Read If You Like:
🌷Amsterdam Setting
🥈 Second-chance romance
💍 Marriage of convenience
🥵 Spice & Tension
✡️ Jewish FMC
🇳🇱 Dutch Incorporated Into the Storytelling
💕 First Loves Reunited
🫁 Asthma Rep
🧠 Anxiety & Depression Rep

Dani Dorfman’s life has unraveled—newly single after finding out her boyfriend of a year had been cheating, oh and to top it off she sent out his private emails to their coworkers and lost her job at the same time. So of course she had to I mpulsively accepted a work opportunity in Amsterdam to get away from it all, right?!

When she arrives over in Amsterdam her apartment is a dungeon and her job is sus… and then she runs into her first everything Wouter, literally. And it is the perfect awkward meet cute reunion for them as first loves that their love fell apart when Wouter went back to Amsterdam after his time as a foreign exchange student at her home which was enough time for them to fall hard and fast for each other.

Then when her apartment floods Wouter offers Dani the apartment in his family home. And then when her job implodes, and there is no hope for a new job quickly which she needs for her VISA, Wouter suggests a mutually beneficial agreement, she can move into his unit, and they can get married, she can get her green card and he can get ownership transferred to him of his family home his grandmother is dictating he must be married first to get. They will stay married for a year, and then quietly divorce, the only catch is they need to play married for his family and friends.

What starts as a practical arrangement becomes increasingly complicated as old sparks reignite, and both must confront the unresolved emotions that drove them apart years ago.

What I Loved:
💐 The Amsterdam Setting
🔥 Dani & Wouter’s Chemistry
💻 Dani’s journey through job loss, depression, and rediscovering her own worth is portrayed with care.
🥵 Dirty Talking Wouter… do I need to say more?!


Thank you so much to PRHA for my gifted audiobook and to Berkley Romance for my EARC!

What Happens in Amsterdam is the third book I've read by Rachel Lynn Solomon, and it is my favorite. I enjoyed everything about it. I loved the Amsterdam setting and the feeling of wanderlust it gave me. Second-chance romance is my absolute favorite, and I loved Dani and Wouter's relationship. Wouter is such a sweet cinnamon roll! He is a perfect romantic hero. I appreciated Jewish and chronic illness rep, and enjoyed Dani's personal growth journey. What Happens in Amsterdam is a perfect summer read, I cannot recommend it enough!

What Happens In Amsterdam is the story of a woman fresh off a breakup and losing her job, who moves to Amsterdam for a new job and ends up literally crashing into her teenage love. This book was such a sweet romcom with themes of long term health issues, finding one’s identity and independence and second chances. It had the right amount of silliness and bantering and it absolutely made me want to go to Amsterdam with all of the detailed descriptions of the yummy food and incredible museums (and boat tours)

You know that feeling when a book’s setting is so vividly described, it transports you right back to a specific time and place? WHAT HAPPENS IN AMSTERDAM did exactly that for me. From the cobbled streets and canals to the overwhelming number of bicycles (yes, I too almost got run over), from the Rijks museum to Van Gogh, it brought back memories of my pre-pandemic trip filled with far too many stroopwafels.

The Amsterdam setting alone earns this book major points, but I also really enjoyed the premise: a second chance romance when expat Dani gets a dream job offer which happens to be in the same city as the boyfriend she had when she was 18. Dani is a little aimless about the direction of her life and she's hoping moving halfway across the world will give her the clarity she needs after a bad breakup. So what a surprise when she literally runs into her Dutch ex slash soon to be love interest again Wouter- pronounced Vowter- and let me tell you, he is a real gem. There is some tension as it's not very clear why Wouter broke up with Dani all those years ago, but I really enjoyed their familiarity and the obvious foundation they had built all those years ago.Their personalities made them a great fit for each other and their chemistry and spice was 🔥 I was genuinely rooting for them.

That said, the second half of the novel took a turn I wasn’t expecting, and not in a good way. I was surprised to find that this was actually a marriage-of-convenience romance (yes, I probably should’ve read the synopsis more carefully), but even so, it felt like an oddly late and somewhat implausible plot twist. The 'excuse' is that Wouter wants to inherit a building from his grandmother and Dani wants to stay long-term in a city she's visited for 5 minutes- I just didn't buy it. I was also bothered by Dani’s dynamic with her parents. She’s thirty, yet they fly to Amsterdam to “drag her home” as if she’s a rebellious teenager.

