Birthday Girl By Penelope Douglas

This was my very first Penelope Douglas book ever, which felt like an important milestone in and of itself, as many of my friends adore her writing so much! I’m fairly new to the adult contemporary scene (though not new to this type of book, as I used to read them online a lot—but it’s been a long time!), so I wasn’t one hundred percent sure what to expect, but I knew going into it that I loved the idea of the plot, as I’ve always been a sucker for age gap romances. (I blame a lifetime of books about teen girls hooking up with several-hundred-year-old paranormal entities.)

With the age gap does come some issues that I’ll list right off the bat to get them out of the way: there is a lot that could be said for power imbalances here, not just because of the age gap, but because Jordan lives in Pike’s home rent-free, which is obviously going to leave some potential for a less than healthy relationship. While the story never plays into that problem, in my opinion, there’s also the issue that Pike’s age seems to sometimes make him think he gets a free pass for being overly dominating towards Jordan’s life choices, but I’ll get to that in a minute. The other content warnings I’ll mention here are mentions of previous abuse from a significant other, quite a bit of (mostly unchallenged) slut-shaming, and emotional/physical cheating in multiple pairings.

I’ll tackle the good things first: this is a bit of a slow burn (which I’m always a fan of), and the romance honestly feels really genuine and sweet. You find yourself rooting for Jordan and Pike from day one, and it just gets better as they grow accustomed to one another’s company and conversation and learn to be friends and companions before acknowledging their budding feelings for one another. There’s also killer chemistry literally from the night they meet, and watching that unfold is fantastic. The sex itself is well-written for the most part, and not over the top—I’m no prude at all and don’t mind sex in my books, but I personally enjoy character development and drama to go along with it, and this book definitely covers all of the bases!

For negatives, however, I’ve got quite a few of those, too. The biggest problem I had with this book is Pike’s attitude. While reading the book, he irked me a bit but didn’t upset me too much, but by the time I had given myself a few days to think on it, I realized I was actually incredibly annoyed by how he treated Jordan through most of the story. He’s very overly dominating, and while that would be fine if it was in a BSDM “kink” sort of aspect (as I am never here to kink-shame anyone, ever!), it doesn’t come across that way at all. Instead, it feels like an overly possessive, temperamental “father figure” telling her what she can and can’t wear, who she can and can’t hang out with, and where she can or can’t go. I’ll say that for the most part, Pike is super sweet and caring and mature, but his temper comes and goes so fast that it gave me whiplash sometimes.

The only other negatives that I have are pretty minor: I thought Jordan was really immature from time to time (though those moments were rare—I mostly really liked her character), and some of the sexual stuff was unrealistic and downright painful to read about (that loofah scene? Ouch!). Maybe I’m too much of a pragmatist here, but it definitely takes me out of the story during moments like that. There’s also some treatment of sex workers that made me feel super uncomfortable. Jordan’s sister is a stripper, and while I think her character is written in a way that’s meant to be sex-positive, the way everyone else treats her is so over the top with slut-shaming and grossness that I felt like I was being sent very mixed signals, especially since most of the slut-shaming is never challenged (especially when it comes from Pike). It doesn’t help that Jordan herself, despite swearing she respects and loves her sister immensely, comes off as extremely judge-y from time to time.

My final complaint is probably one of those “it’s not you, it’s me” things: I was expecting a legitimate love triangle, but honestly, it’s so one-sided that it’s impossible to root for Cole, like… ever. He’s painted so obviously as a villain that it makes his presence feel like a prop, and then the ending with his redemption arc was just kind of gross and unnecessary. (Actually, that entire epilogue was unnecessary, but I’ll let that one go.)

All in all, I did enjoy reading this book—it was definitely addictive and I didn’t want to put it down until I finished it, so I think it deserves 3 stars for that aspect alone. That said, if it hadn’t been so addictive, I think this would be getting a much lower rating based on the issues I described above. All of this in mind, I will definitely be giving Penelope’s writing another try in the near future, as most of the people I buddy read this book with told me that many of her other titles are much better than this one!

