Katherine Center has something against moms I guess
This was very cute and did make me emo. The "twist" is obvious but I didn't mind it.

Sadie is a struggling artist that may have just got her big break when a sudden accident threatens everything she’s worked for.
This was a quick read for me. It’s about grief, overcoming obstacles, friendship and unexpected love. While I did predict the ending I still enjoyed this read. My one criticism would be the common, overly mean “mean girl”. I adored the hero, Joe and Sadie as well. I loved that her struggles with dealing with, well, just about everything that could go wrong, were believable. I enjoyed her growth and journey throughout the book.

So I have to admit, when I first started this book, I was a bit skeptical. The whole concept of face blindness was odd and I wasn’t sure how this book would turn out. However, in my opinion, Katherine Center knocked it out of the park with this one! I laughed, I cried, I felt all of the emotions with this one. It was just delightful and I will be recommending it to everyone when it comes out in July! Such an interesting concept and it was so well done!

Thanks to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for the chance to read this one early!

4.5 stars! (rounded up)

Sadie Montgomery suffers a medical event which results in brain surgery. The side effect of the surgery? Face blindness. That would be a problem for anyone, but especially for a portrait artist who is a finalist of a very prestigious competition who happens to be on a very strict deadline.

This is a story of finding yourself, overcoming family traumas, finding love, and finding hope. It brought the smiles and the tears.

I very much enjoyed this book and thought it “really created fantastic anticipation” throughout :) I definitely recommend this one! Preorder now for its July release.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for providing with me with this fabulous arc of one of my most anticipated novels of 2023 in exchange for my honest opinion.

Hello Stranger is another stellar romance by Katherine Center. She is fast becoming a must read author for me. Sadie Montgomery is a young struggling artist who has finally gotten her big break. On her way to celebrate with friends, she suffers a seizure and wakes up in the hospital where she learns that she has a condition that requires immediate brain surgery. Convinced by her father to not postpone the procedure, Sadie agrees to the surgery. All goes well and she is having an ideal recovery when she realizes that she can't see faces. She can see individual features but not faces as a whole. This would be difficult for anyone but is particularly troublesome for Sadie who is a portrait artist and has six weeks to paint a portrait as a finalist in a very prestigious contest.

As Sadie struggles to paint her contest submission, trying a multitude of new strategies, she also is dealing with long standing issues with her distant father, her clueless stepmother, and her vicious stepsister. Sadie's best friend, Sue, offers long distance encouragement while on her honeymoon trip and Sue's parents, who are also Sadie's landlords, provide support and encouragement. With facial recognition now impossible, Sadie learns new ways to recognize people. For example, she recognizes her neighbor, Joe, by the vintage looking bowling jacket that he wears frequently.

This is a sweet, humorous, feel good romance despite dealing with some serious issues: face blindness, brain surgery, parental death (in the past), and dysfunctional family relationships. There is humor and character growth. Hello, Stranger has a last minute plot twist that I saw coming and was happy to see play out. For the reader, there is comfort in the anticipation of better things to come despite current difficulties and the knowledge that you are heading towards a happy ending. I finished Hello, Stranger with a smile on my face. Get your copy on July 11, 2023. You'll be glad you did.

Thanks to NetGalley for the preview copy. All opinions are my own.

Omg, absolutely amazing! I absolutely love Katherine Center, her writing is literally just *chef's kiss*, she manages to completely shatter my heart and put it back together in just a few hundred pages. I completely adored Paige and her sense of humor. I completely look forward to re-reading Hello Stranger!

Katherine Center is one of my all-time favorite authors and every book I have read that has been written by her has been a 5 star read. This one was a bit slower to get into for me. I think it was the artistic aspect that had me thrown off but once I got about 40% in, it picked up a little more. As someone that has experienced medical trauma that has completely shaken their life, I feel like this book portrayed that so well. There were a few parts of the book that felt a little rushed (though the book was slow to get into) in the beginning but the second half was more enjoyable than the first. I absolutely loved Joe and Sadie's relationship. I feel like it really shows how medical trauma can change the course of your life in ways that you can't imagine and, though it feels like it will break you in some ways, it also mends you in others and opens the door for more opportunity and relationship. Was this my favorite book by Center? No. Was it still an amazing book? Absolutely.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press for the copy of this book!

Katherine Center is a master storyteller and had me rooting for these characters every step of the way! This book is incredibly endearing and weaves in so many complex relationships - new romance, family, and long-term friendships - with ease and authenticity.

Cannot wait for this book to hit the shelves this summer - will be the perfect vacation read!

I found the premise of this book to be really interesting and unique. Sadie, a portrait artist suffers a seizure that leaves her with (hopefully short term) face blindness. I liked the character of Sadie but I found her stepsister Parker to be unnecessarily villainous. I also kept waiting for her friend to be revealed as a villain but I think she was just a blunt person (although I found her mean). It probably goes with the territory of facial blindness, but a miscommunication trope is not a favorite of mine and it played a big role here. Not a bad book by any means, just a bit of a miss for me.

