Katherine Center does it again! A unique story about face blindness, which is fairly uncommon, but representation for those who deal with this condition is so meaningful. Bravo to Center for sharing Sadie’s story - all the ups and downs that come along with unknown chronic conditions.

Portrait artist Sadie is doing pretty well, about to start work on a new piece for a national art competition she is a finalist in. Unfortunately, after an accident and string of events leads to her requiring a minor brain surgery, she develops prosopagnosia, aka face blindness, a diagnosis detrimental to her art. Her new diagnosis and career on the line combined with some family and pet issues, Sadie is in a tough place, until she ends up falling for two men. One who is everything she wants on paper, and the other a bit rough around the edges, but with amazing chemistry. As Sadie navigates through all of this and comes to terms with all of the above, she realizes the irony that maybe this new perspective has finally allowed her to see things clearly.

Though I have lots of books by this author on my TBR, this was the first one I've read, and I'll definitely be getting to the backlist sooner than later. I loved everything about it. Sadie's character, her growth, her humility. Seeing her faith in humanity restore and focusing on the good in situations was so heart-warming and made for such a feel-good read. The ending made me want to go back and re-read it all over again.

Katherine Center’s new novel is a fairly unique take on the two-people-fall-in-love-and-don’t-know-the-truth-of-it genre. Center’s emotional prose makes up for Hello Stranger’s weaker spots – mainly its ludicrous plot, fairly unlikable supporting cast, and uneven tone. It gives us a hero worth rooting for, even if the heroine isn’t so great and the plot is a little muddy.

Sadie Montgomery has been hoping for ages that her bad luck will break, and it seems as if it finally has. The twenty-nine-year-old portrait photographer has made it to the finals in a major photography competition; an excellent break, since she badly needs the prize money. With only a few weeks to finish her final project and submit it, she collapses in the street when a seizure sees her almost hit by a car. The diagnosis is a cavernoma, the same ailment that killed her mother. It requires emergency brain surgery.

After her surgery, Sadie is horrified to wake up with (hopefully temporary) face blindness (prosopagnosia). Sadie is assigned a therapist to help her come to terms with the situation and brace for the fact that the condition might be permanent.

Things only get worse when her senior pup, Peanut, gets ill. Sadie rushes Peanut to the vet’s office, and there she meets the golden-voiced Dr. Oliver Addison. To her surprise he wants to take her out on a date. Desperate for him not to know about her face blindness, Sadie conceals her condition from him – and from Joe, her loud, womanizing and rude neighbor whom she catches saying mean things about their fellow tenants on his cell phone. Still, they become friendly. Now Sadie has a dating dilemma – which guy will she choose? And will her face blindness ever alleviate? And what will she do about her stepsister, Parker, moving into her building and building a relationship with one of the guys.

Okay, some of you will have already guessed where the plot goes from here, but I’m not spilling that particular secret. Suffice to say it’s a little ludicrous, especially since… well, you’ll see. What makes up for the plot is the quality of Center’s writing, which is top of the shelf premium good. The way she takes some of these cornball choices and makes them compelling is a work of art she didn’t pull off with The Bodyguard.

Sadie is another problem here. She has a tendency to act like a teenager instead of an adult when confronted with conflicts. Her issues with her family work fairly well, and her rivalry with Parker is interesting. Parker herself, however is a weak soup character whose over-the-top evil bored me. Sadie’s ‘best friend,’ Sue, is a horrible and incredibly selfish person. I was a little antsy about the representation here; though it felt well-researched it also felt a little like a cheap romantic stumbling block at times. But Center did put in the work, and I’ll give the book that much.

And yet despite all of that, the romance is charming and tender. When Sadie’s good she’s very good, and her psychiatrist is delightful. I liked Joe and Oliver equally, and the latter is an excellent hero. The quality of Center’s writing is excellent and her prose is a lot of fun; that and the dreamy romance is what pushes Hello Stranger into the C range. None of that saves the book, but it’s still a decent time.

