Hello Stranger is a unique and emotionally engaging story that explores the challenges of knowing and connecting with others. Sadie Montgomery, a portrait artist, develops face blindness after surgery, which hinders her ability to perceive faces and pursue her dream. Center skillfully blends humor and serious topics, creating a credible story that balances laughter and profound life lessons.

Center's research on acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia is evident, and the condition is presented believably, prompting readers to explore it further. Sure, there are a few moments that stretch the boundaries, especially in the love story department. But hey, who doesn't enjoy a little bit of "what are the odds?" in their reading adventures? And despite those minor quirks, Hello, Stranger delivers an endearing tale that'll give you warm fuzzy feelings, kind of like a modern-day "You've Got Mail."

Katherine Center's writing style shines throughout, creating relatable characters and a gentle touch of romance. If you’re looking for a delightful book with laughs, life lessons, and lovable characters, Hello Stranger is your newest must-read novel!

This is my first Katherine Center novel but definitely not my last. It wasn’t quite the romance read I was expecting but I loved the offbeat subject of facial blindness.

Sadie is fast becoming a well-known portrait artist - just like her late mother. She’s placed in the final round of ten portrait artists in a very competitive competition. After a series of unexpected setbacks and surgery, Sadie finds herself with facial blindness - as in, faces are all blurry and she has to use her other senses to find her way through her life and somehow win her competition.

Only a few people know about her facial blindness and she keeps it a close secret. Sadie finds herself interested in and engaging both her elderly dog’s vet, Oliver, and her slightly questionable neighbor, Joe and neither know about the facial blindness. Her best friend, Sue, saved her with her levity.

Sadie’s family is a bit heartbreaking. While all this is going on, Sadie also had to deal with her stepsister, Parker, a sociopath and the continued after effects of her mother passing.

The novel is a lot more serious than I expected but I liked the overarching feel-good romance. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this eARC. Hello Stranger is out now.

I think Katherine Center must be just the warmest, most optimistic person. Her books always have so much heart, even for people who are doing terrible things.

I really enjoyed Hello Stranger but I think your enjoyment of this one will definitely have to do with how crazy miscommunication makes you. Also, everyone in Sadie’s life kind of sucks except for love interest Joe and her best friend’s parents, who are also her landlords. Sadie’s stepsister is an actual nightmare and I deeply wanted to punch her in the face.

Overall, super cute and satisfying read! Check out the comments for the book synopsis.

I loved the narrator Patti Murin, her voice really matched the perky, optimist-despite-all-odds tone of the book.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for my review copy! All thoughts are my own.

I would give this 3.5/5 stars.

This is my first Katherine Center novel, although I have owned a copy of The Bodyguard for a while now. I thought that the overall writing was fine. The writing style itself wasn't a distraction from the story. But I thought that they story was maybe just a little boring?

The main character Sadie ends up in an accident which lands her in the hospital. While there they discover that she needs to have surgery to remove a blood vessel from her brain. The result of the surgery causes her to have temporary face blindness. This poses a big problem for Sadie who makes a living as a portrait artist. The story follows her recovery as she learns to adapt to her new circumstances.

I thought parts of this book were cheesy. You're going to tell me that she couldn't recognize that the veterinarian was the same guy who she spends most of her time with? Or that he never once alluded to him knowing her when she would show up at the clinic?

Overall I thought this book was a middle of the road romance.

Katherine Center’s The Bodyguard was one of my favorite books of 2022, so the bar I had set for Hello Stranger was really high.

While I didn’t think this was quite on par with The Bodyguard, it was a great, fun read with lots of thoroughly likable characters. I heard other reviewers say that the plot twist didn’t feel believable to them but I don’t share that opinion. My only complaint was that I thought the villain sister storyline didn’t ring true to me.

Anyway, this is a very sweet rom com that I’d recommend to anyone who loves this genre or who loves Katherine Center.

I just finished Hello Stranger by Katherine Center and here are my thoughts on it.


Sadie finally feels like her career is getting somewhere! She managed to get a slot as a finalist for the North American Portrait society. She knows she has a great shot at winning and the prize money will go far! Plus her dad will see how successful she is.

One day while she is standing in the street, she has a minor episode that lands her in hospital. She needs brain surgery. It all goes well except when she wakes up she has something called face blindness. It has her seeing people's faces as jumbled up messes.

The fear she feels at not being able to see normally again and trying to navigate her dating life has Sadie wondering if her life as a portrait artist is well and truly over.

