This book was given to me through the The Knights of the Round Table Group for an honest review. Thank you,this book was so worth the read.



I honestly have no idea where to begin writing about this book. I’m usually not at a loss for words when I read a book that has lots of errors and can easily pin point what they are. But when a book like Inhale captures my attention so that I’m thinking about it even when I’m going about my everyday routine, I’m completely flummoxed. This book is really hard to describe, I have never read anything like it before. It drew me deeply into its world and into its characters, I ached for them when they ached, and soared with them when they were happy.

Inhale is like reading two stories in one. You’ve got our real world also known as ‘Realis,’ and the sleeping world, known as ‘the Dreaming.’ The reader’s perspectives shift from waking to sleeping which makes each state read like a separate story. The author did a good job of making ‘The Dreaming’ surreal, especially at the beginning when we are first introduced to the Dreaming along with Zoe the heroine. Zoe’s voice is kind of unfocused and has that hazy feel to it that dreams often do. But as the story goes on, the characters become more like they are in Realis, or the waking world as Zoe learns to navigate the Dreaming better.

Zoe the female lead is 32 years of age, a marine biologist, smart and skilled with an uncanny ability to commune with whales. She’s a champion for the whales and the whales know this. What I liked about Zoe is she is a strong character. Not in that she can kick ass with martial arts, but that she has strong convictions in what she believes to be right and wrong and that she won’t back down from people whom she senses do not have the best interest of whales or people at heart. She also has strong feelings of compassion and love, and because she has such a strong connection to the whales, she has a great affinity for the Element of Water and is able to harness that. Zoe is not without her problems however, she has anxiety/panic attacks and is also dyslexic. She also has issues stemming from an over-bearing mother who is also a marine biologist. I liked that the author made Zoe a truly strong female and not some whiny female masquerading as a strong female. I have seen that too often in stories.

Gavin the male lead is around 23 years of age and is an Australian rock star and a Sentinel. His duty is to protect the Wyldings (humans) when we enter the Dreaming from the Fyre Elementals that have found their way into the Dreaming with the intent of feasting on humans and gaining control of all the Elements. Gavin is sex on a stick with dark hair and blue eyes, piercings and tattoos. He lost his Water Element when the initiate he was training, Selena, was killed by the Fyre Elementals. Until Gavin met Zoe in the Dreaming, he was lost, a hollow shell, drinking, partying, wandering around in his life and his ability to write music had disappeared.

In Realis the main characters, Zoe and Gavin, did not know each other, but in the Dreaming, they meet, converse, and have hot sex amongst other things. Gavin, being a Sentinel knows that the Dreaming is real. Zoe on the other hand believes it all to be a dream and that Gavin is just someone she conjured up to help her cope with her waking life. Gavin finds in Zoe his Muse and she reawakens his ability to write music. Slowly they fall in love, although neither is willing to admit it to themselves. Gavin can’t be with a Wylding because he is a Sentinel and it would endanger her life. Zoe doesn’t know he is real, until one incident happens and Zoe is stunned at what she finds out.

One thing I have to mention. I am absolutely thrilled that the author chose to have Zoe be the older partner in this relationship by at least 8-10 years. It’s wonderful when an author takes the normal way of writing a relationship and turns it on its head without calling it a book about ‘cougars’ or other some such gimmicky sales pitch. In this story, it’s just the way it happens to be.

The main characters are fully fleshed out, strong in their ways, but also flawed. But it doesn’t make me dislike them; in fact I like them because they are real. The secondary characters are nothing to sneeze at either. They all have distinct personalities and some are downright creepy. I’m talking about Scarlet here, the sexy, scheming Fyre Elemental who has big plans for herself. I’d love to learn more about Sinnder, a male Fyre; because I don’t think he’s all that he appears to be.

