Review: On Broken Wings by Chanel Cleeton

On Broken Wings
(Wild Aces, #3)
By: Chanel Cleeton
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: Jan. 3, 2017
Genre: Romance
Rating:

A year after losing her husband, Joker, the squadron commander of the Wild Aces, Dani Peterson gets an offer from his best friend, Alex “Easy” Rogers, to help fix up her house. Dani accepts, and their friendship grows—along with an undeniable attraction.

Racked by guilt for loving his best friend’s widow, Easy’s caught between what he wants and can’t have. Until one night everything changes, and the woman who’s always held his heart ends up in his arms. Yet as Easy leaves for his next deployment, he and Dani are torn between their feelings and their loyalty to Joker’s memory.

But when Dani discovers something that sends them both into a spin, the conflicted lovers must overcome the past to navigate a future together…

My thoughts…

I have been waiting for Easy and Dani’s story from the moment I met them in the first book. I was hoping the author would write about them and as the second book rolled around and Easy’s feelings towards Dani showed a little more, I knew we were going to get his story before the series was over. I just can’t believe the series is only three books long though. However, if you are going to out with a bang, this is definitely the story to wrap it all up with.

Okay, first off, you have GOT to read these books in order. Trust me, Easy’s story has been building from the start and it’s not an easy ride for him. Heck, it’s a rough one on Dani as well. Her world shatters in the first book when her husband passes away, and it’s throughout the series that you see their story building up to this moment. In all honestly, throughout the whole time you are just as confused as they are. I mean, you are rooting for them to get together but at the same time, you feel for both of their losses and can understand their guilt over trying to move forward.

“I wanted to hold on to him, and if life had taught me anything, it was that the things you clutched to your chest were the first things to be ripped away from you.”

Easy has been in love with Dani since the moment he saw her at a pilot event. He saw her from across the room and was about to make his move when he saw his best friend and squad leader, Joker, walk up to her and kiss her. Then he got whammied when Joker introduced her as his wife. So, Easy has been trying so hard to not pine away for Dani but throughout the books you get glimpses of the looks he gives her. They are fleeting at the beginning but in this book they are amplified. Not to mention he has become her rock and best friend since the passing of her husband. They’d always been close due to his relationship with her husband but he really steps up when she needs him during the tough times.

Meanwhile, Dani is buried under all this grief. She still wears her wedding rings, she still talks and thinks as a “we” instead of an “I”. However, she starts to slowly try to move on in this book. She puts their house on the market, she goes out to pilot gatherings, and she even goes on a blind date. It isn’t until she starts developing confusing feelings towards Easy that she her grief and the guilt of trying to move on really hits her. In all honesty, I felt for her. I mean, I don’t know what I’d do if my husband passed away. People always say that the other person would “want you to be happy” but it would be so hard to not feel guilty for moving on, and that’s exactly the kinds of things Dani struggles with. Not only does she feel guilty for moving on, but with her husband’s best friend. Then to add onto that, he’s a fighter pilot, too. So, everyone knows her as Joker’s wife. There was just so much to this that it was hard not to feel bad for all parties involved.

“I had a crush on Easy.
Panic hit me, followed by guilt, so much guilt that I found myself gasping for air as I drowned in it. What kind of person developed a crush on one of their dead husband’s best friends? What was wrong with me? The time we’d spent together, the toughthing, all if it-
Fuck.“

I honestly can’t put into words how amazing this series is. I will be honest and say that I wasn’t sure about fighter pilots. I know I have said this in the previous reviews but I have such a hard time with military romances because the authors just don’t get it right. However, Chanel hits the nail on the head EVERY SINGLE TIME. She doesn’t make the guys into some weird robotic macho-men that walk around swearing all the time and using acronyms in every sentence. That just drives me nuts, which is why I don’t read military romances. Man, I am just so glad that I took a chance with Wild Aces because I’ve loved every moment of it. Chanel really knows how to write a romance that will leave you swooning all over the place while still keeping true to the characters.

Now one thing I do want to say is that I cried. Unless you lack the ability to feel emotions, you will cry. This is an emotional moment for Dani… and Easy, too. We relive that moment when she got the news that her husband crashed his jet. She’s unsure about moving on and has a conversation with her late husband while looking at her wedding rings. However, the moment I balled my eyes out was when Easy went to a plaque that was dedicated to Joker and talked to him. He told him how Dani was doing, told him about how they were getting closer, how they would never forget him, and throughout the whole conversation, he hears Joker responding to him and giving him his acceptance. I just lost it. Heck, I’m tearing up now just thinking about it.

Okay, I need to stop talking about this book because you need to go out and get a copy of it. Seriously, you will not be disappointed. There is nothing that I would have wanted the author to have done differently… except maybe triple the length of the book. I’m not going to lie, I wouldn’t have minded more time with Dani and Easy. 😉

Favorite quote…

“The part of me that had pretty solidly fallen out of fucks to give was ready to tell anyone who passed judgement on us where they could shove it. But the other part of me that had respected Joker still struggled with feeling like I’d somehow dishonored his memory. And because it mattered so much to Dani, it mattered to me.”
 

Previous reviews from Wild Aces

Fly With Me
Into the Blue