This was a super quick read, and I found myself invested in the characters. While it took me a little while to get into the story line, I found myself really rooting for Sadie. I loved that she was able to find herself, gain confidence, and find love in the most interestingly unique way. Overall, I enjoyed the book, but it was not my favorite romance. A little too far fetched and out there, but I would definitely recommend this for someone who needs a quick, easy read. 3.5/5

3.5/5

Katherine Center definitely knows how to write a book. The main part of this story is that Sadie is suffering with prosopagnosia, or face blindness, after a brain surgery. I have never heard of face blindness before, but Center made it easy to understand in her descriptions. Sadie Montgomery is a great main character who might be childish at times, but she struggles through a lot, especially after her brain surgery. I liked the love triangle between Sadie, Dr. Oliver Addison, and Joe. It was woven so seamlessly into the story that is otherwise about a girl navigating her new normal after something tragic happens.

However, I do think there are a lot of things going on in this book that distract from possible heart fluttering activity. Sadie is still struggling with the loss of her mom, getting her big art career break, her evil stepmother and evil stepsister, and now her brain surgery and face blindness. That's a lot of things to juggle, even for a fictional character. Although there was a lot going on, I think it was put together well. While there wasn't as much love action as I wanted there to be, the reasons for that made the love story ultimately more enjoyable.

Dr. Addison was such a dream man. Clean and polished, but he ultimately felt too out of reach. Joe is such a lovable character, even after the unsavory way we meet him in the elevator. The love story is my favorite part of the book, and seeing Sadie confused over who she should pick is entertaining. This book is really nice, and I found it so interesting to see how the side characters' stories play out and see how their character's develop.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

I have not read a Katherine Center book I haven’t liked, but y’all this one is seriously one of my top favs of hers. I laughed out loud multiple times throughout this book and could not get enough of the main characters. There are a lot of books I would like to see as a film adaptation but I would really love to watch this one! Per Katherine Center usual our main lady is funny, witty, and independent. The story also takes place in the great state of Texas(which I love) and gives us a dreamboat of a man as our main guy. Add in a cute dog, and slow burn romance and you have yourself a perfect read for the summer!

To be completely honest, I was not the biggest fan of The Bodyguard when I read it last year, as I found it to be a bit boring and predictable and so I went into Hello Stranger a bit guarded. While the 'twist' in this book is also predictable (especially if you've read or watched a lot of romance), this book was anything but boring! In fact, this was one of the better romances I've read in a while. I absolutely adored Sadie and reading her struggle and eventual coming to terms with her condition. While some may find Sadie's inner monologue frustrating, I think the author really nailed the authenticity in how one would feel if their whole way of life was changed in an instant. The real shining star of this novel for me was perfect Joe. So many romances these days are focusing on more bad boy, player type love interests so Joe was such a breath of fresh air. He was sweet, goofy, and swoony. The tender war he handled Sadie's panic attack had me almost in tears. While I did find some flaws with this book (mostly Sadie's family feeling more like caricatures than actual people - especially Parker), I could not stop reading. I wanted to see the reaction of each character when they realized their misunderstanding so badly that I was sure my kindle would catch fire with how fast I was flipping the pages. All in all, if you're looking for a swoony, funny, clean (kissing only) romance book, this is the book for you.

4.5/5

One thing that this author does spectacularly well is writing about a topic that isn’t we’ll know and educating the reader while entertaining them. Through her books, I have learned in detail topics, diagnosis, and jobs that have never been at the center of romance novels. With a lead like Sadie, it was hard not to root for her as a person, feel empathetic towards her situation, and enjoy her journey throughout this book.

This is a character driven book where it focuses on Sadie’s growth and development while the romance aspect plays a secondary plot. The author has a way to make a wonderful romance book but having it not consume the whole story. There’s depth to her words that make this more than a romance book.

Going into this book, I knew I was just going to love it because this author curates stories that grab your heart. She has a magical way of inspiring her readers with a well rounded, heartwarming story. For those who love this author's previous work will no doubt fall in love with this story and those new to this author will easily love this book too. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC

Katherine Center's books always hit a very emotional spot but it's always done in a way that adds a bit of humor and I think it's what I love most about her stories. The only person i wasn't cheering for in this story was her absolute horror of a step-sister.

Thank you for the early copy for review!

Overall I really liked this book. I have read several other Katherine Center books and this one is as solid as the others. The characters were likable and the story kept me entertained.

