Book Review: The Accidental Pinup by Danielle Jackson
The Accidental Pinup
Series: Buxom Boudoir #1
Author: Danielle Jackson
Narrator: Jeanette Illidge
Published: July 19, 2022
Audiobook: 10 hours 11 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: November 10-15, 2025
Jessica’s Rating: 3.5 stars
Book Description:
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…
Jessica’s Review:
After trying to find a book based on ‘stranger photo sessions’ and only finding a novella series that did not work for me (I gave the first novella 2 stars and DNF’d the second), this was the closest I could find. And that was thanks to my friend Yami.
Here we have photographer Cassie whose best friend Dana is about to launch a lingerie line for plus sized women. Dana wants Cassie to be the photographer and after a series of events Cassie ends up being the model (which Cassie has never modeled…) and the photographer is Reid. Reid has been Cassie’s direct competition and he has taken potential jobs from her. And there is some chemistry going on between model and photographer.
I really loved the body positivity and representation in the novel with Cassie. In addition to being a gorgeous plus sized woman, she is also a person of color. We are getting so much representation in this novel! And being this is a contemporary romance we also have the rivals/ enemies to lovers sub-genre.
It got a little bit much on the spicy side for me, but I was prepared for that knowing my friend Yami likes her books spicy! For the readers who read spice/ like the spice it’s most likely not too spicy. But ya’ll know I don’t need spicy, and prefer my romances sweet and closed door for the most part. It did seem as if the relationship was mainly based off of physical attraction, and I mean, Cassie is wearing just underwear around Reid, so he can’t help but see what she has to offer and like it or not!
Overall, I enjoyed this one. Of course there are secrets involved in the story. But there has to be some kind of angst! I really want a decent ‘stranger photo session’ novel! And guess what: I actually found a photographer who is local to me who does these sessions! And guess what else?!?!? I put in an application for a stranger session! We will see what happens, my guess is that mainly women put in for these sessions, but you also have to have men sign up. And the photographer actually attempts to make couples based on similar interests. Will I get a contact from that photographer about a match??? Only time will tell….
Short Story Sunday: Novella Review: Off Limits by Ember Davis
Off Limits
Series: Stranger Shoot #1
Author: Ember Davis
Published: June 23, 2021
Kindle: 89 pages
Reviewed By: Jessica
Date Read: November 2, 2025
Jessica’s Rating: 2 stars
Novella Description:
Are you interested in participating in a stranger photo session? It’s a fun way to meet someone new and take part in a unique experience. If you are single and in the Denver area, please fill out the form below. I will pair people as I see fit. All sessions will be free. I will post pictures from each shoot on social media. Each stranger session is different and will depend on the pair.
Maybe your soul mate is just a look away.
~Post on Ellie Banks’ social media
ASPEN
I signed up to be part of Ellie Banks’ stranger sessions because I was swept up in the romanticism of it all. I didn’t think I’d get picked. When the day comes, I’m nervous as hell. Still, I need to find out what all the fuss is about. It’ll be a nice change to my routine which basically involves working at a bookstore.
I don’t know what I was expecting but turning around and meeting Liam was a surprise. He sweeps me off my feet in an instant. Que the swell of swoon worthy background music. The connection between us is undeniable and unstoppable.
What happens when we find out that we’re more connected than we thought? Is it going to stand in our way? Will he fight for me when it matters the most?
LIAM
My business partner encouraged me to sign up for an internet trend, citing that I haven’t been on a date in five years as enough reason. He’s no better than me, devoting all his time and energy to making our IT business what it is now. The hard work has finally paid off.
Five years is long enough to be holed up only worried about the business. That’s the only reason I agree to go through with the photoshoot. Had I known my Sunshine was out there waiting for me in the innocent form of Aspen, I would have looked for her a long time ago. She’s everything that chases away a rainy day; the clouds part for me with one look.
It turns out she should be off limits, but I’m not going to let anything stand in the way of our forever. I’d risk it all, even my business, to make sure she’s the person I fall asleep next to and wake up holding every day for the rest of our lives.
Jessica’s Review:
**This review will have spoilers**
I love the idea of stranger photo sessions (I would go outside of my comfort box and actually do one!) and when I saw this novella, I decided to give it a go. I didn’t realize it was going to be open door bedroom scenes and bit too smutty for me, but I did finish it.
The reader gets to see both Aspen and Liam’s nerves about doing a stranger photo session. And they have an instant connection during the photo shoot. Thy moved it outside of the photo session to a first date.
This is where the ‘romance’ became too much for me: It was extreme insta-love on both sides; it seemed more so for him. Right away he is calling her “His Sunshine” and also extremely jealous of other men. Aspen and Liam find out they have a known person in common which could affect how their ‘relationship’ will progress.
