I was really excited to receive this ARC after loving How To Walk Away!

Not only is it a great story, it’s a great message about forgiveness and love. It really picked up for me halfway through. The beginning seemed repetitive and a little slow with the main character, Cassie’s, internal dialogue.
As it went on, I really began to love all of the characters, and was impressed with the depth of each one.

Overall I really enjoyed it, and I had a hard time putting it down!

I don’t normally read Chick Lit or Romance, so I had never read a book by Katherine Center, prior to this one.

But, so many of my favorite GR friends and reviewers were raving about this one, and my curiosity made me push the “request button” on NG one evening, and voila! I received an early approval!

So, I started this yesterday, and at first, I thought...oh no....I am going to be an outlier on this one? Yikes!

I didn’t like our female firefighter, Cassie. I found her to be immature and petulant. Someone I would never want to have coffee or a glass of wine with!

Then, I met “The Rookie”.

I liked “The Rookie”.

Cassie was not good enough for “The Rookie”.

The story of this extraordinary female firefighter, who reluctantly moves to the Boston area, to help her ill mother for the year, was mostly being told through “conversations”.

Conversations that had the cadence of the characters on a Shonda Rhimes TV show (think Scandal or Grey’s Anatomy) and I wasn’t sure if I liked that...(though I don’t mind that on those TV shows, which are favorites of mine! 🤔)

Then, all of a sudden I realized that Cassie’s bravado was a means of self preservation and that I was starting to like her. And, that I was almost done with this book that I had read almost entirely in one sitting!!!

And, that I wanted her to have her happy ending, no matter how sappy or neatly tied up with a bow that might look! 💝

Maybe, even with “The Rookie”.

Isn’t that what a “FEEL GOOD, CHICK LIT, ROMANCE” book is supposed to make you feel?

Guess, I won’t be an outlier, after all!! 💕

I would like to thank Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Katherine Center for the digital ARC, I received in exchange for a candid review! This will be your perfect beach read this summer...publication date Aug. 13, 2019!

This has to be one of the best books I have ever read. Penned by Katherine Center, Things You Save in a Fire is due out August 13, 2019 from St. Martin’s Press. I read an advanced readers’ copy (ARC) that the editor promised would be a breath of fresh air. It most definitely is that.

This is a story of the struggles women still face in the workplace, especially by older white men. It’s a story of complex family issues where things are not always as they appear. It’s a story of making peace with a painful past. It’s a story of a young man following in his father’s footsteps instead of taking the career track he prefers. It’s also a story of surgical patients becoming addicted to opioids, and how it affects not only the patient, but those around them – both family and co-workers.

Cassie Hanwell is a firefighter par excellence, and has just won an award for valor in her department in Austin, Texas. Why would she be angry with the award presenter, Heath Thompson? Clearly there is some history between them.

The fire chief, also a woman, tells her she is up for a promotion, but in order to be promoted, she must make an apology to Mr. Thompson. If she does not, she is fired. The department is concerned that he will press charges. Cassie is certain he will not, which tells us the history between them is pretty bad.

Cassie’s mother, who abandoned her on her 16th birthday, begs Cassie to come live with her for a year. She has health problems and needs help. Cassie finally relents, and moves to Rockport, Massachusetts, and takes a job in a good-old-boy fire department in a neighboring town. The crews at this FD still haze newbies and rookies, and their hazing can be dangerous.

After a near-tragedy, Cassie’s life and that of others blossoms. Healing takes place in more ways than one, and Cassie learns how to forgive.

I learned so much about fires and the lives of firefighters and paramedics while reading this book. Normally, while reading, I highlight errors. I did a little of that, but mostly I highlighted things that really spoke to me, and things I want to reflect on from time to time. Trust me: you will love Things You Save in a Fire too.

What Makes This Book Reviewer Grumpy?

Repeated split-infinitives, using “bring” in place of “take” and “come” in place of “go”, misplacing the word “only” within sentences, and using “showed” in place of “shown”.

You can call me sentimental, but Things You Save in a Fire is getting 5 stars from me!

There's nothing particulatly groundbreaking about this little charming book but you'll still fall in love with it without knowing how it happened!! I picked this up only last night and couldn't put it down until I was finished.

