Sadie finally lands one of the finalist spots in a portrait competition. However, after a minor surgery, she can't see faces anymore. She can still see animal faces and she relies on her dog, Peanut. She meets a veterinarian and he asks her on a date. She also keeps on running into Joe, her obnoxious neighbour. She falls for 2 very different guys and a love triangle unfolds....,

I love Katherine Center. Her last book, The Bodyguard, was one of my favorite. Like The Bodyguard, this book is funny, witty, romantic and deeply touching. Love Sadie especially. Love how imperfect she is and how she overcomes her struggles. I also love the growth of her character... I love Joe so much too. He's a great book bf. Love the twist especially. Mr. and Mrs. Kim are terrific. I want them to be my friends!

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

Katherine Center's "Hello Stranger" is a sweet summer romance perfect for your beach/pool bag. I found the parts about face blindness really interesting. I knew nothing about this condition before reading this book. Yes you can see what's going to happen for the most part, but it was fun to get there. Center's characters are fun and entertaining and you find yourself routing for romance and perfect tied up with a bow ending.

Thank you St. Martins Press and Netgalley for an advanced reader's copy of this book for my honest opinion.

I loved this story. It was such a different and unique take on a romance story that I have read to date. I will admit I kinda figured out the “twist” a little more then half way through, but I still really enjoyed the story.

I also really enjoyed the authors note at the end and how this story came to be.

Thank you to Net Galley & St Martins Press for a ARC copy of this book!

This was such an interesting romance where it kept me guessing and I learned a lot about face blindness. The way the author explained it painted the clearest picture for me to understand and I really enjoyed this take.

Overall a sold 3 star read for me.

I had the pleasure of reading an early copy of Hello Stranger by Katherine Center this week and OMG. This is one book that I legit finished in 24 hours because I could not step away from it. There I was at work glaring down anyone who would dare disturb me whilst reading right at the good part!

Hello Stranger felt like diving into a medical drama with a romance twist and I wholeheartedly loved it. This was the quickest five stars I’ve ever given a book. The female lead is a spine of steel kinda woman whose not used to asking for help. Add in a brain surgery with wonky consequences leaving this woman whose used to depending on solely herself to have to learn to accept help from the unlikeliest of peoples. Not only that but finding your soulmate/s when you can’t even see anyone’s faces?! I can’t imagine going about the world seeing other people as Picasso/jigsaw pieces and the author does an amazing job at making her readers empathize so well with the trials of the main character.

Not only is this an amazing book but it has the twist of all twists that you will not see coming! Can’t recommend this one enough! Thank you so much to the author & @stmartinspress for an early copy of this amazing book!

After undergoing brain surgery, Sadie wakes up with (hopefully only temporary) face blindness. As a portrait artist who just landed her big break as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition, this is an utter disaster. Making matters worse is the fact that she is embarrassed by her newfound situation and refuses to come clean to anyone including her dog's new veterinarian and her helpful neighbor. 

This has everything you could possibly want in a heartfelt rom-com--it was funny, the characters are all extremely likable and easy to root for, and the plot is interesting (I had never heard of face blindness so it was intriguing to read about). I usually don't like miscommunication, but in this instance, it was done in such a way that it was actually entertaining and amusing. I've only read a handful of her books, but this is for sure my new favorite Katherine Center novel!

I am going to gush about this book! I loved it all. I loved the characters, the story, the way I learned about new things; prosopagnosia and pajankets, and how it made me believe in people.

Katherine Center is one of my favourite authors because she is able to bring stories to life in a way that allows the reader to jump in and go along for the ride. I could not put this down. I also admit that I didn’t even read the description because it is a given I would want to read it. And after reading the authors’s note I can guarantee I will continue to pick up the next book. I found Katherine’s discussion on romance books thought provoking and provided new ways to consider a book when reviewing it. When I think of this book I can say that it made me laugh, feel misty, swoon and be curious. Who can ask for anything more.

I am so very thankful to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for the opportunity to read and review this arc for my honest review.

This was a cute book. I loved getting to be along side Sadie as she explored her hopefully temporary medical condition of being face blind. It was fascinating to me and I also really liked the at we got more of the doctor helping her understand and cope. Her dog Peanut, whose fave she can see, was so cute and I’m glad she had someone.

