I would rate this book 4-4.5 stars. It was a quick, entertaining read! There were some predictable parts, but between the humor, secret romances, revenge schemes, fire adventures, etc, it was a fun story!

Katherine Center can do no wrong!! She keeps better with each book I read so please do yourself a fever- add anything and everything she has written to your wish list this holiday season and pre-order Things You Save In A Fire!!!!!

This was one of my favorite books this year! Great characters and story line- I could not put it down yet I did not want it to end.

Huge thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and of course, Center herself!!!!, for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I can't say enough wonderful things about this book, which might be my favorite Katherine Center to date. I was hooked from the very first chapter and couldn't put it down. Center's characters are like my real life friends - you see their struggles and flaws, but you're rooting for them to break through the tragedy in their lives. Now to go reread my other Katherine Center books!

I was thrilled to death for the opportunity to read an ARC of his new book. I was drawn in from the first chapter and could hardly put it down! Highly recommend!

This book is absolute genius. The characters are so compelling you get completely drawn into the story. The details ring true and the reader gets completely engrossed in Cassie’s story. Center has a way of creating storylines that just make you want to keep reading. And I did. And I’m glad.

I absolutely loved Things You Save in a Fire. It was engaging right from the start, introducing Cassie, a exceptional firefighter but a woman running from her past. When Cassie's mother becomes ill, Cassie has to face a choice- to live before in her comfortable yet lonely existence or confront her demons, prove her worth as a woman firefighter, and open her heart to love. This book is fantastic!

Thank you Net Galley for an advanced copy of this novel!

Things You Save in a Fire is easily another 5/5 ⭐️’S⁣⁣ book for me! ⁣⁣⁣
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Past Trauma.⁣⁣⁣
Hidden pain.⁣⁣⁣
Mother daughter drama.⁣⁣⁣
Striving to prove oneself in a male dominated work environment.⁣⁣⁣
Push and pull of a forbidden love interest.⁣⁣⁣
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This novel had all that and so much more. ⁣
This is a 2019 MUST read!!⁣ ⁣

Four stars. Things You Save in a Fire didn’t captivate me from the beginning like Katherine Carter’s How to Walk Away, but it was a steady amount of enjoyment and perfect for my beach vacation. I’ll happily recommend it to friends, and eagerly await Carter’s next book. Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Really enjoyed! Great story, started a little slow as the story was set up but from half on I couldn’t put down. Nice story with family, romance and a life lesson on forgiveness.

Cassie, the only female firefighter likes to see herself as a firefighting machine. In reality, she is separated from her emotions since childhood. She is forced to return to live with her mother and to start working in a new fire station and she has a lot of learning to do. This is a story of coming to terms with hurt and emotional pain. It also a story about forgiveness; forgiving yourself and other people and forming connections. The story is well told there are enough plot lines and while it is certainly not an easy path for Cassie she is a more complete human afterward. This was a very enjoyable read.

Oh my goodness - this is one of the best books I have read in a while! I haven't read How to Walk Away Yet, though I own it, and it is moving to the top of my pile after reading this. I love the way Katherine Center writes. Her style is so simple, yet detailed, and the story line of this book grips you from the beginning. Her characters display such wide range of emotions - from confusion, to anger, to forgiveness and contentment/happiness, just to name a few. I became emotionally invested in Cassie's story and finished the book in just over a day. Definitely a must read! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I haven't written a full review of Things You Save in a Fire yet, because I'm waiting until it's closer to the publication date. I loved How to Walk Away by Katherine Center--in fact, it was my first ever Book of the Month pick! So when her next book was announced, I couldn't resist requesting an early copy. I adored this book! It made me cry, which is my benchmark for a 5-star rating, had a badass heroine who learned to be vulnerable and soft while also running into a burning building for a living. I mean, how cool is that? Overall, I love that Center showcased a woman thriving in a traditionally-male career, and I loved the little nod to How to Walk Away, too. It felt like an exciting Easter egg since I had already read How to Walk Away!

This book has it all! Strength, love, romance, courage and hurt.
"Yes, the world is full of unspeakable cruelty. But the answer wasn't to never feel hope, or bliss or love--but to savor every fleeting, precious second of those feelings when they came.".
Cassie is one "Bad-Ass" girl. She is a firefighter/EMT/ who is as strong if not stronger than her male co-workers. She prides herself on taking care of every emergency without "feeling".
She has built a huge solid wall around her that will NOT allow any emotions to enter.
This barrier has been growing since she was young and her life was shattered one night following a party at the age of sixteen.
When she is transferred to another fire company to be near her estranged mother who is now desperately ill, her protective partition will slowly begin to crumble, piece by piece.
An excellent, well written novel! I was caught in Cassie's world and found myself rooting for her to take her life back!
You will love this story!

