I read this in two sittings. At first, I wasn't sure about the start, because it begins with a failing artist with a bad relationship with her dad...then she has a seizure...then she needs brain surgery. It's a lot, for a character you don't know that well yet, but stick with it! Right after the surgery is where it really hooked me.

This is a fantastic, quirky but hearttugging story of friendship, kindness to strangers, stubbornness, art, pets, and love. The love story unfolded in an unexpected manner, with terrifically immersive scenes, and the ENDING! It was a surprising, romantic delight and a great new way to do a black moment/climax for a romance.

The hero is a heart-stealer for sure, and it was fascinating reading about the interaction of neuropsychology and muse when she was trying to paint through her face blindness. What a fantastic premise to use to investigate this quite unique neural condition!

The thing I love most about Katherine Center books is that she writes romance in completely her own way. It's not really the "style" of contemporary romance, or Women's Fiction. It feels like its own thing, very genuine and authentic, but still delivering hopeful, heart-swelling romance.

Imagine finding out you just qualified for the a major art show...then you have a seizure. Thinking it's no big deal, you then need to have a minor surgery. You wake up and you can't see faces. You don't recognize the people in front of you. Oh and painting portraits is how you make a living!

Sadie found herself in this exact situation. Not knowing how to complete a portrait for an art show, she works though different painting techniques. Hopeful every time she has a new brain scan that swelling will have subsided and she will be "normal" again.

Along the way, Sadie meets and started a friendship with a neighbor Joe. She also develops a crush on her dog Peanut's vet and decides they are to marry! Sadie and Joe grow closer and help each other see a different side to life and cling to hope of the future.

If you are looking for a fun, whitty, sometimes serious romance full of hope, I highly recommend. Lots of twists to keep you reading and hard to put down!

I really liked this book. It was predictable, but most romances are. The relationship between Sadie and Joe was really sweet. Sadie’s relationship with her Dad and Stepmom also had a nice arc. I love everything Katherine Center writes and always love supporting her. I look forward to every new book she writes!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this ARC. I love Katherine Center. The Bodyguard was one of the my favorite books last year. This is a very different Katherine Center book. It focuses less on romance and more on a girl with facial blindness finding her way. I enjoyed it,

This was a cute read if you're looking for a feel-good book! It was a really interesting story packed with a lot of lessons. I flew through this in two days and loved the characters!

I did guess how the end would turn out so some of the twists weren't very surprising. But other than that, this is so enjoyable and what I'd expect from one of her books! I can't wait to read her backlist.

Imagine your worst nightmare coming true. Sadie Montgomery is a portrait artist. One day, she has a neurological event that leaves her unable to see faces. The doctors say this facility might return-- or she might always be face-blind. This could be a problem as Sadie is a finalist in an important portrait painting contest. She needs to see faces.

Sadie is determined to keep this health information from as many people as possible, as if this it were somehow her fault. She works to recognize people by cues other than their faces.

Will her ability to see faces ever return?

I read "What You Wish For" by this author and enjoyed it very much. It was cozy and sweet and the premise was intriguing. "Hello, Stranger" ratchets up the stakes with a very high-stakes problem.

I enjoyed "Hello, Stranger" immensely. It is one of those books that you just keep reading because you just want to know how it all turns out. I highly recommend it.

I received this Advanced Readers' Edition from NetGalley and am giving an honest review.

Center Strikes Again. This is another feel-good story from Center that takes an unusual situation and uses it to show how even suddenly-forced differences can be used to tremendous effect - without ever feeling like she is white-washing the difficulties of the given condition at hand. Indeed, Center goes into detail showing the various struggles here, but also how they can be overcome and adapted to. Along the way, we also get a strong and relatable tale of finding yourself and finding what truly matters to you... and some pretty hilarious sequences as well. :) Overall a strong and interesting book that puts a more "real" spin on this particular condition than the *few* other books I've read that feature it (which tend to do into more paranormal/ thriller spaces). Very much recommended.

Katherine Center is an automatic read for me, and this book did not disappoint! Sadie is trying to hit her big break as an artist & with a portrait competition coming up she needs to focus. But when she’s nearly hit by a car & taken into the hospital to ensure she’s okay, she finds out she needs a surgery, on her brain, weeks before the competition. She needs this competition, and she needs to win it, for herself, for her doctor dad, annoying step mother, & worst of all, life ruining step sister. She needs to prove them wrong, & prove to herself that she can do it. But this surgery has to happen in order for her to survive, but with it comes costs, some that no one could have anticipated. One being that she cannot see faces - can’t recognize people by the way their faces look, & although it should be temporary, this causes huge issues for her art, especially since she’s competing in a portrait show. Worst timing ever.

I loved this & highly recommend it. Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martins Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers, for this free review copy.

I am a huge Katherine Center fan and this one was fantastic! It’s about something I have never read about before, prosopagnosia, or in other words, face blindness. I thought this was so interesting to learn about, and it would be heart breaking to have to learn how to live with this. I always love when books teach me something new.