A beautiful, sexy love story. Yea, there’s an age gap, but he’s still young & she’s more mature than her 19 years. It’s love at first sight, but they go through hell fighting it.
Since he was a teenager, Pike’s given his whole life to his son. Ensuring he never wants or needs for anything. Jordan’s never had anyone care for her with everything they have. Both of them were forced to grow up too soon, but they find everything they ever wanted, needed, desired, imagined.. & they found it in each other.
It was a wonderful read & I will miss them until I read their love story again.
Penelope Douglas always creates a realistic but EXCRUCIATING buildup. But it’s so totally worth it in the end. I still hate when it’s over.

Das Buch ist sehr robust und kam in einem super Zustand bei mir an.

Have you ever read a blurb and felt like the author must have crawled inside your head to find exactly what you’d want your new favorite book to be about? That’s exactly how I felt when I read the synopsis for Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas. This was a top secret project the author was working on, but I can tell you that if I’d had any inkling this book was in the works, it would have been at the top of my anticipated reads for 2018. One of the things I like most about this book was that it wasn’t what I was expecting at all. Yes – it was taboo and hot enough to make a reader squirmy, but there was a sweetness to this book I didn’t see coming. And I just soaked it right up. I’ve only read one other book by this author (Misconduct,) so I know the author does forbidden romance well; I just didn’t know she could do it even better.

First off, I loved the way Jordan and Pike met, that they formed a connection from the get-go without knowing who the other was. I love that they had something that was separate from the betrayal they felt they were part of. It was sort of soft and sweet, and again, so unexpected! So the gist is that Jordan and her boyfriend have lost their apartment and need a place to live. Her boyfriend’s dad steps in and offers to let them live with him. To Jordan’s surprise, his father is a man she’s already met and felt a connection to.

There were parts of this story that felt a bit slow, but I think it’s important to remember that Pike is experiencing a push and pull about not being exciting enough for Jordan, and Jordan is loving the stability and comfort of being with Pike. It was essential to the story to establish their connection and see them just being together to understand how well suited they are for each other. Every moment they spent together was special for different reasons, and I just loved that Jordan was happiest being with the people she loved. The evolution of her character was wonderfully done and felt so natural. I love it when a character can identify their personal issues they have and then have the wherewithal to change them. Jordan was determined to make better decisions, and there was no time like the present for her. She was so likable and admirable. While she had her moments, Jordan was mature for her age after the things she’d gone through, and I think that’s what made Jordan and Pike’s relationship so credible. Pike hasn’t had a lot of women like that in his life, and it was one of the things her really liked about her. There was a lot of heat here and this book was so damn sexy, but it was the softer side of Pike and how he wanted everything to be so perfect for Jordan that made me love it so much. Going in, I really thought this was going to be a story of lust turned love, but that’s just not what it was. It was hot, yes, but so sweet and holy slow burn! So worth it. I also liked Pike’s character arc and his struggle with his son. He was so torn (about a lot of things,) and I loved seeing how his relationship with his son changed throughout this book.

I have to say, too, that I really appreciate the way things fell apart with Jordan’s boyfriend, that he wasn’t painted as a villain, but he had his own issues he was trying to get through and was just so unaware as to what was going on around him. It would have been stereotypical to turn him into an jerk, but I like that the author went another way with this.

Birthday Girl may have been a taboo romance, but that was just one layer of this story. There was so much more to this book and so much character development to witness. I enjoyed every single moment I got to spend with Jordan and Pike, and if you like a sweet love story that will leave your heart racing and melting, I think you will, too. This one will be going on my favorites shelf for sure!

This review was originally posted on Books & Beauty Are My Bag.

This book is one of my favourite romances, it’s not dark or tortured, but it’s got everything I love and find comfort in. I love the characters and the slow progression to love and how much life is in the pages. I re read this book a couple times a year, it’s so comforting and warm and hits every time 🤍