I was really looking forward to a fun romance and, in many ways, the author delivered on that promise. I love a second chance romance story; it's my favorite trope, I think.

But this one just felt a little off for me. I can’t quite put my finger on it, except that the female lead was so indecisive and frustrating in many ways. It's like she's wired not to take chances and leans on others for approval. In many ways, she seemed a bit clueless.

Thank you to @prhaudio and @berkley for the advanced reader/listener copies of this. All thoughts are my own!

Oh, I absolutely adored this one. Listening to this made me want to book a flight to Amsterdam myself. I've always wanted to travel there and I think Rachel did a lovely job of truly transporting the reader to the city so we were experiencing it alongside Dani.

Wouter and Dani had such a wonderful love. I don't often like second chance romances but in this case, I thought it was so well done for a good dose of angst. It was a matter of right person, wrong time for them and sometimes the universe speaks as to what our path is and I felt like that was a theme of the book overall. It's hard to know what we're meant to be at certain times in our lives and there's nothing wrong with not having it all figured out.

Wouter was sooooo dreamy as the male love interest in this and I truly believe he never stopped loving Dani all that time. I loved the character growth that both them had throughout the book during their oddball marriage of convience scheme!

I highly highly highly recommend listening to this book on audio, Elizabeth Lamont does a fantastic job and I will eagerly await any future projects from her. Her accent work is so well-done and she had such a tone of humor that really made this book fun to listen to.

Some things you'll find
🩷self-discovery
💛marriage of convenience
🩷a dog named George Costanza
💛mental health rep
🩷lots of stroopwafels

This is probably my new favorite RLS book, so take this as my recommendation to check it out as soon as you can!

as the self-appointed Queen of Second Chance Romance, i approve this international marriage of convenience 👩🏼‍⚖️

this was so cute and fun and sweet (literally and figuratively) and mr wouter has a DIRTY mouth (who knew???), and i am so mad my parents never hosted an exchange student omfg??? Hot???

also, i love seeing dani become more sure of herself, and proving that it’s never too mate to start all over. 💌

i need a ticket to amsterdam immediately (not kidding - i’m going.)

This book was a slow burner for sure, but once it picked up, it was great. I love that the two MC’s were flawed, not your typical absolutely physically or even mentally perfect characters. They had their own struggles but I love that they were real and open and honest.

Dani has made it 30 without a "career" or feeling like she's on track to be an adult, so when her relationship and job in LA implode, she impulsively flees to a suspicious job...in Amsterdam...where her first love, Wouter, lives. A bike accident literally throws them together again, and as Dani's life continues to implode, Wouter makes a wild offer: a marriage of convenience. She gets to stay in Amsterdam, and he gets deeded his historic family building...but neither of them was prepared for their feelings for each other to reignite. As always, Solomon deals tenderly with mental health issues. Sweet, tender, and sexy, Wouter's and Dani's fall back into love is a delight, as is her writing of Amsterdam.

Book my trip to Amsterdam now! The romance was perfection and I loved both of these characters but the third character of Amsterdam really shone through.

RLS is great at giving us pallet cleansing romance books. The setting of this story was the highlight! I was rooting for the FMC to get her happy ending although it started to get a bit repetitive.

Ahh how I love Rachel Lynn Solomon's romances! Also, a moment for this cover. Definitely one of my favorites of the year! A second chance romance taking place in the Netherlands, which I now want to visit more than ever! After losing her job and a bad breakup, Dani takes a leap and a new job in the Netherlands, knowing no one and nothing about it. While her overprotective family is not sure it's a good idea, Dani wants to prove she can figure things out for herself and survive not only away from her family but halfway around the world. Things are off to a rough start, though, when the company she works for seems to be crumbling, as well as her apartment (it has a bathtub in the middle of it??). Then, in a literal chance encounter, she almost runs over with her bike her Dutch foreign exchange student high school ex-boyfriend. In all of the country! With the clock ticking for Dani to figure things out and stay in the country, and Wouter dealing with some pressures of his own, a fake marriage of convenience is born. I absolutely loved the European setting here and want to visit Amsterdam even more than ever now. I loved Dani's growth throughout the story and how she showed that it's never too late to start over and figure out what you really want to do with your life.

