Things you Save in A Fire was a great read - I loved reading about Cassie's journey. Will definitely keep an eye out for Center's books in the future!

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!**

I gave this book 5 stars because it kept me wanting more with every flip of the page. It has a very diverse cast of characters which I loved. There is always a special place in my heart for those who put their lives on the line everyday. The fact that the main character is a strong, capable and head strong woman just makes it that much better. Wonderful read! I will be looking forward to reading some more of Katherine Centers books.

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.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Cassie is well developed and I was vested in her story from the beginning. It’s a story about the power of forgiveness and true courage and strength mean letting go of hate and resentment. Owen is charming and who can resist a handsome fireman? I will definitely read more books from this author.

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.

Things You Save in a Fire is the story of Cassie Hanwell, a firefighter striving to make her mark in a male-dominated profession. Unexpected circumstances lead her to leave her much loved and comfortable life behind in Texas and to move to Massachusetts and start all over again. In Massachusetts, Cassie has to start afresh at a new fire station and being the only female firefighter there, she has to go over and beyond to prove to others that she truly deserves to be a part of their team. In addition to this, Cassie is back living with her mother and is forced to deal with unsettled issues between them. 

Cassie Hanwell is a flawed, funny and tough person; a fiercely independent woman who is constantly having to prove her worth to her colleagues and doing it in her stride. She has serious abandonment issues which lead her to be suspicious of everything good and kind that comes her way. Her insecurities have made her lose faith in love and relationships and even though she could see the good in people, she just did not believe that goodness could be for her or could have a lasting effect in her life. 

I really liked how Katherine Center, very cleverly, connected this story with How to Walk Away with Cassie being the firefighter who saves Margaret in the plane crash.

Things You Save in a Fire not only deals with Cassie’s relationship with her mother and Rookie, a coworker at the station, but also talks about relationships in general. The general theme of forgiveness wonderfully threads throughout the story. All of us have something inside us that we need forgiveness for or someone we need to forgive desperately but do not know how; this book is for each and every one of us — it is therapeutic, heartfelt and soothing. 

Katherine Center’s writing is simple and emotionally engaging. Some may argue that the ending  was too good to be true and that not everyone gets their happy ending. However, to me, what truly matters is that, through this book, Katherine Center gives the reader the hope and courage to soldier on. Despite the challenges and the obstacles, she makes one believe in oneself and in karma. If a story gives a person the strength and fortitude to believe that good things are awaiting  them, then in my eyes, the author has done her job and more. 

I would like to thank NetGalley, Katherine Center and St. Martin's Press for sharing an e-copy of this book with me in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the story especially the main character, Cassie. Unlike other stories I’ve read centering around a strong female lead, I’ve never come across a story about a female firefighter. I loved reading about this world I know so little about.  Cassie thrives in dangerous situations and beats the boys in obstacle courses. Cassie is tough on the exterior but still a complex character with her own past demons to work through that have led her to be detached from others and unable to open her heart. The book takes you through Cassie’s journey of learning to cope with her past and present, open up and learn to forgive and even fall in love for the first time. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a fun, romantic book that will have you rooting for a different hero than you’d typically expect in a book about a firefighter.

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.