Therese Plummer

Katherine Center

A Novel

Things You Save in a Fire

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. Cassie Hanwell was born for emergencies. As one of the only female firefighters in her Texas firehouse, she's seen her fair share of them, and she's a total pro at other people's tragedies. But when her estranged and ailing mother asks her to give up her whole life and move to Boston, Cassie suddenly has an emergency of her own. The tough, old-school Boston firehouse is as different from Cassie's old job as it could possibly be. Hazing, a lack of funding, and poor facilities mean that the firemen aren't exactly thrilled to have a "lady" on the crew—even one as competent and smart as Cassie. Except for the infatuation-inspiring rookie, who doesn't seem to mind having Cassie around. But she can't think about that. Because love is girly, and it’s not her thing. And don’t forget the advice her old captain gave her: Never date firefighters. Cassie can feel her resolve slipping...and it means risking it all—the only job she’s ever loved, and the hero she’s worked like hell to become. Katherine Center's Things You Save in a Fire is a heartfelt and healing tour-de-force about the strength of vulnerability, the nourishing magic of forgiveness, and the life-changing power of defining courage, at last, for yourself.

after reading four katherine center books, i found this to be my favorite of her books by far! i found both cassie and the rookie to be so so likeable, and i felt so much for them both. the takeaways for this book felt very strongly threaded all throughout the book in ways that cassie's emotional arc really satisfying by the end. the ways her current situation was starting to mirror her situation in high school, but she was able to change the trajectory this time, was really meaningful. i loved all the firefighting, and katherine center's research / firefighter husband definitely helped make cassie's perspective feel so alive and true. i can definitely see how she weaves the certain characteristics about her husband into her novels, what with this one including firefighting and happiness for beginners including EMT training as well as teaching, and it makes me happy to think that there are relationships out there that are so loving. speaking of, owen was such a perfect guy. in the author's notes, center mentions she read up on really compassionate partners? or something like that? and wrote owen with that book in mind and IT SHOWS. I LOVE HIM!!! the pacing of their relationship, as well as the whole novel, felt perfect to me. i will say that i loved how cassie's relationship with her mother changed as well, but i wish we could have gotten a bit more that. there would be some interjections within cassie's introspection in which she mentions she discussed what was happening with her mom, and her mom thought this or that, but i think there could have been a bit more balance in a way that included more of that developing mother-daughter relationship to make it more three-dimensional. i don't necessarily agree with some of the final takeaways (does EVERYONE truly need to be forgiven...?), but i do think that that is what worked for cassie. the ending might have fallen together a bit too perfectly, but i thought owen and cassie REALLY deserved the happy ending, so i will not be questioning it. also i read this not on audiobook, but the audiobook version is the only one i can find when searching on literal to log this!

lucia

Kaitlin Simpson

I literally could not put this book down, the only thing that stopped me was my iPad battery needing to be charged. Read this book in a day. Such a great romance read.

Cassie Hanwell was born for emergencies. As one of the only female firefighters in her Texas firehouse, she's seen her fair share of them, and she's excellent at dealing with other people's tragedies. But when her estranged and ailing mother asks her to uproot her life and move to Boston, it's an emergency of a kind Cassie never anticipated.

The tough, old-school Boston firehouse is as different from Cassie's old job as it could possibly be. Hazing, a lack of funding, and poor facilities mean that the firemen aren't exactly thrilled to have a "lady" on the crew, even one as competent and smart as Cassie. Except for the handsome rookie, who doesn't seem to mind having Cassie around. But she can't think about that. Because she doesn't fall in love. And because of the advice her old captain gave her: don't date firefighters. Cassie can feel her resolve slipping...but will she jeopardize her place in a career where she's worked so hard to be taken seriously?

Danielle 

I loved How to Walk Away, so I was SO excited when I heard about this one! I entered giveaways and joined netgalley, and was approved! 😍 Thank you St. Martin’s Press and netgally for the advanced readers copy. I have been dying to read it and shrieked when I saw I was approved. 

I LOVED this story. I don’t stay up late anymore on week nights and this one had me up until midnight and until I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore! The main character was such a badass and so strong 💪🏻 the setting was so unique, and I liked how Cassie fought the stereotypes and proved how strong and amazing women can be. .

Of course I enjoyed the romance and could’ve used more of it, but I typically want to know everything about fictional relationships 😂 But I really did like that the romance didn’t overtake the story, but intertwined smoothly with Cassie’s own story. The romance was the perfect kind of cheesy, where it’s comforting, warm and makes you smile without noticing. The love interest was swoon worthy! .

