How to Walk Away by Katherine Center

How to Walk Away by Katherine Center is about a young woman named Margaret who is in her 20s and looking forward to fulfilling her dreams. Margaret has a fresh MBA, a 3-story condo, and the promise of a lucrative job when her boyfriend, Chip, takes her for a flight in a private plane to propose to her. She's terrified of flying but gives in. When the flight ends in a crash and Margaret is both burned and paralyzed, her entire life is upended. Chip walked away without a scratch and she's been slotted with the least-talkative, meanest physical therapist, Ian. 

While Chip avoids visiting, her family (including the sister who hasn't spoken to her for 3 years) rallies around her but not always in a positive way. Will Margaret ever walk again? Will Margaret and Chip survive the guilt on one side and pain on the other? Will Margaret's sister Kitty and their mother, who drove Kitty away, ever be able to resolve their differences? 

How to Walk Away is a romance with plenty of meat on its bones. It takes a very serious subject, losing everything after a crash, and winds in slow destruction of certain hopes and dreams with a growing relationship. You know pretty early on some of what will happen and who Margaret will end up with because it's a romance and they're always obvious in that way. I personally found the direction it went immensely satisfying if a little cheesy, especially toward the end. 

Highly recommended - I love the blend of humor and anguish, heartbreak and hope. My only problem with How to Walk Away was the fact that Margaret had bought a 3-story condo on the promise of a lucrative job. I know that can happen but it felt just a bit too far-fetched for a twenty-something who has just finished her MBA. I loved the emotional impact of Margaret losing her dreams; it felt truly realistic. Some days Margaret was OK and some days she thought about giving up. I know the emotional rollercoaster of health drama and appreciated how genuinely those emotions were portrayed. And, of course, I loved the slow-burn romance. 

I've read 3 books by Katherine Center, now, and this one is one of my favorites. The other is Things You Save in a Fire. Here's my review of that one:

Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center

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What You Wish For by Katherine Center

Quick note, up front. I have an ARC of What You Wish For by Katherine Center and the release date noted on the cover is July 14 so it's not out yet, but it will be soon.

In What You Wish For, Samantha Casey is a librarian at an elementary school in Galveston, Texas. It's a happy place that's privately owned and run by the same couple from whom Sam rents a garage apartment. The school is in an older building with cheery painted walls and a beautiful mural, a butterfly garden, and big plans to build an adventure garden for which the funds have already been raised.

But, then tragedy strikes and a new principal is brought to the school. Sam not only knows the new principal, Duncan Carpenter, but once had a terrible crush on him. In fact, she left her previous job when he didn't respond to her attraction and Duncan was on the verge of becoming engaged. She knew him as an enthusiastic, goofy, entertaining and fun-loving teacher. Now, he's anything but fun. When Duncan swoops in, all he talks about is how he's going to improve security and his plans to paint everything gray for better visibility. He is no longer the life of the party; he's become severe and humorless.

Meanwhile, as Samantha reflects back on a time when she and Duncan Carpenter were working at the same school in another state, she is reminded of how different she is. At the time, she dressed in unobtrusive colors that fit her personality. When she left because Duncan had found love elsewhere, she decided not only to start over but to change herself. Now, she is colorful and full of life in a way she wasn't, before.

What happened to change Duncan Carpenter from a fun-loving guy to a humorless man who is only focused on security? Did Duncan marry the woman he was about to become engaged to when Samantha left town? And, most important, what can Sam do to change Duncan's mind about using the school's hard-earned funds for security instead of the adventure garden they've been planning to have built? And, if she can't change his mind, can she find a way to drive him out of the job?

Recommended but not a favorite - Since the focus in What You Wish For is clearly on the two characters and it's obviously a contemporary romance, I don't think it's really a spoiler to say that eventually you find out Duncan is single and Sam and Duncan begin to interact in a flirtatious manner. What You Wish For is a clean romance, though, so it's based on personalities rather than the mostly-physical attraction of something like an Avon romance.  I like that and I liked the romance, once we got to that point, but I found the story a little contrived so it was not a favorite. Romance fans might be able to look past what I considered the story's flaws.

Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center (link leads to my review) was one of my 2019 favorites and I still have two of Center's backlist titles to read. I'm looking forward to reading them, in spite of the fact that What You Wish For wasn't a favorite. It was a fairly quick, fluid read and she's a good writer. I just found the characters a little too over-the-top for my taste, the story way too predictable.

My thanks to St. Martin's Press for the review copy!


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Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center

Cassie Hanwell was traumatized twice over at the age of 16. Since then, she's both acted and become tough. A firefighter/paramedic, she has to be physically and mentally strong to handle life in a firehouse and all of the things a firefighter sees. And, she's happy with her place in life. But, then things start to go wrong. When one of the people who traumatized her sets her off, she is given a choice: apologize to him or be dismissed from her job. At the same time, her mother is facing a health challenge and needs Cassie's help. When she ends up moving to a new fire station in an entirely different region, Cassie knows she must be extra careful about how she behaves.

Cassie isn't the only new body at the fire station she moves to, but she's the only female. The rookie is new to firefighting, though, and Cassie is not. So, Cassie is thrown together with him frequently, tasked with sharing some of her hard-won experience. When Cassie and the rookie find themselves attracted to each other, Cassie is horrified. The last thing she needs is to endanger her job with a potential romance. Will finding love wreck her life as a firefighter for good or soften her and help her deal with the trauma of her past?

Highly recommended - I could not put Things You Save in a Fire down. Cassie was a wounded soul but not in a way that felt manufactured. In fact, part of the trauma is never spelled out, as I recall. But, you can read between the lines and her story felt entirely believable to me. I cared about her and wanted the best for her. I also absolutely loved reading about what it's like to be a firefighter — the camaraderie, the type of things they have to deal with (dangerous, weird, and yucky situations), the pranks they pull on each other and the things that are completely taboo. I've read some of this, in the past, because I have a fascination with both firefighters and paramedics but there was more detail than I'm accustomed to and I think you can take the accuracy to the bank because the author's husband is a volunteer firefighter.

I jumped the gun a little on this title because I put it on the wrong ARC pile (le sigh). Things You Save in a Fire is an August, 2019 release. And, of course, it's just June. I like to wait till a lot closer than 2 months ahead of release date to review. I received my ARC from St. Martin's Press (thank you!) and I loved it so much that with it just sitting here beside me, I keep looking at the book and thinking, I want to start it all over again. Definitely a new favorite and one I'll hang onto for a reread.

©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.