Danika and Wouter met back when he was a foreign exchange student staying with her family in LA. Their hush hush relationship that lasted until he sent a cold breakup text after returning home to Amsterdam

Now, over a decade later, she herself is in Amsterdam, trying to build a new life on her own. It’s a bit of a rocky start though, capped off with her literally running into her ex (on her bike) changing the entire course of her stay there

This begs the question, can you still call it a meet ugly if the people were previously …acquainted?

I loved the second chance romance. Things might not have worked out when they were younger - communication rough at that age even before you throw the long distance and an ocean in between - but as adults I felt their chances were much better

Their new relationship starts out with a marriage of convenience - she needs a way to stay in the country after losing her job and he needs a wife to inherit his childhood home - but with the attraction still there, feelings weren’t far behind.
It honestly barely felt fake at all, to the point I felt personally offended when someone insisted it wasn’t real.

I was glad Dani had a sister to confide in, because I felt her parents were massively overbearing
She *did* overcome many health issues as a baby, and some of their overprotectiveness stems from that, but at the same time she is 30 years old and not a child. She doesn’t need permission for *anything*

I like books that make you feel like you’re playing tourist, and this fits the bill. I found myself looking up the places the MCs visited, museums and boat tours, and wishing I was there with them.
And the food descriptions! They made me hungry, especially wishing to try a stroopwaffle *not* from a grocery store package!

This book should be endorsed by the tourism board, because I don’t see how you could finish it and not want to visit

Thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for the arc!

Super cute, lighthearted read. I enjoyed the characters and the unique storyline. I also enjoyed learning more about Amsterdam.

First of all, I have been to Amsterdam/The Netherlands twice, so that’s why I requested this one, just being honest. NO REGRETS!

Read this one if you love:

childhood crushes
second chance romance
Amsterdam vibes & stroopwaffles
Marriage of convenience
This book is sweet, silly, emotional, and a little spicy. I loved it so much!

3.5

I loved the first 75%, and it went downhill at the third act for me. I knew it could go one of two ways, and it went the direction I was hoping it wouldn’t. I’m glad Dani had the opportunity to talk with her parents, and come to term with her feelings for Wouter, but it was very frustrating to read.

I found Dani to be somewhat relatable, and Wouter was so sweet, and so OBVIOUSLY in love with Dani, I wanted to shake her when she just couldn’t see it

This is my first book by Rachel, and her style is very descriptive, a lot of internal monologue and sometimes for me that can cause the book to feel slower paced. I loved the Amsterdam setting, I could picture it all so clearly, but at times it felt like I was reading a pamphlet on Amsterdam.

Overall, I did enjoy this a lot! And I would recommend if

After a failed office romance and losing her job, LA native Dani Dorfman accepts a job offer on a whim in Amsterdam, only to run into an old fling…or was he ever just that?

A highly anticipated read from an auto by author, I found this one to be so fun, spicy, and earnest in its delivery!

Firstly, it is truly a love letter to Amsterdam and Dutch culture. The history, the landmarks, the food, I couldn’t get enough and lost myself in the city in the best way. I can’t buy my plane ticket fast enough!

While I don’t love second chance romance, I LOVE marriage of convenience and that portion really worked for me. I found Dani and Wouter to be sweet characters. We really get to know them and I could get behind their romance…as well as their spice!!

I appreciated them getting to know each other again and the fun they seemed to have with each other. I loved Dani figuring it out “later in life”. It came across very honest and real to life. She seemed immature at times but in the end, really comes into her self.

All the side characters were great as well and only added to the story especially as voices of reason, which was nice.

Why not a 5 star read? I found the build up to be a bit slow in the first half. Found the miscommunication frustrating at times. And needed them to figure it out a bit sooner.

However, this feels like a perfect summer beach read that will keep you going! Pick it up!

