The way I will devour any book by Katherine Center – all I can say is just give me all the books and all the things she writes STAT! Hello Stranger was a delightful, fun and thought provoking read that brought out all the things I love in Romance and Women’s Fiction. Sadie is pretty much down on her luck, and gets her big break when she suffers a life altering event that basically leaves her reeling and trying to figure out who she really is. The way I swooned for the MMC in this book, like I thought Owen aka The Rookie (from Things you Save in a Fire) and Jack (from The Bodyguard) were dreamy, but Katherine Center has really outdone herself this time. This book, even though dealing with a serious topic, left me feeling whimsical and believing and kismet but also brought home an important message of knowing you don’t have to do things on your own and asking for or even needing help isn’t a sign of weakness. Yet again Katherine Center has left me utterly happy and anticipating what she’s going to write next!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided to me through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Katherine Center and St. Martin’s Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

I love everything I’ve read so far by Katherine Center. She really writes feel good books with a lot of heart. This one is no exception. It pulls at your heart-strings and really had me imagining myself in the main characters shoes. I really didn’t see the twist coming!

Imagine if you can one day you are a struggling artist and the next you get a call that you have been selected to enter a competition with your art. Sadie Montgomery was finally going to prove that she had what it takes. And she did. Until, an unfortunate event took place. Sadie is hit by a car and must have brain surgery. When she wakes though things are not at all what they used to be. She sees things differently. Faces are different. She was diagnosed with facial blindness. How will she be able to do a portrait when she cannot see a perfect face. Or is there a perfect face? Sadie is struggling with her step sister, a father who is never near, and now a new love interest that she hopes will be something way more….like her husband. This was a very good book that showed the authors ability to tell a story and share the emotional outcome with her readers. The characters were very well developed and Sadie was my all time favorite. Watching her grow after the accident that may have made many feel as though they could not go on but not our Sadie. She showed us that it can be done and you can fall in love as well.


5 out of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and well as the author/publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my unbiased and honest review.

I loved the premise of this book and felt like something I had never read before. Sadie loses her facial recognition and needs to navigate life with this new outlook. I saw a lot of myself in Sadie and the she thought, which is one of the reasons I loved this book. I really connect with her and I was always rooting for her. The book was cute, funny and hit on some deeper issues like grief and family dynamics. This was my first book from Katherine Center and can’t wait to read more.

Hello Stranger features Sadie Montgomery in one of her most defining moments of her life as she places in the Top 10 of a nationwide portriature contest. Winning could mean fame, which could mean she could finally afford a place to live, among others of life's necessities. After collapsing in the road and being rescued by a good samaritan, discovers she has a malformed blood vessel in her brain. She wants to wait to get the treatment as the contest is in 6 weeks, but after a stern conversation with her father, is convinced to get it corrected ASAP. After the surgery, some swelling in her brain causes her to have the unfortunate side-effect of being unable to recognize human faces, a death sentence if there ever was one for a portrait artist. On her journey of recovery and acceptance, she comes to develop romantic feelings with not just one, but two men, both of whom she does not know what they look like! On her journey, Sadie might discover that she has actually been blind to a certain far longer than she could have imagined.

This novel is a delightful mix of romance and women's fiction, similar to Emily Henry's adult romances, and Hello Stranger is an improvement on last year's The Bodyguard. The heroes in this novel are quirky, intelligent, unflinchingly helpful, and hurt from past relationships, and you can't help but root for them. Sadie herself is deeply flawed, something other reviewers have called out as a negative, but one I find honest as she learns how to navigate relationships better and resolve conflict in healthier ways. If there was one character that was a detriment to the novel, it was her "evil stepsister" who very much acts like a palms-rubbing villian to Sadie. Center attempts to give reasons as to why the stepsister behaves as deplorably as she does, but it falls just short of feeling realistic.

Even with the negatives, Hello Stranger was a novel I tore through in less than 24 hours and was worth the sleep Iost trying to finish it!

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press for providing an eBook for an honest review.

Katherine Center, you did it AGAIN. I shouldn't be surprised; I have never read a bad book by Katherine Center. If you've read her books before and liked them, this book will likely be a hit. Her author's note really sealed the deal though and taught me something about the romance genre:

Being "predictable" is not a bad thing with romance because as readers, we have an expectation that the story will get better. The outcome will create joy. So I think that is what I love so much about her books- it's not JUST the HEA, it's the message and the created happiness through love.

Read this book. I recently learned about prosopagnosia in school and was fascinated to have a character that has this (face blindness, in this case, acquired face blindness). Katherine Center did an amazing job weaving her way through this diagnosis: the heartbreak, the fear-- but also, the step-by-step recovery. I can read super dark romances and not cry, but these fluffy stories make me happy cry easily.

