Member Reviews

Deeply, utterly profound and beautiful. OUT OF THE WOODS is one of my favorite romance reads of the year, and I'm so in love with this book. The rawness, realness and emotional depth of the story and characters was so profound, that I felt more consumed by their story than I do of others. Just the small touches of their face, neck, or hands were all so intimate and held so much meaning that I felt the writing, the story, the characters' love on a whole other, deeper level. Sarah and Caleb's love is so deep and pure that it was a true honor and privilege to had read their story and witness their relationship.

Sarah and Caleb have been together more than half their lives. Caleb, being the supportive and provider husband he is, has always comes to Sarah's rescue that she has begun to question what it is she can really do on her own, not to mention, who is she as an individual? After a rift starts to form and willing to do everything to protect their marriage and relationship, they decide to brave and venture off into the outdoors for a hiking trip designated for couples to re-kindle their relationship (while kindling a fire in the woods), where they are forced to admit their fears to each other and to get clear on what is they want out of their lives.

I love everything this book gives... including Sarah and Caleb and their personalities, their chemistry, banter and love, the plot of them growing evolving while finding their back to each other, the intimacy and beauty of the writing, and the maturity, relatability and vulnerability of the characters. Knowing that I have the opportunity to go read three others book by this author makes me incredibly happy and incredibly thankful.

Much gratitude to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

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Hannah’s brand really is ‘super horny and super sad’ and I loved every second of this!! I cried multiple times and found myself so absorbed in Sarah and Caleb’s story that I seriously couldn’t put this down!

I don’t typically gravitate towards second chance romance, but I do really enjoy a second chance where they’re trying to repair their marriage. It’s the fact that one or both of the characters acknowledges that theres room for needed improvement and they show up for each other. Sarah and Caleb sign up for a counseling camping retreat and they definitely have their ups and downs and I loved witnessing their journey throughout high school and present day.

I think adding the dual timeline was a perfect way to understand Sarah and Caleb’s relationship, but also read more about Sarah’s mom and Sarah’s grief over time. For me personally, the grieving over a family member WRECKED me but it felt so good to cry because they’re never really gone from our lives.

Hannah truly wrote such beautiful and tender moments that I’m just in awe with her. And where Sarah and Caleb are so sweet to each other, they are also so horny and fight for control that I kept saying out-loud “sir?? ma’am??”

Hannah Bonam-Young is one of my absolute favorite authors and if she writes it, I WILL read and buy it without hesitation. To be honest, I’d read her to-do lists and probably tear up. Thank you Random House/Dell and NetGalkey for an arc in exchange for my honest review!!

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This is an immediate infinity star read for me. I knew I was going to fall in love with the book before it was even in my hands because Hannah is just that good!

I truly don’t even think I can succinctly formulate my thoughts and feelings about this book to write into a review because there are just so many, but I am going to try my damn best. So here we go.

I felt like I was in therapy the entire time reading Out of the Woods, and I mean that in the absolute best way possible. Typically, the only thing I dislike (I say this very loosely) about Hannah’s books is that they are in single person pov, but I actually loved it in this book. The story was so deep and so personal that it worked really well to hear primarily Sarah’s side of things because she was the one struggling the most.

Out of the Woods is a story about self-discovery, self-doubt, finding your purpose, cultivating happiness, effective communication, loving and accepting yourself and your partner through all of life’s changes, and navigating tough decisions (just to name a few, lol). I truly believe that anyone who is in, or has been in, a serious long term relationship can relate a ton to at least some facet of what Sarah and Caleb go through in this book.

I, for one, am not married and have never been married, but I felt like I was living vicariously through Sarah so many times. I thought I had my life figured out in my early 20s. I got my Bachelors in psychology, went on to get my Masters in counseling, and immediately started working what I thought would be my dream job for life. Well, jokes on me because I burned out 3 years in. Now, I’m working a job I don’t like because I thought it could be a stepping stone to something else and have 2 degrees that are “wasted” as a result. I also have no f’ing clue what I want to do now. It really is such an exhausting process that affects almost all facets of my life.

Getting to experience Sarah and Caleb’s vulnerabilities felt like a literal gift. There were so many instances where I would read a line and be like “that literally came from my head, there’s no way.” I cried too many times to count, I laughed, I got angry, and boy oh boy, did I SWOON (and sweat 😮‍💨). The spicy scenes we get between these 2 are HOT you guys. Both Caleb and Sarah are so dirty and have such filthy mouths and the amount of TENSION that builds throughout the story line was simply delicious. I already can’t wait to read this again when it officially releases!

