Even a bigger fan of this author since reading this book. An easy read that was both funny and so easy to relate to. The characters felt like people you might actually know. Did not want it to end but read in one day!

Things You Save In A Fire by Katherine Center

This is an amazing story about forgiveness. This is one of those books that gives you a “book hangover” and you continue to feel the after affects long after you’ve read the last page. This book definitely spoke to me on a very personal level as well. It has a lot of heavy topics that are addressed. Cancer, infidelity, sexual assault, as well as bullying. But it’s a story of triumph through the hurdles of life. I thoroughly enjoy books by this author and highly recommend Things You Save In A Fire.

"The best revenge is forgetting."


Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center is what I call - from beginning to end - a beautifully crafted novel.

I love every single thing about this book. It has an amazing heroine, a great storyline, and a fantastic ending. Yes, these are my opinions and I can stand behind them 100%.

Why haven't I read any of Katherine Center's books before? How in the world is this possible? Don't worry about it, I'll correct this huge oversight very quickly.

Let's get to the story.

Our heroine, Cassie Hanwell (who's freaking amazing!) is fantastic at her job. She's a firefighter and a paramedic. She has worked hard to be where she's at. She doesn't date and she doesn't fall in love. Love makes you weak and she can't let anyone hurt her again. Her mother abandoned Cassie and her father on her sixteen's birthday. She has never forgiven her mother and she doesn't think she ever will. For Cassie, there's nothing else but her job and her firefighter family.

When Things You Save in a Fire begins, Cassie is about to receive the Valor Award for her bravery after saving children trapped in a bus. Her engine family (B-shift from Station Eleven) is with her, supporting her. Then, the absolute worst happens. The next day, her captain is telling her she has 2 choices. The first choice, she either apologizes or she gets fired. The second choice, if there are no charges filed against her, she can be transferred out. Cassie has no choice but to accept her second choice. She will have to leave Austin, the job she loves and her friends and move to Massachusetts with her mother whom she has barely spoken to in ten years and start a new job in a new town where only men are supposed to be firefighters.

As a farewell, her captain gives her advise in the form of a list of rules to follow with her new squad.

“My best advice to you? Find one person you can count on. Just one.”


Cassie knows she's up to the challenge until her first day when she meets the new rookie.

“Firefighter Hanwell, are you proposing that we snuggle?”


Things You Save in a Fire is so much more than a romance. It's about forgiveness, self-respect, family relationships and believing in doing the right thing above all. The narrative was superb, the characters were fantastic. I fell in love with Cassie. She's my new girl crush. She didn't apologize for knowing she was good at something. She fought for her job and she recognized that loving the right someone can you give strength and not weakness.

“The answer wasn’t to never love anyone.
It was to love like crazy whenever you could.”


Cliffhanger: No

5/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by St. Martin's Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Well that was just rather lovely, sad and fun all rolled together. And what a badass, powerful lady! I feel like working out :)

RATING: 5/5 STARS

Katherine Center's HAPPINESS FOR BEGINNERS and HOW TO WALK AWAY are stellar, so I had high expectations for this book. THINGS YOU SAVE IN A FIRE did not disappoint! It was heartfelt, had a fantastic message, and the plot was so compelling that I finished the entire book in a day.

Cassie was such a strong heroine. She stood up for her beliefs and had to face many challenges, but I admired her for how she was able to roll with the punches. This is the first story I've read about a female firefighter, and I loved getting a perspective into that world. The author's husband is a volunteer firefighter who helped her with fact-checking the story (according to the dedication), which explains why the elements surrounding life as a firefighter felt so realistic and immersive. I liked how the camaraderie between the firefighters at Cassie's station was portrayed, and the scenes where Cassie was training or out in the field were so engaging and action-packed.

Along with a strong main character, this book carries a powerful message about feminism. Cassie didn't want any special treatment from her coworkers - her focus was performing her job the best she could and proving that she had the same worth as a man. I commend Katherine Center for making Cassie a character who strove hard for equality, but did not view men as her enemies. Cassie was hard on herself because she knew that she would be held to a higher standard, but she wasn't bitter about it and didn't ask for pity. By showing her competency as a firefighter and being a team player, she won the respect and friendship of her all-male department.

