a European summer trip. The characters, as usual with Casey Mcquiston books, really jumped off the page, and I would love to read more about the main and side characters. I also laughed out loud with the humor.
The romance was lovely, even though the ending and some parts of the plot were predictable and the middle became a bit anti climatic.
Also, the formatting for Kindle devices was all wrong. There were random paragraph breaks in the middle of sentences and I couldn’t see the beautiful art at the beginning of each chapter (I could see it from the NetGalley app).
Overall a great read! But it needs to have the format fixed for future e-book readers.

Welcome to the sluttiest food and wine tour of the summer! I have been a long time fan of Casey Mcquiston's works and The Pairing is no exception. This book is the perfect summer romance, full of wit and charm and journey to self discovery.

I adored everything from the setting, the rich history of each stop of the tour and the explosive flavours - I’m not a wine drinker but I never craved a glass of wine as much as I do now. The way Casey described everything from the food, flavours and scents made me feel like I was a part of this tour. Every sentence of this book was full of passion and emotions - and was also very gay & slutty!

I am utterly obsessed with both Kit and Theo, I thoroughly enjoyed getting both of their POV’s. First half we start off with Theo’s POV, their utterly witty mind and the second half we get Kits, sweet and so deeply romantic (and slightly tragic). These characters felt so easy to love & seeing them learn to love eachother again was pure magic! PLUS one of the best ensemble of side characters, each character had so much depth and personality, it was fantastic.

I always say I am not a fan of second chance romances but I think my mind has been swayed, after seeing these two characters rediscover their passions for art, food, wine and each other. It was a love letter to identity and gender.

If you read one book this summer, please make it this one!!

The first book that have really struggled with, I just couldn't connect with this book. I managed 30% before I started feeling like I wanted to skip chapters. I was getting really frustrated with Theo as a character, they were so flat, unrealistic and I was completely unable to connect to them. Kit was my favourite character throughout and I like that the book was also told from his perspective it round the characters out a bit more, rather than just seeing them from Theos perspective. The plot or lack of really was pointless, and felt really undeveloped, like the main focus was to include as much information on food and drink and their pairings, which was a cute nod to the books title and chapter titles, and also was quite educational and easy to envision in places. I hadn't completely finished the book but I predicted that after the competition both MCs get back together because they had a suddenly realisation to how much they mean to each other, and was not surprised when this happened, although the epilogue was really cute and I loved how all the characters throughout had met up. Overall I'm sorry but this is my least favourite book by Casey, and I am so disappointed as it breaks my heart to say that, this book was just lacking in comparison to their other work.

If you aren’t interested in travel, food or wine, then I would probs skip this book… Theo and Kit broke up before going on a pre-paid European tour, accepting vouchers to take the holliday at a later date. Of course they end up booking onto the tour at the same time unknowingly, four years after they broke up.
The whole story is pretty boujee, like they’re portrayed as having little money but who the hell can afford this and get the time off work? I’m outrageously jealous of all the food and wine they tried. Plus, any book that references the Lizzie McGuire movie is a winner for me 🫶🏻
The book started off from Theo’s POV, which frustrated me pretty quickly. I wouldn’t say for any reason other than I hate miscommunication tropes and that’s a big part of this plot ; why doesn’t anyone voice their feelings???? The book swaps to Kit’s POV at a pretty important plot point (their first reconciliatory kiss), at which point we get thrown back into the past BUT when it returns to present day, the kiss isn’t mentioned? 
The insight into their romance before was minimal, which meant there was little to root for? The throwbacks we do glimpse are arguments, which for a pair that have known each other since childhood, was just kinda sad. I wanted to see them back together, but I didn’t feel connected to their story because their actual break-up wasn’t explained until I was about 75% into the story.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC, this was such a summer read!

It is with a heavy heart I say this book was simply not my vibe. I am still of an age where I think tortellini and mascarpone saucefrom tesco and eclairs from the reduced section are the height of sophistication so I found it hard to find any common ground with this book.
It's not that I think I should be able to relate to every character I read about, but with this book there was not one single thing or interest I had in common with the characters.
I thought this book was very well written, decadent and seductive. I liked the fact that we got the story from the perspectives of Kit and Theo ... although I did enjoy one more than the other.

The Pairing was just not for me, sadly, but I do think a lot of people will enjoy this.

