What Happens in Amsterdam

What Happens in Amsterdam by Rachel Lynn Solomon⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.5/5This book was so cute!! It had all of the best spring vibes, and suffice it to say, I am OBSESSED with the cover art! Like seriously, have you seen a cuter cover? It’s actually adorable 💐 and is the literal embodiment of the tulip bouquet emoji. 🥺What Happens in Amsterdam is the story of Wouter Van Leeuwen and Dani Dorfman, former high school sweethearts. When Dani unexpectedly loses her job and boyfriend all in one fell swoop, she decides it’s time for a change. She packs up her life and moves to Amsterdam … where she promptly manages to wreck her bike into none other than her high school sweetheart and her family’s foreign exchange student, Wouter. After reconnecting, Wouter and Dani discover that they might just be the solution to each other’s problems. Because a green card marriage of convenience is always the right answer, right? 👀This book is like a love letter to Amsterdam! I swear after reading this, I’m also ready to pack my bags and go start a new life in a picturesque European country. Throw in a hot to go husband, and I’m set. I loved getting to explore and fall in love with Amsterdam with Dani and Wouter. It was the sweetest backdrop for a love story!There were some really great characters in this book. I loved Wouter’s family so much, especially Roos. Iulia was also a shining light. My heart just melted when the girls took Dani dress shopping. And Wouter is the epitome of green flags. I really enjoyed reading about the dynamics between Dani and her family. Her struggle for them to see her as an independent adult who can make her own decisions and is confident in herself and her world was super relatable.For some reason, I got stuck about halfway through and struggled to pick it back up and finish it. Once I did, though, I loved how the story wrapped up. I think Dani frustrated me a bit, too, as she was the architect of some of her own biggest issues, but I do think she had a lot of character growth and really came into her own by the end.Thank you to Rachel Lynn Solomon, Berkley Publishing Group, and NetGalley for the eARC! All opinions stated are my own.

I enjoyed this story quite a bit. It was giving Emily in Paris vibes and I am here for that. I want to visit Amsterdam one day, it is on the bucket list, and this book just pushed it to the top of the list. However, while I can understand the characters struggles, especially with immigration policies changing everyday, I just feel that Dani jumped too willingly into the marriage of convenience issue. And yes, I know I am taking the jump into that solution too far and out of context. I understand this is a romance and there was history there, but I don't know why I wasn't sold on this being her only option. She had time to figure it out. She didn't have to do this for the Wouter right away. They could have ended up on the same path later on, but I needed Dani to struggle a little bit more and try to find a way out on her own before this was an option. Other than that, it was an enjoyable read. I am looking forward to picking up more of this author's adult work. I enjoy her YA books a lot.

This is a fun romance set in Amsterdam. If you like the city, you will like this novel as it highlights various places which are familiar to tourists: canals, bicycles, Van Gogh Museum, Rijksmuseum, the Anne Frank House, and so much more. It also highlights the language and the food, esp the pastries!Dani is frustrated. Her recent ex cheated on her, and she lost her job. So, she picks up and moves to Amsterdam! When she arrives, she finds that her new job isn't a fit, her apartment is awful, and the only one that can save her is her first love, Wouter. He was a Dutch exchange student that her family hosted and they were each other's first loves. But, Wouter returned to Amsterdam and broke Dani's heart. Now desperate, she accepts his offer of a fake marriage so he can secure an apartment and she can find a job and stay in Amsterdam. Naturally, things don't go as planned and a blow-up of this sham is about to happen. Cute and sexy romance.

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

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.