Cassie's character growth in this book was wonderfully executed. I sympathized with her reasoning for shutting herself out of relationships and suppressing her feelings. But throughout the book, the walls she put up to protect herself from emotional trauma were gradually lowered. The theme of forgiveness prevailed throughout, and the ways Cassie spoke and acted on it were very mature and admirable. Cassie's love interest, the "rookie", was an integral component of this journey. He was so supportive of Cassie and her role as a firefighter. He advocated for her, was understanding, and cared about her well-being without being threatened by her physical strength and skill at her job. Their romance, though not the only focus, was an amazing part of the novel.

I recommend this book for anyone who likes confident and bad-ass female characters, meaningful romance, and stories about healing.

A sincere thanks to NetGalley and St. Marin's Press for providing an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A most beautiful and heartfelt story of family, forgiveness and healing. The author has developed a main character that the reader admires, respects and cheers for! Definitely a page turner, I thoroughly enjoyed every word and every page. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this title prior to publication--it was a complete joy!

4.5 Stars — LOVED it!
Extremely charming love story filled with characters that you will be rooting for! Cassie Hanwell just might be my favorite protagonist of all time. She is strong and dominating her job in a male-led industry with ease. You will fall in love with her by the end of this captivating story of love, loss and the great value of forgiveness.

Cookie ❤️

This is the first book I have read by Katherine Center, and now I'll be reading them all! Things You Save in a Fire just grabbed me from the beginning and wouldn't let go. I stayed up late and couldn't put it down. The characters and emotions are spot on and the firefighters and fire station setting is perfect! Forgiveness is always difficult and Ms. Center dealt with it beautifully, carefully and realistically. I will remember this story for a long time. I strongly recommend.

First time read for this author and definitely not the last time. After closing the book on Things You Save in a Fire, I immediately went to my computer and looked up her other novels. I am not a type of person that gets emotionally pulled in and sheds tears, but this novel tugged at my heart strings and showed the grace in the power of forgiveness. The main character, Cassie, puts on a tough front due to circumstances in her life that hardened her heart which may have served her well being the only female firefighter at the station, but did not serve her well in her personal life. Only when leaves her comfort zone in Texas and moves to Boston to help with her estranged mother who is ill, does Cassie's shell she has grown around her begin to crack.

The author weaved this story so well and you didn't really learn all the details to Cassie's adversities until just the right moment as the author had an incredible talent for revealing facts at just the right time. This book will be released on August 13th, 2019 and I highly recomend you put this on you to-be-read list!!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Cassie is a woman firefighter working her way up the ladder when a phone call from her estranged mother changes everything she thinks she knows about life and love.
I totally fell in love with this book. It was slightly predictable and slightly sappy, but I just kept rooting for Cassie. I wanted to keep reading and I wanted to see what the next pages would bring. Such a feel good story. Read this book, you won’t be disappointed!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

4.5 Stars! Katherine Center has quickly become one of my go to authors and her latest novel does not disappoint. Things You Save in a Fire hooked me almost immediately and I was up most of the night finishing it. This book was about love, courage, strength and most of all forgiveness. There was also just the right amount of humor.

The protagonist in this book, Cassie Hall, was strong, vulnerable and funny while being totally relatable at the same time. I was completely immersed in this story and was falling for the "Rookie" along with Cassie. From the relationship between the Newbie and the Rookie, to the firehouse pranks to the complicated relationship between a mother and daughter, this book encompasses it all. The characters in this book are flawed and I love watching their growth through the story, This book caused me to laugh out loud and also tear up on occasion. My only issue with this book is that I wanted more! I was not really ready for this one to end.

I can't recommend this author enough and Things You Save in a Fire might be my new favorite of hers. You will not regret buying this book!

“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.” 

4.5 stars! This book had me hooked from start to finish. It is the perfect balance of romance, drama, humor, and action. While I normally do not love a Hallmark ending, this one tugged at my heartstrings in all the right ways.

