Romantasy • Fae • Religion and Faith
Pub Date • 12 November 2024

🎉 Happy publication day! And thank you to @sagapressbooks for the galley!

If you liked The North Wind, you should give this one a try. The stars of this book are Brielle of Thornbrook, adopted by the abbey and committed to a chaste life free of sin, and Zephyrus, the broody, tortured immortal God of the Spring Winds who’s lived a thousand lives and yet still wanders, cursed for all eternity.

It was a little unclear to me at the beginning what these two saw in each other, when Brielle finds Zephyrus apparently dying in the woods and chooses to save him at great risk to herself.

Brielle is meek, timid, self-conscious of everything from her body size to her place in life, but as the book progresses she gains confidence in her strength, her faith, and her path in life. I appreciated this character growth.

In the second half the romance picks up, although this one is harder to get into than Book 1 which is faster paced from the start with a more clear plot. The first half could have benefited from additional editing. If you stick with it the second half is a banger.

Although this is book 2 of The Four Winds series, these can be read as standalone without losing context. I’m looking forward to reading the East Wind’s story next!

I enjoyed reading more of Warwick’s “The Four Winds,” series, but unfortunately this story just wasn’t my favorite. I’m not sure if it was because Zepherus was set up so spectacularly as a horrid character in the first book, but I just couldn’t make myself love him. The formation of their relationship felt a little fast/convenient and I just didn’t have the connection with these characters. I’ll see where Warwick goes with the rest of the series, but this felt like a bit of a sophomore slump compared to book one.

Was a huge fan of The North Wind and was excited to continue the series. Although Warwick's writing still was absolutely gripping from the beginning, this story was definitely much more fantasy with a side of romance in my mind. I don't mind that aspect at all, but I think it would have helped my mindset and mood going in knowing it was mostly about Brielle (whome I love with every fiber of my being).
Excited to read the rest of the series as it is released.

This was a great book on its own, but it probably should have been two because it was long and it was actually divided by two parts.

I loved the journey of Brielle and Zephyrus and the new take on an old fairy tale of Tam Lin. The world is bright and beautiful and unique and all of the side characters and plot came together really well. There is betrayal, triumph, love, and growth. My only only complaint is that the ending was a bit soft and a lot about 🌶️🥵. I think it could have been condensed but it was still a wonderful read!

I did not read the first book, so that maybe why I felt a bit lackluster with this one. The plot seemed fun enough, good bones, her writing and world building was easily visible and I felt immersed for the most part…the romance was hard to settle into and felt very unauthentic. I loved Brielle, as our FMC you wanted to cheer for her (most of the time) she was unapologetically herself, even when that hurt her heart. I did wrestle with her constant insecurity with her faith. And that’s more a personal thing, it didn’t sit well with me. The pacing felt slow tell the last like four chapters and then when it was done I wished the whole book had been like that! Warwick definitely has a talent, but in its entirety the book just wasn’t a winner for me. I am definitely going to go read North Wind now though!

Thank you to NetGalley, Saga Press and Warwick for this generous ARC.

Stephanie Garber's once upon a broken heart meets Greek retelling

I read this as a standalone novel and the tale was engaging, especially the character arc of Brielle and Harper (her nemesis turned ally). In a disciplined world of the abbey, Brielle has more than proved her faith and is yet to be promoted to an acolyte, in service to the Father. Her skills as a bladesmith and her being a larger woman were points which drew me to the story.

She saves a man, nay God, the West wind and bringer of spring, Zephyrus, and is cast into adventures and mishaps, thanks to his errors and omissions. Their tale is one of forgivable, vengeance and truly accepting flaws. With Zephyrus caught in an eternal curse, can Brielle teach him forgiveness and earn the second chance he deserves?

This tale has deep undercurrents of faith and yet does not fully etch the belief systems between the humankind and the fair folk.

A good read, with Brielle transforming from a doormat to owning her decisions and accepting consequences. Thank you Netgalley and Safa press for the ARC!

Thank you Simon Audio for the gifted ALC and thank you Saga Press for the gifted physical copies!

This is the second book in the Four Winds series. While they can be read as stand-alones, it’s always fun to immerse yourself fully into a universe and all of its characters. We first met Zephyrus in The North Wind and he left me so intrigued and eager for his story!

Brielle is our FMC, she is devout in her faith, lives in the abbey, and works by forging iron. She is strong in all the ways. She is also a curvy girl and I loved seeing that representation. She is focused and driven and nothing is going to stop her from achieving her ultimate goal of becoming an acolyte. But then she encounters a strange man in the woods and her resolve is tested. Zephyrus is our morally gray MMC. Very much vilified in the first book, the hope here is that he will get his redemption arc. Obviously I can’t tell you how that goes 🤐

The pacing of this book felt unique from what we saw in The North Wind. This felt more like a tale of self discovery, redemption, vulnerability, and faith. The religious themes are prevalent throughout and play a huge role in everything Brielle does. The battle between her own self identity and her faith is really the biggest source of conflict in the book, despite there being plenty of others.

