I will forever be a Katherine Center fan but this wasn't my favorite of her books. The MC, Sadie, read very YA to me (she's a manic pixie dream girl to the extreme - she even roller skates!) and there were too many ways I had to suspend disbelief for the plot to make sense. I didn't feel much chemistry between Sadie and the guy she falls for, her step-sister Piper is way too over-the-top to be at all believable and her bestie kinda sucked. I did like learning about face blindness but there was a lot of exposition about it and it took me out of the story. It was also so silly to me that Sadie refused to tell anyone she had it.

I don't know - maybe I just wasn't in the right mood for this book because everyone else loves it so take my thoughts with a grain of salt. Maybe I have temporary book blindness.

3.25 stars

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the copy to review.

Perfection.

I laughed, I swooned, I grinned, I groaned in anticipation. This book is everything a rom-com should be and more.

Sadie Montgomery is a portrait artist who has been diagnosed with (hopefully temporary) face blindness. And she's got the most important event of her artistic life just six weeks away, a place as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition.

Sadie is trying her best to cope with her life right now, and that includes her horrible step-family, her inability to paint faces, and her best friend and dog, Peanut, is sick. Peanut is getting better thanks to her vet that Sadie has a crush on, and the rest of her life is being propped up by her neighbour, a cute guy named Joe. Seems like Sadie's lost focus isn't just resigned to faces...she needs a win, and while both guys are great sometimes things just aren't always what they seem.

I flew through this book. Charming, engaging, great characters and a really beautiful story about hope and love and dreams that don't always come true the way you plan.

Thank you, Netgalley, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I do not read a lot of romance books, mostly because I always want to grab the protagonists by the shoulders and tell them to "talk to each other.!" And so it was for Sadie and Joe in this book, and yet I enjoyed the story, like I have enjoyed all of Katherine Center's books.
Sadie is a portrait artist who suffers from sudden face blindness, weeks before a big competition, that should give her the big break in the art world. That was an interesting background for the romance story, and what carried the story through the predictabilities and the sometimes-forced misunderstandings that Sadie and Joe had to work through.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this ARC.

Oh, I completely enjoyed "Hello Stranger" by Katherine Center! True to her entertaining, lovable, interesting form, Katherine Center does not disappoint. An amazing love story, full of insight into really "seeing", offering kindness, forgiveness, friendship and applying lots of perseverance through challenges and misunderstandings. Loved everything about this book. Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the early reader copy. All opinions are my own.

Read it in two sittings, it would have been one but capitalism. Good story and pacing, kept my interest and tugged at the heartstrings quite a bit

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review

This is a perfect wholesome romance novel. The main character is a bit flawed, but totally relatable and lovable. The storyline is interesting with a bit of intrigue as Sadie deals with her face blindness and has to readjust her life. This is one I will be recommending to all my friends.

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

I am a new reader to Katherine Center's work. I've liked what I've read so far of hers and was excited to have the opportunity to preview her new book. I think this may be her best book yet. It has an intriguing storyline in that Sadie in a nutshell can't see faces due to an accident which required brain surgery. Sadie learns about the world around her through her other senses, grieves the loss of her mother, and finds that even when she could see she made some judgements/decisions that have affected her whole life that she must fix. Along the way, Sadie learns more about herself, what she wants, and works through her issues. Of course, there is some romance along the way. I would read again. I loved the characters and felt connected to them. The storyline felt like like what could happen to a regular person you know.

I recommend it for those who love good writing, romance, family drama, painting, friendships, pets, a unique storyline, and characters that you want to feel connected to.

Katherine Center’s upcoming romance Hello Stranger is officially my favorite of her books. Laugh out loud funny with wonderful characters and an engaging plot, this is one you don’t want to miss.

Sadie is a portrait artist on the cusp of her big break. When a medical complication comes at the worst possible time, Sadie has to find a new way to live her life. The lens through which she’s always processed the world is foggy and unusable, forcing her to rely on unused skills and, worst of all, accept help.