Things You Save In A Fire by Katherine Center is a story that hit me in the feels in all the best ways. After reading my second of her books, I'm realizing Katherine Center is the kind of author who writes books that absolutely captivate me, and I love her for it. This book focuses on Cassie who is a firefighter in Texas. She relocates to Boston after an unwelcome blast from the past and need to help her mother with her ailing health. Her new fire station is full of challenge. First of all, they're not exactly excited about having a woman join their team, and they're also not shy about letting Cassie know. Second, there's "the rookie" who's started alongside Cassie. He makes her feel a certain kind of way, and she's not sure what to do with that. Y'all, this one had so much emotion. I was so into Cassie's story. At times, it was a hard read because I was so emotionally invested in Cassie's life - both personal and professional. Also, there were some twists at the end that made it so I literally had to sit down and catch my breath. I mean, y'all, my heart was racing as I was that into this one. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me get a sneak peek of this one that's not due out until August 2019. I'll be sure to remind y'all about this one as the release date approaches because I need others to feel these feels and then discuss said feels with me. Until then, find time to read How To Walk Away if you haven't already.

I fell in love with this book and both Cassie and Owen.

I LOVE a strong female protagonist, and man does Cassie fit the bill. She is a BADASS. But she is hurting and she has barbed wire around her heart.As Owen says, "There is a toughness about her. But the most impressive thing about the toughness is that she built it to protect the tenderness." Watching her let down her guard and expose her tender underbelly was a treasure.

Owen is a gentle, compassionate, and kind man. His respect for consent was such a refreshing touch. This love story is wonderfully wholesome and almost naive and I ADORE that. So very romantic in an honest and non-cheesy way.

It's not only a love story between a man and a woman. It's a love story between a daughter and her mother, and a woman and herself. There is a powerful lesson to be learned here, and I highlighted entire passages on forgiveness.

I loved the theme of forgiveness, survival, and the heart's capacity for change. The ONLY small problem I have is that I felt like Cassie's metamorphosis happened pretty quickly. I think I would have liked to seen a bit more of the build up. Other than that, the story won me over.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this treasure. It was a joy.

This was my second Katherine Center book and I had high expectations. I really enjoyed How to Walk Away but I loved this was even more! I am not usually that into the romance genre but her books are different...there is that element but there is so much more. Her characters are multifaceted and imperfect and she covers some pretty deep issues while still being an enjoyable read. This story was unique and the subtle elements of sexism, past trauma and what forgiveness really means all played a part in making this story so thought-provoking. There were many "quotable" lines that really stuck with me.

"Telling the story changed the story for me. Not what had happened-that, I could never change-but how I responded to it...Even though nothing about the story had changed, I had changed."

This book had heartbreaking moments and heartwarming moments and I loved the idea that becoming who we are is a journey and not a destination. We can choose how to react to life's ups and downs and opening up to one another can help us do that. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This was a 5 star read for me!

Katherine Center's latest novel features Cassie, a firefighter who fears nothing but opening her heart to love. Filled with warmth and humor, this book shines a light on all kinds of courage, both physical and emotional. Five stars!!

I received this book from NetGalley in return for a fair and honest review.

I've read close to 200 books in 2018 and not a single one compared to this book. It was so well written, the characters so believable. I fell in love with Cassie and her journey. Things you Save in a Fire is positively the best book of the year. I look forward to much more from this author in the future.

A good book!!! Quite simply put this was a “good book”. Very well developed characters with a solid storyline/plot. WhT was most interesting about this book was the main characters profession. I don’t believe that I have ever read a book with a female firefighter. The main character was strong, self reliant and evolves as the book progresses.

I fully admit that I have a thing for smart chick lit, and Katherine Center is one of my favorite authors for that purpose. This is up there with Happiness for Beginners as the best of her books for me. The characters were super interesting and relatable. I loved Cassie. She was complex, nuanced, flawed, and relatable. The ability to write characters whose motivations are so human and understandable is rare, and Center has it down. I appreciated the way she treated gender and feminism in this book, and made it a core issue that she addressed pretty unflinchingly. She also just writes relationships SO WELL. And I appreciated that while a potential romantic relationship was one of the main themes of the book, we also got a lot of focus on other elements of Cassie’s life, like her relationship with her parents, the way she takes care of herself and manages her life, and how awesome she is at what she does. It’s really refreshing for a book like this to focus on all facets of a woman’s life instead of acting like the romance plot is the only interesting thing to readers. And, as always, Katherine Center is a really good writer. The writing was tight, the pacing was great, there was some solid subtle humor, and the book sucked me in right away - I read the whole thing in an evening. Highly recommend.

(Side note: I also appreciated the sly reference to How to Walk Away toward the beginning of the book.)