If they want Kirk-esque adventures (and who wouldn't... I remember watching the first episodes of TNG and wondering how Picard et al would be able to stick flowers into the gun barrels of their enemies... but oh wait they wouldn't have time because they had to have a 45 minute board meeting to discuss the problem) they should consider mining the Peter David novels in the 'Star Trek New Frontier' series.
They're the only Trek novels I've ever read (at least the first few) as a friend had recommended I check them out knowing how much I dig Kirk- and I wasn't disappointed! Fun sarcastic adventure without being too over-the-top snarky. Good stuff and reasonably separate from all the other ST nonsense going on. Hell the only TNG or after Trek show I ever dug was DS9 which became interesting after the first season or so.
Here's a list from an Amazon user of the 'New Frontier' novels:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/listmania/fullview/1EBIT1AYZWZLN/103-9029226-2566265?%5Fencoding=UTF8