So I really liked the first 60% of this book. I like that this is the story of people who have already been together for sometime. I like that this shows a couple doing the work and gives a great representation for therapy. My problem with this book is the couple basically resolved all of their issues and I still had a decent amount of book left. I spent some time wondering why I was still reading. Then there was an external conflict that provided some drama further along in the story. But it didn’t really add that much to the character’s personal growth or growth as a couple, in my opinion so it just kinda lost me. So I still recommend this if you are looking forward to it. I just personally got a little bored by the ending.

There are so many books that I read and say “I loved that so much.” Then there are books that just hit different. That change a part of you, that really have you thinking, that you can’t and never want to stop thinking about.

I felt that way about the very first HBY book I read (looking at you, OOAL) almost two years ago < I still think about Bo and Win often >>>> Hannah writes romance in a way that hits you in the gut in the best way possible. The topics she touches on, the connections she forms are unlike any other. Her books are like a hug to my soul.

I’ve loved Sarah and Caleb since the moment I read Out On A Limb, and to say I am honored to have been able to read their story early is the understatement of the century. It’s one thing to write a love story, it’s a completely different experience to read about two people who have loved each other for years but feel lost in the midst of their marriage and need to fight their way back to each other.

They’ve endured so much together, and this story beautifully showcases how marriage is raw, and it’s not always easy, and sometimes we lose ourselves and don’t know what to do or who we are, but to have a partner willing to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to face any challenge WITH you, head on- true love at work.

As with any HBY book, I laughed -out loud-, I swooned, I cried.. you are going to love Sarah and Caleb’s story.

♾️ stars, 10/10 chance I will think of Sarah and Caleb as often as I think about Bo and Win and Matt and Lane and every other character she’s even written/will write.

hannah bonam-young creates magic every time she sets out to tell a story and it’s always a privilege to read her words. this book is raw and real and while it’s a love story for the ages, it’s not without its hardships. you’ll feel their hurts and sympathize with both of them, and you’ll find yourself rooting for two people harder than you ever have before.

i would say this is a book about life after the happily ever after, getting to see what goes on after the wedding bells and the honey moon stage. it’s about two people who have been married for half their life but got a little lost somewhere along the way. it’s romantic and epic and everything i love about HBY’s books.

“I hope that if you rewrite your life, you won’t erase my part in it.”

It’s no secret that Out on a Limb is one of my favorite books, and while I fell in love with it because of Bo, Win, and the incredible disability representation in it (as well as Hannah’s ability to masterfully craft a beautiful romance filled with depth), I also fell in love with it for our married side characters, Sarah and Caleb.

What I loved more is when Hannah announced they’d be getting their own book. Because not only do they have a beautiful and heartbreaking love story, but she helps them acknowledge that every love story goes through hard times.

The character growth in this story is phenomenal. The underlying message of loving the person you’re with but not loving yourself and needing to reclaim your own identity is not only relatable but also something that so many people need to hear. It’s hard enough to adapt to your own needs as you grow up, but to have to do it alongside someone else makes it a challenge to not get lost within the relationship.

I saw a lot of myself in Sarah’s character, and this one tugged at my heart every step of the way. I love that the message wasn’t about her partner not being right for her, but rather trying to find herself again within and outside of her marriage. Outside of her comfort zone, especially.

I will pick up any book Hannah ever writes. I will pick up her grocery list or the random notes she might scribble in the margins of one of her favorite books. Her books make me feel seen in a way I sometimes don’t even see myself until I read them.

Beyond that, it’s also funny. Somehow Hannah manages to balance the heavier emotions and conversations with banter and playful interactions—and because of that, I can never put them down.

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

Don’t miss out on this beauty. You will surely regret it if you do:
- Marriage in crisis
- High school sweethearts
- No third act breakup
- Found family
- Flashbacks / dual timeline
- Self-discovery

CW: loss of a parent, ALS diagnosis

Wow I loved this one! Sarah and Win have been together since they were in high school. When Sarah’s fundraiser to bring awareness to ALS (the disease that took her mother) flops, she’s sick of Caleb swooping in and saving the day yet again. She knows she isn’t ready to give up on their relationship, but she also knows she needs more. A week in the woods to reconnect and communicate sounds like the perfect road to reconciliation.

