It’s simple: Noah Peterson and I are enemies. Our fellow teachers know it, our friends know it—even the Starbucks drive-through lady knows it since every Monday she scrawls the name A. Hole for me on Noah’s cappuccino when I pick up the weekly group order.

The shrill whine of the school bell announces the start of each day’s no-holds-barred grudge match. Since neither of us is looking to get fired or thrown in prison, we war with our words and our wits. We prefer banter that bites. All day, I’m on edge, looking around every corner, expecting him to do his worst. Just when I think I can’t take the sight of his (regretfully) handsome face for one more minute, the school day is done.

Summer usually offers the sweetest relief—a two-month Noah detox—but not this year.

“We need two volunteers to chaperone a group of eighth graders in Rome” becomes a game of chicken neither one of us is willing to lose. We both want that bonus check.

“Back out,” I tell him.
“Scared?” he taunts.

No one thinks it’s a good idea for us to go to Rome together, least of all me. Taking this battle abroad will only lead to mayhem and misery.

DING. Ladies and gentlemen of flight UA447 with service to Rome, fasten your seatbelts.
We’re bound to have a bumpy ride.

I discovered R.S. Grey last year when I fell in love with Hotshot Doc. Since then, I’ve been gobbling up all of her books and she just keeps knocking it out of the park! And it’s honestly like she heard my cries for a travel romance, because Enemies Abroad takes place in Rome, Italy. I think I’m officially an R.S. Grey fangirl for life. Each and every time I read a book of hers, I find a new favorite. As always, my main points are bolded.

1. Ah, Italy. I loved my vacation in Italy, visiting all the typical tourist sites, getting gelato and pasta, and learning historical and cultural tidbits. This class trip includes a lot of fun day trips shopping, going to the beach, and sightseeing. There’s also a lot of time while the kids are in class and Audrey has time off to read, visit cafes, explore the area around the school (it’s a mansion with classrooms and dormitory-style living quarters). She even has a little thing with one of the Italian teachers for a bit, and we get to follow her on morning coffee dates. It felt very slice-of-life for me, and I loved it.

2. I loved both Audrey and Noah, and I loved them together. They are both 8th grade teachers with neighboring classrooms who both end up chaperoning a group of, I believe it is 10, students in Rome for 3 weeks. This is a daunting task for two adults who don’t exactly like each other, but I really think they’re just pretending. Audrey is funny, a little anxious, and such a kind and sweet person. She seems like such a caring teacher, and I would have loved to have been in her class. Noah is this big sexy man with a huge heart and a little snarky. I also loved the supporting characters. Their principal and some of the other teachers at the school they teach at in the States are so friendly and supportive. There’s a group of students and chaperones from a fancy New York prep school that are also in Rome for this study abroad trip, and I liked both of them. Lorenzo, the Italian teacher who is basically their ambassador and plans out their studies and activities, is also really fun. I liked all the kids (well, not the prep school kids as much), which surprised me. I don’t love kids in romance novels, but Audrey and Noah have some sweet students and I liked their attempts at matchmaking and their silly gossiping.

3. It can be hard to write an enemies to lovers plotline that doesn’t make the reader want to strangle one or both of the love interests by the halfway point of the story. Sometimes the bickering and undermining gets to be too much for me and I don’t enjoy reading the book anymore. That’s not the case here, thank goodness! The bickering is very thinly laid over major pining and flirting and real feelings. It was just enough to create that delicious push and pull that I love so much in romance novels. And boy, did I love it. The author never fully explains why Audrey and Noah “hate” each other, which I think it part of the fun. I don’t think either of them knows why either! They have some very flirty moments, combined with some very explosive outbursts and it was so much fun to watch them fall for each other. They are experts on each other because it takes work to hate a person! They know just what to do to push one another’s buttons, which also means they know exactly what the other person loves and cares about. This creates depth and realness to their romance once it begins. That fine line between love and hate is so perfectly explored in this book.

4. I feel like Enemies Abroad is less steamy than R.S. Grey’s other books, and I didn’t miss the extra steam at all. It’s practically fade to black, but not completely. And it makes sense! Audrey and Noah are required to be responsible, alert adults in charge of the welfare of these kids for at least 90% of the book (and they’re trying to keep this a secret), so it makes sense that their intimate moments are fleeting and far between. You don’t want a kid to knock on the door needing help when you’re in the middle of sexytimes. Instead of a bunch of sexy scenes we’re gifted with longing glances and more pining and soft brushes under the table or walking through the halls.

5. My only real complaint is that I would have loved it if Noah and Audrey had taken turns narrating the story. I wish I had been able to get into Noah’s head a bit more and see what he was thinking and feeling.

All in all, I LOVED Enemies Abroad. I loved flying off to Italy for a fun adventure, and I loved the unique story of rival teachers having to work together to keep a group of kids safe in a foreign country. The writing was wonderful, the humor made me giggle, and the romance made me swoon. What more can I ask for?