Cassie Hanwell loves being a firefighter and she is also very good at it. A rising star at her home station in Austin, she has a great career in front of her. When Cassie's estranged mother becomes ill, she asks Cassie to come to live with her in Boston and look after her. Cassie cannot forgive her mother for walking away on her when she was only 16 and is reluctant to help her. In the end Cassie is forced to relocate and and joins an old-fashioned fire station in Boston where they know female firefighters only from TV. Cassie might have to work twice as hard as the men to prove herself...

I've been always fascinated with firefighters and once upon a time, when I was little, I even wanted to be one! I loved the first half of the book as I enjoyed reading about the profession, the work regime and the heroic acts. When the book suddenly took on a bit of a romantic turn in the second half, I wasn't sure what to make of it at first, but luckily it all worked out. I bought the whole story and immensely enjoyed it!

This book was different that the leading lady was in a strong career position but fought falling in love. She didn’t think she could but her mom that she was estranged from showed her how and learned to lover her mom again also.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the read of Katherine Center’s, Things You Save in a Fire.

Meet Cassie. Strong, tough, guarded. Fearless, female firefighter holding her own.

Past family wounds catch up with her when the mother who abandoned her, reappears in her life, and needs Cassie.

The threading of love throughout this story is beautiful. Cassie has fortified the walls around her heart for a long time – no one gets in. Owen’s gentleness and kindness, helps her to slowly loosen the strands that wrap around her heart.

You can feel Cassie’s character change as she faces emotional transformations as she learns to feel again, and walk down the long road to forgiveness.

A fabulous read. I loved the book and highly recommend it.

I’ve been a fan of Katherine Center for a few years and have devoured all of her books. Her stories always have complex characters, well developed storylines, and a good dose of page-turning romance gone wrong. Things You Save In a Fire did not disappoint. On the surface, Cassie seems like a tough, badass firefighter who isn’t afraid of anything. Until you find out she is afraid of love and emotion and forgiveness. The novel did an excellent job of taking the reader through Cassie’s journey of forgiveness and redemption. Fans of Katherine Center will enjoy the homage to How T.O. Walks Away in the beginning of the book as well.

This was the first book I've ever read by Katherine Center. It won't be the last. I loved this book! The characters, the story, the underlying message, all of it!

Cassie, a tough strong firefighter gives up her life in Austin to move home and help her ailing mother. Having to start all over again and prove herself in a male-dominated profession. Along the way the things she learns and the people she encounters will change her life and help her learn how to forgive not only others, but herself.

This is a great, heartwarming read and I won't be surprised if it is one of my favorite books of 2019.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC to read in exchange for my honest review.

This book will be released August 13, 2019.

Ironically, I got this book to read on the day I evacuated my home from the Woolsey Fire in Southern California, so it's taken me a while to actually read it. Thankfully, I really liked this book!

Cassie Hanwell is a firefighter in Texas - she's tough and smart and she works in a station that appreciates her talents. When her mom needs her, she doesn't want to move home to a small town outside of Boston but she ultimately does, and it's a huge change. The entire fire station is made up of men who don't believe that women should be, or are even capable of being, firefighters. Cassie wants to prove them wrong without looking like a "girl", which is going to be hard when she's falling for another rookie firefighter in the station.

I liked the story a lot, and Cassie's character was well-drawn and interesting. I highly recommend this book.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'll be honest.
When I started reading this book I didn't expect it to be as good as Katherine Center's last book. I honestly thought that it would fall short. However, I was completely wrong.
I now see that she has a very distinct style of writing that while I don't always love, I am always engaged. I read some things in this book that I know people won't like and may hate the book for it. All I know is that I came out of this book genuinely moved by it.
I enjoyed the way this book connects with her last one and how I had no idea where this book would end up. I kept being surprised and always rooted for Cassie, the main character.
She was tough and so misguided, I felt her pain and I enjoyed following her. This book is definitely fun at times, inspirational at others, and sometimes downright tragic, but that was the fun of it. She felt like she was just doing her best to navigate her way through all of it. Choice after choice, I really liked this book.
I honestly didn't think I would be as big a fan as I am today, but I'm certainly not complaining.

I recently read another Katherine Center’s book, How to Walk Away, and really enjoyed it so I was looking forward to starting this one. This one drew me in right away, the main character, Cassie is a firefighter that loves and is great at her job, living in Texas. She ends up uprooting her life and moving to Massachusetts to be with her mostly estranged mother. I really enjoyed about how her relationship evolved with her mother and of course, her and the rookie. This is a sweet, relatable and heart felt book. It’s a quick read that I’d highly recommend!

