Thank you Net Galley for an advanced copy of a book by one of my favorite authors! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and learned about a condition called face blindness. Somehow I have lived 5 decades and hadn’t heard of this actual condition where people with prosopagnosia are unable to see or recognize faces. I had to do some research about this to really understand what it is and how it works. It is a fabulous plot device, especially when the main character, Sadie, is a portrait artist who just got selected to enter a prestigious competition. Luckily she has her dog and friends for support, if not her family. I loved the twists and turns and Katherine Center’s characters, as always, are some I would most want to meet and be friends with.

From the publisher St. Martins Press:

Sadie Montgomery never saw what was coming . . . Literally! One minute she’s celebrating the biggest achievement of her life—placing as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition—the next, she’s lying in a hospital bed diagnosed with a “probably temporary” condition known as face blindness. She can see, but every face she looks at is now a jumbled puzzle of disconnected features. Imagine trying to read a book upside down and in another language. This is Sadie’s new reality with every face she sees.

But, as she struggles to cope, hang on to her artistic dream, work through major family issues, and take care of her beloved dog, Peanut, she falls into—love? Lust? A temporary obsession to distract from the real problems in her life?—with not one man but two very different ones. The timing couldn’t be worse.

If only her life were a little more in focus, Sadie might be able to find her way. But perceiving anything clearly right now seems impossible. Even though there are things we can only find when we aren’t looking. And there are people who show up when we least expect them. And there are always, always other ways of seeing.
**************************
My review:
The premise of this book intrigued me. I have heard of face blindness but Center’s Sadie shows us what it is really like. Her distress, anger and sadness are palpable. I could feel her upset and I felt for her. I so badly wanted her to heal…she deserved it!

The things that bothered me about the book were Sadie’s circle. Her best friend Sue really wasn’t as supportive as one would expect. And Sadie’s father is a very flawed parent; maybe even more disappointing than the evil Parker because he is HER FATHER. It was difficult to read those parts and frankly, I had trouble understanding Parker at all. She is Evil for no reason, and ridiculously so. Parker was just over the top evil! It just made me mad and I don’t like feeling that way in a rom-com.

I saw where the book was going and predicted correctly. Funny but seemingly unrealistic. The ending tied things up and was happy, as rom-coms are. But just a little too much unhappiness on the way there for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance digital copy in exchange for my review.

I started reading this a few months ago and had to pause due to some of the content. I finally read a spoiler to confirm that the worst did NOT happen, so I’ll say this - animal lovers, this one’s safe to read!

I loved it. I love everything by Katherine Center, but it’s good to know that no matter how much I change, I still love her books. That said, either this book has a great twist or I’m the dumbest reader out there, because I did not see it coming. Which was truly delightful and made me enjoy it all the more. I really didn’t know how it was going to end - how Sadie would handle her sudden impairment, what would happen with her art show, and which love interest she’d end up with.

Maybe because KC’s books straddle the women’s fiction/romcom line, but I love how unique they are. They have the depth of women’s fiction with the HEA of a romance and enough LOL moments to push them into romCOM territory. She’s one of the few authors whose novels I can reliably lose myself in every single time. I look forward to a new one every year and get kinda sad and maybe a little cranky when I’ve finished one since I know I have to wait at least a whole ‘nother year before I get a new one.

All this to say, do yourself a favor and grab a copy of Hello Stranger this July. If you haven’t already, might as well pick up KC’s backlist while you’re at the store. Happy reading!

Thanks to NetGalley for the gifted copy.

I absolutely adored this book! It was a fun twist on a romance novel with some more depth than other books of the same genre. I loved the chemistry between Sadie and Joe, as well as the family dynamics throughout the book. An easy, delightful read!

Last summer, I lost myself in The Bodyguard by Katherine Center. This summer, Center had a new treat in store for me. From the first chapter, Hello Stranger reads like a Cinder-fella story, but with a unique twist and complications for the characters to overcome--brain surgery recovery under the deadline of a career-advancing art competition. I rooted for Sadie from the beginning as she explained her complicated relationship with her Dad and her initial meeting with a handsome stranger who she has prime banter with. Readers will love this book and it ought to be selected for many book clubs!

A nice read - nothing that’s earth-shattering or life-altering, but that’s ok sometimes, right? I enjoy most of this author’s work and this one was no exception. Give this a gander, you’ll be glad that you did.