Overall the plot was well balanced, the characters felt real, and it was just a book I easily devoured. I’m sad I read it so quickly but I'm glad it was that good! 
.

Kenzi Linton

Another great book by Katherine Center, who has become one of my favorite authors! This book had me smiling and crying. I looked forward to the moments when I had time to read it because it was so good. I will say though, that there is something in the story that could be triggering, although the details are not graphic about it. I highly recommend that everyone read this book if they have yet to, and to read all of the other books written by Katherine Center. This is my third one by her, and I plan to continue reading the rest!

Sara Uribe

I honestly feel like I have no words. This book is hands down my top read of the year. Cassie’s story is absolutely heart wrenching and you best believe I cried while reading this book (I’m honestly even tearing up little emotional I’m writing this). This is my first read by Katherine Center and it hit me right in the gut. I honestly really tried to take my time with this book but once I started reading it I could not put this down. I was captivated the entire time I was reading this book. The writing is phenomenal and the detail and storyline of each character is very well developed. Though I did figure out what the overall plot was, that did not ruin the story for me at all. Overall, I really just can’t put into words how this story made me feel. Anytime I think about it, tears well up in my eyes. I feel like an absolute sappy and crying mess. This is no doubt a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read!!! I can't wait to read more books by Katherine Center and get this book in physical form to add to my collection.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Patricia Nelson

Really liked this book! The author tells a story of a resilient and strong woman who carries scars from her past and finds ways to heal from them and get to know herself more completely. The book made me laugh and cry, and think about my own experiences and love and forgiveness and strength. It grabs the reader's attention right away and brings them along for a ride.

becky oh

“Choosing to love—despite all the ways that people let you down, and disappear, and break your heart. Knowing everything we know about how hard life is and choosing to love, anyway.. That’s not weakness, that’s courage.”


*Clears throat*

Please allow me to just have a moment of freaking out:

(screaming in mid-air)
_____________________________

This was a well deserved five-star read, hopeful, positive and learning how to forgive. It was very lovely, but it might take a while to forgive this book. Why? I was angry (actually, FURIOUS) because this book made my heart crack. The thing is, when a problem is mixed with fire, everything goes A FLAME. But in the end, who doesn't love a story of happy endings?

I wish I could just give a massive bear hug to Cassie, the rookie and the firefighters that were in this book because I just think they deserve a hug. They are all so brave (yes, I include DeStasio) and kind :) I just, I adore them. And love all of them. 

Cassie, is a firefighter and she is totally everything a firefighter should be. And her life was pretty normal and nice where she does what she loves. Until a phone call from her absent mother changes everything.

Now, Cassie is somehow what stuck in Boston with new crews who seems to hate that one of their member is a lady (how rude of them). The firehouse Cassie's in is a bit awkward and strange and all the firemen are not really happy to have her around. Except for the handsome rookie who seems to have some interest in her . . .

Cassie has always remembered her rule when it comes to dating: Never date a firefighter

But what can she do when she is attracted to this new rookie that seems to feel the same way?


✧ Cassie, my girl, is a definite superhero. She's brave, loyal, kind, a hero, a fighter, really tough and a bit lonely. I just, ADMIRE her willpower and her (omg) strength but she's inside a nut-shell. Until, of course, THE ROOKIE comes in and knocks on her protecting-layer/shell and asks: please may I enter because I want you.

✧ The Rookie, is so sweet, lovely, kind, courageous, tough (except when he faints at the sight of blood), tender and loveable. I could list at least 132 more words to describe him and it won't be enough. Please note: we get his actual name later throughout the book but his nickname is nice as well so I will continue using it. 
Personally, one of the reasons I like him is because he can COOK. Like, actually cook. I would give anything to just taste his chocolate-chip cookies.

Ok, so I wasn't sure if I was going to like this book at first, because some bits felt a bit dramatic at the start. And suddenly this whole love thing suddenly crashed down (on a phone call, if you want to know some details). The pace was good enough, but then we miss details of some days and that just kind of felt rushed. 

But as I kept reading it, I was literally giggling the whole time. Once, I actually screamed at one point (I was full of happy/romantic ideas) and this lady who heard me through my window glared at me to shut up. 

Oh, well. Too late. 

I also cried a lot. Even though this book had the most perfect ending I could wish for, there was this sad emotion at the back of my mind. There were still parts that my tears wouldn't stop dropping because it was just, hard to let things go. They will always be loved by me, cherished in my heart. 
I just wish, things would've turned out differently.