Ultimately, for me, the story lost its way in the latter half, and I’m not convinced it ever quite figured out what it wanted to be. However, what it did deliver was a rich, atmospheric love letter to Amsterdam. And for that alone, I’ll say—well, we’ll always have Amsterdam.

A 3.5 star read for me. Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for my earc.

Bestie how did you make me fall in love with a man named WOUTER!!!!

I am tragically American and so cannot even begin to pronounce it how I am sure it is supposed to be pronounced but he was such a sweet and gentle soul 😭 I couldn’t even blame him for the way things ended because who among us was not super dumb as a teenager. And he MORE than made up for it with how immediately kind and helpful he was to Dani.

And oh messy little tender-hearted Dani, running halfway across the world to prove herself. She is so determined and so earnest and so protective of her own peace. Fortunately for her Wouter is also fiercely protective of her peace. That man would die for her. It is what we deserve.

I had so much fun with this and I’m not surprised that I did.

Dani moves to Amsterdam to get out from the oppressive concern of her parents. Her asthma and micro-preemie status has made them extremely overprotective. Once there, her apartment is horrible, her job is with a company that is quickly sinking and she is unwilling to give up. When she crashes her bike into Wouter, the foreign exchange student who broke her heart 13 years before, she thinks things cannot get any worse. She needs a way to stay in the Netherlands and he needs a wife to inherit his apartment, so they decide on a fake marriage. However, they both are still attracted and have some deep feelings for each other. Can they get past their past?

Utilizing both the fake-marriage troupe and the second chance romance trope, Rachel Lynn Solomon writes a fascinating love story. The spicy scenes are very steamy and I was blushing in parts. The depiction of living in another culture was extremely accurate (instead of pop tarts, I suddenly NEEDED cheez-its).

Overall, this is a fun and enjoyable romance that I would recommend to all romance lovers.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and Net Galley for the DRC. All opinions are my own.

Another solid romance from Rachel Lynn Solomon!

On top of being a fantastic marriage of convenience romance, this one also manages to be a story of self discovery and a love letter to Amsterdam. You can tell the author put the utmost care into developing well-rounded characters with a strong connection against the backdrop of beautiful Amsterdam. I felt immersed in the story and the setting from the very first page and found myself connecting with Dani a lot.

Overall, a solid read that makes me even more excited to continue diving into this author's backlist!

Overall, I thought this book was delightful. I really enjoyed this book! There’s something about second chance romances that speaks straight to my heart. I loved the mental health rep and healing parts of the story. It’s always great to see a character grow throughout a book. I also loved the setting! I’ve always wanted to go to Amsterdam, so it was fun picturing it in my head.

I have loved all of Rachel Lynn Solomon's adult romances so far, which is why I grabbed this one. However, the slow burn was moving entirely too slow without any tidbits to keep me going, and I had to DNF a little over half way. Turns out I just was not interested enough in Amsterdam to keep going.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I typically enjoy Solomon’s novels but this was an anomaly. I just wasn’t drawn in and so it was a DNF for me. I may be on the minority because I know a lot of reviewers really enjoyed this book.

What Happens in Amsterdam is a lighthearted read that follows Dani Dorfman, who picks up her life and moves all the way to Amsterdam to start a new job. However, when she finds herself on the verge of losing her job and her ability to work in the city, she turns to the one solution she never would expect--to reunite with her first love and an Amsterdam native, Wouter van Leeuwen.

I wanted to love this novel because a) I adore Rachel Lynn Solomon's work and b) the premise sounded like the perfect story for springtime. I love books that delve into characters travelling abroad for work or their studies because I myself enjoy exploring new places and experienced this during my university career. I love the fake dating/marriage trope when it is done well, too, so I was very hyped before diving into this.

