#Castle: Nikki Heat

[multifandom-gif]

THIRD TIME'S (DEFINITELY) THE CHARM 🥹🤍

[renegadesstuff]

“If it's so adorable, why didn't you sleep with me?” 🫠

S3E011, “Nikki Heat” aired 13 years ago (January 3, 2011) 🤎

[imzadi-caskett-huddy]

There is Nikki Heat fanfiction on fanfiction.net. I had no idea this existed. Castle fans literally wrote fanfiction based on... well, kinda fanfiction.

Best. Fandom. Ever.

[partnersincrime]

"To KB: May The Dance Never End And The Music Never Stop."

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Back to the Tie-Ins

Ok, so literally I have two key memories of getting my master's: just absolutely stupid amounts of pain from uncontrolled RA and spending painsomnia-filled nights watching Castle to distract myself. (I did earn that degree, so I must have managed to do the work too, but honestly that's not my abiding memory...) So when I was hitting burnout in my PhD, I picked up the Nikki Heat books to see if they would be as good for my doctorate as the show was for my master's. All I can say is that it's a damn good thing I had a killer teaching poker face, because when you're 15 minutes early to your class, standing in a hallway with your students and hit the big sex scene in the book, you REALLY don't want your face giving that away. So on that note...let's talk Heat Wave.

Unfortunately, this book was wildly forgettable. It was fun and well-paced enough to keep me reading, and there was definitely a sense of "ooh I can finally read Rick Castle's books and see what the (decidedly in-universe) hype is all about" when I picked it up. That said though, I think where this book really lost me was in my expectations.

I knew going in that this was a tie-in in the sense that someone had written a book that existed in the Castle universe, not more Castle stories, but somehow I guess I kind of still expected it to feel more like Castle than it did? Nikki and Rook are fine, but if you want them to be versions of Castle and Beckett, then they are pale, watery, moonlight versions, without the snark and complexity that made Caskett such a great couple.

Disappointment in the book being literally what it said on the tin aside, author Tom Straw puts together a heck of a good cop/mystery novel. I had zero complaints about the pacing, genre conventions, or even the writing. The break-in at Nikki's apartment had real stakes and tension and hand me on the edge of my seat, and I genuinely enjoyed the twist and reveal at the end of who the real villain was.

Overall, I think my disappointment had less to do with Heat Wave itself (and I wasn't THAT disappointed, I did still finish the book) than it did with this experience being a learning one for me. I prefer tie-in novels that expand the world, not that are part of the universe. That's why I vibe so well with the Star Wars EU/Legends books and the Firefly novels. So I suppose my recommendation on the Nikki Heat books is...Your Mileage May Vary. If you're not looking for more of your favorite in-universe characters and you're a fan of cop and detective novels, you might really really enjoy these. Not so much for me, but I'm certainly not sorry I read the book. I do still have the next couple Nikki Heat books on my shelves, and I suspect I'll read them eventually!

[kikizubik]

Castle 2.17

The best episode yet! The serial killer obsseses with Nikki Heat aka Detective Beckett! I totally forgot about that one!

Love this moment 😂😂

Not fair, I need to go to sleep because it is episode with cliffhanger! Dang. I have to be tough and wait until tomorrow.

[nikki-rook]

I haven’t decided whether I will attempt to take the Nikki Heat books on again. I’ve read the first one long ago and I own 5. Struck out on finding used copies today though, but I did buy a second copy of deadly heat just to have it in paperback 😬

[alwayswritewithcoffee]

In episode 3x11, Nikki Heat, Ryan says that Nathalie Rhodes is on his freebie 5 list. What do you think of this concept? Is it supposed that because the people you would cheat on your partner with are celebrities does that make it right? (I know this depends on the agreements of each relationship, but I want to know your opinion)

If you mean in the context of the show -- I've never really taken Ryan's comment that seriously. At least in the sense that, should the option become open, he would follow through. Just more that he likes Natalie, has a bit of a crush on her, and has talked about it with Jenny. As for the concept itself: Eh. If I were in a relationship with someone and they went ahead with someone on their freebie 5 list, I'd definitely have issues because I'd struggle to trust that they wouldn't just decide to cheat with someone who wasn't. But that's me. Everyone else has different ideas about how they'd would handle it. But I'd also never agree to such a thing, so if that were to happen, it would be an entirely different situation going on.

