Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center

My mom said I need to post more cats & books pictures!

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?

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I didn’t think I would fall in love with this novel as much as I did. I had read Katherine Centre’s previous novel, How to Walk Away, and really enjoyed it, but I still wasn’t expecting to love Things You Save in a Fire more than her previous novel.

The characters just shined through here. I loved each character and their interactions with Cassie. Cassie is a firefighter and a really good one. She knows the mindset of the male firefighters and understands that she has to act a certain way and knows that the number one rule is don’t date another firefighter. Of course, all of that falls apart when she meets the rookie.

The plot isn’t too complicated and even though I had figured out what had happened and what was going to happen, I still enjoyed every page. The characters warmed my heart – Cassie, the rookie, Diana (Cassie’s mom) and Josie (Diana’s friend), just to name a few. There are also a few novels that I have read where I have gotten complete closure. I felt like I knew what happened to everyone that I cared about and I was completely satisfied (another rarity!).

4 calculators out of a potential 5. This is a novel that you don’t want to miss out one!

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