Katherine Center’s Hello Stranger starts out with a great premise - what happens when a professional portrait artist loses the ability to see faces? Brilliant! But unfortunately, for me, the premise of the book was the best part.

The writing style is perfect for summer reading on the beach or by the pool. The pages move quickly and the first half had me reading well into the night.

But then I started to get a bit bored. And I admit to some eye rolling. The antagonist is a wicked step-sister caricature, too over the top to be believable. Of the two potential love interests, one is sexy and the other’s only character trait appears to be that he is helpful. Very helpful. And sexy.

I won’t argue that romances are built on a structure of some predictability. The protagonist will always have a happy ending. But I found every plot beat of this story to be predictable, including the twist.

I loved Center’s earlier novel Things You Save in a Fire, largely because it didn’t feel like a standard romance. I own a few of the author’s older books and hope they run more in that vein. Hello Stranger, while fun at times, just wasn’t for me.

I absolutely love Katherine Center she has become one of the few romance writers that i'll read. That said I enjoyed this one but did not love it as much as her others. The main character drove me a bit crazy with her decision making but the premise was enough to keep me interested. Sadie an artist about to be a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition gets in an accident and ends up with face blindness. A condition that should be temporary. Until then she has to deal with it and figure out to hang onto to her artistic dream. All the while also dealing with a couple of potential love interests. This is more a closed door feel good romance so if spicy open door is what you are looking for look elsewhere. If you loved her previous contemporary romance books you will most likely enjoy this one as well.

Sadie is a struggling artist living in her studio (aka her "hovel") when she learns that she's a finalist in a lucrative art competition. Things are looking up until a wild series of events leaves her suffering from face blindness. She can still see, but faces look like unrecognizable, disjointed puzzles. Sadie's life is turned upside down with these (hopefully temporary) limitations, but that doesn't mean her daily life comes to a halt. How is she supposed to paint a portrait for the art contest when she can't see faces? Ugh, why is that annoying guy always in the elevator when she has to be somewhere? How can she be planning a fantasy wedding with her pooch's hot new veterinarian when she can't even see his face?

Katherine Center is an auto-buy author for me, and this latest release is just one more reason why. As always, she's packed Hello Stranger with humor, tenderness, a dash of whimsy, and more than one tear. Come for the beautiful cover, but stay for the richly drawn characters, witty banter, and sweet anticipation. As Ms. Center so beautifully explains in her author's note, the appealing magic of romance novels like this one is the soothing feeling of hope - that even when it's all falling apart, you can't help but anticipate that things will get better. I categorize Katherine Center right alongside Emily Henry into what I've heard called "romance plus" because these are fully fleshed out characters dealing with really complicated situations. I find these books to be so well constructed and immersive that the romance almost feels beside the point, while also being a beautiful and vibrant part of the story. Seriously, though, don't sleep on her author's note. It's 5 stars all by itself.

I'm so grateful to St. Martin's Press, Katherine Center, and Net Galley for providing me with an advance review copy of Hello Stranger in exchange for my honest review.

Let me tell you, this book is an absolute gem that deserves all the love and attention it's been getting! 💖

The novel follows the journey of portrait artist, Sadie Montgomery, who suddenly ends up in the hospital and with a condition known as face blindness. Now every face she sees is a puzzled mess…which is a bit of a problem for someone who makes a living off painting them! 😆 Sadie must quickly learn to navigate her life filled with family issues, career moves and unexpected romance between not one but two men! Clear solutions to her problems seem utterly out of focus but maybe there’s more to seeing life than just with her eyes. 👀

This book is so much more than a romance novel. It delves into themes of self-discovery, resilience, and the power of human connection. The characters are beautifully developed, and you'll find yourself rooting for them every step of the way. 💪❤️ What I loved most about this book is how Center manages to balance heartwarming moments with thought-provoking messages. She effortlessly weaves humor and tenderness into the story, leaving you with a warm and fuzzy feeling long after you've turned the last page. It is positively swoon worthy!🥰✨

So, grab a copy of "Hello Stranger" and get ready for an emotional rollercoaster of a book and uplifting reading experience! Trust me, you won't be able to put it down once you start! 📚🔥

Thank you St Martins Press for the advanced e-copy!

Hello Stranger follows portrait artist Sadie Montgomery as she just gets her big break; a finalist spot in a prestigious art competition. On her way to celebrate with friends she’s in an accident and wakes up in the hospital unable to recognize her friends and family. She’s diagnosed with temporary face blindness essentially sealing her last place finish in her competition. How is a portrait artist going to create an award winning painting if she can’t see faces?

I really really enjoyed this book. A fresh concept in the romance genre that I think the author did really well without being cheesy or super predictable. There was a twist that I didn’t find overly predictable and you really rooted for the main character to get a happy ending throughout. Many great life lessons wrapped up in this story. I would recommend this book to anyone who asked!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advance e-copy of this book.