Sadie’s life has a fun cast of characters, including her geriatric dog, Peanut; her BFF Sue Kim; her new hot vet, Dr. Oliver Addison; and her weasel of a neighbor who keeps slinking into her life despite her glares and snappiness. Add in an evil stepsister, an estranged father, and a confusing stepmother, and Sadie’s life is full of interesting folks.

As with every Katherine Center book, the world that unfolds in these pages is gorgeously constructed, full of interesting people, and thought provoking in unexpected ways.

This book was a delight to read from start to finish. I didn’t want to put it down, aching to find out if 1) I was right about my plot predictions and 2) I just wanted to spend time with these characters. They’re delightful. And I know I already called this book a delight, but it’s doubly delightful and so it gets two uses of the adjective.

This rom-com has plenty of rom, lots of com, and oodles of charm. From roller skating to polka dot dresses to forced proximity, there’s hijinks and silliness and tropes and romance and swoony hair and, best of all, it’s full of heart.

If you’re looking for a book that has so much heart, makes you think, confronts confirmation bias, and has a science-y spin with an artsy problem, this is the book for you.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Katherine Center, and St. Martins Press for an e-arc such that I could share my honest opinions.

Hello Stranger will be available July 11, 2023.

“But that’s what you’ve been doing all along. Telling the story of a girl trying like hell to paint exactly like her lost mother. And maybe now, in the story, the girl has no choice but to paint like herself.”

What if you couldn’t recognize a single face?
What if your brain was so confused that you couldn’t trust it anymore?
What if everyone you saw was a stranger?

What if you fell in love with someone you couldn’t recognize in a crowd?

Did I stay up way too late on 4th of July just so I could finished it? Yes.
Do I regret it? No. This book blew me away. This book filled up all my cracks with light and love. This book was the book I’ve been waiting for without knowing. 🖤

Sadie, you beautiful soul. You made me laugh so hard. You made me cry so fiercely. You made me whole.

Joe, you beautiful soul. The helpful stranger. You made me swoon. You made me so mad. You made me so happy. You made me whole.

Peanut, you beautiful doggy soul. You’re going to outlive us all 🥹

No need to come running back here to thank me for this rec after you finish reading it. 😂 but if you do… here: You’re welcome 🖤

What’s inside:
🖤contemporary romance
🖤face blindness
🖤I always noticed you
🖤you were the one everywhere
🖤dogs dogs dogs and sometimes snakes

Adult. 5 stars (and an extra million or two) ⭐️

What a cute book! Possibly my favorite from Katherine Center so far. I can see this being made into a Hallmark/Netflix movie.

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center was a delightful read! I was immediately drawn to this book because 1) it was by Katherine Center and 2) the adorable dog on the cover!

Sadie is FINALLY getting her big break when things take an unexpected turn once she’s diagnosed with face blindness - a condition that’s probably temporary according to her doctors. This new diagnosis coupled with family problems, small friendship woes, pet problems, possible budding romances, and other every day problems leads to a rollercoaster couple of months for Sadie.

I really enjoyed Hello Stranger! It took me about a quarter of the book to really get into it but eventually I didn’t want to put it down! It made me feel the full spectrum of emotions - including happiness, sadness, anger, embarrassment, and excitement! It was a cute romance. I found it predictable in some aspects but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment at all. Overall, a great read!

I mean… it doesn’t get much better than Katherine Center, let’s be honest. Love a PG13 rom com that takes on complex topics, unique family dynamics and interesting professions in such a sweet and cheerful way.

This book was super cute! Sadie finally has the chance of a lifetime when she finds out she is a top 10 finalist for a portrait contest. The only problem is, shortly after finding this out she has an accident which requires her to have brain surgery and face blindness. Struggling to live with her new reality, Sadie navigates the world and her surroundings with a bit of trouble because how does a portrait artist with face blindness paint a portrait? Along the way, Sadie finds love when she least expects it and grows in other strained relationships in her life.

Katherine Center does a great job of immersing you into Sadie’s world and her struggles with face blindness. The story leaves you with a cozy, warm feeling with how it wrapped up.

