5/5 stars for Hello Stranger!!

The more good things you look for, the more you find.

Sadie Montgomery is captain of the struggle bus. Deciding to switch from pre-med to fine arts had disappointed her father (the doctor, of course!) and Sadie has spent the last eight years trying to prove her father that choosing the same career as her mother won’t be in vain. So far? She’s not doing too hot.
But finally, she qualifies as a finalist in a HUGE portrait competition. This could *at last* be her big break!!
….. and then, of course, the worst happens. After a plethora of unfortunate events, Sadie has Prosopagnosia, face blindness. Her medical team says it “should” be temporary, but Sadie feels like it’s the end of the world. How on earth is a PORTRAIT ARTIST supposed to create a winning piece for the biggest opportunity of her life… when she can’t see faces?!

The remainder of the plot follows Sadie as she learns how to deal with her new condition, in the most genuine fashion. She preps for her portrait competition while also seemingly falling in love in the most unexpected way. This entire book, even when you can’t see it, is about finding the positives in every bad situation. Sadie is the perfect amount of extra, but she is HERSELF. It’s all you can ask for!!

The supporting characters really help make the story.
Peanut is Sadie’s dog of 14 years and the love of her life. A gift from her mom just before her death, peanut is the most important thing to Sadie and he’s also SUCH a diva. Reminds me of my own dogs!
Sue, Sadie’s best friend, is so REAL. Honest even when it hurts, and a fierce friend. Every time they talked I found myself laughing because these are the conversations I’d have with my besties, too.
Joe, Sadie’s overly helpful neighbor, really made me wish I had a friend like him. He’s sweet and willing to go above and beyond for, well, anyone.
Dr. Oliver Addison, the veterinarian, while only really described as hot and mysterious, really saves the day. In more ways than one.

I loved The Bodyguard, so I died at the opportunity to read Hello Stranger. Katherine Center knows EXACTLY what she’s doing when she’s writing. She makes you feel like you ARE the main character. I laughed, I cried, I rolled my eyes. I was EMBARRASSED AF at times, and then I laughed some more (Sadie really is hilarious) and I was genuinely sad when it was over.
I would 100% recommend you read this one, and hope you love it as much as I do.

Sadie is a struggling portrait artist, but she is about to have her big break! She is top ten finalist in an important national competition. But after passing out in the street, she is told only a brain surgery will fix the issue. Soon after waking up from her surgery, she discovers she has Face Blindness! Sadie is devastated by this development and isn’t certain how to produce the masterpiece that will win her the competition!

As Sadie tries to recover and figure out how to navigate her new world, she finds herself out of sorts. Everyone she meets is a stranger and confuses her. When her elderly dog, Peanut becomes sick she finds the handsome vet attractive and begins imagining her future with Dr Addison. But she is afraid to tell him of her current condition even after he invites her on a date. Sadie isn’t interested in getting help from anyone and tries to keep her secret safe from everyone including that odd neighbor-Joe who drives her crazy! But as an odd friendship develops between them she starts wondering if they could have more. How does Sadie navigate two possible romances, paint the portrait she needs, and move forward in her life?

I adored this romance and couldn’t put the book down as I came to the final 25%. I cried and laughed and just enjoyed the wonderful bow that Katherine Center put on this novel! I especially loved her authors note at the end that addressed why romance novels bring such joy and anticipation into our lives!

Thank you Net Galley and St Martins Press for letting me have a copy for my honest feedback. I enjoyed it immensely and will recommend this to friends and family for sure!!

I was so excited to read this one after loving the Body Guard! I was once again not let down. This book was good! Katherine Center knows how to write, real and relatable characters with a story that just draws you in! I LOVED the concept of this book and the way it all came together… chefs kiss!

I’m also not sure what it is about her side characters but in both books I have now read I just want to punch the side characters- why are they so mean!? But as Katherine says, I see you humanity, I see you.

Love is not blind… it’s just a little blurry 🥺

4.5 amazing stars! 🌟🌟🌟🌟
I will definitely be making a separate post on my Booksta about this one! Can’t wait for the release in July!

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martins Press, and Katherine Center for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This book started out really strong. It was definitely an interesting premise and face blindness is something I know very little about. It sort of fell apart a bit at the end for me, when the “truth” was revealed. I also have a lot of difficulty with 2 dimensional villains and there definitely was one in this book. Everything with her is left unresolved, mostly. The dad’s character also doesn’t seem like an actual parent, but his description of his grief after Sadie’s mom passed pulled some heart strings over here. I also LOVED the author’s note at the end. All in all, this was a fun one but there were some holes in it for me.

