Expected Release Date: May 1, 2012
Publisher: Howling Mad Press
Imprint: N/A
Author’s Website: http://www.kendallgrey.com/
My Source for This Book: Gift from the author
Part of a Series: Yes, Book 1, Just Breathe
Series Best Read In Order: N/A
Steam Level: Steamy
Official Blurb:
Strangers in reality, inseparable in dreams…
After years of suffocating under her boss’s scrutiny, whale biologist Zoe Morgan finally lands a job as director of a tagging project in Hervey Bay, Australia. Success Down Under all but guarantees her the promotion of a lifetime, and Zoe won’t let anything—or anyone—stand in her way. Not the whale voices she suddenly hears in her head, not the ex who won’t take no for an answer, and especially not the gorgeous figment of her imagination who keeps saving her from the fiery hell of her dreams.
Gavin Cassidy hasn’t been called to help a human Wyldling in over a year, which is fine by him. Still blaming himself for the death of his partner, he keeps the guilt at bay by indulging in every excess his rock star persona affords. That is, until he’s summoned to protect Zoe from hungry Fyre Elementals and learns his new charge is the key to restoring order in the dying Dreaming. He never expects to fall for the feisty Dr. Morgan…nor does he realize he may have to sacrifice the woman he loves to save an entire country.
What Worked For Me:
- I really enjoyed the rather unique premise — Sentinels, Elementals, Wyldlings, Dreaming, etc.
- I loved the whales and their songs and how beautifully they were interwoven into the story as a whole. You could really tell that the author put a lot of effort into her research, and the story greatly benefited from it.
- Gavin. *guh* Gavin is absolutely delicious, with not only his “rock star” good looks (complete with tattoos and piercings) but with his own personally feelings of worthlessness as a Sentinel.
- I loved how neither Gavin nor Zoe were “perfect” — both had their foibles and goodness knows they both made mistakes with the best of them, but their characters grew from their mistakes, even when it took being with each other to achieve it.
- Good gracious is it hot in here or is just me?? *fans self* The tension between Zoe and Gavin (or “Muse” and “Perfect” as they are known for much of the book) is delicious, and when they finally do actually get together, creating fire is a very apt result.
- I also liked the “forbidden” aspect of their relationship, and how several potential cliches were avoided by Ms. Grey, much to my relief.
- Am I the only one dying to see what happens with Sinnder? He’s hands down my favorite secondary character and I’m majorly looking forward to reading about him in the future.
- The ending was absolutely perfect. The novel felt complete while still leaving it wide open (and generating a lot of interest) for the next installment, it left me excited to read what happens next.
What Didn’t Work For Me:
- It took a little while for me to actually wrap my brain around some of the basic tenets of this story. Not only the whole Sentinel/Elemental thing but Dreaming in general was a bit difficult for me to understand at first. While I think some of the difficulty from fully grasping the Dreamscapes at first was likely intentional, it still made it a wee bit difficult to just dive right into the story. I also thought that the world-building needed to be a little more thorough, or perhaps simply more linear, because sometimes new things were thrown in with no established logic, and that threw me off a bit.
- There were a few tiny scenes that I could easily have done without, including one (maybe?) involving a ghost, and one (perhaps?) involving a wee bit of unexpected telepathy. Minor points, to be sure, but something that kind of made me stumble a bit as I was reading.
I admit it — I’m not used to Urban Fantasy that doesn’t involve vampires, werewolves, or at a bare minimum, the fae. It’s because of this that when I picked up Inhale and found myself thrown into a watery world of marine science and psychic connections, of dreamscapes and prophecies, of Elementals and Sentinels, and of damaged heroes and heroines drowing in guilt, I simply couldn’t put it down. There was something so fresh and exciting about this story, and even though I found myself wishing for a more thorough world-building, I also found myself so enchanted with the characters themselves that I didn’t mind nearly as much as I normally would have.
In the end, while there were a few moments where I wished the editing had been a little tighter, I was certainly impressed by this story. With an original premise, interesting characters, multi-dimensional villains, and some delicious chemistry and sensuality, I really enjoyed it.
A very solid 4/5 Stars
Worth mentioning about this series is the fact that author Kendall Grey is donating all profits from the sale of the trilogy to programs that educate people about whales and the challenges they face! She also requests “ if you’re thinking of buying INHALE, please consider purchasing the e-book instead of the paperback. E-books save trees, cost less, and bring in much more money for the whales. If you don’t have an e-reader, you can…download the free Kindle app or Nook app for your computer, tablet, or phone and read e-books there.”
I myself would also like to add that Amazon has added a new online “cloud reader” that no longer requires you to install any software — just purchase and start reading!
