Katherine Center is like the hallmark channel in an author form. I love her stories and they leave my heart so happy and wanting more. This is by far my FAVORITE story Katherine has written. This was such a sweet story that I can’t recommend enough. Literally everyone who asked me during the holiday “did you read anything good?” I kept saying Hello Stranger that’s coming out this summer. Two people already pre-ordered it and I can tell you that’s the best thing they’re going to do in 2023.

Oh I love Katherine Center books, but sadly this one fell flat for me. Normally I binge read her books and can't put them down, however I found myself getting easily distracted with this one and probably would have DNF'd it if Katherine Center hadn't written it. Please note there are some vague spoilers below.

I felt that it took to long for the FMC and the MMC to interact with any real meaning, and so much time was spent on her medical diagnosis (which yes, I realize is the main thing that happened to her but if you read it you will understand), her drama with her sister, her confusion with Joe's 'weaselly' habits, and even her relationship with her father and step mother.

I really enjoyed the last 1/4 of the book, but that to me didnt make up for the rest of the book. Honestly, I just didn't feel the chemistry between them and when I worked out the 'plot' twist, it didnt make sense to me that Joe/The Vet couldn't work out that she was treating him differently when she interacted with him at work and then when he was off work.

3 Stars.

Thanks to St Martins and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Katherine Center has never let me down, and 'Hello Stranger' was no exception. I love when a book makes me open up Google while I'm reading (this time: what does face blindness look like?) while still being fun. I usually hate the miscommunication trope in a romance novel, but in this case, it didn't feel silly due to the nature of Sadie's condition - I wouldn't want anyone to know either.

This is the perfect read for romance fans, especially those who love a bit of a Cinderella story.

**Spoilers**

One of my favorite parts of 'Hello Stranger' is the way Center wrote 'twists' so that the reader could easily figure out what's happening, but were forced to watch Sadie figure it out with time. I thought it was so, so obvious that 'Joe' was talking about a dog in the elevator at the beginning of the story, and it took about two-thirds of the novel for Sadie to figure it out. The "Joe"/Dr. Addison mix up was another one that was so obvious to the reader, but not to Sadie, and you really just wanted to shout into the book and tell her to COMMUNICATE.

**End Spoilers**

Thank you to Katherine Center and St. Martin's Press for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This will be my last 5 Blush reads of 2022, and the book doesn't even come out until 2023! I read The Body Guard by Katherine Center this year and LOVED it, so when an opportunity to read this book early came, I jumped on it!

I found this book to be so unique, and I think that's hard in the world of romance.

Our main character, Sadie, has something called Prosopagnosia; aka acquired "Face Blindness" (which is a real thing, btw). And as a portrait artist having face blindness is devastating.

Sadie is a young lady who has had some hardships in life. She lost her mother when she was young, has no relationship with her father or stepmother, and has a horrible relationship with his "evil" stepsister. She does have an amazing friend and her family that love her like their own.

After finding out she has to have brain surgery and has edema, which causes her face blindness - navigating life and work is very challenging.

Sadie begins a friendship with Joe from her building, a guy she overhears talking badly about someone in the elevator but finds he's really a good guy. She also is interested in the new vet she takes her best friend and dog, Peanut. She is convinced that the good doctor is her soul mate, but maybe he's not.

The thing is this...she has never seen either of their faces but gets to know them without ever laying eyes on their faces.

I absolutely loved everything about the characters, the writing, and a few little twist and turns that Katherine Center put into this story. I can't wait for the rest of the world to meet Sadie, Joe, and Dr. Oliver Addison

Side note - Make sure you read the Author's note at the end. I felt such kinship with this note and all she's feeling about reading and writing romance.

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center follows Sadie who needs a surgery that will end up changing everything in her life, including her job as an artist.

I loved as the relationship grew between Sadie and her neighbor Joe although I found the story very predictable from the beginning.

I especially recommend this book if you liked previous Katherine Center books - this is the same type of heartwarming story that feels cozy!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC.

I just l love Katherine Center books. They make me feel warm and happy inside, she makes the world a better place. She never ceases to bring me joy. Another thing I love about her is that all of her books have such unique and vastly different plots- and her characters are so easy to fall in love with. This story was wholesome and heartwarming and incredibly sweet!

Well, this was just an absolute delight of a read. I adore the stories Katherine Center writes, and this was one of my faves. When I read her stories, I find I can't read them fast enough, and I'm also sad when they're over and wish it hadn't ended so quickly! What I love most is the unique premise she has her story. Relationships are at the center of what she writes, but the way they develop is so captivating. This story centers on Sadie, an artist who has face blindness after an operation. This is especially a problem because she draws faces and is nearing her big break. Sadie tries to navigate her blindness without telling anyone - This presents some challenges with family, friends, and new potential romance. This was just a book that had me drawn in with the emotions of Sadie's experience, and I was rooting for her so, so hard. Also, there is a reflection about romance novels at the end of this one by the author that is a must-read essay. Thanks to NetGalley for the early look at this July 2023 release. It's not too early to start counting the days until summer and this book's release y'all!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely love Katherine Center books. Her writing always makes me smile, her books are always full of joy.