The dynamic between Brielle and Zephyrus was a complicated one and did not feel like your typical romance vibes. Slow burn but also bumbling awkwardness from the both of them, to a point that most of us in the buddy read were scratching our heads in confusion. But In sitting back and reflecting on it, I feel like this fits both of their journeys as they were finding each other but also finding themselves.

“𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵? 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩, 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆.”

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

4⭐️
If you had asked me for a review at the 50% mark, I would have rated it much lower but this book is a definition of “trust the process”. The writing is beautiful and descriptive. The characters had depth and you are able to see their growth and the way they change unlike some books where it seems like characters will change with the breeze.

The characters, plot, were wonderful and I love a good redemption arc. The pacing and writing style sometime felt like it was starting to drag or was going off on an unnecessary route but it never lasted long and inevitable pulled me back in. I will be recommending this book to others, especially those who love a fantasy/romance but aren’t interested in “smut” (this book only contains one explicit sex scene).

I want to preface this by stating that I did not read the first book in this series, but I don’t feel like I missed out on anything. The author did a wonderful job of world building which did not spoil the events of the first book. Honestly, if I didn’t know this was the second book in a series I would’ve never guessed it wasn’t a complete standalone.

Now, when I requested the ARC I was obsessed with the synopsis. I thought this was a book FOR ME. You know the one book that covers everything that you enjoy reading. Well.. sadly this just did not work for me as much as I wanted it to. The plot progression was painstakingly slow with multiple plot derails. The romance just did not work for me at all. I was about 50% the way through before realizing the MMC is one of those “misunderstood” types and I just don’t care. I didn’t care about the FMC in the end. She started off strong and was firm in her beliefs, but when it came to the MMC it seems like she just lost her senses.

I think my biggest problem about this book is the pacing. Everything happened so slowly (until the FMC suddenly flips and is in love with the MMC). The book is just simply too long, there are some scenes that could be cut and the book would be fine.

Overall, I cannot recommend The West Wind, there are much better fantasy romances out there.

Final rating: 2.5 stars ✨
Thank you to NetGalley and Publishers for the ARC and the chance to honestly review

I adored The North Wind and was very excited to see what was in store for book two of The Four Winds Series. I found it hard to root for Brielle and Zephyrs...I don't know if it was their personalities or just difficulties with me fully engaging within the plot. Even though the romance aspect fell a little short for me, I did enjoy how Alexandria Warwick wove together Tam Lin and Greek Mythology! That was absolute genius. I also felt it was very poignant on how in a way she seemed to address mental illness and religious trauma in a fantasy setting, which is not something that I have come across in my reading of the genre. I will definitely be continuing on with this series, even though The West Wind just was not my favorite.

DNF at 38%.

I really enjoyed the first book, and was surprised by my frustration with this one.

This seemed like a completely different world from the first, and did not fit in with the Greek vibes established by the Four Winds. I was thrown off right from the jump by how the FMC was at an abbey that was almost one to one observing christianity. Not that I have a problem with religion, but it didn't fit at all with what I understood of this world and made immersion difficult.

While I was willing to work with that and see if it would eventually be explained, I couldn't get past my dislike of the characters. Three characters end up going on a journey together, and I was continually frustrated by their bad decisions, inability to learn from their past mistakes, and the "bully" character's casual cruelness. I understand making an unlikeable character, but spending so much time with her was just too much for me and made me miserable. To top it all off, when I got the first glimpse of the "bully's" backstory that I thought would start to make me like her, it didn't line up with her current actions at all. That was the point when I decided my dislike of these characters was just too much for me to work with.

The West Wind is the follow up to The North Wind, and you really should read that one first if you were considering reading this as a standalone. It fits the redemption arc better, though you could still enjoy this fine if you insist.
I enjoyed this overall, but there were highs and lows. The pacing is the biggest low as it was just too slow. I understand why so much rising action was necessary, but it shouldn't have felt slow. The writing is good too, so I'm not quite sure what happened to this effect - perhaps scene planning could have been more efficient? But in any case, this is an enjoyable enough read. Brielle reminded me of a deeply pious Brienne of Tarth from Game of Thrones, and I really respected her character arc from devout novitiate to questioning her position. It felt authentic in that religion is deeply personal, and there are multiple ways to honor one's faith, letting it support without control. I wish the romance had more time on page to develop. The beginning was interesting, but the middle stuttered. The ending was unexpectedly sweet making that midway trudge worth the effort. I will absolutely be reading the next in this series.
TW: there was quite a lot of fat shaming, especially toward the beginning.
Thanks to NetGalley and Saga Press for this ARC!

A great continuation of the stories of the Winds, fallen gods who face romantic obstacles. While the second in the series it could easily be read and understood as a stand alone book. A combination of fantasy, drama, action, mystery, and romance.

