Winged Clans - Broken Wings By Lora Leigh He is the king of a winged race steeped in honor and tradition. His blood runs fierce and pure with his Eagle Clan heritage. She is the general of a clan that should not exist. Her blood is diluted, tainted by that of the reviled Vulture breed. Now Dearn and Matte will come together, each fighting for the existence of their people and a peace that will begin in each other's arms. But first, they must defeat not just the Vultures, but also the demented dreams of a human king and the merciless vengeance of Cinder, the demonic god he follows. This story was previously published elsewhere in 2003, and has been revised for Cerridwen Press release.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Lora Leigh is a New York Times bestselling author of erotic romance novels. Leigh started publishing with electronic publisher Ellora's Cave in 2003. Leigh's longest-running series is The Breeds. She won the 2009 RT Award for erotica. Leigh was born in Ohio and raised in Martin County, Kentucky, US.
I don't know what happened to this Ms Leigh, but I would like her back, thank you very much.
Breed excepted, I have read only 2 other Lora Leigh novels and, honestly, I did not give them any thought. They were quite plain to me (if not boring). I did not consider myself one of her fans. (But then I'm not a real fan of romance. As in I read them, but rarely enjoy the stories.)
Then I discovered Broken Wings and hoped as hell she would have kept writing this way.
Broken Wings is a fantasy with a dash of romance. Right, just a dash and maybe a kiss in all of the book. But it has plenty of action, battles, a great heroine, a very nice plot. And a wing scene that is better than any sex you get in any erotica clone. I'm running to Amazon to see if she ever wrote a sequel.
This 2005 story from Lora Leigh reminds me of why I like her work so much...even when sex is not an issue, she writes a darn good story.
Fans of her work through Ellora's Cave may find this a disappointment, the story is pure vanilla, with nothing more graphic than a kiss and a touch on the arm described. On the other hand, this work contains one of the best action/adventure plots I have read since finshing the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey.
Basically, we have here a tale of battle, an innocent population with generations of peace finding itself and its untested warriors under attack by the forces of evil. Surprisingly, there are shades of gray between the apparent black and white, and it is these shady elements that allow the forces of good to prevail. 'Never take anything at face value' may be the theme.
I like the fact that the mistress of the hero at the inception of the story gets a happily ever after which is separate from his destiny. These kinds of plot twists keep the story well above the realm of the average fantasy.
It was nice to have the characters shown discussing options during the planning of the raids and battles, and also to be shown some of the action blow-by-blow (literally) in the fight scenes.
I bought this and found it well worth paying retail. I will read it again and again.
This 2005 book is so far the only book in the Winged Clans / Chronicles of Brydon series.
While the Winged Clans are part human, this is not due to genetic breeding in labs, which is how Leigh's Breed (part animal, part man) series people came into existence.
Leigh has created an engrossing and unputdownable story *without* one word of "erotica" -- just a solid story. Her characters are so clearly drawn from their first introductions ... I so enjoyed this book! The writing is exceptionally good.
Being a bird lover, the Eagles, Hawks, Ravens, Bats, etc. was an extra treat.
Book Cover says it all:
"He is the king of a winged race steeped in honor and tradition. His blood runs fierce and pure with his Eagle Clan heritage.
She is the general of a clan that should not exist. Her blood is diluted, tainted by that of the reviled Vulture breed.
Dearn and Matte will come together, each fighting for the existence of their people and a peace that will begin in each other's arms. First, they must defeat the Vultures, and also the demented human king and merciless vengeance of Cinder, the demonic god he follows."
I quite enjoyed this one. The world building was really good and the characters were well done. The storyline was good too. Very eventful. The beginning of the story was dark (rape, murder, etc) but overall it was a passionate and interesting read.
One thing I wasn’t so keen on was the blatant sexism, including from the hero. I’m not so sure how happy their HEA will be with the heroine and her fiercely independent ways. The hero will need to learn how to adapt, and quickly. I also would have appreciated a demonstration of the heroine’s fighting prowess. We saw her loyalty, cleverness, determination and her shooting accuracy, but she didn’t win any fights despite her supposed amazing skills.
**big spoiler** My biggest disappointment in the book was towards the end where it seems a chunk was removed from the story. After a play by play through the whole book, all of a sudden things have been fast forwarded by a couple of days. We’re told that the h&H had their first night together, we’re told that the breeds defected to the other side, we’re told that Matte went back for battle plans - but we weren’t shown any of it. I was left thinking wtf? Those were important events, and they were skipped over. Very disappointing.
Despite my grievances, this is still a book that I would recommend.
