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"Gabriel's Inferno" (Book 1) by Sylvain Reynard - Review Contributed by Taya Rune

This review contains no spoilers or trigger warnings. Thank you so much for contributing your review, Taya! *smiles*
-Melanie

FINICKY FYCTION STAR RATING SYSTEM

* Ugh. I just cannot with this book!

** Oy – not a fan. DNF’d before page 50.

*** It’s a good story in general.

**** Great read – highly recommend!

***** OMG I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH I WANT TO LIVE IN IT!  

Enjoyable for the right audience. *** 3/5 Stars ***

Let me start out by stating clearly that I don’t like ‘Alphahole’-type male protagonists. Mr Grey, while I appreciate his character arc, was a troublesome love interest for me.

Professor Gabriel Emerson has the same qualities: overbearing, domineering, and exceptionally controlling. The Professor, an expert in Dante, has long term demons that he is striving to overcome by being cold and keeping everyone at a distance. Oh, and don’t forget he is rich and holds many secrets!

Enter Julia Mitchell, a university student who couldn’t afford to go to her school of choice, so she is stuck studying under Emerson, as she too wants to be a Dante specialist. Julia is a victim of her past, who continues to quietly survive; however, she also has several secrets. One is that she knows her professor on a personal level, but he won’t acknowledge what occurred between them years prior.

Aspects of Dante’s life and poems are woven through the book. Sylvain, being an expert in the field herself, lends an authentic quality to the story. However, it is overdone and what could have been clever becomes tiresome and cloying.

The romance and plot are interesting, with a few curve balls thrown in to keep you guessing and the ending is satisfying. Overall, it’s slow-burn romance. If you enjoyed 50 Shades of Grey for the romance of the story rather than the sex and BDSM, this book is for you.

Overall, the book was enjoyable.

I should note that it can be read as a stand-alone, since it comes to a fitting conclusion with no cliff hangers; of course, the ending provides enough foreshadowing for the two later books that it won’t seem false when, I assume, one or more of several secondary characters cause trouble.

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