A unique story of "face blindness" - the inability to recognize people by their facial features. Sadie, a portrait artist, finds herself with the medical malady and struggles to find out what this means for her career, her life, and her connections with those around her. This storyline is different from others I've read, which combined with Katherine Center's writing style had me not wanting to put this one down!

Center did a great job of getting us into Sadie's mind and making us feel as though we were looking through her eyes. I felt confused and anxious for her as she's figuring out how to navigate her interpersonal connections without really knowing who the people are. It made the experience feel more real.

As far as the interpersonal connections, some were better than others. I enjoyed Sadie and Peanut the most I think, her and "Joe" being a close second. Others just annoyed me - like her dad, step mom, and step sister. I know it was all a part of the journey, but I would have enjoyed a bit more romance and a bit less drama, but that's just me! I did have the twist figured out after a while, but that didn't take away from the enjoyment of reading it all as it came together!

I love Katherine Center and will continue to buy all of her books, this one being no exception when it comes out this summer!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Sadie Montgomery is a portrait artist with the opportunity of a lifetime when she gets selected as a finalist for a portrait competition—the very one her mom was selected for shortly before her sudden death. On the night of this joyous news, Sadie is in a freak accident and is diagnosed with face-blindness… when she needs to paint a portrait of a face in the next 3 weeks for this competition.

I was in a bit of a reading slump for the last couple weeks and I admit it took me a while to get into the book… but totally personal reasons and not at all reflective of the book. However, once I was locked away on a flight without access to wifi, I devoured this book. I loved everything about this book from the love triangle that Sadie manufactured for herself to the quirky lovable best friend. This book was incredibly heartwarming, introspective, and well written. I laughed out loud at Sadie’s misfortunes and perspective while rooting for her the entire time. This book really proved love is blind better than Netflix ever could and if you miss early 2000s romcoms, this is the book for you. I give this book five stars.

Thank you @netgalley for this eARC!! This book comes out July 11, 2023 - a perfect beach read this summer. I definitely will be buying this book when it comes out so I can reread it and enjoy it all over again 🤠

Struggling artist Sadie Montgomery finally gets her big break when she places in a portrait contest. But everything goes awry when Sadie is injured, and the doctors reveal she needs brain surgery... now. The surgery goes fine, but leaves Sadie with the inability to recognize faces (face blindness). Something that happens to affect her career painting faces just a BIT. Sadie frantically tries to adjust to her new life while preparing for the contest. She meets two men--one amazing: her dog Peanut's new vet; and one not so much: her annoying neighbor, Joe. Can she recover in time to win the contest and the man of her dreams?

I think HELLO STRANGER might be my favorite Katherine Center book to date, and I'm not just saying that because I read it in sunny Cancun! It was just so sweet and charming, and I really loved Sadie. A lot of terrible things happen to this poor woman--her mom died when she was young and her doctor father checked out on her, leaving Sadie with a hard time accepting help from anyone. She has an absolutely horrible stepsister, Parker (I mean, seriously awful) and then, finally, she gets a break and boom, face blindness? Sometimes I had a tough time reading because I couldn't handle all the bad things been thrown at poor Sadie!

Even worse, once she gets out of the hospital, her beloved dog Peanut (given to her right before her mom passed away) gets sick. Seriously, world, we haven't given this woman enough to deal with? The only positive is that she meets the dreamy vet, Dr. Addison. Thank you. Sadie needs a win here. But she has to contend with Joe, of course, whom she keeps seeing in the elevator with a variety of women (or coming out of various apartments--all female--in her building).

Sadie's story is sad sometimes, but overall it's so sweet. The romance is just lovely, and I found myself laughing and smiling while I read. The supporting cast is awesome--Sadie's building super is just a trip, along with his family, and even her stepmother and Parker provide some great comic relief. This is truly a tender story about accepting a new life, learning to ask for help, and, yes, falling in love.

Keeping this one short & sweet!

This was such a feel-good read that truly made my heart explode. I laughed, cried & fell in love with all of the characters (especially Peanut 🥹). The character development was incredible & I loved watching the story unfold with the predictable “twist” at the end.

If you’re in need of a light, feel-good read for this summer, add this to your list!

