The way this was unlike anything I have ever read was just a breathe of fresh air. Romance can be run into the ground as far as things becoming very similar within the genre but this was just so fresh and new and I loved every second of it! Thankful to have been sent the ARC and would love to review for this author in the future!

Review on my TikTok is up now!

This was my first Katherine Center romance novel and I was pleasantly surprised. Sadie Montgomery an artist following in her mother’s footsteps faces the struggles of adulthood and life estranged from her father and “evil” stepmother/sister. She has placed in the top 10 for an art competition and everything is going smooth until she has a seizure in the middle of the street and has to get brain surgery. After her surgery she develops acquired face blindness and must figure out how to get through life and her art competition with these new challenges. Enter the only love triangle I actually approved of when she finds herself liking her dog’s veterinarian and the man that lives down the hall in her building. I really enjoyed how much Sadie changed and how she finally realized that her ability to see people’s faces didn’t change who she was or who she had to be. It was a great book, very entertaining twists some being more predictable than others but I really enjoyed this book! Thanks to NetGalley and Katherine Center for the chance to read this ARC!

Just when I thought I had learned everything in the medical field from Grey’s Anatomy, along comes Hello Stranger and teaches me about prosopagnosia. That led to a rabbit hole on Google so I could dive further into this diagnosis. I found the diagnosis and the book, Hello Stranger, wildly fascinating. I can’t imagine having a seizure that turns into a necessary brain surgery then finding out mr wrong was actually Mr. Right and Mr. Right that was wrong is also Mr. Right. So much juggling.
This book is going to be a hit.

*Publish date 7/11/23 - Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.*

Wow! Another book I simply loved by Katherine Center. This novel was heart wrenching (I cried), heart warming (I was rooting for Sadie), mysterious (unexpected twists), and ended in a way that just made me smile!

Sadie Montgomery had been dealt some hard blows in her life - starting with the death of her mother when Sadie was just 14. Her dad remarries soon afterwards, but the new step mother and step sister form bonds that leave Sadie feeling even more alone. Fast forward a few years, and we find Sadie as a struggling artist who just received news that could be her big break. She is a finalist in a prestigious competition for portrait artists that will take place in six weeks. Then, through a series of unfortunate events, Sadie finds out that she needs to have immediate brain surgery to repair a genetic condition. The recovery time is estimated to be just a few days, so Sadie has the surgery. There is a rare complication that results in Sadie being able to see the individual components of a face but not the see a face as it should be composed (prosopagnosia). This is problematic on its own but especially for a portrait artist who is a finalist in a portrait competition! Sadie's journey in learning to cope with this condition is enlightening and you see how friends and family both support and hinder the healing process. As with all of Katherine Center's books, the characters are endearing, the plot is engaging, and the ending is satisfying. There is hope, There is kindness. There is love. The last line says it best: The more good things you look for, the more you find.

Highly recommend this book! 4.5 Stars

To quote Katherine Center herself, “This love story really created fantastic anticipation!” As I was reading, I had a pretty good idea of where the story was heading, but the predictability didn’t ruin it for me. Instead, I was just excited to see it all play out!!

The Bodyguard was one of my favorite books of 2022, so I had high hopes Hello Stranger. Thankfully, it did not disappoint. I loved the banter. I loved Sadie and Peanut. I loved every ridiculous twist and turn. It was an almost perfect read… except for Parker. I didn’t find her to be a believable character. Her meanness was so over the top and evil that she felt more like a caricature of a bad guy. I honestly don’t even feel like she added much to the story either. Parker aside, Hello Stranger has easily made it on my list of fave romcoms.

I’m a huge fan of Katherine Center’s books, so when I got the chance to read Hello I Stranger in advance I was excited. This was a perfect read for me right now. I needed a book with hope and this was it. Hello Stranger is one of those fun, easy books that you just can’t put down. The main character, Sadie, is quirky and likable, and the plot is interesting, even if it was a little predictable at times. It made me laugh out loud, smile as I rooted for Sadie, and see things from a whole new perspective.

Sadie, a struggling artist, was finally getting her big break - a chance to win $10,000 in a portrait competition. The only problem is Sadie can no longer see faces, due to swelling in her brain from an unexpected surgery. How can you paint portraits without seeing the faces?! The book takes us on Sadie’s journey to overcome her challenges and redefine who she is and what matters the most. And of course, she finds love along the way.