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Sarah's voice was so clear and so hilarious. I found her very relatable and charming if a bit self-deprecating. Overall a lovely look into a marriage and the grief that follows us into different parts of our lives.

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"And I hope that if you have to rewrite your life, you won't erase my part in it, that you'll let me stay a part of your story."

This book, to put it simply, broke my heart, but I would do it all over again just to experience Caleb and Sarah's love story again. 'Out of the Woods' is a beautiful story about two people who were thrust into adulthood far too quickly and are now facing the repercussions. The way they both learnt how to communicate their feelings to each-other was so beautiful and I enjoyed every second of it (even if I did have tears streaming down my face half the time). The easiest five stars I've ever given.

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Thank you to Dell/Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the advance reader copy of Out of the Woods by Hannah Bonam-Young.

Sarah and Caleb, our lovelies who we met in Out on a Limb are back with their own book! These two are high school sweethearts and have gone through so much in the past 17 years together. Hannah Bonam-Young has an incredible author’s note at the beginning highlighting how this is a “love letter to all of us who met their soulmate before they had the chance to fully meet themselves.” That is such a succinct way to describe this book and the important story it tells. Sarah and Caleb are nature-averse people (which I really appreciate because I am too!) but at Win’s encouragement, Sarah and Caleb attend a hiking trip that is designed to help couples reconnect. Sarah and Caleb’s journey over the week explores learning who you are independently, embracing change, and what the next steps in life look like together.

I absolutely fell in love with these two as supporting characters in Out on a Limb. They were such standouts, individually and together. For others who always hoped for more of them, this book gives us what came next as well as flashbacks to how they met and how their relationship progressed. Like other stories by Hannah Bonam-Young, this is once again a beautifully written book that explores very real aspects of life. It’s a story with love, humor, hardships, grief, and friendship.

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Another HBY masterpiece. 🤌🏻✨ I laughed, I cried (from happiness, anxiety, sadness, everything in between) and my heart grew a few sizes. The smut was also hot as HELLLLLL

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Thank you to Dell and NetGalley for the chance to read this eARC. You made my year, kids.

Out of the Woods, from conception was going to strike such a personal note with me that I was almost afraid to start it. Sarah and Caleb so clearly love one another but get lost, as so many of us do, in the day to day minutiae of life and wanting to Grow Up and Stay The Same Forever And Ever Amen that resentment builds towards their favorite person with no discernible outlet until a spark causes a big explosion.

Anyone who’s partnered knows how hard it is to walk back from those moments, especially anyone who’s been with their partner for more than half of their lives. (Dear reader: it’s me, hi)


This story not only crystal captures what that love can feel like - suffocating, liberating, painful, freeing, amazing - but also the ability to fall in love with every single version of your person as they change and age and the beauty and relief of being on the same page. Without exaggeration, this story is a gift straight from HBY to our hearts. Sarah and Caleb are incredible, and their found family with Win, Bo, and Gus continues to stoke a warm flame of familiarity in my heart that will not fade anytime soon. Simply, I couldn’t recommend this enough.

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From loss, love and the ties that lead us back to one another.

Married at nineteen, Sarah and Caleb’s early love cradled lifelong challenges. When Sarah’s mom is diagnosed with ALS and passes away, their lives are turned upside down. Nearly a decade later, Sarah is overcome by this shift in their relationship—and if she’s always been the woman in need of saving. In an effort to reconnect, they embark on a camping trip tailored for couples. Will they make it out of the woods or does it set off in a forest fire?

I’m coming back for more, Hannah Bonam-Young!

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5⭐️!!! Hannah Bonam-Young you’ve done it again!! I have never read a romance like this!

This follows Sarah and Caleb (if you have read out on a limb they are Win and Bo’s best friends). They have been in each others lives for 17 years and it was so interesting reading a romance book where the couple is married. They go on a hiking trip for couples because they fear they heading in a direction they don’t want in their marriage.

First I have to say, Sarah is so relatable. Her inner monologue is one of the most relatable things I have ever read. Her daydreaming random scenarios of her in fantasy novel is so me lol. I loved how vulnerable and real their romance felt. It is dual timeline and shows moments from Sarah’s past. Some of these moments were very emotional (yes I did cry a lot) and others involved the beginning of her relationship with Caleb.

I absolutely loved this book and cried so much at the end (especially in the epilogue) because these characters deserve the word! Also another round of applause for having characters with great communication skills.

Thank you Netgalley and Dell Romance for this ARC!

