"Hello Stranger" by Katherine Center is Her Best One Yet!

Wow! It's been over two years since I've read a Katherine Center book. Two long years! So, I was worried about starting Hello Stranger and more than a little nervous, as well.

During this two year gap, I read less and less of the Romance genre, especially Rom-Com, as the stories began to sound muddled in my ears, my head, and in my heart. The thought of reading one more with the Insta-Love troupe or another with the bedroom door completely torn down, well let's just say it's not my idea of romance. I'm a little old fashion that way.

When I began reading and listening to "Hello Stranger" "all the feels" of a Katherine Center story came rushing back to me and all my concerns melted away. It was like visiting an old friend and getting a great big hug.

What I truly love about this author's storytelling is how she picks a topic, wraps it around a female main character who's struggling through it and trying to get to the other side as whole as possible.
Then, love walks in. And why not? Everything's a little better with it than without it, right?

In "Hello Stranger" our main character is Sadie Montgomery and she walks you through her story in a first person point-of-view that is touching, humorous, and believable. She's a struggling portrait artist who's having trouble seeing a few things clearly right now. That's enough to get you started and like all this author's stories, this one isn't only about romance, it's about life, dealing with challenging situations, memories from the past, and through it all, trying to carve out a future that works.

"Hello Stranger" was a joy to both read and listen to. My preference, by far, is the audiobook with the excellent narration by the talented Patti Murin. Her voicing is fabulous and worthy of a second listen!

There is one more thing you'll need to know about this author. I ugly cry with every single book I've read from her. Heck, I cried writing this dang review. I suggest you plan on having plenty of tissues to get through "Hello Stranger". It's a doozie.

I think I say this about every Katherine Center book after I've read it, this is her best one yet. I mean it this time. Really. I highly recommend "Hello Stranger" to everyone that reads!

5⭐

Thank you to Katherine Center, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for a DRC and ALC of this book through NetGalley. It has been an honor to give my honest and voluntary review.

5/5⭐️

It’s been a few days since I finished this book and I’m still thinking about it.

Sadie is an artist that places as a finalist in a portrait competition. Winning this could be her big break but unfortunately after going through brain surgery she ends up getting diagnosed with prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness.

I absolutely loved this book. This was my first time reading a Katherine Center book and I’ll definitely be reading more in the future. Sadie was written with a lot of layers and I enjoyed being in her POV while she navigated face blindness, an art competition, family issues, grief, and falling in love. While this book is categorized as a romance, I would say there’s also a lot of focus on Sadie’s growth and finding her purpose. The premise of this romance was unique to me and I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an arc of this book!

Sadie goes in for a seamingly minor brain surgery but wakes up with prosopagnosia, face blindness. She has to navigate through this major life change not knowing which people surround her daily. To make it more complex, she works as a portrait artist who can no longer see faces! There is family drama with her evil step-sister and the book picks up when romance enters the picture. Will Sadie choose the dreamy vet to her beloved dog, Peanut, or her sweet and helpful neighbor, Joe, who she mistakes for a sleazebag?

I adored this one. It had just the right amount of self pity but followed with humor. I would have liked a little more spice but I love Katherine Center's writing style and definitely need to read more of her books! This is also available on BOTM.

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

What You Wish For was one of the first ARCs I ever read and reviewed and while not my normal genre, I was so captivated by the story and the writing style. Fast forward a few years later and I can say those same words about this story too. And this face blindness. I had not heard of this a until a few years ago and it keeps showing up in all the books I read. Up until now it’s always been in thrillers, where the inflicted person is at a disadvantage with a killer, but this was a clever use in more of a women’s fiction/romance novel. Having Sadie need to rely on things other than a face to recognize the people surrounding her. I loved all the descriptions of people and how she remembered and recognized them.

Weirdly I rely a lot on the sound of someone’s voice and was surprised that wasn’t something she used. I am a knitter and will knit while “watching TV” and I put that in quotes because I am usually focused on the knitting and follow the show based upon hearing the characters. I am always recognizing someone in a movie based on that voice. Am I the only one?

But back to the book. I really was so invested in Sadie’s journey and her struggles to cope with her condition. How she filled in the blanks, both wrong and right. Katherine Center does such a good job of bringing characters to life and having you step into their shoes and feel what they are feeling. The good, the bad and the ugly. And while I continued to ponder Sadie’s perception of the world around her, the author pulled the wool over my eyes on the romance. I was a little slow on the uptake to the love triangle brewing. This would have been the perfect summer read and a contender for my favorite of the month if there was just a little less of Sadie’s parents being oblivious as to what was happening between their two daughters.

I flipped back and forth between the book and audiobook and loved the narration of Patti Murin. She expertly represented Sadie and all her emotions while allowing the story to shine. I really enjoyed both versions.

