I think anyone who has ever been in a committed relationship will be able to relate to so much of the content in this book. It’s a look at two people who love each other so deeply, but also got married really young, before they really knew what life was all about. It’s not always sunshine and rainbows, but it can still always be beautiful and filled with love and passion for your partner if you choose it. Thanks to Dell Romance and Random House Publishing for the e-arc!

4.5⭐️ One of my most anticipated reads of the year, and it did not disappoint! I loved Sarah and Caleb as soon as they were introduced in Out on a Limb, and I immediately wanted their story (not thinking it would actually happen because they were already married.) but then I saw that they were getting a book and I screamed!

This one was full of so many emotions. It seemed so real, and I was happy, sad, anxious, worried, and laughing. I loved seeing them go through real struggles as a married couple and working through them in such a healthy way.

Love love love them💖

This book was so, so, so beautiful. I’m blown away. I finished just a few minutes ago and I’m kind of speechless 😭 Ms Bonam-Young’s best work, in my (very humble) opinion. This story was so heart wrenching while simultaneously being an absolute joy and privilege to read. This is now my top romance novel of all time. I’m just so grateful to have witnessed the love between Caleb and Sarah. What a wonderful experience.

I relate so much to Sarah. Her story has given me so much to think about as someone who constantly feels like they were made for more than what they’re currently doing in life. This book made me laugh, made me cry, and ultimately made me hopeful for my own future.

A GIGANTIC thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read this amazing ARC. I am forever changed, genuinely.

Absolutely pure perfection. Wow… where do I even begin. This story was extremely close to my heart and I cried through so much of it. As someone who is married to their high school sweetheart and approaching their 30’s, I closely related to Sarah and Caleb’s story. Their love for each other and the growth they did individually and together throughout the story was beautiful. Their struggles and how they communicated through it all was extremely realistic. I appreciated the rawness and realness that was put into this story. Thank you a million times to Hannah Bonam-Young, Random House Publishing, and NetGalley for this ARC. Thank you specifically to Hannah Bonam-Young for writing a story that is so near and dear to my heart.

My review was posted to goodreads on 1/11/2025.

3.5? i love sarah and caleb. i think their love for each other runs so deep and its so nice seeing a real relationship in romance books. unfortunately, this was really slow for me to get into. i felt like i was waiting for something up until the 55% mark but then it got really good! sarah’s brain is quite relatable and felt like her conflicts within herself were so raw and true.

thank you netgalley!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75/5

This. Book. Caleb Linwood, the man that you are. Just like Out on a Limb, Bonam-Young approached this story with a unique and yet powerful prospective on an otherwise uncommon trope.

I was surprised to find how much I genuinely enjoyed watching Caleb and Sarah reconnect and rediscover how to communicate without it being your typical second chance romance. This story was the perfect palette cleanser between some heavier books, while still being full of depth and easily satisfying that romantic element that we all know and love. Watching Sarah not only fall back in love with Caleb, but discovering who she is, and what’s important to her resonated so much with me. There was so many moments where I was nearly brought to tears over just feeling so seen. Caleb had so many beautiful moments of forgiveness, but also so much growth in his own self as well. Overall such a wonderful story of rediscovery, and reconnecting to the ones who have been with us for as long as we can remember.

There’s so many incredible quotes but here’s 3 of my favorites:
•“You can go as far as you need to, but you’ll always be a part of me. You will always be the second voice in my head. The force that surrounds me. The source I pull inspiration from.”
•“Because she doesn’t have to be all right. She just has to try again tomorrow.”
•“We hugged without resolution. There was no bow tied neatly around our conversation. No clean cut answers. Just a mutual understanding that the pain would always exist but that we’d be a little stronger tomorrow. That, maybe, I’d helped her some.”

I would highly recommend this book to everyone! My only reason for giving it 4.75 stars instead of 5, is because I didn’t personally connect to the comments about religion, though I can still see their importance.

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc!

i absolutely adored out on a limb and DEVOURED it in an instant, so when i found out there would be a companion novel about sarah and caleb i prayed to the netgalley gods to bequeath an arc to me. alas, the gods were merciful and i devoured out of the woods as well.

this is not a romance novel about a married couple giving their marriage a second shot — it’s about a couple who got married young in a strenuous circumstance, and now our fmc sarah looks back and feels as if she has not accomplished anything on her own, without the help of her husband caleb. when sarah hosts a fundraiser in honor of her mom and finds out that caleb was the anonymous benefactor who donated the remaining money to meet her goal, the couple’s relationship is the worst it’s ever been. thus begins their journey into the woods to learn how to communicate better.

i don’t think i’ve ever cried as much as i have while reading out of the woods — sarah’s mom passed away in her late teens, and we get so many flashbacks with sarah, her mom, and even caleb and win. anytime sarah brought up her mom, i cried. i can’t help it!

overall, out on a limb and out of the woods are MY FAVORITE romance novels because they tackle so much more than romance.

i’m so excited to read whatever hannah bonam-young puts out next💗

Such a great read! I’ve never read anything from this author and now I’m wondering why I haven’t sooner. She writes really well and brings a humorous element, almost like your inner thoughts. I almost cried a few times throughout. The story was amazing and can’t wait to try out her other books!

