3.5/5 stars

I absolutely adored the setting of this book! I was lucky enough to travel to Amsterdam and completely fall in love with the city back in 2015, so it felt incredible to get to experience it all over again through Danika’s eyes. It made me want to go back to the Netherlands even more than I already did.

However, the romance was a bit lackluster for me. I always have a hard time with second chance romances, and while Rachel Lynn Solomon succeeded at making me believe in Danika and Wouter’s love in the present as well as in the past, I felt like it went from 0 to 100 way too fast. I also had a hard time believing that Danika would accept to marry Wouter almost without hesitation before they got a chance to hash out their past breakup, which she clearly still resented him for at the time.

Overall, this was just an okay romance for me.

I will read anything Rachel Lynn Solomon writes. Love this second-chance romance. It transported me to Amsterdam.

Teenage Dani Dorfman fell in love with Wouter van Leeuwen, a Dutch exchange student hosted by her family. They had to keep their relationship secret, but they made elaborate plans for a future together in Amsterdam after high school. Unfortunately, it ended before it could truly begin when Wouter broke Dani’s heart via text.

Now in her thirties Dani’s personal and professional life have imploded and feeling lost, she impulsively takes a job in Amsterdam. She’s never forgotten Wouter’s crushing words, but Amsterdam is a big city and she’s sure she’ll never see him again.

Amsterdam is a promising new start, but a series of unfortunate events has Dani once again questioning her life choices. Things are further complicated when Danie literally crashes her bike into Wouter. Dani and Wouter are very obviously still attracted to each other, but Dani chooses to pretend their chance encounter is no big deal. There’s no reason to let him know how much his actions affected her ability to form lasting emotional relationships.

However, as awkward as their reunion may seem, Wouter may be the solution to all of Dani’s immediate obstacles to staying in Amsterdam; obviously the most logical choice is to enter into a marriage of convenience. This time they agree their relationship will be strictly business and over within a year.

Dani and Wouter were teenagers when they broke up, mostly due to their teenage inability to communicate effectively. As adults they once again struggle to communicate when their feelings start to change from just physical attraction to something more. Dani and Wouter must figure out how to open up to each other or their second chance at love will also end in heartbreak.

What Happens in Amsterdam was equal parts swoony and frustrating, but I never stopped rooting for Dani and Wouter to finally get their happy ending.

Rachel Lynn Solomon never misses with her contemporary romances, this is now my 4th book by her and I've loved each and every single one and this one is no different. Dani and Wouter met and fell hard and fast in love as teenagers when he was a foreign exchange student living with her family in Los Angeles. After returning home, he broke her heart via a devastating text and Dani spends the next 13 years going from job to job and from boyfriend to boyfriend, always ending things before she gets in too deep and gets her heart broken.

Cut to present day and Dani, desperate to escape her overprotective parents, takes a leap of faith and accepts a job offer for a company located in...Amsterdam. In short order, she loses her very crappy apartment (due to flooding), her job (the CEO wasn't all that great about money), and runs into her ex, Wouter, literally in a bike collision in the rain.

This book combines two of my all time favorite romance tropes, second chance romance and modern day marriage of convenience and does it in such a smart, emotionally poignant way. I loved watching Dani and Wouter fall for each other as adults even as Dani finally comes into her own and figures out who she is and what she wants...and also that not knowing is ok too. It's a beautiful romance, the setting is glorious and made me want to travel to Amsterdam, with two engaging characters, a delightfully surprising amount of filthy sex scenes, and a super cute dog named George Costanza who almost stole the whole show.

This was such a sweet love letter to the city of Amsterdam. You can really tell Rachel loves this city and spent so much time researching and putting in her aun experiences. Dani and Wouter were so fun and sweet and I loved the added element of the second chance romance. My main criticism is that I felt it took a bit too long for the marriage of convenience to kick in, but I still really enjoyed!

This was SO GOOD!! First and foremost the cover is STUNNING! I haven’t quite read all of Rachel’s books, but like the ones I have this was so sweet and tender and full of honest representations of the human experience and it was BEAUTIFUL. And it’s a second chance, marriage of convenience…and seeing Dani and Wouter so easily fall back in love made my heart so HAPPY!

I love Dani’s story arc. She really was hoping to find herself, find the thing that will FINALLY make her be something, be someone!! And as someone who is about to be in her 30s…I felt that SO DEEPLY. And along the way she really learned that it’s okay not to know, that you can try different things waiting for something that will bring you real joy. And you’re NOT behind, you don’t have to compare yourself to anyone, it’s not a fun game!!

I loved Dani and Wouter so much. Seeing what they were like in high school through her memories was so sweet!! They were GOOD together then and they were so seamlessly good together again!!!!! After an awkward adjustment period of course! Which was still so perfect?? Even when they were keeping things bottled up, being overly polite, staying within the rules?? They needed that I think, and they needed the LOUD confession of their feelings to really get things going!