However, I was genuinely disappointed with the characterization of Dani, the unrealistic events that transpired, and the lack of chemistry between the two protagonists. Dani, first off, displayed such immaturity that it made it difficult for me as a reader to connect and feel empathy for her. The book also felt unrealistic in the sense that Dani kept bumping into people she knew so easily, such as Wouter and an acquaintance. How small is Amsterdam? I felt that there could've been other ways to introduce characters than her just casually running into them. Furthermore, I did not sense a genuine romantic connection between Dani and Wouter. The tension felt lost.

That said, I do love Rachel Lynn Solomon's books, and I especially recommend her YA work like Today Tonight Tomorrow and See You Yesterday.

I'm ready to move to Amsterdam. Blooming with cute moments throughout (the Post-It notes, the Little Devil Bike, George the dog), Dani and Wouter are such tenderhearted, second-chance sweeties going through such relatable personal journeys.

I love reinvention stories and related so hard to Dani's struggle of finding a career she's passionate about like her friends, but having several interests and not being particularly good at any of them 😅 General thoughts and vibes while reading:

🌷figuring out what to do with your life in your 30s-hi, it's me 🙃
🌷sad girl pasta night
🌷paper rings-not at The Ex Vows levels, but still cute
🌷vintage Britney Spears-OUCH! But okay 😆
🌷anxiety and depression rep
🌷BURN OUT LEAVE IS A THING IN OTHER COUNTRIES??🤯
🌷Netherlands history
🌷flashbacks
🌷second chance romance

🤷🏻‍♀️What didn't work for me
The conflict with Dani's helicopter parents was incredibly predictable, and I did get annoyed with Dani and her immaturity for the last 25ish% of the book. But I did love the way it wrapped up at the end, overall enjoyed this book.

I've never once thought about visiting Amsterdam but now I want to go so bad! This book legitamely felt like I went on a vacation myself. I'm not usually a fan of second-chance romance but I absolutely loved the amount of angst yet yearning that was put into this. I enjoyed their romance but which we could have felt a more gradual escalation to their romance.

My only apprehension is I really didn't feel like Wouter fully redeemed himself in my eyes. While I didn't hate him and even felt for him at parts of the story, his explanation for what he said to Danika really didn't redeem him to me.

Overall, a good romance with some great spicy scenes! If you're into traveling or you're trying to find your passion as an adult this will likely be a great read for you to pick up!

Thank you to Berkley Pub and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Rachel can do no wrong and this was no exception. I loved this so much. With each book she gets better and better and this was everything to me. I loved it.

Marriage of convenience is one of my absolute favorite tropes, and I loved seeing it play out in another country for a unique spin on the trope. Even better, it’s second chance marriage of convenience *SWOON*.

I loved watching Dani’s confidence grow as she determines what *she* wants her future to look like instead of following the expectations of others, and Dani and Wouter’s love story is tender and sweet.

Rachel transported me right back to the Netherlands in this book! She painted such a beautiful picture of a lovely city, and I absolutely loved re-visiting it through Dani’s eyes.

This was a winner for me, and I love Rachel’s writing. This is a must read for anyone who loves traveling and steamy romance.

Thank you to Berkley Romance for the gifted copy! All thoughts are my own.

Doesn’t everyone love reading about a marriage of convenience between former loves, especially when they have to share the same space? I know that I do. It always feels so good when former lovers reunite again after so many years and still harbor feelings for one another. That’s how I feel when I read about Dani and Wouter reuniting again and entering a marriage of convenience.

Dani and Wouter never expected to see each other after their disastrous ending years ago. Life is always unexpected, especially when Dani goes to Amsterdam. Dani needed a change in her life, somewhere different. Amsterdam may be overreached, but something feels right when Dani spends more time there. She may have had some mishaps along the way, but that’s expected. What was more surprising is Dani running into her former big love, Wouter, again. She didn’t expect to see him after so many years, especially given how big Amsterdam is.

The history and the feelings are exactly the same between Dani and Wouter reuniting again. They may not act on it at first, but the tension is still there. And it becomes more noticeable when Dani and Wouter start a marriage of convenience and share space together as well. I gobble it up. I just love when former loves reunite again and start fake dating, aka fake marriages. You know one of them is going to break the tension. So freaking good.

Marriage of convenience & second chance romance? Yes, please! I visited Amsterdam many, many years ago, but Rachel Lynn Solomon wrote about it so vividly and lovingly that it had me itching to buy a plane ticket.

