It was emotional small-town romance that balances heartache, healing, and hope. While Out on a Limb remains my personal favourite of hers, this story still had so many moments that struck me deeply.

The book follows Prudence (Prue), who has lived her whole life in Baysville caring for her mother, recently diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s, and working in the family gas station. Enter Milo, the slightly chaotic, moustache-bearing drifter back in town to help his brother open a brewery. Their relationship starts off with nicknames and banter and develops into something heartfelt, messy, and real.

What really stood out to me was how beautifully Bonam-Young writes about family, trauma, and connection. Prue’s struggles with her mother’s illness and her journey toward self-realisation were some of my favourite aspects. The Alzheimer’s representation was gentle, raw, and so emotional I teared up more than once. Milo’s warmth, humour, and energy absolutely carried parts of the story, and his relationship with his family added so much charm. The romance itself had some truly tender and spicy moments, though at times it leaned a little insta-lovey and I wished Prue’s character had been explored more outside of her relationships.

this book is heavier and less funny than Bonam-Young’s previous works. For me, the beginning was a bit slow and it took time to feel the full connection between Milo and Prue, but once it clicked, their story unfolded with real emotion. There are quotes about childhood trauma and survival that hit especially hard, and the writing style shines with lines that linger.

Overall, People Watching is a heartfelt, bingeable romance that feels both messy and hopeful. it’s a moving love story and a reminder of the resilience found in both family bonds and unexpected love.

This book was fine. Which is kind of disappointing coming from HBY. I kind of wish she had given herself more time to develop the story, instead of feeling the need to release two books this year.

It is a somewhat sweet love story with heartbreaking moments due to the parental Alzheimer's, but it felt like the story and character's lacked the depth I associate with HBY's other writing.
I know when it comes down to it, romance is about the relationship between partners, but I would've like to know more about and get a better feel of the small town it's set in. Especially since the foreword to the book, talked about how important the town the story was inspired by, meant to the author. It felt odd to have that mentioned and then very little described about the town or its people. I think this could've been a much more effective story if it focused on the two MCs b-just being friends with each other, sans horniness, while working out the other relationships in their lives, and maybe deciding to try getting together at the end.

A few specific things that bothered me were the lack of discussion around BC, Pru being a flaw character who's only flaw was that she was a virgin, and the "/slutty/ bi" rep for Milo, especially since the MMCs bisexuality wasn't really mentioned outside of that. (as an ex 24yo bi virgin that hurt from all sides)

I didn't mind reading it, but it wasn't very memorable, and I will not be buying a copy or putting it at he top of my recommended.

Thank-you NetGalley and Bedford Square Publishers for allowing be too read this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Prudence Welch is happy with her quiet life in Baysville, working at her dad’s gas station, caring for her mom who has early onset Alzheimer’s, and writing poetry. Milo Kablukov is the total opposite, he doesn’t like to stay in one place too long, he’s travelled the world, is openly bisexual and has never been shy about his hookups. When a family situation brings him to Baysville he finds himself staying longer than planned. After meeting Prue, Milo quickly realises that getting to know her might be the kind of adventure he did not expect.

I thought this was a such a cute romance. I liked how different Prue and Milo were, especially since she is so inexperienced and cautious while he is confident, fun and carefree despite his childhood. The caregiving aspect gave the story more depth than I expected, I especially liked the connection Milo has to Mrs Welch, the scenes of them together were very sweet. It was also a nice touch when the town rallied together whenever she had a particularly bad day.

It is definitely more of a slow burn and character focused romance but I liked that about it, it still has lots of spice though so don’t worry about that.

I’m pretty sure I’ve read all of Hannah’s books now and I’d say this one ranks third for me after Out on a Limb and Out of the Woods.

It did feel a little slow in parts, which is why it wasn’t a full 4 stars, but overall I enjoyed it and would recommend!

3.75 stars, rounded up to 4.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adored how real and imperfect the characters are in this book.