Beautiful beautiful beautiful. Hannah Bonam Young NEVER disappoints! I loved continuing the story of Sarah and Caleb! Such a unique perspective of a couple who had been together for years and had to figure out issues in their marriage and accepting and growing off the negative emotions that can grow in life!

I think this one for me, was what Out on a Limb was for so many. I liked Out on a Limb a lot but I loved this book. They are both expertly crafted and written stories about complex characters who are so genuine but this one hit home for me in a lot of ways. It was aching, beautiful, and so so hopeful. I cried a lot, this thing had my heart gripped in a fist. But I also laughed, swooned and above all rooted for Sarah and Caleb 1000% to the very end! The relationship between these two and their journey was amazing to watch but it went beyond them too. This is a book about finding and never giving up on yourself, dealing with grief and loss in the moment and years down the line, and knowing family is so much more than just blood. I’ll always keep with me, give when you’re able, help when you can, and don’t waste your one shot at life.

Thank you so much to Random House Publishing, Hannah Bonam- Young and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book early. I am beyond grateful.

Tropes: boy obsessed, soulmates, rekindling/reconnecting, counseling/therapy/mental work, outdoor spice, found family, loss/grief

I have loved you since we were 18…”

This book is both heart wrenching and heart warming in the best way. Hannah just creates the most fleshed out, complex, and warm characters. You just feel so connected with them. Typically I’m anti-the marriage in crisis trope but this book does it so well. Sarah and Caleb deeply and truly love one another and just needed a way to communicate more openly. Through it all their love and connection shined. Sarah has been through so much, which becomes so clear in the flashbacks. But equally telling was how Caleb has been there supporting her through it all. I appreciated Sarah’s personal journey in the book as well, finally giving herself some grace so she can take the steps she wants in life. It was all so beautifully written. Bonus was the Win and Bo content! I recommend this book to fans of a soulmate/high school sweethearts vibe.

Read If You Like:
- Marriage-in-crisis romances
- Second-chance romance
- Couples Retreat/ Group Therapy
- Camping and Hiking
- Alll the Sexual Tension
-Flashbacks From Falling in Love
- High school sweethearts
- Win, Bo, & Gus Sightings (Out on a Limb)

Are we Out of the Woods yet, Hannah?! Emotionally? Absolutely not! I am so in love with this duology of Out on a Limb and Out of The Woods and so sad it’s over! 😭

This was my first buddy read of 2025 with my bestie Ashley and I am so glad we picked this story to kick off 2025 with!

Caleb and Sarah’s story is everything and more that I expected it to be, especially with starting out with the bang of the author’s note ahead of starting this story! It was heartfelt, funny, steamy, emotional, and truly makes you wonder… who are the lucky ones? The ones that fall in love young before they know who they are, or those of us that find our person later in life? To me, I say both!

I loved getting the flashbacks of Sarah and Caleb falling in love as kids in high school and as their relationship grew and they were faced with Sarah’s mom getting sick, changing the trajectory of their love story and lives forever, especially when she passed away when Sarah and Caleb were only 19 years old.

When we meet Sarah and Caleb Linwood for their story, they have been married for seventeen years and are finding themselves at a crossroads as Sarah grapples with her identity beyond her role as stay at home wife to Caleb. Because of this struggle internally, everything boils over when Sarah tries something new (and Caleb swoops in) and to make a mark and something for herself after years of being unfulfilled and being lost in grief and feeling as if she hasn’t moved or grown or changed in the last 17 years.

This kicks off the recommendation from Win after a month of tip toeing around each other, for Sarah and Caleb to attend a week long outdoors couples retreat to find themselves as an partnership again and come back together stronger.

As they go through the week we get to experience along with Caleb and Sarah the complexities of a marriage in turmoil, delving into themes of personal growth, grief, fighting for love, and the evolving dynamics of long-term relationships that just aren’t simple and easy. Because love takes work and growth…

Sarah's journey of self-discovery is both relatable and inspiring, and has me crying right along with her. Caleb's own journey of wrestling with feeling like a failure for their life not being enough for Sarah while unwavering in his love and support of her was so beautiful as well.

I loved the balance Hannah struck between moments of humor, sexual tension, and their deep rooted vulnerabilities. Sarah and Caleb confront road they are on and how they have very much been frozen in place for years and their need to reassess their present, and to define a future they can grow planted side by side for worse or for better.

Thank you so much to Ashley for buddy reading this with me, and to Dell for my gifted ARC!

Sarah has been with Caleb since high school. Their whole lives have been wound around each other and now Sarah feels she doesn’t know who she is on her own.

The loss of her mother seemed to stunt her somewhat. Caleb does his best to try and care for her, so much so that neither realized how much she hadn’t progressed. That is, until Sarah tries to do something on her own, and it does not go off as planned.

The couple decided (mainly Sarah) that they need a shell shocking change of pace. So the pair head on a couples wilderness retreat (neither outdoorsy) to test themselves in a major way.

