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?

Someone recommended Katherine Center when I asked for low-heat romance authors. I picked up this book for a reading challenge (a book with flowers on the cover). It doesn’t strike me as a romance novel, and I honestly wasn’t that excited about it, but I had a long car ride ahead so I picked up the audiobook.

This is the first book in a long time that I just didn’t want to end. I would have loved to read more about Owen and Cassie and the fire house. Sometimes Cassie’s thoughts were rambling, but it not enough to pull me out of the story or stop me from wanting to read just one more chapter.

Katherine’s style reminds me a lot of Jill Mansel — heart-warming, sometimes tragic, romantic, low-heat but still swoony. I’m so glad I picked up this book. I can’t wait to read another!

R-rated for language. Get your copy here!