Another wonderful book!
I’m so glad that I was approved for this book from netgalley.
I loved the characters and the rediscovery of themselves and their love for each other.

A definite must read

4.5⭐️ Out of The Woods was such a beautiful, heartfelt read!! Sarah and Caleb were my introduction to Hannah Bonam-Young's writing, and let me tell you, it was terrific.

Out of The Woods is about high school sweethearts Sarah and Caleb, who have spent 17 years as each other's rock, but cracks in their relationship begin to show when Sarah takes on a project to prove her independence—and fails. With old grievances coming to light, the couple joins a hiking retreat to save their marriage. Along the way, they navigate their differences, rediscover themselves, and fight to reconnect.

I fell in love with Sarah from the very beginning. I loved seeing Sar find herself and deal with her grief. Those past scenes are profoundly emotional and truly show that every girl needs their mother. While it took me a second to warm up to Caleb, I ended up really loving him and learning to understand why he was acting the way he was.

It was so sweet to see these two reconnect and find their way back to each other. You could tell even when things were rough, they still loved each other deeply. They both had to come to terms with the fact that they were no longer the same people they were when they first got together. Sarah and Caleb's love was pure, soft, and overall relatable.

Sarah and Win's relationship was another thing about this story that I adored. Their bond is the definition of sisterhood. It excites me to go back now and read Win and Bo's story and hopefully see more of their connection.

The quotes in this book had me tearing up. It was such a raw, moving story on so many levels. No matter what age you are when reading this, whether it is closer to Sarah's age when she got married or her age in the present, you will find some piece of this book to resonate with.

Thank you to the publisher, Dell, and Hannah Bonam-Young for this arc!

Hannah Bonam-Young has such a way with words and telling emotional stories. Out of the Woods absolutely delievered for me and had me in tears for the l;ast 20% of the book.

Sarah and Caleb are our main characters and they have been with each other for years, marrying young. They set off to a couples therapy retreat in the woods to reconnect and so our story begins. I am a sucker for any books that introduce and have therapy. That right away was an absolute love. Anything that promotes open communication and the expression of emotions is a win for me. In addition, to the retreat our story also has flashbacks to the couplke when they were young and we get to see Sarah and her relationship with her mom. This was perhaps my favorite part of the book. Reading about Sarah and her mother and how she navigated her mother's daignosis had me in my feelings. Just hug your moms okay?

I wish we had more from Caleb. I felt he was just there outside of the spice scenes. Also, if you like spice, this book defintely has that and while I do love a sexy moment ( or two), I didn't need it in the book. I honestly wanted more emotion, more depth and less of the physical intmacy.

Just an extra little thing, there is a chapter with a side character with the name of Libby where Sarah has a beautiful conversation with her while walking. This is where I started crying and didn't stop until the end.

Any book that makes me feel so much, is an auto recommend. Well done HBY. Welcome to my autobuy club.

This book broke me and put me back together!

“Out of the Woods” follows high school sweethearts Sarah and Caleb Linwood as they join a grueling hiking trip intended to guide couples through rough patches in a desperate attempt to fix their relationship.

I really connected with Sarah in reading from her point-of-view. While I haven’t experienced the death of a parent, I empathized with her grief and found myself relating to her struggles to find herself and determine the legacy she wants to leave behind. Rather than let life pass her by, she actively takes steps to know herself fully and I was moved by her journey of self-discovery.

Having been introduced to Sarah and Caleb in “Out on a Limb,” I enjoyed getting to know more about their beautiful, messy, complicated love story. Some chapters alternate between the past and the present, so in addition to seeing how the loss of Sarah’s mother shaped her, we see how Sarah and Caleb’s relationship came to be and why it was really important for them to reconnect seventeen years later. The flashbacks left me feeling deeply emotional and raw upon seeing their young love and the way they navigated tough moments together.

Watching Sarah and Caleb grow together as individuals and as a couple across the span of the week they spent in the wilderness warmed my heart. Knowing that they love each other so deeply, even when they are at their lowest, left me feeling a sense of hope as they worked through decades of grievances between them, found new ways to communicate with each other, learned to be more present, and reignited their love. I truly experienced a whole spectrum of emotions—their banter left me in stitches, their internal struggles made me sob, and the way they found their way back to each other made me swoon. Their relationship isn’t perfect and that’s what I love so much about this book, because no relationship ever is. You need to overcome the imperfections and inevitable hardships—deal with the differences, compromise, give something up, be willing to work at it—in order to have something great.

