Did I start this book last night and finish it this morning? Yes, yes I did.

I fell in love with Win & Bo in Out on a Limb, and loved their story so much, that I immediately went and read the rest of Hannah’s books. I’ve been waiting for 6+ months for this one and was so excited to receive the ARC.

Sarah and Caleb’s story was perfection, and I want to go back and re-read it for the first time. I laughed. I cried. I felt all the things. It was such a beautiful story of love, loss, and finding yourself.

Do yourself a favor and read this book.

A big THANK YOU to NetGalley, Random House Publishing and Hannah Bonam-Young for this eARC of Out Of The Woods 🫶🏻

This story was a hopeful take on the aftermath of loss. Sarah is stuck in complacency and a loss of self after losing her mom to ALS. She and her high school sweetheart, Caleb, married when they were 19, and even though he’s always taken care of her, she wonders a decade later if she would have been stronger and done more with her life if he hadn’t always been there to pick up the pieces. In an attempt to reconnect outside of their norm, Sarah has the crazy idea that she and Caleb should attend a couples wilderness retreat, which sounds nice if you’re into the outdoors…but these two couldn’t be less outdoorsy (an attribute with which I greatly relate). I thought this story was so refreshing to jump in on a seasoned relationship, and to watch Sarah and Caleb work to strengthen their relationship. Our side characters were so fun too!

This book follows Out On A Limb (which features Sarah’s best friend/sister), who we get a taste of in OOTW. It can be read standalone (like I did), but now I want to go back and read more about Win, Bo and August! 💕

Out of the Woods is a stunning sequel to the same universe as Out on a Limb! Out of the Woods follows Sarah and her golden retriever husband Caleb to an outdoor retreat to revamp their marriage. This is a story of growing up with your person, but also learning how to continue to grow every day of your life. Sarah and Win have the most wonderful friendship and it was a joy to explore the relationship between Sarah and Caleb with plenty of cameos from everyone else throughout! This book was sweet, had a lot of heart, and asked a lot of interesting questions about finding joy in your life. So good!!!

i SO badly want to rate this five stars, but it just wasn’t a five star book to me. It’s about a marriage in crisis and how they rekindle their love and spark. it didn’t hit me in the same way that Out on a Limb did, but I still loved Sarah and Caleb‘s story. their love was never in danger, but learning how to let love grow and adapt to where they are.

This one wasn’t for me and that’s my bad for auto requesting it based on the author and going in blind. I’m not really into the saving a marriage romance books. I’m rating based on writing style and my usual love for this authors books!

If you enjoy rekindling a romance between a married couple and flashbacks to their younger years then this is right up your alley. I give this book so much credit for showing the ups and downs of marriages - especially if they start young and all the complexities of human emotions.

4 stars - It might not be the book for me but it’s the book for many others.

Sarah and Caleb met as teenagers and have been together since then. Caleb’s from a fancy family but fit right into Sarah’s household’s “poor in money but rich in love” dynamic and was part of the family immediately - through Sarah’s mom’s battle with ALS that defined Sarah’s young adulthood.

Sarah and Caleb got married at 19 mainly so Sarah’s mom could attend before she passed away, which was just a few months later. To have been a caretaker, such an adult role, to now basically being a little girl without her mom, is unsettling to Sarah, and she honestly never really bounces back from that. And at the start of the book, she’s 31, feels she only matters in the context of other people, and resents Caleb for always taking care of her even while knowing he’s an angel for doing so.

They’d never want to split up, but their relationship is at a standstill as it is, and they decide to actively work at repairing the rough patch. NATURALLY Caleb is a little resistant to admitting both parties need some nudging in the beginning but he’s definitely like “we needed this” by the end, with some revelations in between

The complexity but NORMALCY of human emotions is just so prevalent in this story and I think there’s something for everyone to gain from reading it. I luckily still have my mom, but I’ve been with the same person for 10 years and there’s no way we are the same people we were in 2014. Accepting and rolling with the constant change does take work and it’s just nice to see it reflected in a romance - not a meet cute, not a second chance romance, but kind of both at the same time, too.

