I love, love, loved this book! I loved the premise. I loved the characters. I loved the narrative. I loved the author’s note at the end. I loved Mr. and Mrs. Kim. I loved everything about this book. It flowed so well for me and was so easy and exciting to read. Easy 5/5 for me and a book I will pick up when it’s published.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the eARC!

I LOVED this book! Great characters, fun storyline, some humor, romance, tears-it had it all! This is another one of Katherine Center's that I will read over and over!

warm vibes but I thought the love triangle would be stressful but it wasn't too bad. This is my first book by Katherine Center and I have to say that I enjoyed it! The art cover is stunning as well as the character development!

I can’t get enough of Katherine Center’s quirky writing style and playful first-person storyline! This book was an enjoyable easy read and focused on living with a unique condition - prosopagnosia, or facial blindness resulting from a brain injury. Our main character, Sadie, is diagnosed with this newfound condition at a pivotal moment: her acceptance into the esteemed North American art gallery competition of her dreams. There’s just one problem - how can she finish painting her portrait (of her best friend) if she can’t see faces?! All while grappling with her mom’s death, a mysterious male neighbor, a handsome veterinarian (thanks to Sadie’s beloved sidekick pup Peanut’s untimely illness), an absentee father and an evil stepmother and sister.

While reading, It was difficult for me to picture living in a world without recognizable faces, and some of the mishaps and coincidences were a bit hard for me to believe. So much was going wrong that I had a constant pit in my stomach for Sadie, with anxiety over the way she was forced to see the world! There were also a few clues that felt too obvious, bringing me to guess the twist at the end well before it came to light. Overall was an enjoyable read though and educated me about a disability I didn’t know much about!

I enjoyed this book, because it's Katherine Center and she just has a way with characters and dialogue, but it was in many ways similar to her novel How to Walk Away (my favorite novel of hers).

Katherine Center is a new author for me, I read The Bodyguard last fall. I love it when I discover "new" authors who have been around for awhile because I can login to to my library account and request my heart away. I've read probably about four of her novels and I really like her writing style. Each plot is unique, but full of those feelings of sunshine and butterflies when two really nice, likeable people get their HEA. I would say "spoiler alert", but c'mon...it's romance. It's all about the HEA.

I received Hello Stranger as an ARC from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. The book is about Sadie, an artist who paints portraits and finally gets her big shot. She is one of ten finalists for some big painting competition with a $10k prize. Winning will help ease her money woes since she hasn't really "made it" and funds her life by paining portraits from photos (some pets) in her Etsy shop. It's also a chance for her to show her father, a successful surgeon who was against her changing majors from pre-med to art eight years ago, that she made the right choice.

Early in the book Sadie has a medical scare and is told she needs to have brain surgery. She has a super rare side affect from the surgery that causes face blindness. When she sees people, she can't see their faces. It's not that they don't have faces, her brain is just not putting the features together in a way that it used to. Which is a bit of a problem, because she paints...portraits. Yikes.

Thrown into the existential professional crisis is a love triangle. She develops a crush on her dog's new veterinarian who asks her on a date, but she also strikes up an unlikely friendship with her new neighbor whom she thought was a jerk. Again, she catches feelings for both without seeing their faces.

This book, like many of the author's books is just so warm and comforting. A chocolate chip cookie fresh from the oven. I'm giving it five stars because I really enjoyed it, but also because of the author's note at the end about romance stories. Let's stop giving romances novels a bad rap already!

Thanks again to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

It has been a long time since I have read a book from start to finish in one day. This book had me sucked in and I could not put it down until I was done. Sadie is a struggling artist that just got her big break by being selected to the list of finalists in a portrait competition. Everything appears to be on an uphill trend when she finds herself in the hospital needing brain surgery. When she comes out with a condition called facial blindness, her world falls apart. How can she get her portrait finished for the show when she can't see faces anymore? To boot she has somehow fallen in love with two different men amidst all this mess. This was such a fun ride with twists and turns, a great love story, and a great message. Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC. I loved it! 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for making this book available for early readers. I am a fan of Katherine Center. Her books feel fresh, not like you’re rehashing old tropes. Hello Stranger is no exception.

