Saturday, December 7, 2013

BLOG TOUR: GABRIEL'S REDEMPTION by SYLVAIN REYNARD

Author: Sylvain Reynard
Title: Gabriels Redemption (Gabriels Inferno Series #3)
Publisher: Penguin Berkley


                                                              Summary:
From the author of the New York Times bestsellers Gabriels Rapture and Gabriels 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, hes confident that they can face any challenge. And hes eager to become a father.

But Juliannes graduate program threatens Gabriels 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 presentationresearch 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 Gabriels 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.


Review: 

“Have you ever made love in an orchard before? “Her eyes widened and she shook her head.“Then I’m glad I’m your first.”She tightened her grip on his hand, “You’re my last, Gabriel. My only.”
I had no idea on what to expect when I was about to read this book. I mean, I thought he wrapped up the series rather nicely with Gabriel’s Inferno, so who when I heard he was writing a third book I wondered which direction he was going to go with a book that already had a happy ending. But boy, did he do an amazing job with the third book. Sylvain definitely did not disappoint! I was completely engrossed that I could not put the book down. It literally kept me at the edge of my seat, anticipating what would happen next. This book actually has me at a book hangover, I'm actually itching for a re-read already. While writing my review, it took me a lot longer to write because I kept finding myself going back to read certain parts only to get caught up in reading it instead. 

Julianne is attending Harvard where she has just completed her first year towards getting her PhD, while Gabriel is a professor at Boston University. They are back in Selinsgrove, their hometown, before they head to Oxford, where Julianne will have to present her lecture for the first time. Being back home brings back some unwanted memories for both of them, but yet, the orchard is a special place for them. It’s where they met, all those years ago. They bought Gabriel’s parent’s house and turned it into their own, just so they can keep the orchard.
“This is where I discovered true beauty.” ~ Gabriel
Gabriel announces that he wants to have a child with Julianne, saying he doesn’t know how much time they have. Of course this scares her because this totally throws her plans for school off course.  He wants to see his doctor about getting his vasectomy reversed before it becomes too late.  When she brings up adoption, he doesn’t dismiss it, but yet he wants to try for his own flesh and blood first. The anxiety of having a child while she was still in school was getting to her. They’ve talked about starting a family, but that would happen when her schooling would be completed. And now he’s talking about getting his vasectomy reversed? How will she ever finish her PhD course if she got pregnant? And how can she ever be a good mother, since she didn’t have a good experience with her own mother? Is she being selfish by choosing her own goals before the happiness of granting Gabriel a child?

Gabriel is so amazing with Julianne. He adores and worships her. He knows how hard school is for her and how much stress she is under preparing for her lecture, that he tells her when she’s working too much and needs a break. They are expecting family to stay over, so he has taken over the preparations so that she can focus on her work. When Julianne says that she has hit a block in her paper and asks for Gabriel’s advice, he pretty much blasts her paper saying she cannot present what she has. With his help, he can help her rewrite her paper. This of course does not sit well with Julianne because she doesn’t want him telling her how to think. She has always been her own individual and entitled to her own opinions. Just because he is an expert in this field and he disagrees with her, she will not cave and change her entire paper for him. It becomes clear that by Julianne disagreeing with Gabriel’s theory, it will embarrass him. Julianne doesn’t need this added stress, she needs his support, and for him to give him advice on how to make it better, not for him to think for her.
“I said once that you were not my equal, but my better. I’m afraid you didn’t’ believe me.” “It’s difficult to believe that you think that, sometimes.” He winced. “I need to do a better job of showing you,” he whispered. “But I’m not sure how.”
Presenting Julianne’s paper in Oxford was a challenge in itself. She was a complete bundle of nerves, I mean come on, she’s presenting in a room full of Dante’ experts, one of them being her very own husband, and she’s just a grad student. If she gets one fact wrong, not only does she embarrass herself, she takes him down with her. She needs to prove to not only herself, but everyone there that Gabriel is not the reason why she is presenting her paper and that she is capable of doing it on her own. Christa, her old nemesis from Toronto is there and she is still causing trouble for the both of them; still spreading rumors. Julianne and Gabriel try to avoid her, but it’s pretty much impossible. She corners Julianne and tells her that it is a matter of time before Gabriel will leave her, causing Julianne to doubt herself. Paul, who is still in love with Julianne but still remains friends with her, is also there presenting a paper, causing Gabriel to keep his guard up. Gabriel knows that Paul is still in love with Julianne and is just waiting for him to mess up so he can make his move. Regardless of the obstacles, Gabriel sat at the front row proudly, cheering Julianne on as she gave her lecture.
“Your love makes me brave.” “That’s good, because I’ll keep loving you. Forever.”
Umbria holds a special place for them; it’s where they had their honeymoon. So they spend some time relaxing there after she presents her paper. They start to rehash old memories of Julianne’s mom and Gabriel’s biological parents. Julianne tries to convince him to look into finding out who his birth family is to trace back some history of where he came from, but Gabriel wants to forget about them completely. When threatening news reaches them, Gabriel seems to be distancing himself. He is holding out on Julianne, but won’t tell her what it is. She is trying to be there for him and talk to him, but he just pushes her away. He needs to figure things out on his own and isn’t ready to talk yet but will not make any decisions until he speaks to her about them. Having him shut down on her upsets her because he should be able to confide in her no matter what, but she has tried to get him to talk to her and he just won't open up .