I haven’t even mentioned the levity of inside-y people spending a week in the woods with a no-sex rule lolll there’s definitely a lot of fun in this book too!! The characterization just means so much to me and all the flashbacks had me cryingggg

Hannah! My goodness, she does it again!

“Failure is simply an opportunity for those who have time.”

This book has us exploring Sarah and Caleb’s relationship and going along for the ride while they explore their vulnerabilities on an outdoor retreat. We see both Sarah and Caleb realize that essentially they are codependent. That retreat allows, especially Sarah, to dig deep and find the pre-Marcie diagnosis Sarah and how she can be brought back to life after all that life has thrown at her. She also chews out Caleb’s dad at one point and drops a spectacular F-bomb at the end for an unruly author. Really well done, HBY!

Out of the Woods (OOTW) is an interconnected story about two high school sweethearts and their journey to grow back together. I laughed and cried while reading this book, which took me quite by surprise.

OOTW follows Sarah and Caleb as they embark on a journey to find their way back to each other. They have been together since high school and have faced challenges that many people will never face, and at a very young age. I really enjoyed the sections that featured the past, as it helped to understand what was happening in the present. We also get to see two of my favorite characters Win and Bo from Out on a Limb, which is a new favorite of mine. I absolutely love those two and seeing them again brought me joy.

I would highly recommend this story of love found, lost, and found again. I tell a lot of people about Out on a Limb and I intend to tell them to read OOTW as well.

Hannah Bonam-Young is a new "must read" author for me.

4.5 Stars!!
Such a good read!! Hannah truly showed the ups and the downs in a relationship and how love is something to fight for. I loved the banter and the friendships formed throughout the story!! I can’t wait to have the physical in my hands.

Oh, how I related to this big in so many ways. Sarah and Caleb have become one of my favorite book couples of all time. This book was written with so much depth and heart. This one pulls on all the heartstrings. I loved the journey to self discovery that both characters discover in themselves as I turned the pages. Don’t be fooled by the playful cover, either. This book is deep and raw, but in the BEST way.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dell for the advanced digital copy. All the stars!! 💗

This book was a bit of a mix for me, but unfortunately, overall, I just didn't really enjoy it. I liked the idea, I liked the characters, I really related to their feelings and situation in life, and I definitely teared up a couple of times.

That said, though, I found the writing to be a bit cheesy at times. Definitely a personal opinion because I'm not the type of person who talks about their feelings and is really vulnerable and puts themsleves out there like that and I think I get a bit of second hand embarrassment from it when people start giving speeches to their partner about loving and growing together. If it's a quick sentence and some humor and banter are also thrown in there, I'm good, but pages of it are too much for me.

Also, the big dealbreaker for me was that this book was very spicy! That is also not my thing. Personally, I felt like their sexual behavior didn't match their personalities and often felt like scenes were added in for the wow factor or something. They seemed a bit out of place. Most of the book was just two very horny adults wanting each other to talk about and do dirty things to them. I know these books are very popular right now, so please take that into consideration when reading this review. If that is your thing, you will probably really enjoy this.

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

⋆˚𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Playing ‘So High School’ by Taylor Swift ⋆˚𝜗𝜚˚⋆

3 stars ✨

“If you give me the space to grow, I’ll plant myself next to you. Always.”

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Love is complicated. Marriage is difficult. As a married woman in her 30s, this story really hit home.

Like so many women, I also struggle with the realities of marriage and the fact that women all too often lose ourselves in our relationships. Sarah, our FMC, is having a personal crisis as she journeys to find herself and what she really wants from life. Along the way, we get brief glimpses into her past as she met and fell in love with Caleb and the trauma of losing her mother so young.

The first half of this book was wonderful. I was locked in right away and getting 5 star feelings. I wished I had the physical copy so I could highlight whole pages. Where this book lost me was after about the 40% mark. The story lost steam and focus. I just got…bored, the worst possible thing to feel when reading. It felt like their relationship problems were resolved far too easily and quickly. The remainder of the book then felt like an afterthought. For a book that made me cry twice, it sounds silly to say that I wanted this story to delve deeper. I expected our characters to really be put through trials that brought them back to each other. There is a reason that communication in relationships is so difficult. While there is so much love between Sarah and Caleb, they also have nearly two decades' worth of trauma and resentment to work through. It wasn’t believable to me that they were able to figure that all out in a matter of two days with little intervention.

