I devoured this book in one night. It was well written with relatable characters. Cassie was such a refreshing character, a woman in a man's world trying to follow the rules to achieve great things. She's good at her job, not a giggling silly person or a drunk "isn't it so funny I'm a mess" type woman that's been more popular as of late. As the book went on, I dreaded the moment when Cassie would reveal in detail something about her past trauma. And when the moment happened, I was pleasantly surprised that we got the idea of what happened without excruciating details that would push this lovely novel into a trauma-porn category. It was a smart choice by Katherine Center and one that I appreciated. It was a great fast read about love and forgiveness.

This was a cute and at times emotional book with an over-arching theme of forgiveness. I found this title to be a bit slow at first, but towards the end it pickup up and I found myself liking it more. The characters were likeable and overall I enjoyed this book.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Cassie is a firefighter who has built quite the heroic reputation for herself with her crew and her department in Austin. The fact that she's a woman has never made much of a difference in her career. But then her estranged mom (who abandoned her on her 16th birthday) gets sick and asks her to move from Texas to Massachusetts to help her out for a year. Cassie's new fire department is a total boys' club who can't imagine what she has to offer, despite the fact that she more than proves herself from Day One. The only one who doesn't seem to hate her on sight is the other new guy, a rookie, who actually makes her life harder by being so charming and attractive that she instantly develops a crush on him. But Cassie doesn't do relationships. She doesn't do feelings, she doesn't do forgiveness, and she definitely doesn't do love. Except she has somehow managed to bond with her mom, she can't stop thinking about Owen, and her new crew is starting to feel more and more like family. Maybe all those things she doesn't do are actually things she can't live without.

Katherine Center has written another wonderful book. Her voice is so conversational and chill. It's like a friend is sitting you down over coffee to tell you a story, and you can't help but be swept up in it. Her characters are honest and flawed, and they're vulnerable and afraid but show up anyway. I absolutely loved Cassie and her approach to showing her new crew she can be an asset to their department. Learning parkour because she's not tall enough to reach a lot of the obstacles on their training course? What a total badass! You can't help but fall in love with all of the guys, even the sexist ones who don't think she can do it...because she SHUTS THEM UP and they basically bend the knee to her forever and ever (except one, and even he redeems himself in the end). I love seeing characters admit they're wrong and grow and change, and almost every single one manages to do that in this book.

One of the things that I especially loved was that Cassie refers to a patient in a plane crash as one she has always remembered...and that's the main character from How to Walk Away. I loved the nod to her previous book. And the epilogue was also such a nice finish to the story. It was fun getting to see where the characters ended up a few years down the road.

Center keeps getting better and better. I already can't wait for her next one!

**Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a wonderful read!**

Katherine Center's Things You Save in a Fire is an emotionally charged book about love, forgiveness and courage.
To be honest, I wasn't entirely into this book in the beginning. I wasn't very fond of Cassie and the way she acted, I sometimes found her to be immature and arrogant. But I kept on and soon learned that her behavior was her line of defense for keeping herself from getting hurt. She was safeguarding her heart. This led me to start championing for her and hoping for her happy ending.

Things You Save in a Fire left my heart full and happy. It hit all range of emotions - I was annoyed, angry, somber, cheerful and overjoyed. The writing by Katherine Center is easily engaging, she pulled romance, depth and suspense all together for this very enjoyable read. This is my first novel by Katherine Center but it will not be my last.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this Advanced Reader's Copy.

Standing Outside the Fire. Wow. This tale about a female firefighter's struggles both personally and professionally was simply amazing. Told almost in memoir format, the tale picks up when our narrator is at an awards gala to receive the highest honor her Department has to offer. When things go a bit awry, she heads thousands of miles away to help her sick mother and hide. Little does she know that in the process of doing both, she will find things are more complicated than she ever dared imagine - and find strength even she never knew she had. Firefighters try to stay outside of fires unless necessary, and tend not to stay in them longer than absolutely necessary to do the job. But this tale gives new life to the old Garth Brooks song, in all the best ways. Again, simply amazing.

Wow. I just finished reading it and it was amazing. I really loved it. It is the quality writing you can expect from Katherine Center and it is filled with life lessons as well. She’s definitely becoming one of my top authors. I can’t wait to see what she comes out with next.

This book has rom-com written all over it! And it just so happens I'm a sucker for them. I could not put this book down. It was so entertaining. Like all good stories it is about a person who is damaged and her journey to healing. If you're looking for something that is entertaining and pulls at the heartstrings then this is one you should read.

Katherine Center has another winner on her hands with Things You Save in a Fire! I loved How to Walk Away, my first time reading the author and just had to read this one when I saw it...I'm thrilled that it didn't disappoint!

