This was super cute! I love Katherine Center books, but I’d say The Bodyguard and Things You Save in a Fire are still my favorites. This one was a delight to read, although I think the ending was broadcast from a mile away. If that could have taken me a little more by surprise, I think it would have been a 5 star!

I think this is a unique read that is a great beach read if you are looking for something light that will make you smile!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the copy in exchange for my honest review!

I had not heard of prosopagnosia before reading this book. It provides for a very different plot device and brings awareness to face blindness. Sadie is a portrait artist and just found out that she is a finalist in an important contest. After having a seizure while crossing a road and being saved from being run over by a good samaritan, it is discovered that she has a life threatening lesion in her brain. Swelling after the surgery leads to Sadie having face blindness. I was really intrigued by this storyline and the affect that this has on how you interact with people. It kept me reading to find out how it all worked out between the contest and other people in her life.

I received a copy of this book to review through NetGalley and thoroughly enjoyed it.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61884987

Grateful for the opportunity to read this new book from one of my favorite writers prior to it being released. Hello, Stranger is another great one from Katherine Center. The thing I appreciate the most is that her books will give you not only a love story but also a story about personal growth. The secondary characters are also always interesting.

I enjoyed this book - learning about face blindness in particular. The growth by the main character was really nice to see, and I was happy for her to find happiness and love.

Katherine Center, she knows how to write a book. I’ve read 5 and they are all hearteyes to me. I want sure about this one but I experienced an audible gasp at one point, and cried more than a handful it years toward the end, and ended with a smile on my face. Big yes from me!

I’m giving it three stars because two is too harsh and it doesn’t represent my rating.

I’m going to start off strong. Go read the blurb and come back.

First of all, I really, really, really, really freaking hate love triangles. Second of all, I really really hate when everything and everyone in the heroine’s life is bad. Not one thing goes her way and that makes my blood boil. If I had know it would be like that, I probably wouldn’t have read it in the first place. I know it’s not for me so why bother. But I loved Katherine’s previous book so that.

This is a cute romance and everything, if you like the blurb then try it out. That’s all I’m going to say about the romance.

Face blindness is one of the interesting and weird things a brain will do. After a near accident, this is what Sadie is diagnosed with..... Right before she has to get a PORTRAIT of someone done for a prize winning contest. Hard to do when you can't "see" faces.

But during this she also became attracted to two men.

Her dog's vet, Oliver and a guy from her building Joe.

Sadie had a difficult time with this but she also persevered more than I thought I would. She knew her art wouldn't be as good but she still tried it. I figured a little twist early on but it was fun to see that play out. I was SO UNCOMFORTABLE with Sadie's family though.... Especially step-sister Parker. She was a trash bully!

I felt this was another Center hit! I'm a big fan of this (auto-buy for me) author!

Book Review: Hello Stranger by @katherinecenter publishing July 11th! I always enjoy Katherine’s books, and this one was a fun one. If you need a nice, feel good romance with depth, check out any of her books. Hello Stranger has an interesting and unusual situation that affects the main character Sadie who is a portrait artist. I won’t give any spoilers here, but like any good romance this one has ups and downs and it all ends in love. Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the free arc and thank you to @katherinecenter for such a fun read!

If Katherine Center writes it, I WILL read it! She surprised me with The Bodyguard, and I will happily be picking up the rest of her books.

This was a refreshing read, and felt different than any book I’ve read before. The best thing about this book was the character development. It was absolutely brilliant!!

I can’t wait to read the rest of Centers’ books!

Katherine Center can do no wrong! I haven’t given one of her books less than four stars, and this one was right up with The Bodyguard as a new favorite of hers.

This book follows Sadie, a portrait artist who, after brain surgery, finds herself suffering from face blindness. Obviously, this is difficult for her to process since it means she cannot paint portraits which is the only thing she has ever wanted to do.

I loved the themes of this book, and as always the characters were absolutely stellar. Even the characters that weren’t terribly likable were still well developed.

And the romance!!!! Top tier as always!! I love Center’s male characters and Joe was no exception. I loved him. Any scene he was in, he stole the show.

I also found Center’s Author’s Note at the end sweet and interesting.

I just loved everything about this. It made me laugh and it made me tear up a bit. It was a powerful read and I know it will end up being one of my favorite reads of the year.

Oh, and I’m off to read more of Katherine Center’s backlist.

Just do yourself a favor and pick this one up! It is not to be missed!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC! When Katherine Center writes something, you read it! This was an easy and interesting read as most of her books are. The condition that Sadie, the main character, is left with after an accident is something I’ve never heard of before. It was refreshing to read about something new! I enjoyed the ending to the story as it tied up loose ends. I really enjoyed reading Hello Stranger!

Sadie, a struggling portrait artist, just got her big break as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition. She is on her way to celebrate with bottles of wine in hand, but the next thing she knows, she is in the hospital. A horrifying side effect of surgery is face blindness (a real thing: https://www.faceblind.org/). A portrait artist who needs to paint the best portrait of her career in the next six weeks, and every face is a chaotic blur of features. As she struggles to gain footing in this new reality, she unexpectedly falls for two very opposite men with whom she crosses paths.

Sadie is an adorably quirky character with a ton of depth born from heartbreak, struggle, and loss. She has a profoundly loving found family that counterbalances a horrific stepsister and complicated parents. 

Bigger than the romance are important themes of how much we rely on faces to frame identities, confirmation bias, that it takes less energy to be kind than cruel, how hard it can be to ask for help, and the harm we can do to those we love when we try to protect them. I highly recommend you also read the author’s note at the end.

Thank you to Katherine Center, Netgalley, and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

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