I've read 2 of Katherine Center's previous books and really enjoyed them. This one might be my favorite of the 3 and I'm kicking myself for not having read it sooner. I felt like I was binge watching a few episodes of Chicago Fire, and I'm not complaining about that. At all.

Cassie has issues. She's got bulletproof walls all around her thanks to a 2 large events that occurred on her 16th birthday. When years later, events force her to re-evaluate how she dealt with those events, she grudgingly does so at first. But this book isn't just about processing how something impacts you...it's about forgiveness, family, friendship, careers, and love. And when Cassie slowly realizes there is a better life waiting for her as she begins to let her walls crumble, she becomes a stronger, sweeter, happier fighter. A fighter for those she holds close to her heart and herself.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the arc.

I read her book How to Walk Away a few years ago and liked it, but didn’t love it. But this one? I LOVED. I was completely absorbed by this story about Cassie, a female firefighter, who leaves her comfortable Texas firehouse for Boston so she can help her aging mother. The Boston firehouse is old-school in the extreme and their excitement about having a female firefighter? Zero percent. And they don’t hide it at all. The only person at the firehouse who doesn’t seem to hate her is the one person lower on the totem pole than she is: the rookie.

A very enjoyable read - it's not complex by any means and did not make me think about the story once I finished it, but I did enjoy reading it. It's an okay-crafted story and it addressed/touched upon some important issues. I didn't find it realistic but I still enjoyed it. (Note: I did have a hard time getting into it at the beginning and I felt like the writing wasn't my style, but I settled into it).

I enjoyed this book very much. The life of a female firefighter is a unique perspective to evolve the story around. There is quite a bit of stuff going on throughout the story. A lot of love, family drama, friendships and happenings inside and outside the walls of a firehouse. Totally think this is a book worth spending time reading. It gave my emotions lots of feelings while sorting through the love part of the story. It has the happy ending that we all hope for.

Things you save in a fire by Katherine Center is a fictional novel about a female firefighter. Cassie is an accomplished firefighter in Texas. She has to pack up her bags and leave for Boston to care for her sick mom for a year, in spite of her dislike for her. Cassie’s mom left her and her dad on Cassie’s birthday when she was in her teens and she never forgave her mom for leaving them. She takes up a job at a male-dominated and chauvinistic Boston firehouse.

In Boston, Katherine has to come to terms with her overexcited and chatty mom. All her plans to be cold and aloof to her mom do not seem to be working out. At the firehouse, she works hard to earn respect of her colleagues so that they do not disregard her as a delicate and fragile woman who can’t do her job as her firefighter. Katherine is also worried that she might break the first rule for women firefighters, ‘do not fall in love with your colleague’, when she has a crush on a rookie firefighter who joined Boston firehouse on the same day.

This sweet novel explores the complicated relationship between family, a budding romance, and also touches on rape, difficulties at the workplace for women, and how firefighters work.

Being a firefighter is not an easy job. Being a female firefighter, especially when you are the only one, makes the job a little more difficult. When Cassie gets transferred from her house in Texas to Boston, Massachusetts she will see that life there is even more hard for females. They have never had a female at their house and they don't feel that she has anything to offer. Will Cassie be able to handle the pressure or will she retreat back to Texas.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I enjoyed this Katherine Center book better than How to Walk Away. I look forward to the next book by Ms. Center.

Things You Save In A Fire, like the other Center books I’ve read (Everyone Is Beautiful and How To Walk Away) is a light-ish, enjoyable read with a bit of heft to it. Cassie, a firefighter in Austin, is receiving an award for bravery when she unexpectedly lets loose on the local politician presenting the award. Cassie has her (understandable) reasons for attacking him, but her very public altercation leads to the loss of her job. At the same time, her estranged, ailing mother summons her to come live with her in Massachusetts for a year to help take care of her, providing Cassie with a convenient place to find a different job.

Cassie moves after finding a position at an old-fashioned, all-male firehouse that doesn’t take well to women colleagues. Her boss in Austin warns her not to give them any additional reasons to dislike her – don’t dress like a woman, don’t cry, don’t show any feelings, and most important, don’t get romantically involved with anyone at work. For Cassie, who has built a brick wall around her emotions since she was a teenager, this won’t be hard. She’s tough, tireless and fearless, and winning over the new firehouse is just the latest in a long string of challenges she has overcome.

Once in Massachusetts, however, Cassie has to confront something she hasn’t before: her own conflicting feelings about her mother and the undeniable attraction she feels for the Rookie, a young firefighter who started the same day she did. And we also learn what the Austin politician did to harm Cassie so much that she beat him up at an awards ceremony. So while Things You Save In A Fire is generally a light read, there are some complex feelings at stake.

I enjoyed Things You Save In A Fire. It’s a good palate cleanser if you’ve read something heavy and need a break, or if you just enjoy a well-told story with a compelling, strong woman at the center. Also – bonus – I learned a lot about firefighting. Things tie up a little nicely at the end, but that’s not so bad every once in a while.

This was my first Katherine Center book and I absolutely adored it!

