I was so thrilled to get this ARC because I recently read Out on a Limb and loved it. This is the second title in the series, about Sarah and Caleb, Win and Bo's best friends, who are having issues in their marriage two years after the events in the first book. Sarah and Caleb go on a week-long couples hike to talk through their frustrations, but it becomes clear that Sarah is the one who is emotionally and mentally stuck. *Spoiler alert* She is mad that Caleb donated $300k to help her with her charity dinner because he loves her so much, and the story takes us back to her teenage years when her mother was diagnosed with ALS and eventually died, as a way for us to understand her hang-ups. Sarah feels like she has done nothing with her life because she didn't go to college and gave up on her dream of becoming a writer. Besides her relationship with Caleb, she has no achievements to speak of. Sarah and Caleb connect again after saying a lot of sweet things to each other and having a spicy romp in the woods. *Once again, spoiler alert* The hike ends abruptly when Caleb falls and gets a concussion. He ends up fine, and the epilogue 10 years later is very sweet, just like the one in Out on a Limb. My criticisms of OotW are that it seems a lot more simply written than the previous book (maybe because I listened to the audiobook for that one), the flashbacks are jumpy, and the two spicy scenes are over-the-top -- I would have liked more details of their past and current relationship rather than read pages of sexcapades (honestly, the same goes for OoaL). I didn't feel like I got to know Caleb that well. He was a little one-note on account of being perfect, loving, and so successful that he needs to work less. He met the love of his life at 15 and never looked back. That's why this book is a romantic dream and fantasy. Everyone ends up living HEA and honestly, that's the kind of escapism and redemption for past mistakes that we need, right?

Thank you to NetGalley and Dell for this ARC! I'll continue to read this series for sure!

Thank you for letting me read this master piece early! This book was amazing from start to finish. Everything Hannah writes you can feel her read in as you read. I devoured this book in a 24 hour span. I literally couldn’t put it down. 5 starts across the board beginning to end. I would read ANYTHING she writes.

Sarah and Caleb are the couple you aspire to be, the never ending love and support even when it’s hard was amazing to see. I usually don’t like the reconnected lovers trope but I adore this book. I will be recommending this book to anyone that will listen!

Thank you Hannah & Random House for the opportunity to read the ARC! I love this book! Really hit home with my own life having met my own partner at 18. Hannah made me feel all the feels in this as she takes us through Sarah and Caleb’s love intertwined with the lose of Sarah’s mom. She writes so beautifully! And of course loved the peeks into what Win & Bo were doing with Gus! I can’t wait for the official pub date to get my hands on the audiobook to enjoy again!!!

Rating: 🤩 iconic, obsessed, a favorite
Spice: 🌶️🌶️

I swear on all the books I’ve ever read that Hannah BY is the goat of writing relatable storylines and literally laugh out loud banter! I’ve never loved characters more than Sarah, Caleb, Winnie and Bo. This book felt personal. As someone who fell in love young, I could feel Sarah’s emotions deep in my core. The authentic love of high school sweethearts who grow up and feel lost because they went from “someone’s daughter” to “someone’s wife” without being just SOMEONE, hits home.

Sarah and Caleb have been through more together in their 10 married years than most couples in their lifetime. From high school sweethearts navigating puberty, through the diagnosis and passing of a parent to college and career changes. But now Sarah- who is truly meant to be a fabulous stay at home wife- feels like something is missing in her life. Not kids, not money, not fame- but purpose. When this causes a massive blow up with her husband, her best friend Winnie suggests a couples wilderness retreat to bring them back to what matters most.

MY FIRST ARC REVIEW!!

My husband and I met, dated, got engaged, and got married all within 1 years of meeting each other😱

While we’re college sweethearts and not high school sweethearts like Sarah and Caleb, I related to Sarah more than any other character I’ve read so far in my reading journey. The FOMO, not feeling good enough for anything, loving her spouse but wanting independence, all hit the nail right on the head for me!

