This book is unlike any I’ve ever read. It’s interesting, informative, funny and hopeful. I was really invested in the characters, more than I have been for any book in quite a while. When the Moment of Conflict comes, I felt like it was happening to me, and I felt all the emotions the main character was feeling. This doesn’t happen very often. This is the first book that I’ve read by this author, and it won’t be the last!

Outlier Alert!

It's a sad day when I'm disappointed by a book written by one of my favorite authors, but that's exactly what happened with Katherine Center's new book Hello Stranger.

Unfortunately, I predicted every single aspect of the plot from the very beginning and found the book to be both over the top, and ridiculous. In addition, there were so many holes in the storyline that made my eyes roll continuously, even though they admittedly existed for a reason.

After an accident, Sadie Montgomery is struck with face blindness. By some miracle, she manages to find love when she can't even see the features of anyone in front of her, (let alone the guy(s) she falls for), which is astounding considering that's virtually impossible for most of the female population.

While the writing was good, I felt that the characters had no chemistry and lacked the banter I'm used to seeing from Katherine Center. While this book was not my favorite, I remain a fan and look forward to seeing what Katherine Center comes out with next.

A buddy read with Kaceey.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the arc and to MacMillan Audio for the alc.

had never heard of “acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia" or "face blindness" before this story, and I actually really enjoyed learning about it and how it changes a person's interpretation of the world around them. We really do see what we want to see.

Sadie is a quirky, fun FMC who I grew to really enjoy as the story progressed. She isn't perfect, but that's what made her enjoyable in my opinion. Her existing relationships are incredibly complicated, and I found that while I really liked Sadie and her love interests, I didn't quite care for her friend, Sue, or her father and step family.

Though the side characters outside of the love interests were a bit of a let down, Sadie does a good job of keeping the story interesting on her own! Her face blindness and silly mistakes while dealing with it lead to some pretty funny moments that I enjoyed.

I really enjoyed Katherine Center's other book, The Bodyguard and was really glad I ended up enjoying this one too. She does a great job of writing and the story flows really well. This was such a fun book to read and it was paced very well!

Tears of all kinds. Sad, joyful, hopeful, love. This book will hit you in all the feels, guaranteed. This book was so nourishing to my soul.

Here’s what to expect:
💙 struggling artist with family struggles
💙 unexpected trials and setbacks
💙 face blindness
💙 you might possibly cry multiple times
💙 the sweetest love story á la Katherine Center
💙 love triangle written well
💙 the best ending, epilogue, and author’s note

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, Katherine Center writes the most inspiring romances - it’ll take you on a ride and feel literally the whole spectrum of emotion - and do NOT miss the author’s note on this one!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Alright, this is my second Katherine Center book and it's time I start reading more of them. I read the last half of this book in one sitting and stayed up until 1:30 am in order to finish it.

Sadie is a struggling artist and has trouble asking for help. She's finally getting a big break and is a finalist in an art contest. She has 6 weeks to complete her portrait but the day she finds out she became a finalist is the day she woke up in a hospital. Turns out she needs brain surgery. After the surgery, she realizes she can no longer see faces. Two new men enter her life, she has to deal with her family drama, and she needs to figure out how she's going to complete this portrait.

I thought the concept was so interesting and I learned about face blindness, which is not something I knew much about. I loved the characters and I loved the ending.

This was a fun and light read, while still covering some difficult topics. Hello Stranger is definitely one of my favorite books of the year!

PS-Do NOT skip the Author's Note.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

This book was so much fun yet impactful at the same time. I loved the MCs interactions so much. I will definitely be recommending this one!

Well, I completely inhaled that. I love Katherine Center's books. This is not my favorite, because the coincidences were just a little too much to take at times, but I still really enjoyed it. It was interesting to read about face-blindedness, but hard for me to totally get. I am lucky to be good at remembering faces. I also had trouble understanding why our main character couldn't recognize people from their voices. But the romance was sweet, as always with this author's books, and the family dynamics gave it a little something extra. 3.75 stars, rounded up.

I really enjoyed the plot of this, face blindness after surgery is a cool concept.
Even better when you add in that the MC is a portrait artist.
I really enjoy Katherine Center's writing and had kinda high expectations for this.
It was a little frustrating how naive and flighty the MC was, but overall I enjoyed this one.
Much love to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for my DRC.

Maybe Katherine Center is not an author for me.

While I had some issues with The Bodyguard by Katherine Center, I could overlook them because it was a cute story. However, this story was simply not for me.

I read a lot of romance, and I thought it was just fine. The pace is very slow in the beginning. The characters are incredibly obnoxious and immature. They created conflict for absolutely no reason.

I think for people who don’t read a lot of romance will find this very sweet and ended. Nevertheless, Hello Stranger was bland and childish.

Sadie Montgomery is preparing for a portrait painting contest that could be the big break for her career when she is in an accident that leaves her with a rare form of face blindness that prevents her from accurately deciphering faces. Hello Stranger tells the story of Sadie trying to piece her life back together and make sense of the situations and relationships she finds herself in.

