Gabriel's Inferno by Sylvain Reynard

Gabriel’s Inferno is a Romance book written y Sylvain Reynard here is the blurb.

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 enrols 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.

I had seen that quite a few of my Goodreads friends had read this book and rated it very highly, the blurb sounded really good plus the cover seduced me somewhat so I was excited to start reading.  It started out pretty good I was very intrigued by the domineering Gabriel and the meek Julia.  I was curious to how the story would play out and was looking forward to reading more about bad boy Gabriel.  But then it all started to get a bit boring.  Gabriel did a complete 180 turning from sexy bad lad to wimp.  Gabriel has such potential to be a literary heartbreaker but he fell flat with his tweed jackets, bow ties and his way with Julia, man up Gabriel please.  I also got fed up with Julia’s pathetic whining about not wanted to be f**ked but wanting to make love and her feelings towards Gabriel’s past.  Really get a grip Julia I know you are a virgin who had a bad relationship but seriously lighten up and enjoy life. 

So the story wasn’t living up to my expectations but all was not lost for me.  I loved all the references to art, literature and music and on more than one occasion I found myself researching something that the author had written about.  Plus I found my love for Nine Inch Nails again as the author mentions them quite a lot as surprise surprise Julia hates them with a passion.

The next book Gabriel’s Rapture is out next week but I’m going to hold off on buying it until I have read some reviews.  If it is like this book I don’t think I will be reading it.  Gabriel’s Inferno had lots of potential however it was too long and…..well just too nice and innocent for me.  I am going to give this book 3 stars.