New from Katherine Center!

I was so excited to see that Katherine Center was coming out with a new book as I had recently read her novel, "How to Walk Away," and her newest novel is another excellent read!  "Things You Save in a Fire" is such a great story and I felt so many emotions while reading it.  Cassie experienced a number of hurts on her sixteenth birthday and that day has led her to who she is today.  Life has been fine for Cassie as she has a great relationship with her father and she is part of a team, a family at the fire station at which she is a valuable and strong firefighter.  Faced with a suspension from the station, and contact with her estranged mother, Cassie's entire life is uprooted.  Cassie has been instructed of how to act, more like how not to act, at her new fire station as women firemen are not looked fondly on and she is determined to not really interact with her mother and become immersed in her life.  Cassie has built up barriers to protect herself all these years and she has been fine.  So, why now is she not?

I really do not even know where to begin with this as you really just have to read this book, just experience it for yourself as it is such a good book and so many lines I underlined throughout.  Cassie is such a great main character and I loved her from the start.  She is strong, determined and can definitely hold her own and I admired her for that.  However, my admiration grew even more as she allowed herself to feel, allowed herself to build relationships and allowed herself to forgive.  Forgiveness is such a strong action and Cassie is able to experience this and also help Rookie to as well.   This was seriously my very favorite scene when Cassie talks with Rookie and explains the importance of forgiving himself from something he has been holding onto for so many years.  There were so many times throughout this book I found myself laughing, holding my breath, wanting to cry and cheering for Cassie.  This is such a great book and now that I have read two books by Katherine, I realized there are five more that she has written that I have not read - so I'm off to find those to read while waiting for her next new book (hopefully soon!).

*Thanks to the author for including me on the early reader campaign for this book!*