Prue & Milo 🥹✨ I just loved them. Their relationship is so real yet so messy. The way Hannah writes their connection is just beautiful, I tabbed SO many lines because the writing just hits.

The way that Alzheimer’s is depicted in this book is so gentle and so beautiful it literally had me sobbing! It hit me in all the feels✨

If you’re in the mood for a romance that feels heartfelt and hopeful, this one’s for you 🌻

dnf @ 19%

I absolutely loved Out on a Limb when I read it last year, and thought the companion story in that world had merit, so I was hopeful for another good read from this author. However, I am honestly unsure what Hannah Bonam-Young was attempting to do with this. Immediately I was confused and put off by the really bad stereotyping of Milo as a "slutty, phallic loving, tattooed" bisexual individual. It was needless to portray him in the way the author did and put a bad taste in my mouth for the rest of this story. With really big topics spoken about from the get go with toxic upbringings and serious medical conditions, I understand the decision for pockets of lighthearted or humourous moments are necessary, but it shouldn't come at the expense of character development?

I tried to get past the opening few chapters, but really couldn't connect with either main protagonist, especially when instalust was thrown into the mix with no believable chemistry. When it came to Prue's storyline with her mother's illness, something I had been interested in from the synopsis as someone who cared for my mother through her serious condition and hoped to find some solace, I instead found Prue to read far too juvenile. Putting aside the "sexy" elements, the characters felt less like adults the more I read on. The dialogue between them and with Prue and her father didn't inspire me on, and whilst I did have an interest in Milo's siblings, it wasn't enough to push through for.

I did worry I was DNFing too early, so I put the book down and tried to pick it up a second time, however, I only made it through another chapter before it was obvious I wasn't going to be a reader to enjoy this story.

And Hannah Bonham-Young has done it AGAIN. The writing style is so beautiful and romantic. Even though her books can contain some tragic events, it never ends up being a tragedy. I’m in love with this book and I can’t wait to read it again

There was so much I enjoyed about People Watching. It was an easy, breezy read that I zipped through, and Milo absolutely stole the show. His sections felt so alive, so real - like I could bump into him tomorrow and we’d chat about anything. His nervous energy, his irreverent silliness, and his habit of blasting Super Trouper to cheer people up were endearing, even if the reasons behind it broke my heart.

Prue, though? I struggled to connect with her. She felt defined more by her external struggles than by who she is. Apart from her need to be good at things right away (hello, that's me!), I never quite got her, and that held the book back for me.

What I adored was Milo’s relationship with his family - the awkwardness, the longing for more, it all felt so real. And Prue’s dad, Tom? A lovely guy who still messed up by being too nice. Another moment of realism, the kind you don't come across often.

The first sex scene - where they get naked, have fun, but don’t go all the way - was beautifully done. Sweet, oh so sexy, and quite touching.

Overall, a quick, enjoyable read with moments that truly shine and an MMC whose cheekiness and vulnerability spoke to me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bedford Square Publishers for the ARC. This is my honest opinion.

Thank you to Bedford Square Publishers for the opportunity to read this book as an eARC, I am beyond appreciative. All opinions are my own, and unfortunately they may not be what people want to hear, but please note - this is not a reflection on you if you DID enjoy it.

SPOILER ALERT BELOW 🚨

Let me preface this by saying I absolutely ADORED Out on a Limb, and from all the teasers, was super excited to give People Watching a try. Much to my dismay, it did not even remotely live up to the hype I was expecting it to.

From the get go, Milo is presented as a bisexual man who is incredibly slutty (his depiction of himself, not mine) with a very high body count and aversion to any form of commitment, which seemed like an incredibly unnecessary depiction given the often incessant stigma that gets placed on the bi community. I was not endeared to him in the slightest from the initial chapters I read.

