✨ARC Review✨

I could not have been more ecstatic than when I was approved for this ARC. The amount of love I have for Out on a Limb is immeasurable and I am so happy that I got to read Out of the Woods. Maybe I should have tried savoring it and reading it a few chapters at a time. Y’all. I couldn’t. I read it in one sitting. On my deck on the last nice sit-outside-able weekend before it’s too chilly. This was a perfect reading day and a perfect book to enjoy. Oh, and when the audiobook is available, I’m absolutely going to listen because @victoriaconnollynarrator.

So, our Sarah, Win’s bestie from OoaL, is having a major just-past quarter-life crisis. I’ll be honest. At first I was not “getting” her. I didn’t understand why she was so unhappy with her life, her station, and especially her husband. Caleb is sweet, thoughtful, her protector, and her rock. How could she be anything less than overjoyed with everything she has? It is a true testament to @authorhannahby ‘s talent that she made me “get” it.

Sarah and Caleb have been together since they were fourteen and married since nineteen. There’s a lot of room to grow between fourteen and thirty-one.

These two need *something*. Win suggests a week-long hiking excursion called Reignite which they reluctantly agree to. Sarah has all of these thoughts and feelings that she keeps bottled up and her resentment is bubbling over. Caleb has no idea. He’s just working too hard, too much, and making bank- something he learned from his father.

This book deals with a lot of issues including a significant amount of grieving a deceased parent. There are a lot of fun, light moments, but the heavy is heavy. Just be aware.

I wasn’t sure in the first quarter if I would love this book as much as OoaL, but I do. I do. I really do. It’s obviously a very different book and it for sure hit me harder in some ways. I cannot recommend it enough. I started this review immediately after I finished, but now I’ve been ruminating on it. I think I appreciate it even more. And the epilogue! 🥰

I received this eARC via #netgalley and @dellromance. All thoughts are mine alone.

#romance #romancebooks #contemporaryromance #savingmarriage #savingyourself #bookrecs #bookreview #bookstagram #outofthewoods #hannahbonamyoung

I received an ARC from Random House Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my thoughts about the book in any way. (I am still INTERNALLY SCREAMING that I got an early copy from an author i so clearly love)

I was actually rolling on the floor desperate BEGGING for an early copy a few months ago and I eventually fucking got it so prepare for how insufferable I will be because I deserve it. Out of The Woods will be in shelves on January 28, 2025 and I cannot wait for everyone to get their hands on this angsty and hilarious companion novel to OOAL!

Before I begin, THIS should be the standard for a marriage in crisis romance novel. It wasn’t shit because I almost cried multiple times. I need fourteen more of them right about now (Hannah if you see this, please listen to my annoying ass) this was fucking flawless you guys <3

This portrays marriage in a flawed, emotional, and intimate manner. All throughout this book, I simultaneously felt both Sarah and Caleb’s shared pain, along with their grievances. Hannah definitely handled this book with care because anyone could feel her love in the characterization and writing (especially with the Win & Bo cameos!) Warning though that this book comes with depressing loss, the brutal hit of having an existential crisis, and rethinking your entire fucking existence (ngl it was what I needed). And yet, OOTW is hopeful and insightful, eventually changing my perspective on marriage. I mean, who wouldn’t want to get married to Caleb? I’m pretty sure anyone would love to get married to a nerd (that would be me, is anyone interested?)

The most beautifully written book I've read all year.
I truly cannot express how much I love this book. The characters are amazing. The plot is amazing. The writing style is amazing. I cried. I laughed. A blushed, giggled, and kicked my feet. I fell completely in love with the characters (even more so from the small glimpses of them you got in Out on a Limb).
Truly truly truly the best book.

If I could give this book infinity stars I would! Will 100% be rereading it again when it officially comes out

Have you ever read a book and immediately wanted to go right back to the start and read it all over because you mentally can’t except it’s actually over, that was me after reading Out Of The Woods. Hannah truly concocted the most tension filled marriage in crisis that had had me so emotionally unwell. Sarah and Caleb’s relationship was so raw and real, seeing their start to finish in this made me love love even more than I did before. Hands down one of my absolute favourite books ever!

