Ok, I liked this one. But I also wanted more.

I liked the overall story - Cass and Reid building a relationship during a big ad campaign. I liked how they supported each other, and encouraged each other’s art. I especially loved the friendships, especially those of the Buxom Budoir women.

I do feel like I missed some of how Cass and Reid fell for each other so quick, but that could me more due to the writing. And towards the end, I was starting feel a bit bored. I am not sure if that was the book or just my mood at the time.

Overall, enjoyable and will definitely still recommend. (3.5ish)

This book was absolutely delightful. Danielle Jackson crafts likeable characters who it is immediately easy to root for-- realistically complicated but kind-hearted and good. Our protagonists Cassie and Reid are accompanied by a loveable supporting cast of friends-- some of the most fun parts of this book are hangout scenes where you can just bask in the good vibes. In addition to a really heartwarming romance, Jackson provides interesting glimpses into the world of fashion photography and the night life of Chicago. Top it off with body positivity and a diverse cast-- this book is a good time you don't want to miss!

Great body positivity. I enjoyed learning about the world of fashion and photography. The main character was fierce and I really enjoyed her story.

I absolutely loved this debut from Danielle Jackson - size inclusive, diverse characters, some spicy scenes and characters who communicate (for the most part) with one another are just some of the things you will see in this workplace romance. The chemistry between Cassie and Reid was palpable and I am truly looking forward to more from this talented new voice.

Thank you to Berkley Romance for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

I loved the concept of this book - and the black girl magic that it showed. Especially shining a light on how much black women have to struggle against in the world we live in. It also shines a lovely bright light on body positivity and size inclusivity! Cassie is a photographer and small business owner. Her best friend is an influencer and positive body image superstar who is launching her own line of size inclusive lingerie. The launch of the line is set to include Cassie as photographer and art director -until her friend gets pregnant and can't star in the campaign. Also - unknown to Cassie and co. - the lingerie company wants their regular photographer Reid to lead the campaign as art director. They set him up to work with Cassie and "babysit" the campaign (aka spy and make sure things go according to their plan). Cassie and Reid quickly connect and become much more than coworkers.

Cassie and Reid are definitely fire together - and a lot of fun. I loved picturing the art and designs in my mind - and Danielle Jackson does a fantastic job of making it all accessible to my very non-artistic brain. But here's the thing. I felt - weird about certain aspects of the book. I really didn't feel the connection between Cassie and Reid. Even as they were telling each other "I love you" - I didn't quite feel it. I think they wanted to love each other - and maybe they do by the end - but I just didn't feel it. I also HATE big secrets - because the anxiety of the confrontation just gets to me. And in this case - the big moment felt so weird. Like I didn't understand what even happened.

Overall - I liked so much about this book, but the romance part of it really wasn't the greatest. If you read this one - read it for the female empowerment, black girl magic, and strong and wonderful female friendships within a diverse group.

I received this as an ARC via NetGalley, but these opinions are all my own.

First off, this cover is beyond stunning! I love a good enemies to lovers trope, and boy oh boy did this book do it perfectly. The body positivity and woman empowering woman in the book was so inspiring.

The characters were very diverse, and the representation was wonderful. I was so happy to see it was told in both Cassie and Reid's perspective. It was so adorable to see how they were both progressing with their feelings on such a similar timeline.

I finished this book with a huge smile on my face, because I loved every aspect. It touched on family dynamics and friendships in a very positive way. If I had to describe this book in one word it would be positivity.

When I read the description for this book I was definitely interested by the representation of body positivity and racially. I loved the character of Cassie and felt like she was strong (even if she didn’t always stand up for herself the way I wanted). I was less impressed with her love interest Reid which did make the story drag for me a bit. Sometimes I think romance books are a bit like horror stories when you get the scene and the character is making the dumbest choice and you want to scream at them to make a better choice and I definitely had that moment in this book. Reid and Cassie are both photographers and Cassie’s best friend has a new lingerie line coming out and wants Cassie to be the art director for the campaign but the company producing the line wants to use the guy they always use and trust Reid. All of this leads to my wanting to scream at the characters moment when Reid agrees to work with Cassie and take extra money to babysit her and report any problems with the overall vision to the company.

I really enjoyed this read! Danielle Jackson really created some wonderful characters.

Cassie is now one of my favorite characters ever written. Her voice is independent and confident! But she's a total sweetheart. She hustles hard, would do anything for the people she cares about, and let's not forget, is a wonderful plus-size woman of color!
Reid has total book boyfriend material written alllllll over him. I appreciate that he doesn't really point out that our FMC is plus size, but instead talks about her body the way you would any body. In my opinion he's the one that does the growing in this book. Cassie really already knew who she was, and what she would or would not compromise on. Which I found refreshing.