One key thing to note as well is that a specific criticism I have for the eARC edition was quite drastically cut down and edited in the audio version I listened to (alongside the eARC because I was STRUGGLING), and it significantly changes how Milo could be perceived. In the book, he gives off incredibly icky vibes, particularly when attempting to convince Prue to kiss him and implying that she essentially very clearly wants it, even if “no is a complete sentence.” In the audio however, this interaction is far more appropriate, and really only involves a light amount of teasing before they move on from it.

This does not obviously change the fact that this book is still incredibly insta lust (and love) heavy, and this aspect severely impacted how I perceived Prue and Milo - ultimately resulting in an incredibly large dose of apathy towards their depiction as a couple. I felt absolutely no form of genuine chemistry between the 2 of them, and was extremely sceptical of Milo’s intense feelings towards Prudence so early on (I guess I can understand how unhealthy his sense of attachment might be given the abuse he suffered at the hands of his parents, but still - it doesn’t make it any better or even remotely the right thing).

Speaking of Prudence - I have not disliked an FMC in a very long time, but I just could not form any sort of positive feelings towards her. Perhaps it’s because I work in healthcare, but the way in which she handled her dad’s attempts to discuss her mum’s potential transfer to a care facility and her complete disregard for how he feels + the pressures he is under by keeping her at home was INSANELY immature. Don’t get me wrong, I can hold sympathy for those experiencing their loved one suffer from a disease like Alzheimer’s, but she was being (and continued to be) beyond selfish. Also, don’t even get me started on a (fictional) virgin being named Prudence. She just had no substance to her beyond her desire to not be a virgin anymore, and her adamant insistence that the family unit be forced to continue caring for the mum regardless of how incredibly tiring and high stress it is (particularly on the dad) further cemented her immaturity.

The family dynamics could have been better fleshed out as I really couldn’t bring myself to care much. What the siblings went through was clearly traumatising and I feel for them, but I couldn’t care less about reading future books when we didn’t even see Milo work on himself (and his own trauma) or develop beyond finally finding someone to commit to.

And the third act meltdown Prudence had? I get it, she found out horrible news, but honestly - she got angry about it, then wouldn’t STFU long enough to even allow Milo to get more than a word or two in when it would have allowed him to clarify the situation. Prudence’s dad was ultimately at fault for putting Milo in that situation and Milo specifically requested it be discussed.

Overall, this was an extremely disappointing read that saw very inadequate character development past bare minimum changes and really did not do the story justice.

Firstly I want to say that Out of the Woods is one of my favourite reads this year. So I went into this one with super high expectations. I’m going to ask you to drop your expectations for this one.

First I want to start off that I did truly overall enjoy this one. It had some really tender beautiful moments and the relationships and trauma these characters have is heartbreaking and I felt it off the page. The way things were written and handled was done so well. I loved Milo and Prue and their nicknames for each other. And then the spicy scenes were on point. All of these reasons are why I gave it four stars.

The beginning for me though did not draw me in, it took me a while to really feel the connection between Milo and Prue. And I don’t know some parts just fell flat for me I guess. I truly believe the narrators nailed it though and probably saved the book for me. I was expecting to be blown out of the water, but in the end I did get a good read.

🍂People Watching 🍂

Hannah Bonam-Young

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Prudence Welch is living a quiet, introverted life in a Canadian small town, working for her father at the family gas station and caring for her mother, who was diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer’s. But when adventurous stranger Milo visits town to help out his brother and his path intertwines with Prue’s, she realises she might be more than ready for a change.

It’s definitely a bit insta-lovey, which isn’t my favourite. Instead of the romance, the storyline was Prue’s family, her dad encouraging her to spread her wings and her self-realisation throughout the book was my favourite aspect. Also, I would have loved to see Prue’s character developed more, outside of her relationships with other people in her life (her parents, Milo, etc). it’s mentioned that she enjoys writing poetry and I wish this was explored more. As for Milo, I didn’t particularly warm to him at first, but he does undergo character growth by the time of the end of the book. It definitely gave 2000s romcom vibes, with how the story leant into cliches and perpetuated stereotypes, which I know some reviewers have criticised.

