4.5/5⭐️ I found this book just wonderful! I have never read a Katherine Center book so I was unsure what to expect (and had no precious bias). I would now definitely call myself a fan & will be adding her books to my tbr list.

First, the characters were so well written. Sadie was goofy and brought humor but also was thoughtful and thought provoking. Joe was the perfect leading man. I loved how he was branded "Helpful." Their dynamic was reminding me of grumpy x sunshine but instead was doesn't need help x the man who loves to help.

Also, the plot was so intriguing. It's slightly educational with the prosopagnosia. It was emotional with family dynamic and loss/grief, and also had the perfect balance of swoon worthy romance. My only hiccup that has me hesitate between 4 and 5 stars was the "plot twist" was pretty predictable. I called it early on. But the predictability didn't ruin how great every piece of this book was🥰

Another gem by Katherine Center!
I seriously love everything she writes.
Full of characters that you can't help but to love. Highly recommend.

Another great book by Katherine Center! Love the development of our quirky main character and how she truly discovered who she is! Clean romance that keeps you on the edge.

Overall a feel good type of book. I thought the premise was interesting and I love how Katherine Center takes characters and pushes them to re-evaluate their lives. I loved Joe, and thought the underlying relationship was cute. I will say this one strained credibility a bit with the love triangle, and I thought the late misunderstanding was forced. Some of the characters felt one note but I am glad that there was some resolution with her dad issue. Overall, a very entertaining read.

Frist, I loved the cover of the book which was one of the things that grabbed my attention. I found the overall plot of the story to be unique. Something I never read before. However, it was a slow burn for me and not my favorite by this author. I liked the overall message of family, the ones we are born into and then ones that we create through our friendships.

Hello Stanger is a romantic contemporary fiction that follows Sadie as she navigates her new world of face blindness. Sadie is a painter who specializes in portraits and she has to figure out a new way of completing her artwork, all while learning how to live in a world where she cannot see the faces of her friends and loved ones (as well as her enemies, who enjoy popping in on her to surprise her with her new diagnosis). Sadie also has to navigate through her love life as she tries to decide between her neighbor, Joe, and her sexy vet.

I really enjoyed reading this book and found the characters to be loveable. Sadie's friend Sue is the best friend every girl wishes they had. Someone to challenge her but support her entirely. Sue's parents take Sadie in when she feels she has no one else. It is an incredibly heartwarming story with many struggles of a new diagnosis. I found it to be an easy read but was not all too surprised by the ending. Katherine Center is great with foreshadowing.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

For fans of Katherine Center, her newest novel will not disappoint! Always reliable for romance that pulls at your heartstrings, Center's main character, Sadie is nothing, but loveable while she relearns how to navigate life.

Well, as always I love the writing style. But this book was kind of a mix for me. The idea is fun. But I kind of wish I’d waited for the book to release. I know it’s an arc but the spelling and grammatical errors took me out of the story every time. There were quite a few and I think they threw me.

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoy the way Katherine Center writes her books- I’m not normally a fan of the character TELLING you a story rather than just experiencing the story, but I enjoy the way Katherine Center does it.

This book was cute and funny- the face blindness aspect was frustrating, because I like so many features about the face when reading, seeing emotion and features in general- but we didn’t have that here, and that really captures the frustrating the main character was experiencing.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story and the characters, but I didn’t like a lot of the side characters and the main character was definitely a Debbie Downer- but she was still kind and funny. I think the ending was paced weirdly, and a little slow, and I wish the characters had realized a few things sooner, but it all came together to make a really interesting and sweet ending.

4 stars!

I cannot say it better than how the author, Katherine Center states in her notes at the end, this book was "Delicious..."It is like all other books are"Boneless skinless chicken breast....and this was chocolate cake"

Yes, it is a romance.
Yes I totally predicted most everything that happened.
Yes, there is that oh so annoying "Non Communication" trope that has you screaming-YOU ARE AN ADULT TALK TO EACH OTHER
Yes it ends happy.