Sadie’s hilarious internal dialogue kept me hooked. She is relatable and funny, if a little angsty. Joe the bowler is the perfect book boyfriend. I want to cuddle with him forever.

Though I guessed the ‘plot twist’ from the back cover, I’m using the phrase loosely. This book doesn’t aim for a gotcha moment. Guessing correctly did not impact my enjoyment of the book.

The only aspect of the book that wasn’t my favorite was Sadie’s borderline rudeness, at times. More than once I asked Joe why he liked her. But she won me over in the end, in no small part due to her running internal dialogue.

Special kudos to Katherine Center for taking care in the portrayal of someone experiencing face blindness. I do not know anyone with the condition and can’t comment on accuracy, but I felt how much she wanted to get it right. Not just in describing what a person with face blindness sees and experiences, but also the emotional rollercoaster. She also made sure to answer questions running through my head, like “how can Sadie not know her step-sister’s voice?”

Overall, a fun read. I can’t wait to see what she does next.

I’m a huge fan of Center’s books. She’s a fantastic storyteller and I am so thankful to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC for the purpose of this review. I’m giving it four stars.

The plot is truly unique and I found myself looking up words and terms because of the storyline. I enjoyed the medical aspect! The other part I loved was the MC and her pet!

The cover is beautiful and the book has some spice and love triangles so if you like that then you will enjoy Center’s latest!

Sadie Montgomery is a young painter who is trying to make a living as an artist. She is a finalist in a portrait art competition when she has a medical emergency and has to have emergency brain surgery. As a result of the surgery she develops face blindness. Needless to say this hampers her ability to paint a picture for the competition. She doesn't want to tell anyone except her closest friend Sue about her condition. This sounds like this would be a depressing book but quite the opposite. Sadie is such a joy of a character. I loved her and all the supporting characters as well. This book just makes you feel good at the end. I loved it.
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for a copy of this book for review.

This book was SO CUTE! Sadie was a wonderful main character. I thought that she was charming, was true to herself, was willing to self-examine herself, had growth, and stood her ground with her HORRIBLE stepsister! I was immediately drawn into the storyline. The initial meet-cute between Sadie and the mystery man at the convenience store had me excited about the book, and her major life change had me empathizing with her struggles. I thought Dr. Addison was cute but Joe was the real winner. He was a little mysterious, a lot charming, and was really there for Sadie. The whole book was really funny and well written and I loved loved loved the ending. Admittedly, I did not see it coming....! I highly recommend this book!

A very well written book by Katherine Center. I had never heard of facial blindness and feel like I learned a lot by reading this book.
Sadie, a struggling artist, is waiting for her big break but when she finally gets a chance, she has an episode and has to have brain surgery but suffers consequences from it. Full of a little drama, and an excellent story of falling in love. Wonderful book. Highly recommend! Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy!

I loved Katherine Center's book The Bodyguard and was super excited to read Hello Stranger! Hello Stranger was a great read, slow burn and somewhat predictable (in the romance sort of way). Definitely a good build to give some anticipation. Overall, I enjoyed it and would recommend it!


Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley and the author for providing a copy to review!

As a major Katherine Center fan, this was one of my more anticipated releases of the year. This book stayed true to the author with really like-able characters, a unique storyline, and a continuous pace throughout the story. The lead characters had obvious chemistry and you rooted for them from the beginning. While there was a twist at the end, you kind of saw it coming from the very beginning but the ride to get there was fun. The story fell short for me in two ways: there is an evil stepsister arch that does not contribute to the story in a meaningful way and is just a distraction from everything else going on; and there is a point in the story when someone from the FMC’s past just coincidentally shows up out of the blue when they were discussing her, says her peace, then disappears. It was like Center didn’t know how to wrap up this piece of the story so she just threw it in there. Regardless, I did really like the book and would certainly recommend it if you are a fan of Center’s work.

I really enjoyed this one!

