This is somehow my first Katherine Center book, and it definitely won't be my last.

Sadie is a portrait artist that ends up in a situation where she gets face blindness. This book goes through emotional struggles of overcoming the face blindness and finding love through it all.

I enjoyed the premise and the 'love triangle' that occurred between her, Joe, and Dr. Anderson. I hated Parker so much. She was meant to be hated, clearly, and boy, did I hate her. There were also times I was beyond frustrated with Sadie, but to be fair, she had gone through a lot.

Katherine Center did a beautiful job in her writing, her research of prosopagnosia, and emotionally developing each character. Definitely recommend this book!

Me = disappointed!😫

I’m a huge Katherine Center fan, even proudly displaying several of her works on my favorites’ shelf. So what happened here?🤷‍♀️

Sadie’s dream is about to come true. She’s a struggling artist who became a finalist in a prestigious portrait competition. But now all that hard work may be for naught as she recovers from a repair of a leaking blood vessel in her brain. That’s right, six weeks before the final competition Sadie had to have brain surgery that left her with the inability to see faces!
And yes, it’s a real thing! Face blindness (Prosopagnosia).

I wish I could say I empathized with Sadie, but just couldn’t. She was such a despicable character even before her surgery. Selfish, whiny and rude.

The storyline itself gave me some difficulties. Inconsistencies regarding whose voice Sadie could recognize and who was a stranger every time they approached her.
Example:(view spoiler)

Those are just a few but they just seemed to be endless.

A buddy read with Susanne that we both came away with identical thoughts and feelings. It generated quite the discussion, let me tell ya!!

I see most readers absolutely loved this book and I wish we could have joined them.

We’re very much in the minority here, enjoying cocktails on Outlier island.🍹😎🏝️ .

I had both the digital and audio versions, and on the positive side I did enjoy the narration from Patti Murin.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martins Press and Macmillan Audio.

⭐⭐⭐⭐¼ (4.25 stars)
I've recently stumbled upon a hidden gem that left me with warm fuzzies and kept me thoroughly entertained from start to finish. Katherine Center's upcoming release, "Hello Stranger," is a delightful mix of family drama, mistaken identity, and a medical quirk that had me hooked and grinning throughout.

Let's start with the main plot point of prosopagnosia, or face blindness, which was completely new to me. Center seamlessly weaves this unique condition into the story, adding an endearing layer to the main character's experiences and relationships. It's an intriguing twist that will make you appreciate the little quirks that make us human.

Speaking of the main character, Sadie Montgomery, she's an absolute delight to follow. With her lovable quirks and relatable personality, Sadie quickly steals your heart. Her journey is filled with charming mishaps and unexpected encounters that keep you eagerly turning the pages, hoping for her happily-ever-after.

If you're an audiobook enthusiast like me, you're in for an extra treat. Patti Murin, the narrator for the audiobook version, deserves applause for her stellar performance. The pacing of her narration is so spot-on that you can easily enjoy the audiobook at double speed without missing a beat.

I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for providing me with an early copy of this delightful book in exchange for an honest review.

"Hello Stranger" is a charming and entertaining read that deserves a spot on your must-read list this summer. So mark your calendars for July 11th and get ready to be whisked away into a world of mistaken identities, family dynamics, and a touch of medical quirkiness.

Katherine Center did it again! Hello Stranger is a beautifully written Romance with its Happily Ever After with some road bumps along the way. I loved how the story developed and we learned so much about face blindness, as I never knew anything about it before. But this story brought it to life and helped me learn about it while enjoying and amazing love story!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin Press. This is my honest voluntary review.

"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." I loved this book again, just like all the other KC books.

Need a book that will make you keep reading and not get anything done until you're finished?
Love isn’t blind, it’s just little blurry. This is a story about healing from hard things, trying to connect, and working like hell to become the best versions of themselves. I discovered that our thoughts create our feelings and you should try to convince yourself that things are going to be fine, to keep arguing with yourself. Also, "our thoughts create our emotions. So if you fixate on your worst-case scenario, you'll make things harder for yourself."