Katherine Center has written another great story. The main character is a portrait artist who needs brain surgery. The surgery leaves her with a real medical condition, face blindness. This is devastating for her because she had just been named a finalist in a portrait contest and now she can't see faces as a whole, only as parts. She has to find a way to still submit an entry to the contest while dealing with a dysfunctional family, a new love, and several other obstacles in her life. I didn't see the plot twist coming and it was wonderful. I highly recommend this terrific story -- and I learned about face blindness as a bonus! Thank you to Net Galley for letting me read this book in return for my honest review.

I am an unapologetic Katherine Center fan. This is my favorite to date, although that may be because of my interest in the subject matter. A portrait artist is advised to undergo brain surgery. When she wakes up, she discovers she has a form of face blindness, making her job next to impossible. She has to get creative in order to meet a tight deadline and enlists her neighbor’s help in a clever way. It’s cute. It’s clever. It’s everything we’ve come to expect from A Katherine Center book.

OH. EM. GEEEEE. Katherine Center NEVER fails me!

This book was so, so adorable. I loved the twist towards the end too. I may actually reread this one to see if I can pick up on the hints for it (I never re-read), because I did not see it coming.

Well written, usual pace for K.C. books, and you feel the main characters emotions heavily.

Highly recommend!

I've been a huge Katherine Center fan after reading the Bodyguard! While I did love the Bodyguard, I just feel like Hello Stranger blows it out of the water and is probably my fave Katherine Center book to date!

What I loved:

- Sadie. I mean when I say Sadie may be one of my favorite female protagonists, I'm not exaggerating. She's real, she's relatable, she's funny.
- If you like your romance novels to have a side of drama like I do, this one is perfect! There's plenty of family drama to enjoy and I felt like it added to the plot instead of detracting from it.
- This book is really just unique. It's a special read that is like nothing else I've read before honestly.
- Mental health representation
- The romance will quite literally leave you swooning.

I loved Hello Stranger so so much and it's for sure my favorite read so far this year. If you're looking for a unique romance with a bit of drama, give this one a try!

A massive thank you to NetGalley, Katherine Center, and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this ARC!

4.5 Stars Hello Stranger by Katherine Center is probably the most original plot line that I’ve read in a while. There was a twist at the end that I saw coming before the reveal, but it was still a fascinating story. Portrait artist Sadie Montgomery has finally gotten her big break—she’s a finalist in a very selection portrait competition and she needs to produce a completely new work for the show in six weeks. Unfortunately, Sadie is then diagnosed with a malformed blood vessel in her brain and needs surgery to fix it right away. After the successful surgery, Sadie suddenly can no longer recognize anyone. She has acquired prosopagnosia—aka “face blindness”—and everyone including her family, friends, and strangers look like a Picasso painting of a rearranged face. While lamenting how she will compete when she can’t paint a portrait as she normally would, Sadie fixates on her dog Peanut’s veterinarian, Dr. Oliver Addison. Though she can’t see his face, she can tell he’s very attractive and she gladly accepts when he asks her out. Sadie decides to keep her diagnosis from everyone, including her neighbor Joe, who suddenly seems to be everywhere. Sadie and Joe strike up a friendship, that then seems to develop into more. But what about Dr. Addison and what will she do about her career and the competition?

As I said before, this was a completely new plot line that didn’t rely on the same recycled tropes. Once I figured out the twist, it felt glaringly obvious, but it was still a delight to watch it all unfold and be revealed. Although Sadie felt scared about her new reality with her face blindness, it caused her to question her judgement in a way that felt uncomfortable, but it also pushed her to question other things. She began to look for other styles and ways of painting, rather than copying the style that her late mother had used. Sadie began to see more possibilities and notice other things about people that she hadn’t noticed before. The one part of the story that really irked me was the character of the wicked stepsister, Parker, though the author did a good job of making this character get on your nerves just like she did Sadie’s. Parker deserved worse than what she got, but I also wouldn’t have been mad at some redemption for her in the epilogue, but oh well.

This story was truly charming and I loved the whole thing!

4 stars! I am so excited I got to read this as an ARC from NetGalley!! I moved my rating up a bit once I saw how the story resolved and came together. I devoured this book. I almost read the entire thing in about 8 hours. It was a very consumable book! Having said that, I did have some issues with it. I thought almost all of the family scenes, especially with Parker read very YA. I wish the family dynamics had been more mature content. I feel like it was very high school which is atypical of Katherine Center IMO. Also, there were many scenes that were frustrating leading up to the end because they just flew by with no explanation. While the ending did surprise me and increased my enjoyment level, there had to be a little suspension of disbelief, even with all of the explanations, but I do think it was clever. Sidenote: I loved the author's note.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this advanced copy!