Even though there were tears, there were also a lot of grinning down at my kindle. Some things made me laugh hard and others, were because of Cassie and the rookie. It was just so sweet, like eating chocolates and ice creams at the same time! I just, had to read the GORY DETAILS to grin even wider (someone even commented I looked stupid, smiling foolishly at a kindle. They don't understand the magic of reading like me, and you).
Because this book is about firefighters, we get a lot of meanings of what 'brave' means. There are whole lot of different meanings of that word. I think the one that most catches my attention, is how bravery is something you just need in life so you won't back down from other people. Just because you're a lady. 

The thing is, everything in this book was just so lovely. And what could I say more? I just completely fell in love with this book.

This was a cute love story, i liked the characters, feel like we could have got more details on some of her background but overall a good read 

Gabbi Miller

Elaina 

4.5*. This book was funny, romantic, and very engaging! Parts of this book made me want to laugh and others made me want to cry. A fast and easy read that I didn’t want to end!

3.5 stars, would've been rated more highly if only the main character didn't shun everything "girly" with such vehement misogyny, it's giving very "I'm not like other girls" energy and it really rubbed me the wrong way. 

Other than that, well written, easy to read, respectful when discussing sexual assault, with an interesting premise. 

Kate B-L

3.5 stars, would've been rated more highly if only the main character didn't shun everything "girly" with such vehement misogyny, it's giving very "I'm not like other girls" energy and it really rubbed me the wrong way. 

Other than that, well written, easy to read, respectful when discussing sexual assault, with an interesting premise. 

Rachel Kanyid

Overall enjoyed it, but found some things slightly overly-ridiculous in the generalizations and how some of the characters were portrayed.

Kristen Claiborn

This book had been on my TBR list for so long, when I finally decided to read it, I didn’t know why it ended up on the TBR or what it was even about. This is one of the highest rated books amongst my online book-group friends, so I thought it was the perfect choice to be the first book of 2022. I was excited (but let’s be honest here, I’m excited about every book). 
	Having little to no idea what this book was about, I wasn’t anticipating a romance involving a firewoman. The way it started, with Cassie trying to maim a councilman tasked with presenting her an award, seemed like it was a bit of an exaggerated reaction to an inappropriate grouping situation. It seemed like there was more to that story and I was pretty frustrated that we weren’t getting it. It also seemed like there had to be more to the story between Cassie and her mother, so my frustration with the book just grew a bit more. We needed to understand those dynamics in order to understand Cassie, but they were kept from us (the reader) a bit too long for my personal taste. 
	Center sets up the entire story pretty well with a ton of foreshadowing (if I was still teaching, I’d consider using pieces of this story because of how glaringly obvious the foreshadowing is), so it does become pretty predictable. Even the antagonist is obvious after a few clues. However, it’s well-written, and sometimes predictable is just what makes the book a good one. So this, my first read of 2022, gets four stars from me.

Trish

"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.

The answer wasn't to never love anyone.

It was to love like crazy whenever you could."


This is my first Katherine Center novel and it was such a wholesome, heartwarming, emotional experience. This is a story about the many paradoxes of life, about the struggles women face in conventionally male workforces, about making room for women while holding on to longstanding traditions and values, it's about adapting to change, overcoming trauma, letting go of past hurts and trying to trust again, learning to forgive others and yourself, and discovering that loving others and allowing yourself to depend and rely on people isn't a weakness but takes strength and courage. Each topic or issue introduced (whether it's pre-judging others or toxic masculinity) is explored thoroughly within the context of the story and given resolution which I loved. 

Cassie, as a narrator, was likable and easy to root for. It was so much fun to see her be tortured by her crush on Rookie. And I have never been so GIDDY and excited about learning a guy's first name before. But Rookie stole my heart! What a gentleman. As far as a romance goes, this hits a bunch of my favorite tropes: forbidden love, workplace romance, fake dating, secret dating, and more. It's so easy to fall in love with Cassie and Rookie and you want them to be together against all the odds. 

Finally, this book made me cry, I mean actual tears-streaming-down-my-cheeks crying. And once I started going, it's like every next hiccup in the plot made me cry again. I basically read the last 25% of the book through blurry eyes, so, you've been warned. 

I will definitely be looking into reading more of Katherine Center's novels. Idk, she might be a top tier contemporary romance author like Emily Henry and Christina Lauren. I'm getting good vibes.

Bonita

4 ⭐️ such a beautiful story & a great way to kick off the new year! the characters are so lovable & the story just hooks you in from the beginning… also ALMOST made me cry which is rare for me!

Kerry Kalinoski

Literally felt all the things during this book I thought it was gonna be a cute lil romance but it was so much deeper than that

Kathryn 

An easy read, with a great message, and some classic love tropes 

Anna Campbell

** spoiler alert **
           I thought this was going to be a very predictable book, but it did have some twists and turns! I thought Cassie’s foreshadowing about the reveal of her assault was a bit much, but it was just indicative of how she was dealing (or not dealing) with the memory. This book taught me about firefighting, forgiveness and feminism! Loved it.