If you are ready for some slightly quirky characters and to get invested in the story, this should be part of your summer reading.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Katherine Center, and NetGalley for the eARC of Hello Stranger!

Sadie is a struggling portrait artist who’s just placed in the top ten in a prestigious art contest. To celebrate, her best friend Sue wants to throw her a party. When Sadie goes out to buy a bottle of wine but forgets her wallet, a stranger pays for her order after much resistance from Sadie. On her way home, Sadie freezes in a crosswalk and her life changes forever.

When Sadie wakes up in the hospital, she is told she’s had a non-convulsive seizure resulting from a deformed blood vessel in her brain. After much consideration, and force from her father since this is how her mother died, Sadie decides to have the surgery to repair the blood vessel. When she wakes from the surgery and people begin visiting, Sadie realizes she can’t see anyone’s faces. The swelling in her brain has led to face blindness. How is Sadie, a portrait artist, supposed to compete in this competition if she can’t see faces? It’s what she paints for a living!

Sadie begins crushing on two guys—Dr. Oliver Addison, her vet, and Joe, a man in her apartment building. Sadie struggles through her feelings to decide who she wants to spend time with. Will she choose Dr. Oliver Addison or Joe, neither of whose faces she’s seen before?

This book was phenomenal. I laughed, I cried, and I learned so much. I’d never heard of face blindness before. This book was incredibly eye-opening to looking for the good things in life. When you look for good things, you’re sure to find good things! Katherine Center is a genius. Highly recommend this book!

After an accident Sadie Montgomery is diagnosed with face blindness, and although the doctors say it is mostly likely temporary, it couldn’t have happened at a worst time. She just became a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition, and has to create a new portrait for the competition. As Sadie is trying to cope with her new reality, work her way through family issues, and continue her artistic dream she falls in lust with not only one man, but two very different ones.

The premise of this book was cool, and I love a book that makes me want to learn about new things. I now know a lot about face blindness which I didn’t know was a thing till this book. However, although a cool premise, the characters were just not my favourite, especially the main character, Sadie. I found her to be really self centred, especially with her best friend.

I typically love Katerina Center books, and love her development of romance for the characters, but this one was just a bit too much of a slow burn for me, and the love triangle didn’t work for me.

If you love Katherine Centre’s work, I would definitely try this one out. I know there will be a lot of people who will love the romance in this one, it just sadly wasn’t for me this time.

Thank you NetGalley and St.Martin’s Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, & Katherine Center for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book! Katherine Center does such an amazing job of making you feel like you're part of the story. I fell in love with these characters and was so sad when this one ended! Five++++ stars!

LOVED it!!! Sadie’s story is a unique one…. She’s an artist that’s made it to the finals in a what could be a life changing competition….. but after being diagnosed with face blindness, she faces so many obstacles….the hope is that it’s temporary, but will it be?! And,
will it correct itself in time for her to finish her painting for the competition. Throw in not one, but TWO love interests…. And everything becomes quite intense!! SO good!!!

Wanna make me fall in love with your romance novel? Add in a love story about a girl and her dog. I’m sold 🫶.
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Struggling portrait artist, Sadie Montgomery, finally gets her big break when she places as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition. The only problem is, a recent medical condition has left her with “probably temporary” face blindness. Faces are nothing but disconnected pieces, and she can’t draw a portrait to save her life. As her personal, professional, and family life begin to unravel, she falls for two very different men. But which man has her heart? And will she recover in time to paint a masterpiece portrait for the competition?
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What we think we see isn’t always what is, and nobody feels that more than Sadie. Center did a ton of research on prosopagnosia (face blindness), and it shows. I enjoyed experiencing the world through Sadie’s eyes, watching her work through grief and family drama, and cheering her along as she fell further in love (with both her dog Peanut and a man 😁❤️🐶).
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I laughed so much while reading this book! I also had approximately 4 tear-ups and 1 sob 😭🫶. Y’all know, any book that can make me cry this much is 5⭐️ 🥹.
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I read and listened to this book. Adding Patti Murin to my list of favorite narrators to watch for because she did a phenomenal job narrating. Thank you to @macmillan.audio @stmartinspress and @netgalley for these ARCs in exchange for an honest review!
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Hello Stranger - Katherine Center
5/5⭐️

Katherine Center's newest release, Hello Stranger, was a unique love story that was really sweet and fun. After having life saving brain surgery, artist Sadie wakes up with face blindness that will hopefully go away. We follow Sadie as she tries to navigate this new world and how she finds herself having feelings with two different men. I thought the characters were great, especially our leads. They were both written so vividly I felt like I could see them right in front of me.

Katherine Center does it again!!

