Hello Stranger by Katherine Center is one of the best books I've read this year! Sadie Montgomery has had a difficult life thus far. Her mother died when she was 14 and her father quickly remarried her evil stepmother, Lucinda, who brought along her daughter Parker. Parker was Sadie's nemesis from that point on. Following in her mother's footsteps, Sadie became a portrait artist and had real talent. When her first real break came up, as a finalist in a portrait contest, she was ready to win, but fate had something different in store for her.

An accident and subsequent brain surgery left her with "face blindness", an inablility to see faces clearly. With the portrait contest only six weeks away, how would she ever be able to complete a portrait in time? With the help of a few friends, Sadie discovers what is truly important in life and it may not be what you can see written on someone's face.

I found the whole concept of this novel fascinating and plan to do more research on face blindness. Well done Katherine Center, you are quickly becoming one of my favorite authors! Thanks to the author, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I think it is impossible for me to dislike a Katherine Center novel. Her stories are always captivating with fun characters, witty dialogue and engaging storylines.

I liked Hello Stranger. It's a clever story with a fascinating premise about Sadie, a woman who has face blindness. I definitely started to do some research to learn more about face blindness after finishing this book, because it is fascinating how the disorder presents itself with being able to see but not able to recognize faces. I thought Center used the concept well to piece together this plot with some clever twists, though I found it to be pretty predictable.

I wanted to LOVE this novel, but there were a few things that I didn't love so much. Sadie's family was awful to the point that it didn't even seem realistic. Parker especially was just so evil; she seemed more like a caricature than a real person. I also found Sadie to rub me the wrong way at times. I'm not sure what it was about her, but at times she just seemed immature and not always likeable.

But overall, this was a fun read and I enjoyed it. I will always read anything that Katherine Center writes. This one doesn't come out until July 2023, but it's a good one to put on your radar for next summer!

This was a great book, but it’s heart wrenching in a way that didn’t have me crying but frustrated! You meet Sadie and are just getting in when something traumatic happens. It’s a jolt but then that’s where the slow comes in. It felt a bit of a slog to get through. You want to understand and root for her but Sadie makes it hard. The independent, not tell anyone attitude was hard to take. Her dad, stepmother and stepsister were… wow. The parents, okay, but the sister is a piece of work, evil to the max and I do not understand how she wasn’t in jail considering all the things she had done. I was so mad when the truth came out. Then suddenly you are in it with Sadie and she’s figuring out life and trying so hard. You are rooting for her and then there’s the big art show and everything… heart wrenching!

It may sound like I’m complaining and I am a little but despite my frustration it was such a good read!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Katherine Center is one of my favorite authors so I was thrilled to see a new release from her. She has a beautiful way of bringing her protagonists to life.

This story has one of the most unique plots I have encountered. The main character has a health scare that leaves a lasting impact — she develops face blindness. Katherine Center clearly did her homework when it came to writing about the condition. Everything was explained so clearly. All of the characters were well-developed and lovable despite their flaws.

The twist at the end was something I didn’t see coming. I found myself rooting for all of the characters throughout. My only regret is that it had to end.

I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone. Perfectly paired with any time of year and a disco playlist. This story will make you want to call your best friend, hug your mom, and meet a cute stranger.

I just reviewed Hello Stranger by Katherine Center. #NetGalley

Huge thanks to Erica Martirano from St. Martin’s Press for this early ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published July 11, 2023.

This is my sixth book by this delightful author. Her books are fun and hopeful and, because they fall into the romance genre, have happy endings.

I highly recommend curling up in your “pajankas” and treating yourself to this wonderful story because we could all use more hope and love in our lives.

Clever, colorful, and creative, Hello Stranger is the sort of romcom that both nourishes the soul and gives readers insight into something real and afflicting. This book highlights the medical curve balls life sometimes throws our way, the obstacles that we must traverse in order to learn how to cope with the new normal after a significant health change, temporary or not though it might be, and how to accept help from others when we need it.

The premise is a unique one where the main character, Sadie Montgomery, suffers from a condition called "acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia" or face blindness, which she acquires after having a minor surgery to repair a blood vessel in her brain. The kicker is that she's an artist. A portrait artist looking for her big break, to be more precise.

