Growing up, I always wished for an older brother . . . someone to champion my causes while at the same time making my life miserable. Having someone to blame for the broken vase or half-eaten cake besides my saintly younger sister would have come in handy on occasion. And, like Paige Forbes, the heroine of Ashley Ladd's Civil Affairs, an older brother could have brought home material for my first---and only---crush that would still linger with me today.

Paige begins exchanging letters with Danny Napolitano when he's sent to the war in Baghdad. She's been in love with Danny for as long as he and her brother Jimmy have been friends, but Paige is afraid she's still Jimmy's kid sister in his eyes. Through a series of chaste letters, we find that Paige still holds a torch for Danny and that to convince him to take her seriously, she feels she has to lose weight.

Danny, meanwhile, is struggling to stay alive. War has a way of changing his perspective, but he's not forgotten Paige--or her crush on him growing up. He keeps in touch with her through letters of his own, and is shocked but pleased when he receives a letter detailing Paige's erotic dream featuring him.

But losing weight and attracting Danny to her for more than just friendship takes a back seat when money begins missing at the campus computer store where Paige--and Danny's ex-girlfriend Penny--work. Paige feels framed and helpless as she's targeted as the embezzler.

While Ms. Ladd's story is written well and keeps us wondering until the end, there are several instances where the events of story are unreasonable for the characters---namely Paige. She has little confidence in herself and, at the urging of her friend Tia, begins to write increasingly erotic letters to Danny while at the same time writing to him about her being overweight and wanting to lose weight for him. It seems unlikely that a woman uncomfortable with herself would be willing to divulge such private information to a man she's been enamored with for some time, but when Danny replies by talking about her weight loss efforts, my ability to suspend disbelief for the sake of the story was blurred. Paige's actions are, at times, inconsistent with the character we know. At the point where Paige and Danny come face-to-face for the first time, Paige has given in to Tia's urgings and allowed herself to be painted naked for Key West's Fantasy Fest only to be led outside by Tia right into the arms of Danny--when Paige wasn't even aware he was home. Mounting coincidences and a surprise ending without basis compete with the otherwise excellent writing style to lead to a somewhat contrived ending.

If I had an older brother, however, I'd hope he'd bring home a friend like Danny in Civil Affairs--a caring, thoughtful, sexy hero capable of making any girl wish for more. It sure would have been nice to have someone to dream about all those long nights I spent grounded in my room for breaking the vase . . .

Reviewed By Sashi Ketsel
© January 2005