As someone who met her partner very young, I truly felt a connection to Sarah. Her struggles with finding her purpose and something to feel passionate about? Yeah, I can relate. Aside from Win, Caleb is the person Sarah knows best, but even after all these years she struggles with communicating with him. I love how accurately the author depicted the ups and downs you go through after being in a relationship for that long. And even when exploring the low moments she also managed to perfectly capture the random and funny moments. I actually laughed out loud a few times.

Writing this novel with two timelines was really impactful. We get to see the start of Sarah’s and Caleb’s relationship all the way back in high school, but we also get to see Sarah’s relationship with her mother, who isn’t in the present day chapters. My heart broke for Sarah (and Win, Aunt June, and Caleb) as we see how Marcie’s death devastates them.

Out of the Woods is my first novel by this author, but I will definitely be going back and reading Win and Bo’s story. I loved all of these characters so much!

Thank you to Dell and NetGalley for a review copy.

I love all of Hannah Bonam-Young's books but this one may be my favorite. Sarah and Caleb have been characters I've wanted more of since Out on a Limb and boy did we get them. This emotional second chance romance had be sobbing. I am a sucker for love and I want everyone to have it. I really appreciate the work that Bonam-Young did to make sure we knew that Sarah and Caleb would be endgame even if they weren't sure themselves. This book highlights the importance of communication in a relationship and that no relationship is ever 50/50 and that we will need to lean on our partners from time to time but that is what a relationship and partnership is. I love the premise that they are on a camping/hiking excursion to get to know themselves and each other better. The way Bonam-Young deals with grief that Sarah continues to live with is a reminder that love we have continues even after we've lost it.

Another stunning novel by Hannah Bonam-Young!!

I have loved all of Hannah’s books and Sarah and Caleb’s story does not disappoint! I found my husband at a young age and found this book so relatable. I loved getting to see how these two worked things out together in such a wonderful way.

I loved reading how Caleb and Sarah first started out and seeing how their love progressed through the ups and downs. Their story felt so real which only made me love it more. You can feel their struggles through Hannah’s writing which only makes the connection to these characters deeper.

I laughed, I cried, I swooned(I mean the man made sure her kindle was charged for their hike though the woods🫠) and I could not recommend it more!!!

ALL THE STARS!!!!!

We meet Sarah and Caleb during a previous book by this author, Out on a Limb but this can be read standalone.

"I am a simple creature , at my core. Give me books, sunlight, water, and a handsome man looking at me like I’m some rare jewel, and I’m all set. Especially when it feels like a long time since I’ve shined for him."

Sarah and Caleb have been married for 10 yrs but have hit a huge bump in the relationship going as far as considering staying together or not. They met and fell in love VERY young but have known this whole time each other is THE One.

We receive only Sarah's point of view and that is why I gave 4.5 out of 5 stars. I would have liked to hear from Caleb. Make no mistake I loved this story just as much as all others by this author.

We receive dual timelines most of the novel, back to when Sarah and Caleb are teenagers (caring and loss of a parent are discussed) and Present day when the couple goes on an outdoor reconnecting group trip retreat to assist with the struggles in the relationship.

I was laughing and crying at many points in the book. Being someone who has been married for many years this is relatable. Who am I on my own, but what also makes me a great half of a whole. ❤ I highly recommend picking this book up or any by this author honestly.

This has to be my favorite Hannah Bonam-Young book! I was so honored to receive an ARC and it was the perfect first book of 2025.
Sarah and Caleb made a few snippets in Out on a Limb so I was excited to read their story, but I never imagined it would be this deep.

Married at 19 both thought it would be best for them to wed but maybe under different circumstances. Caleb and Sarah meant to be, high school sweethearts, forever and more. But does a life event really have Sarah questioning who she is and who she married?

I can relate to both Caleb and Sarah. A lot of people think that relationships are 50/50 and every couple wants to be perfect but no relationships is perfect. Every couple has to go through hardships to be able to grow together or individually. I think both Sarah and Caleb never wanted to communicate why they were hitting a rough patch because I think they thought it would lead to them separating. My relationship was very similar, never wanted to really uncover what the issue was but there was no resolution without talking it out. As we matured it made me realize how small arguments were not worth the fight if it felt like it was going to end.
During the retreat, Helen and Yvonne gave both Sarah and Caleb a change to really let it out; the worries, issues, problems, everything. It really put it in perspective that they weren't the only couple going through hardships. Other couples go through them as well but not only talking to the other couples it really opened up their eyes to their relationship. No judgement just talk. Having someone else hear your thoughts can really make you realize how sometimes these issues are just small/ silly.