They go on a first date and it gets hot pretty quickly after they watch a game. Aspen decides to tell Liam after she is in just her underwear how inexperienced she is (IE: She’s a virgin) yet they still go all the way. And the internal speak of both was just not for me: How they both wish he would ‘ride her bareback’ and “I want you big and round with my babies”. OMG: You don’t even know each other, it’s not love, it’s 1000% lust! Again, this is just their first date.
Of course there is a HEA, but this novella was just not for me. I will give this series one more try with the second novella to see if it is any better for me. And that is only because it is the stranger photo sessions.
Update: I tried the read the second novella in the series, (First Look) but ended up DNFing it. The second one was seemingly going the same way with the insta-love on both ends, with a slight drama in there. This is NOT FOR ME. And I hated that because I just love the idea of Stranger Photo Sessions (and going out on a bubble, I would totally do one!) but this series is seemingly the only novellas/books to read out there in that ‘subgenre’. I’m very disappointed….
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Audiobook Review: The Otherworld by Abbie Emmons
The Otherworld
Author: Abbie Emmons
Narrators:
Alex Picard
Edward Black
Eric Smies
Published: December 5, 2023
Audiobook: 13 hours 49 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: August 18-25, 2025
Jessica’s Rating: 2.5 stars
Book Description:
Orca Monroe wants only one thing for her eighteenth birthday: to experience the Otherworld—the mysterious “mainland” across the sea that her father has forbidden her from visiting.
Growing up in a lighthouse on a remote island, Orca has lived isolated from the world… until one day when she finds a cell phone washed up on the beach. Orca has her first conversation with Jack Stevenson, a young man whose older brother, Adam, has gone missing after crashing his seaplane off the coast. Orca becomes Jack’s lifeline and his reason to hope that Adam is still alive. While her father is away, she scours the island for the missing pilot—determined to help Jack find his brother and prove to her father that she’s strong enough to take on the world.
One stormy night, Orca finds Adam Stevenson collapsed on her doorstep. As she nurses him back to health, she finds herself spellbound by his inquiring mind and rugged good looks. Simultaneously, Adam is captivated by her wild beauty and pure heart. But with a ten-year age gap between them—and her father’s determination to keep Orca protected from outsiders—Adam knows they can never be together.
Resigned to give Orca up, Adam returns to the mainland—but Jack refuses to leave her trapped at the lighthouse. Blind to the fact that his brother is in love with her, Jack offers to show Orca the world she’s always dreamed of. But when she leaves her island for the first time, Orca begins to realize that the mainland may hold more dark secrets than she ever imagined… and the two brothers she helped bring back together may be the very people she tears apart.
Jessica’s Review:
**This review will have spoilers.**
The Otherworld is YA as the main character just turned 18, but deals with a love triangle with two brothers, one also 18 and the other being 28. I did not have a problem with the age difference between Orca and Adam, but her living on an island with just her father, she possesses an innocence and then her naiveté that made her come off younger. In some ways this novel reminded me of Disney’s The Little Mermaid with Ariel and Eric, but no villain.
I liked Adam, of the two brothers, he was the better choice. Some of that comes with age, which Adam has 10 years over his brother. Jack definitely acted like a much younger brother who still has a lot of maturing to do.
I did not agree with the ending. Despite being an adult, Orca needs more ‘growing up’ IE: She needs to actually experience more of the world and meeting more people before settling down with the first man she meets. She is thinking she is in love, when in essence it is just lust and her hormones starting for the first time. At times Adam tries to fight his feelings, but in the end, feelings win out over common sense. Jack is also a hormonal 18-year-old and it shows. He does have a bit of a redeeming arc towards the end.
I found the side story of Orca’s parents intriguing. It was a ‘side quest’ for Adam and Orca as she encounters ‘the otherworld’ for the first time. Orca’s mother was harsh. But being harsh was no reason to leave your infant daughter with just her father on an island with no one else. While in ‘the otherworld’ the listener gets to experience with Orca eating pizza and discovering a few other things. But for me, Orca needed to live and experience more of ‘the otherworld’.
Again, this is a YA novel and is for YA readers. I am far from the target audience and my opinion of this book shows that. This is a novel that just did not work for me.
All three narrators did a great job portraying Orca, Adam, and Jack. For me they captured the characters essence perfectly.
I read Emmons “Tessa and Weston books” (100 Days of Sunlight and Tessa and Weston: The Best Christmas Ever) several years ago and adored them. I remember Emmons saying on social media that she is working on another T&W book. I will need to re-read the other two again before reading that one once it is released.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK