I kinda wanna move to Amsterdam now, thank you Rachel!!

There’s something so magnetic about Rachel’s books, and it makes them so hard to put down. So when I say this book made me wanna sit in bed all day to read it, please know I mean it full heartedly.

Everything that you could want from us a book is HERE, and it’s perfect. Dani and Woulter have my entire heart, and this was so heartwarming and sweet. I love Dani so much and Woulter is the greenest flag I’ve ever seen. They’re literally perfect for one another. Second chance romances also happen to one of my favorites, and Rachel delivered just that. I can’t recommend this enough!!!

I love second chance romance and this was such a sweet one with lots of amazing character growth. Not my favorite from Rachel but still a worthy read. Her YA books just hit different

Thanks to the publisher for the advanced copy!

3.5, rounded up. The second-chance romance is sweet and has some depth here; they're not pining for their teenage selves, which feels important. I enjoyed the descriptions of Amsterdam and Dani's exploration of her sense of self (even though it made me want to roll my eyes at times) and her relationship with her family.

Rachel Lynn Solomon knows how to write romance! It's steamy, funny and relatable.

Dani loses her job and is lost, so she takes a chance and moves to Amsterdam to take a job. While there, she runs into -literally- her high school ex boyfriend who was an exchange student. They reconnect over their past and their connection rekindles while in Amsterdam.

𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯.

This was my first book by Rachel Lynn Solomon book and you weren’t joking when you said it was spicy! What a chemistry build up, even when not in the same room... iykyk!

What I enjoyed most was the feeling that I was exploring Amsterdam, right alongside Dani. I loved all the facts and history weaved into 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗺𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗮𝗺. Sure, the country is in the title, but I didn’t expect to learn so much along the way!

As for the romance...I’m coming to the realization that the more that I read romance, it’s not only the miscommunication that drives me crazy, but in many ways, it’s also the lack of communication between characters that leads to false assumptions being made. Yes, they were 17 when they met, and maybe she’s way better than me at letting go, but a break-up over text would lead to so many questions. Given the mental health issues discussed and details shared, her actions didn’t track. I don’t buy it.

Read for: second chances, marriage of convenience, European setting, Jewish representation, overprotective parents, mental health representation - anxiety and depression, and a fresh re-start.

Details: Rachel Lynn Solomon • 384 pgs • 5 May 2025 • Gifted: @berkleyromance @prhaudio @netgalley • 3.5 ⭐

Rachel Lynn solomon is a writer who I am a completist about. I will read everything she writes. This was so exciting to read as an arc, because it had her trademark wit and spark. So much chemistry between the leads and I loved the setting being in Amsterdam. A fresh, engrossing story.

When Dani moves across the world to Amsterdam, she doesn’t expect to run into Wouter, her ex who broke her heart years ago when he was her family’s Dutch exchange student. When a series of circumstances forces them to fake marry, they have a chance to see if their chemistry still exists. This was cute (and the Amsterdam descriptions lovely!) but I didn’t like Dani at ALL, which made this ultimately fall flat for me.

okay wait should i move to amsterdam now???

this was a cute one! rachel lynn solomon writes lovely romances and this was no different — what started as a secret teenage love between a foreign exchange student and the host daughter gets a second chance when she moves to his home country years later. it’s a bit unlikely, sure, but it was sweet and gave a more rooted context for their marriage of convenience! (she needs a visa to stay, he needs to fulfill grandma’s wish to be married before inheriting a house, classic)

i didn’t tooooootally buy their chemistry and it felt both too slow burny and too rushed somehow? but it was cute and had deeper family dynamics woven throughout that gave it some depth, and it truly sold the city so well too!

The quintessential summer romance read! This is a wonderful second chance story with an incredibly vibrant setting in Amsterdam.
It’s essentially the perfect escape! I can always count on Solomon for beautiful, swoon worthy romances <3

This was a very easy read and very cute romance. I enjoyed the second chance romance trope and I loved the Amsterdam setting.

I love a marriage of convenience story and I love Amsterdam - this book mixed the two perfectly! A star crossed teen romance to a fake marriage to real love - yes please!

This is a starting-a-new-Dutch-life, second-chance, marriage of convenience romance that blew me away.