Thank you to @netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC. Sadie is a struggling portrait artist when she finds out the best news of her life and the worst news of her life in the same day. She placed in the ten best artists up for a cash reward and she also found out she has a lesion on her brain that must be corrected asap. With only a few weeks until the final show, she wants to delay the surgery. However, she soon finds out that her mom died of the same thing and her dad won't let her put it off. After surgery, she is diagnosed with prosopagnosia or face blindness. Being a portrait artist, this seems like the end of her world. She has to find a way to cope with help from the people in her life. This book had all the emotions. I went from laughing out loud to having tears in my eyes. If you haven't read a Katherine Center book, you need to! #HelloStranger #KatherineCenter #July2023

I enjoyed this book - it’s heartfelt and emotional and imo well researched. I am not sure what I thought going in, but I’m glad it was a little of a surprise. With that being said, this book relies on miscommunication and assumptions, and some of these things are easier to guess than others which might make it a little predictable (I guessed the twist within the first 50 pages). BUT, the point of the book is still worth it. That we make assumptions about people and their actions everyday. And we miss opportunities for love and connection and friendship when we do that. I cried, and felt so much emotion. And that’s a sign of a great book for me.

Who doesn't love a Katherine Center novel? I am forever a fan and will read whatever she writes. Hello, Stranger had everything I wanted in a book from KC and I really enjoyed reading this book. I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it early and will definitely be recommending it to multiple people who enjoy KC or general romance/literary fiction. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!

As always, Katherine Center has written a book that will captivate you with interesting characters and a great storyline. Hello Stranger introduces you to the world of face blindness and the trials and tribulations that go along with it. I really enjoyed the main character Sadie, and how brave she is to be dealing with this complication that has arrived in her life.

I adore Katherine Center and was so excited to be given the opportunity by netgalley to read this arc! All in all, it was typical KC - a light, fun romance with something “extra”. The extra in this case was that the main character, Sadie, has brain surgery and ends up with facial blindness as a result. This adds to the conflict, as she’s a portrait artist, and it also creates a variety of hilarious foibles that she falls into. The story is cute, playful, with a very likeable male lead (Joe) and a cast of other quirky characters. I found some of the writing to be a little less polished than previous works written by the author (but that may change once more edits occur), and it was a tad predictable and drawn out at the end. All in all, I really enjoyed it!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my ARC in exchange for my honest review of this book.

I am a big fan of Katherine Center- how to walk away and things we save in a fire are awesome books. But the last two books, including the Bodyguard and Hello Stranger, have not had the same magic.

I was particularly interested in this book because I am a speech language pathologist that has worked in neuro rehabilitation, so I have had patience with acquired prosopagnosia. I thought that the treatment of this diagnosis and the perception of the world around someone with an acquired brain injury was well done. I think what felt off for me is that the characters were too broad… Parker was too evil, Sadie too stubborn, Joe too pure. As a result, I never felt completely invested in any of the characters. Also, I didn’t feel there were enough descriptions of Joe, physical, or emotional, that made me invested in him as a romantic partner for the main character. The twists were very obvious. And the thing that bothers me the most was that there were some obvious inconsistencies in the plot… Revelatory conversations happened twice and spoiler alert: Parker could not have been both on a plane to Amsterdam and in the coffee shop on the same afternoon.

I enjoyed reading this book, and I liked the topic, but not my favorite by this author .

I love a book where I learn while I'm entertained. In Hello Stranger, Katherine Center combines a great storyline with realistic characters and a medical condition I was unaware of.

Sadie is a portrait artist with complicated family relationships who has struggled to find success. Barely making by, she has a glimpse of hope when she is a finalist in a portrait competition. In a moment, life changes and Sadie experiences acquired face blindness.

Ms Center does an amazing job writing Sadie's struggle to trust others and accept help as she learns to identify people by other characteristics. This is also an amazing work of adapting to change, defining success, seeing what you want to see, and learning to accept yourself and others. There's alot packed into this book, much more than I expected. Within this story, there's also romance, friendship, and family - and a dog with a fancy palate. It was interesting to have the usual rom-com communication issues have a new twist to them.

This is my first read of a Katherine Center book but I'll definitely be looking into her others. From Hello Stranger and Sadie: "We’re all just muddling through, after all. We’re all just doing the best we can. We’re all struggling with our struggles. Nobody has the answers. And everybody, deep down, is a little bit lost."

Thanks to Goodreads, St Martin's Press, and Katherine Center for the opportunity to read and review the ARC.

I binge read this book in a few hours because I couldn’t put it down which is rare for me nowadays. The book is cliche is some ways but a take on a different issue that people don’t tell to discuss in romance novels – face blindness. It was so interesting to read how much Sadie struggled with knowing who she was talking to and knowing that it’s something we all take for granted. Her relationship with Joe was also so wonderful. He was so patient with her even when at times I wanted to yell at her to tell him her secret.

Sadie is strong and independent but also a frustrating character. She never wants to show weakness which makes sense given her upbringing and I’m so glad we were able to encounter her family dynamics and understand what made her who she is. I have so much more to say, but I don’t want to give away and spoilers. For all those contemplating if they should read this book, my answer is a resounding yes.

