Another incredible installment by Kristy Boyce. It's steamy and witty and all the things a book like this should be. A fun read that tastes like candy but has the depth to keep me coming back for more.

Thank you to #NetGalley and Harper Teen for allowing me the opportunity to read a digital ARC of Hot Dutch Daydream by Kristy Boyce. This YA romantic comedy will be released April 18, 2023. All opinions are my own.

Sage is off to spend the summer before her freshman year at John Hopkins in Amsterdam as a nanny and intern for her mentor, Dr. Reese. In return for nannying, Dr. Reese is going to pay for Sage's ticket to Berlin for a medical conference at the end of the summer. Sage is devoted to science, research, and her future. No one has ever accused her of getting distracted. That all changes when Dr. Reese's teenage son has a change of plans and ends up back at home for the summer.

I'm going to preface my review by saying that I have not read Boyce's Hot British Boyfriend which Hot Dutch Daydream is the companion novel to. That being said, I totally want to. This was my first introduction to Sage and I totally love her. I love her dedication and sense of humor. I also love Ryland. This is such a fun and cute opposites attract romance with just a touch of forbidden romance. It moves quickly and has wit. Once you pick it up, you won't want to put it down. It would make a terrific summer read.

A cute teen romcom that I'm sure young people will love.

Thanks to Netgalley, Harper Teen and the author for the eARC in exchange for my review.

I was so excited to read Hot Dutch Daydream, but unfortunately it just wasn’t for me. Sage was incredibly annoyed, and the dialogue between characters was stilted and weird.

So bummed!

Much thanks to NetGalley and HarperTeen/HarperCollins for an advance read of this sweet romantic excursion to scenic Amsterdam.
For anybody looking to spend an entertaining afternoon curled up with a quick-to-read, altogether delightful little YA romance, this book fits that description to perfection.
A clash of opposite personalities? You've got it. Beautiful travel brochure backgrounds? All in place here. Kissing, hugging, impromptu smooching between the adorable supposed opposites? Most definitely.
First half of our dynamic duo - Sage, a Type A high achiever on the verge of college with a pre-med trajectory for her future. And she's lined up, for her, the perfect summer job before school - off to Amsterdam, serving as a research intern for oncologist Dr. Reese, who also employs Sage to babysit Diedrik, her rambunctious 3 year old toddler.
What Sage didn't count on coping with was Ryland, the Doctor's young, but grown son, a charming-to-the-max, devil-may-care freelance artist with a large coterie of adoring friends, mostly girls.
Need I even explain the inevitable, amusing clashes between overachiever Sage and the freewheeling, lover of life Ryland? Especially when Ryland asks the ever organized efficient Sage to help him curb his social life so he can focus and concentrate on submitting his artwork to a major competition.
Uh oh.....but what about Dr. Reese's strict "no romance allowed" commandment? Much fun and head-over-heels swooning ensues anyway, as we all knew it would.
A fast easy breezy read, guaranteed to leave you smiling and maybe check out airplane fares to Amsterdam. so can tour all the colorful locales the cute couple visited. But if you can't go, this book's the next best thing.......and a great kick-off to the summer reading season.

This book appealed to me as I work in research and academia and I really want to go to Amsterdam so this seemed like a great combination. It follows Sage, who is working as a babysitter so she can attend a conference and present the research she's been working on, and Ryland, an artist who needs help committing to working. The two strike up a deal so they can both get their work done and what follows is the development of a forbidden romance.

I liked Sage - her character felt very relatable to me - and the opposites attract aspect of her relationship with Ryland worked really well. I liked how they had completely different interests and projects but still worked well together and each achieved their own goals.

I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the babysitting aspect but Diedrick was great and I enjoyed reading those scenes.

I really enjoyed the academia and research side of this, especially as Sage is a woman in STEM but it did feel slightly unrealistic that she was doing this at such a young age.

The ending did also feel a bit rushed and the third act conflict was predictable. It would have been nice to have an epilogue of some sort to make the ending feel less sudden, but overall, I enjoyed this book.

I figured I’d give this book a try but it really wasn’t for me. The reason Sage was employed felt extremely flimsy and didn’t make much sense. (She has access to the data but she’s only the babysitter?) Even after letting that unrealistic premise go I found it hard to root for the MCs, Sage and Ryland. I liked Ryland and thought he was easy going but Sage was uptight and flew off the handle. Nothing wrong with having flaws but there didn’t seem to be anyone to put her in check. Ryland even called her scary. Not exactly what I would want anyone to call me but whatever. I didn’t see much chemistry between them and was not rooting for them at all. I thought they might change each other for the better but that’s not what came across. Plenty of people seem to love the story so I would say check it out if you’re curious.


Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC.

So Hot Dutch Daydream is the follow-up, spin-off to Hot British Boyfriend, which I have not read. Sage is the main character in this one and she’s very driven and studious young woman, especially after her sister, Wren gets pregnant at a young age. She’s never had a crush or been and love. She’s focused on her mentor program and babysitting her nanny’s young son. What she’s not planning for is her mentor’s older son, Ryland, showing up out of nowhere.

These two are complete opposites, but you can feel that sweet, yummy YA tension between them from the start. They are banned from having a relationship from Rylan’s mom, but of course they couldn’t deny their slow burn, innocent romance.

This story is one of the reasons I adore YA romances. It’s cozy and funny and heartfelt. It touches on youthful emotions and decisions and thoughts. I’m entering my mid-life and it feels so reminiscent to read these love stories and think back on young love. And Hot Dutch Daydream is a perfect afternoon treat!

Thank you to HarperCollins Children's Books, HarperTeen and NetGalley for an electronic Advanced Readers Copy of this novel.

Sage Cunningham thinks she has it all - an acceptance to Johns Hopkins and an opportunity to continue her work helping with cancer research in Amsterdam. She is single-minded in her academic pursuit and doesn't have time for a relationship. Enter Ryland, a flirty artist who just happens to be the son of the researcher she is working with - and also living with. They strike a deal where Ryland will help Sage with the care of his half brother and in turn, she will keep him from socializing too much so he can work on an art project. Will she be able to resist his charms?

Hot Dutch Daydream is a fun novel by Kristy Boyce. It's a fun and quick read, and I really enjoyed it. I loved the Amsterdam setting, which I don't see often in a YA novel.

This was so cute! I absolutely flew through this book in about 3 hours and it was just adorable!
I really loved both Sage (academic and has everything in her life planned out) and Ryland (flirty, sweet and artistic) as characters and as someone who works in childcare often found myself laughing and sympathising with Sage and her attempts to wrangle the 3 year old she was babysitting!
While this was a ya book it also didn’t feel overly ya which I liked, the characters definitely came across as their ages: 17 and 18, and mostly handled any problems that came up by communicating with each other even when it didn’t lead to the outcome they both wanted!

Overall this is a lighthearted, really cute and quick read!

I enjoyed this book but struggled to stay with it. Seemed a little slow at times. I really enjoyed the studying abroad aspect (something I encourage all students to do), but couldn’t connect with the main character. Maybe because I love to explore new areas and she was not particularly interested in doing that. It is a book I will recommend for teens looking for travel adventure or romance.

This was adorable! I love the opposites attract trope.

Sage is driven. Her life revolves around getting through the summer babysitting her mentor's three year old son, attending a prestigious conference, and starting school in the fall at John's Hopkins University. Her dream is to go into cancer research and she won't have any distractions along the way.

Then Ryland walks in. Well, he's not supposed to but there he is and Sage is completely caught off guard. Her mentor did not mention she had an older son and when his summer plans fall through Sage finds herself trying to stay focused on her work, babysitting Diederik and making it through each day without any hiccups.

I enjoyed Ryland's love of art. I found that it helped to balance out Sage's stick to the facts mentality. Sage pushed Ryland to stay focus while he got her to loosen up a bit and enjoy her time in Amsterdam.

The story was adorable, the characters fun, and the chemistry was definitely there! I recommend this to anyone who loves a good YA Rom Com set outside of the US. I wanted to walk the streets of Amsterdam with Sage and will be adding it to my definite travel bucket list!!

I really enjoyed this. Very YA but not childish. The FMC could have gone full Tracy Flick but thankfully didn’t.

I really enjoyed the story and cast of characters. A seeet love story about priorities.

NetGalley ARC review

*I received an e-arc via Netgalley and the publisher HarperTeen for review. Thank you! All thoughts are my own*

Hot Dutch Daydream was a fantastic follow up to Boyce’s debut of Hot British Boyfriend! Although this one can be read as a standalone, I highly recommend reading HBB before reading this one. I found that I didn’t want to put this one down, and it’s the perfect summer read. I totally wanted to travel somewhere while reading! For fans of smart girls, artistic boys, interesting family dynamics, travel and a slow burn romance, I highly recommend this one!

Sage Cunnigham has always been super focused. Her summer plans include interning in Dr. Reese’s lab in Amsterdam before starting her freshman year of college. Sage agrees to nanny for her mentor’s three-year-old son Diedrick in order to pay for the trip, which includes an important conference in Berlin.