This book was a rollercoaster of emotions. Sarah was such a relatable character for me and I loved every second of finally getting her story. Definitely recommend reading Out on a Limb first followed by this book immediately!

this book felt like home. what i mean by that is that this was THE book where i actually felt i was reading parts of my life. i related so much to sarah and not only that, but i actually read some of lines to my husband and he even related so heavily to the things caleb did/said. i felt so seen, held, and almost cherished while reading this book. it had all of my favourite elements that i love in a romance but most importantly i had the most wonderful time. i cried, i laughed, and i truly felt so transported into this novel. HBY really knows how to create a swoony romance that feels SO relatable, raw, and real! i love sarah and caleb so so much and think so many people are going to ADORE!!!!

I will read anything Hannah Bonam-Young write at this point. I love Out on a Limb a lot and I feel like this book really hits close to home. Out of the Woods is about Sarah and Caleb’s story and their marriage crisis. I feel like I can relate to their story a lot. My husband and I met when we were very young. We were innocent and naive. I would say we basically grew up together and we are still growing with things that life throws at us!

Even the healthiest relationship can become stagnant. You start having doubts and wondering the “what ifs” about the pasts and “who are you” without your partner. The most important thing is to realize that communication is key and try to be proactive to make changes. No marriage is perfect! Caleb and Sarah’s relationship had been struggling for some time and they were in desperate need for a change. They go to this couples retreat. The retreat gave them an opportunity to do things outside their normal routines which help Sarah and Caleb self-reflect, communicate, and find each other again.💕

Like most romance books, this has a happy ending. However, while reading the book, it was an emotional rollar coaster for me. The flashbacks and present time made me smile, swoon, cry, laugh, frown, blush, and all sorts of feelings. I feel like my heart was shattered and the pieces were glue back together at the end. This is how great the writing is when you feel all the emotions that no other books has and the things in this book feel so real and relatable to life. I am so grateful that I had the honor to read this ARC. Thank you so much Dell romance, netgalley and Hannah Bonam Young. 🫶🏻

Overall: 4
Spice: 2

Being married for 20 years to a successful trust fund baby has the FMC trying figure out her place in the world. While on a camping trip meant to bring them together, one of the MC’s has an accident and sends the other MC into a panic. Sometimes all you need is a different perspective to realize you right where you need to be.

Hannah Bonam-Young writes romance books like no one else! After Out on a Limb was able to make me love the Accidental Pregnancy Trope, I fell in love with the Marriage in Crisis Trope in the second book. Such a great love story, that isn't like other romance books, with great characters and amazing writing.

We all know that it's not a romance if there isn't an HEA, but for me it's not a GOOD romance if it doesn't have a good bit of self-discovery OUTSIDE of the romance, and Bonam-Young does that so so well! This is a story of HS sweethearts who are going through it and end up at an outdoor therapy retreat. I have a love/hate relationship with hiking as a whole (I feel like this one does a great job of illustrating why that would be!) but it's so sweet and watching these two come together is a joy.
💛

HANNAH <3

You can truly do no wrong.

I am so grateful to have received this ARC.

This book chewed me up and spit me out in the best way! I highlighted so many things that were incredibly relatable.

Spoiler Free Review incoming:

This book is about discovery within your relationship and yourself. Something I'm sure so many of us can relate to. Sarah and Caleb are HS sweethearts and have found themselves in a bit of a rough patch. This landed them on a trip to an outdoor therapy retreat. (Looooove an outdoors setting).

There are complexities to this story, and the amount of love these two feel for each other truly pours out through the pages. It was intense and emotional and beautiful to read.

This book is full of so many things I love

Dual POV
Past/Present POV
BANTER
Outdoors
Lover Boy
High School Sweethearts
BO & WIN

It is a perfect story and a big thank you to PRH and Net Galley for the ARC.