To complicate matters, she's just landed a spot as a finalist in a portrait competition where the grand prize is $10,000, and that means she needs to create a new painting from scratch within the next six weeks.

However, seeing as she's temporarily unable to see human faces, how will she paint? How will she create a portrait for the contest? And more importantly than that, how will she make sense of the world around her, differentiating between the people she already knows or those she will meet while this condition persists?

As Sadie confronts all of these new obstacles, she is going to need help. A lot of it. Which just so happens to be something she hates asking for, making her resistant to a fault.

Luckily, there are two men about to come into her life - one, a veterinarian named Oliver; the other, a neighbor named Joe (like Joe Shmoe, get it? Because she can't see his face? I'm still giggling over the punny perfection of his name choice) - who will each offer her something she needs. And who, as the story unfolds, will prove to our heroine that "appearances can be deceiving" in more ways than she can possibly imagine.

While I thought some of the family drama could have been resolved better, particularly between Sadie and her evil stepsister, I really liked this one. It was humorous and unique. Full of hope and joy, which I think we could all use more of right now. More than anything, though, I appreciated being along for the ride as Sadie learned to cope with not being able to recognize faces, and how she grew in her art as well as in her relationships.

Definitely one you should add to your 2023 tbr's, y'all!

I'm so grateful to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for granting me early access to this ARC.

This was a cute story about Sadie, a struggling portrait artist who has acquired a diagnosis of face blindness in her late 20s. Her mother died when she was a teen, leaving her with some family struggles with her dad, step-mother, and step-sister. After becoming face blind, she meets Joe, a guy in her building and starts to have feelings for him and breaks things off with her vet before they event went on their first date. I won't give away the ending (though I must say, I knew what was going to happen about one-third of the way through the book), but it was a decent romance. I have liked some of Katherine Center's other books better but this was an enjoyable read too.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Another feel good book by Katherine Center. Easy to get lost in the unique storyline and characters and read it in a day. I absolutely loved Joe but found Sadie to be somewhat annoying at times.

great book and loved the romance and loved that it dealt with face blindness. loved the friendship and the romance between joe and her romance with the vet oliver. I liked the plot twist at the end and how it all worked out. great romance.

Such an intriguing storyline! I really enjoyed Katherine Center’s previous book and liked this one too! The characters are great together and I just love those book covers! :) Definitely recommend!

Thanks NetGalley and Katherine Center!

Hello Stranger is Katherine Center's upcoming summer romance release. Following The Bodyguard was a huge task in my opinion, nevertheless this is another win for Center!

Hello Stranger is a 'love triangle' story with a twist. Sadie, a portrait artist, finds herself having a diagnosis of facial blindness after a freak accident. To add on to that major bummer, Sadie is participating in a portrait contest that could be her big break... it's pretty hard to paint a portrait when you can't even see yourself in a mirror. Amid the chaos Sadie meets a handsome veterinarian who she's quickly drawn to while possibly starting a friendship with her neighbor, Joe. This book is light-hearted, fun, compelling, but with a lot of substance (trigger warning for death of a parent).

Long story short, Hello Stranger is an absolute delight!

I absolutely adored 'Hello Stranger' just as much as I loved Katherine Center's debut novel. (Which was a lot!!!) Everything about this book was unique, right down to the plot twist at the end. I normally pride myself on accurately predicting plot twists, but Center had my jaw falling on the ground. The main character, Sadie, is a breath of fresh air and her character development was artistically done if I do say so myself. All in all, this book was fantastic and I cannot wait to buy a copy on release day to put next to 'The Bodyguard'. Is it too soon to ask for another book?

