It took me a bit to get into but once I did, I really enjoyed it and was hooked! An interesting concept, a portrait artist developing face blindness is quite the story. I enjoyed Sadie eventually found herself in her face blindness. What really kept me going was Katherine’s writing. There’s something about her writing that is a beautiful portrait.

4.25 stars rounded up

Figured out a big twist pretty early on and it felt like the reveal got stretched out for far too long. Unfortunately, this was probably my least favorite KC book that I’ve read. There were some very sweet moments and, overall, a very satisfying ending and the second half was compulsive to finish (the first half was a bit more of a slog).

(Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.)

I'm an author only on NetGalley to access my own books, but I jumped at the Valentine's Day opportunity to read this book early! Katherine Center did an amazing job. This book had all the feels - it was poignant, heartwarming, hopeful, and fun, as well as unique. Oh, and did I also mention I stayed up all night reading it? Highly recommend.

Center creates another interesting romance/empowerment story, this time about an artist with temporary face blindness who falls in love with one--or two?-- men she can't see. The stepsister villain was entirely unnecessary and the dramatic irony a bit too painful at times but it was a unique twist on some classic tropes. Recommended for fans of the author and the genre. Center never disappoints.

ahh this was soo good! this book tells a story of our main character Sadie Montgomery, a struggling artist who finally got her big break, ends up needing an urgent surgery which ends up giving her squirted face blindness. this book was inspirational and so heartwarming!

when i first started this book i wasn’t sure i would like it that much but decided to push through and i’m sooo grateful i did. this book had plenty of hilarious moments while also being sentimental and also educational (in a very entertaining way don’t worry lmao). i’m also obsessed with the twist at the end of the book.

this book is such a sweet, emotional, romance book that i 100% recommended especially for people looking for meaningful romcoms! definitely enjoyed this read!

I need to just say, this was absolutely lovely and a treat. I find Katherine Center to now be an instant read for me and I was thrilled to grab an ARC. There is a definite formula in her books but I find it more comforting than anything else. I like to be swept along with her plots and characters and banter. This is another winner for your shelf!

I have been of fan of Katherine Center for a while now and was so excited to read her latest book. I found the idea of writing about facial blindness so intriguing. I think the author did a great job of detailing how the main character experienced her world. Joe was an adorable love interest and they had such a solid friendship which I appreciated in the novel. I also enjoyed that the main character has to overcome not only the challenges of her diagnosis, brain surgery, and readjustment to not being able to register faces, but now to also modify her art. I feel like this struggle was addressed but could have been deepened a little more. I also appreciated how the family dynamics changed over the course of the novel. Any time a rom com has the love and the character development its a win for me.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book from beginning to end. Like all books in the category, as the reader I knew what would happen at the end, I even knew how the book would end very specifically, but I think that made me love it more. I finished this book in less than 48 hours, and those two days were work days and included dinner with friends one night. Five stars. I highly recommend it for those days when you need a little love, a little happiness, and a comforting story to get you to the next one.

Hello Stranger was equal parts heartwarming and heart-tugging book. Watching Sadie go threw the struggles of losing her mom when she was 14 and getting diagnosed with cavernoma the same illness her mom passed from. To waking up from brain surgery with Prosopagnosia ( face blindness ), trying to make it as a portrait artist, and placing into the same completion her mom was in with being unable to see faces. And on top of that, her adorable dog also getting sick. This book honestly had me feeling every emotion. Reading about prosopagnosia was a new experience but one I really enjoyed. Some parts did feel like they fit together a little too perfectly but the ending made it all worth it. I can't wait for the next Katherine Center release!

With a secured spot in a prestigious art show and a potential $10,000 pay day, it finally seems like struggling portrait artist Sadie Montgomery’s big break is on the horizon. Until a cavernoma is discovered on her brain and she needs to have life-saving surgery, which leaves her with face blindness as a side effect. Not ideal for someone who paints faces for a living.

This book is so refreshing! Its concept is creative and unique; I haven’t read anything quite like this before and it really stands out from the pack. I laughed, I got teary-eyed, and I stayed up until 2 am reading because I couldn’t put it down. I won’t say too much about the romance because I think it’s best to experience for yourself. Just know you won’t be disappointed!