However, I didn't care for the writing style. It felt a little confusing at times, especially since there isn't a clear POV. It's implied whose view we're getting, and that's just not my jam.
I also didn't care for the ending. Talk about rip your heart out...I wanted the ending to be a little more fluffy.

I absolutely loved this book. The body positivity and the plus size heroine made this book perfect!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this debut novel about rival photographers who unexpectedly end up working together. Cassie Harris is the owner of Buxom Boudoir, a boudoir/pinup photography business. Her best friend, Dana, is an influencer and model set to release a new, size-inclusive line of lingerie as part of a partnership with a lingerie company. Cassie will be photographing the campaign with Dana modeling. Having a national campaign under her belt will be a huge boost to Cassie's career. But then Dana gets pregnant and is forced to be on bedrest for her entire pregnancy—and Dana and the lingerie company executives decide Cassie would be the perfect model for the line. And the right person to photograph it is none other than Cassie's professional nemesis, the man who's taken photography jobs from her, Reid Montgomery.

Cassie is resistant to the idea because she's not a model and she doesn't like Reid, but she agrees to be the face of the campaign for her friend. Over the course of the following months, as they scout locations and take photos, Cassie and Reid can't deny their attraction to each other, as well as their growing friendship. Soon they're heating things up in front of and behind the camera.

I love photography (I even wrote a photographer character in my debut!), so this book checked a lot of boxes for me. I also really loved the depiction of confident, plus-size women in Cassie and Dana. For most of my life, I've been in the size range between "traditional" and plus, and have always been curvy. It meant a lot to me to see a curvy woman who was confident and desired, and who totally killed it at her photo shoots as a model and art director.

The cast of characters that includes Cassie's friends and business partners, as well as Reid's best friend and brother, are wonderful. I had a lot of fun reading this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book!

This was such an enjoyable read, it was bursting with character development, body positivity, plus size rep, poc rep and well written characters who are all fun and well-rounded! This book has a little bit of enemies to lovers combined with a workplace romance vibe to it and it was full of passion, banter and overall sexiness. As someone who has been plus size for the majority of my young adult life, the concept of a plus size girl going from being behind the camera to posing in front of it, grabbed my interest instantly! Cassie was a strong, vibrant, engaging and powerful woman and i absolutely loved following her throughout the entire book. the relationship was also super cute, as both reid and cassie share a love and passion for photography! i loved seeing their two unique styles and approach to photography shine throughout the book.

There are many aspects of this book I really liked - a plus sized heroine owning her sexuality and power, a great group of friends, and a guy who loves all of the above.
In the end, though, I struggled with the underhandedness of Reid’s deal to basically report on Cassie with their boss. He acknowledges throughout the book that it’s wrong but also just…keeps on doing it. Knowing that was going on made Cassie’s quick turnaround in her feelings for Reid feel a little icky. The fix at the end is great but honestly I could have used a bit more of a grovel!

Read ARC via NetGalley

The Accidental Pinup is fun, smart, well-written and filled with snappy dialogue with a lovable heroine and a fun premise.

Cassie Harris runs a boudoir photography company called Buxom Boudoir, and has convinced her friend Dana to model for her.  Dana in turn wants Cassie to photograph the campaign for her new plus-sized lingerie line, Dreamland, which is about to go national. This is music to Cassie’s ears; she has ambitions of making it big as a photographer, and to outdo Reid Montgomery, photographer for Chicago Magazine.  They’ve been rivals in all things photography for years, but when Dana suddenly falls ill in the middle of a shoot, Cassie’s plans change.

It turns out Dana is pregnant, and her pregnancy is complicated and requires much bed rest. That means that Cassie – due to corporate sexism which keeps her from directing herself in the shoot - has to step in for Dana as a model for the campaign, and that she needs a new director/photographer to help her shoot it.  Cue Reid – a friend of Dana’s – stepping in to the breach.  Reid and Cassie’s attraction promptly flares to life, and they have to figure out how to balance love and professional matters.

The Accidental Pinup is warm, charming and fast-paced.  Cassie is such a great heroine, with spirit, a spine and a caring attitude.  Reid, meanwhile, has some work to do in coming to terms with his difficult childhood – which comes in the form of dealing with his difficult and strained relationship with his brother.  It took me awhile to warm up to Reid, but I definitely enjoyed his romance with Cassie, which results in his pulling off a wonderful gesture of love toward her.

