📚𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐲 𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Pub Date: 7/11/23
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As most of you know, Katherine Center is one of my favorite authors, so of course, I had to get my hands on an advanced copy of Hello Stranger. Not only do I love her books but I love her. She is such a kind, smart, creative human who writes feel good romance novels. Her books are about how life knocks us down and how we get back up - always filled with hope and happiness.
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Hello Stranger is a unique story about a struggling artist, Sadie Montgomery, who lands a finalist spot in a portrait competition. Shortly after she receives this great news, she finds out she has to have brain surgery.. IMMEDIATELY. Upon recovery, she realizes she has developed Prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness, that the doctors say may or may not be temporary - can you even imagine?! She is still able to see her dog's face though, so hey at least there's that! As Sadie struggles to live with her new reality and the potential impact it has on her art career, she is forced to learn to see the world in new ways. She begins to embrace her new life and ends up falling in love with two different guys who she has never actually seen.
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Even though Hello Stranger wasn't my favorite by her (TYSIAF will always be my #1), I still really enjoyed it. You can tell Katherine Center did her research and as always, she makes us laugh and swoon throughout. There were times in the book when it was pretty slow for me but I kept reading, and the ending picked up.
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Make sure you read the Author's Note at the end because it was EVERYTHING.🙌🏼💗
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If you are looking for a witty, hopeful, heartwarming read, I suggest pre-ordering this one now!🥰
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Thank you to NetGalley, St Martins Press and Katherine Center for the eARC of Hello Stranger.

When Sadie Montgomery lands a spot in a portrait competition, she is ecstatic. Because Sadie is the definition of a struggling artist. But when she gets a minor surgery that they tell her won't affect anything, it does, but after recovery, she realizes that she can no longer see faces. Not in the same way she used to. It's temporary, they say, but Sadie feels like her life is falling apart as the deadline looms close. Suddenly, Sadie finds herself in a sort of complicated love triangle of sorts; one with the handsome Dr. Addison and another with annoying and playboy neighbour Joe. But nothing is at it SEEms. Ha, get it?

Just like The Bodyguard, this one was a breath of fresh air! I tore through this book in hours, reading it until 4 in the morning. Center's writing is so easy to read, and even easier to fall in love with. The description are simple, and the dialogue is top notch. Dare I say, perfection? I do.

I really enjoyed learning about face blindness, and I love how the Center shone a light on it. Sadie's character arc is one of the best things about this novel and I loved watching her come to terms with the new reality that she was living. I related to her a lot, in many different ways. And of course, there's the wonderful romances that she has going on.

Overall, this was filled with swoon-worthy moments, a messy family dynamic, and everything you want in a love story. it's clear that this is the genre that Center is meant to write!

** I received this book as an ARC in exchange for my honest review ** AND I am so excited that I did because I absolutely loved it.

I discovered Katherine Center this summer on a particularly dismal day that drove me to the local bookstore for book therapy. I picked up The Bodyguard and read it in 4 hours straight. I couldn't remember the last time a book had made me laugh out giddy throughout the entire thing. Then I lent it to my mom, and my best friend, and so on and so forth. Everyone loved it, and I became an instant fan. That's why this ARC was so meaningful to me!!!

I will start by saying that nothing about this book felt to me like an intentional mystery, or a surprise plot twist. I would liken Katherine Center's voice to a more mature version of Sophie Kinsella. The weaving of well written humor with serious, life altering topics, will keep readers on their toes and determined to finish the book.

On the subject of mystery, I had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen within the first chapter, and my suspicions were all but confirmed by the fourth. For other books, this might be drawback, but for this one, I loved it! Rather than spending the book parsing between the romance, family drama, and mystery, I could really focus on understanding Sadie, who she was, and why she got herself in to (many) predicaments.

This made the book feel really special because I wasn't waiting for the shoe to drop. The shoe had already dropped, allowing me to wait in anxious anticipation for her to figure out the great plot twist floating around her head (literally). Even when Sadie's actions felt irrational or the truth was right in front of her, I wasn't mad at her or annoyed because I knew every moment of the story was important and primed to build up to her realization at the end.

5 stars from me - Thank you to Katherine Center & her team for the lovely ARC!

Oh my goodness this book was so good. It was my first Katherine Center book and already I’m adding her backlist titles to my current TBR. A struggling my artist whose luck comes crashing down finds herself with face blindness after an accident. When all things seem to be going against her and our main character is really struggling she finally gets a break when Dr. Addison enters her life. What follows is a story for of cute scenes and romance. Definitely something I’d recommend to your romance readers.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review Katherine Center's Hello Stranger, publishing July 11, 2023.

