I always enjoy Katherine Center books. I enjoyed Hello Stranger although there was one small tiny tiny thing that annoyed me. Sometimes in books I get annoyed when characters don’t communicate early enough. Having said though, I really liked this story. The characters are developed and some are likeable and some are very unlikeable, but that’s good because that’s life. There is a good lesson I this book as well.

I have read most of Katherine Centers books and while I enjoyed this one it wasn’t my favorite. Hello Stranger is about Sadie, a struggling portrait artist who has surgery and wakes up with facial blindness. It follows her story of navigating life with this new impairment and falling in love along the way. Sadie is easy to root for but her family/step family is awful. In the end it was a cute fast read just wish there was more chemistry and less confusion.

Oh man, the way this book drew me in and hooked me! I wasn't willingly putting down my Kindle until I knew what was happening next. And there was always something happening next! Between the complex character backgrounds, the plot-line twists and the general story information and quips, I was always wanting to read and know more. While I wouldn't quite qualify this as a beach read romance, it is certainly a cozy curl up in your favorite comfy spot with a hot drink and dive deep until the last page romance book. I look forward to reading more by Center in the near future!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.5/5

Thank you to Katherine Center, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Okay, this was such a unique story that had me feeling all of the emotions. It was truly an enjoyable read!

I had never heard of face blindness before reading this story, but was amazed to learn that so many people across the globe have this condition. Throughout the story, I found myself feeling so sorry for Sadie, especially when she kept running into her atrocious stepsister! My heart cried from joy for Sadie when, after putting off picking up her dog from the kennel because she couldn’t stand to not be able to see his little face, she was able to SEE him! I also cheered for Sadie when she finally accepted her situation and started painting again, despite her work not being what it used to be.

Katherine Center’s writing is so easy to read and I absolutely adored Sadie’s inner monologue! I couldn’t get enough and can’t wait to read more by this author!

📖𝓑𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓡𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀 📖
📕 𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐋𝐄: Hello Stranger
📝 𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑: Katherine Center
🗓️ 𝐔𝐒𝐀 𝐏𝐔𝐁 𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄: July 11, 2023
🤔 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐑𝐄: Romance/Romantic Comedy
📱 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐓: eARC
✨ 𝐌𝐘 𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What a unique and enjoyable story! Katherine Center is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Everything I read, I like. I thought the plot was very creative and it was well executed. I felt attached to the main character, Sadie, right from the start. I had such empathy for her as we learned of her struggles, both past and present. I did figure out one of the surprises but it took me a while and didn’t end up taking away from my enjoyment. I highly recommend this one. It was a cute story that pulled at my heartstrings!

Here’s the book blurb from the publisher:
Sadie Montgomery never saw what was coming ... Literally! One minute she's celebrating the biggest achievement of her life-placing as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition-the next, she's lying in a hospital bed diagnosed with a "probably temporary" condition known as face blindness. She can see, but every face she looks at is now a jumbled puzzle of disconnected features. Imagine trying to read a book upside down and in another language.
This is Sadie's new reality with every face she sees. But, as she struggles to cope, hang on to her artistic dream, work through major family issues, and take care of her beloved dog, Peanut, she falls into-love? Lust? A temporary obsession to distract from the real problems in her life?-with not one man but two very different ones. The timing couldn't be worse. If only her life were a little more in focus, Sadie might be able to find her way. But perceiving anything clearly right now seems impossible. Even though there are things we can only find when we aren't looking. And there are people who show up when we least expect them. And there are always, always other ways of seeing.

I absolutely love Katherine Centers writing style and story telling. And Hello Stranger was everything I accepted it to be and more! I will forever read what she writes!

Normally I love all of Katherine Center's books. This was not my favorite of her novels. I won't post this on Goodreads. I love this author too much that I wouldn't like to give her a meh review online.

I went back and forth between 3 and 4 stars on this one. I loved the plot and so many parts of this book but really didn’t like the characters. It was too hard to settle on if I felt bad for Sadie and had compassion for her condition, or if I hated how self absorbed she acted throughout the book. One of the last chapters in which she describes things to Sue definitely helped put me on her side a little bit but overall I was so frustrated throughout the book. I love the authors writing style. It’s so easy to listen to but I wouldn’t recommend this book over The Bodyguard or Things We Save in a Fire.