Things to expect in What Happens in Amsterdam:
- long lost loves reunited
- exploring a new country
- forced proximity
- tiny sinks
- second chance romance
- marriage of convenience
- dirty talk
- friends to lovers
- caretaker
- "my wife"
- secret tattoos
- Dutch endearments
- Amsterdam history

The second chance romance didn't completely work for me because of the reason for the initial break up, but they were 17, so it also made a lot of sense. I did appreciate that they got to know each other as adults though, and were able to pull from that shared history/love. This one was quite steamy and who knew Wouter had such a dirty mouth? I loved the level of trust they had in each other to vocalize what they wanted and needed (that mirror scene almost melted my earbuds).

Dani had a satisfying character arc overall, but her indecision and refusal to have hard conversations did annoy me. The third act break up also wasn't my favorite, but I understand that Dani had to work through quite a few things before she was ready to move forward. I think this would have flowed better for me if we had gotten Wouter's POV, even if it was for just a couple of chapters. The epilogue was so sweet though and I loved how everything came full circle in the end.

The audiobook was wonderfully narrated by Elizabeth Lamont (99% sure this is a pseudonym for a favorite narrator of mine) and I loved her Dutch accent. I don't know how accurate her accent was, but it sounded great to me! She really conveyed so much emotion in her performance and I definitely recommend listening to this one if at all possible.

Audiobook Review
Overall 4 stars
Performance 5 stars
Story 3.5-4 stars

CW: cheating ex, job/financial insecurity, premature birth, asthma, depression, anxiety, mental health struggles, caring for parent after stroke, death of parent

*I voluntarily read and listened to a review copy of this book*

What Happens in Amsterdam follows Dani, a 30-year-old who feels like life is passing her by while she’s stuck in slow motion. In a totally relatable move, she impulsively uproots her life and heads to Amsterdam in search of something, anything, to help her feel unstuck. And honestly? Same, Dani. Same.

Things don’t exactly go smoothly. Her new job goes under before it even starts, her apartment floods, and then she literally crashes into her ex (on a bike, no less). One wild catch-up conversation later, and bam: a marriage of convenience is on the table. He needs to inherit his childhood home, she needs a visa. What could go wrong?

Like all of Rachel Lynn Solomon’s books, this one has incredibly real, layered characters. Dani and Wouter felt fully fleshed out, and I totally related to Dani’s internal struggle of not having her life “together” at thirty. Her journey through Amsterdam, the emotional ups and downs, and the slow build of pining had me hooked early on.

That said, I landed at a solid 3.5 stars. The romance stumbled a bit for me, mainly because it leaned a bit too hard on their shared history. They hadn’t spoken in 13 years, and yet they dove headfirst into rekindled feelings without really rediscovering each other as adults. Plus, the reason Wouter had for their original breakup felt underwhelming, and he was forgiven way too fast for my liking (even her sister let it slide??).

Still, I really enjoyed the ending, especially the heartfelt resolution with Dani’s parents and the adorable grand gesture that brought it all home. Definitely worth the read, just be ready for a romance that leans more nostalgic than slow burn.

I've read a handful of Solomon's books and two years ago when I had the chance to read Business or Pleasure I was just blown away, so I had fairly high expectations for this one and unfortunately it fell just a little short. Now that's not to say that it's bad, because it's not. It was funny, and cute, and had some great steamy scenes, but it also didn't help that I am not really a fan of second-chance romances. I think sometimes they can be really good, but this one just felt a little...anticlimactic? The reason they broke up in the first place all those years ago was rather dumb (although they were teenagers, but still), and it was made into this big secret that was waiting to be revealed, but when it finally was it was insanely underwhelming. I do appreciate how Solomon writes adult characters that don't have it all together. Their lives are kind of a mess, but they manage to find both love and happiness, and that in and of itself is a nice message. It's been a few weeks since I read this, and the details of it are already starting to escape me, so while it was an enjoyable read that I had fun with it wasn't anything that overly stood out, thus earning it 4 stars instead of a full 5. Either way, I'll still be reading more of Solomon's books in the future, and I'm excited to hopefully get to a few of her backlist titles in the meantime.