I honestly went into this book thinking it was going to be cheesy. I was wrong. It didn’t take me long to get hooked on this book!

I loved this book. This is my second book by this author and I’ve loved both. Her writing is so captivating and I loved the romance but also the bigger picture of dealing with serious subjects. I read this book in one day; I couldn’t put it down.

"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."

I loved this book! I could not put it down. I knew I had to read Things You Save in a Fire after loving HOW TO WALK AWAY, a big favorite.

Cassie is a true heroine and badass! Courage, forgiveness, love are the three words to describe this book.
I read it in one sitting and I can t wait to read more books by this author. She writes what I want to read. Bravo!

Thank you to #netgalley and #stmartinspress for this early reader copy.

I laughed, cried, related, empathized, and just had all the feels reading Things You Save in a Fire! This book has it all - a love story, drama, comedy, and a likable protagonist. Katherine Center has the ability to write in a way that makes her books unputdownable - and this was no exception!

Things You Save in a Fire starts out with a badass lead character in Cassie, and she faces a lot of misogyny in her role as a firefighter. So many times I shook my head, but totally related with her struggles to define herself as "one of the guys" and the pressure to prove herself as a powerful and qualified firefighter. I will admit, I underestimated this book at first - I anticipated a more lighthearted read with some cool tinges of feminism. As the story developed, I was so drawn in and became fully invested in the events that transpired! There was so much emotion, self-discovery, anger, and love built up the story which made it so satisfying.

I highly recommend picking up this book immediately when it hits shelves in August! Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an early review copy! I loved this book!

I received this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This was a quick, enjoyable, easy read. I thought the firefighter storyline worked well. And I liked how you could see the personal growth that Cassie went through, particularly regarding her relationships with the other people in her life.

Katherine Center has done it again. Things You Save in a Fire was impossible to put down. Cassie's story was dramatic, raw, and ultimately inspiring, and the overall messages about love and forgiveness were spot on.

Katherine Center has done it again! Things You Save In A Fire is heartwarming story or forgiveness, love, and inner peace. With a cast of characters and a writing style that automatically draws you in you're going to forget that you're not living in between the pages of this book. Destined to be a best seller and one of my favorite books of the year.

For the most part I really enjoyed this book and the author's writing is pretty great. Cassie is great, strong female lead that was thrown into some pretty crappy situations. I loved that instead of getting her down she used it all to push harder. She never really let anything get to her, well except fuel her own fire to be looked as an equal, not an easy task as a firefighter. Especially when assigned to a "good ole boy" squad. She takes everything in stride though and just proves herself over and over again earning the respect she damn well deserved.

I really enjoyed the small romance part in this too. The Rookie was definitely lovable and not your typical egotistical guy we saw with other firefighters. He was sweet but also stuck up for Cassie when the time came to stick his neck out when it mattered the most.

There was one part of this book that I found hard to forgive and I just can't get over how it was really handled I guess. I felt the person got off way too easily. Had lives not been endangered I think I could have let it go a bit better but that's just not the case with this one.

With that said, this is still a good story and I can see why so many love it. I'm the girl in the middle of the track who enjoyed it but it just didn't bring out the emotions for me to love it.

I wasn’t sure what this book is classified as, is it romance? Not my genre, it it worked for me anyways. I didn’t love the main character, and I kept thinking this book was about to veer into super hokey territory, but then it changed course a bit. Or maybe it was still a bit hokey, but was still well done and I enjoyed it anyways? I don’t know, I’m still working out my feelings on this one I guess. All I know is that I enjoyed this very much despite thinking I was going to dislike it several times throughout the book. This will make a very good summer beach read with a bit more substance.

This book was provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

As usual in her books the author has created a heart warming book that hits important societal issues. This books deals with the aspect of a woman working in a "man's" world, the stereotypes women have to deal with, the harassment, and how women have to behave or else they wont be accepted. At one point the main character is even told, no makeup, no jewelry, and to keep her hair up so she can survive in a fire house. I found that incredibly sexist. Men don't have limitations so why should women. That is just the tip of the iceberg. The author hits this issue head on and I absolutely love the way she over comes it.

This book was excellent and I’m not a fan of women’s literature! In fact, the more mushy it gets, the more I tend to stay away.

Things You Save In a Fire is not this type of book. It's smart, courageous and causes you to think about your own emotions, especially old hurts and scars.

