RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
SPICE: 🔥🔥
When you're having a crappy week(end), sometimes a feel-good story is just what one needs, and Hello Stranger was an excellent pick.

Sadie is a portrait artist who is on the verge of a big break. Unfortunately, a mishap during brain surgery has resulted in face blindness. Add family drama and a sick doggy to her now-struggling career, Sadie's headline ought to be "if it weren't for bad luck, she would not have any."

The only upside to her life right now is love, but her bad luck streak strikes again by making her fall in love with not just one man, but TWO. She hits it off with her dog Peanut's veterinarian Dr. Addison, and her neighbor Joe is so incredibly helpful and sweet.

I really enjoyed this read. If life did not get in the way, I would have read it in one sitting. I thought it was clever of Katherine Center to turn Sadie's unfortunate series of events -- especially her medical condition -- into a fun romcom, and she certainly did it effectively. This is my first Center read, but I thoroughly loved her character development. Parker was such a delicious villain to hate, and I fell in love with Sadie's friend Sue and her family.

This is a spoiler-free zone, so I won't say anything about the twist other than it exists. It becomes more obvious as you get further into the story, but I still liked it nonetheless.

** I am voluntarily reviewing an advance copy of this book. Thank you to Katherine Center, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for providing an ARC. **

Hello, Stranger.

I love a good romance novel. I love a story that teaches about a real-life condition. And Hello Stranger? Hits both nails on the head. Center does an excellent job detailing and showing how Prosopagnosia (face blindness) affects those who suffer from it.

This book is one POV, that of Sadie Montgomery. I personally can really connect with Sadie. If you tell me I can’t? I will, even if it breaks me. Ask for help? Nope. After losing her mom, and having an estranged relationship with her father (who thinks being an artist is ridiculous), step-mother and step-sister, Sadie will do anything to try to make it in the art world. But then the unthinkable happens. She can’t see faces. And at the worst possible time as a finalist for a portrait contest. However, art is the one thing that keeps her connected to her late mother so she is determined to make it work.

Then enter Joe and the veterinarian who saved her precious pooch. Who will she choose, when love is blind? Or at the very least…pixelated.

This novel, wonderfully written by Katherine Center, will leave you with the life lesson “The more good things you look for, the more you find.

I’ve heard good things about this author and the premise of this one sucked me in. But I saw the big plot twist coming from a mile away, which made the book kind of drag on because I was awaiting the inevitable reveal. The obviousness of it all made me frustrated with the FMC even though it’s not entirely her fault.

I think the ending was a little lackluster overall, but I did like the journey there, so that counts for something! The creative premise kept me reading and I thoroughly enjoyed the cute romance scenes. I’d pick up another book by this author for sure.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

This story was absolutely fascinating! And so, so, SO heartfelt.

Waking up in the hospital after an accident, portrait artist Sadie Montgomery is left with acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia, aka face blindness. She is unable to recognize a single person. Weeks from submitting a piece in the North American Portrait Society competition, you can imagine the complete upheaval on her life.

But even despite her diagnosis, financial struggles, and interactions with hateful family, Sadie never gives up. Her situation is tragic, of course, but the message of hope and perseverance is something any reader can connect with. Sadie was amazing!

On top of this is the sweetest romance. One that took a detour I was not expecting, I must add. I did have to suspend my disbelief a tad—for reasons I can't reveal—but what a fun, unique twist!

With ALL the warm fuzzies you'd ever want, I definitely recommend this one. It made my heart flutter.

A summer storm blew through yesterday and our power went out so I decided to start Hello Stranger. And once I started, I couldn't put it down...I read all 5 hours of this glorious romance in one setting. Interesting premise, great characterization...I knew the resolution because it just made sense given the genre, BUT that knowing made it even sweeter as the character discovered what we all had inferred. Addicting and compelling- a must summer romance read!
Thanks to #NetGalley and #St. Martin's Press for the ARC.of this gem.

4.5 stars - Katherine Center does it again; another wonderful, cozy romance. Sadie is a portrait artist and was placed in the finals for the North American Portrait Society. But her happiness is cut short when she ends up in the hospital and is diagnosed with a temporary condition of face blindness. Sadie needs to learn to adapt to her new reality and figure out how to paint a face portrait to submit to the contest. In the midst of all of this, she falls for not one but two men.

I did guess the big twist in the book, but that did not ruin the book for me. I thought the romance aspect of the story tied up nicely. I wish there was more relationship development between Sadie and her stepsister Parker; it wrapped up too quickly. Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend this to anyone.

I have yet to not love a Katherine Center novel. In fact, I devoured this on one sitting.