{Review posted to goodreads on 8/31/24}

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This book is probably my favorite read of 2024. Hannah always hits it out of the park and this is now exception. We meet Caleb and Sarah in Out on a Limb and they have been together since high school and got married very young. They seem happy and like they have it all together. We learn that one of the downfalls of getting married at 19 is that you don't really have time to figure out who you are and Sarah is feeling stuck. They decide to go on a week long couples camping retreat to help bring them back together.
It is beautiful and heartbreaking. It is also spicy and romantic. There is no third act breakup and such good moments of communication as the book goes on. I cannot recommend this book more!

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Really great book, absolutely love both characters! Very great and empathetici way of portraying grief and how difficult it's going through it.

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4.5 ⭐️

Marriage is hard, but so is the love Sarah and Caleb have for each other. Out of the Woods is the companion novel to Hannah’s prior book, Out on a Limb, which I highly, highly recommend reading.

Out of the Woods focuses on high school sweethearts Sarah and Caleb, who first met in tenth grade and got married at eighteen for seventeen years. Sarah is hosting a fundraiser to raise awareness about ALS in honor of her late mother. However, she falls short of her fundraiser goal, and Caleb helps out with the deficit, unbeknownst to Sarah’s chagrin. Caleb’s action results in Sarah’s revelation, and realizes she doesn’t have any outstanding life achievements to be proud of and becomes angry at Caleb for inserting himself into her problem. Their dispute develops into a silent war where Win, Sarah’s best friend, informs Sarah of a camping trip for couples where she could use the trip as an outlet to reflect and think about what she wants out of life. Sarah is initially against the idea but ultimately decides to join the trip with Caleb as a way to break normalcy and remind themselves of who they were before their years of marriage.

OOTW is a book about the adversities of marriage and the struggles of finding yourself and proving your worth. It’s a book that highlights the importance of communication between two people who, despite knowing each other for the majority of their lives, still need to confide in each other with constant affirmation. But most of all, it’s a book that touches on the grief of losing a loved one at a young age all while trying to find a purpose in life and a sense of independence and self. Sarah is such a relatable character. She became so used to taking care of her mom and being known as Caleb’s other half for seventeen years that she had forgotten who she was as a person or what accomplishments she had achieved. Caleb, on the other hand, is such a dependable and loyal partner. His unwavering love for Sarah is steadfast, resilient, and genuine which goes beyond his own needs. He is the ideal husband material and the ultimate green flag.

Hannah pens a heartwarming, poignant, and vulnerable book about the highs and lows of marriage and how two people could complete and complement each other without necessarily needing to save each other in terms of complications, yet instead provides a safe and respectful space to resolve any obstacles in confidence. I loved this book so much! It was so good to revisit Sarah, Caleb, Win, and Bo. Especially Bo with baby August. I can’t wait to read Hannah’s next book and future releases!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Dell, and Random House for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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out of the woods🏕️💍
5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you SO MUCH to Netgalley and Random House for a copy of an eARC in exchange for an honest review. As soon as this book was announced, I knew I had to get my hands on it immediately. I LOVED Out On A Limb and was so excited to read about Sarah and Caleb’s story. I’m a sucker for second chance romance, so this was perfect. 🤩

I loved the concept of a couples therapy camp and learning to communicate better in their marriage. This hit home for me because my husband and I are high school sweethearts and have been married since we are 19 (just like sarah and caleb). Although we don’t have problems in our marriage like Sarah and Caleb are having, I personally think EVERY relationship could use work. No matter how happy you may be, it will never be perfect, and that’s okay!❤️

I liked the flashback chapters and getting to see Sarah and Caleb grow closer when they were younger, and then again when their marriage needed work. This book was so adorable and made me cry so many times. I also loved seeing Win be such a supportive friend to Sarah. Their friendship is amazing and it was refreshing to see Win & Bo again.

This book had me feeling ALL the emotions and I’m so grateful to have read it. The romance was so sweet and their chemistry is so palpable. 🤭

This releases January 28th, 2025 so make sure to go preorder it!🌲


My review will be posted in a few days on my instagram, @hardback.honey

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It wasn’t as good as Out on a Limb but it was still really cute. A story of love, loss, grief, of finding yourself as an individual but also in a relationship.

Make sure to pick it up when it comes out on January 28th, 2025.

Thank you netgalley for the eARC.

