When Rachel Lynn Solomon publishes a book, I'm always going to read it. She is STILL one of my favorites. What I love most is that her books are not frivolous or just about the love story...the characters need to heal in a very real way and go through some self-discovery. This makes them relatable and very real to me.

I've enjoyed all of her books so much! I am always recommending them and will do no different with this one. Honestly, I never thought I wanted to go to Amsterdam, but it is on my list now. The history of the place speaks to me, and I cannot wait to see it one day.

Loved Wouter and Dani's love story from when they were 17 YO to 30 YO. The tattoos, the shared love of art, all of it was just perfect.

Thank you for allowing me an ARC to another wonder Rachel Lynn Solomon book!!

I don't quite know what it was about this one but I was left feeling underwhelmed?

Solomon is a solid four-to-five star author for me but this comes in at a three. I really can't put my finger on it, maybe it was the miscommunication from thir younger years or the insta-love part when they moved in together. But this just wasn't all there for me.

Thank you to Net Gallley for the advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for reading and reviewing.

I enjoyed this but not quite as much as Solomon's previous work. Even more so than usual, I found myself internally yelling at the narrator for not noticing obvious things I felt she "should" have noticed earlier. Why do you assume this union HAS to end in divorce, Dani? Don't you see you're both in love with each other?

I know this is a common romance novel trope but it really felt like the conflict was more complicated than it needed to be to serve the story, but without it there wouldn't be much of a story so...?

I stayed up until 3am finishing this book because I couldn’t put it down. I’m obsessed with it, Im tempted to read it again because it was that good.

I feel like this book transported me to Amsterdam. It was full of leaning buildings, stroopwafels, boat tours, and bike rides. It was very atmospheric and made me want to desperately visit Amsterdam.

I am a sucker for a good second chance romance, and this book delivers. Wouter is the ultimate book husband. I am obsessed with the way he treats Dani. He notices the little things (like if she’s nervous, even if she doesn’t say it or her love of sugary food) and that’s just so attractive. Their chemistry is off the charts and the sex scenes were so good. I ate them up.

I really love Dani’s character. Solomon really captures the feelings of self doubt and struggling with high expectations. The way it was written felt so real and authentic. I also love how she addresses things like men’s insecurities (balding), STD testing, physical differences, etc. It was so refreshing to see these kind of topics in a book!

Overall I’m super excited for What Happens in Amsterdam to come out and I can’t recommend it enough! If you like the one bed trope, fake marriages, and second chance romances, this is the book for you!

so Gezellig that it started to give me chest tightness and exacerbate my asthma.

✰ 4.5 stars, would have been a perfect score but some mildly irritating third act conflict brought it down a tad

Gezellig: a Dutch word which can be translated to "coziness' or "fun." it can also indicate belonging, time spent with loved ones, catching up with an old friend, or just the general togetherness that gives people a warm feeling.

platform: netgalley ebook arc

thank you Berkley Publishing Group for the arc in exchange for an honest review

This was a great read! I loved the Amsterdam setting and Dutch culture (especially food - it made me hungry!). The story was also really well done, with relatable and charming characters I was rooting for throughout. The only thing I had trouble accepting/believing was just how overprotective the MC's family is.

Rachel Lynn Solomon has become an automatic read for me, and I'll happily recommend this book widely.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read a digital ARC in advance of publication.

Rachel Lynn Solomon did it again. Balancing humour and heart in a profound way, What Happens in Amsterdam is truly a journey. I don't think I've read a second chance x marriage of convience before and this one was such a delight. I don't think I will ever think about the Dutch language or post-it notes the same ever again!

One of the things that RLS handles so well is mental health representation. Danika's depression was so accurate and made me feel seen. Feeling aimless and trying to figure out next steps is something that I have been battleing, and seeing that represented in this book was so healing.

RLS had me ready to pack up my whole life and risk it all on a one-way ticket to Amsterdam after this.

Tulips, travel, and Amsterdam. I'm freaking out because I got an ARC! Thank you Berkley Romance and the Berkley Publishing Group!

Do you love the fake marriage trope, romantic yearning and the Netherlands? Its a great way to learn about Dutch culture, language, and history while accompanied by a lovely romance. This was my first time reading a book by Lynn and it doesn’t disappoint. There were pockets that had some pacing issues but overall, this is a lovely read for spring 2025. 🌷

Giving this 4.5 stars!

