Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Nicki’s Fight
SERIES: Twin Peeks Bookstore #2
AUTHOR: Mellanie Rourke
PUBLISHER: self-published
LENGTH: 245 pages
RELEASE DATE: December 9, 2019
BLURB:
KAINE –
A lifetime of abandonment leaves its mark on a person. So much so that when Nicki left, it made a twisted sort of sense. After all, everyone else I had loved in this world had left me, why should he be any different?
Six years later and he’s back in my life. He’s still the same Nicki. Still the same sensitive, intelligent, loving and compassionate man he was years ago. Except…there are shadows in his eyes that were never there before. How do I love him again, trust him again? If he disappears now, there’s no way I’d survive.
NICKI –
I love Kaine Devereaux. I always have. But sometimes love just isn’t enough. When my family moved thousands of miles away to chase the dream of a cure for my mysterious illness, Kaine and I had no idea that more than distance would end up separating us.
How do I ask Kaine to trust me again when I almost destroyed him? How do I ask him to love me again, when I’m still haunted by the specter of my past?
REVIEW:
I HAVE to warn you guys before you attempt to read this, if you have triggers, you need to be VERY careful with this book. Although it is a book of second chances and finding yourself again, it is also about SEVERE abuse and beatings. And it’s graphic. It’s about someone’s control over others in a bad way. Controlling, possessive, manipulative and corrupt. It’s a very harsh and heartbreaking story, but it’s the will to live and keep going that makes this book. The willingness to take abuse to save others, knowing your life is basically forfeit. Bring many tissues because this one will get you in every way possible.
Nicki has had a life that was alright for the most part, until he hit his teens. Then it got really bad. Secrets between his parents came out, he found out about his illness, he lost the love of his life due to his ‘father’ and said father started beating him and his mother basically to death almost daily. Thankfully his mother got away, and was trying to get him, but Nicki knew for her to be safe, he had to stay and endure. Until a very close friend saved his life. Now he’s starting over, and ran into the love of his life again. Kaine is shocked and doesn’t want to see Nicki at first, but through some kicks in the pants, he hears Nicki’s story and the anger and grief over their relationship dissolved quickly. But even though he knows the story and knows now the full truth, can he allow his heart to pick back up where it left off and continue to love the only one he’s ever really loved or is it time to let go and move on?
Whew. I can’t even begin to describe how good this book is but how hard it was to read. The more I read stories like this, the more I remember how it really is in the world and know that this kind of stuff happens in real life and it makes me hate people even more. How people could be so cruel to others, especially those that are supposed to be their children. Whether by blood or not, how could people do what they do to their children. Because it wasn’t just Nicki who went through hell as far as parents. Kaine did too. Thankfully Kaine finally had a way out, but it doesn’t make the psychological part of his brain deal with it any better. He still has PTSD about some things. Still freaks out over some stuff. But therapy has helped him deal some. And thankfully for Nicki, he had a friend who knew something was up and set to work quietly making sure Nicki had a way out. It doesn’t mean life was easy. It wasn’t by far. You will see when you read it. But gah, Nicki was brave and he was strong. And so was Kaine. They still had to fight every single day, but that’s what they did. They fought, they loved, they laughed, they cried, they lived. And learned to take one day at a time.
This series is going to be a hard one. I can tell. But it’s worth it. I see the start of more that is going to come and after what happened in this one, there’s a lot of work that’s going to have to happen to move forward. I’m anxious to read the next one, but nervous as well. It’s going to be tough.
RATING: 
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