It was fun, bingeable and it passed the time on a sunny summer’s day, lying on a picnic blanket. But overall, I don’t think this story will stick with me the way that Out on a Limb has done. Maybe this one wasn’t a huge hit but I am still a staunch HBY fan and will be reading her next one with high hopes!

Have you read any of Hannah Bonam-Young’s books? If you’ve picked up this one yet, let me know what you thought!

This was good. I find rating books hard sometimes if I’ve read multiple books by the author - I had high expectations which can make things fall flat, I’m used to a certain HBY tone and this was tonally different to her other works for sure. Less funny, heavier. If this was the same book with a different authors name i think i would be rating 4 stars, so that’s what im settling on. I did love certain quotes a lot. The ones to do with childhood trauma recovery, namely (paraphrasing) revisiting a childhood in a burning house requires breathing in a lungful of smoke every time / or not feeling able to be a “nice” person as an adult because growing hardened was necessary for survival. I hope we get a Nadia and Aleks book!

oh my gosh could this rival out on a limb as my favourite hannah bonam-young book!?!??! i've loved every book i've read from her and this one excelled from my expectations

Hannah Bonam-Young is a certified autobuy author for me and this is only my second book by her. While admittedly Out on a Limb is still my favourite of the two of hers I've read, this is such a beautiful, emotional story and I love her writing so much. This is a small town, heartwarming romance, between Prue, who has lived in Baysville all her life and is now caring for her mother, and Milo, slutty-moustache-bearing drifter, who is in town to help his brother open a brewery. It was so charming, I loved watching Milo and Prue's relationship develop, and I have to say you can really see how the author's own experience with Alzheimer's in a loved one has influenced her life and her writing, and the way she has poured her emotions into this book. Having cared for a loved one, this made me tear up a lot and I think this is a love letter to how special and yet difficult it is to care for somebody you love so much. This book didn't quite hit that 5 star feeling for me, maybe it just didn't quite have the magic of Out on a Limb for me, and also I didn't absolutely love Milo's point of view, but this is a special romance and I can't wait to read another book from this author.

I realised from this book that difficult illness diagnosis elements in books is something I unfortunately can't read, so I wasn't able to continue with this book. What I did read, I did enjoy.

DNF at 43%

this pains me so much as someone who adores hannah bonam young but i truly cannot finish this.

at 43% and it feels like the story has gone nowhere except the mmc being described as a stereotypical promiscuous bisexual male who has slept with over 200 people, doesn’t do commitment and our fmc is a virgin throwing herself at him and begging him to “teach her” and now he’s fantasising about being the only person to have ever touched her.

i just simply cannot. i can’t see it getting any better and id rather dnf that be pissed off for the next 3 hours

how is this the same woman who wrote out on a limb and out of the woods?

i’m so sad because this was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and i love everything hannah has wrote but this is just not it for me.

thank you to bedford square publishers and netgalley for the arc. i wish i loved this ❤️‍🩹

I’m so disappointed to be giving this such a low rating. I’ve loved all of Hannah Bonam-Young’s books and this was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, the gorgeous cover only added to my excitement. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ve ever disliked a male main character as much as I disliked Milo.

There were definite hints of insta-love (or more like insta-lust) on his side, and the first red flag for me was when Prue said no to a kiss and Milo brushed it off with “but your body is saying something else.” To me, this felt like a clear disregard for her boundaries and it set the tone for his behaviour throughout the book. And honestly, what kind of nickname is Killer?

I will say I enjoyed the backstories, Milo’s relationship with his siblings, Prue’s family dynamics, and the interactions with Milo and her mum were lovely. But beyond that, the sweetness stopped there. So much of this read like full-grown adults acting like teenagers. Milo’s inner dialogue at the start was basically, “I really want to fuck this woman,” and his body count of 200+ just felt unnecessarily over the top. His quotes like “Women like her are always the most fun to win over” or “Girls like that make you work for it in bed too, make you earn every second of their time. And I love to earn it” completely turned me off.