READ FOR
Second Chance Romance
Marriage of Convenience
Mental Health Rep
Figuring It Out In Your 30s

thank you to the publisher for my gifted copy in exchange for my honest review

This book was so relatable and I found myself highlighting dozens of quotes because this book made me feel seen and understood in a way I haven't been in a very long time!

I aspire to be like Dani in the way that she uprooted her life and moved halfway across the world when life just becomes a little too much and a little stagnant. I really connected with her story, especially with the constant feelings of being behind your contemporaries later in your twenties. I too feel exactly like she did and relate to not quite knowing what your passion is and how to make a life that your really and truly happy with. Dani's battle with depression and burnout made me want to give her a big hug because as someone in her position mentally, it's rough out here. Unfortunately, that's where my similarities with Dani ends because I unfortunately don't have a fantastic Danish ex-boyfriend in said destination country who has always known it's been me all along. *Deep and resigned sigh*

I adored Wouter as a love interest and just how in tune he was with Dani and how quick he was to want to help her out. His family was so kind and I loved how accepting they were of Dani, even when things went wrong. He gave Dani space when she needed it, but was also so understanding of her struggles and burnout. If I knew someone like Wouter was waiting for me across the pond, I'd be on a plane in a heartbeat as everyone deserves a Wouter.

I did stress out for a large portion of the book waiting for Dani's family to find out about her and Wouter's arrangement. While I'm glad that Dani was able to find her voice finally, I kept waiting for the shoe to drop and the whole scene where it did had me stressed. I'm not much for third act breakups and this one was pretty messy in a lot of aspects, but alas it fit the story as much as I didn't like it. I give the book altogether a real rating of a 4.5 because of it. One little detail I would've really appreciated is for the cover art to depict Dani's birthmark on her face. While I love that such a physical feature was included as I honestly can't recall the last book I read where an MC had a major birthmark that influences people's first impression, I think adding it to the cover art would help further destigmatize such things. Just my two cents though!

Overall this book really hit home and I truly loved it! It's gems like this that you find a reflection of yourself in and it helps you as a reader better understand yourself and feel less alone. While not everyone gets such a fantastic support system at their lows in life, it's books like this that give me hope that I'm not alone in my struggles and that I too just need to take a chance in life and step out of my comfort zone.

wouter... really... henrik was right there

this cover is so beautiful and gorgeous so i knew i needed to read this book. it's pretty much every girls dream to fly away to a european country and get married and never leave. or maybe its just me and i want to live in ireland and scotland. after finishing this i feel like i need to read more romances that take place abroad. i loved seeing the cities through dani's eyes and falling in love with it alongside her.

second chance romances are my jam and this one was so sweetly done. marriage of convenience can be harder for me to get on board with but it was so obvious that they were still obsessed with each other so i will accept it. seeing both of these characters find themselves again in their thirties was amazing because sometimes it feels like you have to figure everything out before you're even twenty five. i also really enjoyed the family connections this book gave us. sisters are just so important and each of their connections with their family was so adorable and sweet.

finally, as a joke, we can thank miss tessa bailey for bringing more salacious sex into contemporary romances...

*thank you net galley and berkley for the arc*

Second chance and marriage of convenience?! Yes, please. This book was really cute. I love that overall it felt low stakes so you could just enjoy the fall back into love for the MCs.

Starting this book felt like the most spectacular episode of House Hunters International. I loved the descriptions of Amsterdam, with the architecture, the food, the language and the history. It was well done.

I loved the portrayal of Dani and her evolution of finding herself and having the courage to reclaim her independence.

Wouter felt a little complicated. His reasoning for the initial break up felt a little off to me, but Dani seemed to understand! It was nice to see his relationship with his family and his friends.

The love and second chance at it felt very believable even with all their antics to get there. I really enjoyed this one.

**Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for the free eARC**

Another charming (and spicy) romance by Rachel Lynn Solomon! She’s just great at this genre—funny, sweet, light. I also really enjoyed the setting (Amsterdam) and I loved learning so much about it!