I haven’t read a book like this about a married couple, and while I love romance/Romantasy books with my whole heart, it was so nice to see married couple representation in the popular book community!

A massive thank you to Netgally for approving me for this ARC! The Netgally gods new I needed this book♥️

From Out on a Limb to Out of the Woods, one thing Hannah Bonam-Young is gonna do is get me to pick up one of her books!

This read was a solid 4 stars for me! I really enjoyed seeing Sarah and Caleb face their issues. I think it's so easy in a relationship to want to tackle an issue when it's a major event, but these two had 12 years of things that just kept adding up until it broke - and that is so, so real.

Sarah's POV spoke to me and I think it will to a lot of readers - it's so, SO easy to lose yourself in a relationship or feel like you aren't being seen/valued. I loved that she was able to speak up and just empower herself, honestly.

I will say, I wasn't OBSESSED...? with Caleb. BUT, I was happy with the ending.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

I wasn't too sure how I would feel about this book since I am not a biggest fan of the second change troupe while the couple is still together, especially if they are married. I have enjoyed Hannah's other books so I wanted to still give this a chance. It was written great and I thought the plot flowed very well but I am just not a fan of this troupe. If you are, then I would highly recommend this book!

Wow wow wow! Thank you Hannah Bonam-Young for writing this masterpiece! As a married young gal, I don’t think I’ve read many romances centered around a married couple and I think I need more of this! Their relationship felt so real and their struggles felt so real, but their solutions to these struggles were so good. I felt like I was reading a therapy session for myself and my husband in these pages. I was feeling every emotion from giggling to crying to full on anxiety to second-hand embarrassment to grinning from ear to ear to absolutely blushing.

I already have this book preordered and I can’t wait to get my hands on it!

Quick intro:
Caleb and Sarah, highschool sweethearts who have been together for half of their lives, attend a week long hiking trip to reconnect and work through some personal and marital issues.

Quick thoughts:
I think this is the first time I’ve read a book that is a marriage in crisis sort of story. What I really liked about it was the comfortability and familiarity between Sarah and Caleb. I liked the playfulness and teasing, because it all felt secure and deeply rooted in a place of knowing and loving one another for a long time.

A lot of this book feels like conversations about Sarah and Caleb’s marriage. Much of it felt like being in therapy myself. 😂 However, I guess I found myself wanting more to happen. More plot and more to the story. Ultimately, I do feel like a lot of people will connect with Caleb and Sarah - to be 31 and questioning what am I doing with me life? Am I proud of what I’ve accomplished? What do I want in the next 10 years? I think many readers will resonate with their struggles and feel incredibly seen.

Read if you like first person single POV, spice, cameos from past characters, eclectic and lovable side characters, books that feel like going to therapy, he calls her baby, highschool sweethearts, books with flashbacks, and second chances.

Thank you so much to Dell and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts! I’ll never tire of the privilege it is to read and enjoy books early.

Quick details:
🔥🔥🔥: Two open door scenes (easily skippable)
PUB Date: January 28, 2025
CW: ALS and caring for a sick parent, questioning faith, accident resulting in injury

I super enjoyed this! Hannah does such a good job of taking tropes that are typically not my favorite and turning them on their head with such heartwarming stories. This kept me laughing at every turn.
This is a marriage in trouble, where Sarah has lost her spark and she is worried it's because she is relying too much on Caleb. She thinks she maybe needs to go off on her own, but decides that they should go on a week long trek in the woods together to see if they can rekindle things.

When you tear up from the author's note, you know Hannah Bonam-Young has done it again and her secret X factor hasn’t gone anywhere, so you exhale, grab a box of tissues and prepare yourself for the emotional roller coaster incoming… and what a ride this book was!

It’s very hard to keep this review spoiler free, so here’s me telling you this book made me ugly cry, laugh out loud and even scream at some point. It made me feel seen and understood, it made me appreciate the people who love and support me, it made me go and tell them how much they mean to me and made me realize the importance of doing so now, today, and not to wait for some ideal moment.

