Hello Stranger by Katherine Center
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

I absolutely adored The Bodyguard when I chose it for my BOTM, so I was ecstatic to get an ARC of Katherine’s next book. And to be honest… it was even BETTER. I love the storyline of prosopagnosia and the challenges it presents (my neuro classes were my favorite part of PT school!). Sadie was precious, the mmc’s name was Joe (iykyk), and Peanut— the real star of the show!! basically, a near perfect book! A big shout out to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC! Pick up this book on July 11!

READ IF YOU
✨love unique story lines
✨feel like your life is falling apart
✨ need your dog to live forever
✨ have an evil stepsister

I have loved every Katherine Center book I’ve read so far, so I was so excited to be approved for an ARC of Hello Stranger! And let me tell you - it lived up to everything I’ve come to expect from Katherine Center!

Sadie Montgomery may be a struggling portrait artist, but when she learns that she’s just become a finalist for the esteemed portrait competition, she knows she’s just gotten her lucky break. Upon recovery from what is meant to be a minor surgery, though, Sadie realizes that she’s lost the ability to see faces - a pretty necessary skill for a portrait artist. Not wanting anyone to know about her face blindness, Sadie keeps it to herself and finds solace in her dog, Peanut, whose face is the only one she can still see. So when Peanut gets sick, Sadie rushes him to the nearest vet and happens to meet Dr Oliver Addison, who surprises her by asking her on a date. But as Sadie begins to develop a friendship with Joe, the obnoxious neighbor who always catches her at the worst times, she begins to realize that sometimes people aren’t what they seemed.

Center is a master at making me feel the feels, and Hello Stranger was no exception. While I wasn't completely taken with Sadie at first, it wasn’t long until I understood her better and was really rooting for her. And once I did, I was laughing, crying, gasping, and shouting. I loved watching her come into her own, stand up for herself and learn to ask for help.

I also loved how Sadie’s relationship with her romantic interest developed. I don’t want to say more because I don’t want to spoil anything but it was so fun to watch them fall for each other. Usually the third act misunderstanding drives me crazy, and the fact that Hello Stranger’s had me laughing along just goes to show how talented Center really is.

Hello Stranger is out on July 11th, and if you love smart, funny romantic comedies with lots of heart and character development, you won’t want to miss this one! Many thanks to St Martin’s Press, Katherine Center, and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book : Hello Stranger
Author : Katherine Center

Thanks so much NetGalley for an advance read in exchange for this review!

Let’s start with the cover! This cover is very eye catching. I am a sucker for a good cover.

This is the cutest romcom! I gobble them up and Katherine Center delivers them perfectly every single time. The characters are very well developed and their dialogue is perfection. I LOVED LOVED Sadie!

I did not set this book down until i got that last page. This book has a few good twists and turns thrown in and it’s fun to try and guess them along the way and I didn’t figure them out until they were revealed.

The wittiness of the writing, the humor that made me laugh out loud as I read, the little romance sprinkled in this book was the absolute thing I needed during a slump of trying to find that one book to pull me up and out.

Here’s to another perfect story written by one of my favorite authors! This HAS to be on everybody’s TBR this spring and summer! Solid four stars from me!

Hello, Stranger
By Katherine Center
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Location: 🇺🇲 Houston, TX
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I love Katherine Center and was so, so excited to get an ARC of her upcoming release from Netgalley!
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This book was so sweet and so fun. I love how Katherine Center can write books that are lighthearted but still tackle serious subjects without being trite. Definitely worth a read!

I loved, loved, loved this book! The sweet, quirky, and relatable characters were enticing and entertaining. Katherine Center stole my heart again with this book.

Sadie Montgomery lost her mom as child and was raised by her father, stepmother and evil stepsister. She is following her mother's footsteps as an artist and gets into a face portrait competition. When she gets the good news that she has been selected to compete, she meets a handsome young man at the convenience store and is dazzled and frazzled. Sadie's brain then decides to go on the fritz and needs an operation leaving her with facial blindness. Which is not good. She's a portrait artist....

The emotional rollercoaster that is this book made me giggle, squeal, and sob with Sadie's story. Join Sadie as she comes to terms with her mother's passing, her art, and the hilarious way she goes about developing a relationship with her father, stepmother, and a very hot, hot vet- I highly recommend this one!

I was a little nervous about a romance with the main character going through a significant medical issue, but I really enjoyed the story and the characters and especially the ending! And it was nice to see a happy ending on so many fronts, not just with the main romance.

THIS IS MY SECOND KATHERINE CENTER, BOOK AND I REALLY REALLY ENJOYED IT!! THE MAIN CHARACTER HAS ACQUIRED PROSOPAGNOSIA (AKA FACE BLINDNESS) AND WHILE IT’S A ROM-COM, IT IS SUPER UNIQUE, JOYFUL, AND FUNNY! BELIEVE IT OR NOT, MY FAVORITE PART OF THIS BOOK WAS THE AUTHOR’S NOTE AT THE END AND HER TAKE ON ROM COMS- ESPECIALLY THE REFRAME OF “PREDICTABLE” TO “FANTASTIC ANTICIPATION”.

