Truly enjoyed this book! This author did not disappoint! I love when the story being told includes information in a topic I had no idea existed, “Face Blindness” ! So interesting how the main character tried to overcome her disability so she could still paint! I just loved that she was so positive I’m not letting it rule her and how she researched different techniques in dealing with her situation. I truly enjoyed this book!

Reading a Katherine Center book is a special kind of treat. Her books are always written with such relatable characters with real world struggles but off-set with generous portions of optimism and humour and fun. I hate to brand her as “feel good” literature - because her books can sort of break your heart before they put it back together - but, well, it sort of fits.
Hello Stranger is yet another example of Katherine Center’s uniquely beautiful prose. This time she introduces us to Sadie, a portrait artist who has a medical emergency that takes her down a completely unexpected path. The story is totally unique and completely fascinating, and Center builds anticipation for the reader as you wonder what is coming next. The very definition of a page turner!
Two additional points to note:
1. Be sure to read her authors notes at the end of the book. Those who know Center, know her notes are always as wonderful as the book and this one is fit for a New York Times editorial piece. ❤️
2. Canadian readers will get all sorts of unexpected little Easter eggs throughout this book too - so read it carefully and be sure to find them all! 🇨🇦

When I saw "prosopagnosia" in the description for this book I knew it was for me. What a fascinating premise for a book - plus it worked so well!

If I could rate this more than five stars, I would.

I have no words to even begin to describe how wonderful and insanely well written this book was. Sadie's story and her feelings felt so real. The characters felt well developed and the pacing was steady throughout the story. The discourse on difficult family dynamics felt very relatable and made my heart genuinely hurt for Sadie.

This was an excellent, emotional, and even sometimes funny read.

Lastly, thank you to Netgalley for providing me with the ARC for this book!

I received this e-book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Netgalley and the author/publisher for the copy!

This was my first Katherine Center book and I'm hooked! I really enjoyed reading this novel! It was beautifully crafted and kept me laughing when I needed it! Normally in romance books, I can predict what's going to happen next, but that was not the case for this one. At one point, I did think that the author forgot about a certain encounter at the beginning of the book, but it was tied up with a little bow later on and I loved it so much.

Sadie Montgomery is a portrait artist who is struggling to get her career off the ground. She finally gets her lucky break, but then tragedy strikes. Sadie ends up in an accident and ends up being diagnosed with acquired prosopagnosia. Suddenly her luck has turned and she must now figure out how to live in this new world of hers, while also trying to figure out how she's going to complete a portrait when she can't even see faces.

This book has a great story line and the characters are perfectly written. I would definitely recommend it if you need a good laugh and read a great book!

Hello Stranger is a captivating, inspiring and informative story about Sadie, an artist who loses her ability to see faces after brain surgery. Unfortunately Sadie had just been selected as one of ten artists to be featured in a show dedicated to the subject’s face. How was she supposed to paint what she couldn’t see? The author, Katherine Center, has extensively researched her topic and reveals the difficulty sufferers have recognizing acquaintances and how other senses come into play. Sadie has much to overcome…a less than supportive father, stepmother and the stepsister whose main goal is tormenting, the looming deadline for submitting a portrait, and an attraction to two men. I absolutely loved this book and will be looking for more by this author, I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. Most highly recommend.

Wow wow wow I loved this book so much!! This is my first book by this author and it didn’t disappoint. Her writing gave me so many emotions that I probably looked crazy to my family and coworkers being happy then going to sad and angry. The story of Sadie having to learn to deal with her face blindness and learn to get used to it and learn how to see her new world in a different light was very eye opening. Plus the love interest with Oliver made me smile
that is how I see all my current crushes when I first meet a man. I liked how with her face blindness it had you as the reader guessing who she was talking to and how we would see them. Then, finding out that her neighbor in her apartment, Joe was actually a really nice guy. I will definitely want to read this book again and buy it when it comes out.

I am so excited that I got to read an ARC of this book! I love Katherine Center books, and this one did not disappoint! I loved the unique/quirky characters! I really enjoyed learning about Facial Blindness and experiencing it along with Sadie throughout her story. The relationships between characters evolved as the story went (and not always in the way we thought they would), and we got to experience all of the emotions along with Sadie and she learned her way around with her new normal. I highly recommend this book to everybody!

