The overall diversity and body positivity made this book an instant win for me. While I mainly fell in love with this book for the cover, the contents did not let me down. As a plus size woman I loved the mention of body insecurities and overcoming them. Overall a great read.

Thank you for an advanced copy of this book!

Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pub Date: July 19, 2022

I wasn't sure if I would enjoy this book...and boy am I glad I was wrong! This book brought the spice, the fun, the romance, and everything in between!

I thought a story about a boudoir photographer was really unique and fun, and I was pulled into the story from the very beginning. I thought the book was really sexy and fun! I felt my face get warm a few times when Reid was photographing Cassie, and it was the most delicious feeling! I tried to put myself in Cassie's shoes in this story because she wasn't looking to be a model, and I just found her courage really inspiring!

I really liked the dynamic between Reid and Cassie, and I appreciated the layers/build-up to their relationship. This book was the perfect mix of sexy and sweet. Pick this one up. You won't be sorry!

This was just so stinking cute. I loved it. Cassie is a legend and Reid grew on me. There is literally zero fat shaming in this book, which is such a blessing. Even some of the plus-size romances I've loved in the past few years and have felt like good rep have usually had to contend with outside forces trying to impose fatphobia on the main characters, and there's not even a whiff of that here. If anything, it's the opposite. Fat bodies are celebrated and loved to their fullest, without being fetishized.

Despite the fact that Reid is keeping a pretty sizable secret from Cassie for a big portion of the book, I actually thought they had excellent communication. They actually talked about the complexities of working together, and how their attraction to each other complicated that. There's also a point where they decide not to have sex and just stay up all night talking, and that's the cutest thing in the world.

I also really loved the friendship dynamics here with Cassie and her crew of women. This is the type of gassing up that I love to see among a group.

I'm a bit disappointed (though unfortunately not surprised) to see some low-star reviews for this one on Netgalley, saying they couldn't get into the book. Of course, everyone has their preferences for reading, and I do think it's going to be hard for some readers to come back from feeling a sense of betrayal because of what Reid does, but for me, the grovel was appropriately arranged to show Cassie his remorse. And it feels like some of those reviews are overly ungenerous.

Anyway, good news is I simply adored this, and I can't wait to handsell it. Looking forward to seeing what else we get from Danielle Jackson!

I really enjoyed this sexy, smart, and inclusive romance set in the world of modeling and photography. I haven't read many books featuring photographers and appreciated the originality. I found the conflicts between the main characters to be strong and believable and loved the body positivity!

Romance author and Fresh Fiction podcast cohost Jackson presents a fun, flirty look at the modeling and photography of lingerie.

Full review published in the May 15 issue of Booklist.

Woo this one was so good and fun. I love a book that can make me swoon but also hungry and this did both. I loved it.

I was super excited by the concept of this rom-com, but as soon as I finished chapter one, I knew I would not be finishing the book.

That first chapter is atrocious, a terribly dry info dump that left me with absolutely zero interest in Cassie, Reid, their romance, and the oft-repeated mention of their national ad campaign opps. It effectively killed my enthusiasm and I called it at chapter 3.

Thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

I just couldn't get into this book and didn't care enough about the main characters to finish the book. (I gave myself permission to DNF at 67%.) The romance wasn't exciting. I won't pick up another book by this author.

Full review posted to links after embargo date.

This was a fine and charming debut, but it loses one star for plot reasons and one for personal.

The plot: Reid is paid a bonus by the ad agency to “keep an eye on Cassie,” because they wanted to hire him for the campaign and Dana wouldn’t allow it. They prefer their known, white man photographer to the unknown, loud and unapologetic Black woman photographer. And Reid keeps this a secret from Cassie until, like, the eighty percent mark. That is TOO LONG to keep a secret! I can’t trust Reid to be a good partner if he’s keeping a secret about Cassie’s employer being racist and sexist for that long. No thank you.

Also, he’s the most irritating kind of bad boy: he wears a leather jacket and wears a motorcycle helmet to… ride his bicycle. That’s someone who thinks he is cool and is not.

The personal: this book has huuuuuuuge Naperville energy. The girls that get it, get it. Most of the book takes place in River North, arguably one of the most boring neighborhoods in the city. You cannot tell me that Cassie wouldn’t prefer living on Southport, at a minimum. She’s an Uptown girl! An Edgewater girl! A Hyde Park girl! I totally missed that this was a Chicago book until I opened it (the skyline is literally on the cover, Maddie) and was excited for a taste of home while I am exiled in Missouri and instead it feels like the author goes into the city twice a year. Fine! She didn’t get anything wrong, she just didn’t get it right, you know? Also, Cassie’s parents are like big landlords and that is not a vibe.

Anyways, I did really love this giant bunch of hot, messy people, and I’d read more in this series.

Loved the inclusiveness of the characters and the premise but I found they fell for each other too quickly and months would pass by and it would just be briefly mentioned. It was confusing for the timeline of Reid and Cassie's relationship. I also found Reid boring and their relationship also boring. I read this with a friend, and neither of us enjoyed it, despite the fact that we each matched different aspects of the aforementioned inclusivity.