Sadie Montgomery has had some tough breaks in her life, but she finally sees her chance to get a huge good break when she manages to beat out hundreds of other entries in a portrait competition with $10,000 going to the winner. Then she has to get brain surgery, and though it seems she’s recovering nicely, now she can no longer see people’s faces. She can make out other features like what they’re wearing and how they walk, but she can’t recognize her best friend or see her own face in the mirror. This is obviously a terrifying thing for anyone but is a particular problem for a person who makes her living painting portraits and is about to enter a potentially life-changing contest.

She can still see her beloved dog Peanut’s 14-year-old face, and when he gets sick, she rushes to the vet, which is how she meets Dr. Oliver Addison. From what she can see, she somehow knows he’s wickedly handsome and promptly begins fantasizing about their wedding, so she has something positive in her life, even if it’s all in head.

I was so impressed with Center’s descriptions of what face blindness is like for those experiencing it. She clearly did her research! I was charmed by this enjoyable & emotion-evoking read. 5 enthusiastic stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Pros: I liked the disability rep and the interesting premise. I liked Peanut and the love Sadie has for him. I also enjoyed how she gained confidence and stood up for herself throughout the book.

Cons: Sadie's family was awful and I kind of wished she had just cut them all out of her life. I also disliked the "love triangle" which made the relationship hard to root for, even while knowing the truth.

This is a cute book with some great messages but I honestly wouldn't call it a romance since the romance is such a small part. She doesn't even know his real name for most of the book!

Facial recognition blindness seems to be having its day in contemporary fiction (romance, thriller, etc). I’m easily triggered as there are people in my life with this condition. It is a spectrum issue so there’s no one experience, which lends itself to some fictional license. I went into this prepared to keep an open mind and was surprised to find myself going with the flow as things went along. I didn’t love the one dimensional nature of the side characters but I could deal. Where it lost me, and lost me completely, was the big love reveal at the end. I get that you can have facial recognition blindness and not always be able to recognize voices. But if you’re at the point of declaring love for someone whose full name you don’t know, who you haven’t told about your condition, and have never asked about their profession/where they work, I’m going to just not even with how that’s all going to resolve at the end.
*Thanks to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advance copy for review.
PS- I was not given an audiobook copy for review but I did listen to the audio. Patti Murin was wonderful and saved the day for me!!

Thank you to NetGalley the publisher and the author for a copy of this ARC for my honest review.

Hello, Stranger is a sweet rom-com about an artist who finds out she needs brain surgery before a big art competition. The simple procedure turns her life upside down when swelling in her brain causes her to not be able to process people’s faces.

When the book first started I wasn’t too sure about it as it seemed pretty judgemental on the looks of people but then the main character is unable to see others faces and she has to use her other senses to identify others. I loved how the book address confirmation bias, includes lots of love for dogs and has a funny twist.

I really enjoyed this book it was a light quick read and I think the author did a good job of really portraying each character and what the main character was feeling and experiencing. The only thing I wish was a little different was that her best friend was a little more attune to how the main character was feeling. I didn’t feel much sympathy from the main characters best friend and it made me question a few times how good of a friend she truly was. That being said I think that was minor and may not have been something that other readers feel. This was my first book to read by Katherine Center but I have already ordered one of her other books.

Highly recommended!!

Other note: the author includes a write up about the brain injury and ho to find more information about it at the end of the book which I thought was really cool!

A perfect mix of romance and also women's fiction, Katherine Center does a perfect job at taking those two genres and intertwining them into a beautiful story. This story was honestly one that I will be thinking about for awhile because of the story to sucked me into to and then the twist and turns that are within it.

The best way to describe this story is one of romance, laughter, and also emotional. You will start this book and finish it in one sitting because you will truly be sucked into this story.

Katherine Center is one amazing author and she knows how to write a great story!

Welcome to the world you beautiful book, you! I was OVERJOYED to get an eARC of Katherine Center’s Hello Stranger and would like to thank @netgalley and @stmartinspress for what I see as a GIFT.

In this book we meet Sadie Montgomery, a woman who will give you the dress off her back. I immediately felt like I knew her, and wanted the best for her. In true Katherine Center style, this book is creative, with some unknowns that keep the pages turning; it is not a book to be put down. Of course she has created at least one or two lovable and unforgettable book boyfriends. There is not only one love story- from dedication to throughout the book, I felt like this was a love story to the wonderful mothers in this world, and I adore that. I have been fortunate to be involved in author zooms with Katherine Center and while none of the above surprises me, please tell me how her joyful, glass half full, ¾ full or glass totally-full brain came up with one of the all-time worst villains in all of romance history??

This book begs for a reread, and now that I know the incredible Patti Murin narrates, I will be giving that a go ASAP.

No complaints about this book- only oohs and aahs.