It also felt like a more mature book, both in theme and in writing, Hannah’s prose feels bolder, sassier, I’d like to believe the past year of rave reviews and success have given her more confidence in her craft, cause that confidence shines through the pages of this story, its angstier, it has plot twists and fully fleshed flashbacks, it feels like a courageous sidestep from her usual comforting concoction of slice of life romances (which I ADORE might I add) but I’m so proud of her for exploring within her insane set of skills. As a consequence, this ends up being so much more, though don’t doubt that it is a full on rom-com at the same time 😊

Another one of Hannah' strengths in my opinion is the chemistry between her characters, often achieved through a mix of deliciously witty banter and a compatibility that makes you go -oh they belong together- from the beginning.
That domesticity she is able to infuse in the relationships she writes through little details that makes all of them so believable. In OOTW, this special formula gets elevated to god levels since Sarah and Caleb have been together almost their whole’s lives, from the way they talk to each other, to the way they just get each other thoughts without talking, you never doubt their established relationship.
In addition, I loved that throughout the story their love for each other was not questioned, they had issues to work through, but always knew deep down they loved each other. To be honest throughout the book I just wanted to hug them and tell them everything will work out and everything would be fine 🥺

Some very vague for spoiler reasons highlights:
-The flashbacks broke my heart but were so necessary to fully understand Sarah and Caleb’s dynamic and their present problems.
-Caleb!!! just adorable and so gone for Sarah, he is definitely adding to the problems finding real life men some of us readers have lol wdym you won’t pack my kindle and download new books for me to read?
-I (the Out on a limb stan that I am) absolutely adored every Win, Bo and Gus scene and mention, those are my people, my heart in a book
-The last chapters got me real good I was sobbing!
-Libby!!! We love you Libby
-A love letter to non-outdoorsy people lol I feel so seen
-It had so many quotable moments, I highlighted almost every single page

In conclusion, Hannah continues to deliver the most perfect well rounded romcoms nowadays tailor made for me and OOTW feels like a step further in what I think will become a romance-writing career for history books. You definitely don't want to miss this one.

Thank you to Hannah, Dell Romance and NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest opinion, I couldn't have been more blessed by the ARC god(desses) here :)

Hannah has done it again!!! Every scene was amazing and I cried so many times while reading!! And the scenes with W+B and S+C altogether, their friendship is so amazing! I'm so sad that this series is over 😭😭😭

Out of the Woods by Hannah Bonam-Young

This was my first book by Hannah Bonam-Young and I must say, I completely understand the hype behind her books!

Out of the Woods was an amazing story! At first I was not a big fan of the FMC, Sarah. She felt selfish and hard to connect with. But, as I learned her story and the trials she had faced, I started to love her character. And her development throughout the book was one that made me so happy to read!

Caleb, was one of the best MMCs, I’ve ever read about. From the very beginning, his patience and selflessness was apparent. And his love for Sarah, even when she wasn’t at her best, was amazing.

The plot twist, almost had me in tears and I was heartbroken to see them have to face another hardship in their relationship.

I will definitely be picking up more books by Hannah!! If this book is any indication of how good her other books are, she will be a new fav author, no doubt!! 🤩

3.5 ⭐️

The moment I saw the cover of this book I was excited to read it! I haven’t read OOAL as the main trope is not one I enjoy so I was glad to see this was an interconnected standalone.

First, the pros:

I felt like the side characters all served a purpose in this story and had enough backstory/personality to be enjoyable without taking away from the main story.

The relationship between Sarah and Caleb was definitely realistic and the problems in their marriage made sense for the characters.

Now, the cons:

This book was MUCH heavier than I anticipated. I know as long as there’s a HEA it’s a romance but it really wasn’t expecting so much of this book to be sad. It made it hard to enjoy the few happy moments for me because it seemed like as soon as they came they were ripped away.