HBY can do no wrong!!! I loved this book so so much.
Hannah had a way of writing stories that i absolutely love.
I haven’t read many marriage in crisis books and I have to say this one felt so special. Although our characters were having a difficult time in their relationship, you could still feel the love between them, and know that they cared about each other throughout the entire book.
I did some shed some tears in the last 100 or so pages and that’s been come to be expected reading a HBY book

Hannah’s books are always so good, and this one didn’t disappoint whatsoever. Out Of The Woods is a book about Sarah and Caleb. They got together in high school and have always been the “it” couple. Everyone wants the love that they have for each other. But sometimes what you see isn’t always what it seems, Sarah and Caleb’s relationship is struggling and they are in dire need of a change if it’s going to last. Caleb is a workaholic and comes from a very successful and wealthy family (a family that hasn’t really ever acted like they approve of Sarah). After a charity event that Sarah wanted to put on herself and prove that she could do something on her own goes to crap, due to the help of Caleb, Sarah is at her end with how she feels about herself and her marriage. Sarah soon finds out about a hiking/camping off the grid couples retreat and convinces Caleb that this is what they need to do to find out if they are really meant to be. So the couple sets off on the trip, and during the time navigate many troubles, do counseling, and spend the time figuring things out. To find out what the outcome was you’ll just have to read the book. What I can say is that this book was one of my favorites of the year and once I started reading, I couldn’t stop. Sarah and Caleb are the characters you spend the entire time rooting for, and all of the additional characters were just as amazing!

AHHHH this book was amazing!! I literally cried multiple times. As much as I loved the relationship between Sarah and Caleb, I loved the relationship between Sarah and her mother - and how that affected her relationship with herself so much more! Such a beautiful story about a woman learning to love herself while she falls back in love with her husband. Also I need a whole spinoff just of Helen, her wife (whose name I forgot) and Libby.

HBY has never done me wrong. HBY are a comfort read for me, while pulling on my heart strings.
Out of The Woods is a book of self discovery, not only of yourself in a romantic relationship but with the relationship within yourself.
Sarah & Caleb high school sweethearts find themselves in what feels like a make or break it situation after a fight at a gala that Sarah put on. After suggestion from Sarah’s friend, Win, they find themselves in the place they least belong or expect..the outdoors to camp.
Everything about this is perfect. The past/present POV, the banter, & the storyline. I laughed & cried with this book. Thank you to Random House Publishing group and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
Review posted on Goodreads on 10/16/24 and will stay there indefinitely and it will be posted on my personal instagram on publishing day.
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/209220944-

Hannah the GIFT that you are!!!!🧎‍♀️🥹🫶 how do you reach into my brain + heart + soul every time?! This book was like therapy to me!❤️‍🩹

✨marriage in crisis
✨high school sweethearts / first loves
✨they’re on a hiking therapy retreat! there’s spicy tent scenes! there’s healing! there’s humor!
✨Caleb is a sweet sweet cinnamon roll of a man😩and he means so so well and he melted me even when he was being clueless!!
✨Bo + Win make appearances🫂
✨grieving a lost parent
✨flashbacks

I highlighted 19823 things, I read multiple passages out loud to my husband to say “THIS!!! I needed to hear THIS!!”, I felt seen, I felt joy! I just love HBY’s way with words and story telling (and the spice was also goooood) and just ugh no notes! 💘💘

🌲 Caleb and Sarah 🌲

Thank you to NetGalley and penguin random house for letting me read a copy of OOTW early.

This book hit so close to home for me. I related to Sarah and her messy brain more than I would like to say. This book was sweet, giggly and heartwarming. BRB while I go reread chapter 14 over and over again. Thank you HBY for ripping my heart out, destroying it, SOMEHOW fixing it then putting it back. That was an emotional journey for me and I think everyone should go on that journey too!