Things you Save in a Fire is hard to put down... After reading How to Walk Away I became an instant fan of Katherine Center....and this book did not disappoint. Cassie Hanwell had a tough life and because of her circumstances becomes one tough firefighter. Slowly we learn how she overcomes all obstacles to find love and fiorgiveness. This story was wtitt3n from the heart of the author as any one who reads it can tell. Another winner from Katherine Center.

I have no words, it was completly amazing, way too short, i would have read this for weeks. It was an emotional , funny, hearthwarming story.

This book was alright. Middle of the road honestly. I read so many books per year that I cannot love them all and some of them have to fall through the cracks and that was this one if I am being honest.

Absolutely beautiful book of love, strength, courage and pain.

I received a free e-copy of Things You Save In a Fire by Katherine Center from NetGalley for my honest review.

Cassie Hanwell, is one of the toughest firefighters there is. She has saved many lives and has the highest medal the department has to give. Cassie decides to transfer across the country due to a request by her estranged and sick, mother. She transfers from a city that adores her and co-workers that love her to a city where women don't fight fires and men are closed minded to the idea of a woman being in their line of work.

This book had me laughing and crying but hooked me from the very start.

Katherine Center has officially earned her place on my list of “automatic read” authors.

After reading and loving her previous book, How to Walk Away, I was so pleased to get my hands on an advanced copy of this book, which I ended up enjoying even more.

Things You Save In a Fire starts out really strong; the reader is dropped right into the middle of a juicy conflict, and I was immediately invested in the main character’s story. Cassie is also a female firefighter, which I found to be refreshing and very interesting. She’s extremely competent and exceeds at her job, yet is constantly underestimated in a male-dominated field, and I always love a good underdog story.

This book has a great balance of emotion and light-heartedness. While the romance is a big part of the story, this book is every bit as much about the importance of family and forgiveness. As a bonus, there were also multiple parts in this book which made me actually laugh out loud (the chihuahua story!).

I will definitely be recommending this one to all of my friends when it comes out.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Following along with Cassie on her journey in this book was one of my best reads of 2018! I absolutely love everything Katherine Center has written, but this one is now my favorite! You will not be disappointed!
Thanks to Katherine Center, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this fantastic book!

Loved this book...and it's definitely worth all the advance praise it's receiving. Really well written, sappy love story, that I didn't want to put down and didn't want to end!

This book is a quick read. I really enjoyed reading about the differences she felt as a female firefighter. She had a tough time as a teenage that came along as she was an adult. We can all understand carrying baggage, even if it's not ours to carry. She had a tough go with her new station, but I enjoyed the ride she took us on, as she overcome her old problems and adopted new ones. The way everything was resolved was lovely and shows how your foes can turn a new leaf and become family.

I absolutely loved Things You Save in a Fire. This book centers on Cassie, who is one of the few female firefighters for the Austin, Texas fire department, and is told from her perspective. She has had some pretty negative things happen to her throughout her life (her mother left home on her 16th birthday, and the same day she had #MeToo movement experience with a guy from her class). These two things have caused Cassie to not really get close to anyone and put up a wall when she feels someone is trying to get close.

Cassie receives a call from her mom one evening, after dodging her calls for several weeks. Her mom asks her to come live with her, as she has lost the eyesight in one eye and needs help around the house while completing rehab. Cassie hasn’t lived with her mom for 10 years, since she left her, but ultimately says that she will. Her captain helps her find a job at a fire department near where her mom lives, in Massachusetts. Her captain in Austin gives her a few pieces of advice for starting a new job as a firefighter - the most important being...”no dating firefighters.” Cassie doesn’t have to worry, because she has never dated anyone.

So, Cassie moves cross country, starts a job at a new, all-male, not-progressive fire department and tells her mom that she isn’t here to get “close” to her or make friends, just to help her out and do her job.

Well, all hell breaks loose, when, on her first day, she meets the other new firefighter recruit, “rookie.” He is the most handsome person Cassie had ever set eyes on, and instantly knows she is in trouble.

I don’t want to say much more, for fear and of giving away the rest of the book, but this is a story about love and loss, friendship, forgiveness, and finding yourself. It’s an amazing read (and a quick one, too.)! You’ll want to turn off the distractions around you when you pick up this book- because you won’t be able to put it down. I laughed and cried while reading this book- and strongly recommend it!

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Katherine Center for the review copy of this book!