This was such a beautiful and unique book. It explores the concept of grief, perseverance, boldness, truth & love.

Sadie is a struggling artist whose has just reached a major career milestone by earning a coveted spot in a portrait competition. But she soon discovers that she has to undergo a minor brain surgery procedure. Although it was a success, the residual swelling leaves her with the inability to clearly see faces aka face blindness.

I was extremely happy to be gifted an ARC from NetGalley. I am a huge fan of Katerine Center! I find that I am unable to put down her novels and go through all the emotions with each and every one.

I listened to this in audio format and Patti Murin did a great job delivering the story.
As with all Katherine Center novels, we experience a story based on a severe medical situation happening to the MC. In Hello Stranger, Sadie experiences a medical issue that required brain surgery and she wakes up with face blindness (Prosopagnosia). It is hard to understand how an ability we take for granted gets taken away from us and Center does a great job of bringing these experiences to life. My dislike of the story comes from the unlikeable characters. The MC, Sadie, was bratty and woe is me, which is slightly understandable with the impact from the loss of her mother at a young age. The cliché evil step sister, Parker, was unbearable and hard to fathom someone behaving that way.

I think I need to stop reading her book because this wasn't for me ... it was not what I think it was going to be and I had expectations for this book

This just wasn’t my favorite Katherine Center book. The MC I had a hard time connecting with. It was still a fun read but just not my favorite.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me access this book! (Sorry my review is so late!)

I really enjoyed “the bodyguard” and when I saw this up on NetGalley I knew I had to request it and I was so happy I got approved—and then promptly forgot until now.

This was really cute with a liberal dose of insecurity, trauma, family conflict, and romance. I appreciated the research that went into Sadie’s disability and that, like many of the people I work with, the way the author showed how her trauma influenced her willingness to let others in and to accept help from them. I related a lot to Sadie and honestly teared up a few times on my flight while reading this story. I also really enjoyed the romance and how confirmation bias influences how we view the people around us (I love statistics and research in the wild) and the way we have to challenge initial impressions and assumptions.

Very excited to read whatever she comes up with next!

Sadie is a portrait artist who acquires prosopagnosia, or face blindness following a brain surgery. I loved the way Katherine wrote Sadies journey with her rocky relationship with her family and finding romance. I liked this book and how face blindness was approached and liked the medical aspect to it. I did however find it a tad bit predictable but overall enjoyed it.

I absolutely love Center's other book, The Bodyguard, but this just didn't hit for me. I think the premise and characters didn't work for me unfortunately, but I'll still be reading whatever she publishes next.

This is a sweet, somewhat predictable romance with a big punch of angst that is thankfully resolved at the end. As a sometime artist myself, the premise of a portrait artist who suddenly can't see faces is intriguing, and while I sort of wish (view spoiler) I was not disappointed in the happy ending. I guessed the big twist pretty early on, but I have a feeling this is one of those stories where the author is actually encouraging the reader to put the pieces together so there's vindication when the predicted outcome is what actually happens.

A nice quick read for a time when I needed to forget about the real world for a while.

Doesn't matter now that the book has been out for so long, but thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for offering an advance copy.

DNF - 39% in, and I can't get past my annoyance with the main character. Falling in love and planning your wedding when you haven't even talked to a guy? All the woe is me, just wasn't something I could deal with.

I really enjoyed this one! I'm a sucker for Center's character driven stories, they always pull you in. Not my all-time favorite of hers, but still a very sweet book. Would recommend to a fellow romance fan, especially if they like the bittersweet side of things like me.

This book was very confusing. It felt chaotic. I wasn’t a fan as much as other Center books. The premise was unique but felt like there was some story lacking.

Well, this was another Katherine Center hit for me and another book that I question WHY it took me so long to pick up. What I love about Katherine’s storytelling is that she has this ability to weave such a unique love story. Nothing about this felt like it fell into the standard formula for a romance book, and I ATE IT UP! I honestly was completely floored by how this ended. I will continue to read anything Katherine writes!

A portrait artist who loses her ability to see faces by developing face blindness after an expected brain surgery? Talk about the EMOTIONS! We have so many beautifully weaved layers that come together to paint the most entertaining story. I love Sadie’s relationship with Sue (her best friend), can’t get enough of her dealings with her evil stepsister, was completely enthralled with how she was navigating life post face blindness, and couldn’t get enough of her geriatric four-legged best friend. The whole story just really worked for me.

If you don’t have Katherine Center on your radar, please pick up her books! I can’t wait for her next one to hit shelves next year.

I love anything this author puts out. She is an auto read for me! This book hooked me right from the beginning. You won’t regret reading this.

Katherine Center is a newish author to me. This is only the second book of hers that I've read. I will definitely be reading more. I loved the uniqueness of this story.

Sadie is an artist, but after a sudden accident she is struggling with “face blindness”. She cannot recognize anyone by their face, even her closest friends!

She meets a nice vet when she takes her dog in for a check up. She also interacts regularly with a neighbor who lives in her building. The *twist* is that they are actually the same guy and she couldn’t figure it out because of the face blindness.

I love Katherine Center in general, but this was not one of my favorite reads by her. It was cute, I had fun, I actually didn’t see the twist coming BUT there were a lot of plot holes to make the story remotely believable. How did he never ask her about her sick dog when he saw her outside of the vets office?? I will happily suspend disbelief for a cute story but this was one a little bit much. 3.5/5 stars!

This was an enjoyable exploration of love, identity, and the power of second chances. Katherine Center's writing shines with warmth and wit, making the characters feel relatable and their struggles authentic. The story's blend of humor and heartfelt moments creates a perfect balance, drawing me in from the very first page.

Yet again. Katherine Center has not disappointed me. I have binged her books this past year and every single one of them has been so heart warming and fun. Her love stories remind you of what it feels like to fall in love for the first time and they take you to a happier world for a while. Like all her previous novels, I highly recommend.

I liked the overall story, but Sadie’s character made me dislike this book. She was so bratty and whiny that I just couldn’t connect. I had to force myself to not DNF it.

Hello Stranger, 5*

In the wake of losing my mom this was one of the hardest books I've read. If it wasn't a Katherine Center book I would have just DNF’d it. But if there is one thing I know, it's that KC will give me that damn happy ending! I’ll finish the story and feel all warm and gooey inside, learn a little more about life and feel optimistic about humanity. She did not disappoint.

Sadie was a hot mess. The Kim’s were my favorite. Joe was 10/10. Peanut the foodie was a good boy.

This book was 3.5 stars for me. I love Katherine Center and can read anything she writes. I was torn a little on this one relating to the twist, which I saw coming but overall I loved the book.