Katherine Center celebrates finding inner strength in her latest novel, “Hello, Stranger.”

Center reminds us that there’s more than one way of seeing things, that we need to hold on to our dreams, that families are messy, that timing is never perfect BUT there are always those who will step up to the plate to help when we least expect it.

Center’s friend, and a literary hero of mine, Brene Brown, wrote that “Katherine Center writes about falling down, growing up and finding love like nobody else.” Amen. I couldn’t summarize this book any better than that, so … that’s it. Go source this book. It’s 5-star.

There is no doubt that this book will also be adapted for the silver screen.

I was gifted this copy by St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

I sent my feedback for the audiobook as I decided that was the better option for me to finish this book! I loved peanut, the dog and part of that storyline. Overall, the story seemed to be a little far fetched. However, I love all of this authors other books and finished the audio of this one very quickly!

My favorite romance ever.. I had downloaded an arc from netgalley and just in the last 36 hours got the chance to really read it.

I couldn't be more in love with an author or her story right now.

I will say going into this , I had know idea the synopsis after a month or so if requesting it and coming back to read it.

I'm such a huge neuropsych and Oliver Sacks nerd, so serendipity of finding a romance with a very likable character who develops prosopagnosia( face blindness ) was such a treat

Ahhhh I'm swooning. I might be updating this review with more flowing swooning lately and I desperately need sleep now.

Btw even the talented Katherine Center's acknowledgment section got devoured x fangirling !!!!!!!! Must sleep now

Thank you- one of my new favs!!!!!

Katherine Center you won my heart again with Hello Stranger. Sadie suffers from facial blindness just as her art career is about to be recognized at a prestigious national competition. While she deals with this loss she is slowly falling for her Vet and neighbor but must decide which one she wants to continue a relationship with. I read and listened to this advanced reader copy and thought that @pattimurin did a great job narrating this book in such a way that I was kept engaged. This book will publish next month (July 11th) and highly recommend you pick up a copy. *Thank you @katherinecenter @netgalley @stmartinspress @macmillan.audio for my gifted copy of this book in exchange for my own review.*

To the great disappointment of her surgeon father, Sadie changed career paths from medicine to art early in her college career. Now in her late 20s, she’s scraping by, selling custom portraits on Etsy, and living in a tiny hovel in the rooftop of her friend’s parents’ apartment building in Austin. When she’s a finalist in a portrait artist competition, life throws a wrench in her chance at respect. A non-convulsive seizure leads to neurosurgery which leads to swelling in the exact area of her brain that recognizes faces. Add in a handsome veterinarian, a seemingly shady neighbor, and an evil step-sister, and you’ve got a story with lots of shenanigans mixed with some more serious themes.

While I was reading this one I wasn’t so sure about it, but it has stayed in my mind, so I must have liked it a lot. I think the fact that I was genuinely surprised at the end is what delighted me so much and made me want to go back and read it over again. The pacing felt slow from about a quarter of the way through until the halfway point. I felt like the interactions between Sadie and her step-sister were immature for their age, but I see why the bitterness stayed over time. Parker was almost unbelievably cruel. The romance was sweet in this one. I only wish we’d gotten more background on the MMCs family and life. I liked that this one was about more than the meet-cute or the FMC’s growth, but was also about our prejudices, confirmation bias, and perceptions of the world, whether we are face-blind or not.

Surprisingly, my favorite part may have been the author’s note at the conclusion about the importance of the romance genre. Loved it!

This book was absolutely adorable and I loved it! The main character was so utterly quirky and adorable, and she took everything in stride, from her bad relationship with her father and her awful stepsister, to her medical issues and facial blindness. The romance was so fun and although I guessed the twist early on, I think I was supposed to! Katherine Center is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors of romantic comedy. She just makes me smile until my cheeks hurt.

Imagine being a portrait artist, finally getting some recognition and ending up with acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia (also known as face blindness or the facepocalypse😆). Well, that’s precisely what happens to Sadie in Hello Stranger. Add to the fact that she falls in like with two different men and you have a pretty decent romantic tale.

This is my first book by this author and I was pleasantly surprised. I love feel good fiction once in a while and this fit the bill, I wanted to hug this book when I had finished it! I am not a huge romance reader but this book was so much more than that. It’s about growing up, not letting life’s pitfalls stand in your way and learning to let go of weights that hold us back and yes it is about falling in love too. The plot played out as I anticipated it would (I will not say predicted…read the acknowledgements to find out why) but it in no way ruined my enjoyment of the book as the journey to get there was so much fun.