Rating: 4.25⭐️ | Spice: 3🌶️ | Audio: 5🎙️
What to Expect:
Second Chance
First Love
Marriage of Convenience

Thank you so much @prhaudio for this gifted audiobook and @berkleyromance for the free paperback!

“I mean it. I love being ridiculous with you. I love being anything with you. I think . . . I think I’m the brightest version of myself when I’m with you.”

Review Title & Vibes:
Who wants to go to Amsterdam with me? Wolter and Dani’s second chance romance is refreshing in its innocence. It took 13 years to reconnect, but the way they crashed back into each other’s lives was kismet. I was not expecting the deliciousness of the spice… what started as a teenage love gained some serious heat.

Things I Loved:
•Danika has so much character growth. She spreads her wings and finally gets a truly beautiful HEA.
•Wolter is disarmingly charming. His quiet steady demeanor and surprising bedroom prowess are both green flags.
•All the Dutch phrases - I’m NOT a language expert, but I loved listening to this audiobook for the experience.

Audio Notes:
Such a delightful listening experience. Elizabeth brought so much depth to each character! I would highly recommend this audiobook for the language experience alone - the top notch performance makes this book even better.

Recommended to...  
All you world travelers of the heart who would happily fall back in love with your teenage love

Narrated by Elizabeth Lamont
Produced by @prhaudio

I love late bloomer stories and imperfect characters. There were moments when I wanted to slap Danni a little bit, but it was such a joy to be part of her journey. This book strikes the perfect balance between romance, character development, humor, spicy, and more. Solomon continues to be one of my favorite romance authors.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a 4.5 rounded down.

This book is the perfect combo of second-chance and marriage-of convenience, two tropes that are difficult to pull off in one book.

Dani Dorfman moved from LA to Amsterdam to chart a new path for herself. She is thousands of miles away from her overprotective parents and her fair weather friends. However, her past runs into her (literally) in the form of a bike collision with her family’s former Dutch exchange student…and ex. When Wouter broke Dani’s heart 13 years ago, it changed how she viewed relationships. She thinks they can be friends as their relationship was so long ago. Despite their breakup, they fall into the same easy conversations and flirtation.

Everything changes when Dani loses the job she secured when she moved to Amsterdam. As Wouter comforts her, he comes up with an outlandish idea. He wants to own his family’s apartment that his grandmother owns. The only way she will hand over place is if Wouter is married. If Dani marries him, he will get the apartment and she will have more time to figure out her new life in Amsterdam. Surely, this practical arrangement will help them move into the future and eventually apart once their futures are. However, as feelings re-develop, it becomes clear this marriage is anything but convenient.

I loved how Amsterdam was its own character in the story. As an ex-pat herself, it was clear that Solomon was writing from experience. I also adored Wouter’s and Dani’s families. The way some characters forgave so easily was a little unrealistic. Overall, I found it very charming and sweet. I couldn’t put this book down and I look forward to Rachel Lynn Solomon’s next one!

What Happens in Amsterdam by Rachel Lynn Solomon was one of my favorite books a couple of months ago when I read the ARC and I am so excited that it is being published tomorrow. Now I can tell you all to grab it!
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I loved this trip to the Netherlands where Dani and Wouter literally crash into each other, with the possibility of a second chance romance served up on a platter.
Wouter and Dani had a high school romance when he was an exchange student in America years ago. They had lost touch and, although Dani knew that Wouter lived in Amsterdam, she never expected to see him when she takes a job in Amsterdam for a fresh start to escape the mess her life has become.
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Meeting each other is serendipity as Dani needs a new place to live and needs to keep her visa and Wouter wants to keep the family home, but has to be married to inherit. This marriage of convenience was probably one of the best decisions they could make, in my opinion.
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I l books that take me to other countries and books that are easy and entertaining like this one are perfect. It would be a fun book to take along on your spring/summer vacations or just to while away an afternoon on your couch.

Thanks so much to netgalley, @berkleypub @berkleyromance @acebookspub for the free e-book!

I love Rachel Lynn Solomon and I knew this was gonna be a home run. Second chance, it was always you I'm always all in. You always get the best books from Rachel I was half way in when I ran to preorder the book. I love how her characters are so e3al the sex scenes are HOT and sensual and her MMC ARE GREEN FLAGS.

