Katherine Center knows how to write a story that happens to be romance. As our MC Sadie, a portrait artist, struggles to adjust to (possibly temporary) face blindness while not telling anyone (what could go wrong?!), she has to deal with family trauma. Be sure to stay for the author's note and the acknowledgements.

Katherine Center’s books are a dose of serotonin. Funny, warm, and endearing. I started this one on a whim and read it straight through.
•
Sadie is a portrait artist on the verge of her big break when an accident leaves her face blind. The story is basically her muddling around trying to navigate her new circumstances. Enter a couple of men who definitely make things more interesting! 🥰
•
I don’t think you will be shocked by any reveals in this book, and I don’t think that is the author’s intent anyway. But you will be charmed. And smitten. And smiley. And that’s enough for me to keep choosing KC’s books over and over again! 💙
•
Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced e-copy!!

The number one emotion I felt throughout this book was anticipation. I also started crying on page 20, so I knew it was going to be excellent.

I don't like miscommunication as a trope when adults just don't speak to one another. But this book was such a fascinating look at the challenge face-blindness poses. I loved how it all played out. And wished we got more romance.

Trigger warnings for graphic mentions of suicide and severe bullying.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced review copy of “Hello Stranger” by Katherine Center. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really liked ‘The Bodyguard’ by this author so I was eager to pick her latest book up. The premise of this was so intriguing! Sadie’s journey with face blindness and how it related to how she approaches her art was the strongest part of the book.

Sadie’s relationship with her dog was I think meant to be “quirky” but it was animal abuse? If you only feed your dog people junk food and live in a loft that isn’t air conditioned in the Texas summer that’s not a great look. How were they even living on a roof? How did Sadie’s paintings dry? How did they not constantly have heat stroke? I was very confused by this. I also assumed the beginning was setting up the dog to die which wasn’t the case but I was bracing myself for it pretty much the whole book.

So when Sadie’s dog goes to the vet, Sadie becomes weirdly fixated on the vet and is instalove about him. She was very stalkery which again I think was supposed to be “quirky?” For being head over heels for the guy, he was then kind of brushed aside and I don’t know if this was a purposeful misdirection. It made the twist effective as I forgot the vet existed for much of the book despite Sadie’s initial obsessive feelings towards him.

And then there’s Joe who I was actively rooting against most of the book. I get that the author wanted there to be a misunderstanding/miscommunication but it made Joe come off as a terrible person to the point where I didn’t understand why Sadie would give him the time of day let alone date him. Anyone that heard that elevator conversation would have assumed Joe was talking about a person and that he was a scum bag. It’s kind of a strange setup to have the love interest be so hard to root for.

The comically evil stepfamily was also a bit much. Sadie needed more of a spine or to just cut them off entirely.

I thought the mixup with the face blindness was actually a really cool twist. The problem was, I wasn’t able to overcome Joe’s horrible first impression to root for him even after everything was explained. It was too late for the explanation and I spent most of the book trying and failing to see why I should root for him.

3/5 stars

Absolutely loved this book! Found the characters and chemistry appealing that I didn’t even mind that I figured out the twist before it happened. Unique take on FMC & love in a modern era-cannot wait for this author’s next book!

4.25🌟 - I enjoyed it!

Katherine Center books are so fun! This was such a unique premise with the main character dealing with the condition of face blindness. It is creative, sweet, and overall a really cozy romance read. There were predictable moments, but the overall swoon and how it all came together really worked for me.

Hello Stranger was very charming and emotional, and kept me entertained throughout the story. I enjoyed Sadie's journey, the author made me feel for her and care for her as a character. A unique, interesting premise as well!

I had to DNF this book. I found the start of this book to be really great. The relationship between the main character and her father I really liked. But I found it confusing and hard to get interested in. It was a pass for me.

Katherine Center is one of my new favorite authors. I learn something new in each book I read and her books always leave me feeling better when I am done. In this story I learned about face blindness and how it affected the main character. I love her view on life and how even during difficult times, we can find happiness and joy. Her books always remind me to have hope and joy!

