Author:
Sylvain Reynard
Title:
Gabriel’s
Redemption (Gabriel’s Inferno
Series #3)
Publisher:
Penguin Berkley
Summary:
From the author of the New York Times
bestsellers Gabriel’s
Rapture and Gabriel’s
Inferno comes the epic conclusion to the captivating romantic trilogy.
Professor Gabriel Emerson has left
his position at the University of Toronto to embark on a new life with his
beloved Julianne. Together, he’s confident that they can face any
challenge. And he’s
eager to become a father.
But Julianne’s graduate program threatens Gabriel’s plans,
as the pressures of being a student become all consuming. When she is given the
honor of presenting an academic lecture at Oxford, Gabriel is forced to
confront Julianne about the subject of her presentation—research
that conflicts with his own. And in Oxford, several individuals from their past
appear, including an old nemesis intent on humiliating Julia and exposing one
of Gabriel’s darkest secrets.
In an effort to confront his
remaining demons, Gabriel begins a quest to discover more about his biological
parents, beginning a chain of events that has startling repercussions for
himself, Julianne, and his hope of having a family.
4 Star review by Jen Hagen
The professor is back in the third and final installment
of his and Julia’s story. The author had
not planned on writing a third book, but several readers (including myself)
needed to know the answer to the most important question: Will they be successful in having a
family? Gabriel had a vasectomy 10 years
ago when he did not feel he was worthy of having children and did not want his
children tainted with his character flaws.
Other questions existed as to if Christa faced any retribution and if
Paul can get over the loss of Julia, as he was a dear friend to her and he was
experiencing feelings of love towards her.
I’m happy to report that all these questions are answered, as well as
some others evolving through different characters. We are entertained with several different
narratives from other characters we have known throughout the story, and the
snarky narrator makes a return as well.
The story is told in present day tense, with a few chapters going back
in time to explain past references in the plot.
Julia has just completed her first year in the PhD
program at Harvard studying to be a Dante specialist, with her dream of one day
becoming a professor. Gabriel is a
tenured professor at Boston University, giving up his position at Toronto when
his and Julia’s teacher/student relationship caused a controversy. The main person to blame for stirring up
trouble in the past is Ms. Christa Peterson.
Christa has a recurring role in this third book, and let’s just say that
karma has a way of coming back to make things right, which means Christa is
guaranteed an unhappy ending. The narrator agrees with me.
(It must be said
parenthetically that karma had been served.)
Gabriel is still bossy, domineering and tenacious…all
qualities that we love in him. Gabriel
has taken on a new role of a protector of his new wife and his biggest fear is
losing her. He still references Julia as
being his Beatrice, the love of Dante (with Dante being himself), and is caught
up in the fact that Beatrice died when she was 24. He fears that this story will repeat with him
and Julia. Gabriel wants to begin
looking into vasectomy referrals and start thinking of a family, as having a
child with Julia would mean that he would always have something of her if the
Dante/Beatrice story should repeat itself.
There’s also more to his reasoning of wanting to father a child.
He wanted a family that included children—a life filled
with laughter and the knowledge that he could right the wrongs done by his own
parents.
That right there is what I felt the majority of the book
to be about. Gabriel cannot get past his
own personal hell that he was put through as a child, eventually leading to
being adopted by two loving parents.
Gabriel has the knowledge and means to search out his birth family, but
he was never acknowledged by his birth father and his birth family has never
reached out to him even at the time of need at the young age of 9 when his single
mother died and Gabriel had nowhere to go. When Gabriel begins to question his past
medical history, he is forced to reach out to those that had left him
behind.
Julia continues to ground Gabriel with her compassion and
forgiveness. Gabriel has always been one
to act on impulse, and Julia is one that thinks things through completely and
realizes any potential ramifications that will result because of her words or
actions. With Gabriel’s new
self-proclaimed title of Julia’s protector, sometimes he can be a little crass
with the way he handles things, even though he means well. Gabriel feels the need to protect Julia in
all ways of her life, even in her educational
pursuits. There is a major
conflict when Gabriel’s and Julia’s thoughts don’t coincide on Julia’s
presentation materials.
“I’m not the enemy,
Julianne. I’m not constantly looking for
ways to sabotage your education. Or your
life.”
Gabriel’s past includes addiction to drugs and to
sex. He is reminded of these throughout
the story and would really like everybody to forget about them. He has moved on, why can’t uninvolved parties
do the same? He really does not like it
when his past involving women is thrown in his face.
“I confessed my
past. I left it behind. Must I be reminded of it forever?”
Gabriel has changed throughout the series. We first met him as a crabby professor who
found nightly entertainment in the form of women at the local drinking
club. He has moved on from thinking
about only himself to putting others in front of him. He is now full of love and isn’t ashamed to
tell it or show it. It’s almost a little
too much affection that he constantly showers Julia with, but he’s the
professor and he can control us even
through printed words and allow the overabundance of sentiments to permeate our
minds with little complaining.
There are a few occasions where Gabriel is put to the
test with his faith and needs strength to overcome the idea of going to his
previous coping mechanisms. I enjoyed
reading how Gabriel has changed in that regard without rushing out to the
nearest drinking establishment, but rather asking for help and guidance through
the upper deity. Gabriel is now able to
put trust in himself that he can overcome any obstacle and their story will end
happily.
“I didn’t expect my
prayers to be answered. I still can’t
get used to the idea that God would even listen to me, let alone decide to
grant my requests.”
Bio: I'm
interested in the way literature can help us explore aspects of the human
condition - particularly suffering, sex, love, faith, and redemption. My
favourite stories are those in which a character takes a journey, either a
physical journey to a new and exciting place, or a personal journey in which he
or she learns something about himself/herself.
I'm also interested in how aesthetic
elements such as art, architecture, and music can be used to tell a story or to
illuminate the traits of a particular character. In my writing, I combine all
of these elements with the themes of redemption, forgiveness, and the
transformative power of goodness.
I try to use my platform as an author
to raise awareness about the following charities: Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep
Foundation, WorldVision, Alex's Lemonade Stand, and Covenant House. For more
information, see my Twitter account.
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