There are truly no other novels that can utterly compare to anything that is by Penelope Douglas. To me, sometimes I find it hard to believe that once I finish a book by Pen I think to myself "let's google, 'books similar to Penelope Douglas'" but nothing ever seems to come up because every search I make, is never appealing to my eye. Penelope is definitely one of a kind, one that never sees to amaze me with her writing and mental state behind her stories. Every word that she expresses is one that touches home-base to my mind because of how exceptional her fictional "worlds" are. Birthday Girl is yet again another of her novels that has brought a new meaning to "forbidden," and has indulged in the aspect of age gap romance novels as well, the one thing that made me crave Pike in such a filthy, dirty, and un-moral way. She is strong, independent, natural care giver.I love the way she stood up and she is never shy of her feelings. Everything there is to know about Pike is just drool worthy delicious. I have read many romance novels where the male character is older, but nothing utterly compares to Pike and the struggles he has gone through. The emotional aspect of it all is one that has captivated my heart in every essence. No matter what it is, Jordan is also a strong heroine who has proven that anything is possible when working hard for it and having a mindset of determination. As a girly-girl with the love of pink and an admiration for outside landscaping decorations, Pike is an individual with an old soul but a young body. Nothing about her screams "innocent, the girl next door" kind of appeal. She has hooked everyone's mind with her maturity and way of standing up for herself. That's what attracts Pike in every essence, wanting to claim her, put her in her place and making her his;

I always came across of this grumpy, broody older men who happen to be so control freak, yes I am not likely to be indifferent towards them. That’s okay, right? It’s normal to find other people attractive. It happens. I mean, Scarlett Johansson is attractive. That doesn’t mean I’m interested in her.Something happened which left Cole and Jordan move into Cole’s father’s home and, well... you can just imagine how this goes. I was so excited when they moved in because draaaaaama. And there is definitely plenty of drama and angst. 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. I honestly have been holding off this review because I don’t know how to explain what I think, at ALL

I didn't like Jordan. She was meant to be portrayed as this mature and somewhat perfect girl, but she actually did act her age of 19, and sometimes younger. I found her whiny and annoying, with her tantrums and strops! It was meant to be written that she was mature because of the things she had been through, but it didn't really work. She was an immature girl, who had been through some stuff. 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. 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.He was barely there when she needed him, always partying and cheating. always makes her do all the chores in the house because he has a hangover or is out partying. 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..... 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.

PS: my opinion from 2019 still stands. 50% of this is made up of random little details that still confuse me on their relevance. Me he sorprendido leyendo un libro de este género. Es mi primera vez leyendo a la autora, y una novela considerada #darkromance. Sin embargo, y pese a la sensación agridulce que me ha dejado tras terminarlo, creo que ha sido una buena opción para adentrarme en el género. Dicho esto... 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. It literally took me 20 minutes to remember her name. I don’t know what they say about me but ANYWAYS. I just need to put it out there. I LOVE HER MUSIC. I don’t know why but I LOVE 1980s music. It has such a vibe!! Anyways I have nothing else to say about her because she is a usual romance novel girl. SHE NEEDS HELPPPP. When she was dating her boyfriend who is Pikes SON she was having fantasies about PIKE THE FATHER OF HER BOYFRIEND. 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.so this book starts where she is dating the love interest son (i know! HIS SON IS THE SAME AGE AS HER! ) And something happens where they break up and Pike (aka the dad/love interest) takes her in because she has nowhere to go at all. And then we get to see how a grown ass man is attracted to a child *shudders* I cannot with this book. so if you're into stories with taboo, great plot, and bumping uglies you've got to add this to ur TBR. When she doesn’t want to sleep with him or be intimate, he barely resists and blames her for all his shit and how he’s not good enough for her (because he clearly isn’t) and how she has her shit together (because obviously, she does as she’s not lazy and she’s also not a loser like him. Harsh, I know). 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.

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. A forbidden fruit, a romance filled with angst, and the struggle of battling your inner thoughts of the forbidden and desires, making your craving enhance more and more for Pike and Jordan...he never made an effort to apologize to Jordan for all the shit he put her through!!! And he got mad because his father and her got together at the end? Like, I get it, it's weird as hell and I would be uncomfortable too but for real though? Does he even have the right? He screwed up so many times and instead of Pike and Jordan being sorry, he should be the one who is sorry. I honestly don't think he deserved their kindness, and when they forgave him so easily, I was just so frustrated because I wanted him to literally EXPLAIN himself and APOLOGIZE to them for being a shitty son and boyfriend. But did he do that? nooooooooo. Instead, he ran away, barely made an effort with both of them, NEVER said sorry to them, and made himself look like the victim. ugh. I literally feel no remorse 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. You’ve always watched me, haven’t you? Always wanted to have your fun with me.” I falter, knowing what she says is true. I’ve wanted her since the first time I saw her. “It’s okay,” she whispers. “I always knew, and I always liked it. Keep watching me, Mr. Lawson.”