Longtime best friends and more recent lovers Theodora (Theo) and Kit have a massive falling-out just as they’re supposed to be embarking on a food lovers tour of Europe. Four years later, the two --- who were once inseparable --- haven’t spoken in years.

Kit, who was born in France but grew up in southern California alongside Theo, has returned to France and graduated from patisserie school (where his primary extracurricular was sleeping with half of his pastry school classmates). Theo, the oldest child in a family of actors and filmmakers, has no interest in show business; like Kit, his passion is in the culinary arts. But Theo has failed the grueling sommelier exam three times, and the super-cute bus they rehabbed to serve as a mobile cocktail bar at events is not even close to breaking even, no matter how Instagrammable it is.

"I wouldn’t be surprised if more than one reader made plans to embark on their own voyage of culinary (and carnal?) exploration through Europe after enjoying the sensuous travelogue of THE PAIRING."

Kit and Theo realize independently that the vouchers they each received as compensation for their canceled tour are about to expire. But they never expected to book the very same tour, and they are more than a little miffed to find themselves sitting next to one another on the bus on the very first leg of the trip. Making things even more awkward, virtually everyone on the tour appears to be in some kind of couple situation --- except for them, where the only thing they are to one another is exes.

But love (or at least lust) is in the air for them, too, and so they craft a friendly competition for themselves. Inspired by the handsome tour guide who flirts shamelessly with both of them, they challenge one another to bed as many locals as possible along their route. As they travel from London to Paris and then to the south of France and Spain, at first the bet seems to be all in good fun. But as they start to spend more time together and fall back into their easy camaraderie, their sexual exploits soon feel vindictive, and then a little pointless, as they truly only have eyes for one another (with the possible exception of the occasional threesome).

Readers who are familiar with Casey McQuiston’s young adult novels should be aware that this one is very adult indeed, with steamy scenes sprinkled throughout. But her YA fiction has gained a deserved reputation for inclusivity, and THE PAIRING is no exception. Both Kit and Theo are attracted to lovers of more than one gender, and during the course of the book, Theo comes out to Kit as nonbinary. Many readers of mainstream fiction will not have encountered this kind of romance before. It’s refreshing to see this love affair blossom in the context of what could have been a fairly traditional framing story --- a second-chance romance that unfurls during a foodie tour of Europe.

Kit and Theo’s characters are delightful both together and on their own. Readers may feel a bit more kinship to Theo, whose voice narrates the book’s first half, with Kit taking the reins for the second half. The two have an easy, sexy banter, and their compatibility is clear in verbal games like “on the fly,” in which they challenge one another to make up a cocktail recipe based on an ingredient in a newly invented food recipe, and vice versa.

Speaking of which, perhaps unsurprisingly, given the setting and the passions of its main characters, the descriptions of various foods and drinks throughout the novel are succulent in the extreme. I wouldn’t be surprised if more than one reader made plans to embark on their own voyage of culinary (and carnal?) exploration through Europe after enjoying the sensuous travelogue of THE PAIRING.