I have head such great things about this author, and I was excited to dive into this ARC! I have to say I’m not sure what I expected, but this was very different from my expectations in a great way. I LOVED that it was a romance about a couple that are already together and had been for over a decade. I enjoyed having them grow with their communication and work on reconnecting with one another. This was such a real and relatable read that it was almost difficult to get through at times as it hit close to home for me and had me reflecting on my own relationship. I ONLY knocked off a star because while I know it’s totally valid and that she is absolutely allowed to feel the way she did, something about Sarah getting mad at Caleb for helping with the fundraiser rubbed me the wrong way. The fact that he could just donate that amount of money in an attempt to make her happy and honor her mother when most people don’t make that in a year- and she got mad- just left a bad taste in my mouth.

Thank you for the author and publisher for this ARC.
When I saw this book show up on NetGalley, it was an immediate request for me because I LOVED Out on a Limb by this author.
Although I did enjoy this read, it was not quite as much of a win for me as the aforementioned.
The first half of the book was heavy, beautiful, and mostly enjoyable (although I’m typically more of a rom com girl - life is sad enough as it is, sometimes I have a tendency to avoid stories that tend to linger is sadness for too long). The second half of the book started out great, we got to some spice, it was fantastic, but the last fourth of the book (on my opinion) drug on.
There was a plot with a side of seven other side plots, and IMO it made this 336 page book seem a lot longer than it was.
I empathized with Sarah but also found her to be annoying a lot of the time 😂. All in all, I missed Win and Bo.
This book had a lot of potential but fell a little flat for me by the end. 3 ⭐️

I really enjoyed Out of the Woods, but Out on a Limb is still my favorite Hannah Bonam-Young book.

Out of the Woods was so raw and real. Sarah and Caleb's struggles felt so authentic, and I loved seeing them work out their problems and come out stronger together. However, I wanted to relate to the characters more. Perhaps it's just the place I'm at in life or the fact that my circumstances aren't the same, but I was left wanting a bit more.

I would absolutely recommend Out of the Woods series to my friends, though and I can't wait for what's next from HBY.

Hannah Bonam-Young has done it again. This book was at times bittersweet and silly, which is a wonderful combination.

They're are genuine healing properties in this book. I think Hannah is a GIFT and her books are also MASSIVE GIFTS. I was moved by the characters and their journeys, as a couple - growing together in love, but also as individuals. I cried, i'm not ashamed to admit it. As someone who was with their high school bf for many, many years, aspect of this story really resonated with me. I felt seen and understood, it was so relatable and inspiring. The characters were honest, the story was grounded and I LOVED that it ended with such a strong message of gratitude.

This was one of the best books i've read this year and i'm extremely thankful for my ARC <3

5/5

Rating: 4.5⭐️

I’ll admit, I initially found it hard to connect with the characters (a marriage-in-crisis storyline isn’t my favorite trope). However, this book completely won me over. The author’s writing is both engaging and heartfelt, tackling heavy themes with such grace and beauty. I especially appreciated the way Sarah and Caleb’s relationship evolved, as they put in the effort to acknowledge their flaws and honor each other’s needs. My only critique is that the resolution of their marital issues felt a bit rushed.

Despite that, I thoroughly enjoyed this book—it made me laugh, brought me to tears, and left me feeling uplifted. I’ll definitely be recommending it to others. 💕

Thank you to NetGalley and Dell Romances for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Out of the Woods featured Sarah and Caleb Linwood, Win's married best friends in Out on a Limb . Sarah and Caleb have been together for over seventeen years and although they are still wholeheartedly in love, Sarah has been feeling a bit lost recently.

Caleb adores Sarah, he has been her protector and savior for a long time, but Sarah is beginning to wonder who she is outside of relationship with Caleb. After a failed event leads to the biggest argument in their marriage, Sarah and Caleb join a wilderness retreat meant to help couples reconnect.

Away from everything that is comfortably familiar about their daily lives, Sarah and Caleb are forced to confront some difficult truths and have some painfully honest conversations about their hopes, dreams, and expectations for their shared future. Through grueling hikes and intense couple's sessions, Sarah and Caleb experience a great deal of emotional growth and strengthen their relationship.

Out of the Woods featured a marriage in (a bit of a) crisis, but one thing that was never in question was Sarah and Caleb's love for one another. I loved the communication, the open discussions about grief and loss and therapy, and the small glimpses of Win, Bo and Gus.

Hannah Bonam-Young continues to impress and to write about the type of romance that I love to consume.

Thank you Netgalley and Dell for a chance to read and review this ARC!

This was incredible. Hannah Bonam-Young has quickly become an auto-buy author for me (and I don't have very many...) after only reading 2 books of hers. I loved getting to know more of Caleb and Sarah because we didn't get too much in Out on a Limb, and it was especially nice getting to know more of Sarah's background and their relationship as a whole. This was dual POV between the present and the past which I thought was done well.

