First off, thank you to NetGalley for sending me this e-arc! I'm going to give this book a 2.5/5 stars - I did enjoy this book but there were some aspects of it that I found didn't really make sense. I'll try to keep this mostly spoiler-free!

I liked the romance, although I did see the big reveal coming a mile away. I didn't really like the main character, Sadie, too much. I found her to be super judgmental and irrational. You find out you have a potentially fatal brain condition and actively choose to forgo surgery? Seems like a terrible idea. You eavesdrop on a stranger's conversation and from the one-sided responses, you opt to think the worst about the person? Yeah, I'm not her biggest fan.

The relationship between Sadie and her stepsister, Parker, I didn't really understand where the contempt came from from Parker's side. Parker did all of these terrible things to Sadie and other people, and just seems like a shitty person in general, but WHY? A villain isn't a good villain unless there's a solid backstory for why they do what they do. I get that there was a need to have an antagonist, but it just seemed unnecessary.

Overall the book fell flat for me. The central message was cute, but the journey to get there was not without some big bumps in the way.

I had high hopes for this book given how perfect The Bodyguard was last year, but this was just a let down. The poor communication, and even plot were problematic. I just needed more from it in terms of character development, plot development, and plot holes. I enjoy Katherine Center overall, but this one was just a bit of a miss.

Once again, Katherine Center has written a fantastic book with lots of complicated personal relationships. She does this so well because her books always have heart and humor.

I was fascinated the idea of a portrait artist dealing with face blindness. It's not a condition I was really familiar with so I liked learning more from the resources in the author's note. I also like how that was contrasted with confirmation bias and leaning on other senses and how everyone does that regardless of if they have prosopagnosia or not.

* Thank you for the advance reader copy of this book from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley. I am required to disclose that in my review in compliance with federal law.

This was probably my most highly anticipated rom com in 2023. I loved The Bodyguard so much I couldn’t wait to pick this one up. And well, it was..cute!

I had no idea there was an actual condition that causes face blindness. That part of the story was fascinating. And what I love about Katherine Center novels are her characters tend to experience some kind of adversity which makes them not feel so one dimensional. And if you love a quirky character you will adore the MC in this one. But really, the character that stole my heart in this rom com was Peanut the dog. What can I say, I am a dog lover. And any rom com with a dog in the cast usually scores points from me in the get go.

A story about family dynamics, dealing with loss, pursuing your passion, believing in yourself, and taking a leap of faith.
I will say, at the end when you start to connect all the dots, it takes a lot of mind stretching to do so. I found myself thinking, “really?”
Not that the story was necessarily predictable but rather teetering on unbelievable. But to be fair, I think with rom coms it is more about the journey than the plausibility. So with that being said, it may not have been the love I was hoping for but still enjoyable read. And the early reviews I see coming in are glowing so I think this one will be a crowd pleaser.

It took me a week to come back and write this review, but I keep thinking about this book. To be honest the premise was one I went into with little belief or investment. However, the story quickly captured my attention and I truly enjoyed it. Great main characters and good lessons learned.

Highly recommend.

Hello Stranger is a delightful and sweet book. Some laugh out loud moments, some ugh moments, and some I can’t imagine moments. Sadie M. is a struggling artist. Her art style is parallel to her mothers, whom she misses very much since her sudden passing when Sadie was 14. She has family issues, EVIL step sister, struggling to make ends meet, and a questionable bff. However, Sadie dreams are about to come true. A piece of her work has made it to the final and grand prize and recognition could change her life. Sadie passes out and rushed to the ER to learn she needs immediate brain surgery. Only to wake from surgery with face blindness. Yep, everyone’s face is jumbled like a puzzle.
The story progresses as Sadie struggles to paint her final piece and has become torn between two men. Her step sister cruelty intensifies, her bff elopes, and her stepmom is befriended her for some odd reason. She is whinny and self absorbed. I struggled with her constant me me me. I did enjoy the surprise at the end and her companion Peanut the dog. Easy read which I enjoy for summer reads.
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press foe ARC

I loved this book!!! Everything about it was so cute and it was the perfect love story. There were so many elements of it that gave me a range of emotions. My heart broke, felt sad, and burst from love and happiness. Sadie, the fmc, is such a likable character. I was her little cheerleader throughout the book and you cant help but be constantly rooting for her. The love interest is the PERFECT book boyfriend. Literally a perfect human. This book brought light to grief and loss, coming to terms and working through life struggles, family relationships, and so much more. This book had a great romance story that delivered an outstanding reader experience.

