Birthday Girl

Product Information

The heroine, Jordan (19), loves anything about the 80s. She’s always had an old soul because she is wise beyond her years and she had to grow up pretty early because of her lifestyle when she was young. She’s smart, understanding, and super mature. And I like her but to be honest, she’s not my personal favorite. I’m pretty biased though because I love sarcastic and witty heroines that makes me laugh out loud. Just because that is my personal preference, does not mean that Jordan is a horrible heroine. She’s actually pretty great and I admire her resilience, her perseverance, and her apparent independence. Pike is a man that was forced to grow up fast when he became a father at 19. Giving up on his dreams to support his new son was not something he ever gave a second thought about. This is clearly a man that wants a relationship with his son but due to circumstances, it's a struggle. I don't want to give too much away about the dynamics, but trust me when I tell you that you will understand. You'll even root for him. It’s been 2 hours since I finished Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas and I don’t quite know what to do with myself. I never got to understand why a mature girl such as Jordan was putting up with him. That sad little story about the dead friend didn’t work with me, it was not a strong enough reason.

Jordan is a heroine that's impossible not to like. Mature beyond her years due to the way she grew up, this is not your typical 19 year old. With a mother that left years ago and a deadbeat trailer trash father, it's been her and her older sister fending for themselves. With an adorable adoration of all things 80s, Jordan was easy to connect with. While her sister has no problem supporting herself and young child by being a stripper, Jordan wants more. Moving in with her boyfriend's father rent free will allow her to save up enough to put herself on her feet and to get that more that she craves. But it also brings a whole lot more complications in the form of an interaction to her boyfriend's young father that seems to only intensify over time. It’s always the same wish. Every candle. Every time. I want a life I never want to take a vacation from. That’s my goal." I knew the moment his eyes were on me tonight when he walked in and I was at the juke box. I could see him out of the corner of my eye when I walked to the bar, too, and I know that look. Possessive." He is playful yet vulnerable makes me want to take care of him, give him a massage when he gets off from his work, make him his favourite desserts, drive away his loneliness, do equally thoughtful stuffs he does for Jordan and people around him.Jordan is a strong and independent woman. She may be only nineteen, but she’s a hard worker and wise beyond her years. Her boyfriend Cole... not so much. He gets them in a bit of a tough spot and they end up moving in with Cole’s father, Pike. Oh Pike… I freaking loved Pike. Everything about him. Pike is 38. He’s a great man and wants to help out his son. The sparks between Pike and Jordan fly, even though neither one wants that. Gah. It’s insane. You just need to read it for yourself to see how this one turns out… I fell in love with the main characters. The development of their stories and their characters made sense to their story. I loved the dialogue, their individuality, the tension, the romance, the sex (my goodness!).

As much, as Jordan annoyed me, she had so far had a shit life, and had been treated like dirt by all of the men in her life, including Pike a few times. I personally think that girl should spend some time on her education, making friends, and to well grow up a little bit, like most 19 year olds.Ahora bien, a partir del 60% de la novela diría que la cosa decae bastante. Está bien todo el tema del #slowburn pero... una vez deja de serlo, para mí el libro se convirtió en una rutina de escenas sexuales poco interesantes. (No entiendo el hecho de cambiar el POV, además, pues prácticamente todos los encuentros son narrados desde el punto de vista de Pike, y yo personalmente me esperaba lo contrario.) Además, "lo prohibido" deja de serlo y... no sé, para mí perdió un poco el interés. Si no hubiera sucedido eso, probablemente le habría puesto más nota al libro. Douglas also does something that I only really put together in this book, where all of their characters are into things that Douglas was probably into when they were young (80s movies, 80s and 90s songs), which are things I like, but I'm not a teenager, and it always ends up feeling kind of out of touch. Kids these days are into Zendaya and Tik Tok and Billie Eilish, an artist this "not like other girls" heroine would probably like. Even if she would never admit it until someone pried her air pods out of her cold dead ears. Before reading this I thought this book would be full of scandals and sultry shits even and I definitely thought the female protagonist will be an irresponsible airheaded idiot to pull off a storyline like this and so I was pretty sure I will happily rate it 3 or even lower than that and move on with my life not to mention my conscience without giving this book a rant filled review Rating and feelings still stand. This was even better than I remembered it to be and it’s now become one of my all-time favourite romances.

Overall, everything about this novel is just meant to be read and thoroughly enjoy. If you are an individual with an age gap issue, then skip this book. However, if you are interested I recommend hoping on this bad boy and riding it like there is no tomorrow. One thing is for sure that has me excited for more books by Pen, her surprise reveal of Motel is coming our way, and Danni (the female main character) will definitely have me on the verge of mystery behind her story. Thank you so much to Penelope for sending me a copy of her novel, one in which I am looking forward to re-reading in the future because this girl finds her forbidden fruit something to absolutely cherish. I've been putting off this review because quite a few of my friends on here love this! Apologies to those of you who did love this, please don't be offended, different tastes and all that..... I simply adored the way the romance unraveled and developed between her and Pike. There was something so real and raw about it. It wasn't torrid, even though it was forbidden. You understand their attraction. You believe in it. You yearn for it. The tantalizingly slow build makes it even better.I know everything we’re doing is wrong, and I don’t know how I’m going to explain this to anyone, but right here—right now—I don’t want to be anywhere else. I wish I could die as happy as I am right now. Cole was a douche the whole story until the end when he suddenly had an abrupt change of heart that I didn’t see coming. It felt bizarre. When had he grown up? El estilo de Penelope Douglas es sencillo, directo y lleno de acciones (más que diálogos internos, y aun y todo, no se hacen pesados nunca). No paran de suceder cosas, y el libro en general es súper ágil, así que no os asusten sus 500 páginas de capítulos largos, porque como yo, lo devoraréis. Engancha desde la primera página y Jordan es muy buen personaje, complejo, con sus buenas y malas decisiones, y a la que comprendes enseguida. Por otro lado, Pike es algo menos interesante, pero tiene su granito de arena que aportar a todo el drama con sus conflictos internos y asuntos sin resolver. Así que sí, desde las primeras páginas están dentro de la historia. Don't get me wrong. I wasn't expecting anything highbrow about a smutty erotica novel where the girlfriend of this loser ends up falling for said loser's dad when the loser basically messes up his life and they all have to move in with Loser Sr. Loser Sr. had Loser when he was really young, so even though he's old, he's still hot. That's really important-- he's a Daddy, but a young Daddy.