Center's main character Cassie is a strong-willed, tough female who is doing what is considered traditionally a man's job--she's a firefighter and a good one! When her estranged mother's health begins to fail, she has to move from Texas to Boston to take care of her and when she does, she becomes part of a new fire station that she has to prove herself as its first female firefighter.

While this is also a romance, and Center does romance wonderfully, this is strong Women's Fiction that really has depth, breadth, and character that is lacking in many Women's Fiction novels. I think Center is a wonderful storyteller and really knows how to write about life's lessons in a touching and poignant way. It's a story about forgiveness, learning how to let go of the past, deal with past emotional traumas, and learning how to love--and I mean loving yourself too.

I found it touching, sweet, relatable in several ways (since I'm also estranged from my mother there was a life lesson in the book for me too!), and completely unputdownable! I guarantee once you start this book you'll be like me and read it long into the night to finish it! You'll smile, laugh, cry, and just feel all kinds of feels as you read this heartwarming treasure!

I loved Things You Save in a Fire and highly recommend it! It really shows what a phenomenal author Katherine Center is, and I can't wait until her next book! Five plus stars for this poignant, touching, brilliant read! Definitely put it on your TBR asap!

**Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC to read and review in exchange for my fair and honest review. **

As far as I’m concerned, Katherine Center can do no wrong. Things You Save in a Fire was “unputdownable.” I’ve never met a character of hers that I didn’t like, but I really loved Cassie. Center creates such relatable inspiring characters. I loved how tough Cassie was and how she used this as a tough outer shell. You had to love Owen, also know as the “rookie.” The several generation firefighter who would prefer to bake cookies. He helped Cassie to move beyond her toughness and really give people a chance. There was nothing I disliked about this book. Cassie and her story of forgiveness should be a lesson to us all. Bravo on this beautiful book!

Katherine Center is a new author to me and I plan to look for another of her books. The Things You Save in a Fire is a very interesting book that had me drawn into the story from the beginning. Cassie is a strong, caring , likable person, who is very suited to her job. She had a difficult childhood and Owen, a nice, caring man, a good friend is exactly what Cassie needs in her life. I enjoyed learning about the life of firefighters with their many challenges. What makes this story unique is a female trying to become part of a team in a male environment.

I recommend this book. Thank you for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Wow!!!!!!!!!!! I devoured this book in two days!!!!!!!! It is amazing!!!!!! It really hit home for me because my husband is a volunteer firefighter and captain of one of the stations in our hometown. This story has everything- love, amazing characters you fall in love with, drama, exciting fire calls, redemption, forgiveness, happiness, and best of all a lovely happy ending!!!! Cassie is a woman firefighter at the highlight of her career when she gets an unexpected phone call from the mom who abandoned her in her teens. She puts in a transfer so she can go take care of her estranged mother. At her new station she faces many challenges, one being the only woman firefighter in the department and the challenge of making up lost time with her mom and finding forgiveness. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for my honest review.

Loved this book so much!! Cassie is strong, independent and guarded. She built her walls up so high, but soon learns the power of forgiveness and acceptance that allows her to break them down and find to best version of herself.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

This book has my entire heart! The romance was perfect for this novel. I loved how fierce and strong the friendships and the main character were. The power of forgiveness shone throughout this novel like a bright beacon of hope. <3 Cassie's life felt so raw, real and unedited and it was refreshing throughout the novel. You were pulled in and felt each emotion with her.

Oh this book! This is quite possibly one of the better books I've read in awhile. Katherine Center manages to perfectly balance humor, romance, failure, success, sabotage and a good hard look at how someone wants to live their life in this wonderful story. Cassie's mother walks out on her and her dad on her sixteenth birthday - the same day that she also faces an assault by a classmate. As a result, she hardens her heart to love and affection and grows up a tomboy turned firefighter. When an award ceremony goes awry in Austin and she gets a call from a now sick mother who abandoned her, Cassie heads to Massachusetts to take on a job at a new fire station where she has to prove herself. And of course she falls for the other fellow new firefighter in the process. Then she realizes that her mom is sicker than she thought, and someone in the firehouse is trying to scare off with threats. Along the way she learns to love and forgive in a novel that made me both want to laugh (umm, Chihuahua CPR anyone?) and cry (happy and sad tears). I loved it!

