Matters in Hand

Fanfiction
Title:	Matters in Hand
Author(s):	Brenda K.
Date(s):
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	The Professionals
Relationship(s):	Bodie/Doyle
External Links:
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Matters in Hand is a Bodie/Doyle story by Brenda K..

Reactions and Reviews

Matters in Hand is a long, mildly angsty story about Bodie and Doyle discovering their ... flexible ... sexuality, experimenting with it together with not-so-successful results, calling it quits for a while, but eventually, finally, acknowledging the reality of their feelings toward each other. It's written in an interesting "reported speech" style, without dialogue, that in the hands of a lesser author might have been a disaster, but which Brenda executes brilliantly - she's a fantastic writer.

The story is heavy, heavy, heavy on the smut - it comes by its NC-17 rating honestly! - but Brenda is one of those rare authors who succeeds in writing stories that revolve around sex, yet are so much more than merely a succession of sex scenes. That's because the sex is completely integrated and integral, inseparable from the story, an essential part of the story, and the characters are entirely, recognizably themselves in bed. The sex is hot, sure, and that's never a bad thing - but it's also there for a purpose; through it the characters realize things about themselves, and we learn things about the characters, who they are and how they relate and respond to each other, their motivations and thoughts and deepest feelings. A good author can use sex to show us things about a relationship that we couldn't learn any other way - particularly when, as here, the relationship really is the story - and Brenda does.

Plus, the relationship and character development are superb, the voices are wonderful, and the author manages to achieve that elusive balance between guy-ness and feeling - she keeps the guys really guys, particularly during sex, while still conveying their confusion and hesitancy and insecurity and longing for each other. There's a deep but subtle poignancy and tenderness to the story - Bodie and Doyle try so hard to be tough, to hide, even from themselves, the depth of their feelings, how much they care, but it's so easy for us to see how they're just fooling themselves. There's a wee bit of angst, just enough to lend piquancy and set up a nice level of tension, and the conclusion is utterly satisfying.

I give thanks regularly that Brenda is still writing Pros and look forward to much more from her.