Birthday Girl

by Penelope Douglas

True love comes from the most forbidden places in this TikTok smash hit from New York Times bestselling author Penelope Douglas, now with bonus material!

Jordan has nowhere else to go when her boyfriend offers to let her move in with him and his dad. Working a dead-end job, with her relationship sputtering, she jumps at the opportunity, expecting to help out around the house in exchange.  What she doesn’t anticipate is for her heart to race every time Pike pulls into the driveway, or to burn when their eyes meet over the breakfast table. He’s kind and listens to her and protects her in a way no man ever has before. Her sister once told her there are no good men, and if you find one, he's probably unavailable. Only Pike isn't the unavailable one…she is.

As the days go by, Pike’s finding it anything but simple to have his son’s girlfriend living in his house. He can’t stop thinking about her and holding his breath every time they cross paths. It feels like she’s becoming a part of him. Except he knows they’re not free to give in to this. How could they when he’s her boyfriend’s father?

• ISBN10: 0593641965
• ISBN13: 9780593641965
• Publish Date: 26 September 2023 (first published 16 April 2018)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Berkley
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 464
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780593641965

Reviews

[Angie]

YES!
+Falling for my boyfriend's dad!
+I actually really liked Jordan. She wasn't this super innocent, good girl who gets corrupted. But she also wasn't this super sexed up, wild child. She was pretty normal.
+No cheating! So no worries for those cheating-adverse readers.
+Revenge is sweet.
+Happy ending.

NO!
-Maybe it's because my boyfriend is 29 years older than me, but I don't think a 19 year age difference for consenting adults is a big deal or "forbidden."
-Since when can 18-19 year olds work as bartenders? I guess laws are different? I don't know, but it kept bothering me.
-It's repeatedly mentioned that it's Summer, but May 27th is "a couple weeks away." Um?
-Jordan does get quite pushy toward the end and doesn't seem to understand Pike wanting a good relationship with his son.

[kymmiejournals]

Oh my oh my, as usual... a book by Penelope Douglas deserves a freaking five stars!

Review to follow... cause I need time to process everything - I'm having a book hangover! Lol!

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.