Katherine Center is one of my auto-read authors, and I am always excited when I see she has a new book coming out. Hello Stranger lives up to my high expectations, with a twist that I was not expecting. I literally couldn't put the book down, and read it straight through in one day.

The concept of face-blindness is difficult to comprehend, but Center has brought it to life in this new novel. As always, her characters are easy to like, the love interest(s) are swoon-worthy, and the supporting cast is well-fleshed out. Her novels are also relentlessly hope-filled, and Hello Stranger is no exception. You can't help but feel optimistic during and after reading this book!

I especially enjoy the author's note that is included in the book, where Ms. Center talks about why she (and we) loves romance novels. It really struck a chord with me, as I find myself leaning back into romances when I want to get away from the stress of the world for a while. They are the truest escape I know.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the digital ARC of Hello Stranger by Katherine Center. The opinions in this review are my own.

At first the medical parts had me a bit against the odds on this one… but the plot was cute (even if you figure it out pretty quick).

Fun and happy, feel good vibes that I didn’t expect to hit me. The novel moves at a very face pace. It melds together many worlds while highlighting real life problems. I enjoyed it!

Sadie Montgomery is ready to celebrate after qualifying as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition, an accomplishment which mirrors her now deceased mother’s achievement some years prior. She also sees this as her chance to finally prove to her father (and herself) that her art is a worthwhile endeavor. But before long, that’s about all she sees.

In the blink of an eye, Sadie wakes up in a hospital room, her diagnosis a rare brain disorder that must be operated on ASAP to avoid an even worse injury than the one she incurred. While Sadie has every intention of putting the surgery off, her estranged father insists she must take the condition seriously. Knowing that time is of the essence, Sadie times it all so she will be able to recover and still pursue winning the much needed $10,000 prize. But after the procedure, she develops a rare complication that results in a lack of facial recognition. Known as facial blindness, the artist in Sadie is ironically rendered useless until the condition improves, assuming that it does at all. Given her newfound impairment, Sadie has no choice but to wait it out. But while she’s waiting, she someone manages to find herself torn between the attention of two very different men, both of which she clicks with despite being able to see them. They say love is blind, but in Sadie’s case nothing can be more true.

Hello Stranger is the latest rom com from one of my favorite authors, the incomparable, @katherinecenter. I had no idea face blindness aka prosopagnosia was a real condition til now, perfect fodder for romantic hijinks. While I found her best friend Sue to be repeatedly selfish and her stepsister Parker to be cartoonishly evil, this just added to the escapism of the story for me. Growing up, rom com movies were my jam. These days they are like an endangered species.

All things considered, Hello Stranger provides hope that there are still love stories out there worth seeing. 😉

When I read the synopsis for this book, I was very intrigued and this is my second read from Katherine. I ended up shocked with how much I really enjoyed it considering at the very beginning, I felt iffy about whether or not I was going to get into the story after chapter 1-3
Sadie was a great character and I loved her development as well as the relationship she worked out by the end of the story with Lucinda and her father. I absolutely adored peanut I loved the moments between him and Sadie. The comfort he gave her was so cute.
Joe and Dr.Oliver Anderson !?!? I knew there was gonna be a twist. I just didn’t think it was gonna be that they were the same person!!! I knew that either one of them was the good Samaritan that had helped her out in the beginning of the story, but I did not know it was the same person😂😭 I loved that she ended up with them both lol the vet and helpful/once weasel of a guy. I also really enjoyed Mr. and Mrs. Kim care for Sadie they were in the sense for me parental figures for her. Overall, I really enjoyed the story and how much Sadie learn about herself throughout her experience after brain surgery as well, as reminiscing about her mother. Beautiful job! Thank you for allowing me to read this book!

Another fantastic book from this author!
Great plot and characters.
Really enjoyed reading this!