Thank you to NetGalley and St.Martins Press for the ARC of Hello Stranger. This book is kooky and fun! I loved main characters and missed them once I finished. This is the story of Sadie and her experience through a health crisis, learning to live and thrive without a key sense that she abruptly loses and finding friendship and love in the process. The family drama was a bit unnecessary for me, I could have enjoyed the book just as much without it.

Katherine Center is such a special author. She brings joy and humor to every page. I’m not sure what I loved more, the book or Katherine’s love letter to romance in the Author’s Note.

I recommend this if you enjoy zany heroines who are doing their best.

What would you do if all of a sudden you couldn’t see faces like normal anymore? Me personally? I’d give up, crawl under the covers and never come out again. But Sadie? She persevered. She made the best out of the situation.
Was there times when she got things totally wrong because the face she was seeing in front of her she didn’t recognize? Yes, absolutely! But she kept trying and that’s what I took away from this book.
I had never heard of face blindness before so my eyes have been opened. I feel like even though I never heard of it before I understood what it was because of the research that was put into it.
My least favorite part was Parker. I can’t stand bullies!! But honestly Sadie’s dad and Lucinda was right at the top of the list too until their sides of the story was explained. If there was more to the ending maybe I would have liked them more but as it left off I’m okay with them.
I feel Sadie and “Joe” was very memorable. The banter between them was pure gold. They was like the old married couple you pass in the grocery store who’s still in as much love as the day they married. Their story was also a sad one that turned funny and I was here for the whole thing!
All in all this was a remarkable book and I’m sad that it’s over. I’m also mad it took me so long to pick it up because I was worried the medical part of her diagnosis would over power the storyline.

Defiantly check this one out! It is well worth the buy! I can’t wait to have it on my shelf so I can read it whenever I want.

Center has done an incredible job of developing a deeply engrossing read that will keep readers hooked from beginning to end. This may be her best book yet, as she explores complex issues with empathy and sensitivity, creating a powerful narrative that is both touching and thought-provoking. Love isn't blind, it's just a little blurry, and this novel beautifully illustrates this sentiment. Fans of contemporary romance and character-driven stories will not be disappointed with Hello Stranger.

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center

Sadie Montgomery finally feels as if all her hard work with her artwork is paying off. She’s in the final stages of competition with only 10 remaining competitors, including herself out of 2000 entries. Then she can prove herself to her dad and show him that she chose the right career path. That is until everything in Sadie’s life turns upside down after a car accident. She’s told by the doctors that she needs surgery right away and the downtime should only be a week. Then she can return to her artwork and win the art portrait competition and all will be back to normal. After the surgery Sadie realizes she’s no longer able to do her artwork like she used to let alone recognize the people in her life. Faced with hopefully temporary face blindness; Sadie has to navigate her new world while trying to figure out if she’s falling for her obnoxious next door, neighbor, Joe, (who’s maybe somehow growing on her) and/or her vet, Dr. Addison. All while also navigating her difficult family dynamics and past.
Such a heart warming story about love, medical mystery, and family dynamics. I can’t wait to read another Katherine Center novel!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC for my honest review!

Hello Stranger is a sweet, sometimes funny and often tugging-at-the-heartstrings, romance about a girl that has to become faceblind before she’ll finally see what’s been in front of her all along. 

I adored this book! It had a bit of a rocky start, with a “meet cute” that I didn’t find particularly cute, but it quickly picks up. After having a non-convulsive seizure, Sadie finds out she has to have brain surgery. It goes fairly smoothly, but for one small issue. She can no longer see faces. This would be fine, if she wasn’t a portrait artist by trade, one that’s up for a prestigious award–which she needs to deliver on within the next six weeks. 

This book was surprisingly angsty. Sadie has experienced a lot of trauma from her stepmother and stepsister, and her personality reflects her inability to ask for help or truly let others in. She immediately becomes smitten with her new veterinarian (despite not being able to see his face), but when he asks her on a date, she doesn’t want to tell him about her condition. She’s hoping that it will just magically go away. But nobody is ever that lucky. 

I adored the themes throughout this book. Sadie makes a lot of assumptions about the world and the people around her, and these become even more evident when she can no longer rely on the ability to recognize the faces of those around her. She has to open her senses and be more observant, identifying people by their hair and clothes and gaits. I’ve read thrillers with this premise before, but not any romances. I love the idea of falling in love with someone without ever seeing them (I love the pen pal trope best!), and this is a unique spin on this trope! 

Hello Stranger is my first read by Katherine Center, and it surely won’t be my last! I fully intend to read up her backlist, stat.

*This book review will be posted to my blog, Goodreads, TikTok, and Instagram on June 14, and to Amazon after the pubdate.*

If you’re going to read one rom-com this summer, make it Hello Stranger by Katherine Center!

Sadie Montgomery is a portrait artist who’s on the cusp of a career breakthrough moment when an unexpected brain surgery leaves her with prosopagnosia, a condition informally known as face blindness. This would be difficult for anyone, but it’s an all-out disaster for Sadie. She can’t paint portraits when every face she sees looks like a jumbled-up puzzle – even her own. While trying to adjust to her condition, Sadie meets two dreamy men – her helpful neighbor Joe and a charming veterinarian named Oliver. She can’t see their faces but that doesn’t affect how appealing Sadie finds them!