While it is a romance, the story is more focused on Sadie navigating her grief and coming to terms with a life-altering condition. The character development readers see Sadie go through is one of my favorite aspects of the novel. Her healing isn’t linear and she has her bad days, but she’s so committed to working on herself. She also has a great support system, a found family of sorts in her best friend, neighbors, doctor, and her dog, Peanut. Just like these characters, I genuinely cared about and rooted for Sadie.

Will definitely be reading more Katherine Center in the future!
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book but I did not love it. The storyline requires quite a bit of suspension of disbelief while I also knew the whole way through what the twist would be. However, I still ate this book right up, the writing is great, the pacing keeps you going, and the characters are entertaining.

I have a bit of trepidation about this book containing accurate & helpful representation of face blindness... I would love to hear feedback from readers who have or have experience with this condition.

Thanks so much to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an early copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was a very cute story about an artist trying to find herself amidst great struggles. I liked all the characters and felt the emotional journey Sadie was one. When I first started reading I didn't believe that face blindness was real so I even learned more about a very real condition some people have.

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center
2.5 ⭐️

Thank you Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for a copy of this ARC!
 
Shortly after receiving the greatest achievement of her career (so far), Sadie finds herself in a hospital bed being diagnosed with “face blindness”, which the doctors hope will be temporary. Problem is, Sadie is an artist – a portrait artist, more specifically – and she can no longer see faces, but what looks like a “jumbled puzzle of disconnected features”.
 
Unpopular opinion: I just didn’t love this. I found Sadie incredibly immature and annoying, and couldn’t connect to her at all.
 
Listen, I’m here for some unbelievability in a romcom. In fact, I often really enjoy it. The unbelievability factor in this just went a bit too far, to the point where it seemed like there were plot holes. Unfortunately, this just missed the mark for me.
 
 
TW: bullying, loss of a parent

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 💫 (4-1/2 rounded down, or up, I dunno? I loved this book!)
Hello Stranger has a clever plot idea for a romcom. With the main character Sadie developing face blindness after an accident, which I liked that vs her being born with the condition. In my opinion it worked better for the entire storyline since she didn’t have the condition initially, then she did, and then was she stuck with it ..or no? As a reader it was interesting & fun experiencing Sadie navigate life through her new eyes/brain, between figuring out to deal with it as far as the most obvious thing, people, of course. People she already knew that she couldn’t see & strangers. Plus the fact she’s an artist that specializes in face portraits, yikes!! I could NOT imagine. I’ve read other books where it was about a character with amnesia or face blindness & I’m usually not a fan, she did this so well!

I have extremely high expectations for romcom books. You can’t just feed me cheese & give it the happily ever after for it to win me over. I feel like the author did such an exceptional balance between the story/plot itself, bringing out emotions in the book & being so good at it that myself the reader was also feeling them. One minute I was laughing or smiling at something they said or a moment that was had, another I was mad at characters, or sad for Sadie…just all the feels. Then the connections between Sadie & her potential love interests, yes please 🥰

This book was so easy to sit & binge read, a very cute humorous story! I really loved the ending too, for multiple reasons! I think I found a new fave author to add to my list😉

Lastly I just have to say I absolutely love Katherine Center’s writing (I love her humor!!) & the way she writes the dialogue it’s how I feel I might talk, relatable. This is my first book by her & I 120% will be reading the next book she comes out with & most likely going back & reading some oldies but goodies of hers 🤗 Authors like this make me want to read more romcoms, where usually I’m inclined to pickup something with stalkers & killers in it 🤷‍♀️💖🖤

Thank you so much NetGalley & and the publisher St Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review, I’m very thankful for the opportunity & every opportunity I receive from NetGalley & the publishers.

