What I love about Katherine Center is her ability to weave together romance, humor and family drama in such a natural way. She’s not a cookie-cutter romance author (though in this one it is obvious from the start who is going to fall in love). Center builds strong and unique female characters which I love. This is my third of KC’s books and I intend to read all of her stuff!

Thanks to KC and NetGalley for the ARC.

I saw this book on bookstagram and just knew that I had to get my hot little hands on a copy and I am so please to say that for me it lived up to the hype!

Cassie is a woman in a man’s world, and she has proven that she belongs there as much as any of her fellow firefighters. Her past hurts and experiences have led to do what she has to do to succeed, even if this means building walls up around herself so that she will never get hurt again. This determination has led her to be one of the top in her field – nothing will hold her back from succeeding… until she comes face to face with her past and lets just say it’s not pretty! Forced into relocating or losing her job, she relocates to a fire station that just isn’t quite as up to date as her previous location and has to prove herself worthy all over again! In the midst of all of this she finds love in unexpected places and learns that her past hurts are not what she previously thought.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was the first time I had read anything by Katherine Center and what I appreciated the most was the humanity that her characters possessed. All flawed, imperfect specimens that along the way discover that they are worthy of love, acceptance and forgiveness, Cassie and the Rookie are awesome and I loved their interactions and obvious interest in each other, but I also loved all of the side characters, there wasn’t one that was playing a bit part that all molded and shaped each other! Forgiveness of yourself and others was a huge theme in this book and it was wonderful, we need more books that empower us to look at ourselves and remind us that we too are beautiful, flawed and we need to be gentle to ourselves.

So what I am saying is, do yourself a favor and pre-order this book! You won’t regret it! Available August 13th!

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for providing me a copy of this book.

I absolutely loved this book! I have heard a lot of good things about this author, so was eager to try this, as she is a new author to me. The story and characters were great. I would highly recommend this!!! Looking forward to reading more from this author!

I absolutely adored this book! Things You Save in a Fire tells the story of a fire fighter who moves to Massachusetts to help her mother. She joins a small town fire department that has never had a female on staff before. This book is charming with a lot of heart. It has a feminist bend without being preachy. I loved the idea of having a female fire fighter at the center of the story and putting a woman in a non-traditional job. As with most Katherine Center books, there is a fairly predictable love story and this one is so sweet! I loved it! If you are looking for a fun, quick, relatively light read, this is the book for you!

I enjoyed the relationships and the way they developed in the book. The characters felt very real. I would recommend this one.

I received an early copy of this book. honestly, I had no idea what it was about going into it. However, I had heard the name pop up a variety of times so I drove right in. I was immediately drawn in by Cassie's story, but somewhat annoyed by her "dark spot in my past that we will continually allude to but not actually talk about directly."

At times, predictable, but an engaging, fun, pro-woman story.

It is not too often that I read a book in one to two sittings. Mostly because work and family life keep me pretty busy, but let me tell you... this book was worth putting everything else to the side! I read non-stop and didn't want to put it down until the very last page. And even then, I didn't want it to be over. I'm pretty sure I didn't even pick up another book for several weeks because I just couldn't get my mind off of Things You Save in a Fire. The characters were fantastic, the plot was fast paced and interesting, and the romantic tension was so thick! I just loved every sentence of this novel and I can't recommend it enough!

If you've read How to Walk Away and loved it, you most certainly are going to LOVE this novel also. Even if you didn't read Center's first novel, but you enjoy a good romantic fiction novel, you will eat this up. And if you don't... come back and talk to me because I'll definitely need to figure out what is wrong with you (because obviously it was you and not the book, duh). Just kidding... everyone is entitled to their own opinions, I just won't agree with you if you have anything negative to say about this book! Anyways, as you can tell, I loved it and highly recommend it. So make sure to mark August 13th on your calendars because you HAVE to run out and buy this novel.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for sending copies of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Rating 5/5

Fantastic story and well written. This author keeps your attention and keeps you wanting to race through the story!

“Things You Save in a Fire” by Katherine Center is a very well written book about the messy things in life. This book had me hooked right from the first page and I did not want to put it down. I found myself laughing hysterically at points and almost crying at other times. There were so many things in this book that I could identify with. This book really makes you examine yourself and how you handle things that life throws at you. Forgiveness something so very hard to do, how do you forgive the unforgivable and move on? Read this book and find out the answer to that and so much more. This is the first book that I’ve read of Katherine Center and it won’t be the last! I would like to thank NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Katherine Center for the ARC, I received in exchange for my honest review!

