The Pairing

Long-listed, Barnes and Noble Best New Books of the Year, 2024

Long-listed, NPR Best Book of the Year, 2024

New York Times Book Review Notable Books of the Year, 2024

Long-listed, Esquire Magazine Best Books of the Year, 2024

"The Pairing is just a delight, thanks to both Galvin’s and Meyers’s game narration—whether in Italian and French accents or in the bedroom."—Vulture

"Emma Galvin is an appealing anchor for the performance while Max Meyers brings emotional depth as the two find their way back to love."—AudioFile

This program features special appearances by the author at the beginning of each chapter.

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.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.