The Accidental Pinup

April 4, 2022
Jackson’s debut drops readers into a loving found family on the verge of extraordinary success in the world of inclusive lingerie. Cassie Harris’s pinup photography business, Buxom Boudoir, is booming with the help of her best friend, Dana, a plus-size model and influencer. Now they’ve turned their combined passion for body inclusive fashion into a line with Luscious Lingerie. Art directing the line’s photography could catapult Cassie’s career, and both she and Dana are sure no one else can translate their vision. Enter Reid Montgomery, the man who consistently scoops Cassie’s dream gigs with similarly styled photography that always focuses on industry standard models—and who now steals the art director gig out from under Cassie. Then Dana’s pregnancy lands her on bed rest just before the launch, leaving the shoot short a model, and Cassie sees a chance to wrest back some creative control by filling in. Cassie and Reid’s ensuing enemies-to-lovers romance charms, but the heart of the story lies in Cassie’s determination to build a career in a world where fat women are often overlooked. A glamorous cast of bold, driven women—and the men who learn to love them—makes this romance a treat. Agent: Ashley Blake, Rees Agency.

May 1, 2022

DEBUT Boudoir photographer Cassie Harris is excellent behind the camera, making her clients feel comfortable and sexy. With her best friend, Dana, she has built her business from the ground up. She's tried for years to break into the lucrative advertising photography business, but each time she's in the running for a job, Reid Montgomery walks away with it instead. When Dana's body-positive lingerie line is picked up by major retailer Luscious Lingerie, Dana insists on Cass as the photographer and art director for the campaign, while Dana herself will be the model. Reid is the go-to photographer for the Chicago-area upper crust, as well as the man Luscious Lingerie calls for most of their campaigns. When Dana has to go on bed rest with her pregnancy, Luscious Lingerie suggests that Cassie step in front of the camera and model, while Reid takes the photos. Everything Cassie has worked for is in jeopardy. She'll prove, again, that she's capable by strutting her stuff as a model while simultaneously art directing, relegating Reid to shutter pusher. As they work, a relationship begins to develop between the two photographers. But Reid is keeping secrets from Cassie, secrets that could destroy her trust. This hot, steamy contemporary romance features interesting characters, rock-solid female friendships, and an empowering, affirming story line. VERDICT Body positivity and inclusivity are popular current topics which, combined with the fast-paced plot and fascinating descriptions, make Jackson's debut novel a good choice for general purchase.--Heather Miller Cover

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May 15, 2022
Romance author and Fresh Fiction podcast cohost Jackson presents a fun, flirty look at the modeling and photography of lingerie. Rival photographers Cassie Harris and Reid Montgomery compete for the same assignments in Chicago. However, as a Black female, plus-size photographer, Cassie finds herself losing to Reid repeatedly. Her push to photograph a national ad campaign for a new pinup-inspired, all-inclusive lingerie line is thwarted by her best friend, the line's designer, who signs her up with Luscious Lingerie to model the outfits and hires Reid to photograph them. While her studio is making a mark in local photography circles, Cassie wants to take her career to the national level, so this demotion to modeling, despite being offered title of art director, smarts. Reid is thrilled to be working with Cassie, whom he respects as both photographer and model. But, in need of substantial compensation so that he can help his brother, he accepts Luscious Lingerie's request to also covertly art direct the campaign. Can Cassie and Reid's budding relationship survive this reveal? Will his atonement be enough?

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June 1, 2022
A curvy businesswoman running a boudoir-photography studio must collaborate with a male rival for an unexpected project in this debut romance. When her pregnant best friend, who's launching a size-inclusive collection of lingerie for a larger brand, proposes that Black photographer Cassie Harris pose for the ad campaign instead of taking the pictures, she's leery, especially if it means being photographed by the White male competitor who often edges her out for jobs. Reid Montgomery has skill, but he's used to skating by on his charm and doing what clients expect, mimicking his personal life of casual ties courtesy of emotionally uninvolved parents and a ne'er-do-well sibling. The lucrative offer to feature Cassie in a lingerie shoot in which she'd get art director credit while Reid secretly ensures the parent company's traditional vision offers a tempting opportunity for both of them. Despite their attraction, Cassie is wary of sharing top billing with someone who's been in the way of her success before, while Reid worries about his secret deal with the lingerie company executives--and its inevitable revelation threatens to split apart their budding relationship, professional and erotic. Set in Chicago, which functions as a romantic backdrop to location-hunting and photo shoots, and with a multiracial and queer supporting cast, this debut has a lot of promise. Cassie's background as the artistic child of high-achieving and wealthy parents challenges racial stereotypes, as does Reid's history of being a popular photographer from a dysfunctional home who's slow to recognize his racial privilege. The infodumping about their lives and the heavy-handedness of Cassie's having to explain why it's hard to be a Black entrepreneur and artist are balanced out by scenes of sexual chemistry between the leads and affection between Cassie and her circle of friends and co-workers. While the crisis precipitated by Reid's hidden agenda is telegraphed almost from the start, it's a structural weakness that is resolved effectively by his eventual big gesture. Questions of race, class, and sexism test the possibility of a happy-ever-after in this interracial romance.

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