5/5 stars

Thank you to net galley for giving me this as an arc! I absolutely adored Caleb and Sarah. I enjoyed reading a story about a couple who has been together for a long period of time and that has stuff they have to work through when they think they know eachother really well. Seeing Caleb do what he thinks is best for Sarah when she doesn't want him to anymore was interesting to read about. Once they went to the retreat and slowly started talking all the things out and getting how eachother truly felt was so good to read. I really enjoyed when they took the time to talk to eachother and see what eachother truly wanted from here on out. I loved how soft Caleb was for sarah and how much he truly loved her. sarah was such an easy FMC to read about I think because she felt so real and relatable. I loved these two so much and I wish I could stay with them forever.

I’m discovering that I honestly enjoy the marriage in crisis or second chance with divorced couple trope because I love the background and foundation the relationship already has. And I really enjoyed this marriage in crisis romance. Caleb and Sarah’s love for each other was so strong and evident. It wasn’t that they had fallen out of love with each other and were trying to rekindle that. It was about how do we keep loving each other when we also want to grow and change? How do we keep loving each other when we married so young and may not even know who we are as individuals anymore? I really enjoyed watching them work through this and have such great communication about the things they wanted out of their marriage.

I think this book does a great job at looking at marriage and its complexities, ourselves as individuals and how we grow and change, and the expectations we place on ourselves. If you got married really young you may be able to relate to this more than others, but I think everyone can identify with at least one aspect of this story.

Thank you NetGalley, Dell Romance, and Hannah Bonam-Young for the ARC!

👍🏻Read If You Like:
•Marriage in Crisis
•Camping
•Good Communication
•High School Sweethearts

🛑Content Warnings: troubled marriage, death of mom (seen in flashbacks), moderate language

🌶️🌶️🌶️Open Door Romance (Closed Door Mods: Ch. 18 and middle of Ch. 20

I was skeptical if I was going to like "Out of the Woods" as much as Hannah Bonam-Young's other titles, but I knew from Chapter 2 that this was going to be a five star read. Hannah Bonam-Young can do no wrong.

As a general rule, I'm not a huge fan of second chance romance or alternating timelines (this book has both). This is a personal preference. One of my favorite parts of romance novels is experiencing people falling for each other for the first time, and I sometimes feel alternating timelines take me out of the flow of the story a bit. However, I thought both of these elements worked really well in this book. Surprisingly, I really liked reading about Sarah and Caleb rekindling their relationship and thought the flashbacks served the story really well. Since Sarah and Caleb had a long history predating the events of the book, it made sense to get some glimpses into where they came from to see where they were going.

Another common element of second chance books that I don't love is when the couple dated as adults, broke up, and then gets back together again during the events of the books (I'm rarely convinced it's going to work the second time when it didn't work the first time). I really liked that while Sarah and Caleb had a lot of work to do, they were both 100% committed to their relationship from the outset and willing to put in the work. That doesn't mean that this book didn't have emotional highs and lows, the emotions were HIGH in this one. But there was none of the toxicity that comes with a past breakup.

Overall, I just love the way that Hannah Bonam-Young writes characters and stories. I adored every part of this book. If she wrote a takeout menu, I'd read it and probably give it five stars.

5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Dell for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

Hannah Bonam-Young did it again with another amazing, well written story. All of the emotions I felt while reading this book, it was so good. I love Sarah & Caleb 😍

Marriage in crisis trope always hits a little hard. This one has some really big feelings in it. I usually enjoy them but approach cautiously because I know they’ll hurt my heart a bit. It can be hard to give the reader that feeling of history together a couple needs to make them relatable or make you care about their story, and I thought Hannah did that beautifully here.

There’s so much warmth, care, history and comfort between Sarah and Caleb. Even though right from the start the tension was thick and uncomfortable between them, it was clear that these two were not going to be giving up on each other anytime soon. I think the build up took long enough before we see things start to sparkle between Sarah and Caleb that it was starting to feel a bit dull. It was just past the 50% mark when sparks started flying. After that I was hooked.

It’s easy to see why Sarah loves Caleb.
Sometimes authors will describe a MMC as nerdy and they like, wear glasses 😂 but Caleb is totally nerdy and it’s hot. His “hills to die on” list had me grinning the whole way through. He’s so patient and kind. Yes a little distracted and too focused on making everything perfect for Sarah.

At first I struggled to see how Sarah wasn’t happy with Caleb, but then as the story progresses it was clear she wasn’t happy with herself and a bit depressed it seemed, and Caleb wasn’t helping that situation at all and almost enabling it. The communication lacked on both ends and they both acknowledged that.

The last 20% of the book had me all up in my feelings. There was an unexpected twist that made Sarah very endearing to me. I empathized with her more than I ever had throughout the book.

All in all this is the kind of book that the more I think about it, the more I like it. It was real people with real feelings in a realistic situation. People grow and change and we need to make space for that in our relationships. How we start out together isn’t how it always will be and this was a beautiful story about that.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hannah Bonam-Young for an eARC of this book for review.

This moves back and forth in time to tell the story of Sarah and Caleb, who have been together since high school but who are working through a rough patch in their marriage. Sarah's just realized that she's never really stretched her wings, found her own thing, having gone from caring for her mother to being Caleb's wife. Now they are on a camping trip meant to reignite their marriage and she's thinking hard about both the past and the future. And then there's a crisis. I missed the first book but this was fine as a standalone. To be honest, Sarah's been mired in grief since her mom died and she would have benefited from counseling long before things got to this point because it felt to me as though she was the one who put up all the roadblocks. Although I get how crushing her meeting with her literary idol was, I could also see, even if Sarah didn't, that her points were legit. No spoilers. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Good storytelling makes for a good read.

5 stars!

Marriage in crisis feels so underrepresented to me yet also so important to find in romance novels. Falling back in love with your own spouse is so heartwarming. I loved this couple in Out on a Limb and was very excited to see their own story without ruining what we already saw of their love.

Myself I met my husband at 21 so I can understand on a smaller scale the feelings of “who am I outside of this relationship” and also learning how to be in a relationship with your forever person before ever really experiencing it previously. It can be a tough lesson to learn how to grow together without losing yourself and/or the relationship in the process. And the grief aspect adds a whole other layer to why they clung to each other so young. I also loved the growth of being a helper for so long and figuring out how to lessen that need as the other person heals. All around a fantastic book which I knew would be the case from this author!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

HANNAH. You do not miss. I did not think I could love your writing and characters more, but then I fell for these two.

Caleb and Sarah's relationship dynamic, growth, experiences and overall interactions were so relatable, vulnerable, and I was obsessed. These two are HS sweethearts (who married young when the FMC Sarah's mother was ill), who are in a rough patch of their marriage.

The FMC's bestie (whom we met in Out On A Limb), convinces her to do something drastic to get her and her husband out of their comfort zone to address their issues. Enter: a couple's retreat in the woods.

Reading this as I'm questioning things in my own relationship was so cathartic. The entire setup and absolutely hysterical moments landed so well. And the buildup to the spicy scenes was perfection. Hannah served that pining and angst. The TENT. The WATERFALL.

This was sweet, heartfelt, so damn funny, and I will forever recommend it. Hannah's writing is like a warm hug, I swear.

Tropes/Dynamics:
- HS sweethearts
- Marriage in trouble
- Forced proximity
- He is DOWN BAD
- Hiking as foreplay
- Hot nerdy MMC

Note: Thank you to NetGalley and Hannah for the chance to read an eARC. The decision to read and review was my own and represents my opinion, reactions, and feels.

Sarah and Caleb have been together for 17 years. They married young and have had to deal with more trauma than most couples have at that age. They are truly soulmates. Sarah begins to feel disconnected and lost, she struggles with finding her way and is at a crossroads. They have an argument which adds a lot of tension as well as uncertainty to the relationship. They decide to sign up for a week long couples retreat where they can re-connect, get some counseling and connect with nature. Well for starters that both hate nature and have never gone camping so they struggle as they adapt to the rigors of hiking and being in the great outdoors. Along the way they have some emotional, funny and inspirational moments as they try to find their way back to each other.

