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.

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