I really wanted to love this one. But it just didn’t hit the mark.

Honestly, I debated DNFing this one. Which is big for me. 1 hour into the audiobook and the fmc, Danika, just bothered me.

I just couldn’t get past the explanations she’s gives for doing things. Or the way she ruminated on certain situations/things.

There was a lot of miscommunication between the main characters. And so many of the issues, and things that Danika talks about could have been resolved so quickly.

The story is only told in her POV and this leads to not knowing our mmc, Wouter, enough. I feel like you learn a little, but are still left wanting more. Because the explanation he gives for things doesn’t make sense.

This is a second chance romance and also marriage of convenience. But neither trope worked well. At least for me.

There were definitely some cute and funny moments. But overall this one left a lot to be desired. I will say it did make me want to go visit Amsterdam. So there’s that.

How good was Rachel Lynn Solomon’s tenth novel, “What Happens in Amsterdam”?

Well, it convinced me to extend our upcoming trip to Europe by four extra days just so my husband and I could return to Amsterdam—so that should tell you everything you need to know.

If you love second-chance romances, dogs named after American sitcom characters, and a marriage of convenience, all set in one of the best cities in the world, READ THIS BOOK!

Thank you Berkley for the free copy— now I can put the money I would’ve spent towards a stroopwafel after we land.

A fun romantic read. Not a huge fan of the miscommunication or lies of omission trope, and her parents were something else, but overall, and enjoyable read.

I really loved this book! Such a beautiful & fun second chance romance. The characters are all so well written, they felt real and I wanted to be friends with all of them. The descriptions of the sights, landscape, food, and everything in Amsterdam made me want to visit now! I enjoyed learning a new piece of trivia about why the buildings are slanted there that I’ll never forget 😂 I also appreciated the Jewish & mental health representation.

Thanks so much to Berkley Romance for providing the ARC for my honest review!

3.5
As a longtime RLS fan, I wanted to love this one so badly, but unfortunately, I didn't. The Amsterdam setting was one of my favorite parts, and it was one of those moments where the setting felt like a character in itself. It also made me want to travel desperately. That being said, the FMC and MMC left something to be desired. This was a second-chance romance with some unresolved conflict from the past, and the couple didn't address it until about 70% through the book. I thought they needed to have a conversation much sooner, and it took me a little bit out of the story. I did like the growth Dani and Wouter experienced, and I love a fake-dating or marriage of convenience vibe. I also loved that Dani was Jewish and so completely human with real-life characteristics and experiences. I'm disappointed that I didn't love it, but I still enjoyed reading it. Thank you to Berkley for the ARC to read and review.

Rachel Lynn Solomon really knows how to write chemistry and banter and now I want to move to Amsterdam!

Tysm @berkleyromance for the #gifted early copy #BerkleyPartner and @prhaudio for the gifted listening copy!

This was a nice blend of marriage of convenience and second chance romance with a truly magical setting, important mental health representation, and characters I really, really liked a lot.

To be honest, at first I was kind of put off by Wouter but he really, really grew on me. I also loved the growth arc you get to see with Dani. When I was younger, I really, really wanted to move to another country or to study abroad but never had the nerve to do it and to get to live vicariously though Dani was truly delightful! She does so much on her own that I am so envious of! I could also really relate to her character which always really gets me invested in a story.

I did an immersive read with this one and really enjoyed Elizabth Lamont’s narration. If you can, get your hand on both physical and audio!

What Happens in Amsterdam has all of the highlights of a typical Rachel Lynn Solomon book (Jewish rep, candid mental health representation that doesn't feel cheap, a ridiculous height difference, and a very swoony MMC) with some extra added goodness. You can tell how much love RLS has for her adopted city, and each page drips with joy. The best slow burn in this book is Dani's love for the city and how she is finding her place in the world. Though I can't discount the beautiful development of the relationship between Dani and Wouter, a slightly trope-y but not overwrought love.