I loved the overall message of this book, but it was a little hard for me to get into it. Sadie was a great main character, but I found her a little whiny in the beginning. Joe was a total sweetie and I love him so much! Would definitely recommend this one!

Well this solidifies that Katherine Center is now an auto-buy author! I was just introduced to her last year and have enjoyed her books immensely. I really need to catch up on all her backlist!

One of the things that I really love about Center’s work is learning something new about a medical issue. In this book, the MC, Sadie has a whirlwind brain surgery that leaves her some complications. She can no longer see faces and she’s a portrait artist! She’s just been accepted into a gallery contest that could finally give her, her big break. We go on her journey the next several weeks as she goes through recovery and trying to figure out her new normal.

Sadie was such a breath of fresh air. I loved her witty comebacks and how she looked at life. Even though, she has some past trauma, she tries to be kind and optimistic. I mean, sometimes she’s just ignoring the hard things but I think that’s what is so great about her journey. I do wish that we got to know her a little bit more before her surgery though. Sadie’s family situation is extremely sad and I hated Parker from the moment I met her.

Joe was the best! I fell for him so fast and he is just such a beautiful human being. I really enjoyed the relationship that Sadie and Joe build. Can you imagine building a relationship with someone and not ever seeing their face? She had to learn a whole new way to recognize people and I think that Center does such a great job here. His love for all the animals was seriously the sweetest!

This book was so quick to read because I had such a hard time putting it down. There are so many fun and sweet moments but we also get a lot of depth. I laughed and I cried a lot. It was so entertaining and I feel so happy after finishing this book. I will say that there are a couple of side characters that I wasn’t in love with. It’s really my only complaint about this book.

Overall, if you loved her other books, I think you will love this one too! It’s fun and heartwarming but will also pull at your heartstrings. There are some very tender moments that will make you cry. I’m looking forward to her next one! 🙂

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for an e-arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

Katherine Center had been a favorite author of mine for years, going back to before I would have called myself a romance reader. Her characters have major hurdles to overcome (impending blindness, paralysis, ptsd, etc.), but her stories are filled with such hope and happiness.

In this one, Sadie is a portrait painter who is gearing up for a competition that will hopefully kick off her career. In the lead up, though, she experiences a seizure that ultimately leads to brain surgery, which leaves her with a condition called face blindness. Basically, her brain can't properly process facial features to distinguish one person from another. Not only does this present some obvious challenges in the day to day (like not recognizing your evil stepsister), but it's extremely problematic for someone trying to paint a career defining portrait on a deadline.

While trying to find her new normal and prepare for the competition, Sadie also finds herself trying to navigate a complicated love life. She is absolutely certain her dog's new vet, Dr. Addison, is her forever person. At the same time, though, she's growing closer to her neighbor, Joe. Her initial impression of Joe wasn't great, but as he's helping with her portrait process and just generally showing up for her, she realizes she may have misjudged him. Add in Sadie's evil stepsister moving into her building, family drama, financial woes, and Sadie's insistence that no one know about her face blindness, and life is a bit complicated.

This entire story was told from Sadie's POV, which was especially interesting and entertaining because Sadie is the definition of an unreliable narrator. She's a quirky character on the best of days, but her condition further skews things, so you never really know what to believe as a reader.

This is a really fun and unique story with all the "Pollyanna" vibes I expect from this author.

When portrait artist Sadie wakes up after surgery, she discovers she has developed prosopagnosia, an inability to recognize faces. This new development put Sadie, who was already struggling to achieve personal and professional success, into a total tailspin. Center’s brilliant cast of characters, unique plot complication and compelling slow-burn romance come together to make a satisfying romcom. Thoughts on identity, perception and human relationships blend smoothly into the story while raising awareness of prosopagnosia. Loved it!

There is something about Katherine Center that I just can't resist. I start to read her books, find that I'm not in love, set them aside, but pick them up again and discover how absolutely marvelous they are. The written seems different the second time around - and maybe that's more to do with my mood? I just know that whatever she writes, I must give it a second chance. "Hello Stranger" wasn't an exception. Initially, the plot pushed me away, but Katherine Center pulled me back in. And, as always, I fell in love with another set of characters worthy of my love and attention!

Cute romance, this was my second read by the author and I would certainly recommend for others to enjoy.

This was really cute! While it is a little predictable, I still really like the concept of using face blindness in a romance. I loved our MMC and definitely felt the chemistry. There were some fun side characters, as well. This wasn't my favorite Kathrine Center book, but I still had a really good time and would recommend it!

3.5 Stars

A feel good story about Sadie, our main character, overcoming many challenges life has thrown at her all at once. We follow her journey after brain surgery has left her not being able to perceive faces. Now, she has to navigate her work as an artist and life in general without being able to see people’s faces. She discovers that sometimes we don’t see everything around us clearly and sometimes we only see what we want to see.