I had so much fun reading this wholesome little story. Katherine Center truly thrives in creating stories that will warm your heart and be exciting from start to finish. She writes my favorite kind of romance, a cozy, closed-door, fluffy little rom-com. This is the second book I've read from this author and I am so excited to read more from her in the future.

One of the main things I loved about this book is the main character's navigation through life with face blindness. I don't see that much in other books, so it felt unique and fascinating to read about. Although many topics in this story are sad and the main character finds herself at her lowest point, I somehow never found it to be too heavy. I was able to breeze through this story and save myself from a potential reading slump. I also was very happy with the pacing in this story and the balance in the contemporary and romance. Joe was a sweetheart and he had me giggling and kicking my feet the entire time. I will say, this book will not be everyone's favorite because sometimes it is a bit corny and some scenes were a little too convenient. Personally, this didn't bother me too much because I was having fun.

However, there were some things that did bother me a little. The biggest irritant is that, I don't think Sue is a very good friend to Sadie throughout the book. I don't think she really took the time to think about how Sadie felt in certain situations. She was never held accountable throughout the entire book. The author just wrote it off by saying "She didn't mean any harm" but to me, it doesn't matter what you meant to do. She put Sadie in uncomfortable situations, spoke insensitively about her face blindness, abandoned her in times of need, and violated her space. I think a conversation should have been had somewhere in the book to help their friendship be a little more healthy and strong. The only other thing that bothered me was that the ending wasn't as satisfying as I would have liked. This was minor and I don't really know what else I would do differently, but I just didn't really get a big feeling when leaving the book.

Overall, like I said this was really fun and was a perfect pick-me-up read. I would definitely recommend this to rom-com lovers who are hoping for the same effect. A solid 4-star read.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and Netgalley for giving me access to the delight that is this book.

Hello Stranger was beautifully written. I love how Katherine Center writes the most relatable characters. What I think is most beautiful about this book other than the love story is her author’s note. I don’t think an author’s note has moved me or changed my perspective on reading like hers did. In summary she discussed how she came to write romance and how this genre shouldn’t be described as predictable because, well, we read romances knowing we will have a HEA. Which is so accurate. She then goes to describe what we expect to feel while reading certain genres. Once again she hit the nail on the head. She discussed how romances are written from a positive light and how we leave romances blissful. Now that I’m thinking about that I totally agree. I always rate romances higher because I feel lighter after reading them even knowing they will end happily.

This was such a beautiful love story about an artist who suffers from face blindness and finds love while her brain is trying to heal. Emotions were felt, tears were shed, and most importantly the profound moment when all the pieces connected for me. I felt like I was on this journey with the FMC, Sadie. The miscommunication was so well done to me that it wasn’t annoying because I honestly felt like it was realistic and I probably would have done the same thing. It was so good watching Sadie lean into this disability and come out of it more hopeful!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I love Katherine Center and was so excited to read this one! It started off a little slow but I really enjoyed reading it. The characters were likable and fun! The story was a tad predictable but as she says in the author’s note that’s what makes romance books so fun to read!

I absolutely loved this story!! It amazes me how much research Katherine does for her books. It never seems too scientific or textbook-esque. Just enough to learn about something in the context of the story. Sadie is an awesome MC! I laughed out loud several times just because of some of the awkward situations she’d get herself into! I wasn’t sure how the HEA would work out but I enjoyed the getting there! Overall, I would absolutely recommend this book!

Thank you St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for proving me with an ARC. I’ll be honest, when I read the summary blurb, I wasn’t excited. I thought this seemed like a goofy premise. But wow I was wrong. I really loved this book. I loved Ms. Center’s writing and creativity. I loved the characters and also hated the ones I was supposed to— I wanted to punch the step sister multiple times. Lol. All around a successful book.

Synopsis: Portrait artist, Sadie, has an accident and develops face-blindness right before her potential big break. But her accident does bring potential love interests into her life, too bad she can't see their faces.

My take: I LOVED this book oh so much. Katherine Center is incredible at writing hilarious rom coms. The bodyguard was another of my favorite reads this year. Our main character, Sadie, refused to take help from anyone which was a little frustrating but her past perfectly explains why she was that way. Plus, she gets herself into so many insane situations that were an absolute delight to read. Hello Stranger was unique and perfectly executed. The tail end of the book had me laughing out loud. What a fantastic read!

