The concept of Hello Stranger is unique as I do not recall reading a story involving face blindness before, so I was excited to try it. The story follows 29-year-old Sadie Montgomery who is struggling in life. She constantly wants to prove herself to her father, who seems disinterested in her life. She has a rocky relationship with her stepmother, Lucinda, and has an evil stepsister, Parker. As a struggling portrait artist, she does not have funds, so she is lucky that her best friend, Sue’s (Soo Hyun) parents have an extra space in their building that she gets to live and work in for free. She believes her life may finally be turning around when she discovers that she is a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition for a chance at $10,000. Unfortunately, she faints and ends up in a hospital where she walks out with a face blindness condition that may or may not get better. The story follows her life as she tries to adjust to this new way of life.

She ends up meeting a guy who lives in her building, Joe, who does not leave a great first impression. Luckily, he shows her a different side of himself and the two end up closer. When Sadie’s furry best friend, Peanut, gets sick, she rushes him to the hospital where she meets Dr. Oliver Addison. This adds even another obstacle in Sadie’s life as romance may be in the cards. This was an interesting addition and how it ends up does make sense, however, some of the details were lacking in how all the pieces should fit together. The relationships that are formed between Sadie and each suitor was well-done as they fit Sadie’s ridiculous nature.

As a character, Sadie was not likeable, for me. Some readers may enjoy her or find her more tolerable, but I found her selfish and narrow-minded. It was already odd to me how Sadie was almost 30 and struggling extremely with finances yet did not even bother to work part time to earn money while she continued to pursue her dreams. While I sympathized with her journey, the story does center around her character helping her or getting to know her, but she never seemed to reciprocate. Her character though does experience some growth, which was great, although I wish there was a little for her friend Sue. She seemed to lack empathy as Sadie is going through a lot and it was as-if she didn’t care. Since I was lucky enough to read the ebook version and listen to the audiobook, for me, the audiobook did help make the characters a little more bearable, but not the best. I think some of this story needed more work in the details, but I still loved Center’s writing style. Overall, I loved the concept more than the execution, but I think many readers will love everything. I look forward reading more from Center in the future.

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio, for the opportunity to read this enjoyable novel. The opinions expressed are completely my own.**

Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read this advanced copy before publication in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Sadie Montgomery is an up and coming portrait artist who just placed as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition. Next she’s in a freak accident and wakes up in the hospital and finds out she needs brain surgery, which she tries to put off. After having the surgery, she awakens to find out that she has a “probably temporary” condition known as face blindness. From here she tries to come to terms with her new normal and figure out how to stay in this competition because she really needs the money. She also has a strained relationship with her Father and Stepmother and her psycho stepsister. And wow, she’s a real piece of work! Sadie ends up in an interesting love triangle with her beloved dog Peanut’s Veterinarian and her hot neighbor. What follows is a really interesting look into this condition and how she learns to cope with it. Of course wires get crossed and several misunderstandings occur. Sadie can’t really trust her instincts right now, her brain just seems broken. I enjoyed seeing how it all played out. I did have a lot of it figured out, but it was a story filled with hope that explored some themes of loss and grief as well. Overall, I really liked this one a lot. Katherine Center is an author I can always count on for a good romance book! I will continue to read her work in the future.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my review.

I’m a big Katherine Center fan, and if you’re also one, I really think you’ll enjoy this. It’s her classic feel-good, happy vibe we keep coming back for!

The story was very unique, which is hard to do in romance! Yes, we’ve got some tropes, but there was more to the story.

There were times I found Sadie shallow and self-centered, but in a way, it made her more…real. Human even.

I dare say, I enjoyed this even more than The Bodyguard!

First off, I loved Sadie & Joe's chemistry and the whole idea of this story ... BUT -- I didn't feel a connection with this book. I felt like Parker was an afterthought, thrown into the story, the character development wasn't what I had expected/hoped. Overall, this book fell flat for me.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc with my honest review

This is a wild ride – in the best possible way. This story has so much going on with the heroine and so many lessons to be learnt. Sadie who is a portrait artist suffers facial blindness due to brain surgery, that may be permanent or not, no one can tell for sure until the swelling goes down. This alters her life and her perception of both people and herself. I love her journey both romantically and personally. The romantic interests in Sadie’s life add so much spice and intrigue to the story – and romance of course. This story brings out all the feels.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Sigh such a great story. I could not put this down. I hadn’t read a story with this subject and found it super interesting. The characters were well rounded and awesome. Except for one, they can kick rocks.

This story is about a woman who has an accident and after surgery ends up suffering from face blindness. She can no longer recognize faces (even her own) and will stay that way until the swelling in her brain goes down. She is determined to go on living her life without telling people of her condition. She learns to recognize people by their clothes or hair styles. To say this is overwhelming for her is an understatement. Imagine not being able to see the faces of those you love or your own face! How utterly sad.

