A Break in the Clouds Vol. 2

A Break in the Clouds #2

by Huai Shang, Veah (Translator)

Genres: M M Romance, LGBT

315 pages, Paperback

Published February 28, 2026

About the author

Associated Names:
* Huai Shang (English)
* 淮上 (Chinese)
* หวายซ่าง (Thai)

Reviews

[Heather’s Reading Bubble · Rating 4 out of 5]

My enjoyment of this volume was higher than the first volume. I also felt like this volumes plot moved along at a more coherent pace with less information dumping. I enjoyed the case in this one much more than the first volume( and I liked the first case)

There is so much intrigue in this story and I am enjoying how it is slowly weaving together. I have a theory but don’t want to get too into it here in fear I’ll spoil stuff and I don’t want to do that. I want people to pick this up. I also wish I didn’t have to wait so long for the next volume.

This series has the potential to become a favorite if a few things are done but I still like Jiang Ting far more than Yan Xie. He was less annoying in this volume though so it’s a start.

[Acordul Fin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The kidnapping case in this volume was very engrossing too, I really hope there are more answers in book three. Their life and death situations are getting harder to believe as anybody else would have been taken out of commission for months, not days, based on their injuries. Yan Xie's internal monologue and his jokes throughout the book, omg... sir, the call is coming from inside the closet and the walls are made of glass. Anywho. Jiang Ting is still such a mystery, I really want to know what got him in this spot. The romance is still slow burning and no, they're not kissing in the scene in the water, Jiang Ting is just drowning Yan Xie is giving him air.

Than clifhanger at the end though...

[Queens Love Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Listen, Yan Xie. Stay awake and listen. Remember when you asked if I had any brothers? I used to have a lot of people who were like brothers to me. But three years ago, they all left me. Yan Xie, you’re different. If I die, I’ll watch over you from heaven and make sure you live a good life.”



I had a really hard time getting through the first half of this volume. I’m not even trying to be dramatic when I say I literally fell asleep while reading at one point. The investigation just felt like it kept going in circles for too long, and I struggled to stay invested because nothing emotionally grabbed me early on. What made it worse for me was the fight with Jie. I kept waiting for something genuinely devastating to happen, but nobody dies, and after a while it started feeling ridiculous. Everybody feels protected by plot armor to the point where the danger loses some impact. I wanted the story to make me nervous for these characters, but I never fully believed anything truly terrible would happen to them. Once Jiang Ting started seriously deducing things and piecing information together, though, the book finally woke me back up. Those sections reminded me why I’m still attached to this series in the first place because Jiang Ting is still by far the most interesting character here. I can never fully figure him out, and that’s exactly why I keep wanting to follow him.

I still really love the tension between Jiang Ting and Yan Xie, even when Yan Xie annoys the hell out of me. There are moments where he’s funny, protective, and weirdly lovable, and then five seconds later he says something misogynistic that makes me want to hit his head against a wall. Some of his behavior genuinely irritated me in this volume. At the same time, I can’t lie and say I don’t enjoy the dynamic between them because their interactions still have so much tension packed into them. Every conversation feels layered with suspicion, concern, jealousy, and this constant push and pull where neither of them knows how to deal with each other. I also really loved the short domestic scenes scattered throughout the story. Those moments honestly saved a lot of the reading experience for me because they made the characters feel warm and human outside all the investigations and conspiracies. Tiny moments of caretaking, eating together, or casual banter somehow ended up sticking with me more than some of the action scenes did.

I think this volume frustrated me because I could clearly see the parts I loved buried underneath the slower pacing. Jiang Ting continues to carry the series for me because there’s always this feeling that he’s hiding ten thoughts behind every expression, and I’m constantly trying to figure him out alongside everyone else. I still enjoy the police team dynamic too because the banter keeps things from becoming emotionally exhausting all the time. The story definitely picked up later on, and once the mystery started tightening again, I found myself much more invested. I just wish the book got there faster. There’s a really compelling emotional core here with all the trust issues, secrets, paranoia, and unresolved feelings between the characters, but getting through the slower parts took effort for me this time. Even with all my complaints, I still ended the volume emotionally attached to these characters, which honestly says a lot because if I didn’t care about them, I probably would’ve stopped reading and started with a manga to refresh.

Date Read: 2026.05.17

[Caeden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy shit this volume was so good. Huai Shang truly has a knack for writing action scenes that I don’t often see in other Danmei. Not to mention the twists! The intrigue! The unreliable narration! 😌👌

Side note: Yan Xie is such a cheese ball but he somehow makes it sexy. 😂 I also love how he treats Jiang Ting like a princess. 10/10

[Dani · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little slow to get into I had to struggle through the first "case" in this volume but once it goes to the kidnapping it really picked up. I'm enjoying the relationship between them .

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars for the slow burn romance, but only 3 for the plot itself, because it makes so little sense. Still, I want to finish this series and I guess I’ll have to wait for at least a year until the last 3 volumes are out…

[Len · Rating 4 out of 5]

“But you are different, Yan Xie. Even if I die one day, I will watch you from the sky, and will always watch you live well.”