I had the worst hangover after this book. It filled me up so hard that I couldn’t shake it off! I loved it. I actually had no idea that face blindness was a thing! It was fascinating and after I did some research, I found that the book was really well researched and handled with such care that it shows a level of genius in the writing you don’t often find in the romance genre.

The character development was beautifully done and you could really feel Sadie’s panic at trying to adapt to her new normal and wondering if this will ever go away. I loved Joe! He was such a sweetie pie and he seemed to roll with all the weirdness with very little question. He had no idea what was going on but he was such a love with what he didn’t understand.

Loved that the book touched on art because I am a huge art lover. This book checked every single box for me and I was sad for it to be over. I finished the book in one afternoon and now I’m on the hunt for more books by this author. The romance in this book was so gentle and kind that I could have fallen in love myself.

5 stars. I think this is my favorite read of the year.

I loved this book! Even if I did figure out where it was headed pretty early on, I still enjoyed every bit of the story and how it unfolded. Definitely recommend!

Hello Stranger is a fun, lighthearted beach read. I actually struggled with the first half of the book.. the main character, Sadie, was a bit juvenile, and something about the way her character went through life annoyed me.  Then the little twist in the story happened with the love interest, and I was pleasantly surprised, and it came together well enough.  It was an interesting take on a rare medical condition. This was my first book by Katherine Center, and I will be adding some of her backlist to my tbr.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read and review honestly an advanced digital copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review. This was my first book by this author and even though I have heard great things I did not have any expectations. This story blew me away! It was so gripping I did not want to put it down. Definitely 5 starts and I will for sure be checking out more of her books.

Katherine Center always takes me for the most beautiful ride, I loved all of the elements in Hello Stranger. It's heartbreaking but hopeful, and completely hilarious, which keeps it from feeling too heavy. Sadie's doing her best trying to make it as an artist when an emergency medical issue derails her plans. Watching her struggles, learning to cope, discovering more about her mom, was all perfection. I loved Joe and Oliver, and the love/hate Sadie had with him. This was a great read, I was totally consumed from start to finish.

(3.75/5 stars) This is my second Katherine Center romance novel (the first being The Bodyguard) and I almost feel like I could copy/paste my review of the last book here:
Easy to read and somewhat predictable, this book was more rom-COM than ROM-com (honestly you could classify this more as romance-adjacent than romance)...The characters are endearing and it's easy to get caught up in their story. However parts of the book felt exaggerated, perhaps almost cartoonish? Overall a fun read but not one that I would say is top of my "must read" list.
Not much has changed with this book, and I'd definitely put it on a beach read list or a summer-by-the-pool list.

I read Hello Stranger back in June, and after reading a few lacklustre reviews I have to admit that I had some regrets about requesting it on Netgalley. But sometimes I think it’s good to read a book after I’ve set the bar low in my mind, compared to when I read a book that’s hyped up and I go into it expecting great things. I enjoyed it! Yes, was predictable, but thought it was still super sweet and perfectly entertaining.

When I found out that facial blindness was a bit part of the storyline, I was surprised because the first time I’d even heard of this condition was after reading Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney back in fall. I thought that book was FINE (I didn’t review it), but found I was rolling my eyes a lot, and thought that the face blindness seemed like way too convenient of a plot point to use in a thriller. So again, I was a little cynical about this storyline, but this time there was a lot more context and explanation. Including an author’s note about it at the end. But I think if I’m going to read a third book about face blindness, it better be a memoir, and not a plot point.

So I would say that if you’re going to read this one, maybe go in with lower expectations like I did, and definitely don’t over-think it too much!

Katherine Center, the Author of “Hello Stranger,” has written an entertaining, witty, captivating, and heartfelt story. The Genres are Contemporary Fiction, Romance, Family Fiction, and Fiction. I love Katherine Center’s books, and this is wonderful. The author vividly describes the events, the scenery, and her colorful characters. The characters can be described as complex and complicated. I especially like “Peanut,” the elder dog with distinct culinary tastes.

Sadie Montgomery is a portrait artist who has placed as a finalist in a Society Competition with a $10,000 prize. Unfortunately, after an accident, Sadie finds herself in the hospital needing brain surgery. She had a previous condition and needs surgery that could save her life, but the complication is that she is left with actual “face blindness,” where facial features become a blur. For a portrait artist, this could be a disaster.

At the same time, she meets two men that she is drawn to. Sadie also has a dysfunctional family, and her troublesome step-sister shows up to make her life miserable.

The author discusses the importance of perception, family, friendships, love, and hope. I highly recommend this delightful and thought-provoking story.

