Reviewed by Sue Eaton
TITLE: Broken Hearts in the Heavenly Kingdom
SERIES: Flying Swords #1
AUTHOR: Lyn Gala
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 279 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 24, 2026
BLURB:
In an America that hates magic users, Leander can’t be blamed for allowing his difficult childhood in a group home to turn him into a bitter man. Hiding his magic and his heart allowed him to survive into adulthood and the criminal underworld gave him employment. He might have died as alone as he lived, only he learned the child of the one man he ever loved is in terrible danger. So he kidnaps the child and flees back to magical China where he once studied magic and had a secret romance.
But surviving in China means dealing with his hatred of humanity and himself in order to navigate a world where he is the outsider. He has to survive a curmudgeonly pillmaster, an eccentric auntie, an ex-lover seeking immortality, and mythological creatures. Life is even more complicated when a childhood friend who knows all Leander’s sins reappears, claiming he wants to help. But others seem to have followed and now danger stalks the new life Leander has tried to create. Leander has to learn to fight back, and for a man who has always hidden or fled, that is a terrifying truth.
REVIEW:
Lyn Gala has a knack for writing characters who are both deeply flawed and deeply compelling. Broken Hearts in the Heavenly Kingdom might be one of her most layered explorations of that dynamic. This isn’t just a romance set against a backdrop of political tension and cultural mysticism, it’s a story about the long shadows cast by youthful mistakes, and the way people try to rebuild themselves in the ruins of their own choices.
This book isn’t tidy. It’s not polite. It’s not even pretending to be a straightforward romance. It’s a story about people who have made spectacularly bad decisions and are now living with the fallout like adults who’ve just realised the warranty on their life choices expired years ago.
Leander’s past isn’t just backstory; it’s a living force in the novel. Gala treats his youthful decisions with a kind of brutal honesty, he wasn’t evil, just young, reckless, and convinced he understood more than he did. Those choices trap him years later, not because he’s still that person, but because the world remembers him as that person.
What makes this compelling is that Leander doesn’t get a redemption arc handed to him. He chooses to step up, to take responsibility, to protect someone who isn’t his own child. Saving his friend’s son isn’t a grand heroic gesture, it’s the moment he decides he won’t keep running from the consequences of who he used to be.
The flight to China shifts the novel into a different register. Gala leans into the mysticism, the layered spiritual traditions, and the sense that China is a place where the veil between the physical and the metaphysical is thinner. Leander and Creek don’t understand the customs. They don’t know the rules. They stumble, offend, misinterpret, and get caught in the crossfire of cultural expectations they can’t read. That disorientation is part of the tension between them.
China is both sanctuary and labyrinth. The mysticism isn’t just aesthetic; it’s a narrative force that shapes the characters’ choices. It’s a place where the past can be confronted, but only if you’re willing to let go of the version of yourself you’ve been clinging to.
Creek and Leander’s relationship is one of those slow-burn connections that feels inevitable only in hindsight. Gala doesn’t force them together; she lets them drift, collide, and circle each other until the emotional gravity becomes undeniable. Creek sees Leander’s guilt and doesn’t flinch from it. Leander sees Creek’s steadiness and realises he’s allowed to lean on someone. Their bond grows in the moments between crises, the shared glances, the unspoken understanding, the way Creek steps in without demanding anything in return. It’s a relationship built on survival, yes, but also on recognition. They see each other clearly, flaws and all, and choose to stay anyway.
One of Gala’s strengths is writing communities that feel lived-in and emotionally real. The found family that forms around Leander and Creek isn’t instantaneous or easy. It’s built through shared danger, mutual reliance, and the slow recognition that these people, strangers, at first, are becoming something like home. There’s a tenderness in the way the group forms, especially around the child at the center of the conflict. The adults orbit him, protect him, and in doing so, find themselves bound to each other in ways they didn’t expect.
Broken Hearts in the Heavenly Kingdom is a story about consequences the ones you choose, the ones you inherit, and the ones you spend years trying to outrun. It’s about culture shock, spiritual upheaval, and the strange, stubborn hope that maybe you can build something better out of the wreckage. It’s messy. It’s heartfelt. It’s full of characters who are trying their best, even when their best is… questionable. Creek and Leander are the kind of pairing that sneaks up on you, curls around your heart, and refuses to leave.
RATING: 
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