But guess what all you deep literary people? I LOVED EVERY LETTER OF THIS BOOK. This is the book that even when I wasn't reading it, was making me happy, just thinking about what I was "working" towards: the happily ever after.
The "positive anticipation" Katherine Center mentions, knowing the story is going to end up happy and lovey dovey, but we are drawn to that. I love the predictable (when done right i.e. All Katherine Center Books and most recently Nora Goes off Script) Its pure bliss when you are ingesting these words and literally see the characters love story unfold right in front of you.
Maybe it was the migraine, but I felt like Sadie and Joe were right beside me. Don't get me started on how much I love Sue btw.

I cannot recommend this book enough. It will bring you pure Joy.

On a personal note there were a lot of passages and things that encouraged me

"If there is a 5 % chance something bad will happen and a ninety five percent change that things will be fine, which one is more likely...on which of your thoughts are you going to chose to indulge in?"

"Be patient with your self"

"Practice Self encouragement"

Katherine Center and Netgally you have provided me with an advanced copy read for an honest review, and I cannot thank you for the fun and warm fizzy feelings enough this book gave me. I will sing and shout its praises, go buy it on JULY 11th 2023.

This weekend I finished Hello Stranger by Katherine Center. This is another summer release, but thanks to @Netgalley and @stmartinspress for letting me get my hands on it early.

Hello Stranger follows Sadie as her luck appears like it’s about to change. She’s been struggling as an artist and finds out she’s a finalist in a portrait contest. Right as she begins to celebrate a tragic event happens that causes her to lose the ability to see faces. She’s hoping it’s just temporary. Sadie then has to deal with finding ways to cope with it. If life wasn’t complicated enough, add family issues, and a possible love triangle.

❤️Review❤️

Compared to The Bodyguard, this book definitely goes back to a more serious tone than rom-com. It still has it’s comedic moments, but it definitely is a true discovery of self. Sadie spends a lot of the book still grieving her mother who passed when she was younger. She is also grieving the loss of her skill to create portraits. It was one of the things that was pretty solid in her life and now she feels like her chance at success is slipping through her fingers. It was beautiful watching Sadie become stronger and stronger throughout the book. It let the love story take kind of a back seat even though it was still very present at the same time. I really enjoyed watching that storyline develop as well. Peanut May have been my favorite side character. A dog who loves pad thai and snuggles is my kind of dog. He’s such a great support for her. The book was extremely well rounded hitting all of the points I like my romantic contemporaries to hit. Katherine Center remains a favorite author.

4 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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4.5 stars rounding up to 5

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

Katherine Center never disappoints. I needed to know how Sadie's story ended from the very first page.
Center does an excellent job of explaining Sadie's face blindness in a way that the reader can easily understand. As someone who is not sciencey at all, I feel like I now have a basic understanding of face blindness and what a fusiform face gyrus is. The fact I even remembered the term "fusiform face gyrus" is impressive. Usually I skim over all medical and science-based stuff in books due to the explanations being winded, but this one I didn't feel like I had to. It was to the point and perfectly explained.
Sometimes I found Sadie to be insufferable, but I also loved her. It really made me think "how would I act if I suddenly couldn't recognize people I've known for years?" And on top of that this all happened when Sadie had a huge art competition coming up. I really felt for her.
Once again, the love is more on the back burner, but that's what I love about Katherine Center's books. Yes, the love is present but I enjoy that it's not written like a typical romance novel. I also loved Center's explanation of why she writes love stories in her author's note. If you read this book, do not skip over the author's note! (They're my favorite part of Center's works.)
The reason I'm giving this 4.5 stars and not the full 5 is because I found some parts to be long winded. Sadie's internalized thoughts became repetitive at some points, and I was like "c'mon already!" But other than that, this was beautifully written. I enjoyed every minute of it and was rooting for Sadie and her love interest the whole time.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! This was my first Katherine Center book and I'm delighted that it was so wonderful, especially after everything I heard about her book, The Bodyguard. In Hello Stranger, Sadie undergoes brain surgery and the outcome is facial blindness. She falls in love with two men in the process, as well as juggles family issues and her new life. There was a lot of fluff, which I enjoyed, and also thoroughly emotional. This was a wonderful read and I'm picking up The Bodyguard immediately!

4.5 stars!

