Birthday Girl
by Penelope Douglas
JORDAN
He 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.
PIKE I 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.
Spice Level: 3.75/6 | Story Score: 7/10 | Rating: 4.5/5 |
I got this Audible during a sale and just randomly clicked to start it two days ago. Penelope Douglas is one of the most talked about authors on the FB Groups. Of the books she’s written, this one seemed like it would be the least offensive to my brain, lol, so it’s where I started.
I’m not sure what the massive amount of freaking out about it is. Now, don’t get me wrong: I LIKED THIS BOOK. I did. I liked it a lot. Her writing felt well done, the story was pretty complete, my feelings were invested. However, maybe I’m just used to the smut-laden books that are normally recommended. This was not a smutty book. This was a classic “falling for my boyfriend’s dad” romance. Is that a genre? It should be a genre. Lol. Far more romance than erotica.
Cole and Jordan move into Pike’s house - Cole’s dad, after they are kicked out of an apartment because Cole is careless. Pike and Jordan get closer and closer and closer as Cole gets more and more useless. Then Jordan catches Cole cheating on her and he leaves; she stays with Pike. It turns into a “fling” and then it all blows up. They eventually work it out.
Jordan is a rather likable character except for the fact that she is so timid. However she’s trying really hard to work through that timidness and you gotta root for her for that. Pike is a likable character except for his fucking cowardess about being with Jordan publicly. He cares what his kid thinks too much, but again, do you fault a man for that? Cole is lost and while he’s a shitty person most of the book, he’s still okay by the end because he doesn’t try to ruin anything more than his own life.
The relationship between Pike and Jordan is cute. It’s cute the whole time. Still, as much as I liked Pike with her, I didn’t think he deserved her. I’m not sure what’s up with fully grown men not being able to admit their feelings and accept someone else’s in these age gap books.
The Jay and Lindsay drama deserved more resolution.
Should I be weirded out that Jordan slept with both son and father? Lol. I’m not sure how I feel about that.
I feel like this book could’ve done with another hundred pages or so to flesh out some gaps.
-SPOILERS-
So, I don’t know which “dad of my boyfriend” book came first, but you can tell all these authors read each other’s books, lol. There are so many similarities in the books. Specifically Praise and this one, which I know this one was first. There were so many similarities. I liked this one better, a lot better, but Praise was like the 50 Shades version of Birthday Girl.
I’m still mad about the wet tshirt contest scene. I feel like Cam was so supportive for most of the book and for them to pull her out there when she was saying no, bothered me. I’d rather she have just done it on her own if she was going to. Or something. I dunno. I just don’t like peer pressure.
I was proud of the way Jordan handled a lot of situations. Your boyfriend’s dad coming into your work to tell you that he won’t put up with you cheating on his son…that would’ve been hard. I understood why she didn’t fight him. He didn’t deserve for her to fight him about it, plus, she was living there. You can only fight so many fights before you’re homeless and really, being homeless was a kinder option than going back to her dad’s. I feel like the devastation that was the unreliability and cruelness of Jordan’s life really helped to set up the allowances that the reader needed to make for her.
I think one of my favorite aspects of this book was Jordan’s hopefulness. I loved her wishes. I loved the dream jar she had. I loved that when Pike opened them, he realized that everything Jordan wanted was something that he could have with her. She didn’t dream of anything outlandish. She just wanted a life where she was wanted and that was her own. I think that’s what most people want.
Standalone | 407 Pages | Trope Challenge: Blue Collar Hero |
“Because even if she stayed and she rode you to kingdom-come all night long,” I tell him, “you’ll still wake up thinking about me before you even remember she’s in bed next to you.”
- Jordan, Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas
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