4.5 stars!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the eARC of this book! For this Out of the Woods to be my introduction to Hannah Bonam-Young I was definitely not disappointed! It was a people story of finding and reconnecting to not only yourself but those that matter the most to you! I loved Caleb and Sarah’s relationship and enjoyed reading about how it started vs where they are now! I can’t wait to dive in to this authors other books!

Hannah Bonam-Young does it again! Sarah and Caleb's story was so beautiful and relatable. This book follows a married couple who were high school sweethearts and are struggling in their marriage. One wants change, the other doesn't. In an attempt to save their marriage, they sign up for a weeklong outdoorsy hiking trip for couples. Their journey is heartfelt, humorous at times and just so absolutely beautiful. The self-discovery in this book for these characters truly did it for me.

I have never read a book like this, and to be honest, I did not know if I was going to like the struggling marriage trope, but I ATE THIS UP. First and foremost, the writing was perfection. As someone who has been married a long time, I could relate to these characters and what they were going through so much. I thought this story was very touching and loved getting to know Sarah and Caleb. I really enjoyed the flashbacks and learning their backstories as well as following their current life journey. I also loved the fact that we got more Win and Beau in this one as well. I absolutely adored this book so much. I normally get through books pretty quickly, but I enjoyed this so much that I purposely drew it out and just did not want it to end. It ended up being one of my top reads of the year.

This book is so cute! Sarah and Caleb got married at 19 and, just over a decade later, Sarah is re-evaluating her role in life. The two sign up for a weeklong outdoor couples therapy excursion and proceed to have open and honest conversations about how to ensure that both are fulfilled in their relationship. There are no third act breakups (although the last quarter of the book may stress you out like it did me), and both characters repeatedly say 'I love you' to each other with intention. The book flashes backwards throughout the first 15 years of their relationship (they got together at 15, married at 19, and are still together in their 30s) and successfully establishes how we got to where we are. Nothing felt out of place or extraneous, and I didn't leave with any burning questions (except really, who is Cecilia Floodgate and where is she now!)
The side characters Bo and Win are part of the first book in the series, but this can be read as a standalone (I haven't read the first book but I may consider it just for Bo and Win, and more Sarah and Caleb). I very much look forward to reading more books by Hannah Bonam-Young

This book was extremely bingeable. I laughed and I sobbed. This book was so deep while also being filled with so much humor. The yearning while being in a relationship was so well done. I love Caleb! I love Sarah! The side characters were great! Also love the cameos of Bo, Win and Gus. I don’t think Hannah Bonam Young can write a bad book. She just keeps getting better. The banter in this book was so reminiscent to “Out on a Limb” and I ate it up.

Hannah Bonam-Young characters have so much depth and warmth to them. I enjoyed Sarah and Caleb as supporting characters in Out on a Limb and really enjoyed getting to know them in this book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
🌶️🌶️.5

I loved Caleb and Sarah in Out on a Limb, so when I realized this book was about them, I was thrilled.

What I loved most about this book was that it was about an established couple, reconnecting. And even though they were going through a rough patch, the love the main couple had for each other was never truly in doubt. Plus, both MCs were 30+ and committed to be child-free. Again so so refreshing— not something you typically see represented in a main stream romance book!

I also really enjoyed getting the glimpses of their early years and falling in love.

Both Sarah and Caleb are relatable. That early 30s panic of what am I doing with my life/feeling behind your friends is real! And getting to see Bo, Win & Gus again made me happy!

Thanks to Dell Romance & Netgalley for the eARC!

As with all of Hannah Bonam Young’s other stories, I absolutely loved Sarah and Caleb’s story. Out of the Woods was real, raw, beautiful, sweet, and spicy. This story gave me all the good feels and I was so thankful to have received an ARC of it.

Absolutely adored this book! Love, love, love Sarah and Caleb. Hannah writes the most emotionally healthy and mature characters, and I am all for it. Caleb's neediness contrasts perfectly with his sexiness. Sarah is a badass, and I'm so glad she starts taking the reins in her own life and future. I'm so happy we got more of Bo and Win, too. Loved everything about this book!! Please never stop writing Hannah, and F*ck all the Cecilia Floodgates in this world ❤️

It's probably already been corrected by the editor, but just in case; there's a mistake on Loc 2605 of the kindle version...the end of Chapter 15 where Caleb is proposing. Caleb says, "I don't want it easy. I don't want anyone else. I want you, Sar. I want to be the only man every luck to be loved by you." That last every should be ever.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book in advance. Wouldn't change a thing. I already have my copy preordered. Good luck!

X This was a beautifully laid out story of growth, grief, found family, and love. I went into this story blind as I had not read “Out on a limb" and fell in love with Sarah and Win's friendship. The love between Sarah and Caleb is beautiful and jealousy inducing. I'm not usually a fan of the past, present, past layout of stories, but Hannah did it so well. There were parts that felt so raw and vulnerable with the characters as well as some fantastic laughs. The banter! Caleb is adorably dorky. It was nice to see a couple in love work through their communication issues and grow together.

I really enjoyed Out of the Woods. It’s not common to find a romance novel about a couple who is already married. I loved how Bonam-Young put Sarah and Caleb in a completely uncomfortable and out of their comfort zone situation. There was humor, sweetness, and raw emotion.

In the author’s note (at the beginning), she recommends reading Out on a Limb first. Not necessary, but recommended. When I read that, I stopped and grabbed the audiobook for Out on a Limb. I’m so glad I did. Not only did I love Win and Bo’s story, but I think it did provide extra background, context and enjoyment when reading Out of the Woods. If you read Out on a Limb first, you will be thankful you did.