I read this whole book in under 24 hours. I found the perspective of acquired prosopagnosia (face blindness) fascinating. I tried to look up artist renderings and I wish there were more out there, but I also understand that it can be different for everyone. Sometimes it presents as facial features all jumbled around, sometimes it’s just that everyone looks the same. I don’t really know, but it’s something that I imagine would be very disorienting, which is what our FMC, Sadie, experiences.

I didn’t always like Sadie. She had some issues in the beginning that had me rolling my eyes and thinking I’d be rating this book lower than I am, but these things were addressed (via therapy, love to see it!) and by the end, I absolutely loved her.

The romance was super cute, although, again, I judged our MMC at he beginning and wasn’t a fan. But that’s all explained too.

I just didn’t love this book until the end, so I can’t give it a full 5 stars, but after finishing it and reflecting, it was SO GOOD! Definitely compulsively readable, sweet, funny, and thought provoking. I highly recommend.

I absolutely adored this book. It was so cute and quirky and the perfect light hearted read. I thought the main character, Sadie was hilarious. I found myself laughing out loud multiple times. The face blindness aspect of this book was so unique and so interesting to read about. It really makes you think! Although I guess the big plot twist pretty early on I still really enjoyed the reveal. I highly recommend this one!

I can honestly say that Katherine Center is becoming a definite go to author. I’ve read all of books & can say that they are all terrific! At the present time, Hello Stranger is my favorite. I’m sure that will change as soon as her next book is published. She is such a great storyteller! Hello Stranger is a fun yet serious love story revolving around Sadie, a struggling artist who is dealing with major problems both medical & family related. A quick read that you don’t want to put down. I highly recommend this entertaining take. Many thanks to St. Martins Press & Netgalley for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.
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I am a big fan of Katherine Center and have loved all her books so I totally expected the same for Hello Stranger. It was a little slow going for me at first but by the half way point I was completely invested and loving the story of Sadie and Joe. I've never heard of face blindness before so that was an interesting thing to learn a little bit about.. All in all, this was a great read and a sweet romance.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review. All opinions are mine.

Publication date: 11 July 2023

This is the first book I have read by this author and I loved it. It was not your typical Roncom or romance novel. I felt the struggle Sadie had throughout the whole story. The author did a great job talking about "face blindness" with respect and did a thorough job discussing the struggle of a person with this. These disabilities do not get enough attention and I am so thankful for her discussing this.

Katherine Center at her very best! Hello Stranger has everything I love in a rom-com: quirky characters, a flawed yet swoony love interest (or two), and witty banter. Lately when I read romance, I need more at stake than "will they/won't they," and this novel certainly delivers with a deeply important message about more than the love story. Most of all, Hello Stranger is laugh-out-loud funny in a charming, effortless way. Too many rom-coms are trying to be funny—this one just is.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eGalley of this wonderful novel!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my copy of Hello Stranger by Katherine Center in exchange for an honest review. It publishes July 11, 2023.
Yet another book by Katherine Center that I couldn't bear to put down! But truly, I loved this book! I learned so much about the brain, about how we communicate and recognize faces, and just some neurological stuff I've not heard about before.
I loved the way this story was written, it felt like I was hanging out with a friend, and I just couldn't get enough!

Sadie is one of those characters you instantly bond with , I love her rawness, her honesty and personality . Sadie has quite the shock when she needs a surgery that will change her life .I really enjoy this authors writng , the style and topics not many talk about , I learned something new within this story .

Sadie Montgomery, a talented portrait artist, is suddenly diagnosed with face blindness after achieving a major milestone in her career. As she navigates her new reality of seeing faces as jumbled puzzles, Sadie also grapples with family issues, pursues her artistic dreams, and unexpectedly finds herself torn between two men. Despite the challenges, Sadie discovers that sometimes we find what we need when we least expect it and that there are different ways of seeing beyond physical appearances. As a fan of Katherine Center, I was eagerly looking forward to reading Hello Stranger which is one of my most anticipated summer reads! I devoured the book in just one day! Center's writing style never fails to provide a comforting and engaging reading experience and the pacing was just perfect. I was particularly touched by Joe's unwavering understanding and support for Sadie throughout her journey with facial blindness. The author skillfully portrayed Sadie's struggles and doubts, while also emphasizing the importance of kindness, hope, and overcoming obstacles. I couldn't help but fall in love with Sadie's quirky and lovable complex character. I highly recommend picking up Hello Stranger if you’re a fan of Katherine Center’s work or are a romance reader!