A++++++++++ Amazing story. KC is an inspiring author/storyteller. "Hello Stranger" will be released on July 11th, 2023. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's press for providing an e-copy ARc of this book. I read this in less than 24 hours and already want more Katherine Center!

“The more good things you look for, the more you find.”

Sadie Montgomery is a portrait artist on her way to her biggest break yet when she has a non-convulsive seizure and is saved by a Good Samaritan. After having brain surgery, Sadie has temporary “face blindness” (Prosopagnosia). She is 6 weeks away from a major competition, but how is she supposed to paint a face when she can’t see the face? Stressed beyond belief, Sadie really wants to win this one! Especially because of her family baggage that is her cold, distant father, horribly enabling stepmother, and evil stepsister!

Meanwhile, two men enter Sadie’s life: Joe “the Weasel” who lives in her building and makes a terrible first impression and Dr. Oliver Addison, the vet who saved Peanut her dog. After the first meeting, she was ready to change her last name! I was laughing at the turn of events! It’s very clear that KC did her research in prosopagnosia, and I really enjoyed the romance reads with a good personal journey along the way!

PS: Gawh! I hate Parker. She is irredeemable in my eyes. That is all!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers of Hello Stranger for the advanced readers copy.

4 ⭐️ s

Romance meets you know how when you’re sick and you suddenly remember all the times you have been healthy and have taken it for granted?

Sadie is an amazing artist who struggles from traumas of losing her mom, therefore ‘losing’ her dad, and struggling with an evil step sister.

It seems things are taking a turn for the best when she excels in an art show and is in the top finalists!

Except that’s when everything goes wrong and she ends up with face blindness. An artist needing to paint a portrait…with face blindness.

Katherine did a great job of showing her journey of dealing with the diagnosis, to her being in public, and learning how to deal with her diagnosis.

In her journey of face blindness she deals with a love. . . triangle. Do she get the Doctor or does she get the bowling jacket wearing elevator guy?

The ending of the book really picks up and makes you go through multiple emotions! This is a great light summer read.

I just recently rediscovered this author and read her most recent book, The Bodyguard. I must say her newest book Hello Stranger is even better!

Sadie Montgomery finally gets her big break placing as a finalist in a Portrait Competition, but suddenly she has a seizure and ends up in the hospital requiring brain surgery.

Although her relationship with her father is strained, he insists that she has the surgery. When she wakes up in the hospital post surgery, she has a case of face blindness.

This sends her on interesting path trying to still compete in the portrait competition and navigating the world without being able to see faces. The concept is very interesting in exploring voices, a person’s gait and other things to identify someone without seeing their face.

I absolutely enjoyed this book and will be exploring more of the author’s books that I may have missed!

A special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s press for the ARC! Hello Stranger releases on 7/11/23!

Let me start this review by declaring my love for Katherine Center. While I have not read every book she has ever published, the handful of books I have read, all landed with me. The Bodyguard was one of my favorite books last year, and I could still summarize the plot of Things We Save in the Fire four years after reading it. THAT is saying something. Now having said all this, it pains me to say that Hello Stranger did not work for me. At all. The premise of the book is that Sadie, a starving artist develops a case of face blindness after undergoing urgently necessary brain surgery . As one could imagine, not being able to see faces turns out to be a bit of a challenge for a young portrait artist! Just as her career and life threaten to entirely derail Sadie meets not one, but two presumably handsome (remember, missy can't see faces!) strangers she becomes infatuated with.
Interesting premise, right?
Alas...
After realizing that I had figured out the plot twist 30% into the story (lucky guess/intuition?), I skim read the rest of the book, hoping to be surprised, but that wasn't meant to be.
Maybe it's a me problem? Surely it's a me problem, as thousands of reviewers on Goodreads strongly disagree with me! However, once I figured out the plot, I had no reason to keep on going, as the characters across the board (the only exception being the "hot vet" and Peanut the dog) were less than likeable and I cared very little to find out what happened to them.
I had a particular dislike for Sadie, our MC. She was whiny, self-absorbed, immature and loved to play the victim. Repeatedly I had to remind myself that she was supposed to be a woman in her late 20's and not a bratty 19 year old college drop out. I couldn't muster one ounce of empathy for her. True, her family is horrible, I'll give her that; alas I also found the evil step-relatives narrative entirely unnecessary. Sadie's best friend Sue was seriously lacking in the best friend department repeatedly ignoring Sadie's wishes and just doing whatever she wanted instead, but then again... Sadie is a challenge to like, so kudos for even attempting.
I truly dislike writing such a negative review, but I am nothing if not honest.
In conclusion I would like to add, that while this book did not work for me personally, I am by no means turned off from reading the authors future works! Tastes vary, and not every book is for every reader.