Katherine Center has done it again, with an easy-to-love protagonist in a sticky predicament and a love interest or two.
Sadie suffers a medical incident which eventually leads her to acquired facial blindness, a condition either temporary or chronic, where one cannot recognize facial features in people. Despite this, she begins planning her fantasy wedding with her dog, Peanut's veterinarian, whom she can tell is drop-dead gorgeous without ever needing to know his face. He just is.
Meanwhile, a guy from her building whom Sadie has nicknamed The Weasel, starts hanging around and the two flirtatiously banter back-and-forth. Sadie feels torn because her first-impression of Weasel was negative, but he's quickly proving to be more helpful and kind than she originally thought.
I was completely intrigued with this storyline and couldn't have predicted the twist or how it would all play out for Sadie in the end. What had me less-than-intrigued was the side story of Sadie and her evil step-sister, Parker, who made it her mission to ruin Sadie's life. I understand the story needed "a bad guy" but I didn't care for the immature banter between those two. That's the only reason I knocked off a star from my rating.
Otherwise, I loved this book!

Book Review: Hello Stranger by Katherine Center
Release date: July 11, 2023

Synopsis: Sadie is a struggling artist who is thrilled to get a chance to compete in a potentially career-making portrait contest. Out of the blue, she finds out that she needs brain surgery. The surgery leaves her with face blindness that may or may not be temporary. What’s a portrait artist to do? To complicate things even more, she finds herself falling for two different men- her dog’s new veterinarian AND her semi-mysterious neighbor. Who will win her heart and how will she fare in the contest?

Hello Stranger was a 5-star read for me! It was fun and engaging from start to finish. The face blind artist twist was intriguing to say the least, and I was captivated by the romantic conundrum! Sadie’s exploits had me laughing out loud.

This was my first-ever @netgalley ARC, and I was thrilled that it was from the incredible @katherinecenter! Thank you so much to NetGalley, Katherine Center, and @stmartinspress for the opportunity to read and review this book!

First of all, thank you so very much to NetGalley and St.Martin Press for this ARC. I absoultley love Katherine Center and felt so honored to be chosen to read an ARC of Hello Stranger.
Katherine Center can do no wrong. Hello Stranger was one of my favorite reads of the year. It was cute, SO FUNNY and I ADORED the characters. The twist was quite unexpected as well! Katherine Center writes such intriguing storylines, and hooks you from the first sentence. I can't wait for this to come out! It will be a re-read for me!

After hearing a lot of praise for Katherine Center's The Bodyguard, I was excited to received this advanced reader copy, and I was let down.

I am just tired of fatphobia being used to push a plot line forward. Even though it is a miscommunication, the dialogue is appalling and harmful.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eArc.

What a charming and delightful read! Katherine Center is quickly becoming my new favorite author.

Sadie Montgomery is an artist that has a medical emergency that quickly changes her whole life and career.

Enter a wonderful new veterinarian who saves her dog and also an annoying but helpful neighbor in her building and let the misunderstandings between her feelings for these two totally personalities begin.

Thanks to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to receive an advance copy of this book.

Man, I feel like I am on a bit of a rollercoaster with Katherine’s books. I LOVED How to Walk Away and Things You Save in a Fire. I was very disappointed with What You Wish For. Then it bounced back for me and I loved The Bodyguard. This one though, I didn’t love at all.

I feel like I am in a big minority with my thoughts on this. It just did not grab me at all. I contemplated putting it down quite a few times but I did stick it out. I found the Sadie to be more irritating than anything. I didn’t like how she would throw herself pity parties but also didn’t want anyone’s help. She just felt very immature to me.

Parker was a terrible character and was sooo over the top. The writing of her behaviour felt very juvenile. I also struggled with the romance. It came out of no where and I didn’t feel any chemistry. I saw the twists in this book coming from a mile away as well.

The one plus to this was the very unique concept of Face Blindness. I have never read anything about that before and it was interesting.

I was in a pretty big reading slump when I read this one so I thought I would sit on it before writing a review. Unfortunately, I am still not finding much I loved about it.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for a review.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author, for an advanced copy.

It wasn't my favorite Katherine Center book.
I wanted to like this book more than I did, but the conclusion changed things for me. The story was interesting, and I was rooting for Sadie. She had so many bad things happened to her and was a kind person who just wanted to take care of herself, but I struggled with the ending. It just didn't seem realistic. I think a few changes to the end could have helped. I liked Saddie, her friends/found family, and her love interest, so I gave it three stars.

I loved this book so much! I was captured by Sadie's story from the very beginning. After having surgery, Sadie is diagnosed with a neurological condition that causes her to temporarily lose the ability to recognize faces. During this time, she falls in love with two men! She eventually has to choose between them.

I loved the romance element in this story! I loved Sadie and Joe. I thought they had such great chemistry. I was rooting for them from the beginning.