Sadie Montgomery suffers from face blindness after emergency brain surgery, which poses a major problem as she is a portrait artist. As she is recovering from surgery and finding ways to adjust to her new "normal", Sadie is faced with family drama as well as a heart torn between two men. Throw in a funny best friend and this may be my new favorite Katherine Center book!

Katherine Center does it again. Hello, Stranger thoughtfully navigates the medical condition of Prosopagnosia (also known as face blindness) to tell the story of Sadie Montgomery - a portrait artist on the cusp of her big break.

With a lovable cast of characters and a strong theme of found family, Center shows a woman coping with grief and her own place in the world on the way to finding love.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

I have been a fan of Katherine Center since my very first book review that I was asked to do for her. Her characters are very relatable, real people and Hello Stranger continues this example.

Our main character is Sadie Montgomery, a portrait artist living on the edge of homelessness. We find that she has a contentious relationship with her father, a disapproving of her career doctor.

While out getting prepared for a party to celebrate her acceptance in career-altering art competition, Sadie passes out on a street corner and winds up in the hospital with a life-changing condition requiring brain surgery. The surgery, inconveniently, needs to be completed within the same few weeks she has to finish her piece for the art competition if she's going to survive.

After surgery to repair the defect in her brain, Sadie learns that she has acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia, also called face blindness, which is an impairment in the recognition of facial identity. This makes is all but impossible for her to complete her piece for the competition in her traditional style.

Sadie is really blessed to have a good girlfriend in the building where she lives as well as a very interesting man, who seems to be having liaisons with many of the women in the building. In a bizarre twist, Sadie begins a friendship with this man while having a thing for her dog's veterinarian.

While the plot is a real life possibility, the absurdness of Sadie's relationships makes this story really amusing. This is another hit for Katherine Center and I continue to recommend her.

I received this book from St. Martin's Press for free in exchange for an honest review.

This book is like being in a hammock on a cool summer evening sipping lemonade while the crickets chirp. It just feels good. You know how there are books where you want them to go on forever? I couldn’t wait for this one to end and NOT because I didn’t love it. I adored it. I just couldn’t wait for the happy ending. I loved and adored Sadie, Peanut, her love triangle, her hovel, her obstinance, etc. etc. etc. I wanted her happily ever after, dammit.

Katherine, if you happen to read this, I want you to know that the book was made just that much better by your author’s note and you can consider this my official petition to put it at the beginning of the book. I think it’s something us romance readers all understand. There’s a formula. They fall in love, they break up, they come back together.

The trick to good romance then isn’t to surprise the reader. It’s to make them care so much about the characters you just can’t stop reading until you get what you came for.

This book did that perfectly.

In case this doesn’t post with the time, it is currently 1:03 am. I’ve been reading for nearly 3 hours. I find myself quite satisfied.

Well, you can never go wrong with a Katherine Center novel. Center's latest novel, Hello Stranger, ends with an Author's Note that perfectly sums up why I love her books. This note focuses on the significance of romance novels---specifically how they can give readers hope but still include tragedy and struggles. Center's books always have the perfect balance of lovable characters who encounter serious struggles that leave you rooting for them, and this novel was no exception. Hello Stranger follows Sadie and her struggle to identify people's faces (formally known as prosopagnosia) after an unexpected health scare and surgery. While the romance aspect of the book certainly delivers (and I promise you, you will fall in love with Joe), Center also created vivid characters and relationships that add to the complexity and make you root for Sadie even more.

Center has the uncanny ability to create a book so comforting that you don't want to put it down bit also don't want it to end.

I am so thankful to Netgalley for providing this ARC.

An absolutely adorable book packed with emotion and struggle! Sadie’s character was facing such a life altering diagnosis and as optimistic as she was, she still had a pessimistic side they came through when she was most vulnerable. My heart broke for her and the absolute tornado that blew through her life. On the flip side, I loved her perseverance and out of the box way of thinking and surviving.

The ups and downs in this read were utterly captivating. I felt as though I was right there in Sadie’s world, struggling alongside her. Celebrating alongside her and falling for the hero alongside her. Katherine Center has such a way of sucking you into her characters’ world!

The ending of Hello Stranger was everything I hoped for! Loved, loved, loved it!!!