This was my second Katherine Center book and the second one that I loved. So now I need to go back and read her back catalogue and preorder everything else she writes!
What I love about Center's books is they have such a feeling of joy as you read (except a couple of tension parts), and especially when you finish. These are books you want to hug after reading the last page.
In this book, we meet Sadie. She is a portrait artist who is trying to find success on her own to prove her father (who is rarely on her side of things) wrong. Unfortunately, she has an accident that leads her to having temporary (hopefully) face blindness. Not a good predicament to be in if you are a portrait artist. And Sadie is a strong individual, and does not want to rely on help from anyone. Which can be difficult to do when a certain male in the apartment building is very willing to be helpful. And meanwhile, Sadie can't help to fall for her beloved dog's vet. But the vet may also be leading her on. And meanwhile, her doctor is letting her know that her brain may not be the most helpful in all situations right now while she recovers. Lots of problems and I loved how everything came together!
I found myself devouring this book and losing track of time while reading. Plus the main male character looked like Chris Evans in my mind, which helped with the enjoyment of reading ;)
Katherine Center has given us another delightful summer read and I hope you get lost in this story too!
Thank you to netgalley for the advanced e-galley of this wonderful book!

the premise for this book was fantastic! I will say that I don’t feel this is a romance but instead literary fiction, this story focuses on Sadie’s struggles and the romance is a sub plot. The story is heavily dependent on miscommunication - her dad doesn’t tell her about a hereditary tumor, she doesn’t tell anyone about the face-blindness, and other things I won’t be spoiling.

The character of Sadie was split for me, miscommunication bothers me to no end because I personally am huge on communication HOWEVER I understand Sadie is used to having no real support system and having to do things for herself. Her back story really pulled at me and I found myself tearing up a bit at certain parts. The supporting characters were fun! Parker is the villain of villains; bestie Sue is supportive albeit forgetful, Dr. Nicole was informative and no nonsense and Joe was swoon worthy!

All in all I really enjoyed this book! It’s a fun read with some cute twists and turns! It’s a light book that covers some heavy issues and has a great lesson learned by the end!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this ARC and to Katherine Center for a fun story with a different premise!

Hello Stranger will be published on July 11, 2023

I wasn’t a huge fan of this one. I found the face blindness issue tedious and I struggled through the storyline. I wasn’t particularly interested in the characters and I felt they lacked chemistry. My favorite Center book is How to Walk Away and, to be honest, I haven’t really found any that live up to that one.

I am such a Katherine Center fan! She writes such delightful romances that always incorporate elements of seriousness, yet satisfactorily drive toward an uplifting, hopeful ending.

I loved learning more about face blindness through this light-hearted story. I always appreciate developing a new understanding of a topic I know nothing about through an enjoyable piece of fiction. Sadie is an incredible character, and her backstory with her parents and evil stepsister makes the reader root for her from page one. Center does an incredible job of setting up a couple of fantastic twists in this book that were difficult to predict and hard to reconcile without her explanation. I love it when a book surprises me!

I think there are a few other Katherine Center books that still top my list over this one, but I loved it all the same. I won't ever miss a new KC book at this point!

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center

This book was constantly surprising me. The premise is so unique it made for such an interesting story. Although I do have some negative thoughts about it, I feel it is important to note that despite the things I didn’t like I was fully engaged the whole time and flew through it.

First, this is not a romance book, I would call it contemporary fiction as the romance was definitely the sub-plot as the book mostly focuses on Sadie’s own journey dealing with the grief of losing her mother, navigating the world without a family to lean on, and being a portrait artist with face blindness.100 pages into the book I wasn’t sure who the love interest even was. I also never got the chance to like this love interest because their very first interaction is a huge misunderstanding that paints him in a very bad light and does not get resolved until the very end, making it impossible for me to root for them.

This book also relies heavily on miscommunication, it seems like every relationship/interaction that Sadie has is fueled by these misunderstandings, a large reason for that being she refuses to tell most people about her face blindness which leads to many awkward encounters. Sadie is having a really hard time in most aspects of her life (family, career, love life) and it can become frustrating to read about, seeing a character be so powerless for so long is not enjoyable for me to read.