This was such an amazing story! I LOVED the prosopagnosia aspect, it made this story so unique and captivating! And Joe/Oliver is now a new a favorite MMC! I love a golden retriever MMC and Joe was IT! Sadie and her independence reminded me so much of myself - always feeling like we need to do it ourselves & never ask for help, needing to prove ourselves to everyone. Overall a 5 star read for me and I can’t wait for more Katherine Center!

Another winner from Katherine Center!!

I loved this unique story, and its message of hopeful perseverance and finding love when you least expect it.

I thought the storyline about Sadie’s onset of Prosopagnosia (also known as face blindness) fascinating!! I’d never heard of that before, and it was really interesting to learn about it while seeing how it affects Sadie’s job as a portrait artist, as well as her interactions with her family, friends, and love interests.

I also loved little details, like all the scenes set on the rooftop overlooking the city, and the fierce bond she has with her dog, Peanut.

Overall, this was a fun and heartwarming read, with lots of moments to cheer for Sadie. I really enjoyed it!!

Thank you Netgalley for the eArc.

Katherine Center is becoming a must read romance author for me. Sadie Montgomery is a portrait artist with the sassiest and most refined pup, Peanut, an absent fauther, standoffish stepmother and an EVIL step sister. Sadie finds herself a finalist for a prestigious portrait contact when she has a medical emergency and passes out in the middle of the street and is saved by a stranger. She ends up having a brain edema and needs to get surgery. After her surgery she becomes Face blind due to swelling in her brain.

During this time she ends up meeting a two new men Joe the neighbor who she can't figure out, and the most perfect looking (even without the face) vet Dr Addison for when Peanut gets sick. This story is cute and just made me happy.

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center

Sadie Montgomery lost her mother at a young age, and after defying her dad to become an artist, she lost touch with her family. Now, as a starving artist living in her studio, she finally gets her big break! She is a finalist in the North American Portrait Society. Except, there is one catch – Sadie goes through brain surgery resulting in temporary face blindness. Now she must learn to paint portraits without able to see people’s faces. Learning to deal with trauma, she also encounters the horrible man-child from the elevator who seems to have a personality change, the handsome vet who saves her dog’s life, her evil step-sister who moved into her building, and her best friend and her family to help her through this transition.

Sure, this might be romance but in my opinion this is about Sadie’s ability to overcome her hardships. The romance definitely added spice to this novel but honestly I would just read this for Sadie alone. I was so proud of her and I hope she will always succeed in her fictional life. Joe was also such a sweet character, he was kind, helpful and sweet. The ultimate golden retriever vibes in the best way possible. I hope you pick up this book, even if you’re not in the mood for romance (I wasn’t when I picked it up), you will be hooked from the start!

"The face is where the emotions are, and where the story lies, and where the heart of the whole thing happens."

Sadie Montgomery has numerous struggles in her career as a portrait artist. When she finally gets the opportunity she always wanted as becoming a finalist in a prestigious artistic competition with a $10,000 prize, Sadie has a sudden seizure and finds out she has a leaking blood vessel in her brain that needs to be repaired with surgery. What nobody expected was that the surgery had a side effect: Sadie now has Acquired Apperceptive Prosopagnosia. Which means she’s not able to see faces anymore. With the contest deadline ahead of her, how she would do the paintings she needs if she can’t see faces?

This is my first book from Ms. Center and I’m eager to explore more of her work. It’s fascinating how the author mixes humor with serious topics in this book. Another fact that makes the story credible is the research job Ms. Center has done. I found myself searching on Google this condition! And with that she created a story worth reading it with scenes that balances humor and deep lessons that could be easily a movie script. I highly recommend this book if you like real life dramas with a humorous touch.

FULL REVIEW HERE:
https://aishasbookworld.wordpress.com/2023/07/17/review-hello-stranger-by-katherine-center/

• ARC given by St. Martin's Press via Netgalley. Thanks for your trust.

Hello Stranger
Katherine Center
4.5⭐️
Okay I really enjoyed this one! It was a totally unique situation and intriguing the whole time for me. Sadie acquired “face blindness” and really rocked her world. Her relationships changed. Her view on life changed. And she struggled! But this story really taught a lot of great life lessons and had a really cute and special romance. I would definitely recommend it.

I found the premise of this book--a woman who can't see people's faces except as separate puzzle pieces--intriguing and different. I read a lot of books, and the unique main character/plot probably made this one for me. The writing was good, too! It was the first book I have read by this author and I'm definitely looking to read more by her.