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫- {HELLO STRANGER- Katherine Center}

Is anyone else still chasing the high of Katherine Centers “How to Walk Away” and “Things You Save in a Fire”? I keep wanting to be blown away by her but she hasn’t been able to make me fall for the main characters of any of her books since. Everything feels rushed, from the main characters to the token best friend to the villains…I just was not impressed.

I did think the premise was super interesting. After tragically failing at life for years, Sadie is trying to prove herself as a portrait artist after switching her major from pre-med 🩺 to fine arts 🎨. She has six weeks to paint the best live portrait of her life and prove her father and everyone who bet against her wrong. Too bad she suffers a non-convulsive seizure in the middle of a crosswalk, gets saved by a stranger, rushed to the hospital, diagnosed with a rare brain malformation and undergoes a life saving procedure that leaves her with “Acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia”….aka facial blindness. Kind of inconvenient for an artist that paints faces for a living!😬😐🫣 The next six weeks are a chaotic race against the clock to churn out a award winning piece of art, fall in love, and try to distinguish between all the “strangers” that come in and out of her life.

So yea cool premise, but sub-par characters and overall forgettable love story in my opinion 😔

I have been a fan of Katherine Center ever since picking up " The Bodyguard", I have not been disappointed yet.
Hello Stranger was very charming and emotional, kept me entertained throughout the story. I really enjoyed Sadie's journey, made me feel for her and care for her as a character. Really looking forward to reading more of Center's work.

I had no idea how much I would love this book when I started it. The narration was phenomenal!! The characters were so easy to fall in love with too. I kept thinking I knew what was going on but I really didn't.

And now, I'm going to dig my roller skates out of the basement, wrap myself in bubble wrap, and go for a spin ❤️

This was such a fun book!

I loved the unique / creative plot!

Overall a very heartwarming story <3

I simply loved this book. Thank you to St Martins Press for the eAR ! Center has a way of captivating her audience from page one, and takes a very real (and sometimes hard) look at life and weaves the magic of love through the cracks. Can’t wait for what’s next!

What a fun and unique romance! While parts seemed unrealistic, and predictable, it was still super entertaining seeing it all unfold. I laughed out loud several times while also getting teary eyed at times.

4.5 stars

As a huge Katherine Center fan, this one fell a bit short for me. Sadie seems a bit whiny and self-centered at times. I did like the storyline, which is what kept me reading. Just wish I could have like Sadie a bit more.

This romance was super unique as the main character dealt with something I haven't seen in a romance before (face blindness!). Not only does this impact the main character as an artist who now can no longer recognize faces, but it makes it hard when she's trying to figure out which of the two potential love interests she's in love with.

Sadie decides to hide her struggle which means that there's a lot of humorous scenes around that. I'd say this is something that could really work for some readers (especially if they love comedy of errors) but might have too much second-hand embarrassment for others.

Fans of Center's previous books will enjoy this one!

Oh my god. I didn’t even know what to expect with this one. And I’m so glad I did not really know what was gonna happen. This story is unique to any other stories I’ve read before. I’ve never read a book with a character who has face blindness. I know it’s a condition but never seen it reflected in a character and I think the way this story progressed, it was such an uplifting one. Like I think the ending could definitely be considered predictable but it also was so well done.

May the publishing gods and all future writers bless us with more stories like this one.

This was a fun rom-com with an original premise. Sadie is a portrait artist trying to make ends meet. She has a rocky relationship with her dad, stepmom and actual evil stepsister. After an accident it’s discovered that she needs brain surgery but an unfortunate side effect of the surgery is a condition known as face blindness. Not an ideal outcome for someone who paints faces for a living. As she’s trying to adjust to her new life she falls for two men, her friendly neighbor Joe and her new veterinarian who she assumes is dreamy (even though she can’t really see his face.)

I really liked Sadie as a character and this has some entertaining banter and laughable situations. Yes, some of the story is a bit far fetched but if you’re looking for a sweet story with the inevitable happy ending Hello Stranger is a great pick. Moderate language, no steam.

This was Center's strangest work yet, almost to the point of confusion on my end. Not a bad book, just not for me. I'm already looking forward and ahead to her next book that looks to be more up my alley.