The author does a great job with description and detail and I loved the way she worked the Elements into emotions. It was like another language that could be seen and felt. The splitting of the story into alternating chapters of Realis and the Dreaming kept the pace moving along well and had me yearning for Gavin and Zoe to find each other in Realis. It was like having to say goodbye over and over to someone you loved, not knowing if you’d ever see them again. There were only a few times that the pace slowed down and I needed to focus on the story.

As to technical issues, there were hardly any typos. There is a problem with the formatting. I have epub for my NOOK and often a sentence would be cut in half, two words would appear on the next page leaving the rest of the page blank, and then start again on the following page. There were also numerous cases of the dialogue of two characters in the same paragraph.

I know my review is pretty much just the facts, but it is really difficult to convey how this book made me feel. I can only repeat it was intense, with feelings and imagery, with longing and hope. The romance was there in the book, but it didn’t over power the part of the story dealing with the conflict with the Fyres. It was well balanced. What I can tell you is that I will definitely read the sequels to this book, it is that good, and I can’t wait until the next one is released. I need my fix of Gavin and Zoe :)

In the end, I’m giving this book 4 stars because of the formatting issues.


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Inhale is a beautiful story about love and fate wrapped up in dreams come true and topped off with a hot bow of luvst (that fun stage between lust and love) to tie it all together.

Can you fall in love with a dream? Zoe Morgan did. First, her lifelong dream to work with whales that led her to the Cetacean Research Network, and then her encounters with her dream man, whom she deems Mr. Perfect, a hard-bodied Aussie rockstar named Gavin Cassidy in real life.

Meanwhile, Gavin, lead singer of popular Australian rock band Just Breathe, is dealing with his demons, namely a Fyre elemental called Scarlett. As a Sentinel, his duty is to protect the Wyldlings (regular humans) from Elementals like Scarlett while they dream and to try to restore the Balance of Elements—fire, earth, water, and air. Unfortunately, Fyres like Scarlett are overrunning the Dreaming, causing people to die and go nuts in the real world. Only with Zoe’s help can Gavin hope to set things right.

Inhale follows Gavin, Zoe and Scarlett through the craziness that is the Dreaming and real life. Though a bit confusing in the beginning, with everything concerning the Dreaming, Realis (reality), and the Veil separating the two, along with the Elementals and their power struggle, the book is well worth diving into. Grey gives us an impressive mythology to inform her Australian setting. With a diverse group of main and secondary characters, Inhale becomes a story with a life of its own. Love, lust, betrayal, intrigue, and a Prophecy? Yes please.

Grey’s writing is strong, fluid. Each point of view she provides has his/her own style of narrating, so it doesn’t feel like you’re reading a story from a master narrator. It’s apparent that each character has been crafted with love and care, even the villains. From Yileen, the mentor to Sentinel Gavin, to Zoe’s BFF Adriene, to the elemental hierarchy, Scarlett, and her cohort Sinnder, Grey’s given us a world that’s not only imaginable, but likely. At least this would explain all those effed up dreams I have…

I would strongly urge fans of any kind of urban fantasy to pick up this book. ( )

This was definitely a first for me, marine biology as a paranormal concept. It would seem like a risky angle to use in a paranormal story but it worked. And the fact that most of the story took place in the dreaming but was still very interesting was also a risk but Grey did a wonderful job with weaving the story and the world building. The dreamworld and other supernatural beings were new to me too but very cool. I really liked Zoe and Gavin as characters. Really good story and concept. ( )

I'll be honest I didn't finish the book. I saw by the reviews it had sex, I don't want sex, but wanted to like the book I really did. Just to steamy I couldn't read it. ( )

Inhale is the most unique story world I have ever read. With the Elementals, Wyldings and other types of beings, I was entranced by the creative imagination of this author. The writing was hypnotic, every sentence beautifully composed.

The love story was wonderful - go Gavin and Zoe! The sex scenes were super-steamy, and I found myself blushing frequently! There are some descriptive passages that were particularly memorable, to the point of evoking a physiological reaction. Overall, a great read! ( )