Sadie Montgomery gets the best news and worst news on the same day. On the positive side, she's a finalist in a very prestigious art competition that will help her finally show her family that she chose the right path in life. On the negative, she's got a brain issue that could kill her if she doesn't operate immediately. So she gets the operation thinking she'll have time to recover and paint, except she wakes up with face blindness, meaning her eyes see people's faces but her brain can't interpret them.
The story follows Sadie as she navigates her new reality, her desire to still paint, and a new perspective on a neighbor that leads to some perfectly swoon-worthy moments. We get to see her messed up family history heal a little bit, how hard she's worked and continues to work to make her life, the people who are there to love and support her, and get some positive thinking points to go along with it.
The romance is sweet and supportive, and even though the big twist is obvious from the very beginning, it's also incredibly satisfying. It's a relationship born of support and friendship that will give even the most cynic person a little dose of hope.
I loved everything about this book, the least of which is that it helped me realize that I quite possibly have mild face blindness and it explains so much. Aside from that bit of personal TMI, it's a wonderfully emotional story that had me caring about Sadie from the get-go and left me with a positively giddy feeling of all's right with the world.
Kudos to Center for crafting yet another wonderful novel.

Delightfully happy thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the wonderful read!

The concept of Hello Stranger is unique as I do not recall reading a story involving face blindness before, so I was excited to try it. The story follows 29-year-old Sadie Montgomery who is struggling in life. She constantly wants to prove herself to her father, who seems disinterested in her life. She has a rocky relationship with her stepmother, Lucinda, and has an evil stepsister, Parker. As a struggling portrait artist, she does not have funds, so she is lucky that her best friend, Sue’s (Soo Hyun) parents have an extra space in their building that she gets to live and work in for free. She believes her life may finally be turning around when she discovers that she is a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition for a chance at $10,000. Unfortunately, she faints and ends up in a hospital where she walks out with a face blindness condition that may or may not get better. The story follows her life as she tries to adjust to this new way of life.

She ends up meeting a guy who lives in her building, Joe, who does not leave a great first impression. Luckily, he shows her a different side of himself and the two end up closer. When Sadie’s furry best friend, Peanut, gets sick, she rushes him to the hospital where she meets Dr. Oliver Addison. This adds even another obstacle in Sadie’s life as romance may be in the cards. This was an interesting addition and how it ends up does make sense, however, some of the details were lacking in how all the pieces should fit together. The relationships that are formed between Sadie and each suitor was well-done as they fit Sadie’s ridiculous nature.

As a character, Sadie was not likeable, for me. Some readers may enjoy her or find her more tolerable, but I found her selfish and narrow-minded. It was already odd to me how Sadie was almost 30 and struggling extremely with finances yet did not even bother to work part time to earn money while she continued to pursue her dreams. While I sympathized with her journey, the story does center around her character helping her or getting to know her, but she never seemed to reciprocate. Her character though does experience some growth, which was great, although I wish there was a little for her friend Sue. She seemed to lack empathy as Sadie is going through a lot and it was as-if she didn’t care. Since I was lucky enough to read the ebook version and listen to the audiobook, for me, the audiobook did help make the characters a little more bearable, but not the best. I think some of this story needed more work in the details, but I still loved Center’s writing style. Overall, I loved the concept more than the execution, but I think many readers will love everything. I look forward reading more from Center in the future.

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio, for the opportunity to read this enjoyable novel. The opinions expressed are completely my own.**

Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read this advanced copy before publication in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Sadie Montgomery is an up and coming portrait artist who just placed as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition. Next she’s in a freak accident and wakes up in the hospital and finds out she needs brain surgery, which she tries to put off. After having the surgery, she awakens to find out that she has a “probably temporary” condition known as face blindness. From here she tries to come to terms with her new normal and figure out how to stay in this competition because she really needs the money. She also has a strained relationship with her Father and Stepmother and her psycho stepsister. And wow, she’s a real piece of work! Sadie ends up in an interesting love triangle with her beloved dog Peanut’s Veterinarian and her hot neighbor. What follows is a really interesting look into this condition and how she learns to cope with it. Of course wires get crossed and several misunderstandings occur. Sadie can’t really trust her instincts right now, her brain just seems broken. I enjoyed seeing how it all played out. I did have a lot of it figured out, but it was a story filled with hope that explored some themes of loss and grief as well. Overall, I really liked this one a lot. Katherine Center is an author I can always count on for a good romance book! I will continue to read her work in the future.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my review.