I was overjoyed when I was asked to preview an early copy of this book. I was looking for something fun and uplifting and this book did just that. Sadie Montgomery is the leading character. She is a struggling actress who is looking for a big break through in her career.
She struggles financially and also has a strained relationship with her father, stepmom, and stepsister.
Sadie's motto is basically " can do it on my own, I don't need your help." Without spoiling the rest of the book, something happens to Sadie that alters her outlook/ perspective on life. She meets a veterinarian who helps her through some life's challenges but it is not an easy road for either of them. Once again, I loved Katherine's one liners that are so deep and perplexing. As Katherine puts it, "This love story really created fantastic anticipation."
Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book.

Absolutely wonderful. Like, REALLY wonderful. I loved every single word of this entire book and cannot wait to reread it in the future. I stayed up too late and woke up early, eager to continue reading about Sadie.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my complimentary e-arc. All opinions here are my own.

Sadie is a portrait artist trying to make a living doing what she loves. After a medical emergency and surgery on her brain she loses the ability to recognize faces, spelling disaster for her career. As she tries to recover, hoping the damage is temporary, she meets Joe in her apartment building and Dr. Addison at the vets office and falls a little bit in love with them both. As she gets to know them, she knows she'll have to choose one and tell him about her face blindness if she wants to have a real relationship.
Katherine Center's books are always so fun and each so unique. I've never heard of face blindness before and it was interesting to hear how someone with it could have issues navigating the world, especially someone like Sadie, whose condition was new and affects her career to such an extent. I really liked Joe and his inclination to help everyone makes him that much more likeable. Sadie's attempts to paint his portrait were funny, especially with her friend Sue's various descriptions of the results. I'd have liked to see more of the aftermath of the gallery show with Sadie's family, that was a bit too brief and vague for me. I also guessed the big twist here almost at the beginning though it was still a fun read. I'll definitely be picking up any new works by Center as they are always entertaining.

There was an element of suspense that I didn’t realize I would have throughout this novel. I so desperately wanted the characters to know what I knew and couldn’t wait until it all unfolded. I think there is something missing from this novel. It has the Katherine Center shine but not the sparkle. Still a great read!

The easiest 5 stars!

The more books I read by Katherine Center the more I love her! The writing, storytelling, her characters and the message of hope is exceptional. I was completely drawn into this fun and original storyline and could not put this book down! The thing I find so meaningful with her books are the added insights, awareness, and observations her characters share, especially Sadie, in this book. I tend to highlight sentences that speak to me while reading, but in this case it would have been the whole book!

Thank you Katherine Center for saying so many things I needed to hear. Thank you, and to NetGally for my advanced reader copy of Hello Stranger which publishes on 7/11/23. I could not have loved it more!

Katherine Carter is not your typical rom-com writer thats for sure. Her books are not only comforting but have unique plots, strong character development and she has a great sense of humor. I loved The Bodyguard so i was super stoked to read another novel by her. Absolutely fabulous- I loved this one too! Thanks Netgalley & the publisher for the ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

Katherine Center is an auto buy author for me. Things I love about her books: they’re normally set in Texas and they always give me all the warm fuzzies. She’s definitely a comfort read and as always, I was stoked to get an ARC of Hello Stranger.

Sadie Montgomery, after hitting rock bottom, is a top 10 finalist in a portrait contest that could be her big break. On her way to celebrate her exciting news, Sadie is saved from almost getting hit by a bus and finds out she need emergency brain surgery. While the surgery goes off without a hitch, her recovery isn’t quite as smooth and has left her unable to recognize faces. Face Blindness isn’t great for her prospects of being a portrait artist, but at least her neighbor Joe and her best friend are willing to help her practice and hopefully save her career.

I really love the way Center crafts her characters. They tend to be extremely realistic, full of flaws, but ultimately, we see so much growth in them throughout the story. I really wanted to love Sadie, but I thought she was just an ‘Ok’ main character. I can’t put my finger on why, so it’s probably a ‘Me’ problem. Her relationship with her family was also a bit unrealistic and those two factors took this down a star for me. I could have done without the ‘wicked stepsister and stepmother’ bit.

On the positive side – Joe is such a great love interest. I loved his patience with Sadie and the way they interacted. I LOVED LOVED peanut. As a major dog lover, throwing in a dog who eats better than my own dog SADIE, just makes my heart happy. Lastly, you can always tell that Center spends time researching her books. The details and depicts of face blindness within the story was really well done. This is also the first story about face blindness (that I’ve read) that dives deeper into the different types, how it can be developed, and how people’s experiences can different.

Honestly, I just adore Katherine Center’s writing, and having met her a few times I also think she is such a joyful human. While this isn’t my favorite of her recent books, it’s still adorable and you won’t regret reading it.

Hello Stranger comes out July 11, 2023! Huge thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review, please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof.books.