I loved this book! I may be in the minority but I think I liked this better than the first one! I felt like the writing was more intricate and evolved! I really loved how unique it felt and the characters were so interesting. Will be recommend and adding to our library!

DNF 25%

The characters felt flat and predictable, and the story just wasn't it for me. I tried making it work but it almost sent me into a reading slump so I had to dnf

Thank you so much to Netgalley, S&S/Saga Press, and Alexandria Warwick for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review of The West Wind!

This story is about Brielle, a larger woman that is also a Blacksmith for her church. She is extremely devout but it’s obvious she has questions and is different than her fellow novitiates. She is continuously targeted for her differences by Harper, as she has been for 10 years. But it isn’t until Brielle brings an injured man into the Abbey, a grave offense, that Harper’s ire becomes truly dangerous.

And when this injured man heals and it turns out he is less than human, his proximity to Brielle becomes more dangerous. But when he promises Brielle the knowledge of how to obtain her greatest desire, how to ascend to the coveted role of acolyte, Brielle finds herself going against everything she has ever been taught in effort to achieve her dream.

She quickly finds herself setting off on a perilous quest with the West Wind and another unwilling companion, surrounded by magic and monsters. And the reader follows along as Brielle’s confidence is strengthened, love and friendships blossom, and more than one character’s dreams change.

I did like the premise of this story. It felt unique in the lore around the religion, the wind’s, and even Under itself. I loved how I could see the landscape as Brielle’s story takes her to many new places. But, I feel like this story focused way too much on Harper being a bully. I understand the author was trying to show us that Brielle, despite her size and strength, was meek and had been beaten down for years. But about 50% of the book focuses on the fact that Brielle didn’t believe in herself or think she could stand up to anyone and in my opinion it was too much.

It did get marginally better in the second half of the book. I was intrigued enough with the story overall to keep reading. Seeing Brielle begin to stand on her own and fight for herself and others was nice. I liked that we did learn a bit more about Mother Mabel’s backstory. I even liked how we saw Zephyrus grow and evolve through this book, even if the romance fell a little flat. But I did find myself disappointed with the amount of loose ends that were left after the book was over. Overall, this wasn’t for me.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️/5

My review was posted to Goodreads on 10/30/24.
My Instagram review will be posted on 11/2/24.

⭐️ 3

The writing seems stronger for me here than the previous book, The North Wind. Less cringe-worthy. I really enjoyed how the book began, it was more original than the first as well because something about a book starting with a basic hunting scene, in winter, did not sit well with me (iykyk), so this was much better. That being said, the book was just way too long. There became a point where everything was just dragging. The charm faded a little.

BUT! This book keeps its three star rating because the FMC is a buff woman who is larger than the love interest with heavily muscled arms. Im not sure I've ever read a romantasy novel where that is stated once not to mention multiple times. YES! HAVE BIG BUFF WOMEN AS LOVE INTERESTS! I LOVE THAT! The body diversity within this genre is abysmal. So yay

"From the author of The North Wind comes a darkly reimagined tale of forbidden love, inspired by the Greek myth of Hero and Leander and the Scottish ballad Tam Lin.

Brielle of Thornbrook has dedicated her life to the abbey. She spends her days forging iron and her evenings studying the Text, all in preparation of becoming an acolyte. Twenty-one years on this earth and she has never touched a man. And she never will.

But when she finds an injured stranger in the forest, Brielle can't resist the urge to help him. The encounter leads her to the realm of Under, where the air breathes rot, and the fair folk dance and whisper. Where she discovers that the man she helped is actually a god: Zephyrus, the West Wind, Bringer of Spring.

There are few Brielle can trust in Under, least of all Zephyrus. He is charming, dangerously so, and never has a man so thoroughly ensnared her. As she embarks on a journey through the eerie banks and caves of Under, Brielle finds herself in a perilous situation. For here is where faith and heart collide - and where she risks not only her future...but her life."

Is it wrong that I'm more excited about the Tam Lin aspect than the Greek aspect?

The beginning of The West Wind felt rather slow, but I appreciated the vivid descriptions of Under and the intriguing creatures and characters inhabiting it. Brielle, however, wasn’t particularly likable. There also were elements that didn't quite make sense, like the author focusing extensively on Brielle's large size and shape in the first half, despite being the only blacksmith in Thornbrook and one of the few inhabitants who trains with the swords she forges. Additionally, I found the religious elements and the antagonism between her and Harper off-putting. Zephyrus was an ok character, but I felt like we didn't get a lot of answers as to why he was such a bad guy (I've gathered you learn more about him in the first book of this series).

Fortunately, the second half improved significantly as the relationships became less frustrating. I was drawn to the concept and liked a series where each book is a standalone story, yet some characters reappear, adding depth and continuity.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. The West Wind was a fun sequel to The North Wind, I enjoyed it, but I do think that the first book resonated more with me. I'm not sure if it was the characters that I didn't feel as strongly about, but I still had a great time reading it! A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads for release date.