
Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas is a contemporary romance novel that explores the forbidden love trope, focusing on the relationship between Jordan and Pike. The story unfolds as Jordan, celebrating her birthday, meets Pike, her boyfriend's father, at a movie theater. Despite the age gap and societal taboos, their connection deepens, leading to a complex and angsty love story. The writing style is described as genuine, sweet, and well-paced, with a slow-burn romance that builds on genuine chemistry and character development.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings include themes of emotional cheating, age gap concerns, dysfunctional family dynamics, and previous trauma experienced by characters.
Has Romance?
The romance is a central theme, with a high level of emotional and physical intimacy between the characters.
From The Publisher:
From New York Times Bestselling author Penelope Douglas comes a new forbidden love story...JORDANHe took me in when I had nowhere else to go.He doesn't use me, hurt me, or forget about me. He doesn't treat me like I'm nothing, take me for granted, or make me feel unsafe. He remembers me, laughs with me, and looks at me. He listens to me, protects me, and sees me. I can feel his eyes on me over the breakfast table, and my heart pumps so hard when I hear him pull in the driveway after work. I have to stop this. It can't happen. My sister once told me there are no good men, and if you find one, he's probably unavailable. Only Pike Lawson isn't the unavailable one. I am. PIKEI took her in, because I thought I was helping.She'd cook a few meals and clean up a little. It was an easy arrangement. As the days go by, though, it's becoming anything but easy. I have to stop my mind from drifting to her and stop holding my breath every time I bump into her in the house. I can't touch her, and I shouldn't want to. The more I find my path crossing hers, though, the more she's becoming a part of me. But we're not free to give into this. She's nineteen, and I'm thirty-eight. And her boyfriend's father. Unfortunately, they both just moved into my house. *BIRTHDAY GIRL is a stand-alone, contemporary romance suitable for ages 18+.
Ratings (202)
Incredible (42) | |
Loved It (74) | |
Liked It (45) | |
It Was OK (28) | |
Did Not Like (10) | |
Hated It (3) |
Reader Stats (343):
Read It (211) | |
Currently Reading (3) | |
Want To Read (85) | |
Did Not Finish (4) | |
Not Interested (40) |
4 comment(s)
Not sure if it's 3.5 stats or 4 stars. Really enjoyed the book and as expected the age gap made me bit uncomfortable at the story but I eventually rooted for the couple at the end. The taboo aspect, the slow romance as well as the trying not to feel the feels and then seeking around was intense. I really lived the epilog that was 9 years later as it was it really added something. But I skipped the other epilog as it felt weird with the time jumps for the diffrent epilogs.
Didn’t like the writing
This was just one of those reads that happened at the right moment and made me all swoony. The romance was adorable. There were quite a few bullshit bits but this is more a guilty pleasure read than anything else - so I easily overlooked them but not everyone will be able to.
But for all its flaws I do think there's something really special about this book. The relationship between Pike and Jordan was ridiculous at some points (for mature adults they really drag things out - and it is understandable to some degree but also just made me want to bang my head against a wall) but there was also something really genuine about them too. When they were together without the angst they always just seemed really happy which made me feel happy. This book is far from perfect but it is really good in a lot of ways and for me - hit all the right notes.
So five stars but keep in mind I'm biased. As I said, it was just the right book and the right time with the right mood. I'm trying to think objectively how I would rate it but I'm still too hyped up on the good feelings to be able to. If nothing else, the writing is riveting.
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