I last read about the concept of face blindness in Alice Feeney’s Rock Paper Scissors, and that was totally creepy, so I was wondering how I would feel about the concept in a romantic comedy. Well, it worked for me — I thought Katherine Center approached the topic well and Sadie’s condition — and resulting frustration — felt believable to me, particularly because she was a portrait artist. Sadie felt like a very well-rounded character to me — from her relationship with her father, her nostalgia for her mother, her want to succeed, her attachment to her dog, and her reactions to Dr. Addison and Joe. I sped through this one quickly and wished there was more.

Thanks to Katherine Center, St Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the ARC.

Sadie Montgomery has finally dug herself out of a rough patch. The "black sheep" of her family, her art career has never held anyone's interest until now. She's made it to the highest level of an art competition and is about to make a name for herself when tragedy strikes.

Ready to prove her worth in the North American Portrait Society competition, and to her family, she's gone from painting portraits to being unable to discern facial features. After a tragic accident, Sadie's been temporarily diagnosed with facial blindness. Now dependent on her other senses, Sadie's view of a traditional face is no more. Her brain and eyes cannot make the connections she's used to seeing leaving everyone's faces a puzzling mess.

Learning to navigate her new reality, Sadie's life is filled with a cast of characters. With her best friend, her dog, peanut, her father, and her stepmother, alongside her evil step-sister, Sadie's life can't get more complicated.

Figure out how to "see" what's happening, as well as create her portrait for the competition Sadie's running out of time. Will Sadie create the portrait the judges want to see? Or will she paint from the heart? Hello Stranger was just perfect!

#TheMironMonologues #KatherineCenter #HelloStranger #RealisticFiction #ArtBook #NetGalley

Unfortunately this just didn't work for me. I loved the Bodyguard and so I was very excited to read Center’s new book. The main character was just super annoying and al most every issue was due to her not communicating at all. I understand the face blindness of it all but she wasn’t mute. I also felt that it lacked romance, It wasn’t until 60% in that we finally start seeing some of the male main character.

The first few chapters were great, I really thought I was going to love it from what I got but it didn’t work for me,

Katherine Center has done it again. This is a great read! Sadie is an artist, who specializes in painting portraits, and is finally trying to make it big to prove to everyone she can, when she ends up having a non convulsive seizure that leads to brain surgery. After the surgery, she ends up with face blindness... This disrupts everything, especially the contest where she must paint a portrait to make it big. A great read!

I knew I wanted to read this after seeing the stunning cover and being a fan of Things You Save in a Fire. So when I saw this on Net Galley I jumped at the opportunity to read it.

The story follows Sadie Montgomery, struggling artist on the brink of a big break, as she experiences a major set back, brain surgery!! While the surgery goes well, the complications that occur after leave her unable to identify faces.

I loved the medical aspect of this! I’d never heard of such a condition and it was so interesting to me reading about how Sadie navigated her condition. I especially enjoyed the Author’s Note at the end.

The romance aspect of this didn’t really work for me. I didn’t feel the chemistry between Sadie and either of her love interests and I felt that the missing pieces should have been revealed much sooner.

I loved Sadie. I thought she was relatable and a well developed character. I couldn’t help but root for her.

I found the supporting characters all unlikable. Sue, her best friend, seemed clueless. She kept forgetting that Sadie couldn’t see faces, and insisted on throwing parties, or leaving Sadie high and dry. It really felt like a missed opportunity to showcase a great friendship.

Overall, this was a mixed bag for me. I think the story and the central character were both great. But the relationships in the book left me disappointed.

Thank you to Netgally for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 stars rounded up --- this story was so unique and such a joy to read.

I loved "The Bodyguard" by Katherine Center, so I was excited to receive an advance copy of "Hello Stranger" and it did not disappoint. I was drawn to Sadie Montgomery from the very first page -- a portrait artist who is entered into a national contest that could finally establish her career as an artist except for the teeny tiny problem that an injury causes her to suffer from a unique condition by which she can no longer see faces.

While Sadie tries to figure out what the heck to do about her upcoming submission, she is also dealing with her lack of an apartment, a tenuous family relationship, a sick dog, a growing attraction to her vet, and a strangely developing relationship with her neighbor Joe. This combination culminates in a wonderfully captivating plot line that had me smiling and loving the ride. While the end result became quickly obvious, I just loved the characters and their development too much to care about the predictability.

This author is a new auto-buy for me!