Review: Best of the New York Fellas!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 3, 2014
What I love about series like Rock Chicks, Corps Security and Line of Duty, which we'll collectively refer to as Alpha Men With Hot Friends, is that we get a chance to know and develop feelings for our heroes before their own stories make their way to the pages.  We met Matt Donovan way back during Officer Off Limits. He stands out amongst this group because he's quiet and pensive and, well, broody.  Matt gave Brent some fabulous advice about women after one of the MANY times he screwed up with Hayden, leading me to believe this fella was gonna have this relationship stuff down pat.  He's also given me reason to suspect on more than one occasion that his tastes run towards the unusual.  Given his propensity towards standoffish behavior, his mad skills with the ladies is questionable, but considering he had Lucy Mason's pink behind in his hands within hours of their first meeting, we'll call me half-right.Matt Donovan is a solitary guy.  His parents more or less checked out on him when he was young, so he doesn't have any family ties to speak of.  He spent the majority of his adult life in the military, where his job as a sniper fostered his isolation.  Afghanistan cost him his best friend and his inclination towards dominance in the bedroom cost him his fiancé.  Matt's heart has been trampled on time and again in the name of love and friendship, so he's wary of both.  He's also one of those men who's just. . . . . still.  He doesn't speak unless he has something to say and he doesn't gesticulate.  Matt isn't a ladies' man like Daniel or a joker like Brent, and him calling these fellas friends is more about their collective attempts to suck him in than any desire for companionship on his part.  Friendship, however, is one of the many reasons that Matt fights his obsession with Lucy Mason.Lucy is the youngest of the Mason siblings and is very much a victim of little-sister syndrome.  Even though she buckled down in college and left the reckless behavior of her youth firmly in the past, she will forever be the kid who caused problems that cost her family a great deal of worry and a considerable amount of money.  Master's degree in hand, she's determined to stop being a "nuisance" to Brent and to start pulling her own weight, but she's given herself one week post-graduation to let loose and embrace her inner Mason Daredevil.  She's got an itenerary chock full of exploits planned when she meets Matt.  Heart-stoppingly sexy, the man fires her blood, leaving her craving the ultimate in adventure--a night with HIM.  Lucy responds to Matt's dominance on an elemental level and it quickly becomes clear that once isn't going to be enough to get this man out of her system.Matt doesn't have some deep, dark history of abuse that makes him crave control in the bedroom.  Likewise, he doesn't have an arsenal of ropes and a pulley system that he breaks out. The bedroom scenes aren't a theatrical production that require hours of planning prior to the big reveal or any implement sterilization afterwards. He uses his hand to pink up Lucy's bottom and he's made manhandling her an art form, but Matt's not the guy that's gonna break out the spreader or the clamps.  Honestly, with what this man can do with a belt and a kitchen counter, toys are completely unnecessary.  Matt's tendency towards stoicism DOES NOT extend to the bedroom, either.  Tessa Bailey is the Queen of Dirty Talk and Mr. Donovan doesn't disappoint.  When you're as dominant and aggressive in the bedroom as Matt is, communication is critical in ascertaining both consent and comfort, so Matt communicates --a lot.Excellent addition to the series and there's even moments I loved Matt more than Derek, which is saying a whole lot.