Review: Gabriel's Inferno

Gabriel's Inferno Gabriel's Inferno by Sylvain Reynard
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was such a beautiful New Adult semi-erotica contemporary romance novel. I cannot put into words, how much I adored this story. The characters were profound, the secrets revealed, the writing and the fact that this was not doused with tons of sex -- if any at all -- was freaking perfection! Sylvian Reynard is absolutely a phenomenal writer!

Julianna (aka Julia) is 23 year old grad student taking a Dante class. She is shy, heartbroken, abused (mentally and emotionally) girl. She has been through so much in her past with a unruly ex-boyfriend and her feelings for Gabriel since she first met him at the age of 17. She always thought being reunited with him would be a beautiful thing, but was sadly mistaken when they first met for the second time. I loved Julia because even though she came off as weak, timid and shy -- she was truly strong, brave and trying to overcome her issues as much as possible. She was such a strong and beautiful person inside and out. Not to mention her keeping her virginity just made this story much more interesting and profound.

Gabriel is 33 years old and works as a Dante Specialist and professor at a University and Toronto. He once fell in love with Beatrice when he was 27, but always thought she was a dream. He had such a rough life due to his own choices, depression and his horrible parents. He has always thought of himself as a fallen angel or rather the devil himself. When he meets Julia he finds himself feeling familiar with her, but he treats her horribly without care. It wasn't until Julia told him the truth of who she was that he realizes he found that one girl that made him feel anything. Unfortunately because of him being a douchebag towards her, he now has to fight his way to her heart and earn her trust. Gabriel worked extremely hard to earn her trust. I loved how much he was willing to do to get and stay with Julia. Even though he had his demons and personal issues he never let if effect their relationship. I can't tell you how much I admired and loved Gabriel as a man.

The romance between Julia and Gabriel is breathtaking. They have been in love with one another for 10 years. I mean starting at 17 and 27 which is profound. The fact that they both kept their feelings and allowed it to grow continuously until they found each other once again was outstanding. The fact that they found other ways to be intimate and took their time was just so fantastic. The two of them truly warmed my heart.

Secondary characters were all phenomenal in how they were written and blended smoothly into the story. I absolutely loved Rachel, Aaron, Scott and Richard. I even enjoyed Paul and Tom. I hated Simon and Christa because they were both hell bent on breaking Julia in different ways. As for Professor Singer-- she needs to get fired or locked up. She is freaking deranged!

That ending was abso-fucking-lutely perfection for Julia and Gabriel. The love they have for each other is undying and the way they balance each other is awesome. I loved how they took things when they finally had sex -- couldn't ask for a better way for a girl to lose her innocence.

I am excited to see how things evolve between them after such a beautiful time in Florence! Bring it on with Gabriel's Rapture!!

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