This is the most entertaining, touching, amusing, and overall best book I’ve read so far this year.
It is a rare thing for a book to hook me in the first few pages. With this one I found myself grinning and slowing down, because I could telll this is one I wouldn’t want to end.
With any book in any genre my baseline requirement is for the author to tell me a good story. And this one was just awesome, Not only was it a great, original plot, but the characters who populated it were so well drawn and compelling. I felt I knew the mind and motivations of even minor characters. But the primary characters were realistic, complex, and likable. Without expending unnecessary verbiage in descriptive passages, the author planted me squarely in a charming seaside New England village, in firehouses in Texas and Massachusetts, at the scene of a dangerous fire, and in a closet with the main characters,
The book addresses a number of themes: recovery from traumatic events, women trying to attain acceptance in a male dominated work environment, dealing with love that has struck at an inopportune time. But the overarching message seems to be the power of forgiveness to transform our lives, and the necessity of love, parental and romantic, in helping us live complete and full lives.
One thing I especially appreciated was the author’s obvious familiarity with the substance of the plot - the life of a female firefighter/paramedic. Weaving in this information added a strong dose of reality to the plot.
This book was alternately funny and gritty, angsty and romantic,, disparing and hopeful - all mixed up in characters I’d like to have dinner or a beer with. It was as close to perfect as any book I’ve read in a long time.

3.5 Stars

Thanks to #NetGalley #StMartinsPress for my free copy of #ThingsYouSaveInAFire in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Hallmark Channel meets Chicago Fire.

A feisty, smart, capable, spunky, and feminist firefighter, Cassie Hanwell, fighting to be taken seriously in a male dominated career and culture is the premise of Things You Save in a Fire. In a quest to prove herself, she moves to a different and less progressive firehouse, faces personal challenges as her mother suffers an illness, and becomes involved in an ill advised romantic relationship.

Even though Things You Save in a Fire does not fall into one of my usual reading genres, I enjoyed the fast paced read and thought the author succeeded in what she set out to accomplish. There were many aspects of the reading experience that I appreciated: snappy writing, engaging and fast moving plot, a strong, capable, determined, and fierce female character, and important themes of forgiveness, loyalty, love, teamwork, friendship, courage, determination, challenges women face in male dominated careers, and mother/daughter relationships.

The story was predictable in places, some events seemed contrived to fit a theme or move the action forward, problems were quickly resolved, there's a romance along with instalove and beautiful people.....however, these elements are expected in the genre.

Things You Save in a Fire is recommended for fans of chicklit and romance, for readers looking for an easy and quick weekend or vacation read, for readers looking for an exceptionally strong main female character, and for those who are interested in firefighting as a career for women.

Things you save in a fire by Katherine Center

Cassie is a fire fighter in TX when she has to move to MA to help her sick mother, who abandoned her at age 16. She takes a job at a small town fire house where she receives a less than warm welcome.

Cassie learns a lot about love, forgiveness and family - both by blood and by choice.

This book is well written and hard to put down. Katherine Center is a new author to me but since finishing this one, I have started How to walk away. At 59 pages in, I am loving it as well so Center will be a must read author for me.

Thanks to @netgalley, St. Martins Press and Katherine Center for this advanced copy. When it is published on August 19, 2019, run, don’t walk, to your local bookstore and get your hands on this new favorite.

Absolutely adored this book! It was a sweet, lovely read. I immediately fell in love with Cassie, and enjoyed her personality and tough exterior. I also appreciated the overall theme of forgiveness. Overall, I truly loved the story and couldn’t put the book down - finished it in a day!

I simply adored this book! Filled with memorable characters, secrets, love, stalking, forgiveness -- all great elements for a fantastic story. This one made me cry but is hopeful and compelling overall.

We have Cassie – an amazing firefighter/paramedic who has had to work hard to get ahead in a typically male profession – helping an ailing mother at a new firehouse just outside of Boston. Cassie hasn’t spoken much to her mother since she walked out on her and her father when Cassie was 16, but it’s time for that previously mentioned forgiveness to play a role.

It’s harder for Cassie to fit in at the new fire station where they’ve never had a female firefighter. It was interesting to get some insight into what it takes to be in that profession. You must be tough but with a heart to help people. Cassie and a “rookie” start on the same day and the two must get through hazing and practical jokes to earn spots with the crew.

I loved the way that this one wrapped up, it was so relatable and enjoyable to escape into this world. It gives me new respect for firemen but doesn’t make me want to join up. There is a fantastic romance in this book and I so cheered for it! I highly recommend this one!

This is my second Katherine Center book and I will read everything she writes. I particularly loved the piece where she mentions a scene from “How to Walk Away” and the plane crash where Cassie was on the scene. I felt like a total insider!

*I will update my Goodreads review closer to publication date

I loved everything about this book! We have a strong, female protagonist who truly didn’t need, or wanted to, depend on anyone until her world got turned around. What you get is a story of change, growth, acceptance through hard work. Definitely recommending this one to everyone that I can!