What a great read! I read it in just a few days and couldn't read it fast enough. I'm a sucker for all things firefighter and then make it a female firefighter and I was sold! I thought the book could have used a little more action and shown a little more bonding of the people in the house, but overall, I really enjoyed the book. Cassie was a great character and I was able to relate to her and feel for her. The reference to "How to Walk Away" was a fun little surprise that I loved, especially since I read the book not too long ago.

I'm not historically a fan of 'Sweet' but Katherine Center has sold me on it, hard, first with How to Walk Away and now with Things You Save in a Fire.

Sweet, fun, sad and inspirational. A strong independent yet flawed woman in a series of challenging situations, does she overcome them, does she grow, what happens, what does she do? I couldn't put it down today till I knew!

Family, love, work, dreams, and unbeatable odds. My kind of book! #TeamCassie

Cassie is happy. She is one of the only female firefighters in her Austin department. She's so good at her job she's about to receive an award for Valor when we first meet her. She loves her job and her team. Cassie is gobsmacked when the presenter isn't the Mayor but a Councilman. An enemy from high school. Let's just say he leaves the stage on a stretcher and Cassie may not be making Lieutenant or even have a job left.

Cassie's mother left her and her father when Cassie was 16 and she isn't over it or anything else. So when out of the blue she receives a call from Diana, her mother, asking her to move to the Boston area and stay with her for a year while she is having a bit of a problem with her eye.

Reminding herself it is only temporary she heads out knowing that she will have a job with a much smaller and older station with guys she knows don't want a woman in their boys club. But she needs to stay away from Austin and let the dust settle.

Before leaving Austin her Captain had told her to not make waves and DO. NOT. Date. Firemen. Not a problem for Cassie as she doesn't even believe in love and never dates. The hazing and lack of support at the station is compounded with a new guy who on day one turns her life upside down!

I loved this story. Every character was so well done. This was a tale of perspective, forgiveness, and the complicated love of family. I was so moved by the courage Cassie and her mother had. 

Very Well Done!

NetGalley/ August 13th 2019 by St. Martin's Press

I loved Katherine Center's first novel and her newest work did not disappoint. Cassie is a lot of things: woman, firefighter, product of divorced parents, but perhaps most importantly: secret keeper.

Cassie has buried a secret since the night of her 16th birthday and when the threads of her secret begin to unravel she finds herself in a new place, with a mother she barely knows, trying to hold everything together.

Center turns Cassie into a great heroine because of her flaws, not in spite of them. If you are a fan of How to Walk Away, or strong, flawed women I definitely recommend you check out Things You Save in a Fire.

I honestly went into this book thinking it was going to be cheesy. I was wrong. It didn’t take me long to get hooked on this book!

I loved this book. This is my second book by this author and I’ve loved both. Her writing is so captivating and I loved the romance but also the bigger picture of dealing with serious subjects. I read this book in one day; I couldn’t put it down.

"From the New York Times, bestselling author of How to Walk Away comes a stunning new novel about courage, hope, and learning to love against all odds."

I loved this book! I could not put it down. I knew I had to read Things You Save in a Fire after loving HOW TO WALK AWAY, a big favorite.

Cassie is a true heroine and badass! Courage, forgiveness, love are the three words to describe this book.
I read it in one sitting and I can t wait to read more books by this author. She writes what I want to read. Bravo!

Thank you to #netgalley and #stmartinspress for this early reader copy.

I laughed, cried, related, empathized, and just had all the feels reading Things You Save in a Fire! This book has it all - a love story, drama, comedy, and a likable protagonist. Katherine Center has the ability to write in a way that makes her books unputdownable - and this was no exception!

Things You Save in a Fire starts out with a badass lead character in Cassie, and she faces a lot of misogyny in her role as a firefighter. So many times I shook my head, but totally related with her struggles to define herself as "one of the guys" and the pressure to prove herself as a powerful and qualified firefighter. I will admit, I underestimated this book at first - I anticipated a more lighthearted read with some cool tinges of feminism. As the story developed, I was so drawn in and became fully invested in the events that transpired! There was so much emotion, self-discovery, anger, and love built up the story which made it so satisfying.

I highly recommend picking up this book immediately when it hits shelves in August! Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an early review copy! I loved this book!

I received this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This was a quick, enjoyable, easy read. I thought the firefighter storyline worked well. And I liked how you could see the personal growth that Cassie went through, particularly regarding her relationships with the other people in her life.

Katherine Center has done it again. Things You Save in a Fire was impossible to put down. Cassie's story was dramatic, raw, and ultimately inspiring, and the overall messages about love and forgiveness were spot on.

Katherine Center has done it again! Things You Save In A Fire is heartwarming story or forgiveness, love, and inner peace. With a cast of characters and a writing style that automatically draws you in you're going to forget that you're not living in between the pages of this book. Destined to be a best seller and one of my favorite books of the year.