The story contains her dealings and struggles with her family members and the limitations put on her professional life by this condition. It was interesting, thought provoking, funny, romantic and makes you search the depths of your own brain and heart for how it would be to live with that condition. I absolutely adored the main characters and couldn't have been cheering them on any harder. Thank God for romances and happy endings!
Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the gifted copies. All thoughts are my own.

This story was cute and I like that K.C. had the idea after hearing an NPR story about face blindness. The story was what you would expect from her if you have read others. Characters and situations slightly over the top, life stuff for the mc to figure out and a cute romance.

Hello Stranger is an absolute joy.

Sadie is an artist who has just placed in a portrait contest, only to find out she needs brain surgery and wakes up with face blindness. She tries to navigate her personal and professional life but keeps running into obstacles.

I mean, this story was extremely predictable but the characters are all so sweet and endearing you can’t help but want to read about them! It’s the perfect summer read for people who love cozy romcoms.

I'm such a big fan of Katherine Center and I was definitely looking forward to this book with an interesting premise. Unfortunately, the lead character is pretty unlikeable and make it a hard book to love. Sadie is to put it plainly, a brat. She is self-absorbed, negative, and whiny. She jumps to the the worst possible conclusions immediately. At 64% in she says, "Getting super mad at assumptions is not normally my thing." Um, what? That is exactly what she does consistently. Even after the mix up was explained, I can't understand what Joe sees in her. She does not treat him well before or after the surgery. For someone who "never accepts help" having someone turn a blind eye while you rent somewhere you aren't supposed to, gives you a cheap rate on that rent and then no rent at all, that seems to be a pretty big way of accepting help. Much greater than $20 worth of wine.

A few other things that really bothered me was that she never had a good reason for not telling people about the facial recognition. She was worried about being embarrassed but was embarrassed because she couldn't recognize them. She could have saved a lot of trouble with just a small explanation. Of course, then there wouldn't have been a plot at all. Also, she says she's "not good with voices." Come on. Scents, voices, mannerisms... you can't tell me her brain wouldn't have picked up on all of those, especially after such an extended period of time.

One redeeming quality was everything wasn't exactly tied up with a bow at the end, i.e. Parker. Things still worked out a little too conveniently but I would have given two stars if they suddenly became close.

I think if there had been better reasonings for the confusions and Sadie did not act like such a petulant child, I would have liked the book more. I will still always read Katherine Center and I do believe enough other people loved it that everyone who is interested should still give it a try.

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

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center

Life has been hard for twenty eight year old Sadie Montgomery ever since her mother died and her distant father married the mother of her biggest bully at school, a girl who committed horrible acts and then made sure that Sadie was blamed for them. So Sadie has some really intense bitterness towards her father and his new family, a family that has been allowed to overshadow her completely. Sadie's revenge it to not forge a more lucrative career path her father suggests but rather to try to make it as an artist.

So that's why we meet Sadie while she is living in a rooftop hovel, formerly more of a janitor's shack. Because of the hurts in Sadie's life, everything about her might be a little bit better than she thinks it is, her living space might be more attractive to others than she will allow herself to believe and she might be more attractive to others than she will allow herself to believe. Now her rotten step sister is latching on to Sadie and her adult world, with a vengeance, determined to continue destroying Sadie's life as much as she can.

Sadie does have a huge, real problem. She is face blind after a health incident that led to brain surgery. Just when two men show interest in her and she can't even see their faces. One man is Joe, who she first noticed while he was having an extremely gross and inappropriate phone call, saying very degrading things about a woman. The other guy, Oliver, is her dog's new vet. But while the new vet seems to be ghosting her after asking her out on a date, Joe, except for that one disgusting overheard phone call, seems to be a sweet dreamboat...maybe.

Yeah, yeah, Sadie makes some strange choices in life, sometimes seeming to cut off her nose to spite her face, but I just let the story flow and found it to be cute and funny. We are certainly given some folks that we can love to hate and Sadie seems to be blessed in ways she doesn't appreciate, but I let Sadie be Sadie and greatly enjoyed the story. And then there is that very cute little dog named Peanut!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

This was my first time reading a Katherine Center novel, and I really enjoyed it!! I read it in 2 days, which is really fast for me. It was very fast paced, and had me wanting to know the ending! Some of it was predictable (I had guessed the twist about Joe), but overall it was an amazing romance book. I didn’t like some of the characters, mostly Parker. Sue made me mad occasionally especially when she left her best friend in need! But I understand how it set up the Joe and Sadie storyline even more.

I rated this book a 4 because we can't give half stars but I would most definitely round it up to a 4.5 ! From the beginning I felt for Sadie and her struggle of being an artist and wanting so badly to succeed but with no support from her family. Then to find out she needs brain surgery due to a genetic condition that killed her mother I thought, man is this girl ever going to catch a break? Once Sadie made it through surgery, she realized she could no longer distinguish the different faces of the people around her. So she then has to learn to sort of navigate being an artist who is on a 6 week deadline for a contest and just life in general.

