A Review for Gabriel's Inferno (Gabriel's Inferno #1) by Sylvian Reynard

Posted by Donna
Release Date: October 11th, 2012

Finished Date: October 8th, 2012

Publishers: Penguin Books

Source: For Review 

Format: Paperback  

Pages: 534
Buy : Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

From national bestselling author Sylvain Reynard comes the haunting, unforgettable tale of one man’s salvation and one woman’s sensual awakening . . .

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.

The Review: “When I told you that I was intending to worship you with my body, I meant it. With all my heart. I will never take from you. I will only give. In my bed and outside of it.” 

3.5 stars! 

Gabriel's Inferno is being hailed as a haunting and unforgettable read, and you know what, it really is. With an intense, sensual and compelling storyline, it really stands out from all the other books in the market right now. 

Gabriel Emerson is a man hiding many secrets and one that is tortured by his past. Being a professor at Toronto University means that he needs to keep everything including his secrets close to him, but when Julianne Mitchell becomes his student, suddenly his personal life and his professional life is turned upside down. 

Julianne 'Julia' Mitchell is a young and inexperienced girl, one who is immediately drawn to her new professor – Gabriel Emerson. However, it appears that her new professor hates her and she suddenly finds herself a bundle of nerves around him. Julia is not the only one hiding dark secrets and soon it’s revealed that Julia and Professor Gabriel have had a meeting in the past, only Julia is the only one who remembers.

As Julia and Gabriel embark on a forbidden and secret relationship, they experience the highs and lows of a new relationship and trying to unravel each other’s secrets that will either make or break them as a couple. 

I’m so glad I finally got the opportunity to read this book because all I’ve heard over the past few months is how good this book is – so a big thank you to Penguin UK for giving me the opportunity to read it. Now I have said this recently, but I’ll say it again, adult contemporary books are fast becoming a favourite of mine and Gabriel’s Inferno really is a great addition to the genre. 

Julia and Gabriel have a very unique and intense relationship – one that’s based on one of the most ultimate forbidden romances, a student and his teacher. Now it’s something that’s highly frown upon but not once during this book did I ever feel like Gabriel took advantage of his position over Julia. Because of their past, they have a deep connection – even though Gabriel doesn’t recognise it at the time, Julia is still hopeful and holds on to the person he was in the past. So if anything Julia instigated the relationship just as much as Gabriel. It was beautiful and compelling and at some times very moving. 

Gabriel is a very attentive person and he wants nothing more than to love and care for Julia. He believe she should be treasured and treated like a princess and for a person that believes he has no soul, I think proves how admirable Gabriel is. Yes, he has a deep and dark past but not once does he lie to Julia, he tells her straight and he tells her the kind of man he really is before any thing sexually happens with her. I loved that, he proves he’s the right guy for her and above all else, he’s not misleading her. Talk about a swoon worthy quality or what?!

I really did enjoy this book, the twists and turns throughout were very entertaining and the scenes between Gabriel and Julia where very moving. My only reason for not rating this book a 5 was because I felt some of the book was dragged out. With it being over 500 pages long, it’s a very long book and I felt that I would have enjoyed it even more if it had been shorter. And also, I sometimes got lost with all the Dante and Beatrice talk but despite that I’m about to pick up book two – Gabriel’s Rapture now, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what’s next in this couples story.