Katherine Center finds ways to include little tidbits that make her characters undeniably relatable- from the rookie sneaking a puppy home, to Cassie crushing her fellow firefighters in Basketball. Every detail just adds to the charm of this novel. This is the first book I’ve read by Katherine Center and I can’t wait to pick up more by her very soon.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Katherine Center for gifting me this advanced reader copy!

I had high hopes going into this book, as I LOVED Center’s How to Walk Away. This book exceeded my expectations and left me thinking about the characters for days after finishing it. The book started out a little slow, but as you learn more about the characters, the better it gets. I will definitely be reading this again, and purchasing a physical copy once it comes out!

Well, I was expecting a cozy romance, something on the lighter side... but this book is so much more! I should have known, since I read Katherine Center’s previous novel, How to Walk Away, last year and it was also more than expected. This book did still have plenty of light moment, and was a bit predictable, but did I care? No. I was along for the ride.

Katherine Center craftily works in themes of abandonment, trauma, sexual assault, sexism in the workplace, friendship, and love through the story. This story is timely in the era of #metoo and #timesup, it it doesn’t come across heavy handed and Center doesn’t overtly throw these themes in your face. At the heart of the story is Cassie Hanwell, who is navigating an estranged relationship with her mother and finding her place at a new firehouse while coming to terms with her own PTSD.

I enjoyed learning about the firefighter profession, especially what it means to be a female firefighter in a male dominated profession. The setting of Eastern Massachusetts was quaint and picturesque. Center even throws in a nod and wink to How to Walk Away.

I did read this book quickly because the story was engaging and the words easily flew off the page. The second half took off and I couldn’t stop. I wanted to know if Cassie could overcome her traumatic past to find happiness and forgiveness and love.

I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. It was a pleasure to read.

I enjoyed this book. It was sweet and charming and super mushy gushy without being over the top. I also really enjoyed the narration of the story and Cassie’s personality that you were able to glimpse from the writing. But there were a few things I wasn’t particularly fond of.

I thought the plot was a little too obvious. When a certain character was introduced I automatically knew what was going to happen in the end. It was super cliche.

I did feel that there was a lot of interesting conflict and drama but, again, it was a bit obvious and a bit like the author was trying to try to create conflict because she felt it was necessary.

Everything was a little too cleanly wrapped up. I just felt like there was so much build up and then it was just done. Easy. It was like your typical rom-com that you know will have a happy ending because they all do.

Overall, it was a quick, light read. While I enjoyed it enough, it’s not anything I would run out to read again.

I received an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Netgalley.

What a great book. Love story. Lessons on forgiveness and more.

Believe me this book is worth the read.

This is only the second Katherine Center book I've read, the first being How To Walk Away. When I saw the title I had certain expectations. The title relates to the story in both cases, but not quite the way you'd expect. I love that!
Cassie reinvents her 16 year old traumatized self to become a competent EMT/firefighter who keeps her emotions tightly wrapped. When her estranged mother asks for her help Cassie finds she has to reinvent herself yet again. And this time love, vulnerability, and forgiveness come into play.

I enjoyed this story. Based on the title I expected a different type of story. This story is about forgiveness of the people we love when they have hurt us deeply. It is clear that we don’t always have a clear understanding of everything that happen.

Claire is a strong woman who has had a difficult life. Her mom left on her 16th birthday which left her feeling abandoned. As a result, she has worked hard to get where she is in her fire fighting career. Her independence is what she holds on to, pushing herself to reach her career goals.

When her mom calls with health issues will she leave her home and go help her mom? Will she be able to forgive her mom for leaving? What will the move do to our career?

This was my first book by Katherine Center. I loved everything about it. The character development, the lessons on forgiveness, the action, and the love story. I will definitely be reading more of her books!!!

This is not a romance in the traditional sense (even though it does have a romantic thread in it) but it is a love story. Cassie suffered some traumatic teenage experiences after which she found strength by walling off her heart from any emotional connections and focusing on her physical strength. But life has a way for throwing some curve balls and Cassie now has to drastically change her life. She is now exposed to situations where she finds out if she has the strength to accept love and forgiveness of both herself and those who had ‘wronged’ her.

“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.”

Beautiful writing, relatable characters. Highly recommend.