I loved everything about this book! The main character, Sadie, is so relatable and somewhat of an underdog with her family and career. I love her spunk for life and how she doesn't let anyone or anything get her down!
After a twist in the plot, she has to have medical treatment which leaves her unable to recognize faces. This is not good for Sadie personally or professionally, because she is a portrait artist! It is amazing how Sadie learns to deal with this and just living day-to-day life after this. This really affects how she meets new people and possible love interests..
There is so much more to this book than your typical Rom-Com. I learned so much while reading this book. I will definitely be recommending to everyone!

I received this book as an ARC. I really wanted to love it, but it was just a miss for me.

I will give credit that the story line isn't one we've heard a million times before. I just felt like it fell a little flat. The characters all seemed a little immature and lacked communication skills. I know it's a fictional story, but it just felt so far fetched that I couldn't get into it.

Just as Sadie Montgomery reaches her biggest achievement-placing as a finalist in a painting competition-she looses her ability to see, well partially. As she struggles to cope with her face blindness, hang unto her artistic dreams, and work out her family issues, she falls in love with two men- hunky veterenarian Oliver Addison and cute neighbor Joe.

After reading my first Katherine Center a year or so ago, I became a fan and so I was very excited to get an approval on this ARC. That said, I could not put this book down and read it within 24 hours.

Sadie’s face blindness took a toll on her own confidence as an artist but she learned to push herself through the process. Oliver is just the sweetest to animals and Sadie; and Joe has become a friend (more than friend?) she needed. Honestly, just loved this book! Theres is learning to see the best in the situation handed to you, some juicy family drama, and of course a whole lot of romance that will give you feels.

PS. There’s a plot twist in the end 😜

I was so excited about this book after reading The Bodyguard Romance by Katherine Center. And the description of this was intriguing for me. I needed this little ray of warm sunlight from Sadie Montgomery who is a struggling artist who paints portraits and who needed just one lucky moment. However after brain surgery, she is unable to see people's faces, her main skill. But she can see her dog and now they are best friends. Unfortunately, she needs to go to the vet and meet Dr. Addison and then she meets Joe, her annoying neighbor, and now her life changes again. What will Sadie do? 

I was obsessed with Sadie and Joe when they were together. They were extremely cute. The entire book was read in a few days. This book had some heartbreaking parts that touched my heart so much. I love it, because I cannot forget these emotions. I really wanted to support Sadie, when she started her life from the very beginning. There are a number of tropes in this book that I found were very appealing to me. Also, it broke my heart to see this cute dog. And one plot twist that I did not expect made me love this book more. I highly recommend this book.

I couldn’t put this down. I loved all the characters, except Piper, obviously. The writing flowed easily and the story was engaging. I thought the aspects of the face blindness were very well researched and not done for dramatic effect. The face blindness felt like the heart of the book and Sadie’s growth and development grew naturally out of adjusting to this major life event.

3.5 stars

A solid page turner, though not perfect in my eyes. The concept and ideas in the story are super unique and compelling, though everything falls flat in the execution.

The characters are very two dimensional without the genuine backstory and internal arc of those from The Bodyguard. I can't make hair or tail of Sadie's family and their treatment of her. It was brushed upon towards the end, but I find it unsatisfactory. Sadie gave me mainly damsel in distress vibe with Joe there to clear evening up for her. He threw me off guard the way his whole personality morphed over and over as a puppet for the plot.

As in The Bodyguard, Center continues to shine in her writing, her style being effortless and very addictive. Some scenes in the book shine brighter than the rest which awed me as a reader. Parts where Said makes doormat of herself made the characters go down in my eyes, but let's be clear, I still adore Katherine Center's flow of words.

I can only speak for myself, and I found the twists very predictable even though this was only my second novel by the author. As i said before, the plot was a little weak.