I wouldn’t however necessarily call this a romance. The book has her on a couple dates and she kisses a man twice but the other 99% of the book is about Sadie finding new herself. The evil stepsister was truly evil, the two men in Sadie’s life were great and Sadie was ok. I don’t truly like characters who live in self pity so while I understood her from a medical and artistic standpoint I couldn’t connect on a more personal level. Didn’t take away from an entertaining book though!

Would definitely read more Katherine Center!

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center is a romance but so totally outside my experience I hardly know where to start. Our heroine, Sadie, suffers from face blindness or prosopagnosia. It turns out this is an affliction that from which some folks suffer their entire lives or some, who only suffer from it for weeks or months, based on an injury, or in Sadie’s situation, the aftermath of a brain surgery. Sadie is a portrait artist who has just gotten her big break having been selected in a portrait contest wherein only 10 of 10,000 were selected. It was just then that she fainted in the middle of the street and had to be rescued by a stranger, a Good Samaritan. She was diagnosed with a cavernoma, which simplistically is a weak spot in a blood vessel, in her brain. She was going to postpone the surgery but woke one morning to her all-but-estranged father, nearly hysterical that she do it immediately. It seems her mother had postponed the same surgery and died of a rupture: a stroke. She acquiesced and had the surgery only to wake up and discover that faces looked liked Picasso paintings: disjointed and bizarre, including her own. This is face blindness.

Joe was a guy who lived in her building. She seemed on the promiscuous side as she noticed him and overheard phone conversations on the elevator. But, when she went to get her dog, Peanut from the veterinary clinic where he had boarded during her hospital stay, and the subsequently when Peanut had a medical emergency, she met Dr Olivier Addison, and was in love. True, she couldn’t see his face, but she could see the rest of him and smell him. She decided she was in love and would marry him. Joe became a helpful friend. What a great character Sadie was. She opened up, mostly in her thoughts, about her face blindness and her life. She was stoic although she did have bouts of depression. It was a convoluted plot, often hilarious, but sometimes really sad. She had a great therapist who opened her eyes to ways of “seeing” things and her life began to change. Lots of twists and turns. This was a terrific read, not just a simple romance.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of Hello Stranger by St Martin’s Press, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #StMartinsPress #KatherineCenter #HelloStranger

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for this ARC!

This was my first Katherine Center read and maybe I just didn’t pick her best one. I didn’t love this story like I thought I might & Sadie as the MC drove me nuts. She handled things immaturely and just made it hard to like her as a person. I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt because of her past family trauma and situations she goes through during the novel, but she just seemed kind of bratty about things. Some of the other characters seemed more real and level headed compared to Sadie. The story line was good & overall it was a quick, quirky, fun read. I will definitely read other books by Center, but this was not a favorite of mine.

My review will be posted to my Instagram at the end of July.

I absolutely loved this book! This is my first book by this author and I'm kicking myself for it because it was so enjoyable and I've been recommended her books so many times! The storyline, the feelings, the wonderful conclusion - I loved every minute of the journey. What a beautiful story!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sadie is an artist who’s just made top ten in a prestigious art competition. An exciting time turns scary when, due to a hereditary condition, she must get brain surgery. The surgery, while successful, leaves Sadie with face blindness. The good news is that it’s probably only temporary… though this leaves her unable to draw faces for the art competition.

I loved this story, and I was drawn in from the start. Sadie was a very likable MC. I loved following her journey of healing and self discovery, and the romance was super sweet! While the story was somewhat predictable, it did not lessen my enjoyment.

Kudos to the expertise of Katherine Center for another incredible story. I started this one and so just wanted to cancel the rest of my life and curl up and finish it in one sitting but life got in the way. The premise of the book, as well as the way Katherine Center enveloped it into her plot and twist, was so very unique, as well as compelling to read.
Sadie, a young struggling artist specializing in portraits, has just won a place in a contest for a prestigious award. After a freak accident one day her family history, as well as her estranged family, converge and Sadie is convinced to have elective surgery, after which nothing is the same. Imagine a portrait artist developing prosopagnosia, or face blindness.
My heart went out to Sadie throughout this book - her love for Peanut, her struggle to never ask for help, her crush on the vet, her elevator ride with “Joe”, the revelation of her prosopagnosia, her friendship with Sue, her developing feelings for Joe… so many endearing events that created a beautiful story. As I love to learn something while reading this book definitely checked that box for me. The characters in this book, even Parker, will linger in my thoughts for a long time. This story would make a powerful movie. One of my favorite books so far this year. Please keep writing Katherine Center as I loved What You Wish For and now Hello Stranger.
Many many thanks to Katherine Center for making me care so deeply about these characters that come to life as I am reading, St. Martin’s Press for having the wisdom to see her brilliance, and NetGalley for affording me the absolute pleasure of having the opportunity to read an arc of another of her incredible books, just published on July 11th. I cannot praise this read highly enough.