I also think that a bit of hurt and truth on both sides really make a differences. If you don't express your feelings or how your other makes you feel (good or bad) you'll never know. That's our #1 rule, if I'm doing something bothersome and you don't tell me, I'll never know. You have to tell so I can work on it immediately and prevent it from happening. Caleb is a care taker, he wants to be able to be needed. He's found comfort in that and within the year with Sarah, that's all he's got. He made sure she was okay since her mom passed. Sarah knows comfort because it's what's expected or what she expects. She's had Win, Bo, Caleb, Aunt June to fall back on when everything happened. I think Sarah needed to fall on her own to know she was strong enough to get back on her own. Win Caleb and Bo were on rotate for her her whole life. A little space and independency and a talk through is really what they needed. With no intimacy at the retreat they put their relationship first.

Thank you Hannah Bonam-Young, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Dell, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for this honest review.

HANNAH IS GOD TIER. 😍 not me walking thru my own personal struggles with my hubs and reading this precious marriage in trouble lover at the PERFECT time. 😩 it hit SO hard and I felt the heartache and angst and the tug back to what these two know to be an inevitable love! protect these two at all cost!! and Hannah and her amazing heart and beautiful brain with all the words that make you feel all the things.🥹 🫶🏻

Always an amazing read when it comes to Hannah Bonam-Young. Enjoyed that this focused on a married couple and them growing together. It was an emotional and impactful story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

• Marriage in crisis
• High school sweethearts
• Camping to reconnect with each other-
• Nerdy guy/Bookish girly
• Can be read as a standalone, but is interconnected to Out on A Limb
🌶️🌶️

TW: Parent loss

I will read anything and everything Hannah writes! This book was so good, but also made me tear up a time or two. I personally don’t relate to the “marrying young” aspect of this, but I was single up until I was 26. and in a way that way of Sarah’s “identity crisis” was relatable even outside of the relationship.

““I want to have something to look back on when I’m old. I want to make my life worthwhile. I want to be great.”

“Hope, in my experience, is a dangerous feeling, but I’ll choose to feel it anyways.”