Overall I liked the idea and message of the book and it was a fun, quick, lighthearted read. It did take me a bit to get into the story off the bat, however the later half pace was better. I also did predict the twist early on in the story but I enjoyed reading how the main character discovers this.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Katherine Center for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this romcom! It took me a bit to get into, but I really loved all the layers. Center's characters are very dimensional and original. The misunderstandings were believable and hilarious. I really appreciated Center exploring some complicated medical situations and not shying away from showing what it's like to loose control of your life a little bit. Very relatable.

Overall, I found this to be a really smart, hilarious, and must-read romcom. Highly recommended. My favorite romcom this spring and summer.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

Who knew face blindness was a thing? I sure didn't. How awful! This was a wonderful premise for a story with multiple layers of interest. The main character is struggling with several challenges all converging at the moment when things should have been turning to her favour. Take some family turmoil, medical issues, financial crisis and the added fun of a "love is blind" trope and this is the novel you'd get.

I'm a fan. When's the next one?

Thank you to St. Martin's Publishing Group and NetGalley for the advanced copy of Hello Stranger by Katherine Center.

Struggling artist Sadie Montgomery and her adorable, spoiled senior dog Peanut, undergoes a "minor" brain surgery that results in seeing the world in a whole new way... facial blindness. She can still see! But recognizing faces proves impossible.

Katherine Center is an auto-read author for me, and has been for a long time. Her books are always such a nice combination of heartwarming, heart aching, and fun. If books were a hug, Katherine Center's would be those really good hugs. :)

This was a fun read! The facial blindness was definitely something I had never heard of. And I did enjoy how it was worked into some fun twists at the end. I had already assumed the main twist, but that didn't take away from the fun of it.

I enjoyed this book! I don't think it outranks some of my favorite Katherine Center books, but it's definitely worth the read.

Easy, cheesy, simple read and I loved it.

I liked Sadie (MC) a lot and enjoyed watching her navigate this time in her life. I cringed every time Parker opened her mouth, it was like watching a bad hallmark movie. Overall, I would describe this book as a cheesy hallmark movie.

the plot was super cute and easy to read. I kindddddd of predicted the ending, but it was wrapped up nicely. Katherine did a great job creating dynamic, enticing, witty characters.

I think her writing style is a breath of fresh air. It’s so simple without being overexplained or complicated. I’m also a sucker for 1st person POV.

This was my first book by Katherine Center and I will definitely read more by her. I was so surprised by how much I enjoyed this book! Such easy, cheesy reads.

I did not give this book 5 stars because I would’ve loved more of a relationship between Sadie and Joe or Dr. Addison, more smut or romance in general. I also thought Parker was just so awful and cringy I hated reading her parts lol.

Thank you to Net Galley, St. Martin's Press, and Katherine Center for the ARC of this book for an honest review!

Katherine Center can do no wrong for me.... she is one of my favorite authors however I couldn't really connect with this story. It started off very slow for me but it picked up and nobody does romantic comedy like KC :)

I am great at remembering people but terrible at names. And my big pet peeve is when people don’t remember me at all.

Hello Stranger is the story of Sadie, a woman who had a bleed on her brain and after surgery was left being unable see faces. She could see everything else but faces became jumbled. And she was a portrait artist. This was a cute romcom about overcoming the odds and pushing through, despite the obstacles. I figured out the “twist” pretty early but it was still entertaining and sweet to watch it all unfold. And the relationship with her stepsister added some comic relief. This is a perfect beach read (or lake read, in my case).

HELLO STRANGER
Katherine Center


In HELLO STRANGER we are following Sadie. Sadie has just had brain surgery and upon recovering she realizes she cannot make out people's faces. Every person she sees is a stranger to her. She has a form of Prosopagnosia.

Sadie is a portrait artist by trade and as you can imagine this disorder is very unsettling for her. She finds herself rediscovering what it means to be an artist and finds herself trying to piece back together her life in a more appealing way.

Enter not one, but two love interests to lust after. The rest is history.

I did an entire post talking about books featuring characters with Prosopagnosia. But this is the first romance novel I have ever read that featured this occurrence. I thought it created a very interesting dynamic. I have learned even more about the subject and I thought that was a big bonus for the book.

I loved the idea that since Sadie can’t make out faces Every. Other. Sense. Is. Heightened. This made for some of the steamiest scenes I've ever read by Katherine Center. Although fleeting, this tension between the characters went a long way.

HELLO STRANGER is a love story but it's also about grief. Not only the grief of losing a loved one but also the grief of losing and letting go of what you thought your life was going to be like. And giving birth to and accepting the life you were meant to live.

HELLO STRANGER is my favorite of Katherine Center's books. And it might be the most romantic book I've read recently. You can find HELLO STRANGER by Katherine Center everywhere books are sold, it's out now!

Thanks to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copies! It was a pleasure to read and be given the opportunity to provide feedback!

HELLO STRANGER...⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️