Catherine Centers new book Hello Stranger is full of twists and turns right up until the very end! A very interesting read about an acquired condition called prosopagnosia or more commonly known as face blindness. The book is well researched, and has likeable characters in it. But best of all, the reader can clearly see that love is blind, or is it?? A fabulous beach read for the summer that will have you turning the pages to the very end and holding your breath in places. This book is not to be missed. Catherine Center has a way of delivering beautiful messages to her readers that are multi-dimensional, and will stay with the reader well beyond the last page of the book. Run and grab yourself a copy! Many thanks to Netgalley and St Martins Press for providing me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my review.

It has been a long time since I devoured a book in one day, but Hello, Stranger pulled me in. I had the twist figured out at the start, but there were moments throughout that had be doubting if that would really be how it played out. Of course, I was delighted when it did. I’m never good at remembering names, and am always paranoid about getting it wrong when talking to someone new again, so I could relate to Sadie’s face blindness on some level, but can’t imagine having to start every interaction back at square one. I really enjoyed this book and am excited to read more from Katherine.

This book was not for me. Sadie is a very immature woman with daddy issues and a rotten stepsister who loves making her life hell. To start the book, she is celebrating making it to the finals in a portrait painting competition with a large cash prize. While attempting to celebrate, she ends up having a seizure and wakes up in the hospital. She finds out she needs a brain surgery ASAP, but it could ruin her ability to recognize faces forever. As a portrait artist, that's obviously a huge issue. Her friend Sue tries to help and cheer her up a number of ways, but they all feel like hollow attempts without fully munderstanding what Sadie is dealing with. Sue seems like an airhead who means well, but just cmomplicates things

Then we have our love interests in Joe and Dr. Addison. She fell waaay too into insta-love with the good veterinarian fantasizing about their future; knit picking but the way she feeds the dog made me insane.

The overall message got lost in the weird over the top, secret keeping, immature pity party and I just didn't enjoy this book.

Sadie an aspiring artist is in the process of painting a portrait to be entered into a contest.
One day she suffers a seizure and blacks out When she awakens she discovers she can't see people's faces and is told she has a condition known hasacquired facial blindness due to an edema on a blood vessel in her brain and needs immediate surgery. Her mother who was also an artist suffered from the same condition but didn't have the surgery and died.
She thinks she's in love with her dog's vet and has an immediate dislike to her neighbor based on her first impression of him. As she spends time with him she changes her mind about him.
Her painting doesn't win in the contest but the high bid it receives raises money for a scholarship program.

The end of the story is quite humerous , Sometimes when you least expect it life has a way of working out ok

I wanted to like it more as I am a huge Katherine Center fan but for me Hello Stranger didn't quite hit the mark. For one, the big twist at the end, well, you can guess it pretty much from the get-go. Which is fine, I don't need to be surprised. I think what it was for me was never really connecting with Sadie. I just wasn't rooting for her like I usually do a protagonist in these sorts of stories which made it a little uninteresting and meant I wasn't as invested in the romance plot as I usually am.

It's a fine book but not the best contemporary romance I've read recently nor my favorite Center novel (which would be How to Walk Away or Things You Save in a Fire, don't make me choose one).

Note: I received a free electronic edition of this book via NetGalley in exchange for the honest review above. I would like to thank them, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to do so.

Katherine Center has done it again! This was such an original and beautiful story. This one also has the perfect blend of emotion, humor and plot. It really helps me to be able to connect with a character when emotions and humor are used in a book.

Main character, Sadie Montgomery is struggling at life. And just when she thinks the tide might be "turning" and her life might be looking up, she is dealt a very bad round of cards and has a lot to overcome. But the ever perky Sadie is determined to push through with few complications.

Not only is this a fun and clever storyline. There are characters in this book that make you really feel connected. In addition, there's solid family drama that finds a way toward a positive resolution but not without a little messiness along the way.

AUDIOBOOK: I loved the audio version. The narrator simply felt like a friend reading this book and kept my attention the entire time.

Thank you to NetGalley for early copies of both the audiobook and ebook. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

Katherine Center does it again. She has such a way with writing romance and self discovery all in one. I really enjoyed Sadie's character and the romance was super cute. It was predictable for sure but that didn't lessen my enjoyment at all of it.