I was really excited to receive this ARC! I devoured this book.

Sadie is an aspiring portrait artist who recently landed a potential big break being accepted into a competition that could afford her the opportunity to win $10,000. Living alone with her dog Peanut and close to her dear friend Sue, Sadie is an independent woman. After losing her mother at a young age and gaining a (not so great) step mom and step sister, Sadie has always had to look out for herself and is always trying to find ways to prove herself to her father.

Sadie finds herself in a scary situation after a Good Samaritan assists when she suffers from a non convulsive seizure on the sidewalk, that ultimately leaves her with face blindness. As a portrait artist, you might see how this could be a problem! To make matters worse, Sadies dog Peanut ends up sick and needing to see a vet. Sadie brings her dog to see Dr. Adsison (after losing face blindness) and feels an instant connection, she’s planning a fictitious wedding 😍 However, when she finally gets to learn the neighbor in her apartment that she deemed a “weasel” she finds herself in love triangle!

Definitely recommend picking up this book once it becomes available on July 11!

Katherine Center not only delivered a sweet romance, she did it while intertwining Neurovascular issues.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me early access to this story in exchange for an honest review, it’s a 5 star from me!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I am so glad i got to read this book, by far my favorite Katherine Center book to date!! She has such a way of making you feel like you’re part of the story and you experience all of the character’s emotions right along with them. What a roller coaster ride! Thank you for bringing a unique twist on a classic romance, and all of the art puns are references were not lost on me either. 10/10

I love Katherine Center’s books. But lately, her books have been hit or miss for me. Unfortunately, Hello Stranger was a bit of a miss. I appreciated learning more about prosopagnosia (face blindness), but I thought the story was preposterous. Without sharing any spoilers, did the author really think that we couldn’t figure out what was so obvious throughout the entire story?? While I did connect to some of the characters in the book, others were so over-the-top (especially the unrealistic depiction of the evil stepsister) that it just added to the ridiculousness of the book.

Ultimately, the book was entertaining, but I found myself rolling my eyes too many times. Perhaps it was just too much “com” in the rom-com for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

This was a cute read. I didn’t love Sadie the whole time as she was a little selfish and always pushing away people who wanted to help. The parts about her honoring and missing her mother were written very well. The rest of her family are total butts. Liked both main love interests.
Will post a review on publication day on my instagram (bookishteach_chels)

I have loved every Katherine Center book I have read, but Hello Stranger is my new favorite. I appreciated the female main character having facial blindness (Prosopagnosia). I'm in the medical field, so I enjoy books that include some medical elements. This was the best lighthearted, entertaining, and twisty romance for Sadie. I don't want to say more because that could affect the ending. I am also a huge fan of Patti Murin, so give me all the books she narrates.

Thank you, Macmillan Audio and St. Martin's Press, for my gifted copies.

I’ve already reread this book twice and it hasn’t even officially come out, but that’s how much i love it.

book: Hello Stranger
rating: 5/5
synopsis: just as sadie lands a big break in her career as an artist, she undergoes an urgent brain surgery that leaves her with (temporary, or so she hopes) face blindness. which is already bad enough, but gets even worse considering Sadie is a PORTRAIT artist. as if the universe hadn’t made her life messy enough, she finds herself falling for two very different men. Her dreamy veterinarian and her neighbor.

This was such a cute, funny, touching read. I just love anything Katherine Center writes

Quick thoughts:
- a perfect beach read! the story keeps you hooked and you could easily devour it in a few hours
- I demand that more romances incorporate pets into the plot! literally any scene with Sadies dog, Peanut, was the cutest! And I’m obsessed.
- The miscommunication trope is a big part in this book, but like I’m not made about it. I feel like it made sense for this particular storyline.
- Sadie has a complicated/complex relationship with her family, and the final resolution felt realistic.
- I loved the slight opposites attract vibes. Sadie hates asking for help and the guy she falls for is a perpetual helper.

TLDR: Katherine Center is one of my go-to authors and Hello, Stranger is so unbelievably good.

This book is about a woman who has a medical emergency which results in face blindness. I just recently read another book that talked about this issue, but I learned more about the condition while reading Hello Stranger. The book follows this woman through her struggles with this condition, her work in the art industry, her family, and her love life. I enjoy Katherine Center's writing. She tells a story well. She also briefly broke through the fourth wall and I found it to be perfect timing. I recommend this book if you want a heartwarming read or you want to better understand face blindness.