I have enjoyed Katherine Center's books in the past, but while this was a fine story, it fell a little flat for me. The romance was lackluster, there was far too much miscommunication, it was incredibly predictable, and I found Sadie unlikeable as a main character (which isn't a dealbreaker for enjoying a book, but combined with everything else, it didn't help the situation).

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for gifting me with an ARC to review!

3.5 Rounded to a 4

Okay, so we have Sadie, a talented artist who specializes in portraits. A freak accident causes Sadie to suffer a traumatic brain injury, leaving her with prosopagnosia. Faces look like a Picasso painting to her. She can’t recognize anyone, including people she’s known her whole life. This is a real bummer because Sadie is in a contest that could make or break her career that requires her to, wait for it, paint a whole-ass portrait of someone’s face. Along the way, Sadie meets Joe, her playboy (or is he?) neighbor, and Oliver, her vet, both of him have an interest in her, but neither of whom she can actually see.

What’s a girl to do? I guess you’ll have to read to find out.

I went back and forth on this one. At one point, I was hovering at two stars, which absolutely killed me, considering I adore Katherine Center. There were just so many things that happened in this book that induced so many, many eye rolls. Some of the characters read like caricatures—so over the top that I just wanted to shout, “Okay, I get it. She’s a real shitbag.” Specifically, Sadie’s stepsister, Parker. Girl is psychotic and needs to be in a mental institution. There were other things, too, that just didn’t add up and were too easily explained away. For instance, Sadie is face blind, but her hearing is okay. Yet, we’re expected to just be okay with the fact that she can’t recognize the voice of the man she’s in love with? Nope, not buying that at all.

But…in true Katherine Center form, there were also scenes that made me swoon, and I also shed real tears a couple of times in the story, so I have to give her huge props for that. If you’re able to suspend a shit-ton of belief, I think you will really enjoy this story. It is the epitome of a sweet, quirky romcom and would make a great, quick read to take to the beach.

My Instagram handle is @read_happy_books Why? Because in this crazy world we live in, there's enough sadness. Pandemics and shootings and natural disasters - so much misery! Reading is where I look for an escape.. And, that's why I love Katherine Center! Her books are so full of joy!

So, I was a little worried that I was struggling with this book at first. It seemed disjointed, like there were all these pieces, and they weren't fitting together. Then, suddenly at the end, it all came together and made sense and I legit had tears rolling down my cheeks! My experience with this book was much like Sadie's (the main character) experience with face blindness (a real condition - who knew? The brain is a mysterious thing!)

And, oh, the author's note!? More tears! I love the idea that romance novels bring us a sense of "anticipation."

Thank you so much NetGalley and St. Martin's Books for the opportunity to read this digital ARC in return for an honest review. But, even more, thank you Katherine Center for being such a source of light and happiness! <3

Oh, and I have the audiobook sitting on my NG shelf. I CANNOT WAIT to listen to it!

**3.5 STARS**

Content Warning: mention of death of a parent, grief, bullying

This book was such a nice surprise especially because the main character is dealing with face blindness and she’s an artist who paints self-portraits!

The romance for the most part worked for me. I thought her romance with Joe was nice as they started as stranger and into friends and then something more. I wasn’t sure how everything would resolve itself in the end but it did – with a lot of explanations.

Aside from the romance, Sadie is also dealing with a lot of things with her family. Her mom passed away, her dad remarried and her step-sister is horrible. She doesn’t have a great relationship with her dad, or any of them. I’m glad Sadie had her best friend and her family to support her though. There was a moment where the family drama came to a head but there wasn’t a happily ever after for that part of Sadie’s life. And what was up with her step-sister Piper? I felt like Piper and Sadie acted like teenagers at times – which at times I thought was weird since they are adults.

I think I had some pacing issues with this one but I think because it wasn’t centered fully on the romance, I wondered why it was taking so long for the romance to get going. In the beginning of the story it’s mostly about Sadie, her accident, and how she was going to compete in the art self-portrait competition. I was wondering where the romance was – but it was there…just not on full display.

I really enjoyed the messages in this story though. I like that Sadie had to see things in a different way, and like her best friend Sue told her, maybe winning the art competition wasn’t the ultimate goal. Sadie was lost without her brain working as it did before, but she also found her way through every challenge which makes for a heart-warming story about growth.

Why you should read it:
*Sadie has face blindness and we get to see her navigate her new normal
*The romance between Sadie and Joe is sweet

Why you might not want to read it:
*Sadie’s family drama – Piper, her stepsister is a bit much

My Thoughts:

It took me awhile to get settled in this one but once I did, I finished it quick. I found it to be a such a cute and unique romance because Sadie’s condition. And how can I not love Joe, who’s someone who loves to help others and he loves animals. He’s a winner and I’m glad he and Sadie get their happily ever after.

