Out of the Woods was one of my most anticipated reads of 2025. When I met Sarah and Caleb in ‘Out on a Limb’ I knew their story was one I wanted. Sometimes reading about already established couples is challenging, but Hannah Bonam-Young wrote this seamlessly between past and present. When I got to the dedication, I knew this book was for me.

‘Out of the Woods’ is my love letter to all of us who met our soulmates before we had the chance to fully meet ourselves.

Whew… talk about relatable. I met my husband when we were 15, and we became fast friends. We started dating at 17, married at 20, and are now almost 39. Like I said, relatable. But enough about me; back to Sarah and Caleb.

Sarah has a husband who has been with her and supported her through all the ups and downs of her life. Ever since she’s been a teenager. He’s the best partner she could ask for. But she finds herself wondering… who is she aside from being Caleb’s wife? To figure this out, she and Caleb go on an adventure to rediscover themselves. An outdoor hiking/couples retreat.

I enjoyed the first 40%- 50% of this book, but the last half… the last half was everything. I laughed, I cried, and I loved it so incredibly much. This was a beautiful journey of self-discovery and finding yourself, and it was a great example of how beautiful a long-term marriage/relationship can be when you grow together. I adored this book and couldn’t recommend it more. It is my first five-star of the year and one that will most definitely be on my favorites list of 2025.

Wow. This book was AMAZING!! I knew I was going to love Sarah and Caleb. They are fun and witty and this book showed that and so much more. The grief in this book was so real and was navigated beautifully. The storyline was honestly so real too. The ideas of working through hard times in a marriage can be so scary and difficult to tackle. And Hannah wrote everything to where you can feel the emotions. I laughed, I cried, I felt everything with this book. I’m so thankful I got to read this book as an arc from netgalley. Im also so thankful for Hannah and writing story’s that speak to the heart and make you feel.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and Dell for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Rounded up from 3.5-3.75 stars

Sarah and Caleb are high school sweethearts, and after being together for nearly two decades, Sarah begins to not only question parts of their relationship but who she is and what she’s doing in life. When they join a hiking trip meant to help couples rediscover themselves, they begin to have open and honest conversations about their past, and what they want their future to look like.

As Hannah Bonam-Young writes in her author’s note, this book is for those who found their soulmates at a young age, and before they got to meet themselves fully. And because of this, Out of the Woods, toes the line between Romance and Women’s Fiction. While we do see Sarah and Caleb working on their marriage and confronting issues that they’ve ignored for years, a majority of this story’s arc is about Sarah finding herself as an individual. I also think that for any marriage in crisis book, I prefer to have dual POV, and I deeply wish we had Caleb’s POV in this!

But I did really love being back in this universe that Hannah Bonam-Young created with Out on a Limb. We still get to see Win and Bo who I love, but we’re also introduced to new characters on this hiking trip who are so fun and become so important to Sarah and Caleb over the years! That bonus epilogue was absolutely everything!!

Tender, cozy, healing, and STEAMY were are things felt reading Caleb and Sarah's story of reconnection and growth. I absolutely love this fresh take on romance, taking us past the initial HEA and into the journey of love and growth continues past the wedding vows. Hannah can write some incredible emotions with such an authentic and vulnerable approach and in balance, she can craft some delicious intimacy that will both get your heart racing and swooning from the scenes being so steamy yet real. I love this so much!

Thank you to Netgalley and Dell for the e-arc

4 stars

First of all lovvvveee a Hannah Bond-Young book and when I read that this book was set in the world of Out on A Limb I was sold. I absolutely loved Sarah and Caleb. This book was very different from what I usually read and I am not used to reading a romance about already married characters let alone have been married for years so I liked that it was different. I very much enjoyed reading about the struggles these two had an dhow they overcame it and how they started to understand each other. I think both characters make very valid points to each other about what they need to work on to make their relationship work and I think that felt very genuine. My favorite part was when Sarah was telling Caleb that she wants them to adapt and change as they grow and how he didn't want that and you see her start to stand her ground and tell him that they need to lear to adapt or they will have more problems. I felt really bad for Caleb when he said he felt like everything was fine and didn't notice that she was unhappy. I felt even worse for Sarah because that makes her feel like he doesn't care and doesn't notice her feelings. But, by the end they work out their differences in my opinion in a pretty healthy way and I just love to see a natural and genuine experience like that. So I really enjoyed this book.