The book is well researched and the author describes Sadie’s experiences so well, I could easily imagine them in my mind’s eye. Center uses humour to help Sadie get through her ordeal and it was so much fun. Other reviewers have said this is the author’s best work yet and I can certainly understand why, I enjoyed this one a lot.

📚Book Review 📚
Hello Stranger
by Katherine Center
Pub Date 7/11/23

📚📚📚📚📚

Portrait artist, Sadie Montgomery, places as a finalist in a Portrait contest, but life has other plans. She’s hit by a car and needs brain surgery which leaves her with prosopagnosia, or Face Blindness, a condition that makes recognizing faces impossible. Sadie’s aging dog is having health issues, one of her neighbors seems to be a man whore, her evil step sister moves into her apartment building, her best friend is busy, and she’s falling for not one but two men. How will she paint her winning portrait if she can’t see the face she’s painting? What more can go wrong?

I was captivated, immersed in Sadie’s story from chapter one. Hello Stranger is a funny, serious, romantic, and feel good book. Everything about it felt real and plausible. Definitely my number one favorite book so far this year.

Thank you @netgalley @katherinecenter @stmartinspress for an electronic book ARC (Advanced Readers Copy) in exchange for an honest review.

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#reviewer #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookreview #bookreviewer #kindlebook #ebook #arc #books #read #netgalleyreader #netgalleyreviewer #netgalleyarc
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I was lucky to receive an ARC.
I've been a fan of Katherine's books and couldn't wait to read it.

This was a unique and heartwarming story.
There's a plot twist so it's hard to throughly review, but I did figure it out and was rooting for the H the entire time.
Sophie was a little selfish and self-centered for most of the book. I was frustrated with her, but loved her and the H in the end.

We can always count on Katherine to not write a run of the mill book.
I love that she doesn't stick to the normal romance formula.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this early.

If you are looking for a good, clean romantic comedy, then look no further than "Hello Stranger," the latest novel from New York Times bestselling author Katherine Center.

Sadie Montgomery is a portrait artist who has just achieved her dream of placing as a top-ten finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition. On the way to celebrate with her friends, Sadie suffers a nonconvulsive seizure in the middle of the crosswalk in front of her apartment building. Fortunately, a Good Samaritan saves her life. Unfortunately, she learns she has a brain lesion and must have surgery. After the surgery, Sadie is diagnosed with temporary face blindness. Although she can still see, every face now looks like a jumbled puzzle of disconnected features. There are only six weeks until the competition, and Sadie needs to win the prize money. But how can she paint an award-winning portrait when she can't see faces? As Sadie struggles to cope with her new condition, hang on to her artistic dreams, and work through family issues, she meets not one but two men: her new vet, Oliver, who takes care of her beloved dog, and her neighbor Joe, who doesn't make a great first impression but slowly begins to redeem himself.

This was such a lighthearted, delightful book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. The plot was unique and fun, and I couldn't help but smile while reading. Just a really enjoyable, feel-good book. I highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Katherine Center is a hit or miss for me and while I loved The Bodyguard last year, Hello Stranger was a little more of a miss for me.

While Sadie's story was interesting, I just didn't like Sadie's character. I found her immature and selfish. This book was a major miscommunication trope and it was just too much for me.

Katherine Center did it again! I loved this book, just liked I loved The Bodyguard.

Sadie is an artist, a struggling one, but an artist at best. She made it into a prestigious portrait contest as one of the 10 finalists, so that calls for celebration! After getting supplies, Sadie has an accident that causes her to have face blindness. NOT what a portrait artist wants to hear. What will she do?? She has a very small relationship with her family, her best friend is busy, so who is she going to paint? Will she ever be able to see faces again?!

Center has you fall in love with her main characters, and many side characters. I'd say all, but there is one that I don't know if anyone can truly like! You root for the best for Sadie, and face palm many times in her pursuit to make it through this competition. She's quirky, and fun, and you want her relationship(s?) to make it for the long run. I loved this story, and it was a quick devour.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was the first book I’ve read bty Katherine Center. Now I need to find all her books. It had me hooked until the end and it blew my mind. Such a cute story of love and friendship and dealing with the blows life throws our way.

Thanks Netgalley for an advanced copy.

