Gabriel's Rapture picks up right where we left off in Gabriel's Inferno. Gabriel and Julia are still very much enjoying themselves in Italy. They're finally getting some time to truly enjoy each other's company without all the drama back home. It's short lived however upon their arrival back on campus. They are both confronted by the Dean and a huge battle ensues between the Dean and them which causes huge relationship issues.
They've both had such a troubled past that they seem to always assume the worse in almost every situation and just makes things worse for them. Gabriel has grown a lot in this book though. He's starting to recognize where his main faults lie and taking responsibility for them. Definitely a little more action and suspense in this second novel. There was a little slow part in the middle, but overall it was much better than the first and things seemed to move along a little quicker. Julia definitely is a little more judgemental in this book but that may have been brought on by other circumstances between the two. This was certainly a story of redemption and overcoming obstacles to be with the one you love. One big issue I had was with Crista's story, or lack thereof. She causes lots of issues at the beginning of the book as well as some contact with another character that I expected to hear more about. It was like her whole storyline got completely dropped after the beginning of the book. Not that I particularly cared for her character but it left me wondering what was the point of even bringing it up? While the artsy, poetic bits between Gabriel and Julia were sweet I think it was overdone. Not everything needs to be a quote from some poet or a reference to a painting!
On a lighter note, I really liked Paul's character. He was a great friend to Julia even though he wanted more. He gets a chance to talk to Julia about his feelings in this book but he's always been sweet with her no matter what situation she's going through. I think Gabriel learned a lot about himself in this book and that is ultimately what ended up making a huge difference in their relationship. This story is perhaps a more accurate portrayal of a relationship than we get in some books lately where love and lust seem to overcome everything. Julia and Gabriel have definitely had to work at their relationship. Even with the story's minor downfalls, I still enjoyed it and like I said previously, things certainly picked up in this second book.
Gabriel's Inferno is not my usual read. It's a contemporary romance... yes you read it right, I'm reading a story about humans ;) I've read a couple of good series that have pulled me away lately... Fifty Shades of Grey (yes, I've been sucked into the hoopla) and The Crossfire series. I still like my vamps and shifters better but these series definitely have some hot alpha guys in them too. Just a brief review on this one...
Amazon synopsis:
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.
First of all, I have to say this synopsis is very deceiving (which is why I wanted to share it instead of writing my own on this one). It makes you believe it's a hot steamy romance, but it is certainly far from that. It's more of a touching tale of two people trying to overcome rough pasts and learning to love again. The first half of the book was a little slow for me. The author did a good job of making you understand their pasts and why they act the way they do at this point in their lives, but definitely could have been done in probably the first 20% of the book just as well. Several other reviewers have called this a dark romance, but they have obviously not been reading the same type of books that I do. The PNR and urban fantasy novels as a rule are usually pretty dark with lots of tortured protagonists. Compared to those this was all flowers and rainbows with the exception of a couple very short parts and even those are not bad. I will say that by about 3/4 of the way through the book I started to get a little more invested in the characters, I think one little action/fight scene got things rolling a little. Gabriel and Julia definitely took their time getting to know one another which was sweet. I'm sure I'll pick up the second book in the series, Gabriel's Rapture at some point.
