Inhale, Exhale by Sarah Ross
Source: Netgalley
ISBN: 5369875691232
Release Date: May 4, 2013
Pages: 190
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Jillian had a plan: celebrate the end of her first year of college with an amazing summer full of beaches, barbeques, and bonfires. When her mom insists she needs a summer job, and her boyfriend spends more time with his band than with her, Jillian's plans go down the drain.
Grant had a plan: finish his Masters, get a great job at Google, and get the hell out of Georgia. He might be giving up some of the fun of his youth, but he knows his all work and no play method would be worth it when his dreams came true.
But things never go according to plan.
When temptation brings them together and tragedy tears them apart, Jillian and Grant will be forced to choose: fight for their dreams, or fight for each other.
I enjoyed Inhale, Exhale, but I didn't love it. The writing wasn't always stellar. There were a ton of times where I grimaced at the corny writing and clichés. But Inhale, Exhale was a sweet book. In a world where New Adult books are all about being sexy and overcoming some dark horrible past this was a welcomed change. Grant did have a sad history, but nothing to impossible to overcome. He was driven by his teenage years to succeed and follow through with his plan to get an internship at Google and move away from Georgia.
Grant has me swooning in this book. He was sexy as hell, plus he was a computer geek. He completely stole my heart. He was so protective of Jillian even before he really knew her. When JT was talking about her with Grant and mentioned other guys hitting on her, he actually growled.
I’m falling, Jillian. Falling for a girl who I can’t have but want more than the air I breathe.
Grant falls for Jillian and it kind of freaks him out. He has been on the path to his plan and hasn’t doubted himself or veered off it at any point. But he is faltering and that scares the crap out of him. He knows that Jillian has a boyfriend, but that didn’t stop him from pursuing her. Normally I don’t like cheating in books, and I didn’t this time. I just wished Jillian would have made a decision before anything happened with Grant. She didn’t seem like the cheating type and you could tell how much emotional turmoil she was in after something did happen.
Jillian was with Christian for four years, since she was sixteen. Of course she is bound to meet someone new and better. Jillian refers to Christian with Jordan Catalano looks, (but I don’t see how she could have referenced this. My So Called Life wasn’t even on when she was born!) Her relationship with Christian was completely relatable. At the age of nineteen you are just starting to find yourself and become an adult. She knew Christian was perfect, but didn’t want to examine their relationship too closely fearing what she would actually discover.
The secondary characters were great. Trish and Ava were fabulous supportive friends. At the start of the book I wasn’t as keen on them as they seemed a little ditzy, but that could just have been the writing. Near the end of the book you see how much the care about Jillian and what they would do to protect her. I loved Grant’s friend JT. I think everyone has had a friend like him. That clueless mid-twenties boy still living with his mother because it makes like so easy. Most of the parts where I was laughing involved JT. He was such a fun character.
I did struggle with Jillian’s chapters. They weren't as interesting as Grant’s chapters, and truthfully Grant is what made this book for me. The ending was wrapped up too perfectly. I could have done without the epilogue. It was just too cheesy for me.