I’m a big Katherine Center fan, and if you’re also one, I really think you’ll enjoy this. It’s her classic feel-good, happy vibe we keep coming back for!

The story was very unique, which is hard to do in romance! Yes, we’ve got some tropes, but there was more to the story.

There were times I found Sadie shallow and self-centered, but in a way, it made her more…real. Human even.

I dare say, I enjoyed this even more than The Bodyguard!

First off, I loved Sadie & Joe's chemistry and the whole idea of this story ... BUT -- I didn't feel a connection with this book. I felt like Parker was an afterthought, thrown into the story, the character development wasn't what I had expected/hoped. Overall, this book fell flat for me.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc with my honest review

This is a wild ride – in the best possible way. This story has so much going on with the heroine and so many lessons to be learnt. Sadie who is a portrait artist suffers facial blindness due to brain surgery, that may be permanent or not, no one can tell for sure until the swelling goes down. This alters her life and her perception of both people and herself. I love her journey both romantically and personally. The romantic interests in Sadie’s life add so much spice and intrigue to the story – and romance of course. This story brings out all the feels.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Sigh such a great story. I could not put this down. I hadn’t read a story with this subject and found it super interesting. The characters were well rounded and awesome. Except for one, they can kick rocks.

This story is about a woman who has an accident and after surgery ends up suffering from face blindness. She can no longer recognize faces (even her own) and will stay that way until the swelling in her brain goes down. She is determined to go on living her life without telling people of her condition. She learns to recognize people by their clothes or hair styles. To say this is overwhelming for her is an understatement. Imagine not being able to see the faces of those you love or your own face! How utterly sad.

The story contains her dealings and struggles with her family members and the limitations put on her professional life by this condition. It was interesting, thought provoking, funny, romantic and makes you search the depths of your own brain and heart for how it would be to live with that condition. I absolutely adored the main characters and couldn't have been cheering them on any harder. Thank God for romances and happy endings!
Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the gifted copies. All thoughts are my own.

This story was cute and I like that K.C. had the idea after hearing an NPR story about face blindness. The story was what you would expect from her if you have read others. Characters and situations slightly over the top, life stuff for the mc to figure out and a cute romance.

Hello Stranger is an absolute joy.

Sadie is an artist who has just placed in a portrait contest, only to find out she needs brain surgery and wakes up with face blindness. She tries to navigate her personal and professional life but keeps running into obstacles.

I mean, this story was extremely predictable but the characters are all so sweet and endearing you can’t help but want to read about them! It’s the perfect summer read for people who love cozy romcoms.

I'm such a big fan of Katherine Center and I was definitely looking forward to this book with an interesting premise. Unfortunately, the lead character is pretty unlikeable and make it a hard book to love. Sadie is to put it plainly, a brat. She is self-absorbed, negative, and whiny. She jumps to the the worst possible conclusions immediately. At 64% in she says, "Getting super mad at assumptions is not normally my thing." Um, what? That is exactly what she does consistently. Even after the mix up was explained, I can't understand what Joe sees in her. She does not treat him well before or after the surgery. For someone who "never accepts help" having someone turn a blind eye while you rent somewhere you aren't supposed to, gives you a cheap rate on that rent and then no rent at all, that seems to be a pretty big way of accepting help. Much greater than $20 worth of wine.

A few other things that really bothered me was that she never had a good reason for not telling people about the facial recognition. She was worried about being embarrassed but was embarrassed because she couldn't recognize them. She could have saved a lot of trouble with just a small explanation. Of course, then there wouldn't have been a plot at all. Also, she says she's "not good with voices." Come on. Scents, voices, mannerisms... you can't tell me her brain wouldn't have picked up on all of those, especially after such an extended period of time.

One redeeming quality was everything wasn't exactly tied up with a bow at the end, i.e. Parker. Things still worked out a little too conveniently but I would have given two stars if they suddenly became close.

