The Accidental Pinup follows photographer Cassie Harris who loves her job—her own company Buxom Boudoir focuses on making people feel beautiful and empowered in their own skin thanks to Cassie’s modern twist on classic pinup photography. When Cassie’s best friend Dana is about to launch her size-inclusive lingerie line and wants Cassie to shoot the career-changing campaign, Cassie thinks all of her dreams are about to come true. But when Dana’s complicated pregnancy and company politics interfere, Cassie suddenly finds herself not behind the camera—but stuck in front of it. Though she’s never modelled herself, Cassie’s pretty sure she can handle the job—what she’s not so sure of is working intimately with the chosen photographer, none other than her long-time competitor and thorn in her side, Reid Montgomery. What neither expects, though, is how fast sizzling chemistry can turn into real feelings when the camera’s off.
The Accidental Pinup has a lot going for it in terms of themes: a fun rivals to lovers workplace romance, great body positivity rep thanks to its fierce and proud plus size Black protagonist Cassie, an emphasis on female empowerment, what it means to be a Black woman and face constant racism and sexism at work and the importance of loving yourself.
What I struggled was the actual storytelling. Especially in the beginning, the writing was pretty clunky. The first two chapters are info dumping galore – it reads more like a CV about Cassie. Sure, we get all the relevant info about her and how her lingerie came to be and how she became friends with Dana but after the fifth page of non-stop recapping her entire career, I almost DNFed the book. Unfortunately, the exact same thing happened when it came to establishing Reid Montgomery. We once again get a rundown of everything that would later on become relevant in a clinical bullet points list which made it hard to care for these characters early on. So to say that I had a rocky start with this book would be an understatement. However, I’m super thankful that I stuck with it because, as you can guess from the fantastic premise, this turned out to be a pretty great read once the writing began to flow.
And much of that can be attributed to the way this book handles important topics with a gentle hand: Cassie has fought tooth and nail to create her own space in the Chicago photographer scene. She’s had to—and still does—deal with racism and sexism at almost every turn, being passed over for male photographers even though her work is just as good if not better. This can of course diminish your confidence but Cassie never let the bastards get her down—she gives everything for her company and is truly a fighter. Sure, there are some hiccups and days where things don’t work out or she questions her place but she always gets back up and works even harder, which was inspiring to read. I loved how that translated into her friendships—Cassie is the kind of friend you want in your corner when things get rough and Dana is the ultimate hype girl. It’s these kind of positive, empowering female friendships that always make my heart soar.
In turn, there’s also such a big emphasis on body positivity and learning to feel comfortable in your own skin— Cassie literally founded her business because she wanted people of colour to feel beautiful in life and have that reflected in photographs. The premise of Dana’s size-inclusive lingerie line also made me feel really seen which I loved.
Now there’s of course the romance between Cassie and Reid. While I wasn’t the biggest fan of the trajectory of their relationship due to secrets Reid has to keep and the role he plays in the campaign, I really enjoyed their witty banter and their insta-attraction. Though neither of them wants to pursue a relationship, they grow closer as they scout for locations and try to make sure that this campaign is the best it can be for Cassie’s best friend. As their friendship and eventual romance develops, we also get to learn more about Reid’s backstory (which was really well-paced in opposite to the clunky first chapters) and fall in love with him alongside Cassie. They’re both flawed characters that deal with a lot of self-doubt and wondering whether they deserve the love of the other which always makes for delicious tension and the will-they-won’t-they quality that I’m sure many readers will love to devour. All in all, if you can stick it out past the first few chapters, then this story is definitely worth falling in love with.
Packed to the brim with body positivity, female friendships and witty banter, The Accidental Pinup is an empowering rivals-to-lovers romance that will hopefully make readers fall in love with their own reflection in the mirror.
The Accidental Pinup is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of July 19th 2022.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Rival photographers are forced to collaborate on a body-positive lingerie campaign, but they might have to readjust their focus when sparks fly.
Photographer Cassie Harris loves her job—her company Buxom Boudoir makes people look beautiful and feel empowered with her modern twist on classic pinup photography. Cassie’s best friend, Dana, is about to launch her own dangerously dreamy lingerie line and wants Cassie to shoot and direct the career-changing national campaign. But company politics and Dana’s complicated pregnancy interfere, and Cassie finds herself—a proud plus size Black woman—not behind the camera but in front of it.
Though she’s never modeled herself, Cassie’s pretty sure she can handle the sheer underwear and caution tape bralettes. She’s not sure she can work so intimately with the chosen photographer, her long-time competitor in the Chicago photography scene, Reid Montgomery. Their chemistry is undeniable on set, however, and feelings can develop faster than film…
