Thank you Katherine Center, NetGalley, and Macmillan Publishers for providing me with an e-arc of Hello Stranger! This is my first book by Katherine Center, and it has inspired me to read more of her stories.

Hello Stranger shows how a struggling artist with acquired face blindness is able to find joy in what she loves, grieve her mother, and start to repair tenuous relationships with her father and step-mother. We first meet Sadie when she learns that she is a top 10 finalist in what could be a care-starting portrait competition. But before she can even have time to celebrate, she has a seizure, realizes she needs brain surgery, has said surgery, and then realizes she can't see faces (which is pretty important for a portrait artist). Her life is thrown in a tailspin as she now can't recognize when her evil stepsister is trying to torture her, can't see the face of the cute vet or the annoying man from her floor, and she can't start working on her portrait submission. Sadie is forced to deal with a lot of emotions that come up (both from her past and her present), and sometimes she succeeds and other times she lands face first in her failure.

Hello Stranger took a topic I'd never really thought of or heard about (face blindness) and showed that even when you can't see someone's face, that doesn't always make them a stranger.

I could not put down this book as I was reading it! Although I guessed the twist way before the ending, it was still a well thought out reveal for the characters. I also didn't mind the lack of spice, and thought that the story was entertaining even without it (and I'm a big spice junky). Even though she was frustrating at times, Sadie did show character growth towards the end of the novel. Overall this was a very enjoyable read!

3.75 stars (but with a LOT of context)

Whatever you’ve come to expect from Katherine Center’s writing, throw it out the window because this ain’t it. (I cringed typing that because I truly hate the word ain’t but it seemed more fitting in this moment). From the very first page I could tell this was going to be different. It felt more like falling into a CW teen drama than a sad-but-funny-and-hopeful Hallmark/Lifetime movie. (I acknowledge that those references won’t hit the same for each person, but it’s the best I can explain my gut reaction when starting).

I had such a hard time rating this. It starts out strong with the grocery store scene. There’s silliness and banter and humor and it was immediately engaging. Then, after the big plot twist (but not really twist since it’s in the book description) we are left with chapter after chapter after chapter of inner monologuing from a character that I struggled to like even a little bit. I just did not like Sadie. So. Much. daydreaming. She came across immature and living in her own fantasy world. At this point I was NOT enjoying this book at all, but I was committed to finishing because I trust this author. Katherine Center is a great writer! Unfortunately, the teen drama comparison continued for most of the book. It read very juvenile at times. Catty stepsister. Boy-crazy MC. Over-the-top misconceptions and assumptions. A flakey best friend who served no purpose in the story except for someone for Sadie to dialogue with. Katherine Center usually writes very serious adult stories so I found most of this story jarring and odd.

Parts of this book (namely all the moments with Joe and Sadie) were 5-star for me. I loved Joe. I loved his gentleness. I loved his go-with-the-flow-ness. (I’m making that a word). After the first HALF of the book being largely inner monologue and daydreaming from an annoying character, I found the middle portion to be a breath of fresh air. Banter and tension and friendship. It was fantastic.

Then it took a turn again. Most of the rest of this is a SPOILERy ramble for anyone who has read book: There’s a third-act “breakup” of sorts that was beyond frustrating. It was a giant miscommunication that felt so easily avoidable. I couldn’t suspend my disbelief when Joe, at no point, said “What happened since we kissed last night?” The most obvious response to this out-of-the-blue breakup that would have avoided so much unnecessary drama. The author had to write VERY careful dialogue to avoid the obvious words/reactions that would have created a “wait, what?” moment for the main characters. I couldn’t buy in to that.

The entire rest of the story felt rushed and over-the-top dramatic, to the point of being entirely unbelievable. There’s a serious lack of depth in every side character. This book is full of caricatures of people who don’t exist anywhere in the real world. The insulting and annoying evil step-mother who is actually completely misunderstood and not entirely coldhearted. The conniving and sadistic step-sister. (Seriously, Parker is maybe the thing that threw me out of the story the most. People just aren’t like that. People are evil sometimes, sure, but this was such an unrealistic cliche.). There’s a monologue from a girl they knew in high school that was 100% unbelievable.

In summary, I guess from the beginning to the end I found everything to be just a little too unbelievable. Which is on the writing, because you can write outlandish things and still make me buy it if you do it right. The writing was too on-the-nose for me. It was almost overly-exaggerated on purpose. I don’t know. I’m struggling to explain. The last few chapters had a lot of Sadie explaining things to the reader, which I didn’t like. It’s like the story kept breaking the fourth wall.