If you know me, you know the minute this landed on my doorstep I started reading it. I am a HUGE fan of Katherine Center’s books and Hello Stranger is another good one! This feel good story about a woman named Sadie has some deep underlying issues, but Center’s stories always leave me feeling hopeful. There was even a little twist in here I didn’t anticipate that I really loved! This is the perfect summer read and I highly recommend you grab a copy now that it’s out! It will be a great addition to your beach bag!

4.5 but i always round up when i rate half stars.

This was such a fun book. So much of it was a bit silly and over the top, but i love how the book recognized that and literally called itself out. I laughed out loud multiple times, and teared up a couple as well. Sadie and Peanuts relationship was my absolute favorite!!! "I know everyone says their dog is the best but mine REALLy is." RELATABLE!!! Seriously, I think I'd have rated it 4 stars if it weren't for the worldly pup. Everyone talks about their book boyfriend...we'll Peanut is mine.

Highly recommend sticking through to read the authors note at the end. Everything she said about romance books and why we read them was just spot on.

Sadie has sudden acquired face blindness. Everyone’s face, even people she knows, looks like a jumbled puzzle. This is difficult as she is a portrait artist and has two guys she met and is interested in.

This was such a great read. I was hooked from the very beginning. The whole face blindness thing I was a bit worried it may be cliche, but the entire story was refreshing. I even guessed the twist from the beginning but it did not affect my enjoyment at all! I recommend this to everyone, despite your genres of choice.

“Maybe life was full of surprises. Maybe disappointments could turn out to be blessings.”

Hello Stranger is available now.

Welp, folks, in case there was any worry or doubt about the newest from Katherine Center, rest assured, she has done it again!

First, let me just say what a unique book this was. Yes, it has all the parts that makes a Katherine Center book amazing. The wit, humor, lightness, love, adorable characters... the works basically in a rom-comm type chick lit story. But, this time, the story line was so interesting. Without giving too much away, Ive never heard of the condition Sadie had and it intrigued me to go look it up which I love when authors can suck me in a story like that. I got immersed in every part. I was hooked and its a been a long time .. years and years since having children that I stayed up until almost 5 am to finish a story. Even knowing I would Most definetely regret it with 3 children to wake up too on a summer day no doubt where they will be going at it for 15 hours straight lol Oh well! Sooooo worth it. And thats a fair warning that once you begin, you will not want to stop.

5 stars!

** thank you netgalley for the oppertunity to read this one**

This book is unique in the topic that it touches on – I have never read anything like it! Sadie, the main character, has to recover from a brain bleed which resulted in a condition which causes face blindness. Since she is an artist who needs to create a portrait for a contest, this is a big deal. We grow with Sadie, fall in love with her and experience this world through her.

Thank you, Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Five soft, uplifting stars for this beautiful book. I was little skeptical going in wondering if it will weigh down my mood being a heavy read, i mean one would expect a plot involving a brain surgery, acquired facial blindness and a evil step-sister would be a little heavy but take my word when I say I was cackling and making puppy eyes half the time. Kathrine centre has a way with her books where she shows how to be immensely strong via her main leads when you are in the direst of the life situations.It is not only uplifting but also quite inspiring, the book sends a prominent message that you get something good out of even the most ugliest life situations as the quote insists "You see what you want to see"

This might be my new favorite Kathrine's book after all, it has perfect amount of everything including a dollop of happiness and a double scoop of sweetest romance between two cinnamon rolls and lets not forget the puppy, overall it is such an adorable read I throughly enjoyed from the very beginning. I urge you all to pick up this read and get lost in it, definitely do not miss the author's note.

Thank you St.Martin's press for my digital ARC and a finished copy!

The Bodyguard was one of my favorite reads last year so I was certain anything Katherine Center touched would be gold and Hello Stranger did not disappoint. I just loved how everything came together at the end with a surprising twist (those are hard to come by these days). Sadie stole my heart and Joe did too.