Exit Lane

by Michael Finley · 2020

Exit Lane is a debut novella by Erika Veurink that follows recent University of Iowa graduates Marin and Teddy on a 16‑hour road trip from Iowa City to New York. Their post‑graduation drive sparks an inconvenient attraction that neither can ignore, yet they part ways and spend the next eight years drifting in and out of each other's lives through chance encounters, transatlantic visits, and missed‑connections. The story is a friends‑to‑lovers, contemporary romance laced with humor, heat, and high‑octane yearning, described as a "millennial When Harry Met Sally" that explores the push‑and‑pull of long‑term friendship turning into love. Veurink’s prose is praised for its emotional rawness, quiet devastation, and the bittersweet reality of missed opportunities, making the novella a reflective, character‑driven romance that lingers long after the final page.