This was such a letdown after I adored the bodyguard. The romance was more like an afterthought n this book and it really shouldn’t be categorized in the genre. It was overly predictable and had way too many eye-roll moments that took me out of the story. Also, the main character was just so unlikeable.

When I received the email from NetGalley alerting me that Katherine Center’s” Hello, Stranger” was available to “read now” for a limited time, I immediately downloaded it to my Kindle device. I was looking forward to experiencing the same kind of magic that I felt while reading Center’s previous book” The Bodyguard”; I am very happy to say that I did.
In “Hello, Stranger” we are introduced to portrait artist Sadie Montgomery. After years of struggling in the art world her luck has finally turned for the better when she becomes a finalist in a prestigious competition for portrait artists. Sadie knows that placing in this contest is the big break that she has been waiting for. Even better winning means that she will finally acquire the validation that she has been craving for choosing a tenuous career path such as portraiture. Unfortunately, Sadie’s lucky streak runs out because after suffering from a non-convulsive seizure while crossing the street in front of her building, she becomes afflicted with Prosopagnosia. In laymen’s terms she now has face blindness and understandably, as someone who makes a living painting people’s faces, Sadie feels that her world has come to an end.
This sudden face blindness that Sadie experiences doesn’t just derail her plans of winning the North American Portrait Society’s contest it also messes up her plans of never asking for help. Ever. Here is a little backstory on our heroine Sadie. She lost her mother very suddenly when she was just 14 years old, and her father was too grief stricken to be there for her emotionally. Her dad makes the situation worse when he marries her “Evil Stepmother” six months later. Before the ink is dry on the marriage certificate Lucinda proceeds to erase all traces of Sadie’s mother. As a result, this teaches Sadie from a young age that she cannot depend on anyone for anything other than herself. However, due to her current condition and much to her dismay, people are coming out of the woodworks to assist her during her time of need. One of those people is her neighbor Joe, who happens to have the not ironic nickname “Mr. Helpful”.
Sadie and Joe make quite the pair. She’s allergic to anything that looks like help while giving assistance is simply an instinct that Joe cannot and will not ignore. After much protestation, Sadie eventually decides to accept his help as she adapts to her Prosopagnosia. Eventually they spark up a friendship, which turns into a sweet romance.
Surprisingly, Lucinda also steps in to help Sadie, which really irritates her at first. However, every time Sadie slams the door in her face, her stepmom just doubles down and keeps trying. It isn’t until Lucinda does the ultimate kind gesture that counteracts her past efforts to erase her mom, that Sadie finally decides to forgive her. Her stepmother is not the only one who makes amends. Sadie’s father, who is obviously affected by his daughter’s medical trauma, finally tries to open up emotionally to her. Even though they have a long road towards full recovery, Center leaves readers with a hopeful note.
It isn’t long before Sadie learns that her viewpoint on life is skewed. She now knows that it is okay to ask for help and there are kind people around her who are willing to give it to her. It doesn’t make her weak to lean on people but it does make her strong to have the courage to ask for help when she needs it. I think this is a great and important message. Incidentally, this is what I enjoy most about Katherine Center’s writing; I can never read one of her books without learning something significant and valuable. Even before reading “Hello, Stranger”, I knew that I would love it.What I didn’t know was that I would love it even more than “The Bodyguard” and that one is a hard act to follow. I wholeheartedly recommend this book. Anyone who reads this is in for a spectacular treat!

“Seeing the world differently helps you see things not just that other people can’t— but that you yourself never could if you weren’t so lucky. It lets you make your own rules. Color outside your own lines. Allow yourself another way of seeing.”

Sadie, a portrait artist, gets into an accident which causes her to have a temporary condition known as facial blindness. The book follows Sadie as she struggles to live and work with her acquired face blindness while being torn between two men. There’s a lot of family drama and career troubles that add to Sadie’s medical stress that had me feeling like the universe was out to get her. Luckily she has her dog, Peanut, who’s the closest thing she has to family.

What I liked about the book was Sadie’s relationship with her mom. It was really beautiful and sad. Sadie honors and remembers her mom from the tiniest things like singing to her mom’s favorite songs, to the bigger things like placing in the same competition her mom was in before her death. Every time Sadie has a monologue about her mom you could really feel how much she loved her, and how much she was loved back.

Unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me but I understand why people loved this. I found Sadie annoying most of the time. The romance was pretty okay but it didn't have me giggling and smiling like an idiot.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.