This book is aggressively adorable. And I mean that in the best possible way. Is it predictable? Of course. It’s a romance (adjacent), so naturally you expect to fall in love, encounter an issue/ fight, then get an HEA. I knew what was happening all the way through (why else would EVERYONE use different nicknames for people), but I still loved it. I thought Sadie was relatable and likable. I nearly cried (a supreme rarity for me) when she described her traditions for her mom’s birthday. A great lighthearted read when you need to feel happy or believe in love.

What is it about Katherine Center's books that makes me want to stay up all night reading?

I enjoyed Hello Stranger much more than The Bodyguard, I think in part because the plot is less focused on the love interest. I still find Center's characters kinda unlikable and hard-ish to root for. I can forgive a lot, but feeding your elderly dog a diet of 90% carbs is gonna make me hate you.

It took me until I was halfway through the novel to figure out the truth about the "blubber" phone call, which is pretty good for the mystery/twist aspect. Or I'm a little stupid, jury's still out.

I was disappointed that Sadie wasn't called out for being friends with a guy who she thought was fat shaming his one night stands and posting nonconsensual pics of them to reddit or some other internet hellscape for likes. I wish I could say it was unrealistic for her to ignore the misogyny in the rose tinted fog of a crush, but......well, we've been there. But we learned and we are ashamed now! It would have been nice if Joe had a throwaway line like "Wait you thought I did that stuff and you were still FRIENDS with me?" I think a lot of young women ignore when a man who treats them well treats other women badly and I would have liked it this book had dug into that more.

4/5 stars for me overall. Thanks for the ARC!

Katherine Center never disappoints. While parts of Hello Stranger were predictable, I found the characters absolutely lovable. (Except awful stepsister Parker...she was a hard pill to swallow, but written perfectly.) I learned new things about face blindness and felt the way Sadie described it helped me to walk in her shoes throughout the story. While Sadie was not the strong female Iead I often adore, she did grow at the end, which redeemed her character. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced digital copy.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the digital arc. I really enjoyed this book. It was beautiful and showed a different way of seeing life. I will say that it was predictable but many romances are.

In true Katherine Center form this book captured my heart and left me feeling some kind of way.

Life has not been especially kind to Sadie; however, she's finally turning over a new leaf when she is selected as a finalist for an art contest she's been working really hard for.

Except an extenuating medical circumstance happens that uncovers parts of her past she was completely oblivious to. Not only that, but she is left with allegedly temporary face-blindness and she has no way of knowing how "temporary" this condition is.

To complicate matters her step-mom and step-sister are back in her life, a very much unwelcome reunion of sorts.

In the meantime she seems to be falling in love with someone, except, can you really fall in love with someone if you don't know what their face looks like?

This book felt like a butterfly kiss. It was sooo good and despite the difficult topics it covered it was still very light. I know when my long-COVID was at its worst, I had a really hard time accessing my visual memory and I would forget people's faces 5 minutes after meeting them. While this is not the exact same thing as face-blindness, I can understand a small fraction of the frustration in not remembering what someone looks like and the mental toll that takes on someone. Katherine Center is just a phenomenal writer in shedding light on real conditions while celebrating love and the human condition at the same time. Highly recommend!!

Thank you @netgalley @St. Martin's Press for my gifted copy in exchange for my honest review!

Without fail, I read every book that Katherine Center writes, always counting on her emotionally complex characters and a plot arc leading to personal triumph through difficulty. Her novels are brave, funny, and earnestly charming, and her new one, Hello Stranger, proved to be all of the above.

Meet Sadie Montgomery, a down-on-her-luck portrait artist who receives the professional break of a lifetime — only to have an emergency surgery complicate everything. She's tenatious and determined to remain self-sufficient, until she realizes the impossibility of it all with her new condition. Slowly, she begins letting people into her life: her new veterinarian, a friendly neighbor, even "complicated" family members. Through it all, she learns how to grieve and that she doesn't have to do it on her own after all.

The pages are filled with scenes that will make your heart lurch and swoon, twist and drop. It's perfect for an escapist weekend afternoon read in your hammock.