Sarah’s character is a lot more fleshed out than Caleb’s. We get a close look at grief through her eyes. As well as what trying to build life after loss can like. The anger, anguish, and guilt. She shares her progress in life, or lack there of, and we watch as she builds the confidence to see what can come next for her.

While I could really relate to her feelings, the romance felt a bit one-sided. Caleb always seemed to be playing catch up. Just about everything he wanted came back around to Sarah, while Sarah had her mind elsewhere. Rationally, that was because she hadn’t done much while Caleb had been getting his degree and building his company. However, I still felt like there was an element missing in his journey.

Their love felt real. The author did a wonderful job constructing a very natural marriage. It did, personally, seem to lower the stakes for this “second chance” because there never seemed to be a moment where it felt like there was a real danger in their relationship ending.

Overall, I did enjoy this book. It was a bit slow at times due to the low stakes but I do feel it had a lot to offer by way of self reflection and resilience.

5⭐️ Hannah wrote this book for me. This book is about ME.

Thank you Dell Romance and Net Gally for this ARC!

Sarah is now a soul character for me. She has experienced trauma and grief and also met their partner and married young, just like me. She questions her spirituality and beliefs and wonders who she really is outside of everyone else. I relate to this so much. Reading this book at this time in my life at a very difficult anniversary was meant to be. I laughed, I cried, I felt comforted. I adore Sarah and Caleb and look forward to rereading this book for years to come.

Read if you like:
• Camping (kidding but also not)
• Growth and finding yourself
• Books that touch on dealing with grief
• Married couples reconnecting

This was well done and some of the banter made me laugh but it was just overwhelmingly sad. The character’s POV switching between her upsetting past and her unhappy current reality was just a bit too much for me. Glad they found their happy ending but this book didn’t put me in a fun mood.

Thank you to Random House, Dell Romance & NetGalley for the ARC <3

Sarah and Caleb were high school sweethearts and have been married since the age of 19. And Sarah is feeling all sorts of aimless as a wealthy housewife, wanting to build some independence and something of herself to be proud of. And as sweet and caring as Caleb is, he’s always swooping in to save the day, making Sarah continue to feel inadequate. Things come to a head at a charity event that does not go well, and it turns into a huge fight with all sorts of resentment and unhappiness bubbling up to the surface. And so, Sarah and Caleb are on a couples retreat in the woods to work out their relationship and communication issues. The humor factor here is that they’re both indoor people with no physical endurance whatsoever. But the emotional angst is ever-present. We get some flashback chapters to the past with how their relationship developed and how it intertwined with Sarah’s mom being ill and her career ambitions. This whole book is a heart punch and I enjoyed the supportive cast of characters present during the retreat. Loved it.

6⭐️

This book is so incredible!! I literally devoured this in one sitting; I could not put it down. It made me laugh and cry. I felt all the feels. I relate SO much to both Sarah and Caleb and their relationship. This book is so personal to me wow. I expected it to be good or even great but this could possibly be my favorite contemporary romance of all time??

Anyway thank you thank you thank you to Hannah Bonam-Young for this book! And thank you to Netgalley and Random House for this early copy!

WOW
Hannah Bonam-Young this book is amazing!
Sarah and Caleb's story is not one to miss and publishes January 28th, preorder now!
I typically don't read romance books with married couples, but this book definitely proved this trope is a good one! I didn't read the book prior to this one because I don't love the accidental pregnancy trope but FINE HANNAH ILL TRY IT! If you write it, I'll read it! Plus now I already love Win and Bo
I related to both main characters so much. Like Caleb, I really hate change and like Sarah, I often put expectations on myself and think I'm behind. This book somehow felt like a healing therapy session.
This read follows the story of Sarah and Caleb. These two high school sweethearts have endured great loss and grief at the beginning of their marriage. They survived it and Caleb supported Sarah through the loss of her mother to ALS. Years later, Sarah feels as though Caleb is always running to her aid. She wants her own strength in moments, her own successes. A huge fight occurs when Caleb once again runs to her aid and Sarah and Caleb find themselves in a backpacking marriage counseling retreat. They meet some truly fun and wise characters and re-meet each other along the way. There is banter, witty humor, heat, but also some heavy topics of grief and finding yourself. This book is one you don't want to miss! If you don't believe me read the swoon-worthy quotes from the book below

"I didn't want you to lose your reading streak"
"If you give me the space to grow, I'll plant myself next to you. Always."
"I can sense your presence like a second nature...and when you're not near you occupy every corner of my life"
Thank you @authorhannahby and Random House publishing for this eARC!

I loved Hannah's previous books, but had the hardest time appreciating Sara. I just struggled with that felt a little like entitlement from her. I absolutely get her frustrations but I found myself frustrated by her more often than not.

I cannot begin to comprehend how Hannah Bonam-Young does it, but man, she’s done it again — wrecked my heart and put it back together again. No one writes like her, no one tells stories like her. Caleb and Sarah were given such a unique and fresh story, a completely beautiful take on what a romance book can be. My heart still aches a little, because I’ve gotten to know them so well and I truly never want to say goodbye. Truly so deserving of a read!!