The only thing I didn’t love was the evil stepsister. She was unnecessarily cruel, and I don’t think her character added to the storyline. By the end of the book, I had forgotten about her.

Ultimately, everyone loves a happily ever after, and this one was perfect to me! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in advance in exchange for my honest review.

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center
Publishing Date - July 11th 2023
Rating (5/5) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for this arc. Loved it! I always enjoy a Katherine Center read. All of her books are feel-good reads! Highly recommend this one when it releases in July.

Wow this book was really interesting! I’d never heard of prosopagnosia before now, and it seems like a terrifying diagnosis and circumstance, so I’d be lying if I said much of this book didn’t have me cringing and eeking and forgetting that it was a romance because so much of it was SAD!

To be honest I struggle a bit with rating it and prob lean towards a 3.5 - 4 stars because of how much more I enjoyed the Bodyguard by Katherine Center, more than this book. I really felt so sidetracked by her sad life circumstances with her family, the diagnosis, and honestly the sort of crummy BFF Sue was in my opinion. I did enjoy the romance but it was kind of a twist on the misunderstanding trope which isn’t a trope I adore, so really the book had a lot stacked against it for me unfortunately.

Thank you to NetGalley, St Martin’s Press, and Katherine Center for the ARC copy to read and review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

Katherine Center has done it again. I honestly don’t think there is book of hers I dislike. Hello Stranger is definitely worth the read!

Thank you very much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

2.5⭐️
I was so excited to read Katherine Center’s newest book with the CUTEST cover after absolutely loving The Bodyguard. Unfortunately, this book fell a bit flat. I wasn’t very interested in it and it just felt a little weird and all over the place.

I will say that the plot was very creative. The MC, Sadie, can no longer see people’s faces after having surgery- so crazy! And she is a portrait artist😮 Sadie’s family was terrible and I thought it was too unbelievable how their story left off. I don’t think I have EVER hated a character in a book the way I hated Sadie’s stepsister, Parker.

There were some sweet parts between Sadie&Joe (I really liked Joe!) and I laughed a bunch of times but overall just not the book for me.

I enjoyed this book so much that I finished it in one sitting! While I knew where the story was going, it was fun to be a fly on the wall watching the missed connections between characters as well as the internal struggles of Sadie. As someone who has experienced some abrupt medical challenges, I connected with her desire to be strong/independent, vulnerable/afraid of "what ifs" and unknowns.

This is my second read by Katherine Center, and I will be reading more of her work!

If you’re reading this Katherine, I wouldn’t mind some “bone-us” scenes with Joe + Sadie ;)

This one was very cute. I thought the main character was super funny, and her internal monologue always made me laugh. Definitely an easy, palette cleanser read as it was lighthearted while still tackling hard issues. My only issues were that I felt the romance wasn't fleshed out enough, and I thought it was pretty predictable (I guessed the plot twist when I read the blurb). Overall a good read though!

Hello Stranger is delightful! Main character Sadie goes through a transformation as she overcomes many obstacles, and I think many people, myself included, can see at least a little bit of themselves in her. While this is my first read by Katherine Center, it will definitely not be my last. I plan to add Center’s other novels to my TBR. Center intrigues you from the start and paints a vivid scene throughout Hello Stranger. It was hard to put down! I plan to obtain a physical copy of the book when it’s published in July and recommend it to anyone who enjoys contemporary romance. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.

The way I screamed when this arc landed on my kindle. It’s been one of my most anticipated reads for 2023!!

Once again, Katherine Center KNOWS how to write a romance. I smiled, I swooned, and tears were shed.

I felt ALL the things for and WITH our main character Sadie. Her butterflies, loss, humiliation, fear, incredulousness, and most of all—her hope.

Sadie Montgomery is a struggling portrait artist who might just be on the brink of her first big break. As a finalist in an upcoming portrait competition, Sadie has 6 weeks to create her entry portrait. The timing couldn’t be worse, when she emerges from an emergency brain surgery with Prosopagnosia— the inability to see faces.

I had no idea that so many people (2% of the world’s population!) currently have a form of prosopagnosia. I love the way Katherine Center chose to make this condition a central part of this story to draw awareness to it!