This book is for anyone who loves:
😀 😢 Laughing and crying (or feeling like crying) in equal measure
📚 Feel-good comfort reads
🚪 Closed-door romance
🐶 Dogs and vespas and men in bowling jackets (IYKYK)
🎨 Portrait sessions with Ghost-pottery-wheel vibes
💕 A clever twist on the amnesia and love triangle tropes
💊 Mental health visibility
👑 A satisfying happily-ever-after

Note: As a trigger warning, please be aware that this text has a storyline that includes a health emergency and resulting complications (prosopagnosia), toxic family dynamics and an off-page death of a parent.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me the chance to read and provide an honest review of this book! I've posted this review on GoodReads and across my social platforms, as well as Amazon and B&N listings.

Hello Stranger was such a fun, unique, and sweet story. I love when you are so absorbed in a story and the characters yet you are learning something at the same time. Sadie Montgomery was finally getting her big break, things were finally looking up. As a portrait artist she was a finalist in a big completion that was going to give her career and her bank account the boost she so desperately needed. With a night of celebration ahead she is off to acquire some cheap wine when she wakes up in the hospital with a condition that is about to change here life. After surgery she has developed a condition known as "face blindness". Her eye sight is fine but her brain jumbles up the facial features making them impossible for her to identify. Needless to say with only a few weeks before her portrait needs to be completed Sadie is struggling.

Everything in her life seems to fall apart at the same time. Her precious buddy Peanut, her furry dog friend gets sick which brings her to the local vet office and enters her new obsession and future husband of her fantasies Dr. Oliver Addison. Not a great time to meet your dream man when you can't see his face and your life resembles a dumpster fire but what can you do.

Life in her apartment building is a never ending source of struggle, drama, and a cute neighbor Joe, who she may have perceived all wrong. Somehow Joe keeps showing up right when she needs someone. I love in the book it said something along the lines that, "we see what we believe", meaning if we made up our minds about something even if there is evidence against it we may struggle to change our minds.

With two new guys she is fawning over, a portrait to paint, a dog to get well, and family drama to navigate her plate is full.

The romance was so sweet and the character growth in Sadie learning that it was okay to need someone and ask for help got me right in the feels. It seemed like the author really did her research on "face blindness" and it was represented well although I don't have personal experience with this.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Hello Stranger in exchange for my honest review

I absolutely LOVED this book! We follow Sadie who, after surgery, finds out she now has face blindness. She’s also a portrait artist, so having face blindness has been really challenging. While coping with everything she meets a very lovely veterinarian, Dr. Addison, when her puppy gets some complications. To make things worse? She also starts to crush on her neighbor, Joe, who is such a sweetheart.

I read this book in one day and I am just so happy to have read this. Unfortunately, I didn’t love The Bodyguard, I didn’t fall for the character's chemistry, but THIS ONE?! For some reason, I was all over it! Of course, it was predictable to me but I didn’t hate it one bit!! I already want to reread it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 (rounded up to five)

This story follows Sadie, who is a portrait artist. She has to have brain surgery after having a seizure and finding another medical issue as the cause. After surgery, she ends up not being able to see faces clearly due to developing facial blindness as a side effect from surgery. With an important contest coming up in the next few weeks that involves her submitting a portrait of someone, how will she manage when she can't see anyone's faces correctly, let alone her own? Will she ever regain her facial recognition?

This was the 2nd story that I have read by Katherine Center, and after enjoying "The Bodyguard," I figured I would enjoy this one as well.

This story did not disappoint!
It was such a unique premise that I had to read it, if only for curiosity's sake.

This was an interesting story with many misunderstandings, miscommunications, mishaps, and mix-ups!

All of these come together perfectly to create a one-of-a-kind story dealing with grief, love, life, and self-discovery.

I also loved the characters, especially Joe and Dr. Nicole, and the little twist at the end.
I knew it was coming, but I didn't know how or when it would happen.

I'm so happy I was able to read this story and add it to my book collection.

Thank you, Katherine Center, NetGalley, and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

I don’t think Katherine Center can write a book that is not amazing! I loved this story! The characters (except Parker), the story line, the mishaps…everything. I was internally shouting (since I was on an airplane) at Sadie when she was confused over Joe ghosting her as I thought I had figured out what was going on. The actual explanation of what really happened was sooo much fun. I especially enjoyed Sue’s honeymoon voyage through Canada and the shout outs to Canadian hot spots. The ending was perfect! Another fabulous book for me to recommend to friends & family. Thanks for the fun!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press & NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this gem.