Thanks to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC release date July 11, 2023.

3.5 stars (rounded up)!

I thoroughly enjoyed Katherine Center's last novel "The Bodyguard." In fact, it was one of my favorite books from last year! Unfortunately, I don't think "Hello Stranger" is quite as good.

I really enjoyed the premise of this story and thought it was wholly unique. I've never read a book about Prosopagnosia (face blindness), so this was a first for me. The way Center works this condition into the context of her book is seamless! It brings about a bunch of different dilemmas and problems that the main character, Sadie, must navigate as someone recently diagnosed with Prosopagnosia. Sadie's entire way of life as an artist is turned upside down with her surgery and subsequent diagnosis. She is about to enter a very esteemed and important art competition, but she suddenly finds herself unable to see (let alone paint!) faces. With a plot like this, the miscommunication trope *actually makes sense* despite how much I personally dislike it. I think it is used effectively between Sadie and main male character, Joe, although it makes the ending of the novel quite predictable. Unfortunately, I found Sadie to be a major buzzkill of a character, which damaged my enjoyment of the book a lot. Even before her medical issues, I found Sadie to be a little insufferable and quite immature. Because of these personality traits, a lot of Sadie's interactions with Joe feel devoid of the significant chemistry to get me to root for them as a couple. I found their pairing to be lackluster. Luckily, this book is a breeze to finish. It's hard to put down one of Katherine Center's books once you get started!

Thank you to NetGalley, Katherine Center, and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC copy of this book! All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for my review.

I really enjoyed this one! It reminded me of a twist on Cinderella and I loved the mysterious elements thanks to the face blindness. The Bodyguard was my first Katherine Center book and I loved it so I was nervous going into this one. I really enjoyed this one but it didn’t have as much humor to it as the Bodyguard but it still was really good! This might be one of my favorite new releases of the year! It was nice to read a cleaner romance book too that surprised me along the way - reads like a good mix of romance and women’s fiction. The author’s note was so good too!! Definitely one I would recommend to anyone!

Content notes: toxic family relationships, medical content

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book early!

Once more, this was a very enjoyable story by Katherine Center. I love her writing style. I wasn't excited by the blurb for this one, but having read Center's work before I was really looking forward to reading it anyway. As expected, Center made it work.

This is a slower moving, closed door romance with some cute giggles. I enjoyed getting to know our MC, Sadie, as well as the surrounding characters. It was fun to root for Sadie and I looked forward to her figuring it out and getting together with her person.

There is an interesting author's note at the end where Center discusses predictability vs positively valanced anticipation in romance novels that is certainly worth a read. I've considered this concept before, but as you would expect Center put it into words much better than I ever could. Center also includes a quick bit of information about prosopagnosia that is interesting. So, when you finish the story, keep reading.

I am already looking forward to reading whatever Center writes next.

This story begins with Sadie, a young woman who’s not really crushing it in her career as a portrait painter. She’s finally on the brink of success when she wakes up in the hospital after nearly being hit by a car. She never expected to wake up from surgery with “acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia”, also known as Face Blindness. She has earned one of the coveted finalist spots in a competition that could be life changing, but now she needs to navigate her new normal, and that includes learning when to ask for help. Two men enter her life: her new vet, who helps her dog through a health crisis, and Joe, a neighbor who doesn’t exactly make the best first impression. This is one of those books that perfectly balances emotion, humor, and romance. Hello Stranger was entertaining and charming read that . I would highly recommend!

Cute rom-com, a complex family drama. lots of twist-turns and sweet moments, unique plot.

I had a hard time enjoying Sadie, found her a little whiny, and the romance was a little hard to believe. An okay read, but I didn't connect to this book. It wasn't a perfect fit for me but could be for someone else.