I think if there had been better reasonings for the confusions and Sadie did not act like such a petulant child, I would have liked the book more. I will still always read Katherine Center and I do believe enough other people loved it that everyone who is interested should still give it a try.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center

Life has been hard for twenty eight year old Sadie Montgomery ever since her mother died and her distant father married the mother of her biggest bully at school, a girl who committed horrible acts and then made sure that Sadie was blamed for them. So Sadie has some really intense bitterness towards her father and his new family, a family that has been allowed to overshadow her completely. Sadie's revenge it to not forge a more lucrative career path her father suggests but rather to try to make it as an artist.

So that's why we meet Sadie while she is living in a rooftop hovel, formerly more of a janitor's shack. Because of the hurts in Sadie's life, everything about her might be a little bit better than she thinks it is, her living space might be more attractive to others than she will allow herself to believe and she might be more attractive to others than she will allow herself to believe. Now her rotten step sister is latching on to Sadie and her adult world, with a vengeance, determined to continue destroying Sadie's life as much as she can.

Sadie does have a huge, real problem. She is face blind after a health incident that led to brain surgery. Just when two men show interest in her and she can't even see their faces. One man is Joe, who she first noticed while he was having an extremely gross and inappropriate phone call, saying very degrading things about a woman. The other guy, Oliver, is her dog's new vet. But while the new vet seems to be ghosting her after asking her out on a date, Joe, except for that one disgusting overheard phone call, seems to be a sweet dreamboat...maybe.

Yeah, yeah, Sadie makes some strange choices in life, sometimes seeming to cut off her nose to spite her face, but I just let the story flow and found it to be cute and funny. We are certainly given some folks that we can love to hate and Sadie seems to be blessed in ways she doesn't appreciate, but I let Sadie be Sadie and greatly enjoyed the story. And then there is that very cute little dog named Peanut!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

This was my first time reading a Katherine Center novel, and I really enjoyed it!! I read it in 2 days, which is really fast for me. It was very fast paced, and had me wanting to know the ending! Some of it was predictable (I had guessed the twist about Joe), but overall it was an amazing romance book. I didn’t like some of the characters, mostly Parker. Sue made me mad occasionally especially when she left her best friend in need! But I understand how it set up the Joe and Sadie storyline even more.

I rated this book a 4 because we can't give half stars but I would most definitely round it up to a 4.5 ! From the beginning I felt for Sadie and her struggle of being an artist and wanting so badly to succeed but with no support from her family. Then to find out she needs brain surgery due to a genetic condition that killed her mother I thought, man is this girl ever going to catch a break? Once Sadie made it through surgery, she realized she could no longer distinguish the different faces of the people around her. So she then has to learn to sort of navigate being an artist who is on a 6 week deadline for a contest and just life in general.

Peanut is Sadie's dog and her best friend, she decides to take him to a new vet who she immediately dubs her new future husband although she can't see her face. But his gait is what attracts her to him even though she had never noticed these things about people before. Then she runs into a man who lives in her building but overhears him having what seems to be a private conversation of a one night stand. Who is this guy? Why all of a sudden is he everywhere? Honestly I loved Sadie and "Joe's" story, the irony in the end was beautiful and who doesn't love a happy ending. I absolutely adore Katherine Center.

3.5 rounded up

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a free eARC of this book.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I had some reservations because I feel like the idea of someone having face blindness isn't always the most interesting story for me, but I did end up liking this book. The writing is very much what I would expect from Katherine Center, a little bit silly, fun, and very easy to read. I sat down to start this book and ended up finishing it all in one sitting. It is an incredibly quick read. I enjoyed the romance although I really felt like it was secondary to the family relationships in this story. This really felt like a story about a woman who is learning her family history a bit and trying to repair a relationship with her dad. While she's doing that she happens to meet a guy and fall in love. I didn't mind that the romance wasn't necessarily font and center. I enjoyed following Sadie as she comes to terms with her diagnosis and as she tries to win a portrait contest (because of course). I liked Sadie a lot as a character and had a really fun time reading this book.