The lack of Caleb’s POV made it much harder to sympathize with his character. Where we were only getting Sarah’s side of the story on thoughts it made Caleb’s reactions to certain things seem pretty douchey and resulted in me not liking his character for at least the first 50% of the book.


Ultimately I would say this was a good book but not a great book. I don’t regret reading it but I also don’t know that I’ll find myself recommending it to anyone.

Beautiful portrayal of deep love in the setting of personal change and growth. I was given a free ARC copy of Out of the Woods by Hannah Bonam-Young from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Out on a Limb was one of my favorite reads last year and this continuation of the story was just what I needed. Sarah and Caleb have been together since high school and from the opening chapters you realize Sarah is struggling with who she is and what she has accomplished in her adulthood. She is clearly still struggling from her childhood trauma of losing her mother and having her dreams of being a writer diminished. Caleb is one of my favorite dorky kind of clueless characters who clearly cares deeply for Sarah and doesn’t know how to process her current struggle. They make an uncharacteristic decision to partake in a couples retreat to help work through their current problems. The side characters on the retreat are well done and add depth to the story. I love the required journal entries they do and the depth of feeling from Caleb that was almost unexpected from a more reserved workaholic. The ending few chapters were unexpected and definitely heart wrenching but done so perfectly. I cannot wait to read more from this author!

I adored this book! Hannah Bonam-Young does an excellent job exploring the joys and challenges of a long-term relationship as Sarah and Caleb face the changing needs of themselves and their respective partners. It's rare for a book that focuses on two people already in a loving, committed relationship to bring this much joy, emotion, and tension, but Bonam-Young nailed it. I was fully giggling and kicking my feet at their banter and messiness, while other tender, vulnerable moments had tears streaming down my face.

Sarah's character in particular got me good - it felt like some of my own most vulnerable flaws were being mirrored back to me, and seeing them in her gave me compassion for those moments I am not the best version of myself.

She's done it again, Hannah Bonam-Young knows how to write a romance that will tug at your heartstrings and make you wish the men in your life were that pure. Despite the premise of this book being heavier than your normal romance, there was SO much heart and plenty of swoon-worthy moments. Bad boys and enemies to lovers had their moment in the sun, and now it is time for sincere men who want to work through their own issues!!! I wish we had gotten more of what their relationship looked like once they were on the same page. I will definitely read anything this author writes in the future!

Incredible. From start to finish this was incredible. As a proud member of the HBY fan club, I truly will never shut up about this book. I felt the full range of emotions with this one. From little chuckles and big laughs, to literal goosebumps during the forest scene (IYKYK), to sad tears and then happy tears, I went through it with this one. It’s just so beautiful. What I didn’t expect was for Hannah to heal part of my soul with this. Grief is something I’ve always struggled with and feel that I don’t really have any concept of dealing with so I guess I mostly just ignore it? But through Sarah and her journey I came to understand so much and process a lot of the grief I have weighing me down. I feel like I gained pieces to keep forever to move forward in life where I know loss will come. Sarah and Caleb’s love runs so insanely deep, it was incredibly moving to read as they found their way back to each other again and to see their love intensify in so many ways. This read like a real life story, real love and I adore these characters so much as if they were real friends of mine. The fact we even got so much Bo and Win was just icing on the literary cake because I adore them and miss them so much. I will treasure these characters forever and always.

Thank you Hannah for sending me an early copy of your newest book. I am once again in awe of you and the stories you tell. I will forever appreciate being along for the ride this far and cannot wait to see what you create next. You’re such a wonderful human.

Out of the Woods was a perfect second chance/finding yourself novel. Hannah Bonam-Young is phenomenal and you need to read this book (after reading Out on a Limb, of course).

10/10!!!!

Loved Out on a Limb and this book was a great follow-up. Full of green flags 💚💚, endearing characters, and some soul searching.