4.5 stars. Thanks to NetGalley for the preview copy. A sweet rom com about a 30 year old who moves to Amsterdam to begin living a life free from over protected parents and cheating boyfriends. Shortly after she arrives in the Netherlands, she runs into her HS ex- a foreign exchange student that was her first love.
Lots of twists and turns and romance! Main character has physical deformity not normally represented in literature and that was a refreshing change.

What Happens in Amsterdam by Rachel Lynn Solomon is a delightful, steamy romance that perfectly blends humor, heart, and second chances. Dani Dorfman, in her thirties and unsure of what she wants in life, heads to Amsterdam after a messy office romance goes south. Her fresh start quickly takes an unexpected turn when she crashes into her high school ex, Wouter van Leeuwen. What starts as an awkward reunion soon evolves into a passionate, complicated journey full of sizzling chemistry and unspoken tension.

The premise—a marriage of convenience between Dani and Wouter—creates a dynamic full of sparks and surprises. Wouter needs a wife to inherit his family’s canal-side home, and Dani needs a visa after her job falls apart. What follows is a fun, emotional ride as they navigate old wounds, rekindle a fiery connection, and figure out what they both really want.

Solomon does an excellent job capturing the complexity of Dani’s character—her struggles with self-doubt, her attempt to reinvent herself, and the genuine warmth she shares with Wouter. The chemistry between them is off the charts, and the romance is the perfect mix of steamy and sweet.

If you're a fan of second-chance romances, witty dialogue, and emotional growth, What Happens in Amsterdam is a must-read. It’s the kind of book that will make you smile, swoon, and leave you thinking about the characters long after the final page.

oh nooo im actually a tad let down by this one 🫣 i LOVED all of her previous books, but something about this was a little bit like, cómo se dice, stale crackers.

the setting was in fact visceral ill i’ve it that, but their chemistry was very much lacking, her family life VERY much triggering. i wanted to punch them in the throat

Rachel Lynn Solomon is an auto-buy author for me personally and I am so excited to bring this book to book club and share it with everyone!

Solomon strikes gold again in this winning romance. With deeply lovable and relatable characters, Solomon delivers an emotional journey that will make you want to pack your bags and immediately go explore Amsterdam.

Dani and Wouter had a secret romance when he lived with her as a foreign exchange student in high school. Though their first love didn't end well, destiny brought them together again when she took a job in Amsterdam. Dani struggles to live independently of what her parents and others expect of her and, thankfully, she figures out boundaries. This was a fun read but, at times, slow-moving. Business or Pleasure is still my favorite of hers.

I appreciate there are body positive romances now, but Rachel Lynn Solomon is the only romance author I have read who addresses men's body insecurities. In Weather Girl, the MMC is self-conscious of his weight, and in this one, Wouter is balding. It's very refreshing that she doesn't just allow the room for the FMC to have realistic body characteristics but also the love interest.

Read if you like:
•Second Chance
•Friends to Lovers
•Forbidden Love
•Only One Bed
•Marriage of Convenience
•Destiny

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ Explicit Open Door: At least two intimate scenes, explicit language with a variety of sexual acts.

When Dani Dorfman decides to shake up her going-nowhere life and accept a job with a tech startup in Amsterdam, she figures while it’s a small country, her chances of running into Wouter van Leewun, the exchange student that she fell in love with when he stayed with her family for a memorable year, are low. When she literally runs into him on her bike outside of her crummy apartment, it’s the opposite of a meet cute, but it might be just the jolt she needs.

When Dani’s illegal basement apartment floods, Wouter happens to have a space available in his family’s building, and they agree they can let bygones be bygones and ignore each other while in shared space, but then Dani loses her job as the start-up folds, and faces being deported. Wouter shares his own dilemma that he won’t get to own the building unless he marries. They agree to a modern marriage of convenience and commit the heinous crime of lying to the government. His family is shocked, and she doesn’t even tell hers, except for her older sister, who knew that Dani and Wouter were dating back in high school. Dani finds Wouter’s family loving and direct, and life in Amsterdam is incredibly compelling. They try to resist, and fall in love all over again, and it all goes swimmingly–until her parents get invited to the party to celebrate their wedding.

Solomon excels at creating authentic, awkward, angsty, and likable characters. A preemie with some health complications since birth, Dani thinks she has her life fairly well managed, except for her overprotective parents and feelings of imposter syndrome and not having done enough given the heroic efforts to save her life at its very beginning. Constantly comparing yourself to others is no way to live, and while Wouter reassures Dani that who she is is amazing and enough, it’s not until she believes it that she gets the freedom that she needs to figure out who she is and what she really wants to do with her life.