while I do believe hannah to be an accomplished and talented writer, out of the woods didn't impress.

almost immediately, it became evident this book was not centered around a marriage in crisis, as it was largely marketed, but rather about sarah's grief and personal growth. and, to be clear, that plot design is not inherently bad since that is of course an incredibly important story to tell, highlighting a dynamic that was special, a loss that altered the entire course of sarah's life. but sadly, my invest never completely recovered from having to adjust my original expectations so quickly.

also, caleb — one-half of the marriage that was supposed to be at the forefront — was underutilized and underdeveloped, even almost entirely removed from the last quarter of the book for reasons I won't spoil here. in his own life, he somehow became a background character.

however, the many bo and win cameos did serve as a bit of a saving grace, their happy bubble of newlywed bliss served as a nice foil to the struggles sarah and caleb were facing.

in the future, I will absolutely reach for any future releases from hannah, aware that this one just wasn't for me and that's alright.

thanks to hannah bonam-young and dell for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVED this story so so much! Second chance romance is not usually my favorite trope but Hannah Bonam-Young has changed that!! I absolutely loved every second of reading this book. This was the most refreshing book I have picked up in a long time. Sarah and Caleb have become one of my favorite couples ever! Despite their flaws, them working so hard to get past it was the most loving thing about this story.

I feel like I need to read it again all over. (':

Sarah and Caleb Linwood have been together since they were fifteen, married since nineteen. They have never doubted that they should be together, but at 32 Sarah is questioning who she is. She’s always been somebody’s something and never her own person. When a fundraiser failure turns into a marriage fracture, Caleb and Sarah book a couples retreat in the woods to try and repair what’s not working between them.

This book follows after Out on a Limb and is just as wonderful and poignant! I loved Sarah and Caleb and was pleasantly surprised that even though their marriage was in crisis it was never truly in jeopardy of ending. Knowing that they still chose each other even in the hard moments was a really lovely story to witness.

The outdoor retreat was a perfect way to force Sarah and Caleb to actually talk to each other. The abstinence rule added tension and steam to the retreat for Caleb and Sarah and I loved the reveal at the end about it. One of my favorite moments of the entire novel was the group therapy session where everyone shared the hill they were willing to die on.

I highly recommend both of these books and everything Hannah Bonam-Young writes!

hannah has easily become a favorite and an auto buy author for me!! Out on a limb was one of my top ever reads and after meeting Sarah and Caleb i wanted their book. Marriage in crisis is a trope that's always so triggering for me but this book was everything and just hit SO hard in my feels. It was raw and beautiful and it just felt so realistic.

Not sure what I did to deserve this ARC, but I am so happy to have it. I felt like the chosen one when this appeared in my inbox.

Read this when you’re ready to feel ALL the feels. The hoping, the loving, & the yearning in Sarah & Caleb’s story is incredible. I’ve need read a marriage in crisis story before so I was skeptical, but Hannah has never let me down. She successfully captured my heart & once again had me FEELING ALL THE FEELS.

“When you’re not near, you occupy every corner of my life. Half of my thoughts are about you. All of my dreams involve you. My hopes and fears and purpose revolve around you.”

What to expect…
Marriage in crisis
Couples camping retreat
High school sweethearts
Dual Timeline
Flashbacks
GRIEF

PS. Lots of Win & Bo cameos <3(:

Major thank you to the publisher, the author, & to NetGalley for the ARC!

Happy Pub Day to Hannah Bonam-Young and her baby Out of the Woods!

This was my first ARC! So thank you so much @netgalley 💛

I read my first HBY novel last year and was obsessed 😍
This book continued to meet my standards with witty banter, characters who feel so genuine and relatable, and a plot that really tackled real life struggles and experiences.

Please make sure to read the author’s note before diving into this.