Can't beleive I got to read the new Casey McQuiston early!! Beyond thankful to Pan Macmillan for approving my request 🥰
I loved it so much. I haven't read that many books with non-binary rep, and Casey McQuiston did such an amazing job with Theo.
The second chance romance was so well done, It was really interesting that we get to see Theo's perspective of the break-up and what follows - all that heartbreak, and anger and thinking Kit didn't care that much about them. And then switching to Kit's and getting a more clear picture of what happened, it kind of broke my heart to read how much they missed Theo.
It was such a good story, I loved the slow build up to the reconciliation, I savoured it, they way Theo and Kit savoured all that amazing food!!
And I gotta say, the way Theo's and Kit's attraction to people is decribed is so refreshing and charming. Its just so full enjoyment and admiration for the beauty they see in others.
That part when they both think they're about to hook up with Fabrizio, to then have his wife opening the door, AND inmidiatly switching gears to 'she's really HOT' and they'll both be willing to entertain the idea of hooking up with hervas well, that killed me!😂
I've never laughed that much.

This is definitely my favourite Casey McQuiston novel!
Theo is instantly such an enigmatic character and I was drawn into their narration immediately. The story is cliche, flowery and cheesy, but the way it is written Almost makes you gloss over it (almost) and turns it into a heated rollercoaster of a romance and I loved it.
McQuiston knows their characters and always has done, but Theo and Kit feel especially well created.
Theo narrates the first half in their perspective whilst Kit narrates the second through his, both have a unique character voice and are fun to read and draw you in.
As I said, it’s cheesy, so the ending was expected, but it didn’t make it any less romantic! I honestly just adored the characters, from Theo and Kit to the background characters we meet once or twice.
McQuiston has written a great, queer romance.


Thank you to Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for the ARC!

I really enjoyed the tour through Europe and listening to the food, drink and culture talk. I've visited a few of the places mentioned so it was nice to almost be back. I thought Theo and Kit were amazing as separate characters and I did love the ending but I just didn't overly enjoy the competition side of it.
Casey is an incredibly talented author and the representation in their books is incredible but I just preferred some of their other works and that's okay! I just know some people will absolutely eat this up.

This book was a creative whirlwind and i loved every second! From complex family dynamics to past mistakes and emotional development, its pages contain a love story for the ages that is tasteful and descriptive and leaves you feeling like your travelling Europe and experiencing the fragrant flavours of its pairings right alongside Kit and Theo. As with all of Casey's books, it had amazing queer rep with bisexual representation as well as nonbinary/trans representation too within our two main characters.

Filled with culture, it has some beautiful references to Rilke's poetry, which were beautiful and earnestly yearning for love. Additionally the comparing love to art truly left me breathless and my heart thrumming with feelings . The love in this is so true, although it takes a journey the way Kit loves Theo for all that they are is truly heartwarming and I adored following their journey and their love towards one another redeveloping.

Flavourful and enchanting this is the perfect read for anyone want an adventurous and tasteful romance that brings a perfect pairing back together. Perfectly researched, it was not only enchanting but made you feel like you were there seeing the sights too and combined with so much culture it kept me perfectly engaged. The way this ends left it perfectly open for potential short stories in future and honestly made me happy cry but thats all I can say without spoiling it.

A bit more adult than Caseys previous writings it has some pretty descriptive spicy scenes but honestly theyre artfully written and enjoyable so if this sounds up your alley I would aggressively recommend you pick it up sooner rather than later.

McQuiston’s past two novels have unfortunately fallen flat for me. Their first two works, Red White & Royal Blue and One Last Stop were both five star reads for me, but this and I Kissed Shara Wheeler have scraped by with a three star rating. The setting for their more recent book, The Pairing, was enthralling and sensual, filled with lusty imagery and glittering seas — if only the characters could be the same. Halfway through the book there is a perspective switch from Theo to Kit, and truthfully, there is barely a difference in the two characters. They truly blend into one another, which, granted, could be intentional, as the plot heavily revolves around their reconciliation and likeness, but their traits as people just did not work well enough to hold a story on its own. We get glimpses of interesting family characters, such as siblings, only for them to remain rather one dimensional and truly there just to move the plot along an insubstantial amount, which is unfortunate. All of the secondary characters fell victim to the same issues, they just did not feel like people in their own right, which is an important factor in a character driven novel. The imagery really saves the book, but sometimes a little more is needed.