Sadie Montgomery is a portrait artist finalist in the North American Portrait Society. After being chosen she discovers she needs brain surgery. Recovering from surgery she finds she can’t see faces (aka face blindness). That doesn’t work well for someone that’s a portrait artist. In the midst of trying to find her new reality and adjust to the facial blindness, she ends up falling for two different men, dealing with family issues, and taking care of her sick dog. Will Sadie be able to get her life back in focus before an even bigger downfall?

This is now my favorite Katherine Center book. The storyline was fun. The characters were silly and had great character. Sadie has endured a lot of bumps in her life. She was very relatable. There were parts that I was smiling at while reading. Again, based on her other books I didn’t expect any spice and there was just a very very small sprinkle of it. There were times that I felt it was repetitive and had a little too much fluff. Still I thought the plot and characters made the book enjoyable. You would definitely be able to relate to the story if you’ve had face blindness or knew someone that did, or if you have had to deal with toxic family relationships.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I adored this book!
I thought the subject of the cute-meet was different and not something I would be interested in reading but I finished the book in tears! This was a beautiful story and it was not what I expected. I hope readers give this book a chance.

I'm a huge Katherine Center fan (I've read five of her books, not including this) and Hello Stranger did not disappoint! What a sweet romance and lovely story. The right mix of emotion, friendship, self-discovery and love. Read this when it comes out in July!

This ARC was provided by St. Martin’s Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, thanks!!

I went into this book completely blind. I had read The Bodygaurd and enjoyed it so I wanted to give Center’s new book a try. I really loved all the characters in this book and the journey that they all went on. It made me stop and think a lot about the people in my life and what I take for granted sometimes. I had all the different pieces of the story but I didn’t have them put together correctly until the very end. I will continue to read more of Katherine Center’s work.

Sadie is a fiercly independent professional portrait artist on the verge of her biggest career break ever when a series of accidental events leads to a diagnosis of temporary (probably) facial blindness. She can no longer make sense of faces, even of the people closest to her. The doctors can't tell her when or if this will ever go away. Of course, being able to see faces is one of the most critical aspects of being a portrait artist. With her career at a standstill, her family issues popping up around every corner, and her dog going through a health scare, Sadie cannot seem to make sense of her life. That is until she falls in love with her vet while starting a romantic endeavor with her neighbor. Now she's juggling two relationships at the worst possible time because she can't actually see their faces. Can Sadie get her life back on track and face her biggest life challenges yet?

This book warms your heart. I love the idea of falling in love with people even when you can't see their faces. Sadie is such a lovable character. Her goodness shines through every page even when the world keeps trying to knock her down. Her reluctance to ask anyone for help until she absolutely needs it is something I can relate to and learn from. I really enjoyed Sadie's story and I will think about this book for years to come.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of Hello Stranger.

Sadie finally feels like things might be going her way when she got into the finals of the portrait contest, only to have to have fairly emergent brain surgery that affected her ability to see faces commonly known as face blindness. How does somebody who draws faces for a living make it when the faces are now a puzzle that is unable to be put together? And more importantly, how can she get her veterinarian to fall in love with her when she can't pick him out of a lineup?

This book was absolutely unputdownable. I laughed, I cried, and I read well past my bedtime like I did when I was a kid. I could not stop thinking about Sadie, and the phenomenon of face blindness had me SO intrigued. I'm dying to know more about it and through my research it seems that the author did such a great job understanding some of the trials and tribulations that individuals with this condition can potentially experience. What great representation for a fairly large part of the population that I haven't seen represented before. I found this book to be just a fantastic light but thought provoking read, and absolutely enjoyed every second that I took to devour it. I cannot wait for this book to go on sale so that I can share it again and again with all my friends. Absolutely stellar book that was just a true joy to read.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book. All opinions within this review are my own.

Thank you NET Galley for an ARC of Hello Stranger!

CONS: I read The Bodyguard so I was excited when I saw an ARC of this book available. Unfortunately, I didn't find the main character of Hello Stranger very enjoyable; she often came off as immature to me. I think some of the side characters were meant to have small redemption arcs but it didn't come across that way, instead I just felt confused about the character's personalities and behaviors.

PROS: The premise is interesting and made for a unique read. The book is quite predictable, which can be fun depending on your mood. It's a quick and easy read and great as a palate cleanser or if you are a voracious rom-com reader. I also enjoyed the best friend's character quite a bit!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5346000724