All this to say I wish I had had a better idea of what this book was about so I could have managed my expectations better, I am a big fan of “The Bodyguard” also by Katherine Center and this book is very different from that. Ultimately the over the top writing style mixed with my least favorite trope didn’t work for me but I can certainly see the appeal for other readers!

3.5 stars rounded up. Great premise- a portrait artist loses her ability to see faces, which results in a multitude of events both good and bad. I liked the main characters but wished for more depth on the secondary characters and their relationships. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I loved The Bodyguard and was ready to devour Katherine Center’s newest novel, Hello Stranger. Sadie is a struggling artist, hell bent on proving herself to her dad. A life altering accident leaves her not knowing if she actually will be able to paint ever again. The premise was fine. The characters were fine. The plot was fine. It wasn’t the magic I’ve come to expect from Center. It was all fairly predictable and fine.

What an enjoyable read! The writing style engaged me from the first page and had a hard time putting the book down. Story about Sadie, who has an unexpected turn of life events that throws her life upside down when she thought things were on the right track - and when things might not be going your way at first glance, they could be truly headed the best direction in the end. Loved it! Big thank you to St. Martins Press and Net Galley for the ARC - I can’t wait to read more books from Katherine Center!

I have always been fan of Katherine Center. My favorite of hers as been Happiness for Beginners but I think Hello Stranger might top it. I really enjoyed this book! I devoured this book in a day on a reading funk. I'm not going to lie the main character got on my nerves at time but that shows the excellence of Katherine's writing that I could despise this character at time. Joe, on the other hand, was such a joy to read!

Thanks to #NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this book early.

I love Katherine Center’s books and will always purchase anything she decides to put out. How ever, this one just didn’t do it for me. The plot was intriguing but Sadie was not a like-able character. At times where I should have felt sympathy for her, I just felt annoyance - which really changed the whole feel of the book for me.

Sadie is an artist who is barely making ends meet. She thinks she has finally gotten her big break when she is asked to submit a portrait for a big competition. Before she can celebrate, she is hit by a car, hospitalized, and undergoes brain surgery. When Sadie wakes up, she has a new condition prosopagnosia (face blindness). As Sadie tries to figure out how to submit a portrait for the competition and overcome her condition, she has to overcome obstacles and find her own way.
This novel was a beautiful story of resilience and perseverance, as are Katherine Center's other novels.

3.25 stars.

First off, big thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this adorable book. It took me all of one afternoon to read this delightful little story and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Is it a literary masterpiece? No, not even close. It's a formula-following, cliche-riddled, fun, easy summer read that makes for an entertaining few hours while you sip a glass of something fruity and refreshing while you dangle your feet in the pool or listen to the ocean (or just imagine it).

I liked the message the author tried to convey throughout this book: You only see (or find) what you're looking for; but I feel like it was overstated. As in, the message was indeed spelled out and repeated multiple times to the point I wanted to shout "YES, I GET IT!"

As for the story itself, the premise was very promising and original. I mainly found fault with the characters and their lack of depth. For example, Parker (the villainous evil stepsister): She's literally terrible and has no redeeming qualities. In fact, most of the main characters (including Sadie) fell a bit flat. Sometimes I think this happens, for me, when heavier/more emotional issues are tackled in typically lighter genres like RomComs.

HELLO STRANGER is a solid offering from Katherine Center that uses a strong narrative voice to combine comedy and romance in an engaging identity-search story (what some might call a late-20s coming-of-age story). The novel begins with a charming meet-cute, then takes a darker turn as Sadie (the portrait artist-heroine who lost her mother as a teenager) finds she has the same condition as her mother and requires brain surgery. The surgery is successful but leaves Sadie face-blind. The novel's description of the disorienting condition is fascinating, a compelling look at the world from a different perspective. The novel's twist (involving Sadie's misfiring brain and critical misidentifications) is relatively easy to spot from a long way off, but the strong character development and witty banter keep readers' interest.

This book may not be as strong as Center's stellar novels "The Bodyguard" or "Happiness for Beginners," but fans of Center will find lots to enjoy, and those looking for an absorbing beach won't be disappointed.