The following review of The Pairing by Casey McQuiston contains some spoilers.

In Casey McQuiston’s new romance novel The Pairing, hedonism reigns supreme, and I’m here for it.

Theo and Kit — childhood best friends turned lovers turned exes — have spent the past few years trying to forget the magic they once shared. With several thousands of miles separating them (Theo as an aspiring sommelier in the Coachella Valley, Kit as a pastry chef in Paris), they’re not expecting to run into each other ever again…let alone to find themselves both still single (and still hot!) on the same food and wine tour through Europe, which is exactly what happens. To no one’s surprise, there’s still plenty of desire between them, but because they’re both trying to prove they’ve Moved On and are actually doing So Much Better, they agree to a hookup competition: Whoever sleeps with a local in the most cities wins.

Obviously, this goes about as terribly as you’d expect. Theo and Kit are trying to drown their feelings for each other in strangers’ bodies, and while the sex itself is fine, it only furthers the point they’d much rather be with each other.

And when they do finally have sex? It’s incredible. It’s thoughtful, it’s creative, it’s fucking hot. At one point, Theo and Kit fuck in an abandoned grotto in Florence, and it’s queer and trans sex at its finest, fueled by enduring love and set against a backdrop of cities that have existed for millennia.

The novel shifts perspective from Theo to Kit about halfway through, and soon after this transition, Theo shares they’re nonbinary. In an interview with Vulture, McQuiston says they’re “Trojan-horsing trans romance” for the majority of readers by introducing Theo’s gender more than halfway through the novel. But if you’re here, chances are you’ll pick up on the subtle hints of what’s within the horse well before that happens. I felt something familiar in the way that Theo both experienced the world and took up space within it (I’m sure the whole ‘aspiring somm’ thing didn’t hurt my ability to relate either), in a way that only a nonbinary writer writing a nonbinary character could do.

Unlike McQuiston’s previous romance novels (I Kissed Shara Wheeler, One Last Stop, and Red, White & Royal Blue), The Pairing brims with pleasure and sensual delight. I enjoyed their earlier novels, but The Pairing is different, more heady, more sensuous. Pleasure in the novel comes from all avenues, not just the sex scenes (which are FANTASTIC) but also in Kit and Theo’s endless pursuit of flavor. They both care deeply about their crafts: Theo takes Kit to a Corsican restaurant so that they can make a drink that evokes the memory of one of their clients’ trips to Corsica. Theo and Kit riff off of each other in a game of their own creation, borrowing ingredients from make-believe dishes to “Yes, and” their way to a menu I could only dream of. I devoured this book, and it left me so hungry for more.

The sensory stimulation flies off the page, with suggested pairings accompanying each city — naturally, it’s a beverage and a baked good. I want to reread the novel with the pairings in hand, because 1. The book is quite literally called “The Pairing”, 2. I love pairings, and 3. I think doing so will further emphasize the sense of place as McQuiston takes us throughout Europe. But the greatest pairing of all in The Pairing is one that doesn’t require any consumption beyond a voracious reader: Theo and Kit, and the way they’re able to complement the best parts of each other to create something truly special.

The Pairing by Casey McQuiston is out now.

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