I enjoyed this book so much. I loved Sadie. She's such a great lead character. I loved her interactions with everyone once she is experiencing face blindness. It's a little terrifying to think about living with this condition and the author really made me feel what Sadie was going through. There were lots of laugh out loud moments. The cast of characters were fabulous. The love story was fabulous. It really illustrated the point that love is blind! I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

This was a beautiful romance+ story that packed in some beautiful life lessons along the way. Sadie’s entire way of seeing people was quite literally changed in a moment and as she learns what it really means to “see” people she’ll start to see herself and those closest to her differently as well.

This was a beautiful read that was hard to put down with great supporting characters some whom you’ll love, some you’ll love to hate.

(Closed door but some strong innuendo, and a couple of curses. Mention of a parents death features heavily)

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book to review.

"Love is healing. It's unapologetically optimistic. It's the thing that puts us back together."

Sadie Montgomery is a struggling artist and finally feels like she is on the cusp of making it when she places as a finalist in the prestigious North American Portrait Society contest.

However, a freak medical emergency lands her in the hospital and renders her with a condition called prosopagnosia known as face blindness. Suddenly, every face she sees is a disconnected blur of features.

She has no idea how she's going to pull this contest off and she definitely doesn't need the complication of love in the form of two men-one a dashingly handsome veterinarian that saves her dog Peanut and the other her player-like neighbor Joe who she is not sure she can truly trust.

Somehow, someway, Sadie is going to figure it all out...

I have never read a Katherine Center novel and it definitely won't be my last! I loved the cast of characters and the value they added to Sadie's whole traumatizing experience. I also loved the quirky premise and the very thoughtful discussion of love, grief, healing, and beginning yet again in this novel. It was a beautiful story with a twist or two that keeps the reader engaged.

I definitely recommend this thoughtful rom-com!

The plot of this story was so interesting and different, I loved it. I had not read a book about this topic before, it was very enjoyable to learn about it and how Sadie navigated the challenges that came with it.

I loved Sadie’s character, I could relate and empathize with what she went through when losing her mother. I was so invested to learn more about her family life and her friendships.

I could see the plot twist from the very beginning, but it did not deterred me from enjoying it. It was actually really satisfying when everything was revealed.

The love interest was and absolute sweetheart, loved the romance aspects so much. The love triangle was great and well done.

Absolutely recommend for everyone to read this one as soon as it’s released! I was lucky to receive an ebook arc and the audiobook, loved the narration. It was great and enjoyable, reading the digital copy was great as well so I would recommend both.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martins Press and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with a copy of this book before the release date in exchange for my honest review.

"Hello Stranger" was a charming story that took me by surprise by how fantastic it turned out to be. Nothing was as it seemed and the main character was so lovable. I was here for all of it.

I agree with one review I read: don’t think about this too hard and just go with the flow. Face blindness is literally and figuratively challenging to perceive. This story was kind of mind-blowing once all the dots are connected.

Sadie is a struggling portrait artist who wants to prove to her estranged father that she isn’t a failure by winning the North American Portrait Society competition of which she is a finalist for. Unfortunately, a near accident leads to needing emergency surgery which leads to Sadie developing acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia (aka, face blindness). Devastated, Sadie wonders how she can continue painting faces if she can’t see faces if it’s unknown if or when she’ll recover?

While desperately trying to figure out and pushing back against her new normal, Sadie falls head over heels in love with her adorable dog’s veterinarian, Dr. Oliver Addison. Even though she can’t see him she can tell he’s handsome and is totally her future husband. This was an unexpected new turn of events that really brought out Sadie’s personality that might have easily been buried under grief.

But she couldn’t have foreseen ever catching feelings for Joe, another tenant in her building who she’d initially deemed a womanizer. Yet the more she learns about Joe - kind, very helpful, Joe - as they spend time together, the more she likes him. I really like how the author built up those two relationships. This was an enjoyable love triangle and very well done.

Sadie had a lot on her plate. Face blindness, an emotionally distant father, an evil stepfamily, falling in love, and major self-doubt. It forced her to take a huge step back and reflect on her life Before and After. I liked how the book tackled confirmation bias in relation to Sadie’s struggles to adjust/find balance after her diagnosis. How confirmation bias can limit our perception and understanding of people. Throughout an entrancing uphill battle, Sadie learns to see the best in herself and in others in ways she never could before in order to finally find a way to forge forward towards the future she’s always wanted.

"Hello Stranger" was a crazy, impossible, endearing love story that hit all the right marks. I loved it!

CW: bullying, brief discussion of past attempted suicide

Thanks again St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the eARC to read in exchange for an honest review!