They both make a trip to the orphanage to spend some time with the children. They have a big carnival for them. Gabriel seems to be out of his element there until he meets one little girl there who seems to warm up to him. Seeing Gabriel with the little girl makes Julianne wonder what he will be like with their own child. Makes her wonder if she can make that sacrifice to give him the child he wants to see his happiness. He feels bad leaving her there knowing there will be no one to adopt her, so he wants them to adopt her.

Julianne has the idea of having a baby clouding her brain and stressing her out. She knows that Gabriel just wants to look into the options of getting the vasectomy  reversed and that he says they will wait till she is done with school, but what if he doesn’t want to wait that long? Now he is talking about wanting to adopt this child and take her back home with them? It seems as if Gabriel hasn’t fully forgiven himself for what happened to Mia. What if having a baby with Julianne with help give him forgiveness? Why is it that all of a sudden he wants to have a baby?

Returning back home to their normal lives, they have agreed for Gabriel to find his biological family, that way he can find a history of where he was from. Regardless of the outcome, Julianne will be there to support him. Gabriel feels as if they don’t want anything to do with him, so he is very negative about the entire process. But he continues the search knowing that if they were to have a child he needs to know what kind of medical history, if any, that they would be dealing with. Since both of his birth parents are dead, the only other way to gather that information is to find his other living family members and hopefully they accept him for who he is. Gabriel feels that he doesn't deserve this happiness with Julianne and he is waiting for it all to come crashing down on him. 

What happens when Gabriel starts to take all the responsibility on his own and shuts Julianne out? Will she fight or will she let him walk away? With the vasectomy process reversed, what happens when something doesn’t go as planned? Will they both be able to get through it together? Or will they shut each other out and fall apart? Will Julianne give Gabriel the baby he wants or will she wait until she is done with school? Can she put her own happiness before his? Will Gabriel ever forgive himself for what happened to Mia? Will Gabriel be able to find the family he was denied? Will Julianne convince Gabriel that he is deserving of true happiness? That your happiness doesn't so easily get taken away because of the past you've had? 


I absolutely loved this book! Sylvain did such an amazing job closing out this series! I fell in love with Gabriel and Julianne all over again. You can just feel the love that they have for each other through the books. They have a connection for each other that goes deep beyond the soul. This is not only a great romance story, you also get a great history and art lesson as well. I loved how he still kept the family involved in this book. They were such a close family, I loved being a part of it. It amazes me to see how much Gabriel has grown from the first book to this last one. He has sure matured a lot. It makes me want to go back and read the entire series from start to finish all over again. I really like how the exes Simon & Natalie and Paulina, were brought back. It really kept me guessing what their part was going to be in the story and what sort of drama they were going to cause next. I really wanted to hurt Christa for what she did, but she got what she fully deserved in the end! I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Rachel and Aaron. In the end, this book was suppose to bring me closure to the series, but it still has me craving more of this story. I don’t think I can ever be done with them! This series will be on my complete re-read list. Amazing job Sylvain! 

I received an ARC for my honest review. 
This review was done by Jennelyn.


Author 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.

Buy Links:

Gabriel's Rapture Amazon - http://amzn.to/11BFXVH
Gabriel's Inferno Amazon - http://amzn.to/10VVctT

Social Media Accounts


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