Fight For Me (North Shore Crew Book 4)

Nico goes through some hard times, to say the least. War time experiences can mess a person up, but having good friends and an amazing partner in Brooklyn help him through it. The intensity of emotion in this story felt real and hits hard. Excellent book.

Oh this book… this book wrecked me like I knew it would.

First, Nico Rakena is smoking hot and you need this book in your life, ok?

Second, still yourself because it’s an emotional ride.

I had been waiting for Nico’s book because he was so mysterious and quiet and sexy. He’s a big, muscled Maori military man, what’s not to love, ok?

He meets Brooklyn on base and if you thought Lil and Dylan/Ainsley were feisty, watch out, the Queen Bee is in the house. She could spit some fire, let me tell ya, and she did. There were times when her “outspoken diva” side was just too much for me, especially with everything that Nico went through in Afghanistan. I knew he would need tough love to get him back, but at times, Brooklyn was a bit too pushy for her own good. But she was still lovable, even in that right, because she always owned who she was–the only girl of four children.

I enjoyed seeing the mountain that is Nico persevere through his darkest times. He was gallant and manly and tough but oh so human and I cried several times (I’m crying now as I write this) with him and the crew.

Speaking of the crew, it was SO good to catch up with them and see baby Elodie, such a sweetie.

It’s a bittersweet but eager moment because I’m ready (but not) to read Mickey’s book–the last in the series, thus far. I know this one is gonna be a rollercoaster ride too and I’m not quite ready to say goodbye, even if it’s only goodbye for now, to the North Shore Crew.

SPOILER ALERT (Don’t read if you don’t want a spoiler!)
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I NEED Ash’s book and Luke’s book and…spoiler alert–Willow needs one too ;-D

**The amount of time it took me to read this book has nothing to do with the actual book and more personal life events happened.**

I am such a big fan of VR Baucke!! Every time I dive into one of her books I become so wrapped up in the lives of her characters I lose track of time. Staying up long hours just to get to a point I’m not on the edge waiting to find out what happened, which happened often in this book!

Neek went through an enormous battle within himself and being able to read the struggles made my hormonal pregnant (at the time) self cry throughout this book! To have such an emotional response to these characters speaks to the incredible writing and the way I have connected with Neek and his crew! I honestly feel like apart of their Crew, minus the alcohol.

Brooklyn held her own so well with Neek! The banter they had was not only fun to read but insanely hot! At times I feared for how things would turn out for Brooklyn because of how invested I was with her already and it was fairly early!

At times I couldn’t understand what was happening only because I was so horrified to think about the bad but that’s where I love this book so much! Baucke isn’t afraid to take you to that horribly negative side to show every aspect of what it really means to be in the Army. Not everything is peaches and cream, therefore in books it shouldn’t read that way and she nailed it! I think this one was my favorite! I may have taken my time reading this book (not on purpose) and savoring each and every moment but it’s only because I’m so freaking in love with this crew! This series has everything you could ever want! Drama, kidnapping, violence, romance, death, love and emotional overloads like you wouldn’t believe but they are all worth the torment to have the experience!

Brooklyn & Nico
Queen Bee & Packman
I’m so glad we finally got Neek and Brooklyn’s story. I have always wanted to know more about Neek he was the enigmatic member of the crew. His friends thought he was in the army but in reality he was in the special forces. Being on an elite military team he was sent out and knew there was always a possibility he wouldn’t return. Neek was Maori and his mother was told that the Kaumatua (elder) that he wouldn’t come back home after this deployment. With that knowledge weighing on him he meets Brooklyn and unexpectedly falls in love. Brooklyn was a force to be reckoned with and I really enjoyed her. She was determined to get her man and when she sets her mind to something her tenacity has no bounds. She’s the perfect match for Neek because he needs someone who’ll fight for him when he can’t fight for himself. This book deals with some tough subjects but they are handled with grace. VR did an amazing job with this book. Her attention to the details made this a great read! I love this series and the Crew!

I have loved every minute of this series so far but have been patiently waiting for Nico. He was such an enigma to me. He possesses such quiet strength and a heart of gold. However he was so quiet and withdrawn at times that you didn’t know what was going on inside his mind. Nico is the soldier of the group and “married to his military life”. He knew that a relationship was out of the question because when he went on a mission or deployment he had to have his head in the game. When he went to get his hair cut, the new stylist, Brooklyn just blew him away, pulled him in like quick sand. Nico did not know what hit him. Brooklyn was also not in the market for a relationship so that went into this “agreement” to have fun until it was done. Unfortunately, there is no telling our hearts how to think and love. When Nico is called for deployment, the emotional and extremely angsty ride begins. There is no stopping the tears folks. My heart has been through it all in this book.

I have read and loved all the books in this series, but this is by far my favorite. Right away you just know this is going to be an emotional read, but good Lord I was not expecting to ugly cry for 90% of this amazing book.

