Title: Just the Sexiest Man AliveAuthor: Julie James
Read copy: Mass Market Paperback
Published: October 7, 2008
Publisher: Berkley
ISBN: 0425224201
ISBN-13: 9780425224205
Cool. Calm. Collected.
Nothing fazes Taylor Donovan. In the courtroom she never lets the opposition see her sweat. In her personal life, she never lets any man rattle her–not even her cheating ex-fiancé. So when she’s assigned to coach People’s “Sexiest Man Alive” for his role in his next big legal thriller, she refuses to fall for the Hollywood heartthrob’s charms. Even if he is the Jason Andrews.
Confident. Famous. Irresistible.
Jason Andrews is used to having women fall at his feet. When Taylor Donovan gives him the cold shoulder, he’s thrown for a loop. She’s unlike any other woman he’s ever met: uninterested in the limelight, seemingly immune to his advances, and shockingly capable of saying no to him. She’s the perfect challenge. And the more she rejects him, the more he begins to realize that she may just be his perfect match...
My rating:
Boy, am I glad for my latest crazy book-shopping spree that led me to this little gem of a story.
With this flood of contemporary/suspense/thriller/paranormal romance hybrids out there it was refreshing stumbling upon a "straight" contemporary. They come rare these days, especially if you’re looking for a fresh and frolicking book that manages to deliver from beginning to end.
I loved the feel and the style of it. It was quirky, a little eccentric, hilarious, fast-paced, sarcastic, yet serious and sad at the appropriate moments. It’s obvious the author used to write screenplays, the whole thing had an almost movie-like feel, for me the characters and the story came alive even quicker and the book as a whole was a big more "tangible".
I absolutely adored the characters. They had depth (even the supporting cast), so many dimensions, it was scary, and they appeared "real", like someone you’d meet on a street someday or read about in a magazine.
Taylor with her sarcastic defense system and that huge emotional scar she absolutely refused to acknowledge, yet it shaped her point of view and impacted everything she did and said, almost causing her to make the biggest mistake of her life. Kudos for her logical, lawyer-y brain for (once in a lifetime) being right and put its foot down.
And Jason. Oh, what to say about Jason. At first he was "a typical movie-superstar prick", but oh so slowly Taylor got to know him better, the reader got to know him better, and before you know it, we were both in love with the guy. Okay, so he was a jackass, especially the stunt with his co-star, but he did it for a good cause (his cause). And it worked! And when he finally decided to go with the flow and turned the charm up a notch...Ooh. Two thumbs up for the portrayal of the other part of Hollywood as well, the other side of Jason, beside the movie star. Because, when he finally allowed the true Jason to shine through the VIP veneer, that’s the moment Taylor fell in love with him. When he let himself be just a man instead of the actor, that’s when the arrow hit home. Yay!
Great mixing of worlds as well, Taylor’s legal one and Jason’s movie world (with all its hypocrisy and backstabbing "beautifully" portrayed by Scott Casey). These two complete opposites worked perfectly together, creating a wonderful couple...And a wonderful love story.
A highly recommended read. The author truly did one hell of a job with this one and Ms. James is already on my watch list (I’m looking forward to reading her next book—Practice Makes Perfect).
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