I absolutely adored this book! Sadie is a delightful and endearing heroine. She’s vulnerable but plucky, relatable and just so cute! Joe is a darling – helpful, friendly, and supportive. Their interactions are so sweet and funny, giving me more than one fit of the giggles. All that sweetness is complemented by an emotional side plot featuring the complex dynamics in Sadie’s family. The characters arcs are so well done, even leading to a few tears that had me reaching for the Kleenex.

Katherine Center definitely has another hit on her hands with Hello Stranger! If you’re looking for a sweet, feel-good romance, you need to read this book! I’m thrilled that NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press generously provided me an advance copy.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The premise -- a portrait artist develops face blindness right before the deadline for an important contest in her field -- was my least favorite thing about the book. It felt heavy handed and Alanis-Morissette-level ironic. Despite my reluctance, once I picked the book up, I couldn't put it down. It was dreamy, sad, and introspective. Not to mention that sweet Joe (with the beautiful torso) absolutely stole my heart -- and Sadie's.

We watch Sadie, who has already had a traumatic adolescence, become even more damaged when she has a seizure that leads to surgery and causes her to develop face blindness. Katherine Center writes her disoriented state afterwards in such a tender, relatable way. Sadie's stumbling through a difficult time, mostly alone, and handling things as well as she can, which frankly isn't all that well. But isn't that what we all do? Our best? Her inner dialogue was engaging, and I loved her perfectly imperfect relationships with her friend Sue, her psychologist, and her doggie BFF.

Is Sadie a little self centered? Yes, but she's in crisis. We see her at her worst, and we see who helps her to find her way through the mess that is her life.

This was one of those romances that feels like a mini vacation in a book. I wanted to live in their world for a while, and when I came back to mine, I was relaxed, happy, and a little more knowledgeable about Acquired Prosopagnosia. I could read Katherine Center's melancholy, hilarious, heartfelt prose all day long.

I give it 9/10 stars and recommend it to romance readers of all kinds.

This book was so fun! It left me guessing and figuring things out right with the main character. It was really easy to empathize with her and the struggle she was going through adapting to her new normal. I loved the perspectives and life lessons from the doctors she worked with and the friends she leaned on.

5 Stars, hands down! Katherine Center does it again!

This book is something so special to me and will hold a place in my heart for a very long time, if not ever!

Hello Stanger is about a portrait artist, Sadie Montgomery, who loses her ability to see faces right after she is announced as a finalist in a portrait competition. She now has to paint a portrait to enter into the finals without the ability to see faces. Along the way, she experiences a little bit of a love triangle, torn between Dr. Addison, her dream guy, and Joe, the weasel that lives in her apartment building.

I recommend going into this book blind and just letting Katherine Center take you on the emotional rollercoaster that is this book!

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing a digital ARC copy of this book to me in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the copy of this book!

Katherine Center is always an auto-read for me. I enjoy every single book of hers that I've read - and I've read many.

That being said, I was hesitant going into Hello Stranger. The premise sounded a little gimmicky to me. But I reminded myself that this is fiction, this is Katherine Center - and keep an open mind. I'm SO GLAD I did. The growth of Sadie was inspiring to see. Her mishaps and missteps were relatable. Her struggle with her dad and step-family was frustrating - and honestly, infuriating. I was just WAITING for her evil step-sister to get her comeuppance. This storyline brought tears to my eyes on a couple of occations and I was flat out crying at the end.

The storyline with the love "triangle" was something I've never seen done before - and I enjoyed it. Yes, a bit far-fetched, but I still enjoyed it.

This was a book I couldn't put down. It made me sad, frustrated and ultimately happy. Katherine Center is still an auto-read for me.

I really did enjoy the book and I liked the storyline but the main character, Sadie, was a bit much for me. Sadie is a portrait artist and she is a finalist in an art competition. However, she has to have brain surgery and when she wakes up she is face blind. (I thought the storyline was interesting because I have no read about this before). With her being face blind, she is in this little love triangle but she cannot see their faces. To me, Sadie was all about Sadie and she doesn't stop to explain what happened to her which would have cleared up a lot of issues. And never asks these 2 men anything about themselves to help figure out the question of who these men are. I love Katherine Center and liked the book but did not love!

I always enjoy reading this authors books. I like the way she always develops her characters and keeps my interest. Always ready for the next one
Thanks for the advanced copy to NetGalley and the publisher

Hello Stranger tells the story of struggling artist Sadie whose mother died when she was 14 and she is estranged from her father, stepmother, and evil stepsister. She suffers a seizure and is told she has a brain issue which needs immediate surgery - the same brain issue that killed her mother. After her surgery, she can't see faces - something which is a serious problem for a portrait artist. This novel had very likeable characters and I enjoyed the relationship between Sadie and her best friend Sue and Sue's family, as well as Sadie's infatuation with her vet and growing relationship with Joe, who lives in her building. Such a fun story and I learned something about "face blindness," which Sadie suffers from.

Thank to you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.