[read-watch-listen-17]

Driving Heat (Nikki Heat 7)

I’m a little behind, but we started September off with book #53.

I love these Nikki Heat books, but I’m gonna have to wait to read the rest of them because they’re giving me the undeniable urge to rewatch Castle. And that is very distracting 🤣

This one made me a little sad and took longer to read than usual because Heat and Rook were fighting...disagreeing...not seeing eye to eye. However you want to phrase it. They weren’t the snarky, bantering, loving couple that I want to read about. But then the action started to pick up and they headed back to normal so in the end it was all good.

These characters, like so many others, have a special place in my heart. I can’t explain why, but they do ❤️

[secretarydamselfly]

Castle

Castle, you have no business to be this funny, but you do. 🤣 The show must’ve been so popular, people started to ask for books written by Richard Castle. I found a copy of Heat Wave, book 1 of Nikki Heat series, for Amazon Kindle and audio book via Libby. My holiday reading is set.

[c-k-mack]

Castle 3x11 Nikki Heat is one of my favorite episodes so far, between Laura Prepon’s hilarious guest appearance and Ryan’s proposal.

[renegadesstuff]

Season 3 🥹 Season 5 🤍

[bunysliper]

Castle Ficlet: For Your Eyes Only 1/1

For Your Eyes Only

 He hasn't published another Nikki Heat novel since the spring before Jake and Reece were born, but that doesn't mean he hasn't been writing. It doesn't mean he hasn't continued Nikki and Rook's story. She just happens to be the only person he's shown the rest of the story, at least thus far. No doubt eventually he'll go back to his publisher and make the pitch to continue the series, but for the time being, it's theirs and theirs alone.

 Of course, that doesn't stop him from making sure he gets the presentation right each time he finishes a piece. No, he still prints the manuscript, no matter how large or small it is, and even does his own makeshift binding before presenting the bundle to her at random times throughout the day.

 Today it's over dinner – a dinner that is just the two of them since the kids ate earlier before she was able to leave the precinct and are already in bed. As soon as they push their plates toward the center of the table, Rick leans over and plucks the papers from the seat Jake usually occupies.

 "So this one isn't that long," he says, licking his lips. "It's more of a short story than a whole book, but I wanted to make sure I gave it to you now. Since it's been crazy lately."

 Kate smiles, reaching over to cup his cheek. "Thanks, babe. I promise as soon as the heat breaks it'll be easier."

 He kisses her palm. "I know. And it's more than okay."

 She nods, glancing down at the pages in front of her, taking in the front page that contains both a title and a dedication:

 To You.

 "Can I read it now?"

 He grins, leaning over to kiss her forehead. "Yeah. Go for it. I'll just put these in the dishwasher and go sit over there. Don't tell me if you hate it, okay?"

 Kate laughs lightly. She's never hated anything he's written, even the novels he bemoans ever having completed.

 "Go sit and stop fishing for compliments."

 Castle grins, nodding in agreement as she stands, holding the bundle to her chest, and makes her way to the couch and gets comfortable.

[partnersincrime]

[gifscastle]

So... I guess your Nikki Heat has a back-story now, Castle.

[justellie-b]

Been wanting to do this since last year (haha I had to.. you can only do lame NY jokes once a year 😛😂)

Anyways, I love how Castle's reply to her question on "what would Nikki Heat do" was almost exactly what Kate herself did in the very next episode. Perfect!

2x03 // 2x04