What Happens in Amsterdam? Apparently the most wonderful things, and the best inspiration for one of my favorite authors of all time.

Thank you to Berkley for entrusting me with an eARC. I received this through their Influencer Hub for Underrepresented Voices, and I am so grateful to be a mentally-ill Jewish girl reading mentally-ill Jewish romances.

Thanks to @berkleypub and @berkleyromance for the gifted e-ARC and to @prhaudio for the ALC!

First things first, I need to gush over this narrator. As far as I can tell, this is the first audiobook Elizabeth Lamont has read. But she is already on my list of favorite voices. The book is quite spicy, and she absolutely brought the heat. Her tone and voicing were so hot! And since I don’t speak Dutch, having the correct pronunciation of all the words added to my enjoyment. As did the variety of accents. I cannot recommend this audio enough. Listen to this one if you are at all able!

As for the book itself I love a good marriage of convenience! Dani has lived a sheltered life thanks to her parents helicoptering. Shes always struggled to find her place. When she again loses her job, she rashly decides to move across the world to Amsterdam. There she runs across her first boyfriend Wouter, whom she met when he was a foreign exchange student in high school. When she suddenly finds herself in need of a green card, Wouter steps in with a marriage proposal. But clearly there’s unfinished business between them!

Dani is so relatable as she felt like everyone around her had drive and ambition while she was treading water. And Wouter is my new favorite book boyfriend. He’s a bit grumpy and tight-laced. But underneath that gruff exterior is the gooiest cinnamon roll of a guy. Watching them open up to each other had me grinning and kicking my feet.

I thought the plot was perfectly paced, and all the side characters really added to the story. The interactions with Dani’s parents as they learned to let go were really well done. And I loved the ending!

I think this may be my favorite romance of the year so far! Look for it on audio today!

3.5 STARS

Danika Dorfman’s life in California imploded after her office romance ends badly, costing her job as well. Dani decides to run off to Amsterdam getting away from a mess she is responsible for and find a new start. At thirty years of age, Dani feels like an under-performer thinking everyone but her has matured well. In an almost fairy tale set up, Dani loses her new job…again, runs into an old high school exchange student ex-boyfriend, literally on bike, who broke her heart, and gets an offer of marriage from said boyfriend, Wouter Van Leeuweun.

Wouter has some issues of his own. He desperately wants to keep the house he grew up in owned by his grandmother; she stipulates Wouter must marry to inherit it. Dani and Wouter have a lot of unfinished business which she wants to avoid while taking him up on an offer to live in the house which had been converted to take tenants.

They come to an agreement for a marriage of convenience because Dani wants to stay in Amsterdam. Dani has a lot of emotional and some physical issues along with overprotective parents who cannot let go of controlling their daughter, even from afar. While she and Wouter go about a delicate dance of managing the “marriage” while lying to almost everyone about it, Dani tries to figure out what to do with her life after many failed attempts, before and now, to find meaningful work.

Dani’s woe is me attitude gets a little old at times. She is so determined to avoid any real emotions with Wouter, going beyond sense because of their shared history. This gal is way too much in her own mental dungeon of despair; however, at least she can appreciate her new city embracing the local lifestyles. Wouter did make a mistake with Dani in his youth, although he is trying hard to make up for it. The story seems a mashup of women’s fiction, a little romance, and some explicit intimacy. The best part of this book is the description of life in Amsterdam that the author does quite well as she is an expat herself having moved with her husband to that city.

Dani Dorfman is in her thirties, still clueless about her life’s direction. After a disastrous office romance leads to her firing, she impulsively applies for a job in Amsterdam, never expecting to actually get it—but she does. By the end of her first week, she’s never felt more lost. That is, until she crashes her bike into her high school ex, Wouter van Leeuwen.

