Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas

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Synopsis

JORDAN

He took me in when I had nowhere else to go. He doesn’t use me, hurt me, or forget about 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. 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.

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.

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Review

So I finally read a Penelope Douglas book that I really enjoyed! It shouldn’t be a surprise that Birthday Girl is an age-gap romance, and I LOVE age-gap romance.

What I loved most were the characters in this book. I liked that Pike and Jordan as individuals and as a couple. They had great chemistry, and I loved every scene they shared together. However, as much as I liked Jordan, I questioned why she stayed with Cole for so long. I understand they both went through tragedy together, but Cole was terrible, and everyone saw it but her. I mean, even his dad thought she could do better.

While I would have liked a faster burn romance, I understand why this had to move slow. They fought their attraction for each other for understandable reasons, though I did think that they let other’s people’s opinions matter too much.

I enjoyed this one a lot, and I loved seeing Pike and Jordan grow both independently and together. I like the ending as well; it made sense for them, and it wrapped everything up nicely!

Available on Kindle Unlimited