HELLO STRANGER by Katherine Center doesn't come out until this summer, but I definitely wasn't going to wait to read it.

I love Center's writing, and this one did not disappoint. It's a great premise—acquired face blindness and ensuing trouble and misunderstandings. I also appreciate it as someone who has some light face blindness (I generally can't recognize/recall faces unless I've seen them several times, which means I end up awkwardly reintroducing myself to people I've met multiple times, and movies are hard to follow if I don't already know the actors).

I was able to figure out what was going to happen, which isn't a complaint. There's actually a great author's note at the end about the joy of romance novels, the positive anticipation and hope that you get when you can trust that there will be a happy ending. It's a lovely tribute to the genre and why we read, at the end of a very lovely book.

Thank you to SMP for a gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

First of all, that cover is WOW!!! It's gorgeous and drew me in right away. I really appreciate Katherine Center highlighting a medical condition that's not commonly talked about. I had never heard of it before and really enjoyed learning about it. However, I think it did make the beginning of the story drag a bit. Once I got to around 40%, the story took off and I binged it until 1am. Per her usual style, the story is heartwarming and filled with banter. I love the message that we don't all need to have it all figured out and that sometimes it's okay to ask for help. We all need to be kinder with ourselves!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really like Katherine Center. Her books are always fun, there's always good chemistry with the leads, and the banter is a good time. This one fell a little flat for me, I still enjoyed it, but it definitely had its moments where it dragged and I had to struggle to push through. Overall it was a fund read, I'll be excited for her next book.

Hello Stranger's main character Sadie's life is pretty much in shambles, not that she would admit that to anyone (not even herself). But recovering from a brain surgery that leaves her face blind forces her to face her reality in a multitude of ways.

Katherine Center has a way of ripping your heart out and putting you back together again. I was not ready for the emotional turmoil this book would put me through, yet I know this is one I'll want to read again and again.

I loved this book for its humor, its honesty, and most of all, the fact that I knew it was a Romance and everything would work out in the end (otherwise, I'm not sure I would be okay).

Katherine Center is an auto-buy for me, and this one did not let me down! This may be top three of hers for me. I loved the story of Sadie and her journey through facial blindness. As a fellow dog-mom whose bond with my pup was deepened through some hard times I went through, I loved that Peanut was such a huge part of Sadie’s story and journey. Everyone who loves KC needs to read this immediately! Could not put down!

Another GREAT read by Katherine Center! I think this might be my favorite to date. Center is such a great storyteller and has a way of bringing you into her tales. Loved it! Can't wait until the next one.

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the e-ARC!

I received this book as an ARC. When I read another Katherine Center book last year, I devoured it. I did the same with Hello Stranger. From the beginning, the book grasped my attention. The characters, the plot, the immediate shock within the first couple of chapters. The two love interests in this book are great, though I was very much rooting for one from the start. The story is both character and plot driven, and the character development, especially for Sadie, is something that you don’t always see in a romance book.

I loved this book. Katherine Center is one of my favorite authors, and Hello Stranger is the best one I have read. The book grabs you from the very beginning and I couldn't put it down. Sadie is such a likable character and I was rooting for the entire book. The idea of a portrait artist having a sudden brain injury resulting in face blindness is very intriguing and compelling. I had never heard of face blindness and I thought Center did an excellent job of not only explaining the medical condition, but she also put me inside the mind of Sadie, an artist who relies on painting faces to earn her living. I didn't see the twist at the end coming but it was very satisfying. I highly recommend this book.

I adore katherine center and I know she’s written some wacky stuff (the bodyguard, which I LOVED) but I couldn’t wrap my head around this one. I gave myself a headache trying to come to terms with the fact that she literally couldn’t decipher faces and it threw me for a loop. It was fun and cute and classic Katherine center so I’d still recommend it, the whole plot is just a bit outlandish haha. However, I did absolutely love the authors note she included at the end. Long live the romance genre!!!

