Review for Gabriel’s Inferno

Title: Gabriel's Inferno
Author: Sylvain Reynard
Publication Date: April 18, 2011
Source: Bought
Summary (from Goodreads)


"Enigmatic and sexy, Professor Gabriel Emerson is a well respected Dante specialist by day, but by night he devotes himself to an uninhibited life of pleasure. He uses his notorious good looks and sophisticated charm to gratify his every whim, but is secretly tortured by his dark past and consumed by the profound belief that he is beyond all hope of redemption.

When the sweet and innocent Julia Mitchell enrolls as his graduate student, his attraction and mysterious connection to her not only jeopardizes his career, but sends him on a journey in which his past and his present collide.

An intriguing and sinful exploration of seduction, forbidden love and redemption, “Gabriel's Inferno” is a captivating and wildly passionate tale of one man's escape from his own personal hell as he tries to earn the impossible...forgiveness and love."

                Review

This book made me laugh and smile and sigh a lot. And tear up. Can’t forget the tearing up.

We meet both Professor Gabriel Emerson and student Julia Mitchell in the first chapter of this tantalizing novel. Gabriel comes off as a douche of a man when he almost brings Julia to tears within the first few paragraphs of chapter one. So of course that makes Julia the shy, quiet student who hates attention. The interaction between the two characters is so cold that it surprised me when I learned that the two actually have a history. Only Gabriel doesn’t remember it. It turns out that Julia is Gabriel’s sister’s best friend, and when sister shows up to visit brother, this thrusts Julia right in Gabriel’s face all the time. But no, this is not the history I’m talking about when it comes to our hero and heroine. That history includes an apple orchard, a night of firsts and a memory very different for Gabriel and Julia.

I really did like both characters, although there were times that Julia came off as very prudish. We’ve all been virgins and innocent in our lives, but I felt the way she thought was sometimes very extreme. It was almost like she expected everyone to be as “perfect” and virginal as she was. Like she didn’t fully understand that most people do have sexual pasts.

“Unfortunately she’s not the first woman to come on to me” was a line in the book said by Julia that struck me as extremely homophobic and it irked me. I had to remind myself that Julia was in fact prudish in a lot of ways, so having a woman come on to her would no doubt displease her. We also learn who the first woman was, which could also explain her resentment.

I absolutely adored the note attached to the Starbucks coffee gift card. It was one of those things in the book that made me grin like an idiot and let out a huge girlish sigh.

I also loved how, even though Grace wasn’t an actual present character, her memory was brought to life through all of those who knew her. The way the author wrote about her in everyone’s storytelling made me wish she had been a live part of the book.

I was very disappointed by Julia’s “big” reveal though. The author built up her past so much, only giving hints of it here and there, that I thought it would be something heart stopping. Yes, Simon was an ass for abusing her, and her mother was a bitch, but the author made you think Julia was holding back something a lot more horrible than a boyfriend screwing her roommate like an animal.  

Reynard did the same thing with Gabriel’s past. Teasing the reader with tiny tidbits of what happened, revealing things very slowly. However, I thought his history lived up to the anticipation the author was going for.

Gabriel’s Inferno is a very enjoyable read. Okay, it’s more than enjoyable. I really loved it. It teases the reader, not only with drawing out information on the characters, but also with how slooooow things move between Gabe and Julia. And by slow, I mean snails move faster. Be prepared not to see any heat between the sheets with these two until the very last pages. But when it does happen the wait is worth it.