It was just a touch slow to start for me, but after I became invested in the characters, I definitely had to see how the story turned out.

I loved that the main character was portrayed as a sporty loner who's heart was slowly thawed by the rookie.

I also loved her evolving relationship with her mother!

Overall, a wonderful read.

What an adorable book! It started out slow, but by 100 pages in I was fully invested! A female firefighter who is a badass lead character with her own vulnerabilities slowly revealed? I loved that premise so much!! It was my first time reading Katherine Center, but I am now a fan! :)

Thank you so much for the opportunity to review this book and to be an early reader via NetGalley! However, I will not be writing a review for this title at this time, as my reading preferences have since changed somewhat. In the event that I decide to review the book in the future, I will make sure to purchase a copy for myself or borrow it from a library. Once again, thank you so much for providing me with early access to this title. I truly appreciate it. Please feel free to contact me with any follow-up questions or concerns.

Katherine Center is one of my favorite authors, and this by far is my favorite of her books so far. I love the depth of knowledge that she displays within the Firehouse and the added drama of Cassie's past adds an extra layer of mystery. I also loved that Center added a cameo and reference to How to Walk Away within the story.

Katherine Center is so great about telling the stories of relationships -- and not just romantic ones. I've never read a book about a female firefighter before, and Center's characters and perspective are absolutely heartwarming.

I really enjoyed this book. Well written with a strong female character that wasn’t stronger. It’s hard to get ahead as a female, even more so when you're a female firefighter.

This moved slowly which made it seem very long.
My biggest criticism is that Cassie had a bad incident occur when she was 16. It is consistently referred to during the narrative. While it’s obvious what happened, it isn’t explained in detail until page 281. Seriously!

I kept reading b/c I found the POV of a female fire fighter interesting. I was surprised that in the current day, that there would still be issues with a female in that position.
Also, I knew there would be a surprise towards the end & I wanted to find out what that was.

There was a lot of emotion that came thru the pages.(ie. drama, suspense, humor, etc)

Overall, it was a good story & well written. I like this writer so I’ll continue reading her stuff as well as recommending it.

I don't know many people who don't like to read a book by Katherine. This one did not disappoint. This book is the perfect telling of all kinds of relationships - friends, lovers, coworkers, you name it. I love the firefighter aspect to it - something I've never read about before! Highly recommended!

**Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the free copy!**

After reading HOW TO WALK AWAY, I knew I was hooked on the writing of author Katherine Center; however, I have to report that THINGS YOU SAVE IN A FIRE is even better. Wow! This was just what I needed, during this busy season of life. I want to read all of her backlist titles now. This one definitely earns five stars from me!

I love everything about Katherine Center’s writing. She is an absolute genius who is able to capture so much real and human emotion is her writing. I can’t wait to read whatever she writes next.

I read this book in one sitting! It made me laugh and cry. Cassie, the main character, is so strong and I was cheering for her the whole time. I loved the dynamics between her and the rest of her fire department and also her growing relationship with her mom. This is the second Katherine Center novel I've read and I've already looked up her backlist. Her books are very quick, but deal with important issues.

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

After reading and LOVING How To Walk Away earlier this year- I was looking forward to reading Things You Save in a Fire.

I wasn’t sure I could love a character as much as I loved Margaret- then I met Cassie.

What I liked:

Well… first- the cover. So gorgeous!

Cassie. Tough as nails. Determined. A fighter. Love her.

The ending. ❤ ❤

Bottom line: For me- this was a book with many layers- a woman fighting against the odds in an all male fire station, coming to terms with how her past shaped her future and starting to realize that there are things she wants beyond being a kick-butt fire fighter. I loved this book- at times it has a light touch- but Katherine also provides some meat in the situations Cassie must face- and decide how to handle them. Recommended.

I was so pleasantly surprised by this book.

I am not usually a romance reader, but I received an ARC of this book and decided to give it a shot. And my goodness, I am so glad that I did!

Things You Save in a Fire follows Cassie, a tough-as-nails firefighter and the lone female in her new station. After a public indiscretion and subsequent threat to her career back in Texas, she hesitantly moves in with her estranged mother in the Boston suburbs and transfers to the old-school (in every sense of the phrase) firehouse there.

She is one of two new recruits at the station, along with The Rookie, and both of them are put through the hazing ringer by the rest of the crew. Despite the unwavering kindness of The Rookie, Cassie is careful to keep things professional and him at arm's length at all times. That is, until someone begins secretly and viciously taunting Cassie at the station and revelations from both Cassie and The Rookie's pasts completely change everything.

Like I said, I was so pleasantly surprised by this book. The first half of it is kind of your standard, run-of-the mill, light and airy romance. However, I was definitely taken off guard by the second half, where several revelations completely change everything and added a whole new, unexpected level of depth and emotion to this story that I hadn't anticipated, but that made this book a huge winner. Cassie even started out a bit unlikable, in my opinion, but once I got to the end and understood more about her past, I really felt for her.

This story was humorous and sweet, but also much deeper than I expected it to be. I very much enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading another of Center's novels, "How to Walk Away".