Review: Sexiest Man Alive

by Diana Holquist
Rating: 3/5

Shy No More Worksheet Name: Jasmine Burns Imagine the person who intimidates you. Naked. I'm intimidated by Josh Toby, the world's biggest movie star. Who has to imagine him naked? I've seen it on a forty-foot screen. Breathe deep. Did I mention he's Josh Toby? As his costume designer, I'm supposed to dress him. And undress him. Oh, and my psychic sister Amy, who has never been wrong, named him my One True Love. Breathing is completely out of the question. Ask for what you want. What I want is for him to stop being so...irresistible! I want not to fall in love with a man who's stalked by the paparazzi, whose washboard abs could cut glass, and whose movie star girlfriend is the most stunning creature ever. Believe you can do what needs to be done. Then do it. So, all I have to do is believe I can resist Josh Toby. Resist those deep violet eyes, those strong, muscular arms, and the way he makes me feel like the only woman on earth. Couldn't be easier. Yeah right...

Sexiest Man Alive is the second book in the Make Me a Match/One True Love trilogy. This one is about Jasmine the “youngest” sister of the Burns’. This is also the one where the continuity flaws appear, which despite that being a pet peeve of mine I ignored in favour of enjoying the story.

The big problem is that the order of the sisters flip-flops around in both this book and the third. In Make Me a Match Cecelia is the oldest followed by Amy, in this book however Amy is the oldest. Amy’s personality also changes, it stays relatively the same, but her motivation is wildly different. Also instead of Amy’s voice having faded in absence of her sisters and reappearing in Make Me a Match, it’s still almost completely gone. And that last one is weird when you consider how many times the voice reappears to give a name.

Okay so, gripes over onto the story. Jasmine is a deathly shy woman who is also an expert seamstress. She’s applying for a job to help costume a Broadway play. Except the potential boss is her weak spot he’s an attractive male, and surprisingly (to her) he’s also straight. Which means that she’s terrified of speaking in front of him.

And then Amy arrives and tells her that at a Thanksgiving dinner a few years back her voice came back briefly to say that Jasmine’s name is Josh Toby. But she’s sure it’s not that Josh Toby, the big movie star. Josh Toby by coincidence (okay romance novel coincidence) is taking part in the play. He wants to absolutely blow the socks off of all the critics and then reveal his identity, to prove that he really can act.

So Jasmine and Josh meet and Josh both realises that Jasmine’s shy and that she’s lying about the problem. Turns out back in India with her mother Jasmine had a crush on her tutor and he kissed her, only for it to all be a joke and her ending up being called a whore by all the other kids in the area. Even more than that when Jasmine came to America afterward she felt rejected by her sisters.

I liked that Cleo, Josh’s movie star girlfriend was all just a ruse because I’ve maintained for years now that a certain celebrity couple is fake, and well come on so have you. I also liked her as a person despite how bitchy she got. And I think after those wasted years on Josh she did deserve her happy ending.

In the end however I really liked the concept of choice and how the names played into that for Jasmine and Cleo. Also how both Josh and Jasmine dealt with their problems. Surprisingly too I felt that the depiction of fame was reasonable and didn’t go too far into the “poor me I have loads of money and fame and yet this is awful” side of things and still showcased the paparazzi and those elements being horrible.

So in conclusion this is a really great story and I recommend that you read it if you’re interested.

Currently Listening: Stop Calling Me – Boys Will Be Boys