The Pairing
Ratings5
Average rating3.9
15
Ratings5
Average rating3.9
In #1 New York Times bestselling author Casey McQuiston's latest romantic comedy, two bisexual exes accidentally book the same European food and wine tour and challenge each other to a hookup competition to prove they're over each other—except they're definitely not. 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. Time apart has done them good. Theo has found confidence as a hustling bartender by night and aspiring sommelier by day, with a long roster of casual lovers. Kit, who never returned to America, graduated as the reigning sex god of his pastry school class and now bakes at one of the finest restaurants in Paris. Sure, nothing really compares to what they had, and life stretches out long and lonely ahead of them, but—yeah. It's in the past. 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. Four years later, it seems like a great idea to finally take the trip. Solo. Separately. 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. It's fine. There's nothing left between them. So much nothing that, when Theo suggests a friendly wager to see who can sleep with their hot Italian tour guide first, Kit is totally game. And why stop there? Why not a full-on European hookup competition? But sometimes a taste of everything only makes you crave what you can't have.
Reviews with the most likes.
Even though I couldn't relate to these characters, I liked reading this story a lot. Kit and Theo are fully developed as characters individually, making my desire to root for them stronger. This is basically a second chance romance where these two childhood friends reconnect after a falling out. Now, was this falling out completely centered around miscommunication? Yes. But did it diminish my enjoyment of seeing them come back together? Absolutely not.
I read this as an audiobook and really enjoyed both narrators on top of the small sections of music tha accompanied each of the pairings. I can't comment on how good the pronunciation is of the French and Italian words, but the Spanish was quite good. I'll admit when someone goes too hard on the pronunciation of foreign words when speaking English, I do cringe a little bit, but that could just be a me thing. Nonetheless, I am so happy I read this as an audiobook! I had already preordered the physical book, but the audiobook is a great way to go for this story.
Theo and Kit definitely tasted a lot of wine, food, and local residents during this tour, making reading this book an experience that you feel with more than one sense. There were a lot of sex scenes, but they are all affective at being hot. I loved seeing these two bi icons whore around Europe while falling back in love with each other! It was funny, sexy, and understatedly sweet!
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advance copy of this audiobook.