This was a uniquely told romance. I loved that it was a couple that had been together for years, there wasn’t cheating, there wasn’t betrayal but simply the change that occurs as people get older and make their way through all of the obstacles that life can throw at you. It was still heartbreaking at times because the characters were relatable and likable. . I found myself rooting for them to stay together, I wanted to shake them sometimes but I also found myself laughing at times. This was a sweet story and a very nice change of pace. Out on a Limb by this author will always be my favorite but this was a good story.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

4 ⭐️

In Out of the Woods, Hannah Bonam-Young takes readers on an emotional journey through the tangled woods of love, identity, and the complexities of marriage. The novel follows Caleb and Sarah Linwood, a couple who have been together since their teenage years. Their early marriage, fueled by Sarah’s desire to have her mother witness their vows, sets the stage for a whirlwind romance that quickly faces the real challenges of life.

As years pass, Sarah finds herself grappling with an identity crisis, a struggle that becomes all the more complicated as Caleb and her drift apart. This tension culminates in a painful argument during a party Sarah throws in honor of her late mother, leaving the couple estranged for an entire week. Enter Win, Sarah’s best friend, whose suggestion of marriage therapy sparks the beginning of a pivotal turning point in their relationship.

The couple embarks on a hiking trip designed to reconnect them—both physically and emotionally—as they navigate the wilderness of their feelings, their past, and their future. This journey isn’t just through the forest but also through the inner landscapes of their hearts. It’s a trip that will force Caleb and Sarah to face difficult truths about themselves and each other, testing their bond in unexpected ways.

Bonam-Young masterfully explores the theme of rediscovery. She captures the vulnerability of both characters, showing how personal growth and the weight of past decisions can chip away at a relationship. What I loved most about Out of the Woods is the way it portrays the highs and lows of a long-term relationship. It isn’t just about finding love, but also about working to preserve and nourish it when it feels like it’s slipping away.

Sarah’s identity crisis is a relatable and poignant aspect of the story, especially for anyone who has ever questioned their sense of self or purpose in a relationship. Caleb, too, is portrayed as a deeply human character, struggling with his own doubts and missteps as a husband. Together, they’re a couple that feels real—flawed, imperfect, but ultimately worthy of a second chance.

The hiking trip is the perfect backdrop for this kind of story. The physical challenge mirrors the emotional one they face, with each step through the wilderness symbolizing the slow and steady process of reconciliation. The tension, the quiet moments of reflection, and the ultimate realization that love requires both effort and forgiveness make this a deeply satisfying read.

While the plot follows a somewhat familiar path—struggling couple goes on a transformative journey—Bonam-Young’s writing elevates the story. She gives us enough nuance in the characters' emotions and motivations to make the ending feel earned, not forced. There’s no magical fix, just the understanding that love, like the wilderness, is both beautiful and unpredictable.

Overall, Out of the Woods is a heartfelt and honest exploration of love, identity, and the power of second chances. It’s perfect for readers who enjoy character-driven stories about relationships and personal growth. By the end, you'll be rooting for Caleb and Sarah, hoping they find their way back to each other, not just as spouses, but as individuals who’ve learned how to love themselves and each other more deeply.

My first 5 star book of this year!

This is a beautiful exploration of what happens when you meet your soulmate a little too soon, and are heading into your thirties unsure of who you are. When you marry your high school sweetheart, and nearly two decades years later that person is still your one true love, but your life is stagnating and things aren’t going so well, certainly the only way to salvage things is to go on a couples carry in, carry out wilderness retreat to reconnect–especially when neither one of you likes the outdoors very much. Sarah and Caleb gamely go along, though there isn’t immediate buy-in. Their relationship is very much stuck in a place where he is always the problem solver, and Sarah the problem to be solved, and until they can shift that dynamic, their chances of staying together are low.

The dual timeline is easy to follow, and serves to set the conflict in context and demonstrates how past actions impact their present. A diverse cast of couples adds drama to the plot. There is messiness and grief and humor and most of all, excellent modeling of adults learning to communicate their needs.

This companion novel to Out on a Limb features recurring characters, but worked for me as a stand-alone novel. If anything, I now want to read everything Hannah Bonam-Young has written. Pair with Do I Know You? and Rules for Second Chances for back-to-back stories about couples doing deep work to evolve their rocky marriages.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #OutOfTheWoods via #NetGalley courtesy of #RandomHouse. Review will post to HLBB 1/27/2025.

