Things You Save in a Fire

by Katherine Center

Cassie Hanwell was born for emergencies. As one of the only female firefigters 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 aililng 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 jeapordise her place in a career where she's worked so hard to be taken seriously?

Things You Save in a Fire is a heartfelt, affecting novel about life, love, and the true meaning of courage.

• ISBN10: 1250047323
• ISBN13: 9781250047328
• Publish Date: 1 September 2019 (first published 13 August 2019)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 23 December 2022
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St Martin's Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[kaliwinn]

What you need to know: 

#romance #modern #secretlove

Content warning: mentions of assault

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I read this book in about half a day. It was heartwarming and heartbreaking, and just enough to keep me interested. Reading this book was like watching a cozy Hallmark movie: I know how it's going to end but I keep watching because it's so comforting. 

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Cassie is a kick-ass firefighter from Texas who, through a series of unfortunate events, moves to a small town in Massachusetts and takes a job at an even smaller fire department. Cassie works hard to prove herself to the somewhat-sexist men in the firehouse. One of her stated goals is to never show any emotion. But, of course, she accidentally falls in love along the way - awww. 

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You can see my reviews and more on IG @alittleshelf.ish

[mrs_mander_reads]

Katherine Center is so good. She tears my heart up, and this one is no exception.

[blackbibliophile]

4.5 ⭐️
Excellent story of dismantling the walls of self preservation that we unintentionally build around us. Sometimes Life gives us

I’m not a huge fan of contemporary romance... but this book was so good!

I started reading this book for the BOTM summer reading challenge and quickly found myself glued to every page. It’s a perfect combination of contemporary romance, a little bit of mystery, humor and drama. I’ll definitely read more of her books in the future! ⁣

[Sam@WLABB]

Now that I have collected myself, I must say, that was spectacular.

As I first began reading Things You Save in a Fire, I immediately fell in love with this buttoned up, serious, driven woman. She was strong and amazing, and when the Rookie referred to her as a superhero, I couldn't disagree with him, but I knew there was more below that neat and tidy surface.

Cassie had been stuffing down her pain of betrayal and abandonment for a decade, but when her mother's request for live-in assistance came right around the same time Cassie was dealing with a bit of a situation at work, she moved across the country, and the wall she had built around her heart began to falter.

She found herself not only attracted to, but also interested in a man. She found herself wanting to spend time with her mother and sharing her feelings. She found herself embracing forgiveness and letting herself enjoy life again. It was beautiful watching her come alive, and I was rooting for her to only enjoy successes as she attempted to love more and live more.

But, at about the 70% mark, I found myself in a constant fit of tears. I was either crying because it was painful or crying because it was wonderful. Whatever the case, there were tears, many tears. There was also a lot of happiness, hope, love, and peace. And, I am telling you right now, that was one of the BEST epilogues I have read in a really long time. It was a special blend of beauty and pain, but so, so wonderful.

Things You Save in a Fire broke my heart at times, but mostly, it filled me with hope and joy, and it served as a reminder of how precious life and the people we care about can be. This story was about love and forgiveness and making every moment matter, and I am so glad I had the chance to read it.



*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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[Jeff Sexton]

Standing Outside the Fire. Wow. This tale about a female firefighter's struggles both personally and professionally was simply amazing. Told almost in memoir format, the tale picks up when our narrator is at an awards gala to receive the highest honor her Department has to offer. When things go a bit awry, she heads thousands of miles away to help her sick mother and hide. Little does she know that in the process of doing both, she will find things are more complicated than she ever dared imagine - and find strength even she never knew she had. Firefighters try to stay outside of fires unless necessary, and tend not to stay in them longer than absolutely necessary to do the job. But this tale gives new life to the old Garth Brooks song, in all the best ways. Again, simply amazing.

[Molly J(Cover To Cover Cafe)]

Another fantastic romance from a talented author! Loved this page turning, gripping novel from Center!

[chymerra]

Cassie is a hotshot firefighter in Austin, Texas. One of the only female firefighters in a progressive firehouse, Cassie is at the top of her game. Until the night of the awards ceremony, where she attacks the presenter. Given a choice of being fired or reassigned, Cassie takes the reassignment. She is reassigned to a fire station outside of Boston, where she will be taking care of her estranged mother. Cassie is in for a huge change when she joins the department. Underfunded, with poor facilities and ripe with sexism, Cassie has her work cut out for her. She also has her work cut out for her in her personal life also. What will happen to Cassie? Can she overcome the odds stacked against her? Will she be able to put the past behind her and move on?

I am going to start this review with a complaint. 95% of the book takes places in a fictitious town of Lillian, Massachusetts. Lillian is located south of Rockport/Gloucester. Which would put it in the Manchester-by-the-Sea/Ipswich area. My complaint is this. That is not the Boston area. Boston is an hour drive from there. How do I know? I grew up in that area and lived there until 5 years ago. Where I grew up was 20 mins from Boston and Rockport is 20-30 mins from there. That is not the Boston area. That is considered the North Shore/Cape Anne area. So it irked me when I read that. It was the only thing that I didn’t care for in the book.

The major plotline of Things You Save in a Fire is forgiveness and healing. When Cassie is introduced, she had shut herself off from everything. She didn’t trust because of events that happened 10 years earlier. She despised her mother and had little to do with her. She didn’t have any close relationships outside of work. After the incident and moving to Rockport, I could see her walls coming down. She started to forgive her mother for leaving. She started to come to terms with her rape. Everything came to a head when Owen was injured in the fire and DeStasio put the blame on her. That scene with DeStasio was one of the most heartbreaking scenes I have read in a while. The details she went into broke my heart in smithereens. But talking about it helped her heal. And in a way, helped her forgive.

I liked the storyline with the rookie and Cassie. I laughed at her first reaction to seeing him the first time. I felt awful about her panicking when she realized that she like liked him. I cried when she told him (in not so many words) what happened to her. I cheered when she decided to throw caution to the wind and pursue a relationship with him. I will say that I thought it was odd that Owen was only known as “the rookie” for about 75% of the book.

The other plotline that caught my attention was the relationship between Cassie and her mother. Cassie was traumatized by her mother leaving on her 16th birthday. In the 10 years since she left, she had little contact with her. I didn’t blame Cassie for flat out saying no to Diana when she called after the incident. But with her father intervening and being forced to transfer, she had to go. Cassie was forced to face her mother. She was forced to start caring. She was also forced to listen to why Diana left. What Cassie believed happened and what she found out is two different things. Towards the middle of the book, it was revealed exactly why Diana wanted Cassie to come to Massachusetts. I didn’t blame Cassie for her reaction.

I loved that Cassie was a firefighter. There are very few female firefighters. The author did a fantastic job of portraying what Cassie had to do to make the men of the Lillian station respect her. She also did a great job of detailing the harassment that Cassie had to deal with.

I will say that I was surprised when I realized that Cassie was the firefighter from How to Walk Away. That one sentence made me go “No way” when I realized it was her.

The end of Things You Save in a Fire was sad and happy at the same time. I was thrilled that Owen and Cassie got their HEA. I loved Cassie’s mindset at the end of the book. LOVED IT!!! She did get the best revenge.

I would give Things You Save in a Fire an Adult rating. There is sex (not graphic). There is language. There is mild violence. There are triggers. They would be parental abandonment, rape, cancer, and addiction. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would recommend Things You Save in a Fire. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.

I would like to thank the publisher, the author, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Things You Save in a Fire.

All opinions stated in this review of Things You Save in a Fire are mine.