I’m giving Hello Stranger all the stars for giving me all the feels! I’ve already decided that I’m destined to love anything that Katherine Center writes, but Hello Stranger was even more than I was expecting. Sadie is a struggling artist that has literally landed a once in-a-lifetime opportunity to produce a prize winning piece. She’s barely holding her life together, but her world is turned upside down when she narrowly escapes getting run over and subsequently discovers she needs a minor brain surgery. Begrudgingly, Sadie agrees to the procedure and when she wakes up, she’s no longer able to see faces. Which is particularly challenging for a portrait artist. You literally cannot help but love Sadie as a main character. She has been through so much and has so much charisma. She’s determined to keep her life together and I was rooting for her the entire time. Despite her new predicament and a race against time, Sadie finds herself simultaneously falling in love with two men. Sadie’s gumption is admirable and I found myself literally laughing out loud at parts and crying at others. Hello Stranger was a beautiful, emotional and touching novel. Fans of Katherine Center will be thrilled and new readers will delight in their discovery of this spectacular author. Out in July, I’m already notifying everyone to put it on their to be read pile!

A sincere thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I always do the happy dance when I have the chance to review a novel by Katherine Center. Center is an expert writing about memorable, gutsy women, who may have a few flaws, but they’re still quite endearing. While the protagonist always has some adversity to overcome (as well as some laugh out loud moments), there is always time for romance. You finish one of her novels always feeling so much better.

Sadie is one such protagonist. In “Hello, Stranger,” we learn she is a painter who lives in her famous mother’s shadow. She is about to compete in the same contest her mother placed in years ago when she discovers she needs surgery. Believing it is a minor “in and out” procedures, Sadie comes out of the surgery unable to remember the people she sees. (Google “acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia” or face blindness). But Sadie’s expertise is portraits and how can she do that when all she sees is a mismash of shapes?

Like most of Center’s work, the reader is introduces to a variety of intriguing characters, including a couple of romantic possibilities, an elderly dog, Peanut, and and evil family members. Center is a skilled writer who keeps her readers engaged. The author manages to balance the more traumatic sections with plenty of humor. You cannot help and feel warm and fuzzy after reading this novel.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in return for my honest review.

Hello Stranger is Katherine Center’s greatest masterpiece! I enjoyed every minute and couldn’t put this book down. Katherine Center has such a magical way of writing. I can ALWAYS count on her books to put a smile on my face and leave me feeling full of warmth and gratitude. Hello Stranger is such an amazing love story full of hopefulness. It had me feeling smiley and light throughout the few days it took me to read it. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I read the very last sentence. I know there will be a reread of this one in my future.

Obsessed with this book! It was so good. I wish I could read it again for the first time! I fell in love with the characters and may or may not have cried a few times. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

I have yet to read a Katherine Center book that hasn't reduced me to tears. This book was no exception. It was absolutely ridiculous and quirky and silly, and it still got me.

I think what it is, is that the characters however esoterically flawed they may be, like did I ever think I would relate to someone with something I had pretty much never heard of? no, you still manage to root for them. The scenario itself was kind of absurd, but at its root, you have someone who wants to belong and wants to be loved, and has a terribly hard time finding their footing in life and that's the brilliance of katherine center. I loved this book, it was wonderful.

I am a total fan girl of Katherine Center's books and this one was such a fun read! I loved Sadie and I could not stop reading because I had to know how everything was going to work out. I wasn't surprised by many of the twists but it was still really fun. And I loved learning more about face blindness too, so interesting!

There were a few things that might not technically be plot holes but felt like it. There wasn't enough build up with the vet that would make it make sense for her to feel like she had to go break up with him, not sure if a scene was edited out but I think at least one more scene after she and Joe start getting close where she can tell he likes her would have helped sell that. I also was confused because she had phone numbers for the vet and Joe but they were the same number, so how would she not have noticed that?

There is a reason Katherine Center is one of my favorite authors, her books always make me happy, and hopeful, and Hello Stranger is no exception. I just loved following Sadie on her journey of self awareness as she dealt with something that forced her to look at things differently. I loved her quirkiness, and how she finally decided to lean in to her circumstances a bit. It’s another book that by finishing I almost feel like I am saying goodbye to someone that had become a friend through the course of the story. I cannot recommend it enough for anyone that just wants to read something that will bring them some joy!

A perfectly timed book and exactly what I needed to pull me from a reading slump. As soon as I started reading, I knew it would be in my top ten of this year. Every Katherine Center book I have read are the most enjoyable. This one just might be my favorite. The author’s note at the end is not to be missed. I love how she suggests describing love stories as creating “fantastic anticipation”. That is my sentiment of “Hello Stranger” after devouring it in less than 2 days.