But if you are like me, you’ll just gobble this up. It was so hard to put down!

✨Book Review✨

Out of the Woods - Hannah Bonam-Young

📖 Sarah and Caleb are high school sweethearts who have always had one another to lean on. But Sarah has started to wonder… who is she without her other half? Trying to find her feet and accomplish something on her own she plans a fundraiser, but fails epically, until Caleb steps in to save the day without being asked to. The rift that follows causes a serious unearthing of a decade of issues. In an attempt to fix what they fear is breaking they agree to get out of their comfort zones and join a hiking trip intended to guide couples through rough patches. Will they find their way back to each other, or is the divide too great?

📚 I love a book about a couple that we want to cheer for from the beginning. Sarah and Caleb are already married and they have to find their way back to one another before it’s too late - and what couple that’s been married for many years can’t somehow relate to that notion? Hannah BY did a great job creating drama and heartache and hurt, dealing with it carefully and lovingly, while unravelling it from the inside. Sarah and Caleb are relatable characters that you want to see retunited. Sarah’s personality also had me laughing out loud and sending a screenshot of her quips to my friends.

🌟 If you like romance novels, enjoy characters trying to rekindle and reignite their love, and like to giggle while you read then this is the book for you. Out of the Woods was just published on January 28th, so request it from your local library!

Shoutout to @NetGalley and Hannah Bonam-Young for the ARC of this book. Out of the Woods is a standalone that could also be read after Out on a Limb. I haven’t Out on a Limb yet, have you?!

#OutOfTheWoods #OutOnALimb #HannahBY #BookReview #BookRecommendation
#Bookish #BookLover #Bookstagram

We all go through times in our life where we question everything that we’ve done add in grief that can just create a perfect storm of uncertainty about everything. Goals we haven’t accomplished or that fell to the wayside of life. It’s a very relatable struggle to feel and at its core I think That’s what this novel examines. Along with the struggles of marriage and how you navigate that relationship when you don’t seem to know who you are or what you want anymore. It’s a normal thing to experience in a marriage and not really discussed a lot so people end up feeling so alone. That’s one of the things I love so much and HBY she always examines themes that are so relatable but not wildly discussed. I laughed, I cried oh boy did I cry, it made me think about my own life and how Sarah’s struggles reflected my own. How I don’t want to wait ten years to live the life I want and that grief doesn’t always get easier but we do get stronger.

Out of the Woods🏕️🔥🪵⛰️☕️

Talk about a punch to the heart….

I don’t know how to start this. Hannah has the ability to give with each of her books a different perspective to this world. Her ability to write tender and soft as well as the same characters who have so much passion for each other is truly a gift. I will always love a marriage in trouble trope. Seeing the want and longing to fix a marriage will always hit.

Caleb and Sarah had me heart, again they chucked it out of my body, left it on the ground for the duration of the book, then when the book was close to finishing, it returned to me. Like my faith in relationships came with this book 🫀‼️

To fear not being enough is common. And Caleb and Sarah immediately wanted to reconcile their love and work on their differences to make them stronger. And my absolute favorite part???? The unscheduled “I love you’s” because yeah, we need to say “I love you” more in times where it isn’t required or established but also in times where we just feel the need to let them know.

The way this man had me feral🫣😮‍💨 also he brought her kindle so she didn’t lose her reading streak??? Babe I’m on the floor ✨

Anywaysssss to my gals who had to grow up fast and early because of circumstances in life, and to the ones in your life who came in and carried you along the way never expecting anything in return but your love, may you enjoy and cherish this book the way I did and may this book heal a little part of you🩵🌦️

Thank you times a billion NetGalley, Dell Romance, and Random House for the e-arc of Out of the Woods, out today! Happy release day, Hannah🫶

You’ll Find:
- Marriage in Trouble
- High School Sweethearts
- Acts of Service
- Flashback Scenes
- Outdoor Scenes
- Reader Girl x Geeky Boy
- Caleb’s Scruff, Hair, and Glasses 😚

I’m holding this book so close to my heart 💖 I absolutely loved Cay and Sar’s story and felt so compelled to them, along with everyone in their hiking group. The dynamic within the Reignite group was so well-balanced, and I loved how they were all connected in some way. The bond between Libby and Sarah was such a beautiful part of the story. Libby’s youth made their connection even more authentic, and the way they both navigated the loss of their moms felt so real and heartfelt. It really got to me emotionally.
As someone who has experienced the loss of a parent and the grief that comes with it, a lot of this book really hit home for me. One quote that stuck with me was: “It can sometimes be difficult for me to feel grateful for what I have because I’m thinking about what I lost or what I could lose.”

