''Sadie Montogmery has had good breaks and bad breaks in her life, but as a struggling artist, all she needs is one lucky break. Things seem to be going her way when she lands one of the coveted finalist spots in a portrait competition. It happens to coincide with a surgery she needs to have. Minor, they say. Less than a week in the hospital they say. Nothing about you will change, they say. Upon recovery, it begins to dawn on Sadie that she can see everything around her, but she can no longer see faces.

Temporary, they say. Lots of people deal with this, they say. As she struggles to cope―and hang onto her artistic dreams―she finds solace in her fourteen-year-old dog, Peanut. Thankfully, she can still see animal faces. When Peanut gets sick, she rushes him to the emergency vet nearby. That’s when she meets veterinarian Dr. Addison. And she’s pleasantly surprised when he asks her on a date. But she doesn't want anyone to know about her face blindness. Least of all Joe, her obnoxious neighbor who always wears a bowling jacket and seems to know everyone in the building. He’s always there at the most embarrassing but convenient times, and soon, they develop a sort of friendship. But could it be something more?''

Purposefully, I am not discussing the plot because I feel like it is better to go into reading this blind. I will say that I did foresee the big twist but that did not take away at all from the story. Center has author notes at the end that you will not want to miss! Her description of the romance genre was on point. I was completely captivated from start to finish and highly recommend this book!

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. Not as much as The Bodyguard which just took me by complete surprise with how much I enjoyed it, but this was still a joy. Cinnamon roll MMCs for the win!

Highly recommend if you enjoy Abby Jimenez or Melissa Ferguson. 3.5 ⭐️

Thank you St. Martin Press and Netgalley for my advanced copy.

Although I loved Sadie and Joe together, there were a few miscommunication mishaps in this book for me.
Sadie is relatable in the fact that she jumps to worst case scenario, and Joe is hard not to root for with his willingness to always help.

The beginning was a total win for me!! But unfortunately the ending was to unbelievable at times and I lost interest.

Katherine Center always knocks it out of the park for me, and this was no exception! "Hello Stranger" is a unique and thoughtful romantic comedy that tackles complexities like grief, betrayal, and even brain surgery with a deft hand.
Center's note at the end of the novel about predictability in romance perfectly summarizes what she's so great at. I happened to read it after staying up into the wee hours needed to know the end - and felt like the glorious anticipation of her books was exactly what I needed - even more than sleep!

Katherine Center writes beautiful prose, full of nuanced moments that feel so relatable and down to earth. This story, with our heroine having facial blindness, honestly didn’t appeal to me from the start, but I had such a good experience reading The Bodyguard that I felt Katherine Center would be an immediate buy/download for me going forward. I probably should have stuck with my first instinct. I just didn’t connect or like Sadie, nor any of the side characters. The brain injury is interesting but just not my cup of tea in romcoms I guess?! The love triangle and plot twist were fairly easy to process early on, but it didn’t bother me to be one step ahead of our MC, since I felt like most of the story is that way. We are following Sadie figure things out. The love story takes a back seat to Sadie’s personal journey, which isn’t uncommon in Center’s books, but I’m finding out isn’t my cup of tea. It’s a fine book, it’s a pretty quick read, but it’s also fine to pass on by. 3 ⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my review!

Thank you so much for an advanced copy of Hello Stranger! It was SO good!

The Bodyguard was my first book by Katherine Center, and I honestly thought it would be hard for her to top it...but Hello Stranger is wonderful! I both read my e-galley and listened to my ALC of this one because I could not put it down.

First, I just fell in love with the characters in this one. I am a sucker for a hot vet; I blame it on my mom making me watch Baby Boom and Sam Shepherd...but, I digress...

These characters are everything! They are energetic, refreshing, interesting, layered, and just perfect. I love them so much! The main character, Sadie, and her dog peanut steal the show over and over again. Plus, the leading men are amazing, but I literally cannot give any comments there without giving away a major piece of the plot, so I will move on! :)

Second, I was really impressed by the depth of the side stories that connected to the main story. Sadie's evil stepsister is a total witch with a b, and I was very invested in her getting what she deserved, or at the very least, busted of all her lies and manipulations.

This book is going to be exceptional no matter which format in which you choose to consume it! One of my favorite books of the year, for sure!

Side note, I'm also LOVING the new direction for Katherine Center's book covers. This animated style is a big improvement over the covers of her older books IMO!

Rating: 5⭐️

This was a fun and quick read! I love Katherine Center and I was very excited to receive this ARC from Net Galley. The book was light, but also had some depth to it. I really enjoyed the two main characters and thought their interactions felt genuine. I also appreciated the supporting characters and felt (as always with Center) that these characters rounded every thing out!

