Posted on by Jacquie Biggar

#BookReview- Summer #Reading is Here with @KatherineCenter


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I’m enjoying my summer reading list…

I love summer and I love to read, so it’s my happy time 🙂

This week I have a women’s fiction from one of my go-to authors, Katherine Center. With almost 2600 five stars reviews you just know you’re in for a treat!

Description via Amazon.com

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.

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 a total pro at other people’s tragedies. But when her estranged and ailing mother asks her to give up her whole life and move to Boston, Cassie suddenly has an emergency of her own.

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 infatuation-inspiring rookie, who doesn’t seem to mind having Cassie around. But she can’t think about that. Because love is girly, and it’s not her thing. And don’t forget the advice her old captain gave her: Never date firefighters. Cassie can feel her resolve slipping…and it means risking it all—the only job she’s ever loved, and the hero she’s worked like hell to become.

Katherine Center’s Things You Save in a Fire is a heartfelt and healing tour-de-force about the strength of vulnerability, the nourishing magic of forgiveness, and the life-changing power of defining courage, at last, for yourself.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

My Review

Cassie Hanwell’s calling is to save lives. She’s born for it. Calm in the face of danger, with quick responses and a compassionate heart, Cassie is one of only a few fully trained women EMT firefighters and she’s fiercely proud of her accomplishments. Which makes her loss of control on a stage surrounded by hundreds of her peers all the worse to bear.

Faced with either getting fired or moving to another state, Cassie accepts the inevitable and leaves her beloved Texas FD for one near her mother. A FD filled with arrogant men who believe a woman’s place is in the home. That’s okay, she likes a challenge. What she doesn’t like is her sudden, uncontrollable attraction to the rookie. Made worse, they are the two newbies on the Lillian C Shift and are forced into close contact on an all-too regular basis.

Adding to the stress factor is Cassie’s estranged mom, newly blind in one eye and in need of assistance. A reluctant Cassie moves in with the woman who deserted her family seemingly without a backward glance, leaving Cassie with a boatload of resentment.

As if there had ever been anything to win. As if you don’t always lose by definition when you push the people who love you away.

Center, Katherine. Things You Save in a Fire (pp. 213-214). St. Martin’s Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Things You Save in a Fire is a story of forgiveness, acceptance- and love.

Cassie froze her emotions at the tender age of sixteen and needs to learn that opening her heart doesn’t always mean it will bleed.

Yes, the world is full of unspeakable cruelty. But the answer wasn’t to never feel hope, or bliss, or love—but to savor every fleeting, precious second of those feelings when they came. The answer wasn’t to never love anyone. It was to love like crazy whenever you could.

Center, Katherine. Things You Save in a Fire (p. 235). St. Martin’s Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

I laughed and I ached for the young girl who lost her innocence in the worst way possible, and cheered for the woman she became. This is a call-to-action for anyone who doesn’t believe they can overcome impossible odds- life is what you make of it.

27 Replies to “#BookReview- Summer #Reading is Here with @KatherineCenter”

    1. It’s so good, Balroop. Cassie makes me think of a feral cat. She wants to be loved (though she doesn’t believe in it anymore) but doesn’t know how to reach out.
      I loved her character ❤

      Liked by 1 person

  11. That one was fantastic! She is one of my favorite authors now. So much wisdom in her novels that’s incredible!

    Liked by 1 person

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