WOUTER VAN LEEUWEN! IS! THAT! MAN! He LOVES Dani so much!!! All the little post its?? The way he decorated her room?? His TATTOO?? The way he told her he never forgot about her, how he knew he wasn’t going to be able to apart from her?! HIS CUTIE LITTLE DOG!! I love him and his need to be needed and to be helpful and his soft soft heart. He and Dani truly were such a good fit and I loved seeing them figure it out again.

Thank you so much to Berkley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I think romance readers, especially those who love some spice, are going to absolutely eat this up. The setting was so fun, the cast of characters was lovable, there was no real villain, and the romance was sweet. This is a great second chance romance and Solomon does a great job of making Amsterdam one of the main characters, which is so fun to read for people who have been there and even those who haven't!

I have loved all of Rachel Lynn Solomon's romance novels, and this was no exception. I liked the setup here - Dani Dorfman is a 30-year woman with a not especially satisfying career in UX design and a string of abandoned hobbies. A micro-preemie who made it through her first dangerous months and has always felt like she didn't live up to the miracle of her survival, Dani has been searching for the thing she's really good at but hasn't found it. After a very messy public breakup with a colleague in LA that led to her being fired, Dani decides to make a big change and moves to Amsterdam to work for a startup. After a series of unfortunate events, Dani (literally) runs into Wouter van Leeuwen, the Dutch exchange student who broke her heart when they were both 17. Dani needs a visa to stay in Amsterdam and Wouter needs a wife to inherit a beloved family home, so the two of them agree to a marriage of convenience, though it becomes less convenient as they realize there are a lot of confusing feelings, both old and new, between them. I found Dani very relatable, especially her fruitless search for her "thing" and her fears over getting involved again with someone who crushed her heart as a teen. Be forewarned - there is a lot of food talk in this book and I was super hungry most of the way through!

If you want a book that’s going to take you on a trip, this is the one for you!

Dani accepts a job in Amsterdam and has a plan to finally become independent. Although she’s in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, she can’t seem to catch a break at her job or apartment. Until she runs into (literally) her high school ex-boyfriend / foreign exchange student, Wouter.

I love a marriage of convenience trope and the addition of the second chance trope makes this novel so angsty and sets up the perfect slow-burn. I was hooked from the very beginning as I found Dani to be relatable and quirky. It also made me want to book a one-way ticket to Amsterdam in hopes that a tall Dutch man offers me a marriage of convenience.

If you want a heartfelt novel, with character growth, banter, and a little bit of spice - Rachel Lynn Soloman is definitely the author for you!

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for the eARC for review consideration!

I loved this book! Great family relationships and love lost and rediscovered! Read it if you like breakups due to misunderstandings! Going to check out more books by this author!! # Amsterdam is not just drugs and the red light district!

3.5

Ok soooo we're all going to move to Amsterdam now? The setting, the people and vibes were immaculate. 👏🏼

Read for these vibes:
🌷 Second chance romance
🌷 Marriage of conscience
🌷 Forced proximity
🌷 Childhood/teenage love
🌷 Mental health rep

This is easy to get into and super heartwarming as you'd expect with Rachel's books. The love interests are swoony worthy and I loved their meet-cute when they reconnected. There's also good spice throughout! 🌶️

Some of it felt predictable or had me wanting more from the characters. But overall it's a good read and I recommend!

Thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Amsterdam is one of my favorite places in the world so this book did an excellent job of making me feel I was there again. I loved following along on Dani and Woulters reconnection in the magical city of Amsterdam. I was frustrated by the storyline of Dani being babied and subsequently acting like one but all in all a good beach read.

Before reading Rachel Lynn Solomon's What Happens in Amsterdam, I had never really thought much about Amsterdam, but now I want to visit! This book is friends-to-lovers, fake marriage, marriage of convienance, second chance.... all the trope-y wonderfullyness we've come to expect from Solomon. And, like always, she gives us sex positivity, messy characters, and swoon worthy moments. It's as much a love letter to Amsterdam as it is a romance story. And I'm here for it.

4 ish stars. What Happens in Amsterdam is all about second chances-- it features a second chance romance but also is about second chances/ starting over in life. And I loved that! I can see why Rachel Lynn Solomon is such a popular author because there was a lot that I really enjoyed. Let's start with the characters- Dani was such a complex character. She had significant health issues as a child, and because of that, really struggled with anxiety, panic attacks, and issues of self-worth. After an unfortunate break up, she decides to start over and relocate to Amsterdam. While in Amsterdam, she (literally) bumps into Wooter, the foreign exchange student that lived with her in the states and also happened to be her high school sweetheart/ potential love of her life. Wooter was such a golden retriever type of character. It was literally impossible to dislike him. He was patient and kind and so very very much in love with Dani. All in all, they had a great chemistry. I also really loved the Amsterdam setting and as someone who has spent significant amount of time living in a foreign country, I think Solomon nailed those feelings. Why didn't I rate this one higher? I do think some of the drama felt a little manufactured for the sake of drama, but all in all, I really enjoyed What Happens in Amsterdam and felt this was a sweet romance that I can see a lot of romance lovers enjoying

Thank you so much to Solomon and Berkley Romance (Berkley partner) for the complimentary copy.