Katherine Center's latest novel has so much heart and is based on a fascinating premise. Sadie Montgomery is a struggling portrait artist but she's finally on the brink of her big break. The next thing she knows, she wakes up in a hospital bed after a seizure and learns that she needs to have brain surgery. Her relationship with her father has been strained every since her mom died when she was 14, so she is surprised when he urges her not to delay the surgery. She reluctantly agrees to it, but only because she has 6 weeks to prepare for the portrait she has to submit to the art contest. The only problem is that following surgery, she can no longer recognize anyone. She's experiencing prosopagnosia, more commonly known as face blindness, and the only thing she can do is give it time. The love story central to the plot is sweet and confusing for Sadie, but this book has a HEA in terms of romance, friendship, and possibly even family. A really interesting story with a lot of heart.

I love Katherin Center's writing style and this book was no exception. I didn't get as swept away by this plot as I have several others, but I was truly drawn to this poor girl who has face blindness and her dream it to draw. Imagine the challenges she faced, then add on the "ugly" stepmother, a wounded father and a mean step sister and the possibilities int his book take off.

Thank you NetGalley for this e-galley book preview. I truly enjoyed it and recommend it as a lighthearted romance about tenacity, friendship and love.

Book Review 🎨-
Okay someone pinch me because May has had so many books that I’ve loved. I don’t want it to end!

Hello Stranger by @katherinecenter was no exception.

The premise of this one was so fun, the banter was on point, and it was such a fun read. Even with all the laughs, the book does touch on some emotional moments. Overall, I loved it and recommend you check it out!

Thanks to the amazing gals who threw the buddy read schedule to the side and binged this with me:
@whatdomsreading @wittyreading @karas_reads @no.shelf.control.k @lit_with_kristen @booksmorganreads @naesreadingnook @queenchichireads @letsget.thisread

Thank you @stmartinspress and @macmillan.audio for my advanced copies.

Hello Stranger is out July 11, 2023.

Q- Do you read authors notes in books!? The authors note was so good in this one. It felt like validation for all us romance lovers.

This was quite possibly the cutest book! I was apprehensive that Katherine Center could top The Bdoyguard but I absolutely loved this. I read it in 24 hours. I feel like the characters and the unique plot line really hooked me. Very cute! 4.5 Stars!

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center was a delightful book, with both sad, funny and heartwarming moments. It was also predictable, at times but that didn't take away from the story for me. Sadie is a struggling portrait artist who has earned a spot in a competition that might just be her big break. She learns she needs brain surgery 6 weeks before the show and when she wakes up she is experiencing facial blindness. Sadie struggles to cope and has to figure out how to make the competition work for her when she cannot actually see what she needs to paint for the competition. Sadie has dealt with a lot of difficult situations in her life, losing her mother young, her father remarrying quickly and her step sister making her life hard (to say the least). She keeps her humour throughout, which makes for an enjoyable read.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley and Katherine Center for the eARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

I unfortunately did end up DNFing this one, and it really, really broke my heart to do so. I loved The Bodyguard and was so excited for this book, but one of the elements rubbed me the wrong way to the point that I just could not continue.

This book features a scene where the FMC hears the main love interest on the phone fat shaming what we are to assume is a woman. It's a really, really gross scene that uses the same fatphobic rhetoric fat people have heard most of their lives. She's gonna break the bed, calling her flubber, just all around uncomfortable. As someone who struggles with body image issues and body dysmorphia, this was a very weird scene to suddenly be hit with.

The fact that this was all for a silly little miscommunication? Completely unnecessary. I looked online for other reviewers' reactions to this as well as talked to friends who read it that informed me he's talking about a dog? Which isn't even revealed quickly? There's just no reason to have this plot line. It was such a strange attack on anyone who struggles with their body image for absolutely no reason. Even if the moral is not judging based on first impressions and how face blindness gave her a chance on a good guy or whatever she was trying with this - surely there was a different way to do this? Did we REALLY have to go straight to fatphobia in a genre that is always dominated by skinny main characters?

I'd love to revisit this book with this knowledge and maybe be able to get through it. But I'm not sure how possible that's going to be, unfortunately. Perhaps I'll give Katherine Center another chance on her next book, and I hope she doesn't hurt me with that one too.

Where to start with this book? I learned a lot, I swooned a lot, I cried A LOT. I've read so many good books this year, but this one hit me in such a different way. It was sweet but with depth, emotional yet hopeful, funny but dealt with hard issues with such care.