I struggle with vision issues, so getting into this story took a lot out of me because of my own personal triggers. Although Center tackled a difficult topic, she did so in a way that made the book enjoyable to read.

It's surprising to learn that many people suffer from face blindness, and some of them don't even know they have it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sharing an early copy of this book with me!

This book was a TRIP! The main character Sadie is a witty realist who experiences a medical condition which quite literally changes how she sees the world. Full of frank discussions of loss and the grief which envelops those the dead leave behind, this book also contained moments of great levity, mistaken identity (although I’m still not sure how realistic it was), and made me rethink how I interact with the world, specifically with the faces in the world. This is the second novel of Stranger’s I’ve read and her injection of snark and novelty into her work has made me a definite subscriber.

Poor Sadie has a lot to deal with. She suffers from prosopagnosia aka face blindness after getting an edema removed from her brain. Yikes! She can't recognize her best friend, her father, not even herself in the mirror! Luckily, she can recognize her dog, Peanut, her only source of comfort for a time. Unfortunately she is also a portrait artist and has been entered into a competition that she has to produce a new portrait for the show. When she meets a man and another man, she has to choose between two men she's never seen before. There were a lot of funny moments in this book and I liked Sadie as a character. I wasn't a fan of her father, her best friend, or her literal evil stepsister but it was a quick read with a serious topic. I liked it better than The Bodyguard.

This was a touching story, with some heavy triggers. Make sure you check out the trigger warnings before you read. You will need tissues.

Oh my goodness this book was pretty amazing! I loved the representation, and it was so fast and easy to get hooked!

Okay, I need to preface this by saying I love Katherine Center so much, and I will continue to read her future books and her backlist, but this book. this book was not for me.

I could not root for the FMC (female main character), something about her rubbed me the wrong way. The story was and it drug on for forever. The family tension was childish, the portrait painting was boring, I don't know this just wasn't for me!!!!

<spoilers ahead>

The "twist" was so bad. I literally never was rooting for her to get with the vet "her future fiance" and so when her grumpy neighbor turned out to be him, when the faceblindness lifted I was more excited for the book to be over than for the twist.

<spoilers over>

"The more good things you look for, the more you find."

Sadie, like her mother, is an artist. After a very public seizure she discovers that she has more in common with her mom than just their artistic abilities. Sadie also has a genetic condition, the exact same one that killer her mom, that requires immediate brain surgery. After surgery Sadie develops some swelling that caused a temporary prosopagnosia, or face blindness. Soon after, she begins to fall for two very different men. Because she can not see their faces she has to rely on other aspects...their personalities, charm, and even their gait, to decide which she has the better connection with. Will it be her crass but charming neighbor or the compassionate veterinarian who saved her beloved dog, Peanut? & Is love truly blind?

How good is a book when you feel like you know exact what's going to happen and exactly how it's all going to play out, yet you still cannot put it down? This was my third Katherine Center book and my favorite of the bunch. So far I've liked each book more than the last & look forward to whatever she writes next! Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. 4 stars.

Katherine Center just keeps cranking out hits, y’all! I enjoyed so much about this book and loved her fresh idea for the very common miscommunication trope. Face blindness? That was an AMAZING choice from the author and I can really appreciate the time and research she put into being sure she gave an accurate representation of this neurological disorder.
Did I suspect the ending? Yes I did. But, that didn’t ruin bad things for me because I honestly had no idea how the author was going to make all the dots connect.

I was originally giving this book 4 stars, but after having time to think it over, I’m bumping it up another star for the lovely Author’s Note at the end. I just love Katherine Center and I think we’d be great bookish buds if I ever met her in real life.

Hello Stranger is my favorite book by Katherine Center so far.
Sadie has finally been accepted into a portrait competition that she has been entering for years. This has been a goal since her mother was also entered in the contest before she died. When a freak accident causes Sadie to be unable to distinguish faces, she doesn't know how she will be able to compete. On top of that, there are two men suddenly in her life. One who she was sure was a total jerk before they got to know each other. The other is her veterinarian who may just be the love of her life. Everything comes to a head when she realizes she has to choose.
This was such an incredible book. Sadie may be my favorite romance heroine ever. She was so refreshing and realistic. This book had everything I could have wanted and more.

