Author: Casey McQuiston
Year published: 2024
Category: Adult fiction (Queer romance)
Pages: 432 pages
Rating: 4 out of 5
Location: (my 2024 Google Reading map): USA (CA, NY), France, Spain, Italy, Monaco
Summary: 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.
Review: I've read two previous Casey McQuiston novels: I've read Red, White, and Royal Blue and One Last Stop (links are to my reviews). Past loves and a trip across Europe? How can that not be a good romance?!
So this book is about two long-time friends who got together, broke up and are now forced to spend time together. They are obviously interested in each other, but are too afraid to admit it. Instead they are having sex with as many people as possible and telling each other about it. It is graphic and often. This novel is a sex romp.
However, it is also more than that. Theodora and Kit are both queer and the author shows how that plays out, they talk about it (in particular the use of "they" as Theo's pronoun). No one is struggling with issues, there's no prejudice, it's just who they are and that is nice to read.
The other main theme of the book is the pairings: the main characters are foodies (personally and professionally) so there is a lot of talk of wine, food, and pastries. They discuss their meals at length, what each wine smells like, tastes like, do they go together, etc. At times it was a bit much for me, but that's because I don't drink wine and am not a foodie. It certainly doesn't distract from the story.
Challenges for which this counts:
- Big Book of Summer--432 pages
- Literary Escapes--France, Spain, and Monaco
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