A review by paperbacks_and_planners
Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas

3.0

Jordan and her boyfriend move in with his father, Pike, when they get evicted from their apartment. As Jordan's relationships becomes more strained, her relationship and attraction to Pike becomes more confusing.

I read this for the Forbidden Romance challenge for the Smutathon and I was expecting something super taboo and kinky. That isn't exactly what I got though. This was surprisingly slow burn.

Things I Liked
1. The romance in this was really well done. The chemistry between Jordan and Pike was palpable and the sex scenes were top notch.
2. I liked how Jordan stood up for herself. She felt like a strong female lead who didn't let me control or walk all over her.

Things I Didn't Like
1. Cole was so unlikeable that it was hard for this to feel like a believable love triangle.
2. The commentary on the sex industry was kind of uncomfortable. Jordan's sister is a stripper and she and everyone else is trying to pressure Jordan into joining. It was just awkward.. half the time this felt like it was shaming Cam for her job and half the time it felt like it was encouraging it because she made so much money.
3. This happens in every romance but there is always an additional fabricated scenario right at the end that pushes the main characters together. But listening to Pike bitch and moan about "what people would think" started to get annoying.

Overall this was enjoyable, smutty romance. But it wasn't my favorite sadly.