This book deals with raw feelings of unhappiness, grief, and healing. Hannah Bonam-Young does such a fantastic job at balancing these tender, heart wrenching moments with witty comments and jokes. Honestly this was an emotional rollercoaster but in the best way. I cried more times than I want to admit.

It's hard to put into words exactly how much I loved this book. I can't think of a single thing that I didn't like or thought needed improvement. Everyone needs to read this and Out on a Limb because they're truly amazing books.

4.5 stars

This book is a beautiful story of growing up and growing a deeper love with your soulmate. While I was very scared to see what would pull Sarah and Caleb into a marriage-in-crisis story, I can deeply understand both of their perspectives on their relationship in the beginning of the book and what pushes them into a camping retreat to try and save their relationship.

Watching these characters fall in love for the first time along with falling back in love with each other because of the dual-timeline format of this story was delightful. I think HBY's author's note sums up this story better than I ever could: "A love letter to all of us who met their soulmate before they had a chance to fully meet themselves." This book is full of raw emotions, hard conversations, and the biggest feelings - a perfect book if you ask me.

Review on Goodreads is linked and will be posted to Instagram on release day!

Out of the Woods by Hannah Bonam-Young
5 stars 🌟
Thank you, Netgalley and Dell, for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
High school sweethearts Caleb and Sarah are starting to feel some strain in their marriage. Sarah's best friend recommends a camping retreat where couples go to reconnect and get some couple's counciling.
This was an amazing book! The growth in each character was great to see. I really liked that you got to see how personal growth makes a relationship stronger. This was a very emotional book, and I highly suggest checking the trigger warnings before reading.

Thank you Hannah Bonam-Young and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! Okay this book was everything I could have wanted and more. We didn’t get a chance to learn a ton about Sarah and Caleb in Out on a Limb so I am so happy to see this book dedicated to their story. It’s honest, it’s emotional, it’s heart-warming. I’m absolutely loving these duologies. 😍

5 Stars Whew! I knew this one was gonna put my heart through the wringer and I was not wrong. Out of the Woods is an emotional marriage-in-crisis romance.

High school sweethearts Sarah and Caleb Linwood have been married for over a decade and have been with each other for many ups and downs. Lately, Sarah has begun to wonder who she would be without Caleb or what her life would be like if she had met him later on in life. When a rift begins to grow and Sarah realizes how unhappy she is with how her life has turned out at 31 years old, she proposes that her and Caleb go on a week-long hiking trip intended for couples to work through rough patches in their relationships. Despite neither one being outdoorsy, Caleb and Sarah set off into the woods in order to find their way back to each other.

Out of the Woods packs an emotional punch as it deals with very real and raw feelings of unhappiness, grief, and healing. Marriage-in-crisis romances definitely bring the angst and I teared up at multiple points as Sarah and Caleb worked through what had led them to the point where they needed the trip. In addition to the heavier emotional moments, Hannah Bonam-Young gives us plenty of peaks into how Sarah and Caleb met and fell in love in high school, plus glimpses of their goofy selves while on the trip. I love that despite their struggles, Sarah and Caleb never once feel as if they’ve fallen out of love or question if the other still loves them. They are absolutely in love with each other and feel secure in that love. Out of the Woods is emotional and beautiful, and an absolute must read!

Thank you Dell and Hannah Bonam-Young for the ARC! Out of the Woods releases January 28th!

This is the fourth book I've read by Hannah Bonam-Young and each one is just as beautiful and lovely as the next. As we were introduced to Caleb and Sarah in Out on a Limb (Win and Bo's story), Out of the Woods feels like coming home. I loved getting to know Caleb and Sarah as teens and seeing how their relationship grows as they do. Bonam-Young handles the trauma of a loss of a parent with sensitivity. As someone who also married her high school sweetheart, I love the authenticity of how she portrays what it's like when you grow up with your spouse.
This book was beautifully written, has wonderfully real characters, and just enough steam and spice to keep the pages turning. I will read anything Hannah writes, and so should you.

4⭐️
This was such a lovely read! The premise of this is a “marriage in crisis from high school sweetheart” was really intriguing and one I haven’t read to often. I loved Sarah and Caleb in Our on a Limb and was so excited to read their story. I loved that this was told in two timelines of Sarah and Caleb falling in love as teenagers and then present time as adults. We got to see them fall in love as teenagers, grow together and apart, and then reconnect as adults and work on their communication. I couldn’t relate to the marriage aspect as I am not but I did relate to Sarah’s feelings of losing herself in providing for others and leaving little for herself. This was definitely heavier than Out on a Limb but it was filled with so many heart warming moments!! The setting of the wilderness retreat was perfect, the side characters were amazing (Libby I love you girl). I laughed, I cried, and I loved while reading this! It was also so so great to see Win, Bo, and baby August too!! I am so excited to talk about this book more when Hannah goes on tour in January and pick up a finished copy!!