Hello Stranger is an emotional story of the way we remember who we’ve loved and lost, choosing to chase happiness, and learning to see the world around us in beautiful new ways.

5/5 ★

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this wonderful ARC.

I know that whatever I‘m trying to express in this review it will never do the feelings I got from reading this book justice!

The premise of the story sounded so interesting and I have to admit, I don‘t think I had never really heard about face blindness and couldn’t imagine how it would work out in a book.
It was great to learn more about this condition.

I was very intrigued by Sadie right from the beginning. She was so amazingly stubborn and it was more than relatable. As someone who grew up with someone very similar to Parker, I can relate so much to Sadie.
Joe on the other hand annoyed me a bit at first with him always wanting to help and I feel like it can get a bit too much but in the end it was actually the perfect dose of being helpful.
Dr. Addison tho, I loved it and then I was super mad and then.. plot twist!
Overall, I feel like all the characters felt so unique and lovable. It‘s such an art being able to write characters like that and the author did that beautifully!

There was so much to take away from the book and from Sadie. I can‘t remember any romance book that ever inspired me to follow my dream and to keep pushing no matter what the universe throws at me and I really needed to hear this right now!

Honestly, I would read about anything by Katherine Center at this point! This book was just magical!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an arc in exchange for an honest review

HOLY MOLY I loved this one. I read and loved the Bodyguard, so I had really high hopes for this one. And to say it succeeded is an understatement. This book was so unique with Sadie's inability to see faces, and done so well that I didn't see the twist until it smacked me right in the face!!!! Katherine Center has a unique way to make characters either so likeable (when they should be) and so hateable (when they should be), which is exactly what she did with Parker. I wanted to reach into the book pages and just smack her!!!!!! I do wish there were parts of the story that were a little more fleshed out, but overall, I would read and reread this book all over again!!!

I enjoyed this book a lot! It’s my fifth Katherine Center, but I’d recommend most of her other books before I’d recommend this one.

What I loved:
- I thought the premise of the plot was really unique. Loved that the protagonist was an artist! Overall an engaging read.
- I felt the tension and the romance was believable. Loved the twist and didn’t see it coming.

What didn’t work for me:
- The side characters, namely her best friend and step-sister, were underdeveloped and felt over-the-top. There wasn’t a meaningful resolution with either relationship where she had been wronged.
- Felt like the resolution with the dad was forced given the amount of tension leading up to it.

4.25/5

I was so pleased to received an ARC of this book. Thank you to NetGalley and St.Martin’s press for the opportunity to review.

I adored this book. In her author’s not Katherine Center describes herself as devouring romance novels and that’s exactly what I did with this. I read this book on the flight from Charlotte to Tampa. This means in a little over two hours I had read and fallen in love with this plot and characters. The timing itself speaks volumes about how good the pacing was. I had read ‘The Bodyguard’ by Center last summer but this was even better. There were things I saw coming but watching it all unfold for the characters was a real delight. I will be watching for Center in the future and will definitely be picking up a copy of this one in July.

Nit-Picks…You can’t leave comments on Etsy. You have to buy an item to leave a review.
Parker was way too mean for someone who is an adult with a job. Felt a little unrealistic that she’d be taking such drastic measures to be so cruel to someone.

Hello Stranger was a sweet novel that is exactly what you want it to be- It handles even the heavier subjects with a little bit of fluff. The characters are largely uncomplicated, and everything turns out just right. And, just as Center explains in her Author's note, that is exactly how it should be.

This book was fun to read and I learned so much about "face blindness" It felt like the Author actually did real research and worked hard to explain a condition that is largely difficult to explain and almost impossible to fathom.

I did think Piper;s story never really got an explanation- she seemed SO mean without any real justification. More depth to her character would have helped me understand why she was so awful- Are people just really that mean in real life!?

Nearly every plot point in the book was predictable- some people will be fine with that, others will be annoyed. I would have liked a surprise or two at the end, but that didn't stop me from enjoying these sweet characters and story a lot.

Solid 4 stars!

Whatever Katherine Center is writing I’ll read. This is set in Houston and a beautifully done story. The main character has to navigate her world in a new way while falling in love. It was so smart and touching 10/10 recommend. I really loved these characters. Thank you much to NetGalley for giving me an advanced arc in exchange for my honest review. I love Katherine Center’s books and this is no exception.