The book starts off with Cassie Hanwell being a fire fighter in Austin, Texas and she’s one of the best.
But on a day of celebration of heroic acts that she did for the city, she’s faced with a blast from the past. And this past is not a good one!

Cassie’s estranged Mom calls her around this same time and asks if she will come live with her in Massachusetts, for a year. She’s blind in one eye, struggling with some medical issues and needs help.

Having two things change her life course in matter of days, Cassie heads to Boston to live with her Mom. She's relocated to a firehouse that's an hour away from Boston.

The Lillian Fire Department is completely different from the progressive fire house in Austin. They don’t have decent funding for equipment much less know how to work with a “lady” firefighter.

I loved Cassie Hanwell! She's a strong, independent woman with tough skin. She's smart and competent. She doesn’t do emotion and especially not love.

Enter Owen Callahan, aka The Rookie.

I enjoyed the chemistry and the friendship with Cassie and Owen from the beginning. Owen is the type of guy you want to fall in love with. The type of guy you want to marry.
He’s easy going, kindhearted along with being a good guy.

This is the first book that I’ve read of Katherine Center and it won’t be the last!
I loved her writing along with this plot. She nailed the characters and the emotions that it takes to be a firefighter, much less being a woman firefighter.
I work in a male dominated profession myself and she wrote it well. Bravo Katherine Center for getting it right!

Things You Save In a Fire is an emotional, brave and vulnerable book. It caused me to tear up on occasion because of frustration, love and just having the courage to run into that burning building alone!

First, I’d like to say I was thrilled to receive this ARC from NetGalley. Katherine Center really got me with How to Walk away so I jumped at the chance to preview her newest novel, Things You Save in a Fire.
Cassie Hanwell is good at many things: firefighting, medical emergencies, and avoiding her pain. After her past comes screaming back in multiple ways, she is forced to deal with her pain and learn to forgive, including herself.
I enjoyed the story very much. It was a fast paced read and very interesting. I especially enjoyed the story lines around the emergency calls. Cassie grew a lot from beginning to end, but I still didn’t love her. Rookie, on the other hand, was wonderful and I loved his story.
The themes of trauma, grief, and forgiveness were thought provoking. However, I felt they stopped short of being deep enough to impact the reader. I wish it addressed more around the sexual trauma.
Overall, I recommend for a quick read.

I laughed so hard while reading this book. I kept reading parts of it to my hubby because some parts were so funny. Don't be foil though, this is not a comedy. This is the story of Cassie, a star firefighter, who is about to receive one of the most prestigious awards a firefighter can receive for an act of bravery. The Maire has scheduled to hand her the award but was called to a more pressing matter and went one of his counselors to do the honour. Cassie has a history with this counselor and when he discreetly grabs her butt during the award ceremony, she cracks the award plaque on his head and gives him a good beating. Cassie is told to apologize to the counselor or lose her job. She compromises by being transferred to another station near her estranged mother who has just resurfaced and is asking for her help. This is a new start but it will not be easy in a station where men have ruled and do not like women to join them. And there is also the rookie... The handsome rookie who has stirred something in Cassie which she thought was not possible.

A big thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for this fantastic novel. Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center will be available at your favourite bookstore on August 13, 2019.

4½ stars rounded up. Things You Save in a Fire was my first book by Katherine Center and I absolutely loved it! It's a quick and easy read, that made me feel weepy as much as it made me laugh out loud and squeal with delight. The writing flows so well, and I found myself quickly turning page after page, quickly devouring the story. Center's writing is simple, no extravagance or anything like that, but she honestly doesn't need it; her writing evokes powerful emotions and what I enjoyed most about it is that it's completely relatable.

This book is about the strength of healing and the power of forgiveness, especially of oneself. I really enjoyed Cassie's character arc--she's such a strong female lead--and as her walls were slowly chipped away, I found myself delighted that she was able to finally grant forgiveness to her 16-year-old self and her mother, and to embrace the love and support that the people around her had to give. It was easy to forget that Cassie is relatively young because she has a certain maturity and confidence that's usually found in older characters, and this is especially so when she dealt with the issues she faces at the new firehouse. Also in dealing with her mother, I found Cassie developed a mature understanding about the situation that I would have had trouble swallowing even now, had I been in her shoes.