Thank you to Netgalley, Dell Romance, and Random House Publishing for the e-ARC💚

Hannah Bonam-Young does not miss!! This book healed my heart, as does every HBY book that I read. I knew I loved Sarah and Caleb from “Out on a Limb”, but I love them even more now! I loved getting to see flashbacks of them falling in love as well as now with them working out the issues that coming with finding love while you are still so young and before finding yourself. I loved how HBY dealt with this topic, you can tell she put a lot of care and love into it, where you see the issues that both parties have to overcome to find their way back to each other. The woods was the perfect setting to get them out of their comfort zones and take away all of the background noise to really get to the heart of the issue. This was pretty emotional, as Sarah is still dealing with the grief of losing her mother so young, as well as her and Caleb working on their relationship but it really is worth it. After every HBY book, I feel a renewed sense of gratitude for my loved ones and for life itself. It was just so beautiful to see this couple find their way back to each other. I will read anything that HBY writes and I will probably (always) cry. In a good way.

Spice: 1.5/5 🌶️(2 steamy scenes) the tension was EVERYTHING!

Taylor Swift songs: “Lover” I love the simplicity of the chorus, just wanting to be with that person, wherever they go. It really resonates with these characters.

I woke up early and got all my work done so I could set aside my afternoon for this read.

Once I read that this was a "marriage in crisis" book about a couple who married very young, I prepared myself to be devastated. Luckily, it wasn't so much about outer forces antagonizing their relationship but rather them re-connecting and learning how to let go of immature habits when communicating.

This was especially a personal read for me because my husband and I were each other's first relationship. We have seen each other change physically and emotionally. We have both learned how to step back and acknowledge how our faults can come from our childhood or hardships. I think that HBY did a great job of showing Sarah's thought process of CHOOSING to act immaturely to get a reaction and then her shame during the aftermath. Sarah and Caleb knew each other so well and it's a true intimacy that only comes with time. They knew each other but also re-discovered each other and it was captured in a beautiful way.

Though the intimacy of their marriage was lovely to read and I loved that both of them learned how to best support and communicate each other, I didn't find myself very immersed in the flashback chapters. I was more interested in how they had grown rather than how they started. I saw a lot of criticism regarding the third act but an event like that can really shake up your perspective and your marriage. I think it was handled very honestly and tied in with the grief subplot of the book.

I don't know if I will re-read this as often as say, Out on a Limb, but I closed the book with a new appreciation for my own marriage and lots of hope to get you through the tough times with your person.

This book had a lot of heart touching moments. It was nice to see a story about a couple who love each other but are trying to reconnect. I really enjoyed the process that Sarah and Caleb did to repair and reconnect. I also enjoyed the side characters. It was fun to see Win and Bo again too!

"Out of the woods" follows a couple, Sarah and Caleb, who have been dating for roughly 15 years yet their couple hits a snag and they decide to reconnect by taking a week long hiking trip with other fellow couples. During this trip, we dive into their couple issue but also their personal issues while often getting some flashback from Sarah's teenage years. This book is focused on character development, seeing them communicate through hard times when being silent seems easier truly made this book feel raw and real. This book depicted real life couples and fears, the scary possibility of a couple not working no matter how much they love each other. Yet they worked, they planned, they bonded and they flourished. I also truly saw myself in Sarah, like her I often see myself as a person with no real accomplishment and who constantly doubts her worth and thinks she does not deserve any sort of love. Seeing this struggle in Sarah was reassuring, it felt less lonely, it felt as if i too could be loved. The pacing is so fast and the book truly grasps you, it is so well written so heartfelt so raw. The way Hannah writes makes you truly feel for Sarah and Caleb. It talks to the little voice in our head that tells us "you're not enough" and tells it to be quiet. This book is for you if you ever felt like you have not done enough with your life, if you feel like you are unworthy of love, if you lived a tragic loss. This is the book for all the souls that wish to heal.

So, I enjoyed the premise of this one. I really appreciated reading a story about a married couple, putting work into their relationship & their marriage. I liked that they went on a retreat, to restore and communicate. I also liked that they had a long history together, were married young, and were now finding ways to understand & appreciate each other as they've grown and changed. However... the super spicy scenes at the 75% mark of the book totally threw me off- I felt like before that point, it was witty banter, love, romance- and then bam, a ton of sexual content and talk. It felt out of place, and unnecessary. So for that reason, I rated this one much lower than had it not gone so explicit.

Omg this book was amazing 😭 I felt every emotion possible while reading it. I loved Out On a Limb but I related to this one so much more since I’ve also been with my husband since I was in high school. 10/10, must read 💖