THINGS YOU SAVE IN A FIRE by Katherine Center (Out 8/13/2019)

A big thank you to Katherine Center and St. Martin’s Press for this Advanced Readers Edition to read and review!

Publication Date: 8/13/2019

Rating: 5 / 5

Katherine Center is a new to me author. I actually had just purchased her HOW TO WALK AWAY on the advice of a book friend when this lovely surprise showed up on my doorstep from St. Martin’s Press and I couldn’t have been more thrilled!

THINGS YOU SAVE IN A FIRE follows firefighter Cassie Hanwell. She has an amazing ability to maintain focus in the most difficult of circumstances and is already making a name for herself with her heroic work. Even so, she has a lot stacked against her: she’s young, she’s the only woman on the squad and she’s overcoming a difficult past. In spite of all of this, we quickly learn that Cassie is a force to be reckoned with though and she knows how to stand up for herself.

Cassie’s mother left her and her father when Cassie was just sixteen and their relationship has been strained ever since. Out of the blue, her now ailing mother reaches out to ask for help and Cassie finds herself unable to refuse. She must leave her friends and her job behind and relocate to Boston to join a new fire house. The new house is definitely less than thrilled to be adding a woman to their ranks, but they are desperate enough for new personnel to give her a shot.

Traumas in her past have led Cassie to give up on dating and love altogether, so she is shocked to find herself wanting to open up to someone new. Between growing feelings on the romantic front and working on improving her relationship with her mother, Cassie is on an emotional roller coast ride.

I didn’t really know what to expect going into THINGS YOU SAVE IN A FIRE aside from the general bookstagram excitement for this title. I didn’t read the blurb, so I knew it involved fire fighters and I knew it had a gorgeous cover. I was surprised at how quickly I was drawn into the story. Cassie is well developed from the very beginning and she is a character you can’t help but root for.

The tone of the novel is generally upbeat and it feels like Cassie is speaking directly to the reader as if having a personal conversation with a close friend. The novel hits on some serious subjects (discrimination against women in the work place, harassment, sexual assault, violence and injury), but it still manages to be full of hope. It was far too easy to keep reading, well past the point I meant to put this book down for the night!

I definitely recommend you pick up a copy of THINGS YOU SAVE IN A FIRE by Katherine Center and I hope you love it as much as I did when it releases on 8/13/2019! I am looking forward to reading more from Katherine Center very soon!