I also love how Amsterdam is described! Everything is true — if you don’t stay out of the bike lanes, you’ll be cursed at in Dutch. (Been there..)

Swipe to check out a photo with my e-arc from my trip to Amsterdam!

Dani needs to start over, and now she can in Amsterdam with her new job.

Only, it doesn’t start as planned. Her apartment is a bust and the job isn’t quite what she expected.

After a particularly bad day, she runs into her ex, and her first *everything*!

An exchange student during high school, Wouter was forbidden. But that didn’t stop them from falling for each other.

After a brutal breakup (that still affects Dani now) how is she supposed to handle it when he offers to help with her living situation?

Or when he asks to marry her in a marriage-of-convenience twist that helps with his inheritance and her visa?

I love this. The emotions were raw, and the grittiness of moving to a new, unfamiliar place was so relatable.

I immediately rooted for Dani, and Wouter is someone who’s so layered that I couldn’t wait to learn more about him.

I love a he-falls-first, and this is no exception!

The setting, the characters, the tropes and high stakes for both Wouter and Dani were so compelling.

I don’t normally go for second-chance romances, but this worked so well for me! Points for total honesty from our self-aware MCs.

Are you looking for a spring romance read? This is excellent!

I can also promise that if you’ve been to Amsterdam, reading this will make you want to go back, or if you haven’t yet, it’ll make you want to book a trip.

this was such a charming story and you know it's real when I enjoy a second chance romance! it definitely helped that I read this while in Amsterdam myself and felt like I was living alongside these characters. I really appreciated that Dani's storyline wasn't just about the romance but what she had to work through on her own about ambition/career and her relationship with her parents. It made for such a well-rounded romance and made Dani such a compelling character. Definitely a great romance option!

Never have I ever wanted to leave behind my life and go move to Amsterdam move than I have after reading this book. This is one of those books where the city is a character in itself. Rachel Lynn Solomon did a great job painting this city in bright colors and writing a love letter to this place.

Second chance romances are not always my favorite this this was a wonderful one because I think both characters showed that they grew a lot from when they were first together. They were children who didn't know how to communicate but in the years since, they know how to better handle situations like that.

This felt like a mature relationship between two people who have gone through a lot and have still come back together. There was a few moments where they could have communicated better but I think this is a great read.

A sweet romance with a beautiful European setting, but the chemistry between the main characters fell a little flat.

I LOVED this one!!! Second chance, marriage of convenience set in Amsterdam! It was so much more than a romance and I actually enjoy Dani going on a bit of a “wild” journey to find her independence. This one is sweet but u promise it’s just as spicy!!

i’ve been thinking of a rating that’s not five and honestly only that one can make it justice, the others seem inappropriate.

this book was hella cute, like i already knew it would be however i was so pleasantly surprised by the depth of it and the emotional impact it had on me

dani moving across the world randomly, being in her thirties and having no clue what she’s doing with her life is the most realistic thing ever

i love all the characters specially Roos and Iulia, they’re so cute and the most understandable and supportive human beings ever and the way they showed true friendship to dani had me sobbing

i loved the Amsterdam setting and it made me want to move there

A woman upends her life and moves to Amsterdam without a real plan for what happens after and ends up in a marriage of convenience with her first love. If that sounds far-fetched, it's because it is, though that's not likely to deter readers who love second-chance romances (and the marriage-as-convenience trope, too). Solomon writes her characters well and there's tenderness here, but something about the central relationship never seemed to gel completely. Main character Danika seems so immature and so sheltered that it's hard to buy her move across the world in the first place, and the series of events that end with her married to a rich Dutch man strain credulity. This is likely to find fans, though - especially if they like long descriptions of European travel.

as always, i love love love anything rachel lynn solomon writes. this felt like 90 day fiancé but make it a rom-com. it was an easy read that i devoured in a little over 24 hours. the chemistry was THERE. i loved being inside dani's head. the meet-cute was so fun and so iconically dutch. i just feel like this book really delivered on what it sold and for that i def recommend!

Enjoyed this one. Not a favorite but it was an easy read. I liked the second chance romance aspect of the story.