This is my third Katherine Center read and they just keep getting better! Oh how she makes me swoon!

I love that our mc, Sadie, stays optimistic through out everything that is presented to her. She finds herself with face blindness, battling with her evil step sister, a 'kidnapped' best friend and a sick pup, Peanut.

What I love most is that Katherine Center layers this story so well with things happening left and right but it is never overwhelming. One chapter I am hating the "mutton muncher" in the elevator and pretty quickly I am falling for the guy switching off the breaker to end a party. From the jump I knew this would be 5 stars.

This book might be my new favorite by this author! The perfect book to get me out of my reading slump. I laughed, cried and swooned with Sadie. She’s the perfect heroine, dealing with a new diagnosis and figuring out life out all while managing to make me laugh along the way…and find a little romance. ;). For sure grab this novel. You won’t regret it!!!

I loved this book and the flow of it. It was great, not only in the romantic aspect, but touching on the medical aspect and the artistic aspect. I also liked that there was a story line outside of the relationship between the 2 main characters.

My only con from this book is the editing. Especially in the second half, there was a lot of basic editing mistakes that really drew me out of the store. Using 2 words next to each other that were ultimately the same, but like they hadn’t decided which word to use, so now the sentence doesn’t make sense. Putting “ at the end of a sentence that wasn’t something anyone was saying. Putting “an” when it should have been “a”. Even having the name Linda once instead of Lucinda. I know some of this falls on the author too, but that’s why the author has an editor. Whoever edited this book got lazy and dropped the ball. I hope some of these mistakes were corrected before printing.

Katherine Center always writes a good book and this was no exception. I really enjoyed this hopeful and uplifting romance that centered around a portrait artist developing face blindness. This story shared romance, family drama, and best of all a dog named Peanut who is the catalyst for the main characters budding romance with her vet. Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Sadie is a struggling artist. She's hoping her luck will turn around with a portrait competition she's landed a finalist spot in. But from there things seem to go down hill. Including needing a brain surgery that results in her being unable to see faces... making her submission to the competition that much more difficult. Her dog gets sick, needing to go to the vet. Her obnoxious neighbour is always there to witness embarrassing moments. But what she doesn't expect during all this is to fall in love with two different men.

I really enjoyed The Bodyguard so I was excited to receive an ARC of Hello Stranger. But unfortunately this one fell a little flat for me. I just really didn't like the majority of the characters, including Sadie. They all feel a bit immature, and cartoonish really. This story had a lot going on and felt a disjointed to me. What I did love though was Joe. He kept me turning the pages. The 'twist' involving him was not a surprise, but I was definitely hanging on to see his reaction in the end.

There were some funny and cute moments I liked, but overall just an okay read for me. Might be the one for you though!

*I received an ARC from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and given freely.

Overall, a fun read. I enjoyed the diverse characters. Many times I feel like in contemporary romances, characters do not develop, but instead stay stagnate and never really learn anything. The characters in this book had difficulties to work past and grew stronger in the end. I enjoyed this premise as it wasn’t your typically boy meets girl trope. I this book definitely stood out from other contemporary romances!

Well...

@katherinecenter has done it again! I love everything about this book! I'm forever a KC fan and will read anything she writes!

Hello Stranger is about a girl, after a sweet meet-cute, lands herself in a hospital. What starts out as a little accident turns into discovering a condition she is born with that requires brain surgery. Post-op complications force her to have "face-blindness." Temporary or not, that's a struggle for someone who is a portrait artist and has a competition deadline in three weeks.

One of the many things I love about Katherine Center is her medical. (And as a Nurse I'm super picky about this). I love all her research and focus on detail. Loved learning about Prosopagnosia and all the struggles Sadie goes through.

The romance was fated and oh so sweet. I loved watching her navigate her feelings without her seeing his face. The portrait scene was SO good and I loved how everything wrapped up nicely in the end. SO adorable!!!!

Great character arcs with real life struggles, unique premise, and lovely romance. I caught some Cinderella vibes in here, did you?

Thank you Katherine for another amazing read!! I want all your books! Now to get myself a physical copy!

Thank you to the author and @stmartinspress for the eARC!

Pub- July 2023

*Romance- kisses, make-outs
*TW- brain surgery, bullying

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