I was lucky enough to visit Amsterdam a few years ago, and absolutely loved every moment, even though I was there during the cold, dark month of December. If you've been there, "What Happens in Amsterdam" will make you want to go back, and if not, get ready to start dreaming about a vacation, because this book's sense of place is so strong that you can practically smell the tulips and taste the poffertjes!

After learning that her boyfriend was cheating on her and getting fired from her job, life-long Californian Dani Dorfman decides to shake up her life by moving to Amsterdam to work for a start-up. Dani was a super-preemie dubbed a "miracle baby," and she's always felt she's never lived up to her potential—since she survived against great odds, shouldn't she have done something amazing by now? Her medical fragility made her parents very overprotective, even though she is now 30 years old.

During high school, the Dorfmans hosted an exchange student from the Netherlands, and Dani and Wouter had an incredibly intense teenage romance. She had hoped they could continue dating long-distance, but Wouter dumped her via text shortly after returning home. Naturally, after arriving in Amsterdam, Dani literally runs into Wouter while trying to get the hang of riding a bike in town.

As a fan of Rachel Lynn Solomon's previous novels, I didn't read the plot summary in advance, just clicked download immediately. There's a pretty giant plot twist which happens fairly early in the book, which I'm sure will be described in most of the reviews, but I was NOT expecting it, and my jaw dropped! Needless to say, Dani and Wouter have a second chance at romance, while she tries to adapt to a new language and culture. Oh, and there's an adorable dog named George Costanza, too.

This is a delightful book that lived up to my high expectations based on Solomon's earlier work. (She lives in Amsterdam now, and based on this novel, she obviously loves it a lot!) Thanks to Berkley for the advance copy, via NetGalley.

This is such a swoony second-chance romance!

Dani Dorfman has no clue what she wants in life. After getting fired from her job, she impulsively applies for a position in Amsterdam. She ends up crashing her bike into Wouter, her ex and former Dutch exchange student. So much tension and undeniable chemistry between them.

Wouter needs to be married to inherit a canal house, and when Dani's job falls through, she needs a visa. Their solution is a marriage out of convenience. But, then old feelings start to resurface and they must decide if this is another mistake.

I absolutely loved the chemistry between Dani and Wouter and their banter was hilarious. The Amsterdam setting was pure magic. It had me dreaming of a vacation!! The marriage of convenience trope adds just the right amount of drama for their slow-burn romance. I also adored the secondary characters in Dani's sister (and wife) and Wouters family. This one was full of so much love, humor, and adventure. Highly recommend it!

I adored this! I'm a sucker for second chance romance, and pairing it with fake dating (my fave trope) made me immediately excited for this one.

I found Dani to be very relatable, and I usually don't find that in romance novels. Her midlife crisis felt real and vulnerable and well written. I liked that there was more of a slow burn and the characters didn't immediately jump back into things, it felt more realistic, which can be hard with marriage of convenience stories. It was refreshing to see them work through their problems. Wouter was so sweet and gentle with Dani without babying her, and I adored how he was willing to help at the drop of a hat or go out of his way to do something for her.

I loved getting to learn more about Amsterdam and the culture too! It was a quick read, and my only problem fell within the third act breakup that happened too close to the ending for my personal taste (as well as how everything happened.) Overall, this author has become a favorite of mine. If you like marriage of convenience, second chance romance, good spice and a sweetheart MMC, pick this up!

Once again, a wholly immersive read from RLS. I have always wanted to visit Amsterdam, and I do even more so now. The way she portrayed the city as a third main character allowed me to insert myself right into this book alongside Dani and Wouter--who, by the way, were perfection. Extremely relatable, two "normal" people falling in love once at seventeen and again as adults. I was gripped from the vey first page, and I never wanted this story to end.

this was probably one of the sweetest books i’ve ever read 😭

can’t stop tearing up trying to write this review!! this book transported me to amsterdam and it’s probably going to become a hyper fixation for me until i go visit now lol.

danika + wouter had the most perfect second chance romance and im obsessed. two of my favorite tropes in one book and it worked PERFECTLY!! i loved the friendships dani made and seeing herself finally stick up for herself. her realization that you don’t always have to have things figured out to be a strong person hit me so hard. i have 0 critiques for this book and the more i think about it, the more i realize how much i loved reading this.

This was an incredibly heartwarming rom-com that felt so realistic as the characters tackled the issues that plagued them from their past, as well as continued into their present. They both were so easy to fall in love with, and both Wouter and Danika have wormed their ways into my heart forever. I can't wait for this book to release just so I can recommend it to every romance fan I know!