I am convinced that Katherine Center knows me. At least she knows what I like to read. Her latest book, Hello Stranger, entertained me and, this time, actually taught me something.
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The main character, Sadie, is a struggling portrait artist who just made finalist in a national competition. She is beginning to feel that her struggle is over when she has a seizure and wakes up suffering from face blindness. She can’t recognize even her closest friend’s face much less strangers. That isn’t good for anyone, much less someone who makes her living painting faces.
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I loved that this story shows us that love isn’t just skin deep, Sophie manages to fall in love with a man she has never really seen. I loved the premise of this book and learned a lot more about face blindness when I googled more information.
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Center’s characters are so realistic, they could live next door. I really cared for them and their outcome. There is a little twist in the story that I enjoyed a lot even though I had guessed it might be coming.

A top read of the year for me. This book was so interesting and so obviously well researched.I really loved it

I really enjoy books by this author and this was no exception. I had never read a book where the main character had facial blindness and it was really eye opening into the hardships and daily struggles one would face with that condition and how it can impact day to day living. I really enjoyed this one, recommend!

This book was a struggle for me. There was a love triangle and miscommunication trope in this, and it did not work for me. I found the main character annoying and I could not connect to her, or cheer for her as the book progressed. This book was not there for me.

I want to thank Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for an ARC, and advanced listening copy of this book.

This book started really slow for me. I picked it up and put it down a few times before k finally settled in to it.

I am seriously amazed at how the story was written because I myself couldn’t picture the book like I normally do. And I realized about halfway through that the h inability to see faces made me not be able to fully engage either. I was fascinated by this experience.

I loved this unique plot line and the book.
It wasn’t as good as other books I’ve read by K. Center but I would still recommend reading this.

It’s SO unique and sweet and cute.

I absolutely adore Katherine Center and this book was no exception!! I had never heard of face blindness before I read this book and I was super intrigued and I loved the way this story wove around this inability to see faces as a whole, but rather only in pieces. I found myself contemplating how that would look and wondering how off balance that would make a person. I adored Sadie's determination to not let this keep her down, I loved how she went from meeting someone to being engage, then married, then kids in the matter of seconds, and I also appreciated her friend Sue, who was her complete opposite but also the perfect best friend for her. This book had everything you are looking for in a romance, but the author's note at the end about romance books was superbly written and I found myself reading it multiple times and even out loud to my husband. Every part of this book was wonderful. This is one I wish I could read again for the first time.

Thank you so much for an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own!
Thus book was amazing. I lived both our main characters. They were well written. The plot kept my attention the entire time. Overall, I love Ms. Center's books!

Once again Katherine Center knocks it out of the park with this one. I devoured this book and cannot wait for another one by this author!

I am currently boycotting smp books and all it’s imprints untill they speak up for the racist behavior of one of it’s employees

Why did it take so long for me to get to this book on my to-read shelf? This was just a delight from beginning to end. Center has created a captivating MC in Sophie and a twisty fun romance, along with learning a lot about face blindness. (I'd be lost - I struggle with names but never forget a face!)

There is a perfectly EVIL stepsister, a disapproving father, the gut wrenching loss of their ability to create art in the face of probably the biggest opportunity of her career, love interests...it has a little bit of everything. I absolutely loved it!

Katherine Center never fails me. Never. Her books are interesting, her love stories intriguing, and she just has a way with words that bring the book to life for you. Her characters are real, the situations relatable, even a crazy one like this. The face blindness gave us a hell of a story and a love triangle and I loved everything about it. Center has done it yet again.

I received a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This book was so sweet and cheesy, I couldn’t put it down. I drove my coworkers crazy reading or listening to it at work!

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center is a fun read for this reading nurse. I enjoyed all the medical lingo and the situation the MC had to endure having a cavernoma, and eventually leading to a condition called face blindness. The story was fun, hilarious at times, but in all was a heartwarming story about a main character you just want to root for.

It was a fun quick read I really enjoyed!

Fun rom com with quirky characters and a satisfying happily ever after. It was a predictable plot but still very enjoyable.

*I received a free copy of this novel from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my honest review.*

Usually with a rom com, you get a meet-cute and then the story is fairly formulaic from there. Not this book! The story was ingenious and very enjoyable to read!

