Thank you to @netgalley & @stmartinspress for the eARC!

4.5/5 stars

This book played with my emotions so much. I was literally laughing out loud at some parts & then tearing up at others. It’s a very creative & interesting story line that made for a great romantic comedy. Katherine Center’s characterization is great. I loved our MCs & was rooting for them the whole time & truly hated our antagonist. I was originally thinking 4 stars but then I literally couldn’t stop thinking about this book so I bumped it up to 4.5!

There were only a few things that I wished had been different! I felt like the resolution with Sadie’s family was lacking. I needed more closure & I really wanted justice for Sadie & all the things that happened with Parker. Also, this is a closed door romance (which is totally fine with me!) & at times I felt like I needed more between Sadie & her love interests.

This eARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review!

4 Stars
I read The Bodyguard by Katherine Center and loved it so I had high hopes coming into this one. I loved Sadie and her character growth so much. I enjoyed reading from her perspective as she overcame her struggles and pushed herself to stay optimistic (it was great to see her point of view as she realized what happened even though it was obvious from the beginning). Also, I love the Kims, Mr. Kim is literally the sweetest man alive, he made me cry happy tears. This was a unique romance read that warmed my heart.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

This was undeniably heartfelt. I laughed and smiled, far more than I expected I would.

Sadie grew so much through this experience and as a reader, I felt like I was on this journey with her.

Some parts were definitely bittersweet but overall realistic. Years of hurt and misunderstandings are hardly solved overnight. But baby steps.

This book was a pleasant, easy-to-read romantic comedy. The exact kind of thing most people are looking for in the summer.

I was debating between four and five stars, and my final questions to myself, whenever I’m on the fence, are always: is there anything significant you would change about this? And would you be willing to gift to anyone, no matter who they are? The answer is yes, so we’re going with five stars.

Katherine Center is an auto buy author for me and when I saw the blurb for Hello Stranger, I couldn't wait to read it. For me, it was perfect. I adore how much Katherine builds up the anticipation of romance and the push and pull of the relationships she writes within her pages. This story follows Sadie, a portrait artist, who suddenly finds herself unable to see faces in their true form after a crazy medical situation. A challenge that becomes compounded by the fact that she is a finalist in a prestigious Portrait competition with a deadline to paint a new portrait. With the help of her doctor, friend Sue, dog Peanut, neighbor Joe, and vet Dr Addison, Sadie is on a personal journey to discover her own strength and support system while life is a little bit upside or jumbled up. This book will take you on a sweet romance journey filled with tough family relationships, white Gerber daises, vespa rides through town, false first impressions, and inner strength to stand on your own two feet.

Thank you to NetGalley, Katherine, and St Martin Press for my free eBook. It wasn't expected for me to leave any positive feedback. These opinions are 100% my own.

A unique spin on a romance novel about a woman dealing with face blindness. I enjoyed the love triangle aspect, but more so, appreciated her journey in rediscovery and dealing with her “new normal”. I loved the ending.

I absolutely adored Katherine Center’s newest release, Hello Stranger, and the tie-in to the title is on-point and impactful. This story is now one of my favorite reads of the year.

Hello Stranger has the perfect mix of sweet love story combined with heart-wrenching family dynamics, strong female friendship, challenging personal issues to overcome, and thought-provoking themes. The main character is funny and optimistic, but also realistic, relatable and inspiring. I learned new things about “face blindness”, which is something I knew and have read little about, and the insights gleaned were interesting and valuable.

Hello Stranger follows Sadie Montgomery who as gone her own way in life, despite her father’s dogged resistance, choosing to follow her dreams of becoming an artist like her late mother. In addition to her career choices, she has had to go it alone without the support of her family, who has alienated her and kept their distance, repeatedly choosing to believe her “evil step-sister” over Sadie. It has not been an easy road, losing her mother at a young age and then essentially losing her family, but her friendship with Sue, and Sue’s parents, has kept her going.

Tragedy strikes yet again when Sadie has a seizure on a street intersection, saved by a Good Samaritan. When she has to follow-up with brain surgery, comes out of it with a new obstacle to overcome, prosopagnosia, or face blindness. As a portrait artist, this is especially debilitating, but she handles it with grace, determination and optimism. Along the way, Sadie learns more about herself, tackles some long-held issues, finds restoration and a degree of healing within a certain relationship, as well as a discovering love in an unexpected place.