What a fabulous and wonderful read! I loved every character in this book, except for Parker.
A light and airy romance with a bit of family drama.
I learned of a new health issue called prosopagnosia, which is being face blind. Can you imagine having a job where you painted portraits, but couldn’t see their faces?!
Overall, I loved everything about this story. Sentimental, fun and lighthearted.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

After having read The Bodyguard, I was so excited to read this story as well. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC.

I don’t think I had ever read anything with the premise before. Sadie, who is a portrait artist suddenly finds herself with acquired prosopagnosia, the inability to recognize faces, after undergoing brain surgery. All this comes on just as she has been selected as a finalist in a prestigious art show. There’s also the complicated feelings she’s developed for the neighbor whom she initially thought was a creep and her crush on her dog’s veterinarian. And the aloof father, evil stepmother and step sister come along to further complicate things. This sorry has it all. Mistaken identities, romance, complicated family problems, and you have a wonderful story. There was a scene between Sadie and her father that practically brought me to tears.

I devoured this story in less than 24 hours. I couldn’t put it down. Definitely pick this book up for your next beach trip!

The only character I did not line was her best friend, Sue. Am I the only one who didn’t like her?

I loved Katherine Center's last book and really enjoyed this one, too. The premise felt pretty fresh to me - Sadie, an artist in her late 20s who is struggling to make ends meet and living in a tiny rooftop apartment that's really more like a shed, just found out that she placed in the top 10 of a national competition for portrait artists. She's buying wine for a small celebration but forgets her purse, so a handsome stranger pays for it for her. And the next thing she knows, she wakes up in a hospital. She had a non-convulsive seizure and froze in the middle of a crosswalk, saved by a good samaritan just before she got hit by a car. After the seizure, the neurologists discover a cavernoma, an enlarged cluster of blood vessels on the brain, and they recommend that she get it fixed ASAP. She wants to wait until after the competition ends, but her mostly estranged father reveals that her mother had the same condition, and in fact died of it, so he doesn't want her to wait. She gets the surgery and everything is fine until she realizes that she suddenly can't see faces like the used to and is diagnosed with (hopefully temporary) prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness. For a portrait artist, this is pretty devastating, but Sadie doesn't want anyone to know except those closest to her, which is a pretty small group, so she tries to struggle her way through the competition. Meanwhile, she develops a sudden and massive crush on her new veterinarian but also starts a friendship with a guy in her building who she's finding herself attracted to against her better judgement. I really liked Sadie and I also understood, on some level, why she didn't want to tell a lot of people about her prosopagnosia, but it really made for one of the more frustrating miscommunication situations I've read in a romance recently. Still, I enjoyed this overall and I find Center's writing to be very well-paced and witty.

An incredibly written story about a condition I had never heard about but that Katherine Center brought to many. She has the talent to teach while also entertaining the reader with a page turning story. Absolutely another best seller!

Katherine Center does it again! If she writes it, I will read it! She is an auto-buy author for me!

I enjoyed this so much! It was unexpected and delightful! I binged it in one day and I could not put it down.

I was rooting for MC Sadie the whole way! I wanted her to heal, explore her creative passion, find joy, and reconnect with her family.
This book made me laugh from some of the best sarcasm and wit on a page and it also pulled on my emotional strings.

Read if you like:
🎨 found family
🎨 a recovery story
🎨 cute pets that eat better than humans
🎨 roller skating and dancing in the grocery store
🎨 HELPFUL men

This book also brings awareness to a medical condition known as Prosopagnosia, or face blindness. This is actually not my first book to mention this condition, but I did learn a little more about this diagnosis from this read. I always enjoy learning while I read. Thank you!

I’ve never read anything from Katherine Center before but after reading Hello Stranger I think I definitely will read more of her work!

Sadie had quite a journey through her new diagnosis and I couldn’t imagine how I would react if I was put in that position.

Joe was such a lovable guy (well after the first overheard conversation) and I’m so glad his story ended in just the way he needed it to just like Sadie.

Reading this book has made me want to go and study the bone structure if a man’s face and try to appreciate art even though I’m the least artsy person in the entire world.

My only gripe with the book was that it was a little slow to get going but the third act was so good.

ARC from NetGalley and St Martins Press

Katherine Center is one of my FAVORITE romance authors. Every single book I read of hers I LOVE! this was honestly one of my most anticipated reads this year - and I thought it was amazing!

Sadie Montgomery is a talented portrait artist who recently has been accepted into a prestigious art competition... Unfortunately a few weeks before the competition sge has a seizure and almost gets hit by a car and finds out some very life changing news. I thought the storyline was so interesting (I've never read a book about Prosopagnosia, so I feel like I learned a lot about that.

The misunderstanding... Omg I was DYING 😂 I loved Sadie's love interest(s), and her best friends family, but her family definitely sucked. This book never lost my attention, was impossible to put down and I loved it so much!

Read if you enjoy:
• family dramaaaa
• unique plot
• plot twist
• funny moments
• sweet guys
• spoiled doggos
• swoony romance

This book was a hilarious, cute, feel-good, swoony rom-com that I definitely recommend!