I always have fun reading a book from 831 stories and this one was no exceptions. It might have bit off more than it could do with only 176 pages. Still it was a really enjoyable read.

What a gem of a book. I loved it. It was by far the best out of the lineup from 831. Although that’s almost as hard as picking the best diamond out of an eternity band. The timeline, the pacing, the story that unfolds. Great character development in a novella format. My favorite line was the last sentence.

It was so fun to read a book from a Debut author, that I was already familiar with/ a fan of from her work between substack and Tik Tok. Erika if you are reading this cheers to what will be a very successful book, and please write another.

SO. MUCH. YEARNING.
Honestly, infinite stars. One thing about me is I love a well written MESSY love story. I finished this last night and I have not been able to get Marin and Teddy out of my head.

I have never seen a more perfect comparison for a book before: “For fans of You, Again, One Day, and People We Meet on Vacation.” This short story encompassed all of those things and more.

Not quite sure how only 176 pages was able to make me feel so many things. Marin and Teddy meet for the first time when a favor leads him to drive them from Iowa City post-graduation to NYC to start their careers. After a long road trip, they say goodbye, never to think they will see each other again. However, life throws them randomly together over the course of 8 years. The emotional rollercoaster of Exit Lane had me silently sobbing at 11pm at night into the glow of my kindle while a slow burn festered. The best thing about this story was how realistic it was. Life is messy and this showed us in less than 200 pages.

Immediately, adding the rest of 831 Stories to my TBR because I need them in my life.

Thank you to NetGalley and 831 Stories for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and 831 stories for a modern retelling of When Harry Met Sally with a sprinkling of One Day.

These short romantic stories are so enjoyable! I enjoyed Teddy and Marin’s story but did knock it down for Marin’s epic fail with Teddy. I understand there needs to be angst in romance but that was just cruel.

this starts out as a "when harry met sally" inspired story with marin and teddy taking a road trip from iowa to ny to start their post-grad life in the city. however, there just wasn't enough in their connection to justify how strongly they felt about each other when they didn't really have much besides attraction from short encounters to go on. i should've known when a woody allen movie reference was included (in 2025 no less) in an inner monologue that the protagonists weren't emotionally mature enough to be together. the 3rd act breakup proved that as grief wasn't fleshed out enough as a theme of the novel. rare misstep for 831, but i'll still read whatever they put out next.

Thank you to NetGalley and 831 Stories for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Exit Lane delivers a compelling storyline with time jumps that were handled well, keeping the pacing engaging and the narrative easy to follow. The book is packed with angst, which will definitely appeal to readers who love an emotional rollercoaster. However, while the characters clearly had a deep connection, their love didn’t always feel entirely genuine to me.

After years of miscommunication, our main characters finally get together—only for the female main character to leave when the male lead is diagnosed with stage 1 cancer. Given her past trauma of losing her father to cancer, her reaction was understandable but still incredibly difficult to read. It was heartbreaking to see the MMC go through that abandonment, even if everything eventually worked out in the end. That part of the story was tough to get through and left me feeling disappointed for him.

Overall, Exit Lane delivers high-stakes emotions and a journey filled with love, loss, and healing. Readers who enjoy angst-heavy romances with complex character struggles may find this one particularly moving.

EXIT LANE had me hooked immediately! It felt very reminiscent of one of my all-time favorite movies, When Harry Met Sally, in some ways. Also, it might be my favorite 831 Stories book yet. The story follows Marin and Teddy, who are first thrown together on a post-grad drive from Iowa City to NYC. Over the course of eight years, their paths keep crossing again and again...will they finally give in to the undeniable spark between them?

As I mentioned, there are a lot of WHMS comparisons you could draw with this one, and one I really enjoyed was the narrative style. We get snippets of the characters' lives over the years, with multiple time jumps, and the story is very character-driven, the dual POV placing readers firmly into their heads and taking us on a years-long journey with them. Marin and Teddy felt so fully realized and complex, with clear chemistry throughout. While they certainly made some messy decisions, I still rooted for them in spite of the choices I didn't quite agree with! I also felt like they both underwent a ton of growth and development aside from the romance, which is particularly impressive for a book that's on the shorter side. Overall, if you're in search of a good love story that will have you asking "will they or won't they?", definitely add EXIT LANE to your TBR! Thank you to NetGalley and 831 Stories for the ARC.