This time, we meet Sadie, whose brain surgery leaves her with face blindness. This is a big problem seeing as she's a portrait artist, of all things. Things are further complicated by her hot (she thinks) veterinarian and an intriguing guy who lives in her apartment building. And an evil stepsister bent on taking full advantage of Sadie's disability. Busy month for our plucky heroine!

Sweet, not spicy. Lovable, not sappy. This is such a perfect beach read, I pre-ordered a physical copy for my shelf.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

After Sadie, a portrait artist, undergoes brain surgery, she suffers from face blindness (Prosopagnosia), which causes her to not recognize a face that she is looking at. Yet, she miraculously is able to find love and happiness, even though she really can’t identify anyone’s faces. I have enjoyed some of Katherine Center’s other novels, and — as always — her writing is very good and many of the scenes she depicts here brought a smile to my face. Nonetheless, for some reason, this book fell sort of flat for me. It was a good read, just not a great one.

What would you do if you lost the ability to recognize faces? Even your own?
That's the unique condition (prosopagnosia) that the heroine, Sadie, suffers from following a minor brain surgery.

To say Sadie suffers from a horrible case of bad luck would be an understatement.
She is the literal version of a starving artist.
She suffers a random seizure that leads to the discovery of the condition above, hopefully temporary.
Her dog Peanut is having medical issues.
Her evil stepsister, Parker, also re-enters her life.
And to cap it all off, she is supposed to create a portrait painting for a critical exhibit in several weeks . . . but oh yeah . . . she has face blindness.
YIKES!!!
I was truly sympathetic to everything she was going through and wanted the best for her. Yet it was obvious to me as a reader that she had several things going her way, she just didn't recognize the signs. Namely, the potential love interest. I won't go into details, but this guy clearly had her back on more than one occasion and would do just about anything for her.

While there was no surprising twist in this story, I loved how things played out when Sadie finally discovered the truth. A well-deserved HEA!

This is so cute!! It is such a feel good romance that keeps you from wanting to put it down. I am so lucky to have received this arc!

I highly recommend it!

4 Stars!

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of Katherine Center’s latest! I really enjoyed this story, as I often do with this author’s books. First of all, I really appreciated the look into face blindness. It was definitely something I haven’t heard much about, and it was clear that Center had done some research on the topic. I docked a star for the miscommunication trope seeming a little too much, but Center did do a fairly good job of trying to explain it away. In all, definitely one I recommend if Katherine Center’s previous works are something you enjoy!

What an amazing summer read. Delightful, thought provoking…what makes us “us,” how do we come out of tragedy and how do we continually redefine ourselves?

Sadie is an aspiring artist who makes the finals for the North American Portrait Society. Then she has a seizure crossing the road, has brain surgery at the insistence of her estranged surgeon father, and ends up with face blindness (which “might” be temporary.)

Trying to create new portraits is more than problematic, and juggling new relationships with the dog’s vet and her neighbor prove complicated.

We follow her journey into her new normal, foibles with developing relationships, and delve into the estrangement with her family.

This book will have you rooting for Sadie, cheering at parts, and wishing you could just slap some characters. This author writes as if the characters are our oldest friends and it is always my favorite thing to enjoy her new books. Well done, Center! Please keep them coming :-)

Well, hello again, Katherine Center!

This was the second book I’ve read by this author, I loved it as much as the first one I’d had the pleasure of reading - it was The Bodyguard and it too was wonderful! I’m happy to report that I love her writing and storytelling just as much as I did the first time.

In Hello Stranger, Sadie Montgomery is diagnosed with face blindness. I've always been so curious about this topic, so to read about a main character navigating how to deal with it was very interesting to me. Center did an excellent job detailing this topic.

What an absolute treat this book was! There were feelings of warmth and happiness throughout this book, and I ate it up. The characters were so likable (except one in particular - you’ll see why when you read this, and will undoubtedly agree with me), and I genuinely enjoyed getting to read about them. The storyline and use of the condition the main character was dealing with was so original and so well thought out. There was a big twist, which I did call, but only in the 11th hour, and I really liked the way it was executed.

A big thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC. As always, my review has been written honestly.

I enjoyed this immensely and can’t wait to read more of Center’s books in the future!

I love Katherine Center books, and even though I thought “Everyone is Beautiful” was my favorite book because I felt identified I have to say that Hello Stranger has taken that place in my heart. Reading it was like sipping a mug of hot chocolate , delicious and comforting.

So many amazing quotes, lessons learned and funny moments in this book. Check it out! You won’t regret it!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange of my honest review.

I loved this book!

It was funny, it was real, it was heartbreaking, it was all the emotions. Sadie has been through it. Life has happened and she is going with it and doing her best.

