Hello Strange by Katherine Center is so great! This will be a favorite for my keeper shelf! The author did a lot of research to have the female main character's physical challenges be a plot device. To be fair, I predicted the ending, but it ended exactly how I wanted, so I was happy.

PROS:
Compelling main characters
Interesting plot
Relatable setting
Excellent pacing

CONS:
Predictable ending
Truly horrible secondary characters (villains) - may be triggering for some

4.5 stars/ 5

Advanced copy gifted by the publisher via NetGalley.

It is no secret that I love Katherine Center books! This is no different. We meet Sadie, who has face blindness after a surgery. I cannot begin to imagine how difficult of a transition she had to make to be able to cope with this. I felt like Katherine did a great job getting into Sadie’s head on her feelings about it. We have a fabulous love triangle with Dr Addison and Joe. An evil stepsister, think Cinderella without all the cleaning. Throw in a sweet, elderly dog that has health problems and reminds me of my Mac…..and we get a story full of swoony romance, family drama, charming characters, and unique plot. While I totally guessed the main twist in the book, as I always tend to do with romcoms, it was quite the fun ride to get there. This book just makes me smile.

Bottom Line: Read it!

**I received a copy of Hello Stranger from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.*

This was my first Katherine Center book and I loved it. I've had The Bodyguard on my TBR list for some time and this ARC pushed every other book aside and made it my next book. This book offered character development, a different plot than you are used to in a romance novel because it dives into mental health, family struggles and truly getting over the fears you set for yourself, and the "anticipation" between Sadie and Joe was there from the start. It made you feel like you were living it. I can't wait to ese what's next!

Katherine Center does it again. An underdog by her own admission, pushing herself to do great things... and she would have... it it hadn't of been for that one little thing!!

But Sadie finds her own great things, they just may be different than what she imagined. A sweet charming love story about finding your own way to do great things!

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

Sadie Montgomery has just landed a coveted finalist spot in a portrait competition, and she KNOWS this is her big break. She's been the epitome of the 'starving artist' up until this point, but this is when everything changes. And everything does change — but not in the way she expects.

A nasty fall reveals a medical condition that requires brain surgery. Minor brain surgery, but brain surgery nonetheless. Sadie insists that it can wait, but her father, who is a doctor himself, insists that it CAN'T wait, and she reluctantly agrees to go through with the operation. Though the surgery is successful, she's left unable to see faces, which is a nightmare for a portrait artist with a deadline for the biggest competition of her career.

What follows is a story that will have you crying, chuckling, and yelling, sometimes simultaneously. One thing I love about Katherine Center is how unique her storylines are, because I can say with certainty that I've never read a book like this before. As a girl who used to watch Grey's Anatomy religiously, I deeply appreciated her commitment to the medical aspect of this story, and to say I learned A LOT would be an understatement.

Would I label this a romance? That's something I'm unsure of. There IS a romance, but it doesn't really, truly come together until later in the book. I would label this women's fiction before anything else, and I would recommend not going into this book thinking it's going to be a conventional romance that follows the usual romance beat sheet, such as her previous book 'The Bodyguard.'

There were some aspects that felt a little out of place, such as Augusta showing up randomly at the art show. The whole family fight in public was A LOT. All of the spats between Parker and Sadie were a lot to begin with, especially since we really got no background on Parker until the end of the book. And knowing that Lucinda still continued to take her daughter's side following that fight is...unrealistic to me. If someone presented me with facts that showed my daughter had been a horrible human being to people growing up, I wouldn't be excusing her actions or taking her side — and I'd suggest she seek therapy.

The 'twist' did become obvious well before the big reveal, and it took Sadie maybe a *little* too much time to figure things out, but the end did wrap up nicely and it was still a joy to read.

I would recommend this book, but with caution as there are A LOT of trigger warnings. It's not the same type of romance novel as 'The Bodyguard,' but still a great and easy read.

Be sure to pick this title up when it comes out on July 11!

This review was also posted on Goodreads.

Sadie Montgomery is a struggling artist who paints portraits just like her mother did and eaks out her living selling them on Etsy. When a seizure and a good Samaritan save her life she is left with a condition that leaves her unable to see faces, a condition that is really an issue for a portrait artist, especially one who is on a deadline for a competition to win 10,000$. Not to be thwarted, Sadie, with help of some friends tries several inventive strategies to still paint an entry for the competition.