Special thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the digital ARC via NetGalley.

3.75 rounded up! Have a lot of thoughts and feelings about this one. To start, HBY is one of my favorite authors and I absolutely adore her ability to create the sweetest most comforting yet grounded stories. Her capacity to create a cast of characters that you feel like they're your friends is truly delightful. To start, I am admittedly not the biggest fan of the marriage in crisis trope. Despite that, I still read this one with an open mind. My personal critiques were not with the trope specifically. I struggle with stories that have time jumps though I will say I think the ones here provided a stronger context to the central relationship. Despite that, I felt a bit disconnected from Sarah and Caleb. I think in part it is because we get to see so much of Sarah's struggles and her internal world and Caleb is just there. He is a supporter and is in her corner but I didn't feel all that connected to him. I think this would have benefitted from some sort of inclusion of his POV because other than the sparse conversations the characters had together we know so little to be honest and even still a lot of the conflict resolution happened off the page. I just was left wanting more heart to hearts and more of that rekindling. Marriage in crisis is quite the difficult trope to really nail because the stakes are so high especially in this case of high school sweethearts who have been through so much together that unfortunately I was left wanting at times. That being said, I still enjoyed this book overall and really loved being able to see more of Win and Bo's life outside of OOAL.

Hannah Bonam-Young is continues to be a fabulous author who has the unmatched ability to create the sweetest most comforting yet grounded stories. Her capacity to create a cast of characters that you feel like they're your friends is truly delightful.

HBY can truly do no wrong. Every single book of hers is a master piece and this was no different. Caleb and Sarah were so so funny and sweet and swoony and everything you want in a couple. The depth that this couple knew about eachother was so evident and they were so special.

I want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
4.5⭐️!!

oh wow where to begin!! This book was so heartbreaking and than beautiful and than I was smiling and than I was sniffling with tears. I felt so many emotions it was a frkn roller coaster😭 Sarah and Caleb were the frkn cutest ever. They said “I love you” and “baby” in like every chapter and I melted. I especially loved the outdoor scenery and this group they joined to try and heal their marriage and learn how to better communicate their feelings with one another it was so wholesome everything that we learned❤️ this book was all in all amazing❤️

This book was really beautiful, and felt very representative of getting married young and growing into your actual self later, something I empathize with.

Hannah Bonam-Young is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors! I loved Bo and Win and their story, but was nervous to read about Sarah and Caleb. I did not want to see them struggling! But WOW, this was a breath of fresh air. It was refreshing to read a book about a couple who loved eachother so much, but were struggling to navigating how their internal changes impact their relationship. I would say this book is a must read for all couples who married young! I will read anything HBY writes!!!!

This was so so so good. Before I get into it, thank you netgalley and dell for the opportunity to read this advanced copy. 4.5 ⭐️

This is the first romance book I’ve read where the couple is already married and have a history together. Sarah and Caleb hit a rough patch of their marriage where they both feel contention on where they have landed in life. So, they go on a week long excursion in the woods with other couples, led by a couples counselor and outdoorsy duo.

The story is so much more than just “let’s go to the woods to solve our problems.” It explores loss of a parent when you’re a teenager, complicated in-law dynamics, learning how to change with your partner as life progresses, how to handle loss of faith, and when horrible things happen and put life into perspective.

I enjoyed out on a limb and didn’t have high expectations for this one, but it blew it out of the water. This is almost as much women’s fiction as it is romance.

I have head such great things about this author, and I was excited to dive into this ARC! I have to say I’m not sure what I expected, but this was very different from my expectations in a great way. I LOVED that it was a romance about a couple that are already together and had been for over a decade. I enjoyed having them grow with their communication and work on reconnecting with one another. This was such a real and relatable read that it was almost difficult to get through at times as it hit close to home for me and had me reflecting on my own relationship. I ONLY knocked off a star because while I know it’s totally valid and that she is absolutely allowed to feel the way she did, something about Sarah getting mad at Caleb for helping with the fundraiser rubbed me the wrong way. The fact that he could just donate that amount of money in an attempt to make her happy and honor her mother when most people don’t make that in a year- and she got mad- just left a bad taste in my mouth.

Thank you for the author and publisher for this ARC.
When I saw this book show up on NetGalley, it was an immediate request for me because I LOVED Out on a Limb by this author.
Although I did enjoy this read, it was not quite as much of a win for me as the aforementioned.
The first half of the book was heavy, beautiful, and mostly enjoyable (although I’m typically more of a rom com girl - life is sad enough as it is, sometimes I have a tendency to avoid stories that tend to linger is sadness for too long). The second half of the book started out great, we got to some spice, it was fantastic, but the last fourth of the book (on my opinion) drug on.
There was a plot with a side of seven other side plots, and IMO it made this 336 page book seem a lot longer than it was.
I empathized with Sarah but also found her to be annoying a lot of the time 😂. All in all, I missed Win and Bo.
This book had a lot of potential but fell a little flat for me by the end. 3 ⭐️

I really enjoyed Out of the Woods, but Out on a Limb is still my favorite Hannah Bonam-Young book.

Out of the Woods was so raw and real. Sarah and Caleb's struggles felt so authentic, and I loved seeing them work out their problems and come out stronger together. However, I wanted to relate to the characters more. Perhaps it's just the place I'm at in life or the fact that my circumstances aren't the same, but I was left wanting a bit more.

I would absolutely recommend Out of the Woods series to my friends, though and I can't wait for what's next from HBY.