July 12, 2019

After a traumatic event ten years ago on her 16th birthday, Cassie Hanwell has held people at arm's length and focused on her career as a firefighter in Texas. But during an awards ceremony in her honor, she lets pent-up anger get the best of her, and soon her carefully curated life is in disarray. A surprise request from her long estranged mother has Cassie moving from Texas to Massachusetts to help her long estranged mother. Lucky enough to find a job at a firehouse nearby, Cassie faces extreme sexism, and then there's Owen, "the rookie," who elicits in Cassie unexpected feelings. Will she be able to overcome her sexist environment and prove herself while navigating these new emotions? VERDICT Center (How To Walk Away) crafts a heartfelt story of growth and the redemptive power of love perfect for fans of women's fiction, especially works by Jodi Picoult and Elin Hilderbrand.--Karen Core, Detroit P.L.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from June 1, 2019
Cassie Hanwell has never forgiven her mother, Diana, for leaving her and her father on Cassie's sixteenth birthday. So, a decade later, when Diana calls to tell Cassie that she's lost her vision in one eye and asks Cassie to move across the country to take care of her, Cassie is anything but eager. Now a firefighter in Austin, Cassie loves her job and her team until a run-in with the man who assaulted her on the night her mother left costs her both. Cassie reluctantly moves in with Diana and is forced to start over with a new fire department, one more sexist and backward-thinking than the one she came from. And then the worst thing in the world happens. Cassie, who has spent her adult life avoiding romantic attachments, falls head over heels for the handsome rookie at the station. The follow-up to Center's breakout hit, How to Walk Away (2018), in which Cassie had a brief cameo, has all the hallmarks that made readers fall in love with the previous book: an appealing (if guarded, in this case) heroine, a compelling love story, a tearjerking twist, and a thoroughly absorbing story. Another winner from Center.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

Starred review from March 15, 2019
Saving lives is not just a job for Austin firefighter Cassie Hanwell; it's core to who she is. But can she rescue herself from the emotional fortress she's built and forgive those who have hurt her?A decade ago, Cassie's 16th birthday was a one-two punch of heartbreak. First, her mother abandoned her family. Hours later, a high school crush deeply violated her trust. Deciding that love is for the weak, Cassie replaced vulnerability with muscle mass and forged a career in emergency rescue. Ten years later, as the young firefighter is at the top of her game--accepted as one of the boys and receiving a service award--Cassie comes face to face with the high school boy who wreaked havoc on her life. In the first of many surprises in this tale of ever ratcheting stakes, Cassie loses her cool and sets off a series of events that land her at an old-school firehouse near Boston where she is the first woman to serve. Not only does Cassie face an unwelcoming crew, she begrudgingly moves in with her estranged mother, who is dealing with serious health issues and desperately wants to reconnect. Expertly crafting this page-turner, Center (How to Walk Away, 2018, etc.) creates a character you can't help rooting for while constantly adding new tension to the story. Cassie learns that her job is on the line as the city budget has tightened. Perhaps the worst blow, though, is that she must compete with Owen "The Rookie" Callaghan, her only true friend, for a spot on the crew. Most vexing to the hardhearted Cassie is that The Rookie is nothing short of dreamy, with an easy smile and a washboard stomach. She promised herself long ago that she would never open her heart to romance--or forgive her mother. She's in for the fight of her life.Center gives readers a sharp and witty exploration of love and forgiveness that is at once insightful, entertaining, and thoroughly addictive.

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