Sexy husband on the books (3)
I believe the answer is:
hot
'sexy' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'husband on the books' is the wordplay.
'husband' becomes 'h' (abbreviation).
'on' says to put letters next to each other (in a down clue, letters appear on others).
'the books' becomes 'OT' (abbreviation for Old Testament).
'h'+'ot'='HOT'
(Other definitions for hot that I've seen before include "Spicy or very warm" , "Flaming - spicy" , "Very popular" , "Flaming - stolen" , "(Of goods) stolen (colloq.)" .)