This book was so endearing. I thought this story was the perfect blend of a serious situation and lightheartedness. I am a fan of Katherine Center, and this book did not disappoint.

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sharing this digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book! My first book from this author was The Bodyguard and I loved it. I found the premise to be really unique and I was not disappointed while reading it. I loved the underlying theme of self healing for our girl Sadie. Even though the romance was minor and not very organic, I still liked it.
I did not enjoy the best friend, she did not act like how a best friend (in my opinion) should act. She kind of took away from the book, plus the antagonist who seemed to be a little too over the top.

It’s a little slow for the first 20%, but after that it’s a pretty quick read. I’d recommend it to someone who’s looking for a cute read that will get you out of a reading slump!

Thank you for the advanced copy of Hello Stranger. I will not be reading and reviewing this book due to negative comments about harmful fatphobic comments this books makes. Thank you again for the consideration, I look forward to reviewing more books for SMP in the future.

This book was a classic Katherine Center masterpiece. Her books are all so well written that it transports the reader right into the story. She constantly uses humor sprinkled throughout her intricate romantic plots. This story in particular was extremely engaging because it allowed the reader to explore a temporary disability right along side the protagonist. I liked this this story was more inclusive of a disability that is permanent for some people. It explored love, revenge, friendship, and betrayal, the perfect combination for a juicy, can’t put it down novel!

Katherine Center does it again! She delivers a warm-hearted lighter read with substance. She doesn’t shy away from dealing with tough issues, but does so with a light hand.

Sadie, a portrait artist, is left with temporary face-blindness (prosopagnosia) after a TBI and brain surgery. She has 6 weeks before a major competition where she is the finalist. She NEEDS to win, not just for the prize money but to validate her career choice to herself and her family. But how can she paint a face when she can’t see faces?

Sadie has some baggage from her past (who doesn’t?), which is challenging enough without her added troubles. I loved how she worked through her issues and showed growth throughout the book.

Meanwhile, 2 men enter her life: her new vet, who helps her dog, Peanut, through a health crisis, and Joe, a neighbor who doesn’t exactly make the best first impression. How this plays out makes for much of the humor in the story.

I love a lighter read with substance, and appreciated the author’s research into the topics she addressed.

Don’t miss the author’s note as it’s a gem! Isn’t one of the reasons we love these types of novels is for the HEA, especially if we enjoy the journey along the way? She suggests we start using the word “anticipate” instead of “predictable”, which has a negative connotation.

So, OK, I <i>anticipated</i> part of the ending. Did I care? Absolutely not. As she says, the clues along the way give the reader something to look forward to. I thoroughly enjoyed how the story played out. And, just to be clear, there were still a few “unpredictable” surprises. Best of all, I closed the book with a warm heart and a smile on my face. A few years ago, someone coined the phrase “Up Lit” and this is a perfect example.

I requested this ARC from NetGalley based on the cute cover and went in blind, no pun intended. This is only my second book by Center following Things You Save In A Fire, which was definitely my favorite of these two.

What I loved:
•immediate intrigue
•courage, strength and positivity
•adorable dog named Peanut
•therapy/mental health representation
•friendship
•love triangle
•family drama

What I didn’t love:
•Parker is the worst!
•small but noticeable timeline inconsistency
•insta-love
•family drama (I have this in both loving it and hating it sections for different reasons!)

I’d never heard of Prosopagnosia before and it was interesting to learn more about it. Obviously since I don’t have experience with it, it’s hard for me to judge but I feel like Sadie should have been able to recognize some voices, especially familiar ones. She was able to recognize her friend, dad and step mom but not her step-sister or Joe?

And let’s not forget about the voicemail at the end?

I love this book so much! I couldn’t put it down! This story is so funny and heartwarming, I just want to wrap it up in a big hug!

I’m in love with Sadie. I don’t think I have ever related to a character that much before.

Katherine Center is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors!

Katherine Center has done it again! I listened to the audiobook of The Bodyguard and loved it, so I’m not surprised I loved this book too! I’ll need to get the physical copy so I can read it over and over. Plus, that cover!! Gorgeous. Five stars!

This was such an interesting book. Sadie was such a sweet, lovable character and I hate that she didn’t have a good family support system throughout her life. As Sadie tried coping with her face blindness, she learned to love herself. I loved the character growth throughout the book. Despite all of Sadie’s struggles, she still manages to persevere and enjoy life.

There is a twist I did not seeing coming originally, but did figure it out before the big reveal. However, that did not negatively affect my enjoyment of the book. I highly recommend this sweet, feel good romance. I’m looking forward to reading more of Katherine Center’s books.

Favorite quote: “The more good things you look for, the more you find.”

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.