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i love love love this book!!! it was so beautiful & gut wrenching!! if out on a limb is one of the sweetest books i've ever read, out of the woods is one of the most hopeful books i've ever read!! hannah bonam-young does it AGAIN!!! this is another incredible book that is going to make you cry, swoon & laugh all in one chapter and multiple times throughout the book. hannah has such a gift for taking characters on this beautiful journey of growth. watching sarah & caleb fall deeper in love & better understand themselves & THRIVE?? i am still in tears...

there are so many ICONIC moments throughout the book that seriously will leave you gasping for air... is it because of caleb's HOTNESS? is it because of the TRAUMA?? is it because of those HILARIOUS lines? is it because of the absolute life WISDOM hannah writes? truly could be any one of these because i was gasping at all of them.

there were so many times where i had to set down my kindle and contemplate life because hannah's words just hit me right in the gut. i cannot explain to you how raw and emotional but also tender and heartwarming this book is. & it's still has the most rom-com-movie-type scenes??? I LOVED IT SO SO SO MUCH!! the flashbacks were everything!! the snippets of win, bo & gus were everything!! the reignite crew are everything!! caleb is SO HOT! & he has the biggest heart!! god i love him! sarah is amazing! a true friend & even greater wife. i really really love how hannah wrote so much depth into her. being able to understand why she was hurting and what her dreams are was a special kind of beautiful. i am in awe!! i could go on and on about how incredible this book is !!!!!

thank you Dell Romance & Netgalley for the eARC! this is my honest review.

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A wonderful, unique take on second chance romance with endearing characters who you will be invested in from the first page! This book solidified Hannah Bonam-Young as an auto buy author for me! I could not love this book more! I had pre-ordered it as soon as it was announced and will absolutely be rereading it when it is published in January.

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5⭐️

First off, I am SO SO grateful to have been given the opportunity to read this ARC. Hannah writes emotions so well, and Next of Kin and Next to You were the books of hers this year I read that seemed to emotionally wreck me. Well fear not, Out of the Woods had me sobbing and rooting for Sarah and Caleb from the very first to the very last page.

Maybe I am biased, but I think Hannah writes human connection so well. Reading Out of the Woods I felt the push and pull in Sarah and Caleb's relationship, the support from their friends and family, and almost felt like I was living through their experience. I know that the characters did some healing/growth/ therapy in the book, but this book feels like a type of therapy for me as well. Love is complicated and comes in many forms, and I feel like that is always shown so well in Hannah's books.

This was a really fast read and I could not put it down. It is so nice to visit the Out on the Limb cast once again. Ugh, this was just perfection. I can't wait for this to be published so my book club and I can read it together and laugh, cry, and root for Sarah and Caleb's journey.

Thank you SO much to Hannah's team and NetGalley for allowing me to read this early.

I will publish my review on Goodreads and Storygraph two weeks before publication!

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This companion novel to Out on a limb and the author's debut traditionally published romance is a wonderful marriage in trouble story that deals with some heavy topics as childhood sweethearts Caleb and Sarah find themselves struggling and embark on a weeklong counselling camping trip with a group of other couples.

Heartfelt and told with flashbacks from the years when the couple first meet, fall in love and are there for one another during the hardest time of Sarah's life when she loses her single mother to ALS. I really loved that we got to see the couple rekindle their relationship and learn to truly communicate better.

There was some great cameos from Bo and Win and their daughter Gus and this book does such a great job exploring toxic parental relationships, grief, loss and learning how to chase after your dreams to live the life you really want, even if it means starting over later in life.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review! Highly recommended for fans of books like Ever after you by Chloe Liese or Do I know you by Emily Wibberly and her writer partner husband, Austin Siegemund-Broka (other marriage in trouble second chance contemporary romances).
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Hannah Bonam-Young will never disappoint! I loved Sarah and Caleb in Out on a Limb, and I literally squealed when I saw they would be getting their own book.

Their story is so earnest. I love how introspective, articulate, and self-aware Sarah's POV is. This book handles some really uncomfortable feelings about doubting yourself, your relationship, and your life trajectory & does so with such eloquence.

I loved how the undercurrent of Sarah and Caleb's love never waivers. Their relationship was messy but the love never left and wasn't tainted.

I love the dual timeline, learning about how their relationship started and how it still played an active role in their relationship in current time. The evolution of their relationship was so fun to read about.

HBY just balances seriousness and levity perfectly. Her heavy topics were handled with the respect and reverence they deserve and the lighter moments didn't distract or take away from that. I really can't think of anything I would change.

Also Caleb is a dream. Sarah is hilarious. I cannot wait for my physical copy to come in in January! Thank you x100000 to Dell & PRH to the arc <33333

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