Birthday Girl (2018) by Penelope Douglas is a racy age-gap romance for adult readers and features taboo themes and steamy sequences. The novel tells the story of 19-year-old Jordan Hadley, who, along with her boyfriend, Cole, is forced to move in with Cole’s father, the handsome and controlling Pike Lawson. As Cole drifts apart from Jordan, Jordan and Pike experience an intense attraction. Torn over his desire for the much younger woman, Pike fears that following his heart may have terrible repercussions. While the novel contains complex and taboo elements, it has also been appreciated for its characterization and exploration of themes such as The Impact of Parental Neglect and The Ability of Love to Conquer All.

Like many of Douglas’s romances, Birthday Girl was a commercial success, and the novel has achieved popularity among the online BookTok community. The author of boundary-pushing works like Misconduct (2015) and Credence (2020), Douglas is known for her portrayal of taboos and explicit scenes.

This guide refers to the 2018 Penelope Douglas paperback edition of the novel.

Content Warning: The novel contains explicit and sometimes misogynistic language, graphic sex scenes, and taboo elements like age play. It features protagonists with a large age difference, and the female protagonist is coded as youthful.

Plot Summary

Jordan Hadley, a student of landscape design at Doral State University, finds herself in a fix on the night of her 19th birthday when she and her boyfriend, Cole Lawson, are evicted from their apartment after Cole’s rough night of partying. Jordan has had to fend for herself most of her life. Her mother left her and her sister, Cam, when they were children, and her father, Chip, is negligent.

Jordan and Cole are rescued by Pike Lawson, Cole’s father. Jordan agrees to stay over at Pike’s home for the summer in exchange for doing chores around the house and paying for groceries and electricity. Jordan bartends at Grounders, a local pub, so that she can save money to pay off her college loan. Cam works as a dancer at the strip club The Hook and often asks Jordan to join her, as the pay is better. Jordan dismisses the offer, uncomfortable with Cam’s line of work.

As Jordan spends more time with the handsome, possessive Pike, she begins to see that she has much more in common with him than his son. Like Jordan, Pike is quiet and responsible and shares her love for construction and landscaping. Pike has been single for most of his adult life and broke up with Cole’s mother, Lindsay Kenmont, following Cole’s birth. Pike was 19 at the time, and becoming a young father forced him to grow up fast. As Jordan grows close to Pike, she begins to drift away from Cole, who is hardly home. Cole has an uneasy relationship with Pike, who he erroneously believes cheated on his mother.

One night, Jordan walks in on Cole with another girl. Cole tells her that he has been seeing the other woman for quite some time. Though he and Jordan have always been great friends, they are not meant to be partners. Heartbroken, Jordan wants to leave Pike’s house. However, both Cole and Pike agree that Jordan should stay on as Pike’s tenant until she finds a better apartment. Aware of the growing attraction between him and Jordan, Pike decides to date someone else.

When Jordan finds Cole’s date in the house, she is rude to the woman, forcing her to leave. She admits her jealousy to Pike, and Pike tells her that he is also jealous about her. Pike and Jordan make love, though Pike is uncomfortable about their large age gap and the fact that Jordan was, until very recently, his son’s girlfriend.

Pike and Jordan begin a relationship, which Pike wants to keep under wraps for fear of offending Cole. Jordan, who has always felt abandoned by her parents, does not like the secrecy. Matters come to a head when Pike’s ex, Lindsay, and Cole move into his house while Lindsay’s storm windows are being repaired. Lindsay soon learns about Pike’s relationship with Jordan. When one of Jordan’s ex-boyfriends catches her standing close to Pike, he taunts the couple. Pike hits him and throws him out, but not before Cole hears them. Cole storms out of the house. Pike tells Jordan that he cannot choose between her and his son. Devastated, Jordan moves to Virginia for the summer, keeping her whereabouts a secret from Pike.

Meanwhile, Cole joins the Navy. Pike pines for Jordan, realizing that he loves her. When Cole returns from bootcamp, he tells Pike that being away from home has given him perspective on the past. Cole realizes that Pike was a responsible father to him, always putting Cole’s needs above his own. He asks Pike to now chase his own happiness. Pike seeks out Cam and asks her for Jordan’s address. Cam only reveals that Jordan is working at a friend’s motel In Virginia. Pike checks out several motels in the state before he lands at the Blue Pines and finds Jordan. He apologizes to her and confesses his love. Jordan softens and admits that she loves him too. Jordan moves back, and Cole finally accepts their relationship. Pike proposes to Jordan, and she accepts.

Nine years later, Jordan has gotten everything she wished for her on her birthdays. She has started her own successful landscape design venture and is married to Pike. She and Pike have a six-year-old son and another baby on the way. Cole is also happily married with a son, who is the same age as Pike and Jordan’s child. Their family may be unconventional, but Pike thinks it is perfect.