REVIEW: Clipped Wings by Helena Hunting

In Clipped Wings by Helena Hunting, Tenley spends every day still trying to get over the tragic loss of several loved ones in an accident that almost ended her life as well. Still bearing the scars physically and mentally, she has thrown herself into her studies at Northwestern and her part-time job at Serendipity. It’s at the bookstore where Tenley first spots Hayden in all his tattooed, pierced dreaminess. She’s not sure what to do when he shows an interest in her. She’s still mourning the loss of her previous life, with guilt and anger holding her back from making new connections. But Tenley decides not only get to know Hayden a little bit better, but ask him to do a tattoo on her back that she has created. She’s hoping it will help purge some of the feelings trapped inside. What Tenley didn’t expect was to fall head over heels for Hayden, or what it might cost her if she gets involved with him.

“Can I take a look?”
“The scars are ugly.”
“Everyone has scars, Tenley. If we’re lucky they’re only on the outside.”
His reply carried so much sadness, like he understood what it meant to have them on the inside.

Hayden is definitely no stranger to darkness and loss. So when he notices the same in Tenley, he just has to find out more. It’s not just her looks, although she’s got a rocking body. She looks at him so intently, like she can see right through him. Hayden tries not to come on too strong to the skittish beauty but he jumps at the chance to do her tattoo without thinking things through first. He has a strict policy in his shop against dating clients. So the sessions may prove to be torturous. But then he realizes just how damaged Tenley truly is when he sees her scars for the first time. Hayden has to find a way to help her heal. And maybe it will be just the thing to help him let go of his past, as well.

“So, what’d you think?”
“That I’m going to lure you back to my place and keep you there forever so you can bake those cupcakes every day for the rest of my life.” I left out the part where I would eat them off her naked body. Tenley was like a wet dream. Hot, feisty, into body modification, and she makes cupcakes.

Clipped Wings was a superbly emotional romance that may have a dark tone to it, but I thought it was actually filled with love and hope for these two very damaged people.

‘Maybe that was where the connection came from: we were linked through the pain of loss.’

Let me first start off by saying that this is NOT a happily-ever-after story. Or even a happily-for-now. Nope. It has the mother of all cliffhangers. And personally, I was okay with it. I didn’t feel like it was done to necessarily string the reader along, it just felt like the right stopping point for book one. But I know that some readers will be upset over the lack of a HEA, so be forewarned.

Aside from that, I thought author Helena Hunting did a fantastic job of giving us a new adult story with a lot of turmoil but not too much angst. Both Tenley and Hayden were deeply affected by horrific past events, struggling daily with the emotional blowback. The flashback scenes detailing said events might be a little on the difficult side for some to read. I thought the feelings Hayden and Tenley had in response were quite realistic, which also became a connection between them that not a lot of their friends or even family could understand.

I really did like Tenley and Hayden together, thought they complemented each other well, even given their completely different backgrounds. This novel may have had a lot of dramatic moments filled with self-realization, but Ms. Hunting also included some wonderfully funny scenes. Of course, my favorites were any having to do with Hayden and his love/obsession with cupcakes. Or any homemade food for that matter. It was such a normal goofy guy thing and very endearing. I also thought the chemistry between Tenley and Hayden was written very well. It showed Tenley’s longing to be able to act on her feelings like a normal twenty-something year old. And Hayden was a dirty-mouthed, tattooed hunk of a guy who wasn’t afraid to go after Tenley. Very hot.

If you’re a fan of the new adult genre, I hope the cliffhanger ending doesn’t deter you from reading this. I think you’d be missing out on getting to know two incredibly resilient people.

Book Info:

Published March 4th 2014 by Gallery Books

An emotional love story that follows the touch-and-go relationship of Hayden and Tenley; two young people who desperately want to love and be loved but are afraid to completely let go of their pasts.

As Hayden and Tenley navigate their newfound but slightly unstable relationship, they want to trust each other, but Hayden is hiding a dark and shameful past that he doesn’t ever want Tenley to find out about. And Tenley has secrets of her own that could make Hayden run away forever. When Tenley asks Hayden to put a beautifully elaborate tattoo across her back, the two form what they thought was an unshakeable bond. But when Tenley’s past shows up on her doorstep, will Hayden stand by her side…or run?