The book takes on body positivity, childhood scars, and sexism with equal fearlessness.  The way it explains commercial photography and the process of filming lingerie ads is fascinating and unique.

It’s just a plain good, relatable, fun romance. The Accidental Pinup does a good job of exploring what life, love and romance can do to the most cautious of hearts.

Buy it at Amazon, Audible or your local independent retailer
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I wish I could give this more stars. The plus size rep.. the sexy heat... the plot! It was everything!

This was a great contemporary romance featuring Cassandra (Cassie) Harris, a photographer in Chicago who co-owns a boudoir photography business with her best friend, Dana. Dana is about to launch a line of her own size-inclusive lingerie, and she's all set to model it when she's put on strict bed rest very early in her pregnancy. Cassie has been planning to be the photographer and art director for all of the marketing for the new line, which is a sub-collection coming out from a brand called Luscious Lingerie. With Dana out as the model, Cassie learns that she has competition for being the photographer and art director from Reid Montgomery, who has been stealing jobs from Cassie for years without realizing it, and is a regular photographer for Luscious Lingerie. Through a series of wacky events, Cassie, a plus size Black woman, ends up being the model for the line with Reid as her photographer. They are super attracted to each other, but Cassie has to spend a lot of time explaining white privilege to Reid and helping him understand what she goes through in her professional life. Things heat up and seem to be going well until, of course, the whole thing blows up (this is a romance novel, after all). I liked Cassie a lot and Reid was okay overall, though he did have kind of a white savior thing going on that I wasn't very into. Still, I liked their chemistry and the cast of characters at the boudoir studio a lot. I'd love to see a book with Sam and Russ!

I did not really connect with this book for some reason. I don’t think the romance was compelling enough for me probably because it is an insta-love situation, I might try again some other time.

DNF at 46%

There are some things that are great about this book and I was very excited for it. I love the positive plus size representation, having a Black heroine who talks about the challenges she faces in her field AND how what got her into photography was wanting to see people of color well-lit in beautiful photographs. The premise sounded fun and I'm all for this idea of a cool, size inclusive lingerie line launching. I really like Cassie the heroine, though I find it frustrating that she let's people treat her with less respect than she deserves sometimes.

Unfortunately some things about the romance really aren't working for me and I don't feel good about continuing and giving this a lower rating when some readers may not have the same issues I do. It's a bit insta-love (or let's be real, insta-lust) for my preferences, especially between rivals. That alone might not be a deal-breaker for me, but added to it is the hero is pursuing a relationship with Cassie while secretly being paid to spy on her and babysit her for the duration of this product launch they are supposed to be collaborating on, and he's not saying a word about it. For me that's kind of reprehensible and tough to come back from, especially when I don't get why she would be into him anyway aside from physical attraction. She deserves better! Based on other early reviews I took a look at, I don't think the resolution will be enough for me to get past this and since it's a romance, whether I want them together is pretty central to my rating.

All that to say, I hope other people who are less picky about this check the book out and love it! Unfortunately it's going to be a miss for me. I received an advance copy of this book for review via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed the premise of this story! I didn't know much about how boudoir photography worked and it was really cool to get some insights into the field and how Cassandra and Dana's business has impacted their local community. I also loved how this book featured a plus-sized Black woman who's confident and loves her body. I only wish that the relationship between Cassandra and Reid was more naturally developed. I would've liked to see them be rivals for a little longer before getting together. Their arc seemed pretty fast-paced to me, so I was it was a little more drawn out from the rivals to the lovers portion of their relationship.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

CW: family tensions, side character with a high risk pregnancy

I would recommend if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-m/f workplace romance
-insta attraction
-rival photographers
-curvy rep

This was a fun, body positive story that I truly enjoyed. Cassie and Reid had wonderful chemistry, neither looking for a relationship, but unable to fight their attraction. I loved how Cassie had confidence in her body, and so did Reid, attracted to everything about her. She was a strong woman who knew what she want, and despite some hiccups, continued to fight and know her worth in this world. Her friends were wonderful side characters always hyping her up.

Reid was not perfect, struggling with his family and coming to terms with that tension and giving Cassie her due. No unnecessary angst, some great steam, and a great pay off.

Steam: 3.5

Meh. I’m sorry, but I wasn’t able to get into this as I couldn’t get motivated to care at all about Cassie or Reid, since I found the story dull. I just didn’t connect with this one.



eARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley. Opinions shared are my own.