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.
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First of all amazing title. The Pairing means so much more as you get to know our favorite almost sommelier and each chapter has a pairing with the city!! This is a beautiful tribute to euro trips and now I want to go on a food tour real bad. Atmosphere on this one was top notch.
Character development between the two leads felt earned and real. I really loved the full backstory of Theo and Kit, I could tell there was a lot of thought put in to how their relationship would develop throughout the years. The POV switch happened at just the right time. Also really liked the exploration of gender and sexuality- the part where they were wearing the same outfit was just *chefs kiss*.
Overall I enjoyed the process of watching these two eat and sleep their way through Europe. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.
4.25
The original miscommunication felt like it was done with purpose, but the miscommunications that followed were a bit frustrating. I almost thought we were going to get a La La Land type ending, but it went for more HEA which, while fun, felt like it lacked the depth the rest of the book had.
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