Many thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Katherine Center is an auto-read author for me, so when the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of Hello Stranger came to my attention, I took immediate advantage.

Sadie Montgomery is a struggling portrait artist who finally lands a break by receiving a highly coveted invitation to compete in a portrait competition.

Before she’s able to start the portrait for the competition, she has to have surgery, which results in losing her ability to see faces. While hopefully temporary, this makes her ability to paint a portrait in time for the competition – as well as her ability to recognize people – extremely difficult.

Meanwhile, Sadie’s dog gets sick, and upon bringing him to the vet, Sadie falls in love with a seemingly handsome veterinarian (whose face she cannot piece together but has a “Olympically handsome gait”) who eventually asks her on a date. She’s hesitant to start a relationship though as she doesn’t want him, or anyone else, to discover her face blindness. She also reluctantly develops an unlikely friendship with her annoying neighbor, Joe, who keeps showing up whether she likes it or not, all the while keeping her face blindness a secret.

Generally, I find Center’s rom-coms well-written and engrossing, and it doesn’t typically take me a long time for me to become invested in her characters. I found Hello Stranger to be somewhat – but not entirely – similar.

While I felt invested in Sadie’s plight, the male characters felt underdeveloped, and I had a hard time getting invested in the romance aspects of the story. This may have been purposeful on the behalf of the author as Sadie is unable to piece together their faces and does not have a full picture of them (so why should the reader?), I found this to be a drawback.

Also, it seemed like it took about half of the book for things to get going romance-wise, which made the story feel slow.

Overall, Hello Stranger has an interesting premise that is well researched and articulated, but the romance aspects fell a bit flat for me. I will continue to pick up everything that Katherine Center writes.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was my favorite Katherine Center book ever. It was sweet, funny (I actually laughed outloud at it), predictable but still amazing at the same time.
It is a story unlike others I've read but still has the same comfort level I would expect from her books.
The only reason it did not get 5 stars from me, is I would really prefer there to be no foul language in the book. It adds nothing to the story.
Otherwise, I will highly recommend this book and can't wait to share it with others!!

5 buying a stranger’s groceries stars ⭐️

Was this wildly unrealistic and a positively wild ride? Yes. It sure was. And it made me smile like an idiot and feel blessed to read a story with characters with such a strong love for dogs.

Parker - insanity. Like I could have gotten behind the rest of the wildness but she really was too much for me.

Honestly, this would have been a 4-star, and then I read the authors note and felt SO seen. The authors note bumped it up a full star at midnight while finishing this book.

Tropes: friends to lovers (kinda), miscommunication/mistaken identity, closed door

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. It was truly a pleasure.

Let me start by saying I loved the bodyguard! I’m sure this one is amazing too, I was only able to get 20% into it. Nothing against the book itself the topic of brain surgery and brain bleeds is something I cannot handle to read or think about. It wasn’t done graphically or anything in this book. It’s just not for me. I would definitely pick up another book by the author.

She has done it again. And she will keep doing it again. What an amazing book from one of my favorite authors.

Too many curse words- but looking past that for this amazing book I just finished. Wow. Just wow. Loved it so much.

As always, amazing character development. Like AMAZING. Learned something new about what people struggle with in regarded to “face blindness”. Katherine did this book well and with taste.

You’ll wanna read this book when it comes out!

Thank you Katherine & NetGally for this book. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Few things need to be fixed:
End of chapter 15. “I good stood up” should be “got” stood up.

Chapter 21: “I am one hundred perfect consent” needs to be changed!

Thank you Netgalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Katherine Center came back to her roots and I loved every second of it! My favorite thing about her style of writing is the tragic accidents that the main character must overcome and through healing, they find love.

In this novel, we meet a struggling portrait artist. Sadie, who has a nonconvulsive seizure resulting in face blindess. This means she can't recognize anyone's face, not even her own. Let's not forget that she has an evil stepmother and stepsister who enjoy playing on her weaknesses. Through her struggle though she learns that there are positives, like helping strangers and using other senses to navigate the world. As nice as that all sounds, still has a 3 weeks to produce a portrait for a national competition that could change her life. Which "stranger" will be kind enough to help her?