Once again, the characters were great. I love that Center makes these characters so relatable. Sadie was one that you instantly fell in love with and cheered for. And Joe was the perfect gentleman and the perfect character to help Sadie through some of her struggles.

This book had the perfect amount of romance, family drama, quirks and parts that just made you laugh out loud. I can’t recommend Center’s books enough, and I hope you enjoy it as much as me. Hello Stranger is on sale July 11th, 2023. Yes, it’s a few months away, and I couldn’t hold off any longer to read it! Make sure you pre order it, or ask your library to. It’s worth the read! 🥰

Thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher, for this free review copy. All opinions are my own.

Screaming, crying, throwing up OMG THIS BOOK IS EVERYTHING. HE WAS THE SAME MAN ALL ALONG, I mean I literally guessed this from the beginning but I was still so shook when it was revealed Katherine Center basically does not miss and this book is the latest in a long line of absolute tear your heart out, gorgeous, swoon-y romances. The best thing about her books is that the heroines always learn to love themselves just as much as they fall in love with the most perfect men. Safe to say I am OBSESSED with this book now.

Joy. Heart. Laughter.

That's what you get when you read a book by Katherine Center. And the author wouldn't have it any other way. In her essay "Read for Joy," Center explains, "When I talk about reading for joy, I'm talking about reading from the heart."

Katherine Center continues the joy-heart-laughter triage with her newest novel Hello Stranger.

Sadie is a struggling portrait artist living in the rooftop storage room of an apartment building owned by her best friend's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Kim. Sue Kim is the bestie all of us introverts secretly yearn for, someone who "always optimistically, energetically, and joyfully searched out ways...to extrovert" while at the same time offering unconditional love and support. And Joe is Sadie's annoying neighbor who just happens to turn up and offer the exact help Sadie needs when she finds herself in a difficult spot.

And speaking of difficult spots, Sadie undergoes lifesaving brain surgery, which is successful but results in prosopagnosia, or the inability to see faces. Throw in a once-in-a-lifetime national portrait competition (can you even paint a face if you can't see it?), a sick dog, a father from whom Sadie is largely estranged, a toxic step-sister whose raison d'être is to torment Sadie, and you have the makings of a rollicking good time. Or one of those just-one-more-chapter resolutions that turns into an all-night readathon.

Hello Stranger delivers on its heart and joy promise. Your heart will grow two sizes, reformed Grinch-style, as you embrace the funny, indomitable protagonist Sadie who refuses to abandon her dream or the lure of love. You'll welcome joy at those times Sadie triumphs, cringe when she epic-fails, and cheer when she dusts herself off.

So we've covered heart and joy, but we mustn't forget laughter. Hello Stranger contains oodles of smile-worthy moments and some laugh-out-loud, don't-read-this in a-hushed-hall guffaws. Most of the laughter takes place in scenes with Sadie and Joe, which is exactly where you want it.

[One slight flaw in the plot is a scene of implausible coincidence, but I had so much fun reading said scene (think heart and joy) that I'm willing to overlook some pesky statistical improbability.]

I've recently become a Katherine Center fangirl (okay, so technically not a girl for some decades now, but whatevs), and Hello Stranger ranks in the top tier of my favorite Katherine Center novels.

Hello Stranger will be out in July, so pre-order it now and you'll be able to fill your soul with heart, joy, and laughter this summer. But that's a few months away. In the meantime. you can get started reading Katherine Center with another one of my favorites, What You Wish For.

Enjoy!

I received a copy of Hello Stranger from NetGalley.

Another five starred review is coming up for one of my favorite romance authors who knows how to play with the strings of our hearts with her uplifting, feel good, sentimental stories and sweetest characters!

This time Katherine Center approaches neurovascular issues such as cavernoma, prosopagnosia ( face blindness), informing us about how many people suffer from diagnosis, coping strategies, effects of the daily lives of the people!

I haven’t known there was so much people suffer from face blindness and interestingly some of them are living their lives without knowing their condition.
This is absolutely another heart warming story contains a lovely mystery:

This twisty, entertaining, lighthearted romance is centered on Sadie Montgomery who is struggling artist, barely making ends meet, living in her art studio because she’s broke. Her estranged father is successful surgeon who never approves the life choices she’s made. After losing her mother, Sadie’s life completely changes. Her father marries with Lucinda and she gets bullied by her evil incarnation step sister Parker for over and over. ( Parker is worst kind of villanelle who earns ten million slapping points: Because of her Sadie gets kicked out from her school, losing her reputation, her boyfriend. Even her own father picks Parker’s side: she also loses her entire family)

When she has a seizure in the middle of the street, being saved by a Good Samaritan from being hit by a car, she opens her eyes at the hospital, seeing her Martha Stewart’s evil step sister a.k.a. stepmother is giving her worried looks. The doctor’s diagnosis takes her breath away: There’s a malformed blood vessel in the brain: called cavernoma. She might be living with this lesion in her entire life and now she needs to have a surgery. The timing couldn’t be so bad because she becomes finalist at highly prestigious portrait competition and she has not much time to finish her task.

