Birthday Girl Paperback – 26 Sept. 2023

I devoured this book. To be honest I’d had it in my ‘library’ for a while, and I am so glad I finally got to it. I part read/part listened to this, and the audio is on point! I fell in love with the characters so much, and became so invested in them. And the epilogue is brilliant, I am a huge fan when the epilogue is several years in their future. No brainer, just read it.

This is my second Penelope Douglas book and it did not disappoint. I loved the dynamic and growing relationship between Jordan and pike. The spice was spicing and overall really enjoyed reading.

Damn this book was the most frustrating read for a long time. I was grinding my teeth in frustration, the anticipation nearly killed me off - BUT this book was everything and more. Beautifully written with a fantastic story and a slight taboo edge to it; the elder man and a younger woman who belongs to someone else gets me every time. I literally couldn't put it down !!!Jordan is a strong beautiful young woman who meets a man at the cinema and gets talking to him. He's older than her considerably but she gets on with him really well and lets face it the man is hot stuff, built, with tattoos and a pretty face she feels an attraction to him. Still at the end of the film they say their goodbyes and they each go their own way, she's never going to bump into him again - right ? WRONG . When her and her boyfriend Cole loose their apartment he says they can move in with his Dad until they save enough money to get another place, but when she see's who his Dad is she get's the shock of her life - yep enter Pike, Cole's father, the man from the picture house. Awkward or what !!So this is where it starts to get all angsty and frustrating as we get the smoldering build up of a relationship development between Cole's father and his girlfriend. The characters are just wonderfully written and are so easy to like and get to know. I totally loved Pike and Jordan too although she could be a little childish at times which I guess is normal for a nineteen year old. The times I wanted to throw my kindle at the wall in frustration was many I can tell you, but then we hit 68% and this book soared and I mean soared right up to that scorching sun in the sky. I had a smile on my face that was so wide it actually hurt but it was so good and hot and sexy and delicious - DON'T MISS READING THIS BOOK !!!!So in my opinion Penelope Douglas has outdone herself with this one, I have loved her other books but this for me was just perfection. A tease of a book, full of love, feelings, smoldering lust, decisions of what's right and wrong, heart's being denied and learning lessons - just magnificent,don't miss the chance to experience this book and how it will make you feel !!!

The story is fairly well written but it lost me 100 pages in. I stuck it out to the end to see if it would pull me back in but sadly it did not.Not my type of book but the writing is good.

It's just your perfect little romance book. Perfect from start to end. I enjoy books that just make me smile

I loved this book. The story was brilliant and I loved the characters.Jordan was a brilliant character. She was strong and mature for her age. She knew her own mind and how she felt. I loved her quirks and I loved that she didn’t change herself for Pike. Her wouldn’t want her too. Cole practically pushed her into Pikes arms with how he treated her. I loved the banter and conversations that Pike and Jordan had. She pushed his buttons and it was exactly what he needed after being alone for so long.Pike, my God, that man was perfection. I love that he was a solitary grump, and you have to admire how hard working he is. He was perfect. I loved how he and Jordan first met and that chemistry which was instantly there. They were perfect together from the start. They knew that each other was off-limits and I loved how he didn’t make a move until Cole was out of the picture. He loved his son, but how could he deny the spark between him and Jordan when she was still living in his house? He refused to let her leave because he loved having her around. It was more than a physical connection between them. It was companionship.This was definitely a slow burn, but once it got to the steam, it was worth the wait. There weren’t too many scenes between them, but the ones that were there were enough to satisfy. They were hot and they displayed exactly how much Pike and Jordan were meant to one another.Pike frustrated me at the end when he lacked the courage to be honest. I think he needed to lose her to realise what he had. It also allowed the relationship between him and Cole to not be completely shattered so it did work out best. It was just frustrating because they loved each other and I was routing for them to get a HEA. I loved it when he found Jordan and gave her the speech of a century. I would have fallen back into his arms too after that.The ending was perfect, especially with the epilogue. Slow burns often frustrate me because I love the action, but this one was perfect. The characters were fantastic and I loved the story.Overall, I would definitely recommend this book.Jessreviews.co.uk