Caitlin Snyder

Becky

There were a few tears but this book was spectacular. It was just so heartwarming and nice. I wasn’t certain at first since we start off with Cassie being so closed off with no real personal connections. I mean, we all know why she was like that but it broke my heart all the same. Thankfully, it soon picks up and I wanted to cheer Cassie on and beat everyone up who doubted her. She was a badass queen.

I am so glad I listened to the audiobook rather than reading, since I got the joy of listening to the narrator do the Boston accents and fully understand Cassie was in a whole new place. It totally immersed me in the story.

Sahi K

I guess I’m somewhere between a 2 and 2.5.

When I read How To Walk Away and found it just okay, I should have realized that the author’s writing style doesn’t exactly work for me. But when I was offered this ARC, I thought I should give it another try and and here I am. I’m not exactly disappointed because I didn’t know what I was expecting, but it was just an overall underwhelming read.

Cassie is a determined, hard working and talented firefighter/paramedic but she holds herself to an almost impossible standard to make it in her very male centered profession. Her mother’s abandonment and a traumatic event at the age of sixteen have made her an emotionally closed off person, which means she hardly has any friends or social life and channels all her energy into being a great firefighter. When she has to move to a much more regressive fire department in a small town to live with her mother, she has to prove herself all over again. While I admire her for being so composed and handling every situation with a sort of clinical precision, I guess I wanted her to show a bit more emotion. But thankfully, her character arc is about growing more comfortable with showing emotion and vulnerability and I thought that was good. It just wasn’t entirely satisfactory.

The rookie love interest Owen was a dreamy guy, sweet and kind and just overall nice. While I liked how he was able to bring down Cassie’s walls a bit, I just thought the romance happened very fast and I didn’t see the buildup at all. The other side characters at the fire station all felt very two dimensional and I couldn’t even remember their names by the time I finished reading. Cassie’s mom is like a walking talking self help book and though I was sympathetic to her situation and wanting to spend more time with her daughter, their interactions didn’t feel very authentic to me.

The one thing that’s good about this author’s books are that they are very fast paced and easy to read - I finished it in just two sittings despite not enjoying myself much. My biggest problem was that the book wasn’t sure which category it wanted to be in - it wants to be a romance novel but the love story itself is rushed, there is hardly any relationship progression and I couldn’t understand why they were in love; on the other hand, the book wants to talk about issues like sexism in the workplace and dealing with trauma and how they impact our lives for a long time, but none of it is explored deeply because the author doesn’t seem to want to lose the light /breezy feel of the book. This just makes it all feel very superficial. There is also a “not like other girls” trope, especially at the beginning when the main character says things like “being in love is very girly and it makes girls sad and pathetic” and I hated it. The main character experiences deep trauma as a teenager which has affected her capacity to have relationships for a long time, but we never get to see how she is actually dealing with it... and ultimately, falling in love fixes all her issues, which is another trope I don’t particularly enjoy anymore. While I like the concept of forgiveness and how it’s important to forgive to be able to move forward and lead a more productive life, all the advice given in the book about it was pretty perfunctory and shallow and didn’t evoke any feelings in me. Despite having a bit of mystery element in the story, there is hardly any conflict and the author ensures that everything is neatly tied up in a bow.

If you have enjoyed the author’s books before, you’ll probably like this a lot more than I did. If you are looking for a light and easy fairytale-esque book without a lot of angst, then you should give this a try. However, if you are looking for an amazing well developed romance or a book that deeply touches on issues that the main character faces in her personal and professional life, then Things You Save in a Fire is definitely not it.

Kate Gravelle

It’s a typical love story but I loved the writing style of this author. I might reread this book!

Triana Jordan

THIS BOOK WAS BEAUTIFUL & I LOVED EVERY MOMENT OF IT. I loved the authors writing style, it was captivating from the moment I read the first paragraph. I loved Cassie as the main character as well as the rookie aka Owen. Basically there was nothing wrong with this book for me which is why I gave it five stars which I rarely give on books. Definitely reading more from this author.

Rebeca 

5 stars!!!! 
I LOVED THIS SO MUCH. Such a good heartwarming story about love.

Melea Mullican

I loved everything about this book. Except the insta love. I’m not used to seeing that in adult novels, and it felt like it came out of nowhere. Other than that, the book was great. Female empowering and covered some important topics. I really liked the main character and thought she was strong, but I enjoyed seeing the softer sides.

Things You Save in a Fire A Novel

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