I thought the romance between Cassie and the Rookie was sweet, and I loved that his character was much "softer" compared to her hard-as-nails one. Although to be honest, I was trying really hard to feel their chemistry, but even up until the end I wasn't overwhelmed with their connection; certainly not enough for such a grand HEA. To be fair though, it's probably just me who thought that and it certainly didn't take (much) away from my enjoyment of the story! The Rookie honestly sounds kind of like the dream man I'd want in real life--I mean, anyone who loves to cook and bake me delicious things, and is always understanding and supportive, is definitely a win! While romance was the big hook here, I also really enjoyed how the relationship evolved between Cassie and her mother, Diana. Mending their relationship really proves how much power there is in forgiveness.

Overall, this was a great feel-good romance and I'm looking forward to reading more from Katherine Center. If her other books are anything like this one, I know I will surely enjoy them!

Thanks to Netgalley, Katherine Center and St. Martin's Press for making this book available to read in exchange for an honest review. I have posted this review on my Goodreads and I will post it on my Blog (www.dinipandareads.home.blog) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/dinipandareads) closer to the date of publication.

I was so excited Tom read this book! I loved the authors previous book and this one did not disappoint. The characters are well thought out, the storyline is developed and the writing is superb. I am looking forward to gifting this book to some friend some of mine when it is published.

I loved every moment of this book, from the small reference to How To Walk Away to the strong female lead. This one was hard to put down and I found myself craving more of Cassie and the rookie’s story once it was over. 5 big stars!

i Loved this book and I love Katherine Center's writing. Last year i read her book How to walk away and absolutely loved it. I was worried that this one wouldn't live up to it but I believe this one is every bit as good! I love her writing style - it is so easy to read and the storyline is not hard to get interested in. I also must say - What an amazing cover - it is simply beautiful. I loved the storyline and I loved the characters and I thought this was just a great book! An absolute 5 star must read - add to your TBR now! ! Thank you to Net Galley and St Martin's Press for an advance copy of this amazing book in exchange for my honest review!

Cassie Hanwell is a firefighter—a female firefighter—living in Austin, Texas, when she gets an unexpected call that leads her to move to Massachusetts. She then has to start over in an old school, boys-club of a firehouse (a big change from her ultra-progressive Austin workplace) that doesn’t exactly welcome her with open arms.

With family drama, romance, some seriously nail-biting fire-and-rescue scenes, and even many laugh-out-loud moments, I loved this book. For me, the best part, hands down, was the main character, Cassie. She is a total badass! I loved that she is an amazing, incredibly accomplished firefighter and doesn’t ever apologize for that fact or try to hide it. We could all learn a lot from her. I also loved the dialogue in this book. It felt very real, but also funny and very witty. (And the romantic, flirty banter was adorable!)

If you love strong female characters and stories that manage to combine romance, laughs, and heart-stopping thrills, definitely pick this up. But do it fast, because this book is sure to be turned into an (amazing!) movie sooner rather than later. And I can’t wait to experience that, too. :)

LINK TO GOODREADS REVIEW: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2763365216

Note: I will also be mentioning this on my blog (www.thesparklylife.com) and my Instagram (@alyssahertzig) when we get closer to publication date. I really did enjoy it. Thank you so much for allowing me to read it early!

This is my second book by Katharine Center. I'm so glad she's written more because it won't be my last. I read this book in 2 days. Only pausing because I have to work, eat, and sleep. It was such a good story. Cassie is a fire fighter in Texas with a distinguished career. Something happens that makes her need to either apologize or lie low for a while. At the same time her estranged mom calls from Massachusetts needing help. So Cassie moves and starts work at the Lillian Fire Department where she's the first woman. The story looks at what happened to Cassie at 16 and how that changed her. Along with trying to be accepted at her new job. Then there's the rookie who starts the same day. The story made me want to call my mom and tell her I love her. It also made me feel so sad for a young Cassie and root for her to figure her life out in Massachusetts. Overall I give this book 4.5 stars. It was full of love and hope and made me happy.

I genuinely loved this book. Cassie's story was gripping, and her job as a firefighter was fascinating to me, as someone who knew very little about the firefighting culture. I was rooting for Cassie to find her way, as she dealt with switching fire departments from Austin, TX to small-town Massachusetts, and finally faced the traumas from her past.