Wouter was Dani’s forbidden love back when he was an exchange student, and though time has passed, the chemistry (and a little bitterness) is still there. But Wouter has a problem—he needs a wife to inherit his family’s stunning canal-side home. And Dani? She needs a visa. So, what starts as a marriage of convenience begins to stir up old feelings—and maybe even a second chance. Dani’s at a crossroads: is this new life just another mistake, or could it be the best risk she’s ever taken?

This novel truly is a love letter to Amsterdam.

As someone who visited Amsterdam for the first (but certainly not last) time last year, this setting felt like an absolute treat. Solomon really managed to turn the story locale into its very own character that influences not only the romance but serves as the perfect backdrop for Dani on her journey to stand on her own. You could tell the love the author has for this place as there went a lot of detail and thought into which places ended up being the setting for important moments in Dani and Wouter’s romance. And speaking of our main characters:

Dani and Wouter took the “running into your ex” trope literally, which made for a sweet and funny re-meet-cute. From the beginning, you could tell how this second chance at their first love was a dream come true for both of them. A fun marriage-of-convenience aspect made for the perfect set-up to get these two in close proximity and turned up the dial on their chemistry.

Dani was an incredibly relatable character. I loved how she tried to make it on her own in a whole new country, a continent away from her family, not because she doesn’t love them but because she needed to forge her own path and show them that she could do it on her own. She’s headstrong and stubborn and funny and smart and really, who wouldn’t fall for her?

Wouter was a bit tougher to nail down, but the more the story progresses, the more we learn about what has shaped him and his behaviour in the years since he’s last seen Danika.

Overall, their chemistry made them a great fit for each other and I really enjoyed the flashbacks we got to when Wouter stayed with Danika’s family as well as seeing them growing closer again as adults who have a whole new outlook on life.

The side characters in What Happens in Amsterdam added a lot to this story, for better or for worse. While Danika’s parents read more like one-dimensional antagonists most of the time (you can tell they mean well but the way that shows is…dubious sometimes, especially in the third act), her new friends and Wouter’s family had a wholesome charm going on that reminded me just how open and genuine people in Amsterdam are. Not to stereotype, but they are just so friendly and welcoming and this is wonderfully shown here.

Really, my only gripe with the story was the miscommunication/cluelessness of the characters. Don’t get me wrong, we all love a good “oh, he probably doesn’t even like me like that anymore” narrative, but there are limits to making this work.

This, of course, pertains to one of my biggest pet peeves—a third-act break up that makes no sense with weird, out of context drama that does not track and that is resolved so quickly that you question the intelligence of certain characters—but also in the story overall.

I had to suspend my disbelief quite a few times to wrap my head around Wouter not thinking their relationship back when they were teens meant a lot to Danika and that he was the only one having real feelings.

Meanwhile, Dani questioning her relationship with and the commitment of Wouter at every turn especially right after he tells her how he feels is fine the first few times and could speak to internal fear of not being good enough (which is in this story, so I do get the intention) but by the fifth time this inner monologue happened, I was frustrated to say the least. There was no growth and no open communication whatsoever until the third act rolled around and then everything (including Dani’s self-growth) was summarized in a few paragraphs in the final two chapters after the big blowout. If this had been spaced out a bit more or shown the progress rather than going from A to B in less than two scenes, the story flow could have really benefited.

As it is, I still had a good time with the characters and their romance but also felt a bit like I was transported back to the early 2000s where unnecessary break-ups just were part of the norm. Still, if you can look past that little trip back into the past, you’re going to love Dani and Wouter’s rekindled romance.

If you’re a fan of second-chance romance, the marriage-of-convenience trope or just really want to immerse yourself in an atmospheric story about falling in love in and with Amsterdam, then What Happens in Amsterdam is sure to make your reader’s heart blossom like a tulip in spring!

I adored this book! Rachel Lynn Solomon always knows how to write yearning and banter in the best way. Dani and Wouter (and George) have my heart, and I am already planning my way to Amsterdam because of this novel. Rachel always writes with such care that you can't help but love what she loves.