5⭐️2.5🌶️
Wowowow! Ok I loved Out on A Limb but this… THIS was even better!!
The marriage in trouble trope is SO underrated - I love when they have history and it just needs some working on. Swoon. Also the spice in this book?! Unexpected and GLORIOUS.
Caleb and Sarah are high school sweethearts, have been married for just over a decade and begin to realize that they just don’t have a spark anymore.
Cue… trip to the woods for group therapy and hiking sessions.
Hannah is just so good at developing her characters and making them SO loveable. If you loved Out on a Limb, I highly recommend you read this one!!

Tropes:
-high school sweethearts
-marriage in trouble
-dual timeline
-grief rep

Sarah and Caleb are high school sweethearts who married young. After a flopped event hosted by Sarah is saved by her well-intentioned husband, she feels alone and adrift in their relationship. She asks that they go on a nature retreat to reset their relationship.
Marriage in crisis as a trope is not one of my favourites, but Hannah does a good job of painting the picture of Caleb and Sarah’s relationship patterns. She still manages to create sexual tension in a story where the characters have been together for 17 years. I found Sarah to be slightly annoying as a FMC. She heavily relies on Caleb to hold her up, which is why she wants to go on the retreat in the first place and it does create a character growth arc for her. The pacing was slightly slow, but if you like a dual timeline story, this might be a good fit for you.
I give it a 3.5 star rating, rounded down because of the pacing and my lack of connection to either character.

I loved Caleb and Sarah's story. The emotion and relatability in this book is incredible. It was so amazing to read as Caleb and Sarah found their connection again and found their way back to each other. Hannah perfectly captured a story that showcases the challenges and obstacles that people often face in their marriages. The story was beyond beautiful.

I loved seeing Bo, Win and August in this story too. The found family in this series is so wonderful and heartwarming.

Thank you to Dell Romance and Hannah Bonam-Young for the ARC.

4.5⭐️ Hannah does it again with another real, raw and honest depiction of love. Sarah and Caleb’s love story felt so personal and beautiful. So often in romance books, we get cookie cutter love stories that seem to be the “ideal” love story, however this book feels like real life love. If you’re married or in a relationship, I truly think you will be able to relate to certain aspects of this book. Marriage and relationships are hard. They are filled with ebbs and flows, ups and downs, and this book is the perfect representation of that.

What to expect!
-marriage in crisis
-high school sweethearts
-first love
-dual timelines

I really loved the dual timeline of this book! It worked so well with the story. We get to see them fall in love, drift apart and everything in between. We see Sarah and Caleb walking on eggshells, coasting in their relationship, and avoiding difficult conversations. They have serious built up resentment toward one another. However, you can see how much they love and care for each other despite the difficulties they are having in their marriage.

The camp setting was super fun. The side characters were also entertaining. Caleb was an absolute angel. Seeing him struggling quietly and terrified to lose Sarah, truly ripped me into shreds. Reading about Sarah’s grief and loss was also a sucker punch. She had some incredible character growth. I also loved seeing the quirky and fun side of Sarah and Caleb’s relationship. You can tell they are each other’s best friend! Of course I devoured the Bo and Win content!!! My all time favs.

Thank you so much Dell Romance for the ARC copy!!

This was an amazing eye opening, thought provoking, and romantic read. Sarah and Caleb have been through so much in their 17 years together and have ended up on different pages. They decide to reconnect on an unplugged hike through the woods. The problems between Sarah and Caleb were so relatable and the writing of the issues and the resolution were beautifully done. I would highly recommend this book!