Finding Gabriel

Refreshing, excellent writing. Really enjoyed the history - especially experiencing the Napoleonic period from a French viewpoint. The storyline and characters were wonderful in all their darkness and light. Great if you like your romances with a bit of a dark kick.

Very original and not your typical romance. The historical parts were just as stimulating as the love story. There was a lot of darkness and plenty of angst with both Gabriel and Ariah. Watching them come together was a heartrending journey. Great for fans of historical and romance books.

An extremely well written novel from start to finish! It was romantic, passionate, exciting and full of adventure. This is a very compelling story to read and would recommend it to anyone! Must read!

Absolutely loved this unusual and moving historical romance. It pulled me through a complete spectrum of emotions and kept me turning the pages. Gabriel and Ariah were stunning characters, both haunted by the tragedies of their past and searching for hope in life. Dark, gritty, & poignant.

Love this dynamic story. Powerful, deeply moving romance, intriguing history (including an awesome cameo) What more could you want from a historical romance?

Eagerly awaiting more from this gifted writer.

Enjoyed the vivid writing and historical setting. The characters were well developed and complex, and the dramatic plot kept me on the edge of my seat. Recommended if you have an interest in history and/or romance.

Very entertaining and dramatic, dark story of love, redemption, and history during the conclusion of Napoleon's era. The writing style had an epic, classical feel and brought the period and characters to life.

Enjoyed the vivid writing and historical setting. The characters were well developed and complex, and the dramatic plot kept me on the edge of my seat. Recommended if you have an interest in history and/or romance.

Very entertaining and dramatic, dark story of love, redemption, and history during the conclusion of Napoleon's era. The writing style had an epic, classical feel and brought the period and characters to life.

Somewhere inside this book is a beautiful story of two damaged people, growing together with love, hope, and forgiveness. If only it had been written with more restraint. The first two chapters were so filled with overblown prose and inconsistencies, I was rolling my eyes - the heroine's ill daughter is painfully thin, yet she has 'cherub cheeks'. The h 'shivered in the frigid air', but one page later 'the night air was humid, thick to swallow'. After she finds the Hero, gravely injured and soaking wet, she needs to go to the communal well for a bucket of water. We are then subjected to 12 long, dramatic paragraphs outlining the difficult struggle to get that bucket of water - 'an epic battle of tug of war'. When she returns, Gabriel's soaking wet greatcoat was nearly dry - just how long was she gone? Just how hot was that hearth fire? And why didn't anyone think to get the poor man out of his freezing, wet clothing and wrapped up in a blanket?
Some of the Author's phrasing was lovely, but there were many oddities as well. "the hearth gently crooned"? "the creature bellowed a low whine"? And my personal favorite "Reveling as they ( strands of her hair ) filtered though his WEBBED FINGERS like finely spun silk".Was no one else disturbed by that imagery?
The prose settled down somewhat for the rest of the book, but there was still plenty to wade through. There was lots of unrelenting mental anguish and agony, suffered by several characters- even the poor dog was miserable. The interactions between the H/h were wonderfully heartfelt and intimate, and should have been allowed to really shine. Instead, I felt like I had to dig through a lot of silt to uncover the gold. To me, this was a five star story, trapped in a three star book.
This review was based on an AC of Finding Gabriel, supplied by Netgally