Shortly after her arrival in Amsterdam, Sage is surprised by the unexpected addition of Dr. Reese’s teenage son Ryland. His personality is the exact opposite of hers, he’s flirtatious, spontaneous, and impulsive. He’s an artist who really needs someone to help keep him focused. Nannying is harder than Sage expected it to be, and she feels as though she needs help too.

The pair strikes a deal. Sage will keep Ryland from going out with friends all the time and Ryland will help out with his little brother. They figure that working together will keep distractions away and they’ll both be able to focus. Or will they?

Sage and Ryland are such great characters! I love how Sage is so driven towards her goals, and she doesn’t let anything stand in the way of her dreams. Ryland is such a sweet and supportive character. He really encouraged Sage and got her to open up and also do some fun things while being away from home. They balanced each other out so well! There are some interesting family dynamics that are explored for both characters as well. I also love how we get updates from Sage’s best friends Ellie, Dev, and Huan from HBB and what they’ve been up to.

I think if you loved HBB and/or you’re a romance fan, you would love Hot Dutch Daydream. It’s releasing on April 18, 2023, and I hope you’ll give a try.

Cute and interesting YA romance read. Definitely a light read. Would recommend this if your into fun romcom.

LOVED! This book was definitely tailor-made for me: a romance novel enthusiast who previously lived in Amsterdam. I was swooning not only from the romance, but also because of the details about my favorite city sprinkled in throughout the novel - the descriptions of the canals, famous foods like herring and bitterballen, and even some Dutch dialogue. I liked Sage and Ryland together and had fun watching their relationship unfold over the course of a summer. The reasons behind Sage's commitment to her craft (cancer research) were well fleshed out. It was clear Boyce did a lot of research for the setting and content of this novel!

Minus one star because it was overly cheesy and too YA at times, and I also really disliked the plot point about Sage messing up the data. I didn't think that was necessary; it detracted from the rest of the story.

Otherwise, I cannot wait to recommend this book to anyone and everyone!!

Sadly, this book missed the mark for me. The dialogue was stilted, and the characters were stiff and unrealistic. Sage was plain annoying. It's the second in the series, but I don't think it's necessary to read the first book, as each one seems to focus on a different main character. I didn't care for the language. However, I did like the Amsterdam setting, which was probably the only things I enjoyed.

This book is a worthy companion novel to Boyce's first book- Hot British Boyfriend, although you don't have to have read the first book to fall into the plot of this one. It takes place after the gang from Hot British Boyfriend returns home from their study-abroad experience at Emberton College; however, the main characters in that novel- Ellie and Dev- move to the background as Sage, their academically-driven friend becomes the main character.

From her time at Emberton, Sage has made connections in her chosen field of oncology research, and her mentor has invited her to spend the summer in Amsterdam as her nanny. She is also offered the opportunity to continue research and attend a conference in Berlin. Sage cannot pass up a chance at adding these experiences to her resume, so she agrees, despite some misgivings about caring for a toddler. Her mentor's son Ryland adds to the stress when he cuts short a summer trip, arrives back in Amsterdam, and wants to reclaim some of his workspace that Sage has appropriated.

No one is very concerned at first about the two teens in close proximity because they couldn't be more different.
However, Ryland knows how to handle a girl like Sage. She's basically a younger version of his brilliant, workaholic mother. Nor does Sage realize that Ryland is basically the male version of her best friend Ellie, creative and generous. In fact, they bring out the best in each other. The problem is that they are forbidden from dating because of the close quarters and issues of ethics and funding. There's also the fact that Sage will be at John's Hopkins in the fall, and Ryland will still be in Amsterdam. Is it possible that being together could ever be more than a dream?

This book and its companion are perfect for fans of A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow and anyone who wants to go abroad to find themselves.

Great story and I loved the Amsterdam setting. We visited back in 2018 and I found it to be a beautiful place to be. Ryland and Sage are great characters and u love how each of them were so dedicated to their respective crafts. I found the story to be paced just right and my only complaint was that Sage didn’t find a way to work a miracle with Rois Baatz. Other than that the book ended on a great note.

This book is a fun read and a great companion to Hot British Boyfriend! This one can stand alone by itself, though - no need to read HBB.

It's a cozy and fun little read, and with my own Dutch boyfriend, it was fun to experience Amsterdam through the eyes of someone else! It was fun to read the story as Sage worked through being an au pair while also trying to keep up with her academics. Sage's relationship with Ryland was adorable, and I love Ryland's attempts to win Sage over in his own charming way. I enjoyed visiting so many familiar places to me, and there were times I wished scenes kept going just because I miss the Netherlands so much!

The forbidden romance aspect isn't usually my favorite, but I could feel the nerves of having to sneak around between Sage and Ryland. I felt the ending was a bit lackluster, but the rest of the story more than made up for it.