What she doesn’t expect is two (sort of) relationships at the same time! In the middle of having health issues!

Also peanut and Sue (and her family!) are the best. Parker is the worst and I sincerely hope she does some soul searching in her next chapter.

Go on this journey with her! Laugh with her, feel the feelings with her, and everything in between!

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review.

This is one of the most ridiculous books I've ever read. I loved it. It was so entertaining and a little sad. The only complaint I have is that the evil stepsister didn't get hit by a bus, but even that couldn't ruin it for me.

Every time I read a book by Katherine Center, it becomes one of my favorite reads of the year. I just love her writing style and how layered and unique the stories and characters are, and how her novels always make me feel all the feels. And Hello Stranger is my favorite read by Center yet. I loved everything about this book!

First things first – I want to be friends with Sadie Montgomery. She’s a portrait artist struggling to get by, and she becomes a finalist in a prestigious art contest that could propel her career. However, her dreams feel shattered when she learns she needs to have surgery, and the operation results in prosopagnosia or facial blindness. She can see everything except for people’s faces, which look like Picasso's paintings. Not the best problem for a portrait artist.

Sadie goes through so much in the story as she deals with her new reality and faces some of the issues she’s been avoiding. Having prosopagnosia forces Sadie to see things in a new light, and this change in perspective influences her in ways she never expects. I thought her character was really relatable. We all go through things sometimes that feel totally out of our control, and it’s tough. Sadie, however, shows such strength and hope, and I love that about her. I think that’s why I hated some of the other characters so much because they treated Sadie so badly, and no one should be messing with Sadie.

I loathed her step-sister, and her step-mother and father weren’t much better, but their negativity and toxicity were balanced nicely with characters like Sadie’s best friend, her adorable dog, and so many other great secondary characters. Plus, there’s the romance, and if you know me, you know I’m all about a swoon-worthy romance! You might also know I’m not a big fan of a love triangle, but in this story, it totally works!

After Sadie’s diagnosis, she meets two men – Oliver, the new golden-voiced vet that helps her elderly dog during an emergency, and Joe, the brash neighbor she overhears speaking rudely about her but with whom she has sizzling chemistry. I loved trying to figure out who she was going to choose. They both bring different things to the table, and the banter and chemistry with each are fantastic.

I can’t say enough about Hello Stranger. Katherine Center has a way of telling stories that hook me from the first page. In Hello Stranger, the characters are realistic and relatable, and they have a lot of depth. And they’re so funny. There are a bunch of laugh-out-loud moments that completely endeared me to certain characters! Her stories are refreshing, funny, heartwarming, and fun, and the messages of resilience, taking chances, and knowing your worth are fantastic. And the love stories!! I adore them!!

Special thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.

This story follow Sadie, a portrait artist recently diagnosed with face blindness after an accident. We learn early on that she is a finalist in this portrait competition that her late mother was also in when she died. From then on she goes through a rough period of six weeks, with constant blow after blow and unresolved drama coming back up. Not only this, but she ends up meeting two potential love interests during this difficult time. Sadie has to navigate and challenge everything she knows about living and her own self-efficacy.

Center's writing style is very easy to read and follow along with, making this very fast paced and a quick read. I enjoyed how this story took a disorder and brought it to attention in a light way with a good balance between heavy topics that this brought up for the main character and the general personality of the main character. Sadie's story was very entertaining to follow along with all of her complexities and quirks.

Some of the downsides of this for me was everything felt too predictable. I was guessing every plot point from the very beginning, which made it slow to read at points and would lose my interest. Sadie's relationship with her step mother and sister felt very forced and there more so for the plot than any actual development. It would have been nice to expand on their relationships a bit more to gain a better feel of the interactions instead of knowing it's a Cinderella like trope with evil stepsister. I would have loved to see a more of the defining moment in Sadie's life when she realized that she was living her mom's life and not her own. This was one of her main character flaws that was never resolved at the end, which would have enhanced the story.

I think this story, overall, was a novel idea that had a lot of potential. I've never heard of a romance plot like this and it caught my attention from the get go. This is an easily recommendable book for someone who wants a fast, easy pace, but is not something I would consider to read again. I would continue to read more from this author in the future.

This is my least favorite Katherine Center book that I’ve read. I should’ve know when I read the synopsis that this wouldn’t be for me, but I love &
Katherine Center and wanted to give it a try.

I’m sure that this will be a great book for some people, but for me it was a miss.

I've read a number of Katherine's other novels to date, and while this one started slow for me, it really picked up (and came together) in the last third. The family storyline felt a little incomplete, but enjoyed the will-they-won't-they romantic twist. To quote the author, "this love story really created fantastic anticipation"! Thank you to #NetGalley for my copy.