🛼🎨 Hello Stranger by Katherine Center 🎨🛼

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.5/5 (rounded up to 5)

Genre: Contemporary fiction with a sprinkle of romance
Tropes: Love triangle, forced proximity, opposites attract
⚠️ TWs: Death of a parent (mother) - heavily discussed, fatphobia, health issues - face blindness, toxic family relationship

📖 Read if you like 📖
🧲 Opposites attract
🥜 An adorable book dog named Peanut
🔺 Love Triangle-ish
🏠 Forced proximity
🏥 Overcoming/adapting with health issues
👍🏼 Quirky, loveable, messy MCs
👨‍👩‍👧‍👧 Family Drama
🧠 Therapy positive
😢 Working through grief

💭 Thoughts:
This book was an absolute delight! I loved this story and how unique it was. I always look forward to the “life nuggets” in Center’s writing, and this provided that plus laugh-out-loud moments. I flew threw this, and it’s the best book I’ve read in a couple months. I adored the dog in the book, Peanut, and the love triangle was so nicely done. I highly recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved Katherine Center's last book The Bodyguard and was very intrigued by the premise of this one. Sadie, a portrait artist, develops face blindness. Every face is new to her as they look like a mix of disconnected features. She has to rely on other means to recognize someone.

This was a quick read, more contemporary fiction than romance. I wanted to love Sadie but I had a hard time with her character. I liked her neighbors, The Kims, and Joe's character. Peanut, her geriatric dog, was a cute addition to the story. The end had a bit of a twist and as always I appreciated the author's humor. I look forward to the next novel by Katherine Center. Thank you to the publisher for my e-copy of this book.

This was my very first Katherine Center novel and I truly enjoyed it. The story was wonderful and I called the plot twist from the very beginning, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the way the story unfolds.

Sadie is a portrait artist who after an unexpected accident, undergoes surgery and wakes up with face blindness. This new situation in her life brings about so many emotions as well as struggles and we feel Sadie’s anxiety and desperation. Sadie is strong-willed and as she powers through her new way of viewing her surroundings she falls into some unexpected relationships.

I loved the chemistry between the main characters and the way our heroine navigates these new struggles as well as feelings throughout the story. Sadie was a bit self centered in the beginning, bit she shows growth by the end of the story and I always appreciate some honest character growth.

“If I told you, that I can’t remember the last time I met someone who woke me up like you do . . . That there’s something about you that I can’t get out of my head . . . That I keep thinking about you and wondering if we might be . . . really right for each other . . . What would you say?”

This was a truly emotional read. I was teary eyed at moments and absolutely overjoyed at others. Definitely read the author’s note at the end of the story.

*A huge thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for providing me with an eARC for review. All thoughts are my own.*

Another great summer read from Katherine Center! Sadie all of a sudden suffers a hard blow that could risk her career - and stumbles through forming relationships and experimenting with art techniques. Incorporating family wounds and personal struggles, you feel for the characters.

Perceptions altered and will she recover?

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

I've never read anything about this author before but heard only great things about her books, so I was really excited to read this book as I've only heard great things about her writing! 

This book was an interesting experience. First of all, the whole concept was very unique and I enjoyed the overall story. The book starts with our FMC, Sadie, needing to get emergency brain surgery which leads to her developing face blindness. As a portrait artist, this really messes up her career path and she needs to learn how to function with it. I really enjoyed reading about this as it's not something I heard about before, and it was interesting to learn about something new, one of the things I love most about reading. This really fascinated me as I thought the whole premise was so unique and I was excited to see what this story had in store for me.

To me, the plot and characters felt very predictable and a bit over the top (Parker) so I lost interest while reading, and I felt like the overall story was a bit long. I felt like the romance was more of a secondary part of the book, but I did enjoy the author's note at the end that described romance novels as being anticipatory and I could see how this story did that, but it just didn't hit home for me unfortunately. I also didn't like Sue as the best friend.

One thing I really enjoyed was watching Sadie's character growth throughout the book, and I enjoyed reading about her struggle with grief about losing her mother unexpectedly and how it affected her relationship with her dad. I also liked how she was a bit quirky and was just unapologetically herself. Also, JOE. He was the highlight of the book for me and one of the sweetest heros ever in a book, but I would have loved to know more about him as it feels like we only brushed the surface of his character. I also liked the romance between Joe and Sadie as it felt believable despite wishing for a bit more from them. 

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this book in exchange for an honest review. Out July 11th!

3.25