Putting all of this aside, this is only the second novel I have read about face blindness, this one covering the issue in more depth, so I'd say go for it if you want some knowledge along with the entertainment.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's press for the complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book is the love child of “50 First Dates” and “Cinderella”. It was such a fun mix of humor and crisis. I absolutely loved reading this book from start to finish. Sadie is closed off and going through difficult situations like developing face blindness all while trying to balance her two love interests Joe and Dr. Addison. Don’t forget the evil step sister, Parker and the extroverted best friend Sue. I really enjoyed this book, the characters, the plot, all of it! 4.3 ⭐️

Thank you to St Martin’s Press and the author for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Sadie Montgomery refuses to accept help from anyone. She’s made it through dark times all on her own, and she seems to be OK. When she finds out she is a top 10 finalist in a portrait competition she is finally ready for all her dreams to come true. However, a trip to the store to buy wine results in a hospital stay, brain surgery, and a discovery that she is now “face blind” and cannot see faces, let alone paint portraits. As she navigates her new normal, and finds a way to still paint a portrait for the competition, she must be open to the idea of help. Especially from the jerk neighbor that lives in her building. Her story is heartbreaking and uplifting, hopeful and heartfelt. Katherine Center does not disappoint!

Katherine Center herself described how I felt about this romance best: anticipation. It’s what I love about a good romance novel - even if I go into it knowing what’s going to happen in my gut, even if I can see the ending coming, I love the build towards it. The journey is sometimes even more satisfying than the destination.

Katherine writes such amazing characters start to finish - she develops them beautifully and you fall in love with them immediately even if they’re nothing like you. You can’t help but cheer them on and feel their failures and triumphs like your own. Sadie was written so well that it felt like she was someone I knew and the chemistry between these characters was fantastic.

***Thank you, Katherine Center, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book!

ABOUT THIS BOOK
When Sadie is left (hopefully) temporarily face blind after unexpected brain surgery, she’s left to reckon with not only this new challenge but also her future as an artist and her relationships with everyone around her. Through the struggle, she finds herself falling in love with not only her hot, new vet but also her helpful neighbor. Which will she choose? And what will her life as an artist look like going forward?

MY THOUGHTS
I learned so much about face blindness from this read, and Center’s descriptions really made the whole experience feel descriptive and immersive. My favorite part of this story was digging into Sadie’s relationship with her father and stepfamily. The romance plot, while cute, was maybe a little rushed and miscommunication is definitely a plot point. Was this a fun read to escape into for a little white? Absolutely. Was the love story life-changing and memorable? Eh.

TROPES
Damsel in distress, Miscommunication, Closed door romance, Love triangle

This book has a fresh concept that I don't think I've seen done before. Though it's kind of giving "author read about an obscure medical condition and tried really really hard to turn it into a novel," I still kind of liked it. Sure it was not super believable but rom coms often aren't. The characters were likable overall and I was interested in seeing where the story went.

Thank you Netgally, St Martin's Press & Katherine Center for an advanced copy of Hello Stranger! I was super excited to read Hello Stranger after loving some of Katherine's other books. However, this one was sadly a miss for me overall. There were so many times when I thought where is this going and why am I reading this LOL. But I will say the ending redeemed itself a bit. It was just so sweet. My favorite part of the book was probably the author's note. Will still keep reading Katherine Center's books - love her heart!

If you think this is just another rom-com book - think again. Katherine Center is adept at writing darling romances that feature compellingly deep characters. Beyond that, it is my experience that I can relate to her characters almost instantaneously and deeply.
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I found the premise entirely fascinating: Sadie, a portrait artist suddenly finds herself dealing with “face blindness” - how does one paint faces, much less fall in love with one, when you can’t truly see them? .
While being a person who has prided herself on being self-sufficient her whole adult life, we see her grow and develop as she works through the pain and trauma of her past that forced her to live that way.

I loved the anticipation…the knowing it was going to end well but the NOT knowing HOW it was going to get there. I still couldn’t predict what was going to happen at almost 75% through the book! Impressive for a contemporary romance!

There was only one part that I didn’t love - the best friend, Sue. She seemed to be totally self-absorbed and not cluing into to the effects of the life-altering event that her best friend experienced.

There was s-words sprinkled throughout and 3-4 f-words. One make-out scene and a few sexual references/jokes/innuendos, but no characters clearly heading to the bedroom.