Four Winds Series

Amazing Series!

Falling for Heaven:
Overall:
Wow this is addicting. I wasn’t sure what to expect, other than there was maybe a religious history aspect with the archangels. Uri pretty much fits in as a ‘regular’ dude, though Damien stands out more. The dichotomy is brilliant, making it all seem like Damien doesn’t care enough to, like he’s that much more bad or something. I completely couldn’t put this book down. I literally was sneaking in sentences from it around watching my family open Christmas presents. As I wondered why I haven’t picked up this book sooner, I also realized I had a problem.

Heather is a very likable character, strong and been through way more than her share. Handles it better than most would and just… inspirational.

There are some profound quotes regarding darkness and light in this book and lots of ‘the feels’. There’s some action and leading up to it, some mystery. This book’s got it all and I read it in one sitting, around holiday chaos because I was hooked.


Editing/Proofing/Formatting:
Easy on the eyes, formatting is fine. Could use another pass by a proofreader, but the mistakes don’t distract from the reading experience too much - it’s in overall decent shape.

4 stars.



Falling for Hope:
The reader is treated to third person POVs, alternating between Gabriel and Hope. Hope’s voice is laugh-out-loud witty, so I’m hooked in pretty early on.

Gabe is adorable! I watched Uri adjust to human stuff, and Rafe a bit, but Conley manages to mix it up a bit with Gabe and it’s endearing.

Hope is REAL. She is a real girl - she’s not a waif, she’s insecure, she’s a slob. She’s honest with herself and the reader. She is nothing like any other romance novel character I’ve ever ‘met’ and she’s my favorite thing ever. It’s SO NICE to read something that feels so real.
This alone makes the book 5-star worthy to me.

There’s action, there are cats with their own personalities and we get a peek into hell in this one. We also get a look at Michael and I’ve already got a thing for him, so I’m off to indulge in his story.

5 stars.

Falling for Grace:
In a world where everything is seemingly the same, I feel I’m always in pursuit of originality. At the same time, I’m realistic and will settle for something that has great characters and some suspense. I don’t expect to be surprised, (though if you can surprise me, I’ll read anything you write and follow you forever).

Falling for Grace isn’t the same old boy-meets-girl / girl-meets-boy, conflict, HEA that the world is over-saturated with. I couldn’t stop turning the pages and once again put my life on hold to keep myself submerged in this cute little small-town world.

Between the small town and Grace… she’s a brilliant character. None of that agreeable, letting-the-boy-get-his-way-to-keep-the-peace nonsense here. She doesn’t take any crap. She stands up for herself. She has her own sense of what’s right and lets it rule her. She’s strong, despite the fact that her mother IS everything I loathe… she sees what’s wrong with it and does better for herself. The fact that Conley wrote the mother like this is brilliant - it makes Grace’s strength stand out that much more.

Conley is a master designer when it comes to her characters, and her worlds. I’d kill to spend more time in this town.

I did predict all of it - but that’s what I do. Falling for Grace is an utterly addictive work of art.

Formatting: Gorgeous - I literally stopped to admire it at times.
Editing/Proofing: Seems professional, mistakes noted, but not distractingly so.

Overall: 4.5 stars.

Falling for Faith:
Cover:
Beautiful, matches the rest of the series and fits the content.

Editing/Proofing:
It’s great! Better than the other books in this series that were edited by someone else.

Formatting:
I’ve read four of these books, all with the same formatting, and still, can’t stop admiring the beautiful formatting.

Character Development:
ON POINT! We got a sneak peek at Michael in a previous installment, kind of laid the groundwork and the continuity is perfect. Faith is complicated too and despite this, she’s perfectly designed.

Plot/ Overall:
It’s good. I couldn’t stop turning the pages, even though I felt I knew how it would go, having been submerged in this series for a few days now. It’s a little different than the others, these characters are into ‘playing’ (read: there’s a little BDSM) and we get a closer look at Damien, making me completely relieved that he got his own book. This also effectively laid the groundwork for the next book, so while each of these can be read as a standalone, I’d recommend just going in order - might appreciate it more that way. A great read, lots of action, lots of drama, some heat and a bit of mystery.

4 stars.


Falling for Cyn:
Cover:
Pretty, super fitting of Damien and the story itself and clearly matches the rest of the series so… perfect.

Editing/Proofing:
Nearly perfect! Definitely a big difference in the books edited by Beyond Def vs anyone else, this series is a clear example of that.

Formatting:
Seriously wouldn’t mind if every book I ever read looked like this… even though the design specifically fits this story… it’s just so pretty.

Character development:
Advanced. We’ve seen Damien throughout this series and his character never changes. Conley knows how to design a character and then keep them IN character for the duration of their / the series’ life. I also feel she does an amazing job of describing human feelings from the point of view of someone who’s experiencing them for the first time ever. She doesn’t take anything for granted, and seems to get this right throughout the entire series. As Damien falls and evolves, par for this series, it’s fascinating, but befitting of his character and backstory.

Plot / Overall:
This installment is a bit of a dichotomy in and of itself. It’s got archangels turning vengeful, while still inherently good and the devil trying to change his ways. A non-believer forced to believe, but still not exactly believing...

I’m a big fan. I absolutely love the concept - we get to see the devil experience human emotions and what it might take for him to change his ways. As a very strict non-believer, I can still get behind Conley’s spin on the archangels, God, and Satan all day long. I’ve read other books that tackle this and similar topics and never really been able to get into them; usually some religious aspect comes into it somewhere and turns me off. Conley knows how to keep it real and does throughout the whole series. By “real”, I mean plausible, and I don’t feel like anything is being shoved down my throat. It’s more like… she’s given me a different light to see things in. And regardless of any beliefs or lack thereof, basic right/wrong and dark/light are present here - also keeping it as spiritual or non-spiritual as the reader wants it.

Falling for Cyn was a bit of a rollercoaster ride. As someone who annoyingly predicts EVERYthing, I really wasn’t sure what direction this one would ultimately take. The possibilities were endless and the scenario volatile. I was also too busy absorbing it all to worry about guessing, and not much sucks me in to that extent. For that alone, (as if everything else I’ve said didn’t qualify this) I’ve gotta give it the the full 5 stars.

Completely brilliant series and my review of the series as a whole is also below.


Overall Series:

This series features beautiful formatting and advanced character development; I feel the author’s brilliance is highly underrated and that really shows in this series in particular.

With this series, there’s the surface: the banter, the characters meeting and falling for one another, the heat, etc. And then there’s more, but only if you want there to be. Conley has an uncanny ability to say things without actually saying them, if that makes sense. The content can really prompt some thinking… or the reader can just let the witty content suck them in and enjoy an escape from reality. That’s the brilliance in Conley’s writing: it’s multifaceted.

5 stars