Overall, the plot was pretty well developed. It wasn't dull and didn't drag. The romance part reads like a semi-predictable Hallmark movie, but I'm not mad about it. I look forward to that and expect it when I pick up a romance book. I do think Sadie is one of Center's most dimensional characters thus far. We learn so much about her past and present because she also developed the side characters so well. In summary, I would definitely recommend this books to others, and I hope Katherine Center continues to use her magical writing formula on her next novels.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the ARC of this ebook. Expected publication 7/11/23.

Sadie is a portrait artist who is selected to be in the top ten of a local portrait competition. That night, her friend, Sue, decides to throw a party to celebrate Sadie's accomplishment. Also that night, Sadie has a non-convulsive seizure due to a cavernoma while walking across the street. She has brain surgery which causes edema and results in her having acquired prosopagnosia (face blindness). This is difficult for any person to live with, but especially Sadie as a portraitist with her competition looming in 6 weeks.

To add to the difficulties of her situation, Sadie meets two men - a dashing veterinarian (Dr. Oliver Addison) who saves her dog, Peanut, and a charmingly handsome womanizer in her building with a heart of gold (Joe). We learn that Sadie's mom passed away when Sadie was a young girl and her father quickly remarried. Sadie's stepmom, Lucinda, and stepsister, Parker, are the Kardashian-Jenner equivalent of the evil stepmother and evil step sister. Parker takes every opportunity to torture Sadie and use her face blindness against her. The book takes place over ~7 weeks (with the epilogue taking place 1 year after the events in the book).

Was this book cheesy? Yes. Was it predictable? Yes. Was it exactly the hopeful, light-hearted, balm that we sometimes need? YES! When I'm looking for a 'feel-good' read in the future, I will definitely be sure to look at Katherine Center's previous works for options.

I really enjoyed this book. There were definite moments when I laughed out loud, it was smiling while reading. This was a quick read that I couldn’t put down. I read it almost entirely in one sitting. I liked the character of Sadie. The real winner for me though was Joe. I like the majority of the plot, but it certainly was predictable. The number of coincidences got to be a tad too high for me. It was interesting reading about a diagnosis that I knew very little about: face blindness. It really was a unique part of the book, and prompted to Google about the disorder to learn more. I would recommend this book to a friend who was looking for a cute rom com story.

I think this book would be served best to have some final editing before publishing. There were some typos and errors throughout (ie. using “thought” instead of “though”)

I immediately had to read another Katherine Center book after reading The Bodyguard. I fell in love with her writing and this book was no different. The whole premise of the book was so interesting, I found myself invested in Sadie’s life and couldn’t stop reading. Definitely recommend!!

I LOVED THIS BOOK! I couldn’t put it down and read it in one sitting. The writing was easy to read and flowed well through the storyline. I loved Sadie and her quirkiness. I loved the love interests and even her best friend Sue. I was riveted and even she’d some tears as Sadie worked through her past traumas and grief. It was just beautiful. I also really appreciated that the ending, while it wrapped everything up nicely, it didn’t make everything perfect. It left some things messy, but that’s real life. Things are a bit messy.

I highly recommend this book and I will definitely be moving her other book up on my TBR.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ / 5
🌶 🌶️ /5

It took me a while to get into this book, but once I did (and stuck it out) it was worth it. After loving "The Bodyguard" I was delighted to see this book show up on NetGalley.

Sadie has face blindness after some necessary brain surgery and forgets the good and bad of the men she is dating and her utterly toxic family. (Come on, whose family is perfect? But hers is even worse than mine!!!!)

Not the best book, not the worst...but enjoyable. If you find it lagging, stick it out...put it down for a day and then come back to it..you won't regret it.

I can see this flying off the shelves of our library: I will recommend it far and wide.