Although this is not my favorite genre, I never say no to a Katherine Center book. Hello Stranger did not disappoint! Loved the main character’s voice and personality. She had me laughing and emotionally invested the whole time. Though I found the book somewhat predictable and I was able to guess key ploy elements, it was still a joy to read. This book was the perfect summer read. Thank you St. Martin’s Publishing Group Nd Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

This book was such an unexpected delight!

Sadie is a portrait artist who, after brain surgery, experiences face-blindness, which is obviously an issue for a portrait artist. It's even worse for Sadie, who was just accepted into a prestigious portrait show. With the help of her friend Sue and her hunky neighbor Joe, though, Sadie begins to see the world in a different way.

I was fully immersed in this book and I loved it so much. I would have loved to have seen Parker get her comeuppance, but hey, the world isn't perfect, is it?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I have loved each and every one of Katherine Center's books. This one just might be my new favorite.

I love how she took the medical issue of face blindness and created someone's whole life around it. I had heard of face blindness but knew very, very little about it. It is fascinating to realize how much of a person's life is based on recognizing people by their faces. Katherine fashioned Sadie's life, both before and after face blindness, and allowed us to see how life changed for her.

Hello Stranger is a fun, delightful, and yes, sometimes serious story full of fantastic characters with a nice little twist to it. I enjoyed it so much and as always with this author's books, I loved getting lost in her made-up world and didn't want to leave. If you are a fan of Katherine Center's books, you are going to love this one.

Katherine Center can sure tell a good story ya’ll! 4 stars

This was my second Katherine Center book and I just love the way she writes a story with these characters who are very real and relatable. This story gave us such an interesting plot. I have never heard of facial blindness, or “Prosopagnosia”, and this book really gave us an insight into the acquired type.

Our main character, Sadie, is a portrait artist who must have brain surgery after having a seizure in the grocery story parking lot. She is devastated to learn that she has facial blindness as an after effect from the surgery and can’t see anyone’s face – especially when she is supposed to compete in a major portrait competition in only 6 weeks. She is struggling financially, and this competition means a lot to her for the money it could bring and since it was the same competition her mom was supposed to do before she passed away. There is no guarantee that her condition will resolve, and she sinks into a bit of a depressive state, as expected.

The only thing keeping her happy is her sweet dog, Peanut, who I LOVED seeing in this story…..until she meets 2 guys along the way and a relatively small love triangle forms. For those who don’t love the “love triangle” trope, I honestly wouldn’t really call this a true “love triangle”, because 1 of the guys is more in the story then the other and really, she was just “originally interested” in the other guy, but nothing pans out there. This entire circumstance of her love life leaves us with many laughs along the way with some witty banter between our main couple here.

We see Sadie trying to work through so much in this story. She is going through the motions of her diagnosis with her doctor and dealing with trauma from her mother’s death in the past and her evil-step sister. I loved her growth in this story as she went through all of this, and the growth between her, her step-mother and her father.

Overall, the romance was sweet, the twist was great, and it is SUCH a bingeable read! I read this so fast! There were some parts I rolled my eyes at and didn't always love, but overall really enjoyed it. Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy to honestly read and review. I did listen to the audiobook too, but read most of the ARC e-book so I appreciate that.

Content: Language, 5 “F” words, 10-15 “S” Words and other mild words used. Sexual content was clean for me, just some steamy kisses and discussions of sex.

Katherine Center does it again! Her books are like magic and I just can’t get enough of them!
In Hello Stranger, Sadie is all set to get her career moving with her big break as a portrait artist, but then she soon realizes she has face blíndness - the faces of all those she encounters now look like a jumble of indecipherable puzzle pieces. Sadie must now determine how she will navigate life, love, and her painting all while not being able to see faces.
The characters are lovable and quirky and the novel is full of banter and flirting that makes it a breeze to read!
On top of the novel being phenomenal, Katherine Center’s author note at the end was just the cherry on top and summarizes just why I love her writing and what she shared so dang much!

Thank you to the publisher for an ARC of this book.

I really enjoyed this book. I was fascinated by the face blindness, and I did my own research on it. This was so unique.

I took off one star because some things felt very far fetched to me. I don’t want to spoil anything, but at times, some people came across as very dumb. That’s all.

It was still a really fun read though!