Adorable. Very lighthearted and silly. The use of face blindness was so interesting to learn about even if the twist at the end was a little over the top.

This was an absolute winner from Katherine Center! Hello Stranger was a bounty of joy and really allowed me to savor and adore the story. This was a work of art (get what I did there?) and was such a genuine story, I had so much fun! I loved being able to see Sadie blossom into her own and really take on the world. The progress in the story is wonderful and the romance - it'll make you swoon so hard. Just be prepared for a few twists placed along the way - they really help the story reach its fullest potential.

Definitely read this one if you enjoyed Katherine Center's previous book - The Bodyguard!

Hello Stranger is the fourth Katherine Center book that I've read. I really liked the premise of the book and it introduced me to face blindness. Seeing her adapt to her new normal and find new ways of seeing and interacting with people was very interesting. She gains a whole new perspective and learns that sometimes it is easier to find something when you aren't looking.
Sadie's family is basically terrible. Things were wrapped up a little too quickly related to them in the epilogue. Kind of a 3.5-4.0 rating for me. But I'm always excited to read more from Katherine Center - can always rely on her for a feel-good romantic comedy that is likely to make me cry at some point.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this novel.

I could not put this book down! I love Katherine Center and she did not disappoint!! Sadie is such a beautiful person just trying to find her way and work through a difficult situation and her "mystery" men/man is just the sweetest guy. I already want to read it again!

Thank you St. Martin's press and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sometime, over the course of the last year, I decided that Katherine Center basically writes books for me. That is, they are perfect for me, and I am going to greedily throw my hand out for a new one every time she releases. There is something about the way she infuses emotion into her writing, the pull on my heart she elicits, the way I smile so big every time I am lucky enough to be reading a story she’s imagined for me. Quickly, almost immediately actually, she became a new favorite author to me.

And all of those things that I have fallen so in love with can be found in Hello Stranger, but it felt a little muted to me. The story was interesting, but the romance didn’t wiggle its way into the depths of my heart the way it usually does. I didn’t feel that delicious ache and dippy swoon in my belly. I adored Joe – who is basically the perfect hero – but felt more reserved about Sadie who I found to be mostly frustrating and insistent on not getting out of her own way. Lack of communication – or miscommunication – is one of my least favorite plot devices, and so instead of butterflies and fluttering pulse, I just grew increasingly more impatient with Sadie in particular, but both characters overall as the story progressed and it became clear what was unfolding between them.

That said, the payoff in the end did feel pretty great. And the overall story was interesting - as Sadie worked her way through her brain injury and sorting through her family baggage. I think I just wanted to see more of the softness – the great big heart - that Sadie showed others, directed towards Joe. And I wanted more honesty and vulnerability a little earlier in the story. I wanted more falling in love and less stubborn independence.

So, this will not go down as my favorite Katherine Center book. But it was still a good book. It had many of the hallmarks I’ve come to love about these books: the writing, the banter, the great big love story. I’m happy to have read it, and I am absolutely already in line for the next one, whenever that may be. ~ 3.5 Stars

❗️ARC Review❗️

I wouldn’t say I disliked this book but I was slightly disappointed. I previously read The Bodyguard by Katherine Center and thoroughly enjoyed that book. Hello Stranger just didn’t have spark an interest in me. I thought the book was very rushed at the end and I was not the biggest fan of the main character Sadie. However, I did enjoy the veterinarian aspect of the book because I work in the vet field. I thought the dog references were funny and cute. Would I read this book again, probably not. That being said though, I would still recommend other books by Katherine Center.

Sadie is a struggling portrait artist who after a surgery suffers from face blindness. She can't recognize faces. So we follow her journey as she deals with her diagnosis and how it affects the many facets of her life. There's the portrait competition that she was hoping would be a boost to her career. Also her interest in two different men.

The storyline was unique and so intriguing. I found myself rooting for Sadie as she continued to push through the obstacles that came along with her diagnosis. There were a lot of dips and turns between humor, grief and perseverance. I enjoyed the romance aspect and the direction the author went with it from start to finish. There were a lot of moving parts which helped to hold my attention the full time. As the story progressed, I was curious about certain aspects and how it would end.

Sadie's family was so awful and it really bugged me at times. Especially her stepsister. But it did make her relationship with her best friend Sue, Sue's parents and her cute dog Peanut that much more meaningful.

4.5 stars