The Pairing

The Pairing
Casey McQuiston, 2024

Premise: Theo and Kit haven't seen each other in four years, since their epic lifelong-friendship-turned-relationship imploded. Somehow, they each separately decided to finally take the European food and wine tour they had canceled due to their breakup, and now they're stuck on a gorgeous three-week vacation together. In an effort to let bygones be bygones, they decide to try being friends again (and to compete to see who can hook up with more hot Europeans while on the tour). But maybe nothing compares to having just the right partner.

I'm not sure I loved this quite as much as I loved the frothy fun of Red, White, and Royal Blue or the paranormal adventure/history lesson of One Last Stop, but I did really, really like it. 

I liked both protagonists. Wine genius, pop-culture aficionado, and self-described fuckup Theo narrates the first half, and we see their insecurity and their determination. Pastry professional and art geek Kit takes over halfway through, displaying his own self-doubts and his optimism. In each other's eyes, we see their best qualities. They deeply admire each other's talents and each stifle their regret for losing their relationship. 

This could be annoyingly cliche, but McQuiston convinced me that Theo and Kit's relationship is so fundamental to each of their personalities and lives that they fit together in previously impossible ways. They earn their romance-movie happy ending. 

The writing is a delightful blend of the poetic and the profane that fits these characters and their relationship perfectly. One minute the mental narration is describing the glory of an extraordinary sight or taste or moment, and the next a character is making a crude sex joke. The deep dives into flavor, food, wine, and art just built the perfect lush environment for this very sexy story. 

Each character has a number of brief liaisons with other partners through the first half of the book, but not as many as I expected given the premise. It feels right for them; both are sex-positive queer folks having brief flings (while still painfully hung up on each other). 

Overall a fun, satisfying read.

4 Stars - A Very Good Book