Showing posts with label Katherine Center. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Katherine Center. Show all posts

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Mini-Reviews: Things We Save In A Fire and Shadow of the Lions

Non-review books, people! A romance and a mystery--
Human connection had its upsides, but it sure was a lot of work. The risk-reward raion was low, at best.~ from Things We Save In A Fire by Katherine Center
A cute, page-turner romance with darker themes of forgiveness and overcoming challenges, this was an enjoyable distraction, the kind of book I pick up between heavy, demanding books. I read my husband's ARC provided to him by the publisher.

From the publisher:
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 a total pro at other people’s tragedies. But when her estranged and ailing mother asks her to give up her whole life and move to Boston, Cassie suddenly has an emergency of her own.

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 infatuation-inspiring rookie, who doesn’t seem to mind having Cassie around. But she can’t think about that. Because love is girly, and it’s not her thing. And don’t forget the advice her old captain gave her: Never date firefighters. Cassie can feel her resolve slipping . . . and it means risking everything—the only job she’s ever loved and the hero she’s worked like hell to become.

Katherine Center’s Things You Save in a Fire is a heartfelt and healing tour-de-force about the strength of vulnerability, the nourishing magic of forgiveness, and the life-changing power of defining courage, at last, for yourself.

Things You Save In A Fire
Katherine Center
St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 9781250047328
Publication Date: August 13, 2019
*****
"We weren't brothers; we were beyond that. He was perhaps the one person whose counsel and opinion I held higher than my own."~Shadow of Lions by Christopher Swann

They were waiting for the future in the form of an acceptance letter from UofV when Matthias' best friend Fritz disappeared from the grounds of the Blackburne School. Their last encounter had been contentious and Matthias never got over the guilt or the loss.

Over the nine years since then, Matthias had reached the pinnacle of success with a published book, a girlfriend, loads of cash, and a movie contract--and lost it all. When Blackburne offered him a teaching job Matthias had to accept it, even if returning meant reopening wounds he had sought to bury.

As Matthias grapples with his new job, surrounded by ghosts of the past, he determines to follow any trail to find Fritz.

"Everybody searches for something," ex-cop Briggs says to Matthias. "You telling me Fritz isn't your white whale?"

Shadow of the Lions is a great read with wonderfully drawn characters, unexpected twists, and terrific writing.

from the publisher:
How long must we pay for the crimes of our youth? That is just one question that Christopher Swann explores in this compulsively readable debut, a literary thriller set in the elite—and sometimes dark—environs of Blackburne, a prep school in Virginia. When Matthias Glass’s best friend Fritz vanishes without a trace in the middle of an argument during their senior year, Matthias tries to move on with his life, only to realize that until he discovers what happened to his missing friend, he will be stuck in the past—guilty, responsible, alone.

Almost ten years after Fritz’s disappearance, Matthias gets his chance. Offered a job teaching English at Blackburne, he gets swiftly drawn into the mystery. In the shadowy woods of his alma mater, he stumbles into a web of surveillance, dangerous lies, and buried secrets—and discovers the troubled underbelly of a school where the future had once always seemed bright.

A sharp and moving tale full of false leads and surprise turns, Shadow of the Lions is also wise and moving. Christopher Swann has given us a gripping debut about friendship, redemption, and what it means to lay the past to rest.

Shadow of Lions
by Christopher Swann
Algonquin Books
ISBN-10: 1616205008

ISBN-13: 978-1616205003

Sunday, June 17, 2018

How to Walk Away: Finding a Perfect Life When Perfection Fails You

My husband read How to Walk Away through BookishFirst and raved about it. Publisher's Weekly gave it a 'thumbs up, buy it' rating. I grabbed my hubby's ARC and dove in.

Katherine Center's novel begins with Margaret living the dream: she has the perfect boyfriend, Chip, and the perfect job lined up.

Except Chip isn't so perfect. He knows Margaret is terrified of flying when he decides to get his pilot's license. And he is positive he can cure her fear by proving his skill as a pilot. Chip cajoles Margaret into joining him on a surreptitious night flight before he passes his last test, intending to propose to her during the flight. Margaret gives in.

But perfect fiancee' Chip can't handle the plane during a gust of wind and the plane crashes.

Chip walks away with some scratches. Margaret is trapped in the plane, her legs pinned, the jet fuel burning.

I would call the novel a romance and women's fiction, a page-turning beach read, except for one little thing: the theme is really about overcoming life's challenges, rolling with the punches, and flourishing when you have lost everything.

For Margaret, it is her disability and scars and the realization that Chip can't commit to 'better or worse.' Margaret's estranged sister Kit shows up to be her cheerleader. Kit must hash out some unfinished business with their mother, which leads marital stress for their parents. Love blooms and is repressed and blooms and, well, there are happy endings for all.

I found Margaret to be a little too chipper and perky in light of her injuries, and her attraction to a new man in her life suspect. Because I would be depressed and mean and hating all men in her shoes. But that is the point: Kit finds research proving that we are happy or unhappy regardless of what life throws at us, according to who we are. If we have courage and spirit and attitude we make it through anything. The rest of us get drunk, like Chip, or depressed and suicidal, or mean and angry.

How do you walk away from a crushing defeat?

Read a sample from the book at https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250201553

How to Walk Away
Katherine Center
St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 9781250149060
Hardcover $26.99