Out of the Woods is Sarah and Caleb's story, high school sweethearts that have grown but Sarah feels their relationship has stayed the same. She always feels Caleb is the white knight coming to her rescue even when she doesn't need it. She feels they hit a rut or maybe just she has.
They go on a couples hiking retreat that is built around couples reconnecting. They are finally open and raw with their emotions. They remember what brought them together in the first place.

I don’t know if I’ve ever read a romance about a couple that was already married and where both partners wanted to stay married! There was no cheating either! Just two people who had drifted apart finding their way back together.

I loved the two MCs. Caleb is the most lovable golden retriever of all time book boyfriend. First in line to help everyone. And Sarah was very relatable to me as she tried to figure out how to stop just existing and start living. Their journey together was so sweet with some great spicy scenes. I enjoyed the secondary characters, too.

I thought the plot was interesting as well. Seven days of hiking and camping with a therapist would be quite the couples counseling experience!

This was an interconnected standalone, but I was able to enjoy it without having read book one. It was an unusual romance that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Thank you to @Netgalley, @dellromance, and @penguinrandomhouse for the chance to review this ARC.

Out of the Woods follows Sarah and Caleb, a couple introduced in Out on a Limb, as they navigate the next steps in their marriage. They have been together since high school but lately Sarah has felt like she doesn't really know who she is without Caleb. In an attempt to make things work, they decide to go on a couples hiking trip.

Dare I say that this is my new favorite Hannah Bonam-Young book?? Something I love about her books is that her characters deal with problems that you would see in "real life". This book in particular resonated with me as I recently had a family member pass, and like the character's in OOTW, I am still trying to process my grief. I feel as though HBY handled their grieving process with the care it deserved. On top of this aspect, Out of the Woods delivered some of the most tender dialogue between love interests I have ever read. One quote in particular stood out to me: "If you give me the space to grow, I'll plant myself next to you. Always." This quote alone should convince everyone to read this when it comes out. I cannot wait to get myself a physical copy to annotate. This book cements that Hannah Bonam-Young will always be an auto-buy author for me, and I hope that she becomes everyone's next favorite romance author.

I LOVED this book. It is so refreshing to read a second chance trope done with characters who are already in a relationship. It is not often romance novels look at couples who've been together for years versus younger couples just getting together and I thought Hannah did such an incredible job of writing Caleb and Sarah's story. There was no third act breakup because the problems the couple was facing were on going and their love needed to be rekindled from the start, which set the plot up nicely to allow for good communication and reconnection. Sarah needed to recognize who she was outside of their marriage and her role as a wife, while Caleb needed to stop being the savior and jumping in to help. As someone who has been married for a few short years, it felt very real and I enjoyed it so much. There's some good spice thrown in and there's a twist that pulls at your heart strings. As a nurse, I found the healthcare part to be written fairly accurately and well - which is rare!

vibes:
second chance
marriage in crisis/rekindling
outdoor adventures
high school sweethearts
healing with humor
dual timeline
hiking as foreplay
MS representation
cameo from Bo and Win

I ate up Caleb and Sarah’s story! I’m a sucker for the marriage in crisis trope and this was just so well done. I love how Caleb and Sarah found a way to reconnect and reaffirm the things that they love about each other. The communication and maturity from both main characters was refreshing. I genuinely loved this book!!

Thank you again to NetGalley and Random House Ballentine/Dell for Young Readers Group for a chance to read and review an advanced copy of this book!

There’s just something so refreshing about reading a romance book with grown characters that have already been in a relationship for years. There’s room in my heart for all romance, but majority of the time they’re about people in their young 20s meeting and making dumb mistakes, etc. In this book we get a couple who have already been together for 17 years that have started to drift apart and throughout the book find their way back to each other and remember why they loved each other in the first place. I loved the main characters, I loved their new and old friends, I ate all of this up!

Loved Caleb and Sarah’s story! Not often are romance books about characters that start off married but I thoroughly enjoyed a new trope!

Sarah and Caleb have grown throughout their long relationship and need to reconnect. They do so by going on a camping trip which does the trick!

We also got more from Win and Bo from Out on a Limb. I love all these characters!

4.5 ⭐️

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I CRIED and it was fantastic. HBY knows exactly how to pull at your heartstrings and write a fantastic story. I’ve never been happier to read one of her books. This marriage in crisis is as so well done and has a perfect HEA.

This was amazing!!!!!😭😭😭😭😭 I absolutely loved Sarah and Calebs journey, it was full of love and healing in the best way. Sarahs relationship with her mother was so heartbreaking, but I adored her characther growth during the book.

Caleb….I would die for this man and the way he would do everything to keep Sarah by his side was everything. I highly recommend to read this after Out on a limb… it was perfect!!!!

Thank you so much Netgalley for the ARC❤️

I really enjoyed Sarah and Caleb in Out on a Limb, when I saw this was their story I knew I had to read it immediately. I don't think I have read marriage in crisis storylines but this was really good. Hannah Bonam-Young did it with love and care. I liked that was got to see a bit of history of these two plus current day. This book had me crying but also made me feel the love these two have. The side characters at the camp were fun. This could be read as a standalone I think but having just read Out on a Limb, it helped to know Win and Bo when we got to see them and see how that has grown over the years. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book.

The best book Hannah Bonam-Young has written yet.

The dedication to the Amy March’s of the world set us up for success but boy did this book exceed my expectations.

