Review: Gabriel's Inferno

Gabriel's Inferno by Sylvain Reynard
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5*
Gabriel was adopted and loved by his adoptive parents. When his biological dad died, he left him $$. He is a professor of Italian studies at U of Toronto. He is particular, bossy, demanding, arrogant as fuck.
Julia is shy and in love with Gabriel (she meant him once when she was 17 and decided she was interested in anything Italian). Her friend, Rachel, is Gabriel's younger sister. Julia reunites with Gabriel when she takes one of his classes for her masters. And he doesn't remember her. But is drawn to her all the same.
This should have hit all my "fuck no" triggers (Julia is a virgin, Gabriel is an asshole, the power imbalance for starters). But I was surprised. I actually kinda liked this. I even liked Gabriel by the end. It helped that Julia would stick up for herself when needed. Both Julia and Gabriel are fully fleshed out characters. Both realized their relationship could have consequences and went into it with eye fully open. I didn't feel the romance was rushed and that worked.
Gabriel's Big Secret:
(view spoiler)[ He was an addict and was seeing a woman in college. She got pregnant, he didn't want a baby. She told him she was keeping their baby and he was going to have to be fine with that. She ended up miscarrying while he was passed out high. He blames himself and was contemplating suicide when he first met Julia (hide spoiler)]

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