In Kendall Grey's INHALE, the first in her Just Breathe trilogy, whale biologist Zoe Morgan has the chance to head a tagging project in Australia and hopefully assuage the guilt from losing a baby whale a few years ago. But a host of things stand in her way including an ex who still wants her, the whale voices she begins to hear in her head and a gorgeous man who keeps turning up to save her life in her dreams.
Rockstar extraordinaire Gavin Cassidy protects her life in her dreams, which is actually a separate world/reality called the Dreaming. Gavin, also a Sentinel/Warrior of the Dreaming, hasn't visited there since he lost his partner two years ago, but he is now given the assignment of protecting Zoe.
The Dreaming is inhabited by humans called Wyldlings and it's the job of the Sentinels to protect them from the Elementals such as the Fyre Elementals who want to kill Zoe as part of The Dreaming's destruction.
Honestly, the world is as confusing in the book as it is in this review. It took quite a while before I figured things out. Grey has a strong gift for writing, and she incorporates the story of a wooden bird throughout that is beautiful. Unfortunately, I didn't connect with her characters. Neither Gavin, nor Zoe, had the depth that for me enables strong empathy and understanding.
The Dreaming has been overrun by Fyre Elementals and Gavin and Zoe are trying to restore the balance. Each character also has to maintain the balance of elements within themselves which can certainly stand for how we all need balance in our lives.
I understood each world by itself but how they were linked never totally clicked for me. I read a lot of fantasy and have run into this sometimes. Perhaps, it is because INHALE is the first in a trilogy, so more set-up is required than will occur in future novels.
My issue with character connection could stem from my bias against a rockstar lifestyle, which can appear very shallow. INHALE has a warning that this story is for people aged 18 and over, and the hotness of the sex scenes definitely merits this. I have a hard time not finishing series that I start, so I will most likely read the next book in the series. Often times, the second and third books are better, and I'm hopeful that this will be the case with Grey's trilogy.
After years of suffocating under her bossβs 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 wonβt let anythingβor anyoneβstand in her way. Not the whale voices she suddenly hears in her head, not the ex who wonβt 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 hasnβt 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 heβs 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. Morganβ¦nor does he realize he may have to sacrifice the woman he loves to save an entire country.
*The author will donate all profits from the sale of the JUST BREATHE trilogy to whale education
The clouds bombarded them with tiny droplets of rain, and
then large, gloppy plops crashed to the wooden dock like
splattered eggs from the sky.
Grabbing her hand, Gavin ran for shelter under the extended
roof of one of the dock buildings. A brown falcon pumped
its wings and took off from a log fence post. The muse
turned to him. Water dripping from every part of her, she
drew shallow breaths, her chest rising and falling,
straining under her shirt. Her teeth chattered, and goose
bumps dotted her neck.
He wanted to pull her into his arms and warm her up, but
that wouldn't have been a good idea. He let go of her hand.
"What were you doing out there?" Barely louder than the
storm overtaking them, her voice reminded him of the seeds
scattered throughout raspberry jam. Sweet and rough at the
same time.
He bit his lower lip, tried to slow his breathing.
"Looking
for you." He took a half step closer. Her tanned face
turned up to his as if in anticipation of a kiss, but he
read her intentions as more playful than lustful.
"I was gathering more wood. I missed you." Her left
eyebrow
arched as the blue aura swirled around her into a
mischievous yellow. She brushed her chest against his, and
it was all he could do not to tear into her mouth.
A drop of water plunged over those luscious lips and
trekked down her throat where it lingered for half a second
before disappearing under her hoodie. "Hmm," he said,
more
in response to the distracting droplet than her
reply. "Here I was hoping you needed to be rescued again."
She grinned back, peering up at him through the wet mass of
hair. "Not today, but thanks anyway." With that, she
resumed her voyage through the pouring rain, straightening
her arms out from her sides like a kid on a balance beam. A
crack of lightning illuminated her profile, casting shadows
of breasts, arse, and endlessly long legs on the wall to
her left, jolting him to unanticipated arousal.
He followed. "Wait."
She turned to him, and he stopped. God, that dripping wet
hair, those bright eyes, and Jesus Christ Almighty, the
bare feet on the rain-soaked dock. He swallowed hard to
suppress a groan. He stepped closer, despite his
conscience's warning not to. Hell, if he was going down in
flames with her, might as well throw some grease on himself
to speed things along.
"I'll be here if you need me. Any time..." What was he,
an
awkward teenager asking for a date? Fuck, he should have
kept his mouth shut.
Her head quirked to the side, and she touched a finger to
her ear, as if receiving instructions through some psychic
earpiece. She straightened. "I have to go somewhere else
now," she said, her smile unsure. "Find me tomorrow."
The boat-filled world around her crumbled under the weight
of fiery madness. Lightning ripped gashes through the
curtain of night, illuminating the docks in blinding,
forked bursts.
The muse disappeared from the dream into the other life she
lived without him. He was starting to become a little
jealous of that life.
But should he ever decide to look for her in
Realisβwhich he absolutely wouldn'tβhe knew
where she'd be. His eyes squinted in the dark as another
strike of lightning confirmed it.
Urangan Harbour.
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