I really love a marriage in trouble story because I love to see how love can grow and evolve and still be hard after you’ve found “the one” and I think this might be my all time favorite book within the trope. Sarah and Caleb communicated really well and spent the whole book both genuinely dedicated to fixing things, divorce was never thrown around, they didn’t wait until the last possible moment to let the other know there was a problem. Yes they stewed over a few things and could have communicated earlier on but they are human.

I genuinely love love loveeeeed this book

This is one of my favorite books HBY has written (which is saying something because I really love all her books). I was hesitant at first because I don't usually enjoy marriage in crisis books. That being said, Hannah once again found a magical way to break me, put me back together, break me again, and then heal me from the inside out. It's rare that I fully sob at a book but I did. It was incredible and I just love the way Sarah and Caleb found their way back to each other and figured out how to grow together instead of staying stagnant.

Out of the Woods is the sequel to Out On a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young. (It's certainly not necessary to read Out On a Limb first, but I think it adds depth and a different perspective to the characters with the backstory told in that book.) In Out of the Woods, Caleb and Sarah, a couple who appear to have everything, go on a week-long couples retreat in the woods to work on their relationship. Along the way, we learn through flashbacks about some of Sarah's past experiences that deeply impacted her and her relationship with Caleb.

The story has an intriguing premise, unique characters, great main character development, and some really spicy scenes. My only issue with this book was that I found the plot pacing to be a bit unusual, but that was in no way a deal-breaker for me. The subject matter was exceptionally well handled, which made the book unputdownable. Highly recommend both this book and Out On a Limb if you can read it first.

Many thanks to the publisher, the author, and NetGalley for the chance to read and review this e-galley.

I read Out On a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young when it came out, and I felt that the characters were deep and complex and beautifully written. The side characters, Caleb and Sarah were adorable, they were one happy family. Now, reading Caleb and Sarah’s book I feel like I got insight to everything I was missing in the first one. This book is gorgeous. The writing is immaculate and the characters are seriously soulmates. Their arc is so good!! The woods setting was perfect, the new side characters are perfect, and the ending alone deserves awards. I love this book and I am forever changed.

Sarah has a wonderful, supportive husband in her best friend Caleb. But has she lost herself outside of that relationship? That question leaves her spiraling and causes a rift between the once strong couple. The two agree to participate in a couple's therapy session that takes place as part of a wilderness experience. Will this trip be able to lead them out of the woods?

Read if you like:
-Childhood Friends to Lovers
-Flashbacks
-Reconnecting/Falling Back in Love
-It's Always Been You

Out of the Woods packed more of an emotional punch than I was expecting, and I loved it! I related to Sarah instantly and was rooting for both of them throughout the entire book. Watching her find herself again in the wildness was so satisfying. I really enjoyed the flashbacks as it gave insight into Sarah and Caleb as teenagers falling in love and how he had truly always been there for her. And the epilogue really brought everything full circle in the best way.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

What a privilege to read a HBY book before release day, but they truly couldn’t have picked a person more suited to write this review.

This book captured so well the reality of young marriage, and tricky balance of finding your identity while simultaneously molding your life around another person, and tackling all the curveballs of life- grief, expectations, failures, crisis, etc.

This tackled real life challenges and topics while also being laugh out loud funny and so so sexy. (Note to self, find a waterfall nearby)

As a someone who got married young to someone they met young, and also happens to be an adorable nerd like Caleb, and was raised in a religious household, I am still searching for my identity. I connect so deeply to Sarah’s character. I also see so many pieces of my husband in Caleb. Thank you HBY for representing child free by choice couples as well, something I rarely see in romance novels. I felt like this book was made for me.

This books holds a special place in my heart. Thank you Hannah for this!

A 5/5 star read! I was waiting to hear Caleb and Sarah’s story after reading Out on a Limb and enjoyed them learning to love each other again.
Hannah is now an auto read author for me!

As someone who loves all of Hannah Bonam-Young's books, I was so excited to get this ARC! Her writing is always so good. I loved learning more about all of our favorite characters and getting a glimpse into all of their lives in the future in the epilogue. The only thing that kind of tripped me up a bit with this book was the pacing. It felt a bit slow throughout the whole book. I loved getting to see the relationship and communication between Caleb and Sarah, it all felt a little dragged out. Then it felt SUPER quick around 85% in a good way.


While this was not my favorite of her books, she is still an auto-buy author for me and I look forward to whatever else she writes!

4.5 stars!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the eARC of this book! For this Out of the Woods to be my introduction to Hannah Bonam-Young I was definitely not disappointed! It was a people story of finding and reconnecting to not only yourself but those that matter the most to you! I loved Caleb and Sarah’s relationship and enjoyed reading about how it started vs where they are now! I can’t wait to dive in to this authors other books!

Hannah Bonam-Young does it again! Sarah and Caleb's story was so beautiful and relatable. This book follows a married couple who were high school sweethearts and are struggling in their marriage. One wants change, the other doesn't. In an attempt to save their marriage, they sign up for a weeklong outdoorsy hiking trip for couples. Their journey is heartfelt, humorous at times and just so absolutely beautiful. The self-discovery in this book for these characters truly did it for me.

I have never read a book like this, and to be honest, I did not know if I was going to like the struggling marriage trope, but I ATE THIS UP. First and foremost, the writing was perfection. As someone who has been married a long time, I could relate to these characters and what they were going through so much. I thought this story was very touching and loved getting to know Sarah and Caleb. I really enjoyed the flashbacks and learning their backstories as well as following their current life journey. I also loved the fact that we got more Win and Beau in this one as well. I absolutely adored this book so much. I normally get through books pretty quickly, but I enjoyed this so much that I purposely drew it out and just did not want it to end. It ended up being one of my top reads of the year.