Katherine Center portrays her characters’ interactions, choices, thoughts and emotions with such authenticity and realism. Her stories consistently have deeper themes for the reader to contemplate; her characters are humorous, likable and engaging; and her plots have unique elements that make each story feel fresh. Hello Stranger was heart-warming and an absolute joy and pleasure to read. Katherine Center is without a doubt, an auto-buy author for me.

I thought this book starts a bit slow. That only lasted for a couple chapters and then it really took off! I really liked all the characters and felt sad for Sadie. It’s another really good book by this author! It was hard to put down! Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

Gosh, I really wanted to love this book. The cover is gorgeous, but this was all over the place. Parker should've gotten an a** kicking at the end, or atleast a punch to the face. Joe was so sweet and likeable, Sadie was a hot mess. Sue didn't help the situation, like a best friend should. And then Sadie's dad, checking out after her mother died. Are you freaking kidding? I'm getting pissed all over again. 100% missed the mark with me.

I’m happy to see that there is a lot of love and many positive reviews for this book. Unfortunately, I am an outlier and did not enjoy it nearly as much as the other four books I have read by the author. This one just wasn’t for me.

Katherine Center sure delivers “all the feels” in Hello Stranger. Sadie Montgomery lost her mother, her Dad, a surgeon, does not like that Sadie did not follow him in the field of medicine, she doesn't like her stepmother, Lucinda, and her evil stepsister, Parker, is out to get Sadie at every turn…..

When we first meet Sadie, she finds out that she has been selected to participate in a portrait contest. Her mother participated in the same contest and won. Sadie has an accident and has brain surgery. She is faced with having prosopagnosia, a condition where she cannot recognize faces. What is a portrait artist to do? While suffering through her trauma she develops two love interests. Dr. Oliver Addison, a handsome veterinarian treats Sadie’s aging dog, Peanut. Joe, the Weasel, lives in her building and wears a red and white bowling jacket everywhere. And then we have Parker who moved into the building and Parker’s goal is to mess with Sadie. I found myself rooting for Lucinda as she really (I think) is trying to have a relationship with Sadie. I loved Mr. And Mrs. Kim who are the landlords and their daughter, Sue.

I think this is Center’s best book. Lots of twists and turns and something I did not see coming in the last 25% of the book that brought tears to my eyes. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did. My thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. The opinions in this review are my own.

There’s nothing better than when a new Katherine Center book comes out AND it doesn’t disappoint. I’ve loved this author from the beginning and will read everything she writes. Sadie’s character was very unique, and you could tell alot of research went into learning about facial blindness. I especially enjoyed that you knew the book would end happy but it was certainly messy along the way.


Thank you to Katherine Center, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Hello Stranger was a good Katherine Center novel. I actually enjoyed it more and more as I read through it. The story is about Sadie Montgomery who is a starving artist that finally earns a top ten spot in a prestigious show giving her the break she's been waiting for when she discovers she has a rare brain condition that needs operated on immediately.

Even though the surgery is successful, she's left with a side effect causing her to have face blindness. Being a more visual person and a portrait artist, this is a very debilitating consequence that brings on issues in personal and love life. However, she does get to know people for who they are and not what they look like as well as learn a different approach to art.

I at first thought that Sadie was a little whiny until I picked up on her humor and then I flew through the book and particularly enjoyed the additional information on face blindness included after the book ended as well as the author's note and opinion on romance books. I whole heartedly agree with her even though I may have been more of a book snob in my younger years.

Katherine Center is one of the top 5 romance authors I've ever read for writing a not-always-likeable main character who is still relatable and fun to read. This book is such a fast and constantly enjoyable one. In keeping with the author's note, this book brought me both positive anticipation and joy in execution. I was astonished at how well the author carried out such a complicated and unique concept while somehow making it seem completely effortless. (Not relevant to my review, this was the most UNproofed ARC I've ever read, but it didn't even distract me from how good this is.)