Amsterdam has long been on my bucket list (the tulips! the cheese! the van Gogh Museum!) and I loved seeing it through Dani’s tourist’s eyes. The city lives up to all expectations. A new friend who works for a tour company is a really great device to impart some information, and the scene where Dani takes a canal tour is a wonderful example of showing not telling, because the character gets to impart some history about Amsterdam in an engaging way so the reader doesn’t feel like they’re being lectured to. It’s such a skill and it’s one authors think that they’re excelling at and don’t, and in this case it just really works.

Like in others of Solomon’s romance novels, the sex scenes are explicit but not grossly gratitious. She makes consent sexy, she doesn’t demonize STI testing, and there’s a lovely balance of the flashbacks of moments from being each other’s first lovers to experienced lovers who know what they want and can ask for it–while STILL have flashes of insecurity and uncertainty. The “good, giving, and game” sexy adultness of Dani and Wouter and are #relationshipgoals. A shoutout for anal play, which is uncommon in the books I read. I feel like it was a brave risk to include it and am cheering from behind my NetGalley app. Also refreshing: Jewish representation. While Dani is not observant, her Jewish roots and values are strong, and add to her character and to the story.

This was so good, that when I finished, I re-read Business or Pleasure, The Ex-Talk (and finally reviewed it!), and Weather Girl. And then I re-read What Happens in Amsterdam.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #WhatHappensInAmsterdam via #NetGalley courtesy of #Berkley. This review will post to HLBB 5/6/2025.

Dani and Wouter fell in love in high school, while he was an exchange student staying in her parent’s home. Their brief relationship ends in a painful breakup and Wouter goes back to Amsterdam and Dani tries to move on with her life. More than a decade later, Dani moves to Amsterdam for a job opportunity she can’t turn down. A very rough start to the move, a flooded apartment and one bicycle crash later sets Dani’s move on a whole different trajectory.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. Solomon does a good job of creating tension and misunderstanding between the two main characters to create the angst that seems prevalent in a second chance romance. Dani and Wouter have both spent time growing up over the last decade and that makes their reuniting believable, but the reason for their initial breakup was much simpler (and therefore a little disappointing) than what I expected. Both characters have personal growth arcs, a supportive network of friends/family and a genuine love and respect for each other.
3.5 stars, rounded down. The story felt familiar, like I’ve read it before but it was set in a different location.

This is another wonderful book by Rachel Lynn Solomon.
I want to go to Amsterdam now!
I liked seeing Wouter and Dani redevelop their relationship.
I loved seeing Amsterdam through Dani's eyes as she figures out where she belongs in the world.
I loved her sister Phoebe and the mention of her book shop. I would love to go there too.
The family dynamics are good too. I liked watching Dani get to know Wouter's family and then finally come to terms with her parents and really stand up for herself.
I had a hard time putting this one down.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

Dani's life seems to have imploded, losing her job and her boyfriend at the same time. A new job and a new life in Amsterdam seem to be the answer she is looking for. Except nothing is quite what she expected. Even the biking is hard, as she learns when she crashes into the one person she was hoping to never see again and also run into (but not literally). Wouter was an exchange student and first love when she was 17. Now they are both 30 and life has not turned out how either of them expected. This is a gorgeous book of rediscovery, a wonderful second chance romance, with a great single bed scene. I was cheering for Dani & Wouter all the way! It is also a love letter to Amsterdam. Highly recommended!

I love Rachel Lynn Solomon and recommend her books regularly. I enjoyed this one so much, but it is not her strongest story. Her MMCs usually feel a bit less stock, but this one felt a little too flat. I liked it a lot, but didn't feel it quite as much.

Rachel Lynn Solomon is a must-read author for me and this one was no exception. First off, the cover art is out of this world beautiful. The design team knocked this one out of the park. This is a second-chance fake dating story at the surface, but it's really a fish out of water story at its core. Dani is at a bit of an impasse in her life and makes the huge decision to move from California to Amsterdam, where she reunites with her first love Wouter by chance. Dani's family has always treated her like a child incapable of making her own life choices, so I think my favorite thing about her character is her bravery to take this huge leap all by herself. She had no idea she'd run into (literally) Wouter, so the fact that she decided to take this jump says a lot about the person she is and longs to be. I thought the relationship between the two MC's was sweet and the book as a whole gave off very cozy vibes. This book has a lot of heart and emotion, but find a nice balance of lightness so that it doesn't feel too heavy. There's a decent amount of spice, similar to many of her other adult titles. Solomon does a great job of giving you heat without venturing into gratuitous ick. I absolutely adored this title and would recommend it to fans of Abby Jimenez and Emily Henry.