In addition to Things We Save In A Fire by this author, Hello Stranger, is now one of my ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE Katherine Center books and top romance reads of all time! A MUST READ! 👏🏼 It’s magical, it’s a page turner, and has many twists! Center is a pro at writing a moving, swoony, real-life, love story that just makes your heart explode!

I recommend this book if you enjoy:
- Female main characters that go through multiple struggles but come out stronger
- Twists and turns in a swoony slow burn romance story
- Real life issues and not just fluffy stuff
- Strangers to lovers tropes
- Very well written love triangles
- Family drama (Step sister Cinderella-type drama)
- Amazing first and secondary characters

Catherine has very distinct and comforting writing style. I loved the premise of the story.
Sadie Montgomery is a portrait artist who gets diagnosed with a temporary perceptual disorder- Face Blindness just 6 weeks before her huge competition. We get to know about all her struggles in her daily life. Along the way she falls in love with 2 people, one is veterinary doc and her neighbour.
I didn't like some parts of this books bragged and ending could've been done better.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the arc in exchange of an honest review.

It is going to be hard to explain my feelings on this one. I enjoyed the romance and the relationship Sadie and Joe had. I have two problems with this book. The first is how unobservant and credulous Sadie is. Some "reveals" were very obvious to me and I "figured them out" quite early on and was frustrated with Sadie that she hadn't. She just couldn't put two and two together despite how apparent the situation was. My second problem is how Sadie fed Peanut human food and only human food. Needless to say, that is awful for dogs. Dogs need dog food and Sadie rarely fed Peanut kibble. It was also so frustrating to read how Dr. Addison did not tell her this fact and that he allowed her to bring Peanut Pad Thai when he was hospitalized. I can get over an oblivious main character but this poor care of the dog brought it down two stars. I enjoyed the writing itself but being in the veterinary field, I just kept worrying about Peanut.

Hello Stranger was an absolute joy to read. Sadie is a lovable protagonist & Katherine Center brought her and the other characters to life with humor, an outside the box plot line & a feel good story that provides the escapism I crave. Sadie has an accident and it leaves her with a condition that turns her world upside down, almost literally. I throughly enjoyed her story & how she navigates through it as it affects her love life, her career, & family. 5/5 stars from me. Can’t wait to read more by Katherine Center!

Katherine Center‘s romcoms are always positive and surprise me a bit. I absolutely loved her author’s note so be sure to read it too.

This story follows Sadie, a struggling artist, who has been spending the last decade as a portrait artist. Right after she gets her big break, she has a seizure and ends up with facial blindness after brain surgery.

What ensues is a journey of friendship, family drama & dysfunction and love - where Sadie has to relearn how to love her life and create portrait art with the reality of her facial blindness.

I thought this was a cute story and I knew where it was headed which creates some great anticipation & tension.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the copy of this book!

I loved this book! When Sadie has to undergo a sudden brain surgery, her ability to see faces disappears along with her confidence at portrait painting. Sadie works on learning how to identify people without their faces, but as you will quickly see, her brain doesn't always get it right. What she thought were many different people may have ended up being the same person! I really enjoyed this, and the small twist at the end was a very satisfying payoff.

Katherine Center is an auto buy author for me. She is like the fairy God mother of hope and reading these stories is like getting wrapped up in a big warm hug 💖 Per the usual, I stayed up way too late gobbling up Hello Stranger. I laughed and cried and just really enjoyed every moment of this literary snuggie. Katherine also has this lovely Author's note at the end of the book where she gives her perspective on why people love Romance so much. A large part of it, she explains, IS the predictability. Or what she would call positive anticipation. So even though miscommunication tropes are not my favorite and their was some predictable predictability, the completely unique conditions and quirky characters created a "fantastic anticipation" and I ate it up! I dont want to say too much more because I think it's best to go into this one blind! Hello Stranger releases 7/11/23.

Katherine Center has and always will be an “abandon anything I’m reading until I’m finished with her book” author for me. Hello Stranger did not disappoint. I could not read this fast enough. I laughed, I yelled, I cried, I did a Breakfast Club fist pump. I love how Katherine Center balanced the heavy topics with hilarious banter. I loved following Sadie’s journey as she dealt with her grief and traumas and coming to know herself on a deeper level.

What to expect:
-top notch banter
-medical terminology
-lovable characters
-a very hateable evil stepsister
-family drama
-grief

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, for this digital ARC!