One thing I love is Katherine Center’s writing! It’s so easy to follow and her books go by so fast! I loved the bodyguard so I was super excited when I got this ARC and it did not disappoint. I’ve never read a book about face blindness before and it was really interesting, I did some research on it after I finished the book too. I really liked the main character, at times she could be frustrating but when your life turns upside down, I don’t blame her. I kind of guessed the plot twist but I still throughly enjoyed it!

This is another win from Katherine Center. There's something about her writing that sucks me in so quickly. I thought Hello Stranger's concept was really compelling and the romance was so sweet. It was the perfect dose of happiness.

ℒℴ𝓋ℯ 𝒾𝓈𝓃’𝓉 𝒷𝓁𝒾𝓃𝒹, 𝒾𝓉’𝓈 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁ℯ 𝒷𝓁𝓊𝓇𝓇𝓎．

Sadie Montgomery is a portrait artist who just found out she’s a finalist in a major competition. Unfortunately she has a life threatening condition that caused her to need brain surgery immediately. This left her with a condition known as face blindness. Suddenly, she is unable to recognize anyone’s face, including her best friend and even her own face. How can she possibly enter into a portrait contest now? While struggling with her new (hopefully temporary) way of life, she meets 2 potential love interests even without seeing their faces.

This story was heartbreakingly beautiful. I loved Sadie’s inner monologue. It was such a unique storyline. I devoured this book! Mr. Kim and Joe were absolutely top tier. And the twist ending had my jaw on the floor!!

Sadie Montgomery is 28 years old and a portrait artist, just like her late mother. Her father, who doesn't approve of her career, quickly remarried after her beloved mother's death years ago. Her stepmother is difficult, and her stepsister is simply evil. Just as Sadie has the possibility of winning a portrait painting contest with a lucrative grand prize, an injury results in an immediate need for brain surgery and the swelling afterwards causes a condition called prosopagnosia, more commonly known as face blindness. While hopefully temporary, this makes it near impossible to paint portraits. With Sadie's life in complete chaos, she is helped by her best friend Sue. She also finds some solace in a crush developed for a new veterinarian who is caring for her dog. Joe, a neighbor she can only identify by the jacket he wears, also enters her life and after an assumption that he is a bit of a player, turns out to be a decent guy. But what about the hunky veterinarian who seems to also be interested in her? Life is certainly complicated for Sophie. Perhaps the change in her seeing ability can provide her with a new perspective on life.

Leave it to author Katherine Center to create an enjoyable book that is about a serious medical condition. Hello Stranger is romantic fiction and Center is an author who you trust will eventually make everything right. She has the talent of taking readers on journeys from misery to happiness. This isn't a spoiler. The author is unapologetically optimistic. That's why she has become an auto-read author. Sometimes you just need a book that aims to be joyful.

I am so happy that I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press. Katherine Center’s books are always excellent, and Hello Stranger is her best one yet! I loved the characters (except for the one we are supposed to hate), and I loved the relationship between Sadie, the main character, and her best friend. The ending of this book is perfection! Another five star book from Katherine Center—and I’d give it more stars if I could!!

This is one of those books that will have me going back and forth on my rating for days, probably weeks, maybe even years from now if a friend brings it up and asks me about it, I’ll still have the same reaction. I really really loved this book. It was interesting. It was original. It was nuanced. The characters were so wonderfully written. But I also have gotten really really fed up with the miscommunication trope. Especially when the third act breakup can be avoided/resolved with one conversation. And that was also this book. I will say that at least there was some reason, if not entirely rational, for this character to avoid that specific communication and Center even directly addressed it in the text because she knew some of us would be (figuratively) screaming at Sadie. I want to give it 4.5 stars but I can’t so I’m giving it 5. The lack of half star ratings is almost as frustrating as the miscommunication trope. This is a really weird 5⭐️ review. I get that. Idk, it’s where I’m at right now. It made me feel things, not all of them good, and that’s not necessarily bad. I’m all out of whack. Just read it.

This is my first Katherine Center book and she blew me away. Katherine did an outstanding job of writing Hello Stranger. I had never heard of what Sadie goes through (prosopagnosia), but through Katherine's writing I was able to feel her frustration, sadness, and then happiness as everything played out. The plot twist was one that you don't expect but it's exactly what you were wishing for. I cannot wait to read more from her.