Sarah and Caleb found each other and fell in love as teenagers, married young, and now that they're in their early thirties, things have hit a rut. In an effort to figure things out, both as individuals and together, they go on a seven day relationship-building excursion in the woods. Though their love for one another is not in question, they have to learn how to move forward and continue to grow together when they aren't even sure who they are as individuals. The trip gives them a chance to confront their fears and desires while becoming closer and more confident.

Sarah and Caleb, secondary characters in Out on a Limb, get their own story spotlight here. Alternating between present day and their teen years, readers get a look at what first brought them together and also the events that have led to Sarah's insecurities and fears. A bit unbalanced - Sarah is definitely the main character here - the relationship between Sarah and Caleb is a nice change from the usual romance tropes. Not really a second-chance romance since they never fell out of love or broke up and nor really a broken-marriage storyline, Out of the Woods looks at a couple who are still in love, but never quite got a chance to grow up before growing together. The challenges and resolutions feel realistic and the relationship loving and sweet. Plus readers get a chance to catch up with Win and Bo again!

Thank you to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read Out of the Woods early in exchange for a review.

I absolutely loved Out on a Limb and was so excited to see Sara and Caleb got there own story. This was a beautiful depiction of how two characters can love each other so much and still fall out of synch but work together to find their way back to each other. The love between all the characters is so obvious.

I love Hannah's work and will continue to make my way through her works!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

Out of the Woods by Hannah Bonam-Young | ARC Review

Thank you @authorhannahby and @netgalley for this ARC! A very special thank you to Hannah, for forcing us to sit with the uncomfortable, to learn from it, and to choose to be better, everyday. 💚

5⭐️//2🌶️

Oof, I don’t even know where to begin with this review. This book broke my heart, and it put it right back together❤️‍🩹. There were so many moments of reflections, in which I just sat and pondered life (while also crying😭).

Sarah and Caleb have known each other for seventeen years, high school sweethearts who got married when they were only nineteen. Now, at thirty-one, Sarah is confronted with just how stagnant her life has been since her mother’s passing. It all comes to a crossroad when after a non-so-successful auction gala set up in her mother’s memory, Sarah realizes that she never had anything of her own, something that she should be proud of, that all of the accomplishments were tied to Caleb and their marriage.

As a mean to get out and confront the rut they have found themselves in, Sarah and Caleb decide to go on a couples’ nature retreat, where they will learn how to effectively communicate to better their relationship. Being stuck in close proximity, on a nature retreat that neither of them were fully prepared for, Sarah and Caleb are forced to air out all their grievances and learn how to find their way to one another again.

The story was refreshing, but so relatable, and so very raw. This book made me reflect on how difficult in can be to achieve self-growth while also growing along someone, in learning how to be yourself, while also holding other titles in life (wife, mother, sister, daughter), you might lose sight of what dreams and aspirations you once had. Sarah and Caleb’s journey taught me how crucial it is to address the unpleasant feelings and the uncomfortable avoidance limbo; only then you are able to learn, and be better, kinder, and more honest to yourself, and to others. 💚

Favourite scene: Ten years from now list 🥺
Favourite 🌶️ scene: Perverted chipmunk 🤭

i loved this book so much! the characters were amazing and the writing was so heartfelt and perfect! hannah bonam young is such an incredible writer and that really shines through on this one.

This was my first book by Hannah Bonam Young, and I was, unfortunately, left feeling quite underwhelmed. I was really enjoying myself in the first 50% of the book and actually felt myself relating to Sarahs character. Her struggle for self-love and self-acceptance is something I believe a lot of women, married after some time, go through.
I was looking forward to Sarah and Calebs story and the trials they go through as they try to 'reignite' their love for one another. The side characters were very enjoyable, and the eclectic mix of personalities made it fun to imagine.

Time after time I found myself wanting more and just never got it. There was not a huge conflict to allow their connection to grow in any deep or meaningful way. It seemed as if Caleb listened and said all the things she wanted to hear and that was it. There seemed to be a lot of opportunities for a deeper conflict to occur where each character could learn and grow from, but the author never took that leap. It seemed like a lot of hand holding and a lot of Caleb changing his way to exactly what she needs. Sarah didn't seem to make any huge changes to bring their marriage back together.

Overall it was a sweet love story, and her writing was nice, but I just wanted more.