5/5 ⭐️
No 🚪
Location: Houston, TX

"Love isn't blind. It's just a little blurry." What a perfect way to summarize this one, including my blurry eyes as I completed this beautiful novel.

At least 5 stars from me - Katherine really wrote with her heart for this one. This book brought me to tears on more than one occasion. To start, thank you to the author, Katherine, and to her publisher, particularly Erica Martirano at St. Martin's Publishing Group for advanced access to this one. I wish I could go back and read this one sooner so I could love it longer.

Sadie really gets put through the ringer in this book, and while she's a painter and her brain is leaking or something, which caused onset face blindness, I deeply connected with her character, particularly in relation to her family struggles and the way that she fixated in her world. I oftentimes find myself so in my head that I miss looking up and seeing my life (although I'd like to think I'm more observant than she is - haha). How would it feel to wake up one day and not be able to recognize your own face? Katherine lets us into that world for just a few hundred pages, and wow it makes me compassionate towards people. I get migraines, and that makes me see the world differently, but it isn't a permanent situation. Sadie's face blindness doesn't go away after a few hours or a few days, and the reader gets to experience how she navigates her new (but hopefully temporary) normal, first with her best friend by her side, then leaning in and relying on strangers for help (hence the title, Hello Stranger).

The parts that made me cry though? Her TRULY evil stepsister, her stepmother who buries her head in the sand so she doesn't have to deal with uncomfortable confrontations, and her dad who disappeared the minute Sadie's mom died 13 years ago. Her best friend? Doesn't seem to make Sadie a priority (the girl KEPT FORGETTING THAT SADIE COULDN'T SEE FACES, like it wasn't a big deal! Kinda made me mad!). PRAISE THE LORD FOR JOE. Seriously. He saw her and, actually, he saw EVERYONE, in a way that Sadie really needed. He wouldn't take no for an answer (but not in a demanding, creepy way). He just HAD to help.

Other highlights from me:
1. When Peanut is literally put on prednisone and cyclosporine - my dog, Bear, was on both of those for the past year (I might have a little PTSD but it's great to see that recognition)
2. Peanut eating Pad Thai
3. Peanut wanting to take a nap and Sadie laying on the ground watching him sleep
4. Dr. Oliver Addison
5. Hazel One and Hazel Two
6. When Sadie lets down her walls and lets that joy from within shine (only confirmed at the end by a little surprise from her dad, but no spoilers here)

I'll read anything and everything that Katherine writes. Check this book out!

AND, I was granted early access to this audiobook, and let me tell you, I thought the book was emotional, but I was even MORE of a wreck listening to Patti Murin perform this story. It was moving and engaging and funny and just an overall joy to listen to!

Thanks to NetGalley/St. Martin's Publishing Group for the ARC of this book, and to Macmillan Audio for the ALC of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

Perhaps it's cheating a bit to use the author's own words when writing a review, but I can't think of any combination of words better than "this love story created fantastic anticipation".

To understand Sadie's facial blindness is not an easy feat, Katherine paints a picture (no pun intended) that lets the reader both follow Sadie and also feel equally disjointed.

Romance readers chose romance because of how we know it will all end, eventually. Hello Stranger made me a lot sadder than I expected, but the hope of the story unraveling for Sadie kept me turning the pages (even into the wee hours of the morning when I couldn't sleep).

Hello Stranger tackles "things will get better" in a way unlike anything I've read. Highly recommend this for all readers, whether or not they typically read romance. This was my first book by Katherine and I'm greatly looking forward to reading more.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Synopsis: Struggling portrait artist Sadie Montgomery gets news that she has earned herself a spot as a finalist in the same art competition her mom placed in right before she passed. Just as things start looking up for her career, Sadie has a sudden surgery that leaves her struggling with facial blindness. Sadie now has to learn to navigate through life with a new set of challenges. With all this going on, she is also dealing with a sick pet, horrible family members, & the challenge of falling in love.

Review: This book is so different from other romance's I've read. Such a refreshing, light-hearted read. For the most part, I really loved Sadie's character & how she tried her best to stay positive through everything. Sometimes she would annoy me with how badly she refused to ask for help. I couldn't stand her step-sister at allll (I know that's the point but she was so annoying lol) It was pretty predictable at times but it was still a very cute, fun read!

I love that the premise of Katherine's books are very unique, but still feel grounded in real life.

In this novel, Sadie is a portrait artist suffering from temporary face blindness, which not only impacts her work, but all of her interactions and relationships. Sadie's character had so much to deal with, but I loved her positive outlook and overall plucky attitude.

There is a good balance between family drama and romantic storylines in this book, with very memorable characters and conflicts.

Hello Stranger is exactly what I have come to expect from this author: feel-good stories with heartfelt messages and satisfying romances.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Level: Adult
Content: some language, kisses