Katherine Center has quickly become one of my favorite authors, and Hello Stranger did not disappoint. In fact, it is probably my favorite of her books thus far. I really enjoyed the evolution of the characters and the growth of their relationship. I feel like her characters are all really relatable and someone you'd want to be friends with in real life. If you are a fan of Emily Henry, Abby Jimenez, Elin Hildenbrand or Laine Moriarty you will enjoy this book.

The ending of this book absolutely made it! I hate the miscommunication trope, which I started suspecting was going on from the first phone call of bowling jacket dude overheard in the elevator. Between that fear and just not vibing with the main character well, I ended up putting down the book for a good, long while.

While this certainly wasn't my favorite book I've read recently, the last few chapters did actually win my heart a bit. Joe-Bowling-Jacket-Dude (MMC) and Sadie (FMC) are still far from what I typically like in main characters, but oddly enough I actually liked them together even if I didn't like them individually. I was cheering them on (especially that art exhibit scene... my goodness...). The plot largely centers around Sadie's development of facial blindness, which was SO interesting and unique for a rom-com plot. I might have unlocked a new fear, but it's fine, I'm fine. Overall, I can say that while the first 75% of this may not have been my personal cup of tea, I fully understand why so many of my friends and local booksellers love it and will recommend it to others. Plus I mean... with a cover this cute, how could the book not be a good time?

I absolutely loved this book! This is the first time I encounter face blindness in a romance novel and I felt so many emotions throughout the book thanks to this rep - my heart ached for Sadie when she found out she had face blindness after surgery, I was anxious for her, I was frustrated with her, I whooped at every milestone and bit of progress and eventually, I laughed because of the crazy situation this led her into. I always find it says a lot when I feel so much and so deeply when reading a book! I do have to say though, I'm not sure how Sadie made it out alive with the degree of second hand embarrassment I felt on her behalf! I think if I had been in her place, I would've melted into a puddle on the floor. Hahaha! I am very happy she found her HEA though.

I started this one off with the ebook and ended up switching to the audio - The narrator for this book is brilliant! I really enjoyed listening to her and I feel like she got Sadie spot on! I'm also impressed cause I feel like she portrayed Joe very well too.

Content warnings: Death of a parent, bullying, gaslighting, panic attacks/disorders, infidelity.

A huge thank you to St-Martin's Press, MacMillan Audio and Netgalley for the ARC of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

“We think what we think we’re going to think.”

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center is a sweet tale about artist Sadie, who undergoes a brain procedure only to wake up with edema causing Prosopagnosia – otherwise known as face blindness. She was just named a finalist in a portrait competition and has only weeks to paint a brand new “live model” portrait but can’t see faces! Bring in her super nice, always willing to help neighbor Joe who is willing to sit for her . . . and although Sadie can’t see his face, she begins to fall for him! However, simultaneously, she has developed a cute crush on her veterinarian. With the hope of the edema going down in the near future and her whole life seemingly out-of-whack, Sadie learns to perceive things differently, use her other senses, deal with “confirmation bias,” and runs into multiple “misunderstandings” that will leave you laughing, empathic to her situation, and wanting friends like Joe, Sadie, and the whole Sue family!

Katherine Center is climbing her way up my favorite author list easily – her humor-filled, sweet character development, uplifting stories are just what I needed to warm my heart and leave me happy! Plus, Center’s love of writing romance novels seeps through every page and leaves me with the “anticipation” (read the end author’s note!) I needed!

I admit, I have never heard of face blindness before and was surprised at how common it is. I felt like I learned a lot (and then researched some) from reading this great book and would be lost if I couldn’t identify people immediately from their face. I was so intrigued by the discussions about how we are “so busy seeing what we expect to see” that we only “see what we’re looking for.” How interesting and true!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved everything about it – especially the feeling it gave me while reading - and feel lucky that I was able to read this ARC! Yes – somethings are a little too perfect, but plot lines come together wonderfully, and I don’t care that I “anticipated” the ending before it happened – actually I was smiling, while “rush” reading it to get to the joyous finish! Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Publishing Group for this amazing read! I will definitely be recommending this book and author Katherine Center to all of my friends! This is just the book you need to fall in love with and brighten your day!

5 massive stars!

“And then I found out that letting people help you isn’t so bad.”

“This love story really created fantastic anticipation.”

This is a delightful book. Katherine Center always manages to surprise me with her wit and her depth of character.

A fantastically fun vacation read. It reminds me to have fun, enjoy the process of creating, and not really give a damn what people think.

This is going on my list of "Must Reads" for Summer. I want to read it again and again.