Moning used to publish romance novels. The books were in a series, but each book was able to be read as a standalone story.
When she started this series, she made it very clear up front that this was different - more like a series of fantasy novels where each book builds on the ones that came before.
In my opinion, it reads like one really long book, chopped up into annual installments!
I don't want to say too much, because if anyone is reading the series, I'll give away something very important, but if I remember correctly, there's a "dear reader" letter at the end of the third one, telling readers not to despair, to remember that she came from a romance background and she knows her readers want that "happy ending".
(Can you imagine if you saw something like that at the end of
The Two Towers?)
Anyway, I'm not a fan of cliffhangers myself (I still remember waiting too long to find out who shot JR), which is why that book is sitting on my virtual TBR pile, instead of my "done" pile. I might even wait for the fifth (and supposedly) final one and read them one after the other!