Such a cute summer read. Loved the information I learned about face blindness. This book made me laugh out loud and almost brought me to tears a few times too. Loved it.

This bad ass author thought I’m going to give you romance WITH OUT A FACE, the new “love is blind” so to speak! The protagonist is a struggling artist who gets into a competition and suffers a side effect from a brain surgery. Very realistic. Very pet loving and devoting. There are some parts that made me laugh out loud. The love interest is a compulsive helper and animal enthusiast. I love the protagonist’s growth. I am a huge fan of this book! I love the “A Note About Prosopagnosia”, and her authors note is very inspiring! It comes out this month and I hope you read it ASAP! Thank you to Katherine Center, her publisher, and NetGalley for this wonderful piece of art!

I'm a huge Katherine Center fan and Hello Stranger only makes me appreciate her even more. I had heard about face blindness before, but had never really considered it or what those who have it experience. This lent a fascinating premise for the plot of this novel that was unique, which seems hard to find with romance reads lately. Sadie was a bit of a mess as a main character, but she was interesting and had a lot of struggles to overcome and grow through due to this. I liked the love story, but even more than that I liked the elements of understanding and "seeing" people through Sadie's eyes at the various stages of her injury. I did struggle with a few things such as how unaware Sadie seemed at some points and the interactions with her stepsister, which seemed a bit over the top...but I'm sure there are actually people like her out there.

While the premise of this book seemed a little far-fetched, I did some research and learned a lot! The book was fun and lighthearted and a great beach read for summer! I received a free copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

This book sucked me in the way all of Center's books do, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I expected. The focus on Sadie and her ironic situation--an artist who has been selected as a finalist for the prestigious North American Portrait Society but suffers an accident leaving her with prosopagnosis, or "face blindness"--was interesting. I was most captivated by her attempts to paint her best friend Sue and later her neighbour Joe, despite her condition. The "who will she choose" between her neighbour Joe and her dog Peanut's vet, Dr. Addison didn't keep my attention. Sadie's relationship with her family was complex but I adored her relationship with her dog!

Sadie is a portrait artist who suddenly develops acquired face blindness, a condition which doesn't get much attention in media for something that is estimated to impact at least 2% of the population.

Carter's writing gives a sense of just how confusing and scary the world can become when we suddenly lose one of our senses. Sadie's journey in navigating her face blindness was incredibly emotional, but the writing did a good job of balancing the emotion of how confusing things became for Sadie with the humor of the situations she found herself in.

The romance didn't feel like the core of the story, but Sadie's unconventional romance adventures were simultaneously incredibly sweet and hilarious.

I always enjoy a Katherine Center book, and this one continues that feeling. In this book, Center not only writes an endearing love story but also explores an interesting topic, face blindness. It makes for a fascinating read.

The main character, Sadie, learns early in the book that she has a serious brain disease that requires a quick surgery that can fix the issue. The problem for Sadie is that after the surgery, which goes well, a new issue develops. Sadie becomes face blind, which is a major issue considering she is a portrait artist currently competing in a contest that could make her career. The story follows Sadie as she struggles with the face blindness while also falling for two new men in her life, both of whom she cannot see their faces.

The premise of the story is unique and interesting. I enjoyed that part of the book. Following Sadie as she learns how to recognize people without seeing their faces is quite engaging. On the other hand, I found the storyline involving her evil stepsister to be unnecessary and distracting.

The main love interest, Joe, is a very likable character. Sadie's judgmental critiques of his behavior and the assumptions she makes about him are frustrating, though. Sadie is a bit self-absorbed and does not often try to see things from the perspective of others.

Overall, the reading experience was enjoyable. While I do not love the main character, there is enough in this story that is original and interesting to make it a 4 star book.

I enjoyed this one more than I thought I would! I figured from the description that I knew the major plot, and of course I did (it was pretty obvious, I mean duh), but the way that Center pulls it off was sheer perfection. It was just magical. I ended up loving it. 4 stars!