This was my first read by Katherine Center and OMG!! I loved it so much. I really thought it was going to be a normal romance by basing it off the cover and it definitely was not what I was expecting. I officially want and need all of her work. I loved this story 5 stars. I highly recommend

Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read this book early. After LOVING The Bodyguard, I was happy to tear into this one. The premise is that Sadie is just about to achieve her life goal in a portrait contest when she finds out she has to have urgent brain surgery. Afterward, she has facial blindness (yes this is a real thing) due to swelling from her surgery. She needs to wait for the swelling to improve and thus the facial blindness, but this may mean all her life goals go up in smoke. And how is she supposed to deal with the really cute vet who just saved her dogs life and the super helpful guy she keeps meeting in the elevator?
The first 30% (ish) of this book I found…difficult. Basically Sadie is just complaining about face blindness. At around 40% the story picked up a lot. It made me smile, it made me cry. It was sweet and uplifting. Ultimately it wasn’t as much of a success as The Bodyguard (for me)…mainly because I wanted LESS face blindness and more romance.

Sadie is a portrait artist whose world is turned upside down when learns she needs brain surgery. Following the surgery, she suffers from facial blindness and is unable to see or recognize any facial features. Although she doesn’t like to ask for help, she soon realizes she will need to accept help from others in her new situation. Her neighbor, Joe, is nicknamed ‘Helpful’ by the building manager, so it’s possible he might be just the person to help Sadie.

Katherine Center has done it again. I’m a huge fan of her books, and she always manages to write the most heartfelt, beautifully told stories. This one might be my new favorite. Have you ever experienced a book where you want to slow down, take in every word, and savor it? At the same time, you can’t stop reading because you just have to know what happens. This was that book for me, and I devoured it in a day because I just couldn’t help it. The character development was so masterful, and I loved each character, from Sadie to Joe to Peanut the dog. The author talks in her author’s note about building anticipation in romance, and she does this so well. It’s such a lovely story that addresses so many topics from grief to mixed families to medical procedures and disabilities. I’d recommend this book to anyone and everyone who wants a feel-good, uplifting, and charming book to devour like the most decadent of desserts.

Thank you to Katherine Center, St. Martin’s Press, and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Katherine Center has done it again. I just love her books. Romantic comedies with heart. It’s like watching my favorite movies. This is not even a favorite genre of mine, but I read anything she writes. 4.5 stars. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

A couple months ago I read The Bodyguard by the same author and just could not. I wasn’t a fan so I went in to this not expecting much but…

I loved this book. I knew far to early about the “twist” but it didn’t stop me from enjoying the book anyway. It was super fun to read. The sister made me so angry and I felt all the things the author wanted me to feel. Overall a cute little read that I would definitely recommend.

Absolutely loved this book. I was rooting for Sadie and cringed along with her through all of her mishaps. I learned a lot from this book and anyone who loves (and even those who don’t) reading romance books should read the author’s note at the end of this book. It was perfection. The only thing that could’ve made this book better is Parker being set on fire. Zero kidding.

Thank you to NetGalley / St Martin’s Press for the ARC!

I realized at the end of this book that I had been smiling for countless pages, and that’s the best way to describe how I felt about Hello Stranger! It had so much depth with the various relationships - family, friend, romantic, self, and even pet.

Such a unique and beautiful romance book! I knew I would love it as soon as the plot and main love interest was introduced! It is a love story about finding yourself through your view on the world. Our main character develops a condition for facial blindness and it’s her story from before the accident to finding where she truly belongs. Definitely pick this up if you loved Katherine Centers last book the bodyguard as it has the same romantic feels ❤️❤️ BIG THANK YOU to Netgalley and St. Martin’s publishing for my most highly anticipated arc of 2023 thus far!

I loved The Bodyguard and so many of her other books. This one was super unique, but not nearly as funny as her last release. This was one large miscommunication trope but for good reason in my opinion. I don't think it's going to be nearly as loved but I enjoyed it!

Katherine Center’s writing style flows SO well. I got so wrapped up in the story that I forgot I was reading. Just love it! This rom com felt original and fresh. There was a good amount of medical set up at the beginning, but it was necessary to give you context for the condition that Sadie was living with throughout the novel. Can’t say much about the love story without giving spoilers, but it was soooooo cute + the ending felt like a hug. Loved.

Thanks to the publisher, the author and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really liked the premise of this story. It was so unique. I loved following Sadie as she navigated being an artist with face blindness. It was great to see her evolve as an artist and a person and to accept the hand life had dealt her. As a lead character, she was great. I was rooting for her every step of the way.

This one also had a twist I didn't see coming for a little bit of time (eventually it came to me). Any book that has that happen is a good book! Either way, it was still really entertaining to read.

This, like Katherine Center's other books, had romance, humor, emotion and charm. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes her books. I will definitely continue to read her work.

On a final note, will there be a redemption story for Parker? Honestly, I am rooting for one.

Hello Stranger, by Katherine Center was different than I had anticipated, I was expecting more of a love triangle and less family drama, but overall I enjoyed the story. I really enjoyed Sadie and Joe and I like the journey that the author took us on. For the most part, the characters were likable and relatable and I enjoyed how they meshed together. Hello Stranger is a nice, quick read.