But having a surgery is not the worst thing that will change her future. After the surgery she realizes she cannot see the people’s faces. She cannot differentiate between her best friend Sue and arch nemesis Parker. Everybody looks like stranger to her.

How can she draw a portrait when she can see people’s faces? As she tries so hard to cope with her own situation she finds herself between a love triangle. She falls for two men and she still didn’t know how their faces look like. One of them is womanizer bad boy/ helpful Joe lives in her apartment and the other one is good hearted veterinarian who saved her dog Peanut’s life!

Her doctor tells in a few weeks she may get healed and start seeing the people’s faces but what if her condition is not temporary? She can lose her entire career she’s worked for and she may also lose the chance to look into the eyes of her potential soul mate : helpful neighbor Joe or veterinarian with perfect gait! Eventually she has to make a choice!

I foresaw the big twist but it was still entertaining to read the surprising revelations! This is emotional, inspirational and highly enjoyable, heartwarming reading that highly deserved my shiny five stars!

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sharing this perfect digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in December, and I’ve vowed to always read a Katherine Center as soon as its available. This is another delightful rom-com from Center, although my favorite remains Wish You Were Here. Hello Stranger is about a portrait painter who suffers a freak accident… which renders her unable to see faces. It happens just weeks before a major contest deadline approaches, a day after she meets a cute stranger, and you can guess where the story goes from there. It’s not too fluffy, not too swoon-y, and just right for when you are in a reading slump and need a pick-me-up (which was me in early December). It comes out in July 2023 — add it to your library list ASAP.

If you’ve been around here for long, you already know that I’ve never met a Katherine Center book that I didn’t like. Something about them just feels like being wrapped up in my warmest, fuzziest, heaviest blanket. They feel a bit predictable, yes…but in a *good* way that feels safe. I love them.

Hello Stranger was no exception. It brought all the warm fuzzies, but it also brought a really interesting plot, quirky and lovable characters, a sweet (mostly) closed door romance, and laugh-out-loud dialogue.

In the author’s note at the end, Center talks about the purpose of romance novels as a genre and how she hopes her books deliver the anticipation of hope—I think she knocked it out of the park with Hello Stranger, which comes out July 11, 2023. Just go ahead and pre-order this one now, and save it for a time when you need some sunshine and hope in your life!

This is my favorite book yet by Katherine Center. It had everything...touching moments, funny dialogue, an evil step-sister (one of the worst people I've come across in a book lately), romance, family drama... I can't wait for this book to come out so all my friends can read it.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the advanced copy. This was one of my favorites of the year.

Oh boy. I loved this book SO MUCH. Katherine Center has a way of pulling the reader in-letting us feel all the feels. There were tears and big goofy grins…I loved it!!
I would suggest going in blind and just enjoy!!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's for an ARC of this book.

I studiously avoid reading blurbs and reviews of books before I plunge in because I hate spoilers and I want to experience the book as it unfolds with no expectations. So this book was a delightful surprise. I had no clue where things were going. I had no idea who the LI was until about 40% in which made this an occasionally unsettling read for me, a romance reader who needs to know who to ship. I appreciate that the author hides more from the protagonist than from the reader--obviously giving the reader enough credit to unravel mysteries and enjoy how the MC and LI get there on their own.

The thing I loved most about this book was being in Sadie's head. She and Joe both are for the most part optimistic happy people and it was fun and easy to hang with them. There was plenty of drama and angst woven throughout, but overall, this wasn't a heavy read. I had to park my disbelief in willing suspense for large parts of this as coincidences piled up, but none of that detracted from how compulsively readable this was.

This is one of those books you'll curl up with for a couple of hours and soon discover it's the middle of the night.

So in love with this book. This is a great book of hope, courage, and positivity. We all need a little more of all of this in our life. This is my third book to read by Katherine Center and none of them have been a disappointment. This is ANOTHER GREAT read from Katherine Center.

I am a lover of all books Katherine Center. I was thrilled when I saw that she (and Netgalley) gifted me this eARC for her new book! Sadie loses her eyesight just weeks before a major art show, causing her to lose the ability to see faces. This book was enlightening, real, and just absolutely heartwarming. I could feel Sadie’s emotions pouring out of the pages.

So well done by Katherine Center, yet again. A top pick for 2023!

Here’s the deal. I rolled my eyes heavily, several times in the story. I figured out the “twist” immediately, early on. I didn’t like Sadie at all. The coincidences needed to tie up this story were quite a stretch. And yet…I smiled through the ending. This is a story where you need to leave all solid reasoning behind, and just go with it. And then it’s a cute read.