This novel has a bit of everything: romance, mystery, action, and yes, we do get a fire! With the fire situation the reader gets the experience of working that fire and going inside with the fire fighters.

There are moments that will have you laughing and then moments that touch you in a personal way. Center does a great job capturing real life struggles and putting them on the page. She is also a conflicted character and feels like a real person. Firefighting really is a ‘boys club’ and Cassie totally kicks male butt! You can’t help but cheer for her. I really liked Cassie and identified with her in several ways. I personally loved how the books were connected. You won’t miss anything if you have not read HTWA, but it adds to Cassie’s story if you have already read it.

Our protagonist Cassie made a brief appearance in HTWA which was referenced in Things. I’ve spent a little time in firehouses and even put the turnout gear on and based on what I experienced, the novel is spot on! And Things is about a female firefighter: Go girl empowerment!Ĭenter wrote the novel through examples of real life situations her volunteer fire fighter husband told her about the job and living in the fire house. I introduced myself to Katherine Center last year with How to Walk Away (HTWA) (my review is here) and loved it, so I eagerly anticipated her next novel which was Things You Save in a Fire (to be called Things for the rest of this review) and was not disappointed in the least. Katherine Center’s Things You Save in a Fire is a heartfelt, affecting novel about life, love, and the true meaning of courage. 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? And because of the advice her old captain gave her: don’t date firefighters. Except for the handsome rookie, who doesn’t seem to mind having Cassie around. 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. The tough, old-school Boston firehouse is as different from Cassie’s old job as it could possibly be.

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. 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.

Things you save in a fire