Wit and Sin

http://witandsin.blogspot.com/2017/01/review-on-broken-wings-by-chanel-cleeton.html

On Broken Wings is a raw, emotional, utterly breathtaking romance. I’ve been eagerly anticipating Dani and Easy’s book since the first Wild Aces story, Fly with Me, and Chanel Cleeton did not disappoint. I smiled, I cried, and I loved every bit of this book.

I absolutely loved Dani and she just about broke my heart. She’s lost at the beginning of the story, her life shattered not just by the death of her husband or the miscarriage she’d suffered before that, but the way her life has broken apart around her. She was used to being part of a unit, and as a military wife her life was built around Joker’s career. Ms. Cleeton gives a compelling portrait of a widow putting her life back together, of how she handles grief and comes back to life. Dani is so strong, but the weight she carries threatens to crush her even as she works to build a new life. I loved that Dani felt real, that Ms. Cleeton managed to give her grief and struggles weight without dragging down the story. I especially loved watching Dani come back to life and fall in love again. It isn’t an easy to have a romance where the heroine genuinely loved and was loved by a good man and then falls in love a second time. Too often either her first marriage is glossed over or her new love doesn’t feel as powerful. Fortunately, Easy and Dani’s love story is as fantastic as I could have hoped for.

Easy grabbed my heart from the very first Wild Aces book and didn’t let go. He’s a cocky F-16 pilot with an easy charm, lethal sex appeal, and gorgeous looks, but most people don’t look beyond the surface to see the man within. Easy has a heart as big as the ocean and he’s so completely gone over Dani that it broke my heart. Her husband was one of his best friends and Easy never wanted either Joker or Dani to know how he felt. His guilt and his grief over the death of his friend make him want to put some distance between himself and Dani, but when she needs him he can’t help but be at her side. His love for her is selfless and beautiful, and I couldn’t put On Broken Wings down because I wanted to see that love returned.

The romance between Dani and Easy isn’t a smooth ride, but it’s a great one. Watching them go from friends to lovers was fantastic. While Easy has been in love with Dani from the start, obviously it’s not the same for her and I liked how their relationship developed organically. Seeing them handle the complications of their attraction to one another and their very realistic emotional reactions that sprung from the changes in their lives kept me reading late into the night. There’s no false drama in this book, only mature protagonists in tough situations doing the best they can. For all the emotional ups and downs in On Broken Wings, it’s a story of hope and finding love and happiness. The heartbreak is so worth it when the happily ever after is as amazing as Easy and Dani’s is.

On Broken Wings is the third book in the Wild Aces series, and if you don’t mind spoilers for Fly with Me and Into the Blue it can be read as a standalone (though you’d be missing out). Every book in the Wild Aces series has been exceptional, and On Broken Wings brings everything together in such a way that fans of the series are sure to have big grins on their faces by the end of the book. I loved everything about Dani and Easy’s romance; it’s one of those special stories that stays close to your heart.


FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.