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.

Sadie finally has a life oppertunity in her art career, but a little problem set her back she finds out that she will need brain surgery. Brain surgery is successful but Sadie becomes face blind - may be temporary may be permanent. I loved all the neurology reaseach about face blind. This story is about Sadie falling in love with two guy while not able to recognize their face. Story is told only from Sadie side as she is trying to do everyday things while trying to ajust her lifestyle with hee new impairment. I loved the author's note how important romance books are.

I will always recommend a Katherine Center book. She creates such wonderful and relatable characters. I thought this had an incredibly unique plot and a well crafted love triangle. It has enjoyable banter and dialogue. A wonderful romance that I will highly recommend!

"Our thoughts create our emotions. So if you fixate on your worst-case scenario, you'll make things harder for yourself"

This book was such a heartwarming, cute read! "Hello Stranger" honestly gave me those warm & happy feelings that you get when you sit down to watch a feel-good romantic comedy movie. It made me laugh, it made me smile, and it even made me feel sad at times: but overall, it left me feeling so very wholesome and uplifted at the end!

I found the storyline to be so unique, and it had some really great twists in it that always kept me guessing what was going to happen next. I also found it so incredibly interesting to see how Katherine Center incorporated the neurological disorder of prosopagnosia into the story. I thought that she was able to bring important representation to this disorder while also educating the reader about it which was great.

I absolutely loved Sadie. I found that she was a relatable character: from how she struggled to "need" others to how she questioned if her life decisions were the "right" ones. I loved how she was unapologetically herself and how she continued to try her best and not give up; I think this is something a lot of us strive to do too which made her so likeable to me.

I also found Joe (who I pictured as Joe Alwyn the entire time ngl) and Dr. Oliver Addison to be amazing characters, and of course, I LOVED PEANUT! I swear Peanut was eating better than I do lol

I absolutely enjoyed this book, and I would highly recommend to anyone looking for an uplifting, heartwarming read that has awesome characters and some great twists and turns!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have loved every single Katherine Center book and this one was no exception! What a great book!

Sadie has had a lot happen in her life - some good and some bad. She’s an artist and has really been struggling….and then she quite possibly has the biggest break with her art. Unfortunately something happens to Sadie and because of that, she finds herself struggling. Her big break could be in jeopardy but, not one to give up, she has to find a way to make it work.

You’ll fall in love with her bestie and a lot of the characters in this book. I felt like it would’ve been great to be her friend! There is some drama that happens in this book but I have to admit throughout this book I couldn’t help but giggle so many times!!

This book by Katherine Center will not disappoint. You’ll be so happy you read it!

This book, man. To say I loved it wouldn’t be completely truthful. I am in love - truly, madly, deeply - with this book.

I do not wish to have Sadie’s condition. However, I want to see people as she sees them. I want to recognize more than a face and a voice. Reading this book made me realize just how little I actually see those in my life. I look at them all the time, sure. But I don’t actually see them.

Katherine Center has the ability to break me wide open and leave me feeling vulnerable and tender. She Jedi-mind tricks you into reading 300+ pages about someone else only to walk away knowing you did, and will continue to do, some work on yourself.

Also I hate Parker. With a passion. This book should be sold with a Parker pin doll.

This was a wonderfully frustrating and humbling and vulnerable and beautiful story about what it means to be broken and who gets to decide that. How we either choose to cope or wallow in self pity (sometimes both in the span of five minutes). How we can create a new reality and dream when, what we once thought was possible, is no longer.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback and review.

4.5 stars

—this book was so good

i loved Katherine Center's The Bodyguard, so when i realized that she had a book coming out this year, i knew i had to pick it up, and i was so delighted when i realized i was chosen for its arc because this exceeded any and all of my expectations.

this book is about our main character, Sadie, who is a struggling portrait artist with a difficult relationship with her family. when she goes through brain surgery, she never expected to come out with face blindness. growth and her learning to adapt to this new condition of hers is the main idea of this novel, especially as a portrait artist, who, of course, has to be able to see faces in order to paint.

i had the best time reading this book—Center's writing is so fun and exciting; there was never a point in this book where i was bored. i think the concept of this book is so different and unique, and learning about acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia [faceblindness] was interesting.
this book was all about building relationships with new people and learning to adapt to the world from a different viewpoint.
i loved the romance part of this book; i think strangers-to-friends-to-lovers is an overlooked trope, especially considering that i imagine, it would be the most common 'trope" the in real world when starting a romantic relationship, and i loved seeing the connections between Sadie and the romance interests pave its way. emotion connection > physical connection any day.

overall, this story is a light and easy read, and one that i would definitely recommend.

thank you netgallery & st. martin's press for this e-arc!!

This was fantastic and such a fun read. I loved it so much and kept turning the pages. Can’t wait to be able to share this with friends.

Another amazing book by Katherine Center!!! I keep thinking of that line in the Santa claus - "seeing isn't believing, believing is seeing" as Sadie is healing from surgery up to the realizations at the end. It's a story that will keep you wondering about the faces that are wandering through Sadie's day to day (and guessing who may be who!)

I loved Joe. Such a cinnamon roll!! The moments with him and Sadie were just so sweet. He was supportive and intentional and present when she needed it the most.

True to any of Katherine's books, there's what if dreaming (the wedding to Dr. Oliver Addison DVM anyone?!) a slew of wonderful side characters (and not wonderful side characters. Parker is the absolute worse, and the neighbor with the apartment full of snakes. NO THANK YOU) and so many sweet moments all rolled into a heartwarming story that you can't help but root for from the get go.

Also for a little side note. I love the cover on this book, and now knowing the story behind it, the cover is that much more perfect 🥰

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my review!

It was ok. I didn’t find anything really interesting with this. I wanted to like it. But I found it very boring.

4.5⭐️

Portrait artist Sadie Montgomery finally lands a spot as a finalist in a competition after years of struggling to find success. When she has to have unexpected brain surgery, she wakes up with acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia, meaning she cannot see faces. This makes painting portraits near impossible, and now, Sadie has to find her new normal, including navigating a love triangle.

Katherine Center's books are reliably wonderful, and they have the perfect balance of substance and swoon. Her choice to feature such a unique condition makes Hello Stranger quite memorable. I continue to be drawn to Center's books because there is always a personal growth component, and she depicts her characters in such realistic and relatable ways. This was no exception-- Sadie is an easy to fall in love with FMC, and I'm confident readers will love her as much as I did!

I requested this book after having read The Bodyguard, but this felt like a completely different genre. Gone was the easy, flirty romance. This book was too slow for me, I really couldn’t get into the story.

Thanks NetGalley for providing an ARC.

Every Katherine Center book seems to get better than the last. The bodyguard was one of my favorites and this book did not disappoint.