We’ve gotten glimpses of Nico in the previous books, but we really don’t know him. So going into this, I didn’t except to be so captivated by him the way that I was. From the very first page I adored him, and just couldn’t get enough.

Nico is an army man through and through, and even though he has an insane, intense chemistry with Brooklyn, he is determined not to give in since he is going to be deployed again soon.. But how can you fight something that’s mean to be? When Nico leaves Brooklyn behind in one of the most heartbreaking ways, and then comes back a changed man — darker, angrier, just completely void of who he once was — my heart broke all over again. Can Brooklyn and her love being him back to life? Or will she destroy herself while attempting to heal him?

Just thinking about this book makes me want to cry all over again. The way that mental health was handled was so beautiful and accurate.. And I immediately want to read this again right away. I am just in awe of the talent that this amazing author possess, and I can’t wait to read more of her work.

Even if you haven’t read this series yet before, I encourage that you read this book. It will tear you apart and then heal you in all the best of ways. This is absolutely one of the best books I’ve read all year.

**I received an ARC of this book and these are my honest opinions!**

“No matter how hard we fell or how hard they came at us, no matter how severe or how deep the cracks ran, at the end of the day we were one.”

All of the guys Vi Summers writes are totally swoon-worthy. They are so easy to love, with their big hearts and loving nature. Even if they do put you through the emotional wringer.
Nico was no different.

I loved how this story overlapped with Trav’s (Lie for Me) and answered questions I had been asking myself – like “who is this chick who is Dylan’s neighbour?”

The tension in this story – especially while Neek was overseas – was at times, excruciating. But of course, in the end; there was mega heart eyes…. sigh.

Queen Bee and Packman are the bomb! Pun intended.

Oh this book! I had all the feels reading this book. I wasn’t sure what to expect because we didn’t get much of Nico in the first 3 books, but Holy Cow!
This book is about the relationship between Nico and Brooklyn. When they first meet they are instantly attracted to each other, but Nico is reluctant to start a relationship because he know that he will be deployed soon. Despite this they fall in love. In addition the the love story, this book deals with the subject of soldiers and them having to go to war. Nico has to deal with the trauma of what happened while he was deployed and how who he is now works or doesn’t work in a relationship, because he is a different person now.
In some ways this book was really hard to read because off all that Nico has to go through and deal with. Also Brooklyn has to figure out how to love a man who is not the same one that left.
I loved it from start to finish and VR just keeps getting better and better. I can’t wait to see what she does next.

Have you ever read a book that was so realistic it drew you, you were curious about what was going to happen next, but at the same time you didn’t want the book to end? Well that was my experience with this book!

This book absolutely shattered me for Nick and all of the event’s he goes through. There were moments he for me that I didn’t think I could continue because it hurt to keep reading, BUT let me tell you that it was SOOOO worth continuing to read!
Brooklyn is a strong yet sassy woman, but is she strong enough for Nico?

This entire series each book is better than the next, but they don’t have to be read in oreder, but to get the most out of your reading experience I would recommend reading them in oreder.

What are you waiting for? I know you want to read these books so just one click, but be prepared to go on emotional whirlwinds, you may want to have some Kleenex on stand by, depending on how easily your eyes do that wattery thing!

All of the books in the North Shore Crew series are fantastic, all different- which I love- and all brilliantly written. The crew are definitely in the story and very important too but I think it’s fitting that it’s mainly about Nico seeing as he was the one character we hardly got to know in previous books.

Corporal Nico Rakena, or Neek to his friends, finally gets his story! Ah, I have been looking forward to this for awhile. We met Brooklyn earlier in the previous book and I liked her then so was delighted we were going to learn more about her as well.

The story goes into quite a bit of detail about the life of an army solider, a special ops man at that too; exploring deployment in Afghanistan and the battle there was intriguing, suspenseful and extremely terrifying too. The insight into the possibilities of what can and does happen is enlightening but horrifying at the same time- the after effects too.

Neeks was the quieter one in the group that we didn’t know as much about, his character development in this book is fairly quick but it continues as the story unravels. I honestly love him. Okay, I can say that his tactics, while they may seem a bit strange, were understandable but I just felt for Brooklyn so much at those times. She was one feisty, strong woman who knew her own mind though and was honest- even with herself and I loved that about her. Actually, Brooklyn’s character is fabulous all round.

Along with the characters and for the characters you experience every emotion and they run deep. There is a hefty dose of fun banter and great expressions that are used as well. Likewise, the intensity of the drama leaves you feeling a little drained at times as you go through fear, anger, heartbreak, confusion and grief. I am not ashamed to admit I had tears in my eyes from some of the scenes, the descriptions were that raw and moving.

There’s only one problem with this story- fries dunked in a sundae! No, just no! All jokes aside I can not recommend this series enough, it ticks all of the boxes that make up a sensational story.