One of the reasons I love Katherine Center novels is that she has wonderful side characters and relatable main characters that are about other issues than just the "romance" . Although I did not find Sadie terribly relatable, she was charming and her friend and her friends parents and the other side characters were all wonderfully written as always. I enjoyed watching Sadie grow and learn and struggle through this challenge as well as fall in love and if you have enjoyed Centers other novels you most likely will enjoy this one too.

I absolutely adored The Bodyguard and I had high hopes for this one going in. Thankfully I was not disappointed. At all. I read this book in two sittings (it would have been one if I hadn’t fallen asleep in the first one) and absolutely devoured it. Witty and funny and full of love, I smiled the whole time I was reading. As an artist and someone who lives in Houston, I could picture everything and connected so much with Sadie and fell in love along with her. I’m still smiling just thinking about this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in return for an honest review

I read 'The Boydguard' by Katherine Center and really liked it, but thought this one was a little all-over-the-place. I know this is fiction, but the main character had brain surgery, her dog almost died, and an "evil stepsister?" Just a little too much going on for me to really relate to anything here.

Katherine Center does it again! I loved this story and could not put it down. She has a way of making deep and meatier chick lit books unlike anyone else.

Thank you, thank you, to NetGalley for this early read of Katherine Center’s new book!

If I had more time I would have devoured it in one sitting!

I absolutely loved the characters and anticipation of finding out the truth in the end. It was the perfect combination of all the elements I love in a book - quirky, comedic, uplifting, drama, evil characters, plot twists, mistaken identities, creativity, and cute men.

And, there’s so much more to this book than all that! I loved to hate the bully, I loved forgiving other characters on their road to redemption, and I loved cheering on Sadie and Joe as they figured out the real truth while stumbling a few times along the way.

What I read: Hello Stranger by Katherine Center

Why I picked it up: Katherine Center is one of my absolute favorite authors so I was super excited to get access to her book early. I received this free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

How I read it: On e-arc on my new kindle!

What it’s about: Sadie is a portrait artist who has a seizure followed by brain surgery followed by a complication where she has trouble seeing and recognizing faces. But she doesn’t want any one to know about the side effect because she’s supposed to be a finalized in the contest her mom was destined to win over a decade ago. Now her weird neighbor Joe seems to be her best friend and the only one willing to help – but she’s got some misunderstandings to clear up.

What I liked: I LOVED this premise. I’ve said for a long time that I have a very mild version of this as I have a hard time remembering names with faces and then recognizing you again when I see you wearing different clothes a few weeks later. I felt so seen – even though it is more likely just a lack of remembering problem than actual facial blindness.

What I disliked: Her best friend Sue’s partner, Witt, doesn’t seem to understand what’s going on with Sadie, see that she needs her friend, or really consider her feelings at all.

Genre: Finding oneself, chaste love story.

Rating & Recommendation: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and absolutely!! I think my book club will read this over the summer, and I can’t wait to discuss it with them. It releases on July 11th!

Absolutely loved this one. Katherine Center never disappoints and she absolutely is one of my favorite romance authors because her romances are so much more. Katherine Center’s books always feel so much more memorable and impactful than other romances for me because there’s always a plot point that her characters experience that force them to either fall apart or overcome it and the way they overcome it is always so memorable even years after reading her books. Her books are never a ‘finishes book and immediately forgets characters names or what happened’. I always find myself thinking about her books months and years later. This specific book I found myself thinking ‘hahahaha imagine if *this* happens, that would be kind of funny’ and then it DID happen and it was flawless and I was just having a great time.

Thank you to the publishers at St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this e-ARC of Hello Stranger!

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔
♥️ love romcoms
🐶 have a dog for a best friend
👥 enjoy meet cutes
🎨 like to paint

• 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄

After Sadie undergoes brain surgery, she loses the ability to see faces.

• 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓

Portrait artist Sadie Montgomery has just beaten out 1,990 other people out of a spot in a prestigious portrait competition. Now all she has to do is beat the other 9 and she’ll be ten thousand dollars richer. She’s finally found her big break, or so she thinks. Then an accident leaves her needing brain surgery and Sadie ends up with face blindness. At the same time, Sadie meets two irresistible men, but ends up falling harder for just one of them, all while trying to figure out how to paint her winning portrait without being able to see the subject’s face.

• 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒

This was such a fun and unique read! Sadie was a really likable and relatable character for me. I felt so awful for her when one thing after another just kept coming at her. I also loved the meet cutes between Joe and Oliver. While I wasn’t surprised by the ending, I loved the way it wrapped up and came together. I also would have loved to see the painting that Sadie created during her face blindness spell! I can’t wait to read more from Katherine Center!