Our story follows Sadie, a loveable and slightly struggling artist, who has a seizure on her way back from a wine run to celebrate being named a finalist in an esteemed portrait competition. The same competition that her late mother placed in when she died.

Sadie wakes up in the hospital to the most unwelcome sight: her evil stepmother, Lucinda. And to make matters worse, she finds out that she has to have brain surgery six weeks before the competition to fix a cavernoma in her brain that caused the seizure and could be life threatening. At least according to her emotionally distant father, an esteemed cardiothoracic surgeon.

Sadie wakes from the surgery to something even worse than Lucinda: she can't see faces. A rare side affect of the surgery? Acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia, or in layman's terms, facial blindness. It's likely temporary, but it could be permanent. Not great for a girl who needs to complete a portrait of someone's face to win a competition that could save her money problems and boost her confidence as an artist.

Annnnd as if things couldn't get worse, Sadie's aging dog, Peanut, (whose face she can thankfully see!) her constant companion, is sick and needs emergency help. Enter Dr. Oliver Addison, hunky vet (she can tell by his GAITE, ok!?) who saves the day and later asks her out. The only problem? The man in her building with the bowling jacket inscribed with the name "Joe" is also slowly making his way into her heart. And Joe is saving the day in a different way -- by modeling for Sadie's portrait and letting her use some unconventional methods to understand his face. This story is perfect and I'm jealous of anyone getting to read it for the first time.

Easy five stars for me -- and as a romance lover I'm begging you to read the author's note at the end. Thank you Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review. Out 7/11 BUT PREORDER NOW!

I really enjoy Katherine Center's past books and this one is no exception. I don't really read very much romance, but I always like this author's books. This one was an interesting mix of the world of an artist and acquired face blindness. The characters were also grappling with deep issues like grief, toxic relationships and difficult parent child relationships. But overall, it was a fun romp. While I did guess the twist pretty early, I loved the journey of how it all came together. It will be a great beach read!

I absolutely love Katherine Center's books and this one was no different. Hello Stranger is a delightful and heartwarming read that will stay with you long after you finish the last page.

Here are some specific things I loved about this one:

1. The humor: Katherine Center has a gift for writing funny characters and situations. There were many times I laughed out loud while reading Hello Stranger.
2. The heart: The book is full of heartwarming moments, both big and small. I found myself rooting for Sadie and her friends and family throughout the story.
3. The romance itself: The romance between Sadie and the two men is sweet and believable. I loved watching them fall in love.

I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good love story, and a hug in book form!

I've been a huge fan of Katherine Center for quite some time, and her latest novel, HELLO STRANGER, was among my highly anticipated 2023 reads. Similar to her other work, the female MC experiences a challenge to overcome, and for Sadie, it was face blindness. I've never really taken the time to consider the condition, and I was grateful for the research and information provided. Additionally, there were a few moments that were swoon-worthy (ahem, the painting scene), causing me to want to keep turning the pages to reach the HEA.

That said, I struggled with this one for several reasons. The first and most impactful issue was the extensive use of the miscommunication trope. Yes, I understand that it was essential to this particular plot, but there were so many interactions that should have acted as clues or given both Joe and Sadie pause. Beyond that, the book is filled with highly unlikeable characters, and even those that were supposed to be good had their moments, including Sadie. I felt that she was incredibly (and unnecessarily) rude to people in her life, which was disconcerting when not all warranted it. I also disliked how often she jumped to extreme conclusions rather than simply having a conversation.

Overall, I had a positive reading experience. If you enjoy audiobooks, definitely pick this one up, as Patti Murin narrates. While this may not have been my favorite Katherine Center novel, I am still looking forward to reading what she has to offer in the future. Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for my early copies in exchange for an honest review!

This is probably my favorite Katherine Center book. It is so fun, informational, and soulful. I enjoyed the romance, friendships, and family dynamics in this book. It is a perfect light reading for the summer. I did listent to the audiobook and that was also really well done. This book is worth the read.

A struggling portrait artist gets her big break at the exact time she has brain surgery and develops facial blindness. Completely ridiculous in a feel good way. Read this if you're a fan of evil stepsisters, pampered dogs, wacky misunderstandings and light hearted rom-coms.

My expectations were high for this much anticipated book. That is probably why I felt a little disappointed. Katherine Center is one of my favorite authors. Her books have always impacted me in a strong way. This was a good story. I learned about "face blindness" which was not something I had been aware of previously. The story of Sadie and "Joe" was pretty predictable but I still enjoyed the story. It just isn't my favorite and that's ok.