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

~~~~~~

Grab your tissues, you’ll need ‘em.

Happy Pub Day! Thank you SO much Dell for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is a bit different as it is a romance about a married couple, but it’s also so much more than that. It’s a story about finding yourself, dealing with grief, and growing together. I loved these characters, and I felt for them immediately as I started reading. I could relate to them on many levels and I was cheering for them the whole time. I loved the flashback chapters of their love story, and I loved their now, as they navigated their issues, and fought together to become better versions of themselves, to become stronger, for their relationship but also for each other. I highlighted so many quotes and I had shiny eyes for most of it. It was just a beautiful story.

I have been with my husband for 20 years and I often feel like we too had to grow up together. We weren’t as young as Caleb and Sarah but still young! I feel like this book spoke to my soul.

Hannah has done it again! I was so thrilled to get an ARC of Out of the Woods, as it was my most anticipated book of 2025, and it did not disappoint. The love that Sarah and Caleb have for each other is so real and raw. Their struggles to find themselves both as individuals and in the context of each other are so well written and incredibly moving. I cried. I laughed. I blushed. Mostly, I just felt. This book is full of feelings like grief and love and real depictions of both. I loved every Win and Bo moment and the way that all of them honor Marcie’s memory. HBY is an incredible author, each of her books is individual and unique and worth every second it takes to read it. Five stars all around

Wow! To be completely honest when I started this book and saw that the marriage was strained, I was hesitant about it. I kept thinking how depressing this would be to watch a marriage crumble. I was totally wrong.

A kind of dual timeline helps you see Caleb and Sarah’s journey from teens to the present and helps to explain the many feelings clouding their relationship. Are parts sad? Definitely. Are parts fun? Totally. Is it a really beautiful story that gives you hope for change and love? Absolutely.

Bonus points for Win and Bo (and baby August!) from Out On A Limb…the sisterly bond and friendship between Win and Sarah is utter perfection and Bo and Caleb play Dungeons and Dragons together…so you know they are amazing. The four of them together are just everything you could ever want in a friend group.

I have nothing but praise for this book. It was just downright lovely. ♥️♥️

What can I say aside from that this was everything I wanted and more. This book was incredibly relatable and real and raw and showed such a hushed up side of marriage and I loved that it showed that divorce isn’t always the way to go. This was filled with Hannah’s typical humour but filled with so many tender moments. I quite honestly ate this book up.

However in saying all this…there was something missing. I could never put my finger on what was missing….just that I needed something that wasn’t there. The book was still as wonderful as I could have hoped and expected but just…something wasn’t there that should have been.

4.5 ✨

Have you ever read a book that you knew just a few chapters in that it was going to be a new favorite?? That was this book for me.

Out of the Woods so perfectly captures the complexities of marriage, purpose, and grief. It feels so raw and relatable in a way that only a romance book like this can 🥹

At first glance, this book is a marriage in crisis, which pulls you in with the intrigue of “oh, what happened? how will this all work out?” But as you read, you quickly realize that there is so much more to this story than just the present moment. This book so beautifully explores the complexities of loss and having to grow up too fast, while also falling in love young and trying to figure out what you want with your life. (Out of the Woods has flashbacks sprinkled through out the story, and I have never read a book that so perfectly places past stories like this one does.)

Also, I know that “marriage-in-crisis” can feel like a scary label for a trope, especially in a romance book, but with this book, I wasn’t worried about their marriage? I felt like the tension centered more-so around their inner conflicts/insecurities and processing those things. And truthfully, this just felt so real and healthy, and I am thankful for how honest this book was. Sarah and Caleb are both such sweet and imperfect characters that are processing a lot and working through it. They love each other so much, and you can’t help but also love them 😭

Out of the Woods was beautiful and lovely. I wept. I laughed. I couldn’t put it down. I will probably re-read it again so soon because I still am thinking about it!!! Gosh, this book has solidified Hannah as one of my new autobuy authors, and I just can’t wait for everyone to experience her writing 🥹

Thank you @authorhannahby and @dellromance for this early copy of Out of The Woods!!! :)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you @berkleyromance for this ARC!

I don’t know how Hannah does it, but every single book of hers pulls such raw emotion from me. Out of the Woods took it to another level. I was heartbroken, laughing, sobbing, and ended it feeling pure love.

✨Caleb and Sarah are high school sweethearts. They’re each other’s person and the love they have is raw and real. I’m also married to my high school sweetheart, so I found their relationship and feelings so relatable. It’s hard when you’re in a routine for so long and life happens and causes change.

✨I loved Sarah’s self discovery journey and learning what she truly wants for herself. Her character showed how grief comes in waves and how change can be scary or rewarding. I loved that Caleb’s love for her was steady and unyielding. He is 100% down for his wife and the only thing he cares for his future is that she’s in it. I loved that his character had a tender and vulnerable side.

I JUST LOVE THEM

✨ I loved this audiobook. Victoria did an amazing job with the characters and playing out their emotions. I could feel their excitement, anxiety, and grief. I was crying in certain parts, and hearing her tell the story led me to full on sobbing.

Out of the Woods has:
⛺️ One tent
💚 High school sweethearts
👓 Caleb wearing glasses
📝 Self discovery
💛 Grief & healing
🌊 Playful banter
🪵 Couples retreat
🐿️ “I’m yours”
🤎 Flashbacks
Ps, we got multiple Win and Bo cameos

It’s out today!

HANNAH GIRL YES this was beautiful. Hannah is a fantastic writer, I felt ALL the emotions from the characters as if I were them. This was effortlessly impactful and so real. Caleb and Sarah’s relationship was written SO WELL, all of the challenging messy pieces as well as the peaceful and beatitude moments.

Out of the Woods by Hannah Bonam-Young
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
336 pages
Published today January 28th, 2025

Caleb & Sarah are high school sweethearts. They have been each other’s constants for the last 17 years, through the ups & downs in life. Sarah begins to wonder- “Who am I without my other half?” She sets out to plan an amazing fundraiser to bring awareness to ALS, an awful disease that took her mother away too soon. Unfortunately, the event is a flop & Caleb steps in to save the day. A fight leads to tension between the two. To work through their troubles, Sarah & Caleb go on a hiking trip to work through their rough patch. Are they out of the woods yet?

This book 🥹 I devoured this book. Hannah Bonam-Young knows how to tug at your heart strings & make you feel like you’re with the characters on their journey. I loved learning about Sarah & Caleb in Out on A Limb, another 5 star read for me! I loved the dual timelines & learning more about Caleb & Sarah throughout their journey. What a gem of a book!

Read if you like:
✨High School Sweethearts
✨Found Family
✨Overcoming Grief
✨Dual timelines

Thank you @netgalley @authorhannahby & @dellromance for the eARC of this amazing book!

#dellromance #hannahbonamyoung #outofthewoods #romance