Sadie gets accepted into a painted portrait competition and then passes out before she can begin celebrating. She needs brain surgery immediately and when she wakes up, she has face blindness that may or may not be temporary. And being a portrait artist and not being able to see faces poses a huge problem. See? Ingenious!

We follow Sadie through this struggle as she tries to keep the diagnosis a secret from the general public and still meet the requirements of the competition that is 6 weeks away. The author definitely researched this face blindness and had different ideas to get Sadie to the finish line with her submission to the competition. And the interactions with people before Sadie had a way of identifying people were pretty funny. Her step sister was a horror and kept popping up!

A great ending and just a feel good book. I can't wait to read more of Katherine Center's work!

Sadie is getting ready to enter a potrait contest, Until she has a seizure, is pulled out of the street and sent to the hospital. This is where her life changes. She is left with a side effect that cause her to have to change a lot of things in life.
This was a fun story to read. Yes I say fun because even though Sadie had struggles it all turns out good in the end.

Another beautiful book by Katherine Center!! Seriously, everything she writes turns to gold, IMO. She took a sensitive condition and handled it with great care. I also learned while reading this book. Learning while reading a fiction book is pretty FAB, in my opinion.  

I both read and listened to this book. The narrator of the audiobook, Patti Murin, did an AMAZING job!! She added to the story and made the amazing book even better.

My heart broke for Sadie multiple times throughout the book and was put back together each and every single time. The ending was a HEA. I think I finished this book in about 24 hours. I couldn't put it down. If I needed to do chores, I just started the audiobook and kept right on going with my day. 

Read this Book If:

➡️You like HEA

➡️You like to learn while reading your fiction book

➡️You want to read a book that was different than anything you've read recently or ever because of the topics chosen.

This is a def re-read for me, so I marked this book as BUY. You need it. You need to read it and share it, and re-read it. I think this will be another top 23 in 2023!!!

Thank you to @katherinecenter, @stmartinspress & @netgalley for an eARC of this book. It's out NOW, and it's been out forever. I am the last person on the planet to read this book. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

I also bought this book from BOTM, so I have a physical copy for my shelves. yayy!!

Portrait artist Sadie Montgomery lands in the hospital, and learns she is in need of brain surgery. Swelling post-surgery leads to Sadie to developing acquired prosopagnosia, a condition where you have trouble recognizing people’s faces, also known as “face blindness”. As a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition, this couldn’t come at a worse time, and now Sadie tries to navigate through her new reality without the ability to identify anyone in her life, including two new men who have sparked her interest.

Through this novel I learned so much about prosopagnosia, which I’d heard of before but never quite understood. I thought this was a super creative concept, and I really enjoyed Sadie’s story. Katherine Center repeatedly delivers beautifully written, interesting novels, and this one was no exception!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my gifted e-book!

A humorous and delightful story on discovering one’s self and the power of first impressions and how they sometimes never last!

Sadie Montgomery is a struggling portrait artist who has been given a chance at a big break as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition only to wake up later after undergoing brain surgery diagnosed with “face blindness”. Panic-stricken in her new reality and with just weeks left for the competition, she strives to adapt and must find ways on how to get through until her brain heals. At the same time, she falls in infatuation with not just one, but two dashing men while also juggling trying to save her geriatric dog and handle the conflicts within her family.

I’ve never read about face blindness in a romance before and the unique spin Katherine Center put into this story kept me reading way past midnight. Echoing her words in her author’s note, the anticipation in this book made for a really entertaining yet heartwarming read. I love that she, time and again, manages to weave certain hefty topics such as unprocessed grief and a debilitating illness with sensitivity, lightheartedness and even optimism.

Did I figure out the ‘plot twist’ coming from a mile away? Yes and the reveal was just as hilarious as it is incredulous but likewise believable. Also, this book has got one of the most swoon-worthy confessions that I’ve read to date (I’ve read a ton of romances and this was saying something). The only reason I did not give this the whole five-stars is that I think one of the characters felt overly ‘cartoonish’ and unnecessary. Sadie’s issues with her family were resolved quickly, too.

My key takeaway here: we (and even our brains) tend to remember the people who have been kind to us during the lowest points of our lives. Choose to always be kind, one never knows what others are going through.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, NetGalley and the author for my early copy. All opinions are honest and my own.

This was so funny and perfect! I couldn’t stop laughing throughout it and Sadie was so sweet. I loved how she grew throughout the book and found her single Mr. Perfect by the end.