Hello there, bookworms and happy Monday. I hope you’re all enjoying the lovely day (we’re having great weather here) and are ready to kick off a new week with more books to read! Personally, I’ll be dividing my time between writing and editing, but before I do, I wanted to start the week off right by bringing you all a book review. It’s ben forever since I have just because my schedule has been so hectic, but I’m glad I’m finally on here chatting all things books. Tonight is a good one too because I’m discussing one of my favorite contemporary authors and a new installment to my favorite romance series. Let’s talk about Gabriel’s Promise, book four in the Gabriel’s Inferno series by Sylvain Reynard! Head’s up, this review may contain some spoilers.

New York Times bestselling author Sylvain Reynard returns with the fourth installment of the beloved Gabriel’s Inferno series.

When Gabriel and Julia Emerson first lay eyes on their newborn daughter, Clare, they realize life as they know it will never be the same. Gabriel has vowed to be a good father when he suddenly receives an invitation to give a series of lectures in Edinburgh, Scotland—an opportunity of high prestige—but that would mean leaving his wife and child in Boston. Hesitant to bring it up, he keeps the opportunity from Julia as long as he can, not knowing she has a secret of her own.

When a frightening situation arises that threatens their new family, both parents must make sacrifices. With the family in danger, the looming question remains: Will Gabriel pursue his lectureship in Edinburgh, leaving Julia and Clare vulnerable in Boston, or will he abandon the chance of a lifetime in order to ensure his family’s safety?

Okay. I feel like I have tons to say about this book, this series, and there’s a lots of excitement pent up from the upcoming Gabriel’s Inferno movie releasing in May from the wonderful Passionflix (I’ll post the teaser trailer for you at the end of this review).

To start off, if you haven’t read this series yet, you should check out books 1-3 or my full reviews of them here. If you’ve been following this blog or my posts across social media, you know what this series means to me. It’s one of the first romance series I read back in 2013 and it just had such an impact on the kind of books I want to read, and perhaps more so, on the kind of books I want to write.

I digress. Gabriel’s Promise, the 4th installment of this series finds the Emersons exactly where we left them in book three. We now get to witness our pretentious professor and his beloved wife become parents to their darling, and much-wished-for, baby Clare. I waited for a long time for the next chapter in their lives, and I seriously considered taking time off of work on release day to stay home and enjoy this story. While that wasn’t the most realistic option, I still got to binge this story on Audible during office hours, and admittedly when the book reached the end and started over, I just let it happen and listened to it twice back-to-back. Whoops I guess?

Anyway, I loved this portion of life with Gabriel, Julia, and now, Clare. They have adjustments to make as the navigate parenthood with their demanding academic careers, but thankfully, they’re both too hardworking and determined to fail at any challenge that comes their way. With their new adventures comes a cast of our regular and favorite characters; Paul, Katherine Picton, Richard, Rachel and Aaron, Scott Tammy, Tom, Diane, and Tommy, Kelly, and Rebecca as they all figure out what’s next.

While Gabriel must figure out if he’s going to take the next step in his prestigious career by going abroad while being a full-time dad, Julia needs to cope with health obstacles, being a present mother, continuing her education, and accepting new opportunities of her own. The forked path in their road initially presents a challenge, but I loved that they didn’t fail me and presented a united front to figure out the best decision for them as a family unit.

It comes as no surprise that I thoroughly adored witnessing Gabriel and Julia navigating the world of diapers and middle f the night feedings, and turning to absolute mush over their beautiful daughter. When we think back to book one, which in the timeline of the Emersons, wasn’t so long ago, they’ve come such a long way in such a seemingly short time. I may have enjoyed a slightly cranky professor, but I think I love the cuddly teddy bear type papa he’s become. His daughter is an absolute daddy’s girl and I’m so glad he’s known it right from day one.

I’m going to remain hopeful that this story is open-ended enough that I’ll get more of this family because I still have unanswered questions. How does Clare do with growing up under the care of the prestigious Katherine Picton as her godmother? Who does Paul choose to take a chance on love with in Vermont, his colleague, or his childhood love? Do Tommy and Clare grow up as the best of friends? Does Julia finish her degree with Harvard, or does she make a change? How to the Emersons do in Edinburgh? Who owns the moment mori? What does it mean? Will they ever catch the mystery driver or who broke into their home? Do Rachel and Aaron ever get a chance at becoming parents? Does little Maria become a member of the Emerson/Clark family in some way? I’m sure I have more.

I know we get glimpses of the family throughout Sylvain’s other Florentine series, but I know if he decided to write 10 more Gabriel and Julia books, I’d be ready to see where they go next. For now, I have to settle with knowing that they’re having a grand old time in Scotland, and that they’re both being just as driven and accomplished as they’ve always been, and they’ll show their daughter all the ways to work hard while learning wonderful stories along the way.

I feel like I’ve blabbed enough for now and fangirled over my favorite series once more. For now, I’ll leave you with the teaser trailer for book one, Gabriel’s Inferno, before it graces our screens this coming May.

Until next time, happy reading!