I appreciated what this book set out to do. I enjoyed many aspects of this story It made me laugh and it made me cry. We need more romance novels like this that are written by authors like HBY who have the emotional intelligence and wit to tackle tough topics and admit that happily ever afters don’t just happen, they take lots and lots of work to maintain.
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I adored this book with my entire heart 😭 Caleb and Sarah are so unique and perfect for each other that seeing them struggle throughout this book was heartbreaking but HBY does such an amazing job of showcasing the healing journey and stitching our hearts back together ❤️‍🩹

Sarah’s journey with grief and finding herself when she’s been married since very young was phenomenal. I think, in some ways, this book reads more like fiction and follows Sarah’s character development very heavily (WHICH I ADORE)! I related to her in a lot of ways. Feeling lost, being scared to take a chance on yourself, and grief were all heavy topics that HBY handled perfectly.

Caleb!!!!!!! The man that he is <3 that is a man who loves his wife fiercely and was DOWN BAD. But more importantly, I loved how supportive and kind and loving he was. The dynamic between Sarah and Caleb was fun and hot and emotional, and seeing them happy was everything!!!

This was a marriage in crisis, and I wish we would’ve gotten more of the crisis part 🥲 I loved seeing my babies happy and I felt like their struggles and fears were real but I think they got over it fairly quickly. The book wasn’t slow at the beginning but I feel like it takes a minute to get to the premise of what the book is actually a book which is them on this trip.

Overall, I loved Sarah and Caleb, seeing the friendships between them and Win and Bo, the setting and the writing!!!!! HIGHLY RECOMMEND BESTIES 🩵

Truly nothing like a HBY book

So obsessed

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Returning to the world of Sarah and Caleb after falling for Win and Bo is like coming home to a familiar and comforting place. However, the journey isn't easy—right from the start, Sarah is grappling with an identity crisis fueled by unresolved trauma surrounding her mother's death. These deep-seated insecurities create significant communication barriers between her and Caleb, culminating in a seven-day group therapy hiking trek.

Fans can still expect laugh-out-loud moments, genuine and relatable struggles, and immersive flashbacks that add rich context to their story (with nods to Win's, too!).

I rated this book 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. While the story offered plenty of action, it lacked depth in places. Many conflicts were resolved too quickly, sometimes without enough exploration, leaving the plot feeling somewhat flat despite its many twists and turns.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC! Opinions are my own. Read it for yourself January 28, 2025!

This book deals with real life issues. Illness, insecurity, finding oneself, relationship issues. It’s so relatable. I feel like I’m reading about a friend. It’s a nice palate cleanser from the fluffy stuff. I’d love to see the stories of the supporting characters in this book. It was that much fun. Highly recommend.

I was not a huge fan of this book. I think I had a hard time with the main couple already being married so there was even less tension about if they would end up together, and you don’t get to see the early days of their relationship. I liked some of the flashbacks but some were so sad it just killed the momentum of the book. Overall it was just ok.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an early copy!

This book hit home and discusses how sometimes marriage can become monotonous in day to day life. I loved watching Sarah and Caleb go through this journey to discover who they are without the other. Most importantly they learn that their love for eachother is still there.

Reviewed on goodreads

this book!!!! college sweethearts from out on a limb! diving deeper into this world is magical. i am also a sucker for relationship in distress stories and this one did not disappoint !!! obsessed with this book, it was such a joy to read!!!

Hannah Bonham-Young does it again! Out on a Limb will always be one of my favourite books—I absolutely adored it. So, as you can imagine, I couldn’t wait to venture into Out of the Woods, and thankfully, it exceeded all my expectations. I love a well-written romance with believable depth, strong emotional pulls, and just the right touch of humour. Out of the Woods ticked all those boxes and so many more. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️