I REALLY enjoyed everything from her getting stood up, to her and Joe breaking up. Like, 5-stars for all that. But the beginning and end were like 3-star. It was a struggle to rate. I did stay up until 2:00am to finish so 🤷🏼‍♀️

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC to review!

I have read every book Katherine Center has published so I was very excited to read the latest. She never fails to deliver on wholesome, complex characters and hilarious banter. The "face-blindness" curveball was something I had never heard of and found a bit odd initially, but she developed it perfectly and explained it to the reader in a way that was easy to understand. Anything Katherine Center publishes, I will be first in line to read and love.

⭐⭐⭐/5

• "feel good" story/light romance
• annoying FMC
• some LOL moments

There were some enjoyable parts of this book, but there were also some plot holes and overall it didn't wow me. Lots of miscommunication here if that's your thing! I switched up between my digital copy and also the audio (honestly not a fan of BOTM audio platform as it is now...) on this one.

🗣️ Thank you to @netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book via Read Now gifted eARC! All opinions are honest and my own.

This was a fun quick read. I had high hopes after The Bodyguard, but this one wasn’t quite as good. Sadie wasn’t always a likable character. She seemed to not appreciate what she had and the support given. Joe was a fun character to read though. 3.5🌟

This was really delightful. I'm a hard win when it comes to romantic contemporary novels but this one was light, funny, and heart warming. The romance developed naturally and the characters were really likable. I thought the concept was so unique and so well executed. I did not see the ending coming and thought it was perfect. I love the way Katherine Center tells stories. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sadie, a struggling artist, becomes a top ten finalist in a major art competition, Her friend Sue convinces her that they need to throw a party. Sadie goes to the grocery store and has a cute guy pay for her wine after she leaves her wallet at home. However, on the way home she has a seizure and it causes the doctor to look closely and find a lesion in her brain that requires brain surgery. It causes her to have face blindness and leads through a funny love story between what she believes are two different people. Of course throughout the book, there is family drama, and the mean girl and Sadie overcomes it all. I loved this book. It was hilarious, and made me laugh out loud so many times! It was a delightful read.

LOVE LOVE Katherine was, is, and always will be a favorite author of mine. Hello Stranger has a unique love story that was hard for me to wrap my head around at time, but I never lost interest or was against the relationship. The chemistry was there and the comedy too. I laugh, cried, and smiled until my cheeks hurt.

Hello Stranger is the first novel I've read by author Katherine Center, and the premise of the protagonist, Sadie, suddenly faced with face-blindness had me intrigued right from the get-go.

While the story was a bit predictable, it was refreshingly funny, swoony, and enjoyable. There were definitely some over-used cliches, particularly with respect to some of the antagonists and the plot points surrounding them, as well as how poorly Sadie communicated at times, but she herself acknowledged how much of an unreliable narrator she was going through this journey.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it! I'll definitely be picking up future books by this author.

Thanks for Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Life is finally a bit on the upswing for twenty-something Sadie who just found out she is a finalist in an upcoming art competition. Then, boom, a sudden life changing medical event leaves her unable to recognize or assemble faces.. How does a portrait artist cope professionally and in life overall. Hello Stranger marks her journey through challenges she never imagined and romantic connections made even more complicated. Amidst a stream of heavy reads, Hello Stranger is a heartwarming story that gives one hope in humanity and in chance encounters.

Thank you to #NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Thanks to St Martins Press and Netgalley for this advanced copy!

Hello Stranger was a nice and funny romance that had a few twists and turns up its sleeves, most of which were not major surprises, but nice nonetheless. The main character was a bit all of over the place, what with having brain surgery and not being a person for details it seems, but adding face blindness on to her life wasn't doing her any favors. And for someone who is supposedly so loved, she seemed to have few people she could rely on. But I thought her romance with Joe was kinda nice and I appreciated how the author tried to use the face blindness to create more tension in the story.

But seriously, what is up with the horrible stepsister? She's the absolute worse and somehow not much is going on there. Is this character just to create more tension? If so, I feel like that part fell flat.

Overall, a nice story, not as good as her first, but I'll definitely keep coming back to this author.

I really enjoyed this it was a fast read for me and helped get me back on track with my reading. If you enjoy romcoms I’m sure you’d also enjoy this as well!