Cassie Harris is on the road to her dream career. She's got a growing boudoir photography business and she is being considered as the photographer for a national ad campaign for her best friend's lingerie line. When she finds out that she is going to have to work with Reid Montgomery on the campaign, she is less than thrilled. Reid has been given all the photography jobs that she didn't land recently and she considers him a rival. Next thing you know, she is being coerced into agreeing to model in the campaign with Reid is the photographer. As Cassie prances and poses in sexy lingerie in front of the camera for Reid during the photo shoots, things heat up between the two of them.

This book was very sexy and very fun! I kept trying to imagine what it would be like to be Cassie - a regular person with no aspirations to be a model being asked to model nearly naked. Although Cassie didn't want to model, she was such a beautiful full-figured goddess that they couldn't imagine anyone else modeling their line. I don't think I would be confident enough to model in lingerie but it seemed so glamorous and fun that I wanted to be her to experience that rush and excitement!

Cassie was one of my favorite heroines that I've read in a long time. She was smart, charming, and she was the kind of person people want to be around. I liked that she was not scared to put people in their place. Cassie knew what she wanted and she lived her life with integrity and passion. She was the type of strong woman that I look up to and it's no wonder her business and career were thriving.

Reid and Cassie easily slipped into a more-than-friends relationship that I enjoyed. They quickly got over the rivals thing between them. The slow burn of their relationship was nice because it allowed for their relationship to develop before they jumped into bed together. They weren't only really compatible in the bedroom - outside of the bedroom they become more as well. They became each other's person, relying on each other for support when they were going through difficult times. They also shared a passion for the art of photography. I'm not really into art or photography but I enjoyed their conversations about their work because their process and passion for creating was intriguing.

This is a sexy and fun romance that I highly recommend!

Steam level: 🔥🔥🔥

4/5 stars

Thanks to the publisher for the early review copy via netgalley!

The Accidental Pinup is a really cute book with a lot of body positivity. Body insecurities are brought up and quickly overcome. The friendships are very close-knit and I'm expecting to see future spin off novels following some of the other characters.

I really liked Cassie, she's badass, empowered, strong, and flawed (because who likes characters with no flaws). She has some insecurities, but she quickly overcomes them and the obstacles they create. She falls in love quickly and loves fiercely.

Reid was a decent character, however I just never really fell for his character. He just fell a little flat for me. I don't know if it's because I knew exactly what he was doing or what. I wanted to love him, but really only liked him.

I'd still recommend this book!

Meet Cassie Harris, photographer, and owner of Buxom Boudoir where she makes people look beautiful and feel empowered. After getting roped into helping a dear friend with her new lingerie line as the model, not the photographer. Oh no, that job went to her long-time rival in the photography scene Reid Montgomery.

This story is filled with body positivity and very inclusive and I loved that. It’s still not as popular or a frequent thing to find as one would hope.
The characters were fun and interesting. The romance itself was very fluffy and tropey I find that most modern romances tend to lean that way.

Overall this was a solid romance and the ending absolutely made it worth it to finish.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5, maybe? Loved the idea of this, the body positivity, the perspectives on privilege, and the Chicago neighborhood catnip, but the writing style didn't work for me. The first five chapters in particular felt exposition heavy and repetitive. If I didn't feel committed to reviewing it, I would've abandoned it after chapter 4.

I really don’t like this cover, I don’t feel like it encapsulates the book enough, This was a very motivational body positive romance, but I found the writing to be overly descriptive on a pointless level given how brief the story actually is.

This book was such a delight. I loved reading about a strong, confident, body positive MC with a hero who loves all of those things about the heroine too. We need more books like this. Jackson gave me everything I want in a rivals-to-lovers story. Will definitely be reading more by Jackson in the future.

Lovely fluffy romance to get lost in. It took me a bit of time to get fully immersed in the world, I felt Jackson's newness to the craft at first and then got sucked into a tropey, delicious romance with a great balance of conflict and a spectacular resolution. I didn't even see it coming. Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for an early read in exchange for an honest review.

This was so fun and romantic, I enjoyed it so much! Cassie and Reid were great main characters and their romance was perfectly steamy and emotional! I can’t wait to see what else Danielle Jackson comes up with.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a pretty solid read. I absolutely loved the idea of Cassie as a black woman photographer who is all about natural light. I absolutely loved all of the girls in this book. Dana and Cassie were such good and solid friends, supporting each other. Kit and Sam, and Dana's wife were magical and hilarious to read. I honestly would want to read a book about Sam. The idea of burlesque and boudoir in a book had me hooked from the beginning. Cassie being a plus-size woman modeling lingerie that reminded me so much of Fenty Savage was great.
I just don't know if I believed the romance between the couple. It was a little much for me. I do this this will be a great book for many people and there are many things I liked, but it had some meh moments for me.

Overall, with great characters, and a great story about plus-size inclusivity and black women empowerment, The Accidental Pinup will be a fantastic summer read.

the pacing of this didn't completely work for me - everything seemed to happen pretty quickly and without much tension! - but the food descriptions were yummy and the body positivity was awesome. i would definitely read more from this author!