ABSOLUTELY PICK THIS UP

5/5☆

#BerkleyPartner #AceBooksPartner

I was interested in What Happens in Amsterdam because I love reading books that have settings in places I haven't been to yet. This was a fun second chance at love romance that was quite spicy after a while! I half read, half listened to the audio and enjoyed the narration a lot. It was entertaining to watch Dani and Wouter rekindle their love after being apart for several years. There was a lot of growth in both characters lives and that was nice to see. I will be looking for more books by Rachel Lynn Solomon in the future!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Publication date: 6 May 2025

Am I a bit biased because I went to Amsterdam while reading this book? Maybe. but wow did I love this story.

What Happens in Amsterdam is more than a love story. This book is reassurance for anyone who feels like they are constantly behind everyone else around them. Anyone who cannot find their “one true passion” in life. This book is a reminder that you do not have to have everything together. This book is reassurance that you can be loved even when everything is not perfect.

This story is also a love letter to Amsterdam in itself. I had so much fun reading it during my trip, because the author highlighted so many cool places and cultural aspects unique to the city (example: The bikers with no helmets). It was impossible not to fall in love with both this book and the city of Amsterdam!

Thank you so much for the ARC!

Thank you Berkley Romance, Netgalley and Rachel Solomon for this free arc copy!! Going into this book i really enjoyed the second chance romance and how this took place in Amsterdam!! I have never read a book from a different country, and how this book described Amsterdam made me wanna go visit!! I am happy that the two main characters were able to find each other again after so many years apart. The ending was so cute and so happy with how their relationship turned out.

Review on Goodreads:
4.5⭐️
First off, thank you to Berkley, Netgalley, and Rachel Lynn Solomon for the arc! It was my first Rachel Lynn Solomon read and I can say it won’t be the last!!

We follow Dani on her journey to find herself as she travels to Amsterdam for a new job opportunity. When she’s there, you can really see the struggle for her to get used to living on a whole other continent, and the difficulties of anyone not knowing where they belong in the world. The romance comes in when she (almost literally) runs into her high school sweetheart. Things didn’t end very well between them back in high school!

One of my favorite parts of this book was the feeling it gave me. The descriptions of all the European things, like stroopwafels, bike riding, and the architecture made me feel like I was in Amsterdam with Dani and Wouter!🚲🌍🌷

Speaking of those two, I loved their relationship!!
-Something I look for when I’m reading romance is believable tension between the two characters. I have to say, the tension between them was pretty believable.
-Heartaches and hurt that occurred in the past, and the fact that they had to overcome them to move forward, made it feel like a real life relationship.
-The marriage of convenience part always makes it a little less believable for me, hence why I didn’t rate it 5 stars, but I can’t sit here and say I didn’t eat it all up.
-The other tropes present include
💕second chance
💕only one bed

4.75 stars !!!!

no bc this was so cuteeeee & the perfect book to read on the plane 🤭 i seriously flew through this book and was highly entertained on my flight!!! plus it made me want to travel so bad, so i'm glad i was already doing that when i read it!! but now i REALLY want to go to amsterdam 😭 i was EATING THIS BOOK UP!!! the perfefct romcom marriage of convenience with a dash of second chance !!! i loved every single second of it!! & wouter???? woooooo what a man!!!

this was my first book by rachel lynn solomon & i LOVED her writing so much!! it was light-hearted and fun & extremely romantic while also not shying away from the hard moments. you felt like you really went through every moment with dani as she tried to figure out living in another country and finding her passion while also mourning the end of her relationship in the US. & the moment wouter stepped on the scene, i was a goner. he's so precious and he loves so big. & i just really really liked this book!!!!!!!!

now i need to read rachel's backlist!!!

thank you Berkley Romance & Berkley Pub for the arc & for the gifted finished copy! this is my honest review.

10 * stars! I adored these two characters so very much. Dani and Wouter are couple goals. They were both so relatable and I am so happy they got their HEA. This love story was sweet and oh so special.

I loved her other books! For some reason, this one didn’t hit the spot as I had hoped. I’m a massive mood reader, so that could be it, but the writing style felt different compared to her previous books. It was a cute and fun read, but I suppose I just prefer her other books.