Birthday Girl

By Penelope Douglas

True love comes from the most forbidden places in this TikTok smash hit from New York Times bestselling author Penelope Douglas, now with bonus material!

Jordan has nowhere else to go when her boyfriend offers to let her move in with him and his dad. Working a dead-end job, with her relationship sputtering, she jumps at the opportunity, expecting to help out around the house in exchange.  What she doesn’t anticipate is for her heart to race every time Pike pulls into the driveway, or to burn when their eyes meet over the breakfast table. He’s kind and listens to her and protects her in a way no man ever has before. Her sister once told her there are no good men, and if you find one, he's probably unavailable. Only Pike isn't the unavailable one…she is.

As the days go by, Pike’s finding it anything but simple to have his son’s girlfriend living in his house. He can’t stop thinking about her and holding his breath every time they cross paths. It feels like she’s becoming a part of him. Except he knows they’re not free to give in to this. How could they when he’s her boyfriend’s father?

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Published Sep 26, 2023

464 pages

Average rating: 7.32

768 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

What Bookclubbers are saying about this book

✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI

Readers say *Birthday Girl* by Penelope Douglas is a masterful slow-burn, taboo age-gap romance celebrated for its intense, drawn-out emotional tensio...

The.readrose
Jan 28, 2026
6/10 stars
3.5 stars.
I liked this book and I enjoyed the characters. My low-ish rating has to do with me as a reader and not this book. I personally had a problem disassociating myself from the story and wasn’t able to escape into the story. The reason being, my dad is only 19 years older than I am. If you’ve read the story or synopsis, then you know the two love interests have a larger age gap. I don’t have an issue with people who do have an age gap, to me, love is love. I just think the fact that they were similar ages to my dad and I and the fact that my dad is an electrician and would work on construction sites, it just fell too close to home for me.
Missfitz225
Nov 21, 2025
9/10 stars
Pike is my other book boyfriend next to Reed. Relax… it’s not cheating if it’s fiction. Loved the yearning and the fire in this one. 🔥 One of the best age-gap (totally legal) stories I’ve read.
Sbulli1305
Aug 18, 2024
9/10 stars
What a tale! Engrossed in this one. So wrong (morally) BUT so rooting for pike and Jordan! 🫣
Tipsy Mermaid
Jul 15, 2026
10/10 stars
Best Slow Burn

Birthday Girl is the slowest of slow burns in the absolute best way! The tension is palpable and just when you finally think you're going to get relief; nope! I highly recommend! Five stars!
AllycatBookworm
Jul 14, 2026
9/10 stars
Absolutely wild

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