Happy Release Day: Inhale Exhale by Sarah M. Ross

Synopsis

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 come 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.

4 Star Review

“No, not soul mates. You know I don’t believe in those. It was more like we were completely compatible. Like he got me, and we clicked together. Pieces of a puzzle or something.”

Jillian has been dating the same guy since she was a sophomore in high school, four years later the thrill is gone. Christian likes to party and likes his weed.  Ambition is not really on his list of requirements. Jillian has a dream where she is walking on a beach with her boyfriend, but when he turns to her, it is someone else. This nameless person is like a magnet and they cannot break their eye contact. She shares her dream with her best friends Ave and Trish.  

Jillian’s mom arranges a summer job for her at Allegro, an advertising agency that specializes in internet advertisements and sales. It’s a fairly large company with over 600 employees and Jillian will transfer incoming calls for the sales department. To say Jillian is a little overwhelmed by the sheer volume of calls would be an understatement and begins to regret taking the job. Her computer requires her to set up passwords and such and she is in need of the IT department. Meanwhile Grant, the master of code and all things computers rules the IT department at Allegro.  He is finishing his Master’s and looking to intern with Google. When his mom suddenly died in a car accident, his father fell apart, and never quite put himself back together again. Grant is his father’s caretaker, housekeeper, grocer shopper and bread winner. He has vowed never to let a woman become so important to him that her loss would destroy him. He sees the shell that used to be his father and wants no part of a relationship. Recoding algorithm; now that is dependable, reliable and serves a purpose.

“I’ve know people in retirement communities with more of a social life than you.”

When Jillian’s computer acts up, and Grant sets eyes on her, it’s on! She feels the same connection, manages to throw out the fact that she has a boyfriend out of nervousness and then immediately regrets it. Grant can’t get her out of his head and invites her to every company get together hoping to spend some time with her.

“She was beautiful. Some girls are girl-next-door pretty, some model hot, some sex-kitten sexy. But to be beautiful, it took a combination of all three. This girl had it in spades.”

His co-worker JT digs up dirt on Christian. In order to make ends meet, a few years ago, Grant hacked into computers and Christian paid for his unique services. Plus he suspects Christian is hiding a few things. Christian is constantly out of town, playing small town gigs with his band, Mindblown, and Jillian spends time with Grant. He’s completely smitten with “cupcake” as he calls her and knows her boyfriend is a total asshat. One thing leads to another between the two, and then… Christian, the douche is back. Throw in a sick family member and let the angst party begin. Will Jillian officially break things off with Christian and choose Grant? What is Christian hiding and what happens when Jillian gets caught up in his mess? The book takes a rather serious turn towards the end, but the sweetness between Grant and Jillian keeps things from becoming too heavy.

I thoroughly enjoyed the secondary characters; TJ, Trish and Ava are funny and down to earth. Definitely would like to see a sequel at some point. This is a relatively short read, very well written and well worth the time invested.

“When I was a kid and my mom was still alive, my dad used to say to me, ‘son when you find something worth holdin’ on for, your grip will become more solid than cement.’”


About the author

Sarah Ross started her obsession with reading at an early age, getting in trouble for sneaking BabySitter Club and Nancy Drew books into math class in elementary school. She would read any fiction book she could get her hands on. Sarah knew it was an addiction when instead of grounding her from TV or music, her mom would take away her books as punishment (The Horror!). Her love of all things paranormal was inspired by her good friend Laurie, who convinced Sarah that books with vampires, witches, and all things shifter were amazing. After a little reluctance, she gave it a shot with the Sookie Stackhouse books, realized she was right, and the rest was history.

Sarah grew up in Pittsburgh, graduated from The University of Pittsburgh with a degree in English, and taught 8th graders to love reading as much as she does for several years. She will always be a proud member of the Steelers Nation, but couldn’t take the cold and moved her frozen tush to Florida where she now lives with her family and two cats. You will find Sarah now with her trusty Kindle in hand and toes in the sand!

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