I jumped to request this after reading her book the bodyguard, which was top tier for me... but this book fell short. It was not bad, just not for me. I didn't like the main character and found myself rooting against her as she was so unappreciative and o didn't feel the connections with her love matches. I was just bored

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for e-ARC of the book.

Sadie is a finalist of the prestigious portrait competition. It is a perfect opportunity to prove to her dad, her evil step mom and more evil step sister that she is doing great in her life. But the plan is ruined when Sadie has to do an emergency brain surgery and as a side effect she gets face blindess. Things get progressively worse as her evil step sister moves into Sadie's building to torment her. The only good thing seems to be that she meets a cute veterinarian and her charming neighbor. Now she needs to figure out how to draw an award winning portrait and how to pick a perfect match while learning to live with face blindness.

Katherine Center created a great anticipation. I was pleasantly surprised as characters were opening up and shared their stories (some were raw and sad). It was really had to put down this book and it was more hard to say goodbye to the characters in the end.
I was impressed with the research that author did to write the book.

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center was a beautiful book of struggle and hope. I read many mixed reviews about this book but I loved the anticipation of the storyline. Such a heartwarming story with Katherine Centers humor mixed in. I loved it.

Eeeeeep! I adore this book so much! It is heartfelt and hilarious. The banter is 10/10. It had me smiling and swooning and cackling on almost every page. I had so much fun with this book. The premise of face blindness is so fresh and interesting to read about / learn about. You could tell Katherine Center did very thorough research. This is absolutely one of the best romances I’ve read all year! Katherine Center has officially cemented herself as an auto-buy author for me! 🩵

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this copy in exchange for an honest review!

What a fantastic story!! Sadie Montgomery is on the verge of success as a portrait artist, being chosen in the Top 10 of a National Portrait Society contest, where the prize is worth $10,000 dollars. But before she is even able to celebrate it, she has a mild seizure, causing her to almost get hit by a car. After having brain surgery, she develops a condition known as Face Blindness; she can see faces, but they're all jumbled up like a jigsaw puzzle.

I felt every emotion as I was reading this, feeling everything that Sadie was going through. Oh, and Joe!! But then there's also Dr. Oliver Addison. Who will she choose? And will her Face Blindness resolve itself in time for the Gallery show? Well, you'll have to read it to find out.

I was given a digital copy by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review. All opinions are mine alone.

My second book from Katherine Center and I think I’ve found a romcom writer that I can rely on for some relief from my typical picks of fantasy and horror. Funny, charming, and just adorable, guaranteed to get you out of a reading slump and make you smile.

Thank you NetGalley, Katherine Center and St. Martin's Press for this amazing read.

We follow Sadie who seems to hint at having a rough life. She lost her mother and her dad is too busy with her evil stepmother and evil stepsister that he doesn't have any time for her, but that's okay because Sadie needs no one and even if she does she will never admit that!

She ends up needing brain surgery and as if that is not scary enough, she ends up with face blindness after her surgery that doesn't allow her to see anyone's faces, not even her best friend!

I loved this book so much, it had me in tears, it had me smiling, it had me wanting MORE from this Author! Which is why I will definitely be reading more from her! I genuinely enjoyed all the characters, I feel like Sadie finally started growing towards the end because she actually was able to start asking others for help. Sadie could be whiny at times but I mean can we really blame her? She is going through the roughest time of her life while trying to win a contest that her mom entered in before she died, I would be pretty bummed if all my senses were sent out of whack just before something that could change my life. I am not going to lie, the idea of not being able to see anyone's faces terrifies me especially after seeing Sadie's evil stepsister, I would be holed up in my hovel as well!

This book did not disappoint though, it might be one of the best ARC reads I have read lately, once I picked it up I did not want to put it down. I highly recommend picking up this book and reading it if you want a romance different from the rest! I will recommend this book to anyone who asks and I can't wait to check out more!!

I just love all of Katherine Center's books and this one is no exception. This book was filled with hope and light and was just what I needed after a few heavy reads.

Sadie is an artist who after an unexpected surgery wakes up with "face blindness." She is a portrait artist competing in a contest that will provide her big break, so how can she paint people's faces with this condition? I did predict the big twist, but this was still a heartwarming read that I will recommend to others.

Positives:
Likeable characters
A satisfying conclusion
A sweet romance
Universal themes such as family drama, illness, stagnant professional/creative life, friends who are family, etc.

Negatives:
Just that the twist was predictable but it did not detract from the enjoyment of the book.

Just a feel good and happy read!