Y’all!!! I’m so glad I had a chance to read this book early..when I first started I was hooked but also not sure where it was gonna go. But I ended up finishing it in two days because I couldn’t put it down. I was literally so shocked at the end but in such a good way!!! When this book comes out y’all have to read it!! I need to snag more of Katherine Center books because this one was just sooo good!!

Thank you netgalley for this arc!

This is my first @katherinecenter book, but I promise it will not be my last! I am obsessed with Sadie, the plot twist and the way this book ended. This book is so well written and detailed. I instantly started to feel what Sadie was feeling and fell in love with the characters as she was. So good & not your traditional romance book.

#hellostranger #katherinecenter #katherinecenterbooks

When a portrait artist gets brain surgery that leaves her with face blindness she’s going to figure out how to live her life with not only a big art competition coming up but with deciding who between the two potential guys is right for her. Sadie Montgomery’s life hasn’t been going great, she’s not made it as a successful artist, she’s got a very very complicated relationship with her father and step mother as well as a wicked step sister, she’s just found out that she needs brain surgery or else she might die the sane way her mom did... it’s a lot. Sadie just found out she made it into the finalist of artists for a competition that could be her big break, but now that she has to have her brain surgery... she’s found out that a “probably temporary” side effect is that she has face blindness... which isn’t ideal for a portrait artist. Throw into the mix a cute veterinarian and neighbor she might have had the wrong first impression with and now Sadie has two potential dates but with her face blindness Sadie is just relying on her assumptions to figure out who people are. She now has to figure out how she can ask for help from others when she hates asking for help and relying on people. Sadie has a lot of past difficulties and pains that make it hard for her to ask for help and to rely on other people and with her new condition, trying to adjust will be even harder. From making wild jumps and assumptions, Sadie is going to find that she’s going to need to re-evaluate how she lives her life with her new condition because it’s going to impact not only her but everyone around her. Sadie was a difficult protagonist because on one hand you understand where she’s from and why she acts the way she does but on the other, you want to tell her: STOP PLEASE. The romantic interest in her life: Dr. Oliver and her neighbor “Joe” and the twist with that was predictable. Overall, it was a unique romance story about an artist who has face blindness who finds love but it just didn’t connect with me as much as the author’s previous book did. I will be reading the author’s future work though but despite this one not being to my taste, I do really enjoy the author’s work.

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I love how much I can count on Center for a heartwarming story no matter what. It doesn’t matter the scenario or even where the characters live, I know I can cozy up to her books and feel warm fuzzies. HELLO STRANGER was no different.

Center pulled on my heartstrings while entertaining me with romance as well as the educational component to the story. I had never heard of Sadie’s disability, which immediately prompted me to learn more about her condition. Center has an incredible talent to weave in multiple storylines without overwhelming the readers with too much information. She truly has the ability to mix in the perfect amount. Like her other books, I found this to be a page turner trying to move as quick as I could to see how things would play out.

Sadie and the other cast of characters are so easy to fall in love with and understand from your first interaction with them. While there are some bad apples, of course, this story was so wholesome and incredibly sweet.

PS - READ THE AUTHOR’S NOTE!!

Big thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC! You can get your copy on July 11.

Content warnings: death, bullying, grief, gaslighting, body shaming, suicide attempt

Thank you so much #netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the privilege of an advanced copy of this book! I am a huge Katherine Center fan - her books have the ability to draw me in and devour them like no other - and Hello Stranger was certainly no exception!

Sadie is a struggling portrait artist who, just as she receives her potential big break as a finalist in a prestigious portrait contest, undergoes a medical event and surgery with a side effect of an inability to recognize faces (face blindness). Just a touch problematic under most circumstances, but especially when under the gun to create an original portrait painting for the chance at a life changing $10,000 prize.

Sadie’s life is turned upside down: she must navigate her new normal and attempt to save her career and life dream all while dealing with complicated family relationships, parallels to her mother’s untimely passing, her friend’s surprise elopement and her sick dog Peanut. Just as Sadie’s at her lowest, she meets a handsome vet who is not only able to save Peanut but catch Sadie’s eye (even if she can’t really see or recognize his face). She’s thrilled when he asks her out, but then also there’s her neighbor Joe - an annoying apparent womanizer who Sadie begins to like the more she gets to know him. As Sadie’s doctor cautions, “things aren’t always what they seem”, especially when the brain and senses are a little scrambled. What’s a girl to do?

It is easy to really feel for Sadie and all that she’s going through - you can’t help but pull for her and want things to get better and work out. I especially like how adorably human and imperfect Sadie is - her stumbles, her missteps, her imperfections while being a genuinely good person trying her best to be her best everyday. And her discoveries that everything isn’t all bad, that we can still find joy in the journey and the messes along the way, even when things don’t go as planned. There’s a lot to admire in that.

The characters and storylines in this book will stick with me for a while. And of course so will Katherine Center’s heartwarming and beautifully astute writing style.

This book was a true delight!!

