Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center

Cassie Hanwell is one of the best firefighters Austen, Texas, and one of the few female ones. The book begins with her being the youngest and first woman to receive an award for Valor. However, at the ceremony, the man handing her the award is an alderman she hasn’t set eyes on since high school, who happens to be the reason she doesn’t do relationships. When he gropes her onstage, she loses it and beats the crap out of him. And thus, her perfectly curated life begins to unravel.

The next day, her estranged mother calls, asking her to move to Boston because of her health issues, and Cassie's boss gives her an ultimatum: give a public apology to the alderman, or else be terminated. She chooses Boston. Her first day at the Boston firehouse, she’s struck with an unwanted attraction to another rookie, which is against all of the rules. Firefighters don’t have feelings, and they most certainly don’t date other firefighters. A few months later, she starts being stalked by one of the men from her firehouse, escalating the raw emotions she’s not equipped to deal with, until everything she’s worked so hard for blows up in her face.

Will she have the strength to overcome the obstacles? Will she let the cruelty of others dictate how she lives her life? Will she learn that having emotions can make you even stronger? You'll have to read it to find out, but I can tell you it's worth a look.

Check out our e-book or e-audiobook copies of this book from eReadIllinois (Axis360), or the e-audiobook from Library on the Go (Libby/Overdrive)!