I loved her last one. So I guess I thought the characters would have the same kind of quirks or cuteness. But I just really hated the main character. Sophie? I think her name was Sophie. She whined about herself and her life and was kind of a selfish dick to everyone. Plus she was a horrible dog mom and was selfish with him even. I also figured out the ending/problem in the first few chapters but it don’t think it was supposed to be shocking?

The premise was interesting though.

Thanks #netgalley!

Oh, man. I haven’t read a Katherine Center book in a while. I’d forgotten that her books generally begin with something hard and tragic. I’d forgotten how very well she researches whatever tragic thing she’ll write about and I’d forgotten how marvelously she develops characters you can love or hate or root for.

This book was just as lovely as her other stories. I was surprised in the end and so pleased with how everything turned out. She has such a gift for writing romance that’s sweet and swoony, but also real and hopeful. This book is going on my favorites shelf. And I loved Joe.

I was so thankful to St. Martin’s press for this galley copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was super excited to get this and unfortunately for me, it just wasn’t very good. The premise is so interesting. Sadie falls in the street after a car almost hits her and has to have cranial surgery, resulting in swelling on a part of her brain. This causes her to not be able to distinguish faces. She ends up falling for two men; her neighbor and her vet, even tho she cannot see their faces. Cute plot…bad execution. The love between the characters was there. The problem was that the characters and the situations that the characters find themselves in are so over the top and juvenile. What could have really saved this for me would have been some cute witty banter, but there really isn’t any. The characters are also heavily stereotyped. The “evil stepsister” and stepmother. You can tell this is an older adult writing what she thinks a young woman would do. Sadie is supposed to be independent but she comes across as needy. I didn’t care about the art competition. And none of the side characters are likable or memorable.

I’ve loved a lot of Katherine’s books but this one felt rushed and not well executed. I look forward to her next one as I do think she has great ideas and great books. This just wasn’t for me.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. I feel as if I’m not the target audience for this read. I’m about 30% of the way through and it’s just not keeping my attention. There hasn’t been enough that has happened to keep me wanting to read it so I’m going to DNF it at this time.

I am really sorry and feel horrible with this feedback, but I also want to be honest and not have the book continue to just sit on my shelf, partially read. Again, that you so much for this opportunity. I don’t feel right in giving this one star, as I didn’t finish the whole book, but it won’t allow me to submit my feedback without it.

Another absolutely beautiful book from Katherine Center. “Hello Stranger” is truly a feel good story. You meet the main character, Sadie, as she’s dealing with some life-changing struggles. You fall in love with her as she navigates her “new normal,” with not much help from her toxic family members. Sadie’s life isn’t easy and you really just want her to be happy. I was heartbroken for her to find herself in the love triangle she was in, but the “twist” at the end left me pleasantly surprised.

This book was truly like a warm hug and was much needed after the past few books I read. I truly loved the characters (Mr. Kim was the unsung hero of this one) and found myself wanted to read quickly to find out what the characters were up to, but go slowly so I could savor it all.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I received a digital ARC copy of Hello Stranger via NetGalley to read and review.

Hello Stranger is about a portrait artist, Sadie, who acquires face blindness after brain surgery. She also doesn’t tell anyone she has it except for her best friend. As you can imagine this creates multiple conflicts throughout the story. I was able to pick up on Center’s breadcrumbs and knew exactly how the ending would play out but still enjoyed reading the path to get to the ending.

Hello Stranger is another great book by Katherine Center and I definitely recommend!

Our main character Sadie is following in her deceased mother’s footsteps with her art. However, an incident at the beginning of the book puts her art in a precarious position after brain surgery. Sadie can no longer see faces.

What I really enjoyed about this book is that this is romance “plus.” Sadie has to learn to navigate living with this disability, and like any twentysomething she is trying to carve out her place in this world. That means coming to terms with her mother’s death, figuring out how to deal with her stepmother and stepsister, and possibly find love.

The main character might not be the brightest bulb, and there is some justification within the novel to why she might not be thinking and acting like how at least 90% of the population would be acting. So I’m giving her grace on that front. I figured out what would be the twist very early on (and I’m not one who usually does figure things out), but even though I knew what was coming in general, it was a propulsive read.

There was one scene that’s a little hard to believe the timing of at the art show, so I had to really hold back an eyeroll. It seemed a little too forced.

All in all, if you enjoy romance or even romance plus a good finding yourself story, I think you’ll really like this.

I did find an extra word/typo on page 1 that I hope is fixed before publication. “...my and evil stepmother…”

Thank you to NetGalley for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.