LL was an auto read years ago when I was hip deep in the paranormal genre. Her shifters/romantica writing kept me warm on many a night. But the books began to feel regurgitated after a while & mostly with yhe heroine's bearing ridiculous names (Scheme is still up on that list)
I remember this book but gave it a pass because Elloras Cave was hard to find in print. Few stores carried them. But it seems my library does now lol.
Anyhoo, there’s lots of rape & abuse laced with toxic masculinity towards women in this book. Its almost bodice rippery. Matte (not the best, not the worst name) is a bastard warrior & Dearn is the king of the clans. Lots of fighting & & intrigue so it wasn't a snooze fest.
Matte's race had been believed to be extinct. A mad king conspired to wage war and gave Matte a chance to find a better home for her people. The king of the clans will have to defend his people and deal with the past. The beginning of the story is heartbreaking. Extreme violence is used to murder a family. A daughter is traumatized and betrayed by her father. Only the love of her future husband and the family she has found will help her heal. I read the book years ago and I still think it's one of the authors best book. It is just as good as the Breed books. Hopefully the series will continue.
Great read, love her new storyline . Lora Leigh stories are beautiful my written with action from the beginning to end. Action with a love story, can't ask for anything else in a story. Sorry, I don't do spoilers!
After reading Lora's novels for years, I found this to be a great departure into a new world. The story line was engaging and the world was well developed. This is greatas a stand alone or the beginning of a new series.
A great beginning for a new series by Lora Leigh. I enjoyed her Breed series, but got tired of the obligatory sex scenes. This story had romance but was not the star of the show, so to speak.
A stand alone story from2003. Nice world building and strong characters. Matte and Dearne, the king of the Winged Clans, make a beautiful, charismatic couple to lead the story. Enjoyed it.
Thoroughly enjoyed Matte & Dearn's story very much. I love reading a happy ever after story it makes me feel better after a hard day. Thank you for writing this story.
This book was awesome. The best book I've read of Lora Leigh's in my opinion. The depth and storyline are wonderful. Please write another in this series Lora Leigh.
Wow, "Broken Wings" was not what I expected at all, and I just loved the end result! Brutal, dark, and savage, the world created in this first book of the Chronicles of Brydon series was just captivating, and unlike the normal erotica Lora Leigh is famed to write. It is more of an Urban Fantasy with romance, but no erotica which did not impair this read in the least!
Dearn is the King of the Winged Clans of Brydon trying to stop an unstoppable, and thought dead enemy who is killing and tormenting his people. Matte is the general of a Clan that by all rights should not exist, but who are trying to get beyond their heritage and find the peace of a home and an acceptance that they have been denied since their births. Together, Dearn and Matte must work together against their common enemy to achieve the peace they both seek for their people, and to overcome the overwhelming emotion that each one of them holds for the other in order to conquer said enemy and unite their peoples once an for all.
This book was just fastastic to say the least, and I believe I have a new favorite read among the Lora Leigh books I have read! I loved the characters with their savageness, sense of honor, and most of all, deep emotions no matter what end of the spectrum they lay upon. The action was so vivid and well-written into the plot of the story. The intertwining love stories throughout the book made it even more enjoyable. As a huge fan of Lora Leigh's Breed series, "Broken Wings" was just so different, yet so compelling it reminded me why I like to read Lora Leigh's books so much! Warning-this is a read not for the faint of heart, or easily disturbed reader. There is a lot of brutality and unpalatable sequence that some readers will find shocking and unbearable, but the overall book was just phenominal and I for one cannot wait for Lora Leigh to write and publish the sequel, Algernon’s Curse!
Actual rating 3.5 stars. Of all of Lora Leighs books I've read I have to say that this was one of the most enjoyable. This is a whole new world she created full of winged warriors that are loyal, courageous and honest. I'm dissappointed she hasn't gone farther with this though there is certainly room to do just that as she eludes to many different possible story lines throughout the book. With her books there is usually much more romance and less story/plot which is not so in this book, I really enjoyed that she got more into the story and plot. I didn't read the description of this book before picking it up and it took me quite awhile to actually figure out whose story this is, which was a great thing! I wish the battle scenes (especially the ending) were longer and more descriptive but all in all this was a fantastic read! If she came out with another book for this series I would most definitely be reading it!
This is certainly a change in Ms Leighs writings and very interesting world she brings to us...The story is alot like the worlds Amy Lane writes about...
The story is about Winged Humans who are in clans....It is not your typical Leigh story....More sensual than sex.....very worth while
While the Breed books can get repetitive I cannot stop reading this book. I wish Lora would continue on with this her best book ever. No sex but the story doesn't need it. Please Lora write another one of this series.
As I read this book, first it was a great story and I wished it was longer or there was a second book. Second this is so sexually mild in comparison to the breeds series, but it is still a very good read.