Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center Narrator: Therese Plummer
Published by MacMillan on August 13, 2019
Genres: Fiction
Length: 9 hours, 36 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm, Barnes & Noble, Apple
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 excellent at dealing with other people's tragedies. 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.
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 handsome rookie, who doesn't seem to mind having Cassie around. But she can't think about that. Because she doesn't fall in love. And because of the advice her old captain gave her: don't date firefighters. 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?
Cassie is amazing. I wish I could be her, mostly. She suffered some serious hurts on her 16th birthday which have caused her to shut off emotionally. She is a firefighter because she wants to do good and help people. She is really, really good at work because she devotes herself to it fully. I loved her though and completely related to her reasons. But she doesn’t even believe in love! That’s crazy. I may think it’s difficult to find but I believe in it.
The Rookie is a really nice guy, a good guy. He is kind and friendly and supportive to everyone. He comes from a family of firefighters. He has his own issues and secrets but he doesn’t show them. I really liked him a lot.
Cassie has so much work and stress from her mother insisting she move from Texas to Boston, to the new firehouse with its disbelief in a woman being able to do the work, and being stuck training the Rookie. Some really difficult things happen but she handles them with the courage and caring that show clearly the kind of person she is.
I loved the story with its small town quirks and the personalities of all the fireman. The beauty of personal growth and learning to build those personal relationships is shared with all the emotions of the journey. Cassie also has to deal with misogyny. She is completely beautiful, even with her ordinary human flaws. I rooted for her but she didn’t need it; she’s a winner. I highly recommend Things You Save in a Fire.
Narration:
Therese Plummer is one of my favorite narrators. She is usually found with romantic suspense but she was lovely in this life fiction with its action-oriented main character. I was comfortable with her as Cassie’s voice and thoughts, along with the other female and male voices. I listened at my usual 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip:
About Therese Plummer
Therese Plummer is an actor and voice over artist living and working in New York City. Favorite roles to date include TV: Rose Nerrick, The Good Wife, Andy in Law and Order SVU. Stage: Celebrity Row; New York Theatre Workshop, Under Tillage, The Irish Repertory Theatre. Off-off Broadway credits include The Vagina Monologues, Suzanne in Twilight of the Gold’s and Madeline in the Award Winning Samuel French Short play The Sweet Room. Comedy Credits include Improv at Upright Citizens Brigade and Stand-up at Caroline’s Comedy Club. Therese also performed her one woman show, Ribbons Undone, at the Here Arts Center.
Therese records audio books for Audible.com, Recorded Books and Talking Books, Inc. As an adolescent counselor, Therese spent five years utilizing Drama therapy techniques in individual and group settings before moving to New York. She shares a passion of creating, helping and entertaining and feels incredibly lucky to do all three.
About Katherine Center
Katherine Center is the New York Times bestselling author of How to Walk Away, the upcoming Things You Save in a Fire (August 2019), and five other bittersweet comic novels. Six Foot Pictures is currently adapting her fourth novel, The Lost Husband, into a feature film starring Josh Duhamel, Leslie Bibb, and Nora Dunn. Katherine has been compared to both Nora Ephron and Jane Austen, and the Dallas Morning News calls her stories, “satisfying in the most soul-nourishing way.” Katherine recently gave a TEDx talk on how stories teach us empathy, and her work has appeared in USA Today, InStyle, Redbook, People, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, Real Simple, Southern Living, and InTouch, among others. Katherine lives in her hometown of Houston, Texas, with her fun husband, two sweet kids, and fluffy-but-fierce dog.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2019 Audiobooks
- 2019 Library-Love
- 2019 Releases
I loved this book so much. I bet that Therese Plummer would be just the right narrator for this story. Glad you loved it, Anne!
I saw your review and had to get it. I loved it. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.
Okay, I had decided not to read this one but your review has changed my mind. On the TBR it goes!
I loved it. There were a couple things which were a bit over the top (fiction) but overall it was an inspiring journey.
I’ve heard so much (all great!) about this author and specifically this book. Lovely review, Anne, and I’ve got this on audio, too.
I really enjoyed this one. It’s not 100% realistic but it’s great.