Cristiina♡Reads's Reviews > Birthday Girl

➳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...



➳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.

➳When it comes down to the romance between Pike and Jordan, there is nothing more appealing then two individuals knowing internally, and battling their inner thoughts about the wrong thing being right, and the right thing being unfulfilling. Obstacles are in the way of them expressing their candid thoughts, but yet again, that is appeal for me since the angst in this novel is one that I was actually able to tolerate and absolutely adored. However, once the tables turn and they stop fighting each other, there is no turning back to craving each other more and more;

"We're victims of circumstance. At least I can feel confident that I would've liked him no matter what. If he were any other guy who came into my bar, sat down, and talked to me, I would've wanted him..."

➳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 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."

➳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.

➳ARC kindly provided by Penelope Douglas, in exchange for an honest review...

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