I wish the deeper themes in the story had been explored instead of focusing so much on the lust. My dislike of Milo was so strong that I felt detached from the book as a whole, to the point where even the spicy scenes fell flat for me. I’ve never been so sad about not enjoying a book.


Thank you Bedford Square Publishers for the eARC.

I can't believe how many of my anticipated releases have let me down, but this has got to be the worst one so far. Not only is it bad, but it's severely problematic. I am in awe of how terrible this book was—it’s so awful I can't even give HBY the benefit of the doubt, and that says a lot because I genuinely loved Out on a Limb and Out of the Woods. So when I got approved for an ARC of this one, I was very excited and grateful. But this book turned out to be beyond disappointing.

I'm honestly shocked this came from the same author who gave us those two beautiful, heartwarming stories. I am still trying to wrap my head around how you go from writing such emotional, well-crafted books to… whatever this was?? I literally don't have anything nice to say about this book, and that hurts because I wanted to love it so much.

This review contains minor spoilers, so if you plan on reading this book, then don’t read further.

The story follows the romance between Milo and Prudence, and I hate to admit this, but I was initially drawn to Milo. I mean, look at him on that gorgeous cover and you'll know what I mean. But he turned out to be one of the ickiest fictional men I have ever come across. If I were in Prudence's shoes, I would have filed a restraining order against this man immediately.

Yes, I know this is fiction and it’s not real. But boundaries and consent? They just got flung out the window in this book. Look, I know consent is obviously important in real life, but this is a romance book that should still handle rejection and boundary-setting properly. This kind of persistence being romanticised should be recognised as harassment, even in fiction. It's very wrong to have this stuff normalised in contemporary romance books. I love a man who comes on strong and is obsessed with the heroine, but there's a point where respect needs to enter the equation, you know?

The first time he meets Prudence, he's picturing her naked. Then he says he only wants casual, and I blinked, and suddenly he's confessing he's in love with her. Why are we moving at lightning speed here? And that's not even the worst part—Milo straight-up uses coercion on Prudence. He tells her to kiss him even after she says she doesn't want to. Just read the quotes:

"Women like her are always the most fun to win over."

"Girls like that make you work for it in bed too, make you earn every second of their time. And I love to earn it."

"I watch keenly as her lips tuck inward, in obvious reaction to whatever approving thoughts she's thinking... It's a reaction I'm familiar with. She wants me."

Mind you, these quotes are from the moment they first meet—and I mean the VERY FIRST TIME. What on earth? This isn't even insta-lust at this point—it’s straight-up predatory behaviour.

Here's the thing about Milo being bisexual—bisexual representation is so important, especially in today's world, where there's still so much hate against the LGBTQ+ community. But making the MMC extremely promiscuous by giving him a body count of 200+ perpetuates harmful stereotypes. You don't have to write bisexual characters as hypersexual just to show they're bi—it gives readers completely the wrong impression about what bisexuality actually means. While there's nothing inherently wrong with having multiple partners or being involved in orgies and threesomes, the way it's written here feels like the author was just checking off boxes for a stereotype rather than creating a genuine character.

Prudence is such an incredibly boring character. She's a 25-year-old virgin who needs "sex lessons," and I don't understand why this trope is still being brought up in 2025. A virgin heroine doesn't always have to be adorable just because they're sexually inexperienced, and they don't always have to be absolutely clueless either. I'm so tired of this infantilisation where being a virgin somehow equals being childlike and needing to be "taught" everything like they have no agency or intelligence of their own. I honestly thought we already passed this. The way Milo continuously infantilises her character throughout the book made me want to vomit—actually, this whole book made me want to vomit. Her whole personality is being a virgin and constantly thinking about sex.

The romance was an absolute mess, as expected, because what romance was there, really? The playboy MMC coerced the brainless FMC, and it was just insta-lust from the start. These two were just sexually obsessed with each other—like, you just met, can you stop thinking about how you want to sleep with each other for five seconds? These characters cannot for the life of them keep it in their pants. I mean, I am still in shock at their relentless fixation on sex—like, how single-minded could you possibly be??? There was no chemistry, no build-up, and I ended up skipping all the smut scenes because, let's be honest, I needed to save my sanity.

As if the book couldn't get any worse, we get a third-act breakup when there's only 10% of the book left. It lasted for exactly one day. 😀 Like how nonsensical could this story get?

HBY's previous works had incredible representation and handled sensitive topics with such care. Yes, they were still sexy and explicit, but they had genuine emotional depth—you felt what the characters were going through, you connected with them, they had actual problems and it was truly emotional. The writing approach was always touching, fun, sweet, and heartwarming. But here? It's like the author was trying something entirely disconnected from what worked before. I don't understand the writing approach here—why is the author trying so hard to make it extremely sexual without any of the emotional foundation? I have no idea what the author's goal was, to be completely honest. How did the writing quality decline get this severe? It feels like she completely abandoned everything that made her previous books special.

The only reason this gets even one star is the Alzheimer's representation, which is shown through Prudence's mother. It's genuinely heartbreaking and sad, and I appreciated it being mentioned—it had me hooked initially. But it ended up being barely integrated into the actual plot. Every time Prudence was sad about her mother's condition, immediately after, she was thinking about sex again. Like, I don't understand what this book was trying to achieve. This could have been such a meaningful subplot about family, loss, and cherishing time with loved ones, but no—we just needed to be reminded about how physically obsessed Milo and Prudence were yet AGAIN.

Anyway, this book deserves to be shelved and reconsidered.

This book feels like a warm hug!

The cover is stunning and just screams autumnal read, which is what drew me in.
The writing was beautiful and it dealt with the topic of Alzheimer disease very well. I enjoyed both the main characters and despite the 'love at first sight trope' which i normally can't stand. There was more substance to the book then just the romance

"No matter how many love stories I read, they have never held a candle to my parents".

I wish we got more to Milo's story, we got a brief reasoning but i would of liked to have delved in more. The epilogue also felt a bit to cheery with all things considered. However i still really enjoyed this book and can't wait to see what more comes from the little town of Baysville and I'm excited to read more of Hannah's other work!

Definitely might be HBY’s hottest read because Milo is so damn fine. I loved that this book was the embodiment of slow living in a small town, it was so sweet and wholesome.

The only thing I didn’t enjoy was the fact that stereotype of bi people having a high body count was used and pushed so much. Not sure if Milo needed to be bi necessarily to show that he has commitment issues.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Hannah Bonam-Young has become my newset auto buy author with this book. I loved every aspect of the story and characters.

I loved how this felt more character driven and focused on their relationship developing. Hannah's done an amazing job of creating a story with emotional moments that make you want to cry while also having light hearted ones that made you giggle uncontrollably.

Milo may have seemed like this dude who is so sure of himself at the start but the more we get to know him and his relationship with Prue develops, he really is a massive softie. His bond with his siblings and the bond he created with Prue's parents was honestly so emotional at times. Seeing how Milo created a bond with Prue's mum who has early onset Alzheimer's through painting made me tear up more times then I care to admit. Seeing how much Prue cares for her family and is willing to help in any way was so nice to see. In many ways I see myself in Prue and she made me feel seen.

We need to discuss the third act breakup for a second because I completly understand why it happened and I liked how it was wrapped up qiuickly by some communicaiton (we love to see it). I will forever resent Prue's dad a tiny bit due to the possition he put Milo in but its fine.

I fear I will be needing a book for Nadia and Nik. If you love small town romances with emotianal and hillarous momnets then this book is for you. Happy Release Day to Hannah!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bedford Square Publishers for the arc!