Peanut is Sadie's dog and her best friend, she decides to take him to a new vet who she immediately dubs her new future husband although she can't see her face. But his gait is what attracts her to him even though she had never noticed these things about people before. Then she runs into a man who lives in her building but overhears him having what seems to be a private conversation of a one night stand. Who is this guy? Why all of a sudden is he everywhere? Honestly I loved Sadie and "Joe's" story, the irony in the end was beautiful and who doesn't love a happy ending. I absolutely adore Katherine Center.

3.5 rounded up

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a free eARC of this book.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I had some reservations because I feel like the idea of someone having face blindness isn't always the most interesting story for me, but I did end up liking this book. The writing is very much what I would expect from Katherine Center, a little bit silly, fun, and very easy to read. I sat down to start this book and ended up finishing it all in one sitting. It is an incredibly quick read. I enjoyed the romance although I really felt like it was secondary to the family relationships in this story. This really felt like a story about a woman who is learning her family history a bit and trying to repair a relationship with her dad. While she's doing that she happens to meet a guy and fall in love. I didn't mind that the romance wasn't necessarily font and center. I enjoyed following Sadie as she comes to terms with her diagnosis and as she tries to win a portrait contest (because of course). I liked Sadie a lot as a character and had a really fun time reading this book.

Sadie has finally gotten her big break as a portrait artist when she is named a finalist in a competition. Unfortunately, she also needs brain surgery which completely alters the way she can see faces.

This book was a great read and included themes surrounding honesty with yourself and others. Another hit from Katherine Center!

Thank you SMP & NetGalley for my gifted eARC. 💕

About: Sadie Montgomery, a portraitist just like her late mother, finally gets her big break: she's placed as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition. Unfortunately, that same day she lands in the hospital with a "probably temporary" condition called prosopagnosia - AKA face blindness. The timing couldn't be worse!

As she struggles to cope with this new condition and the impact it will have on the competition, she's also dealing with a sick pup and a dysfunctional family: a mostly-absent father, an overbearing (but well-meaning) stepmom, and a wicked step-sister.

So meeting not one, but TWO, men is the perfect distraction! But Sadie's inability to see them clearly will cause problems galore!

Thoughts: This was an absolute DELIGHT! This is only my second Katherine Center novel but call me a fan! The humor is perfect, and I found myself smiling for most of the book. Sadie is so charming and I couldn't help but love her and root for her. The romance is slow-burn but very sweet. And I appreciate the way the author handled Sadie's family issues, and I thought that backstory added a lot of depth. Overall a very solid read that I binged in just over 24 hours 🥰 I read this along with the audiobook and Patti Murin delivers a wonderful performance from start to finish. Katherine Center+ Patti Murin are a dream come true! Add this one to your TBR ASAP!

4.5 rounded to 5.
Review to be posted on my Instagram prior to pub day.

This is my second Katherine Center book and I loved it just as much as the first one!

I had never heard of face blindness so I was very intrigued by the blurb. I feel like it was very well researched and was so interesting.
Sadie was such a relatable character. I felt like I really knew her. And Joe? SWOON.

I will definitely recommend this book forever

2.5 stars
Thank you to St, Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

To be honest, if this wasn't an ARC copy, I probably would've quit reading this at about 35%. I did end up finishing it, and I did enjoy the ending and the author's note especially. But the rest of it I mostly sped read through because I just wanted to know what happened. There were cute parts of the story, like Sadie's dog Peanut, and I was interested in reading about her painting and her experiences with prosopagnosia. I did like seeing Sadie's growth in the very end of the story, and I enjoyed reading about her relationships with others like her friend Sue and her family. However, I just felt like this book was too long, and I was tired of Sadie's monologue. To me she came off as whiney and kind of superficial. I know she had a lot going on, but I felt like she was constantly complaining and it was just a lot to read through. I would've liked if she'd had a little growth throughout the whole story and not just all in the last 10% of the book.

I'll give other Katherine Center books a try, because I did read another of hers and I did enjoy it. However, this one just wasn't it for me.

Thank you, St, Martin's Press and Netgalley for a copy of this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars
I read The Bodyguard by Katherine Center and fell in love with her writing style. I was so excited to be approved to read this book early! Overall, I enjoyed the story. I didn't swoon as hard for this couple as with Hannah and Jack in The Bodyguard. I felt like they were lacking a solid emotional connection. Despite this, I did enjoy reading about face blindness and the complexity behind it. Watching Sadie grow as a character throughout the book with her struggles was fun. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a lighter, fun read.

P.s. the cover is absolutely gorgeous

Hello Stranger is a story with big emotions. After the main character, Sadie, is struck with a medical condition that impacts the way she sees the world around her, she begins to confront questions about who she is and wants to be. This is a unique romance and I liked the way it made me think about confirmation bias and assumptions I make in my own life. Even though I didn't relate strongly to Sadie, I was rooting for her and interested to see how her story would evolve and resolve. As a bonus, I love Sadie's relationship with her dog Peanut!