I received an ARC via NetGalley for an honest review.

This is my second Katherine Center novel, and I must say, she has a real talent for taking a truly over-the-top romantic comedy premise and telling a fun, charming story that has you rooting for the main characters instead of rolling your eyes at their antics. In “Hello Stranger”, struggling artist Sadie Montgomery finally has gotten her big break: she’s a finalist in the North American Portrait Society’s annual competition. She has six weeks to paint a new portrait of a live model. However, shortly after Sadie receives the career-changing news, she has a non-convulsive seizure, medical tests reveal a cavernoma, and the corrective surgery results in swelling around the area and acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia—or face blindness. How does a portrait artist work when she cannot see faces?

The condition is likely temporary, but the looming contest deadline and stubbornly self-reliant Sadie’s refusal to accept help causes more stress and frustration. On top of that, family drama from her emotionally distant father, oblivious stepmother, and conniving stepsister makes her situation even more unbearable. And while a bit of a love triangle with her dog’s dashing veterinarian and her womanizing yet oddly sweet neighbor is a nice distraction, the fact that she can’t see either’s face does further complicate things.

Sadie’s life is quite a mess. But “Hello Stranger” is a fun read. I admit a few plot twists were a bit too wild to believe, and some characters came off like caricatures—namely her laughably evil stepsister, Parker, and her cringingly inconsiderate best friend, Sue. But overall the novel is amusing and enjoyable as it explores the pitfalls of confirmation bias and the importance of vulnerability and compassion.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. My review was posted on April 15, 2023 to https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5222904192.

I loved this book. I couldn’t put it down. I read it in one sitting. Joe is my next book boyfriend! And Sadie is a protagonist who grabs you from the beginning and whom you can’t help rooting for! Highly recommend. Definitely one of my favorite reads this year so far, and now I'm going to read her backlist.

I've said this before in my previous reviews of Katherine Center books, but I'll say it again: her ability to write such beautiful stories full of hope, light, and optimism are what makes her a favorite author of mine. While HELLO STRANGER, OUT JULY 11 was not my favorite of her books, I still really enjoyed the story and the message it conveyed.

This book, for me, was pure escapism. I relished the concept for the story of portrait artist Sadie, our FMC, developing prosopagnosia (face blindness, an actual medical condition) while falling in love with two people, Joe and Oliver. The author did a fabulous job explaining what life is like for Sadie with this condition and how, really, those who don't have face blindness take for granted this particular function of the brain. The side characters were great here and they often made the book. Center's ability to create a story that connects individuals and makes them understand what it is to be human is such a special ability and is very much highlighted in this book.

There were a few issues with the book that I couldn't overlook that impacted my rating. The first is Sadie herself. She is not a character I relate to. I found her to be immature, obstinate, and judgmental in most of her interactions. However, I will say that the author, in creating a complex story, did a great job explaining WHY Sadie is this way. Others might see her as strong and independent, going out of her way to protect herself after her experiences, which I can see. But I just didn't vibe with her or view her this way. And, as a result, I wasn't overly invested in the romance. I also did not like the fact that the central conflict in this book veered too close to miscommunication trope.

Overall, while this book was not my favorite Katherine Center book, I think the story was enjoyable and a good read. You should read this if you like a twist ending, beautiful writing, impactful while light reads, and finding one's purpose and identity.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Katherine Center has a wonderful knack for creating protagonists you can’t help but love. Sadie is a struggling artist trying to follow in her mother’s footsteps, which helps her feel close to the mother she lost at only fourteen. She is not close to her surgeon father, whose second wife has always pushed Sadie away while Sadie’s step-sister Parker has made Sadie’s life miserable in myriad ways. Parker is the ULTIMATE evil step-sister, who has cost Parker her school, boyfriend, and family. You have to admire Sadie’s spirit and courage, despite all odds. Even after an accident yields a diagnosis of a blood vessel in her brain that needs to be repaired, she is determined to push past the surgery to finish her ultimate painting to win an art contest for which she has been named a finalist. The next blow that fate has in store for her is a condition called prosopagnosia, or face-blindness. It may be temporary or permanent and only time will tell, but she has to finish her painting which is a PORTRAIT. How can she do that without being able to see a face? Friends, her dog Peanut, and two new guys, the hot vet who treats Peanut and the annoying but strangely helpful neighbor, all come together in the story, and Sadie finds herself in the process. In spite of all the hard knocks which conspire against Sadie, Center managed to add the humor and light notes that are a hallmark of her stories. Resilience and determination, as always, win the day in unexpected ways. A satisfying read.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.