Accidentally in Love by Danielle Jackson (Review by Stephanie Rowitz)

Rating: 3/5

Samantha Sawyer is the office manager for a luxury boudoir photography studio with a busy summer ahead running the company’s mobile photo booth at Chicago’s summer festivals. She doesn’t have time for love, but maybe something more low-key would be fun…

Russell Montgomery works at a local restaurant, and coincidentally, is running the restaurant’s food truck at the same summer festivals Sam is. Russell has had a thing for Sam since they first met through their mutual friends over a year ago and is looking forward to working alongside her. He doesn’t want anything casual, but if that’s all Sam is offering, he’d be a fool to pass it up.

While I liked the banter between Sam and Russell, I thought there were a few too many things going on in this book. Sam is struggling with work-life balance, body positivity issues after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, and intimacy issues stemming from her parents’ relationship. Russell is trying to reunite with his brother as he plans for culinary school, and is working through his own intimacy issues as well.

Well-rounded characters are great. We want to see characters who have more going on in their lives than just a romance, but it felt like these characters had a few too many things to work through to be wrapped up so neatly by the end of the book. I would’ve liked to see maybe one or two of these issues addressed and worked through, as opposed to lightly touching on all six of the issues these characters faced. I also wanted the side characters to be pared down and developed a bit more.

Overall, I liked reading about less conventional characters who felt more like real people. Maybe that’s why I wanted a little more for them. Accidentally in Love is still a light, fun novel about two people coming together despite life’s obstacles and going after the things you want.