Comparing this to You, Again and People We Meet on Vacation (two of my favorite romantic comedies) is not at all accurate - this book felt half-baked and everything felt really superficial.

Thanks to 831 Stories and NetGalley for the ARC.

✨Thank you to NetGalley and 831 Stories for the arc!✨

What a lovely debut that everyone needs to grab when it releases later this year!!!

Not much *happens* in this book and I mean that in the best way possible. Just like its inspiration, When Harry Met Sally, it’s a series time-jump vignettes with perfect dialogue and masterful character building. The 2 main characters are so real and flawed and fleshed out, despite the short time we spend with them (just 176 pages!). Marin and Teddy are so real to me and I’ll be thinking about them for a long time.

One of my biggest pet peeves in so many contemporaries right now is the over-abundance of inelegantly jammed in pop culture references. Most are already outdated since 6 months before they’re even published AND they’re often over explained. I love that this author let the references breathe and didn’t always explicitly mention the artist of songs mentioned in the book. People will either know the reference or will seek it out or just remain blissfully ignorant - but at least it won’t feel like the storytelling was a brought to a crashing halt by words like “you know, the song made famous from the Top Gun movie.”

4.5 stars

haven’t read a book (novella?) like “Exit Lanes” in a while, where I was dragging my feet on reading more NOT because I didn’t want to but because I was sad that the boom would end and I would have to say goodbye to Teddy and Marin.

For those of you that love When Harry Met Sally and Emily Henry novels, this book is for you!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and 832 Stories for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was When Harry Met Sally and the Before Sunrise Series sort of all tangled up. I really enjoyed it. Very much right person wrong time over and over again….in a way that had me screaming for them to “please figure it out this time!!” Marin and Teddy had so much chemistry and such good banter. The way he just fell in love with her so completely and honestly broke me. He was so in awe of her, just constantly. Loved that. Marin had so much growth to do, and had so many ways she needed to learn to be open. It was beautiful to see her do that with him finally.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy! This book has strong When Harry Met Sally energy, but with a darker, edgier twist. I really enjoyed it—it made me laugh, cry, and feel everything in between. That said, I did struggle at times to understand some of Marin’s choices, and found it hard to fully sympathize with her. The story, which spans many years, was occasionally difficult to root for—but it also captured just how complex and messy humans can be, and I appreciated that. The writing was beautiful, and I could easily see this turned into a movie.

What I loved most about this book is how it doesn’t rush. It gives space for regrets, mistakes, and the complicated beauty of figuring yourself out. It’s a love story, sure, but it’s also about timing, forgiveness, and the sheer stubbornness of the heart. If you’re a sucker for those will-they-won’t-they connections that stretch across years, this one will stay with you forever.

4.5 stars!!
Omg i loved this book! I felt the chemistry between the characters from day 1 and i was always rooting for them. Literally the only reason this book isnt 5 stars for me was because of the third act breakup and the length of the book.

I wish we spent more time with the characters as it felt like insta love! And the third act breakup was pretty unforgivable for me. I understand them making up but it happened way too quickly for me which just took me out the story. But i did love this book & teddy was such a teddy bear i loved him! I’d read more into this author for sure, im glad i took a chance on this!

Teddy and Marin are characters I'll remember for a long time. Each book from 831stories has captivated me, and this title is no exception. I love how effortlessly the author writes and the witty banter and familiar struggles of life after graduation. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

4.5 ✨

Thank you NetGalley and 831 Stories for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This one was a slow burn for me, and I wasn’t sure I’d get sucked in…but of course I did!

First, may I suggest my fictional casting here (based on vibes only): Cara Delevingne + Adam Brody. If it seems like an unlikely pair it also felt like that a bit in the book, but somehow it just worked. We have this edgy, complex, closed off woman and this golden retriever of a man who just wants to settle down in Iowa!

I was a bit frustrated by the FMC’s way of handling things (esp that big ole thing at 75% of the way through) but I did think there was emotional justification for her behavior (even though I hated it) and the journal at the end was a real 🥰

So good — compelling, lots of yearning, many years, spicy spicy — another 831 hit.

This started off soo good and fun and I really enjoyed the writing. But then the story kept jumping from years to years and the romance lost me.
Spoiler alert: She left him when he realised he had an illness and then came back when everything was right. Ugh it didn’t sit right with me no matter the reason

“something about being around you makes me feel like we’ve always known each other.”
“with everyone else i feel like i have to be on or ready, but being with you feels like being alone, but better.”
^ the DREAM!

oh teddy and marin, you two. the entire time i was reading this, all i wanted to do was shake marin and say, “GET A THERAPIST!!!” i cannot imagine being served up a man like teddy and having the strength (or the gall?) to walk away over and over again. the time jumps had my jaw on the floor every time. all that to say, i really loved watching them both grow over time. yet another hit from 831 stories!

thank you to erika veurink, 831 stories and netgalley for the arc 🖤

4.25 ✰

I received this book as a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for a review

First things first: Who is Sofia? (Marin, chapter xiii), is this supposed to be Sloane? Maybe check on editing.

Alright, so for the first 75% of this book I thoroughly enjoyed it. Would even go as far as to say that I loved it.
I liked the writing style, enjoyed peaks into who the characters were and enjoyed the pace of it.
I felt I was being a bit pedantic about the descriptions of Copenhagen as it comes across as a city described through tripadvisor for someone visiting as a tourist but not living there. Nonetheless I was willing to overlook it as they were details that only someone from Copenhagen or Denmark would notice (these are explained in detail below)

HOWEVER, at 75% through the book I was ready to throw the book across the room (I wouldn’t, I was reading it in the kindle app on my phone, it would have been a terrible idea). I was so pissed at the male character. Not just annoyed or frustrated, but genuinely pissed. I kept having to return to my notes to vent about his audacity.
Even having read through the rest of the book I’m still left with an annoyance at the final quarter of the book.


Spoilers ahead:

Copenhagen. As someone born and having lived the vast majority of my life there, there were just things that didn’t make sense. It kinda seems like the description from someone who has only been a tourist there.

- How did he get to her door without buzzing her door phone?
- Why did she go to a super touristy place rather than one of the millions of local bakeries if she lives there?
- Why is she buying a ticket and paying double price rather than using a travel card?
- Why is he describing the train, and not just the regular train, but the regional train, as a metro? We have a metro. The regional trains are, in no was, like it.
- Why mention that it gets dark at 4pm so time is of the essence, if they’re on the way to a museum anyway, things don’t close earlier in winter and in the museum there is light.

Story:
I am and was totally on Marin’s side. Given her history, he should have told her. He knew he hid it from her and telling her in tivoli gardens was a bad choice.
She allowed her fear to take over and she bolted. But he locked the door to their relationship. He rebooked his flight, left and didn’t allow her time to process. And filling himself with messages like how she only loved him when it was convenient or easy. That none of the excuses he could think of ‘passed inspection’.
For someone who claimed to love her and wrote that he love her on the note his love certainly was fickle. Going as far as to tell his friend to tell her not to reach out.
Even worse that she just felt guilty for the remainder of the book.
These characters are supposedly in their late 20s and have been friends for years and yet are utterly unable to handle this through an open conversation.
Just seems like he was annoyed that she didn’t live up to his fantasy.

I very quickly got annoyed at him blaming her for everything unable to give her the benefit of the doubt and knowing everything he knows about her and her taking on all the blame knowing that he was hiding stuff from her and he was the one who cut contact entirely. A more balanced distribution of blame or at least the ability to see the other’s side would greatly improve my view of the book.

But as it is, I wouldn’t read it again and I wouldn’t recommend it to my friends.

Thank you to Netgalley and 831 Publishing for the E-ARC!

What a powerful story in such a small book! 831 Publishing never disappoints and this book was stellar.

I loved the time jumps, the yearning, the betrayal! I really didn’t think there could be a happy resolution for Marin and Teddy.

I love the idea that Teddy had this concrete plan for his future and then was made to realize that life is so fickle in such a cruel way. And the same cruelty is what caused Marin to turn him away when he needed her most. Ugh, it was so heartbreaking for a while.