I finished reading Hello Stranger two hours ago and now I don’t know what to do with my life. I want to go back and live in Sadie’s world in her rooftop apartment/hovel, admiring her courage, giving her hugs, and maybe even belting out a song as we roller skate together. We will wear a daisy in our hair, and watch Joe being helpful and neighborly, we can visit the two Hazels and feed Peanut crepes, and we will continue to do the best we can. Author Katherine Center has given us a gift with Sadie, a character who is kicked while she’s down, but who is brave and smart and somehow keeps going, never giving up on finding the people and things that bring her joy and hope. Sadie’s perseverance and resilience, her determination to overcome obstacles and challenges that would knock most of us down, are a sight to behold. Are there tears and even freak outs—yes. But there is also laughter and a willingness to change and learn and grow—and that is the heart of Sadie, the heart of this book, and why I know that I will never forget Sadie and her story. Although so much of the book is about Sadie’s journey to heal, this is also an endearing love story, as Sadie falls for not one, but two men—and that’s all I’m going to say about that, except to be prepared to expect the unexpected. All I know, is that I’m going to turn right back around and read this book over from the beginning because, quite honestly, there is nothing I’d rather be doing.

This book was such a good time! Although there are certain elements that require you to suspend your disbelief, specifically the premise (that an artist who mostly paints portraits loses the ability to recognize anyone's faces), the snappy writing and character development made me not want to put the book down. This book was about much more than the main character's prosopagnosia. This book is also about her healing from decades of trauma, opening herself up to strangers, and relearning her craft. There's also an adorable dog, lots of goofy inner monologues, a thought-provoking therapist, and a couple of fun twists. Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It almost seems to be lucky that Sadie almost gets hit by a car. She has to go to the hospital, and they find out she has a life threatening issue in her brain, that can be fixed because they found out about soon enough. What's not good luck? That the surgery makes portrait artist Sadie, not able to see faces, maybe temporarily, maybe permanently. She can't recognize her best friend, nevermind the stranger in her building she keeps running into.

I love Katherine Center's writing, one of my all time favorite books is "Happiness for Beginners." She writes about strong but flawed women that people can relate to.

However, this particular book didn't resonate with me like some of her other books. I saw Sadie healing some big emotional tramas in her life, but it was all too quick. And what I felt like the biggest lesson to learn for her, how to ask for help, was glazed over.

I will still recommend this book to people who want a cute romantic comedy. But it didn't have the life changing feelings some of Katherine Center's previous books did.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book to review!

Wow! I went into this book blind (the best way to go into books in my opinion) and was so pleasantly surprised! The story line was so unique!! I figured out Joe and vet were the same guy about 80% in and I was SHOCKED! And so happy! I loved Sadie so much! You could just feel her frustrated and then to see her grow and face her fears was such a wonderful experience! I love everything Katherine Center writes because it’s so full of feeling and life lessons that apply to all of us! A new fave book for this year for sure!

Sadie is a struggling portrait artist on the brink of a big opportunity to further her career via being a finalist in an art competition. When a genetic condition requires her to have brain surgery, Sadie is reluctant to go forward with it, but ultimately agrees hoping her recovery doesn’t infringe on her chance to win the prestigious competition. When complications arise post-surgery, Sadie can no longer see faces- the one thing she relies on for her passion as an artist. Hopeful the affliction is temporary, Sadie is forced to accept help from her evil step-mother, best friend Sue, a handsome (she thinks) veterinarian, and her obnoxious neighbor Joe who is maybe not *quite* as awful as his first impression gave her. When everyone around her looks like a stranger, will Sadie find happiness in the places and people she least expects?

I don’t think I have ever read such a unique storyline. Katherine Center does such an amazing job pairing interesting plots with fun characters and a touch of romance. It is clear she does plenty of research into the condition of prosopagnosia so the story is full of real medical jargon but at the same time doesn’t weigh down with too much detail. I loved the way Sadie dealt with the condition by (reluctantly) going to therapy, working with Sue and Joe to figure out ways to still be able to paint faces accurately, and eventually learning to identify people by traits other than their face.

While I wouldn’t call this a strong romance book (for those wanting spice, there is none here), there are certainly swoony romantic moments in this book which makes it a lovely choice for someone who loves women’s fiction, or wants to gently work their way into reading more romance novels. Friendships and human connections are the strong points here, with emphasis on what we can learn about each other on a deeper level without the basics of communication via eye contact and facial expressions.

Sometimes you need a book that is just a warm hug, a pleasant read that gives you a fuzzy feeling, and something that is a touch predictable but in a happy way. When you are sure you know what is going to happen, but at the same time can’t stop reading to find out if you are right or not. Hello Stranger did that for me!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advance copy that was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

First thank you to Netgalley , St. Martins press and Katherine Carter for an eARC.

“Sometimes we really are the best versions of ourselves. I see that about us. And I’m determined to keep seeing that about us. Because that might be the truest thing I know: The more good things you look for, the more you find.”

The story involves Sadie Montgomery and her life after she discovers she suffers from face blindness.

What would you do if you suddenly discover you can’t see faces anymore.? How will you cope how will you move on ?

Sadie has to challenge herself and figure out who to distinguish people apart. Will her trying to do that makes her fall in love with her veterinarian and her neighbor.

You have to read to find out what happens to Sadie Montgomery.