I think the story could have had more depth, maybe more insight on the marriage and their “issues” or a display of Caleb coming to Sarah’s rescue more often. I loved the flashbacks, it made my reading experience soooo much more emotional. Also, I love that Win and Bo still got to be apart of the story too! I really thought HBY was going to do us dirty at the end and I was just as scared as Sarah the whole time.

This was a really emotional book for me, in the best ways. But I had to pause it at times. I wish I had my own Caleb 🩷

High school sweethearts, Sarah and Caleb, are in need of reigniting their spark and seek a nature counsel session. The friendships found throughout were beautiful, as well as the growth shown from each Sarah and Caleb. And I absolutely love when books are connected- so seeing Win, Bo, and August from Out on a Limb, was such a treat. I love the different relationship dynamics with all of them.

Sarah and Caleb were high school sweethearts and have been married for 17 years. Their relationship is starting to fray on the edges a little bit, worrying Sarah. When her best friend, Win, suggests the couple goes on an outdoor couples counseling trip they decide to go. Fighting with the woods along the way, the two of them meet new friends and rekindle the relationship they know and love.
I knew I was going to love this book, I mean Hannah Bonam Young just has the ability to write an amazing book, especially in a trope I’m usually not a fan of. I still don’t understand how I love Out on a Limb so much, but that’s a discussion for another time. I loved the time skips, the friendships, the conversations, the late night tent talks, all of it. I can guarantee that I will be rereading when my preorder copy comes in the mail. Because I absolutely did not expect to get my hands on an ARC… honestly this is probably the most excited I’ve been for an ARC.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Dell Publishing for an eARC of this book!

Sarah and Caleb are high school sweethearts who have always been steady. Always been there for each other through the good and the bad, grief, accomplishments, and everything else along the way in their 17 years together. But now, Sarah is questioning whether she knows herself without him. Everything she's ever done...Caleb has been there to pick her up and fix everything. She decides to throw a charity gala to honor her late mother and to prove to herself and her peers that she can do big things on her own. She has a purpose. The event fails, and it's Caleb to the rescue...again. This brings up all of their issues, and doubt begins to come into view about their relationship. Are they still the same people there were when they got married? Are they still meant to be? To fix the relationship they decide to go on a wilderness-therapy retreat. They both want to be together and be right for each other and be able to be there for each other properly. This is a hilarious choice for two people were are not outdoorsy. Along with fighting for their marriage, they'll be fighting nature.

As someone who married their high school sweetheart, and has been married 14 years, I knew this book was going to massively break me. What I didn't realize is that Hannah's intro would already have me crying! "...to all of us who met their soulmates before they had a chance to fully meet themselves." I died right then.

Out on a Limb was my top book of last year, so I was very excited to dive back into that world of characters. We first meet Sarah and Caleb in OOAL, as Win and Bo's best friends. Sarah and Caleb throw a Halloween party each year and that is where the epic event of Win and Bo takes place. So, we have gotten to know these characters a little bit before hand. I love Sarah. Her chaotic energy and brain are so funny. She is truly all over the place. She can be a little rough, but she is such a lover and a softy for those she chooses. Then we have Caleb and his calm and sturdiness, he's such a care taker. They compliment each other so well. Caleb is her safe place. Their views of their relationship match their personalities perfectly. I loved their chemistry. I was laughing out loud throughout this book...these two in nature was really too good. The steam was definitely steaming. Oh my god THESE TWO had me. Jaws on the floor.

There were so many relatable moments for me between these two. I screamed over Caleb's long showers....That was too real. Also Caleb bringing along her kindle to retreat and Sarah thought that was the sweetest thing he's ever done. Obsessed. It's the little things. Their relationship just felt very honest, real and vulnerable...I really loved that.

Would highly, highly recommend this book...along with all of Hannah's books because they are all so good. You'll have butterflies, you'll cry, you'll swoon, you will laugh...oh my god....you will always laugh. I loved that this book switched from past to present throughout the story. That really added so much depth to the story and characters. Perfect romcom. Always.