Things You Save in a Fire: A Novel

"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: No5/5 Fangs

Things You Save in a Fire is one of those books that, if I could, I’d give it a ten-star rating! I would, honestly, there is no limit on the stars for this book! I loved getting to know Cassie Hanwell. From the start she was a take charge character but there was also an underlying sense of vulnerability in her that was only expressed in a passive way. It was her unwillingness to allow anyone into her life both literally and figuratively that was the real clue that underneath her calm and controlled exterior there were troubled waters. Troubles that came out in an explosive way that was slightly confusing in the moment but as the story progressed it was really a “you go, girl!” type of situation.Cassie’s questionable choice came with consequences that threatened everything that she held dear. Backed into a corner, Cassie made a Hail Mary type of request in hopes of holding onto a shred of everything she had spent years building. Although she was unhappy with the situation, she was relieved that she might be able to salvage what she could of her career. Now, all she had to do was figure out how she was going to deal with living with the woman that she closed her heart off to years ago. When her mother called asking her to leave everything to help her for a year, Cassie did not realize that her choices would start her on a life path that she would never have conceived for herself.When Cassie moved to Rockport, a town outside of Boston, Massachusetts, all she wanted to do was keep her head down and do her job as a firefighter. She knew to expect a challenge in her new work place but she never expected that her challenge would be both professional and personal. She had intended to keep her heart as hard as stone, keep everyone at arm’s distance and do her time but neither her time in the new fire department or with her mother were what she had expected. Day by day Cassie’s outlook shifted, bit by bit her hardened exterior cracked and she allowed her vulnerable self to step forward. As time passed Cassie came to understand that she needed this transformation, that nothing would ever be the same for her, and that, ultimately, it was a welcomed change.I will just reiterate that I loved reading Things You Save in a Fire! This story was filled with meaning, solid characters, humor, struggle, suspense, and tragedy. There were many times where I just laughed out loud with the shenanigans that were pulled at the Boston fire department, what an interesting group of guys. There was plenty of tension in Cassie’s life but the reasons for the tension are not what you would expect. I did like how the experience at both work and home was not what Cassie had prepared herself for because what she was expecting was not something that I was sure I wanted to be a part of. One thing I wish would have been different was to have known Owen’s inner thoughts. At the start he seemed just kinda “there” but that quickly resolved itself and by the end I knew how he felt with a certainty, which I loved! Overall, Things You Save in a Fire was such a moving read that will remind you that forgiveness is not easily given but the rewards from such an act of bravery is priceless.This review is based on a complimentary book I received from NetGalley. It is an honest and voluntary review. The complimentary receipt of it in no way affected my review or rating.

Katherine Center writes stories that are full-person immersion: heart, brain, body and soul are totally involved in a satisfying, inspiring way -- and her latest novel THINGS YOU SAVE IN A FIRE fulfills that promise in profound and emphatic mastery. In short, blunt summary: when a firefighter reluctantly moves to Massachusetts jolted by twin prods of escaping her personal work crisis in Austin and assisting her ailing estranged mother, she discovers possibilities that she never imagined possible for herself. Read this book. I emerged feeling sated by a marvelous story and appreciation for fire fighters and community connection, for reconnecting long-broken relationships, and for finding a new way to succeed in the world.