Romcom fans I absolutely recommend this, get yourself a copy, publication day is July 11, 2023 ☺️💖

What an absolute delight! This is the first time I've read a book, never mind a romcom, about face blindness. It was fascinating with the inclusion of the high stakes for the protagonist. The plot twist was easy to spot but that feels intentional. I even enjoyed the breakdown at the end of why that situation made sense. Sure, it was a little far fetched but there was no detractor from my enjoyment of the book. Easy read, but it really tapped into my emotions. The protagonist was very relatable and I was rooting for her the entire time.

Another must read from Katherine Center. I barely read the description of this book before pressing request, because I love her book and they are some of my most recommended books. I really enjoy the blend of comfort/self-discovery, self-help/family dynamics and romance.

I won't spoil anything and there's no need to recap what is already in the book description, but definitely read this book if you like other novels by Katherine Center, you will not be disappointed!

Katherine Center is an autobuy author for me, so when I got an ARC from Netgalley I was SO excited! She has a way of writing characters so that you feel so connected to them and Hello Stranger was no different. I went into this one blind and I think that made me enjoy the book even more. Sadie’s dealing with a medical issue that leaves her suffering from face blindness. She’s a portrait artist, so this poses quite an issue. She’s also dealing with some changes in her life and her evil stepsister. Really, Parker is the worst. I wanted to punch her throughout the whole book. This was one of Center’s most unique books and the ending was SO good. I was shocked, surprised and absolutely loved how Sadie’s story panned out. Though not my favorite of hers, still a very solid, enjoyable book. I would have loved to hear from Joe’s perspective at the end, but I really liked the epilogue!

Hello Stranger is such a unique story. It's so different from anything I've read, and that says a lot since I've read almost 300 romance books last year alone.

Sadie is a portrait artist who's just found out she is a finalist for a major art competition. Timing couldn't have been better, since she needs the money. On the same day, she suffers a seizure and finds out she needs brain surgery. Unfortunately, the side effects have left her with face blindness (which is a real disorder and it was very fascinating to learn about it!) While learning to navigate this new–hopefully temporary–reality, she meets two strangers: a neighbor, Joe, and her new vet, Dr. Addison. With feelings being caught for two men, a portrait competition fast approaching with her face blindness still very much there, and family drama on top of all that, Sadie is forced to learn more about herself than she ever had before.

This was fun, different, and certainly entertaining. I found Sadie relatable, and her journey was really heartwarming. The dating situation was a great twist, too! Definitely recommend this.

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

Read if you like,
● frenimes to lovers
● found family
● disability rep
● mistaken identity

Steam level - clean romance

The plot -
Sadie Montogmery has had good breaks and bad breaks in her life, but as a struggling artist, all she needs is one lucky break. Things seem to be going her way when she lands one of the coveted finalist spots in a portrait competition. It happens to coincide with a surgery she needs to have. Minor, they say. Less than a week in the hospital they say. Nothing about you will change, they say. Upon recovery, it begins to dawn on Sadie that she can see everything around her, but she can no longer see faces.

As she struggles to cope―and hang onto her artistic dreams―she finds solace in her fourteen-year-old dog, Peanut. Thankfully, she can still see animal faces. When Peanut gets sick, she rushes him to the emergency vet nearby. That’s when she meets veterinarian Dr. Addison. And she’s pleasantly surprised when he asks her on a date. But she doesn't want anyone to know about her face blindness. Least of all Joe, her obnoxious neighbor who always wears a bowling jacket and seems to know everyone in the building. He’s always there at the most embarrassing but convenient times, and soon, they develop of a relationship.

My thoughts-

I thought sadie was a little immature but a her personality developed during the book, and Joe i liked him, but their banter was do funny to read, my cheeks hurt by smiling and laughing so much. And the way that sadness first heard Joe talk (first encounter) was so funny and then finding out what really happened was hilarious. KC's writing was so easy to go through.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for a eARC in exchange for a honest review

Sadie after undergoing brain surgery wakes up to discover she suffers from face blindness. She doesn’t recognize anyone around her, including herself when she looks in the mirror. As a portrait artist this is the worst case scenario as she had just weeks to prep for a big contest that she has been working up to her whole life. Katherine Center always knows just how to write the perfect characters, the way their lives intertwined by the end of the book gave me all the feels. This is a great non steamy romance that will make you see the world a little differently.