Imagine you found out John Lennon wasn't dead. And now you're cooking for him and attracted to him, but you have to keep his secret.

That's the basic premise behind Jane Blackwood's THE SEXIEST DEAD MAN ALIVE. Rose Pisano took a job as a personal chef for a mystery man. The money's great and would enable her to save up to buy her restaurant. She never saw the man, but decided she was attracted to him anyway. An emergency prompted her to find him and she was surprised to find out he was rock star Declan McDonald, presumed dead.

Rose had a lot of spunk and I liked rooting for her. She had a good head on her shoulders.

Declan decided to get away from the crowds, publicity, and women throwing themselves at him--all the staples of a rock star's life. He holed himself away in Providence, Rhode Island. (Not that odd considering Peter Frampton lives in Ohio.) He wanted to stay dead, but he'd written a song for a dead child's parents and the mother wanted to locate the author. A private investigator tracked him down through Rose. Being the self-absorbed guy he was, he broke up with Rose to "spare" her the grief of the press.

Rose took her notoriety and parlayed it into jobs and was able to open her restaurant sooner.

Rose didn't grow much in the story, but she didn't need to. She had grace and class from the beginning. Declan realized that he didn't need to protect Rose and that the publicity wasn't all that bad. I have to say this was one of the most unique story lines I'd read in a long time.

Reviewed By: Chris Redding
© August 2004