I loved this one! It was a page turner from start to finish. I felt the character's emotions as she felt them. There was so much more to the story and I loved that it built it up the way it did. I wasn't entirely sure until the end what had happened with "Joe" and why he'd been so upset. The twists and turns made the ending even better!

I liked the unique premise of this rom com and thought it highlighted some great moral dilemmas. I like how she fell in love with "two" people essentially, but I won't spoil that part. Overall, I enjoyed the book and found it to be heartwarming.

A cute rom com with an ending that left me smiling. What brought this down a star for me was just the predictability. I saw the end coming pretty much from the beginning, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the story as it went. I found myself laughing and smiling often. But also rolling my eyes some, as the main character finally came to the same realization that I came to many chapters before. Overall, worth the read/listen and a great romantic comedy to leave you feeling good!

A big thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Katherine Center for providing me with this gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book so much. Katherine Center writes such beautiful stories of emotional depth that bring joy to her readers. I loved the characters that she created here. I guessed the "surprise" early on in the book, but that did not take away from my enjoyment of it at all. I liked it so much that I pre-ordered a physical copy of the book AFTER I had finished reading the e-arc. I recommend this one for sure.

I loved this book because it was so unique. I had never heard of facial blindness and it was a great take on the traditional romance book. I typically struggle to keep my focus in the middle of romance novels but this one held my interest the entire way through. The supporting characters were amazing especially the Kims!

It’s not often that a book leaves me so completely surprised. In a world full of tropes and recycled plot lines, Hello Stranger was an utter joy and a puzzle that I got it put together right along with the main character. I loved it. Maybe the best Katherine Center book yet.

I received a copy of this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

First off, thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this ARC! This was my first Katherine Center book and i thoroughly enjoyed it. I enjoyed that the plot line was different to most other rom-com’s and story felt so heartfelt to me. I would definitely recommend this to anyone else planning on picking this book up!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

First off - Katherine Center is such a gifted person when it comes to writing books that are topic heavy but heart light. Meaning her books have substance and by no means deal with trivial issues for the main character. Yet somehow, I always feel so hopeful and joyful after reading her books. This one gave me the same feeling I had after reading Lisa Genova's work. I may have gone down a rabbit hole researching faceblindness.

Secondly - I LOVE an epilogue. It makes me happy.

I'd heard of Katherine Centers as an author but hadn't read any of her books so was so excited to get this ARC. I completely enjoyed this book and it was just the right dose of hope and happiness. I was surprised by the twist towards the end of the book--which is something i love in a book. I look forward to reading more of this author. Thank you net galley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review! I was so excited when I got approved for this book and it did not disappoint.

From page 1, I was hooked and fully invested in the characters, the narrative voice, and the storyline.

The book follows Sadie, a young woman who is struggling artist. She has went through a lot familial trauma that shapes how she perceives the world and people.

One day, she goes through a medical emergency that requires her to need brain surgery, which ends up resulting in her developing prosopagnosia, or more commonly known as face blindness. This becomes a great hardship in her life because her work as a portrait artist requires her to be able to capture people’s faces authentically on canvas.

I found this story line intriguing and is what kept me turning the page. Sadie’s journey dealing with the condition, while also coping with some deeply rooted trauma from her mother’s death and her upbringing soon after (her father remarrying and her manipulative step sister), was heartbreaking. I found her inner monologue to be evocative and inspiring at times, especially towards the end when she comes into terms with herself.

There were some things I didn’t really enjoy. I found that some characters were too 1-dimensional, like the stepsister and the best friend. I found their actions to be over-the-top at times, which I didn’t mind too much, being that this is a romcom—I could easily picture the book as a movie—but sometimes it took me out it.

Also, some of the dialogue felt unnatural. I’m also not the biggest fan of the miscommunication troupe in romances, and the biggest plot line revolves around one big miscommunication.

However, none of this ruined my reading experience. I loved the book and definitely a fan of Center’s writing. Her authors notes at the end about romance books was beautifully written, and made me appreciate the genre even more than I already do.