I was so thankful to St. Martin’s press for this galley copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was super excited to get this and unfortunately for me, it just wasn’t very good. The premise is so interesting. Sadie falls in the street after a car almost hits her and has to have cranial surgery, resulting in swelling on a part of her brain. This causes her to not be able to distinguish faces. She ends up falling for two men; her neighbor and her vet, even tho she cannot see their faces. Cute plot…bad execution. The love between the characters was there. The problem was that the characters and the situations that the characters find themselves in are so over the top and juvenile. What could have really saved this for me would have been some cute witty banter, but there really isn’t any. The characters are also heavily stereotyped. The “evil stepsister” and stepmother. You can tell this is an older adult writing what she thinks a young woman would do. Sadie is supposed to be independent but she comes across as needy. I didn’t care about the art competition. And none of the side characters are likable or memorable.

I’ve loved a lot of Katherine’s books but this one felt rushed and not well executed. I look forward to her next one as I do think she has great ideas and great books. This just wasn’t for me.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. I feel as if I’m not the target audience for this read. I’m about 30% of the way through and it’s just not keeping my attention. There hasn’t been enough that has happened to keep me wanting to read it so I’m going to DNF it at this time.

I am really sorry and feel horrible with this feedback, but I also want to be honest and not have the book continue to just sit on my shelf, partially read. Again, that you so much for this opportunity. I don’t feel right in giving this one star, as I didn’t finish the whole book, but it won’t allow me to submit my feedback without it.

Another absolutely beautiful book from Katherine Center. “Hello Stranger” is truly a feel good story. You meet the main character, Sadie, as she’s dealing with some life-changing struggles. You fall in love with her as she navigates her “new normal,” with not much help from her toxic family members. Sadie’s life isn’t easy and you really just want her to be happy. I was heartbroken for her to find herself in the love triangle she was in, but the “twist” at the end left me pleasantly surprised.

This book was truly like a warm hug and was much needed after the past few books I read. I truly loved the characters (Mr. Kim was the unsung hero of this one) and found myself wanted to read quickly to find out what the characters were up to, but go slowly so I could savor it all.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I received a digital ARC copy of Hello Stranger via NetGalley to read and review.

Hello Stranger is about a portrait artist, Sadie, who acquires face blindness after brain surgery. She also doesn’t tell anyone she has it except for her best friend. As you can imagine this creates multiple conflicts throughout the story. I was able to pick up on Center’s breadcrumbs and knew exactly how the ending would play out but still enjoyed reading the path to get to the ending.

Hello Stranger is another great book by Katherine Center and I definitely recommend!

Our main character Sadie is following in her deceased mother’s footsteps with her art. However, an incident at the beginning of the book puts her art in a precarious position after brain surgery. Sadie can no longer see faces.

What I really enjoyed about this book is that this is romance “plus.” Sadie has to learn to navigate living with this disability, and like any twentysomething she is trying to carve out her place in this world. That means coming to terms with her mother’s death, figuring out how to deal with her stepmother and stepsister, and possibly find love.

The main character might not be the brightest bulb, and there is some justification within the novel to why she might not be thinking and acting like how at least 90% of the population would be acting. So I’m giving her grace on that front. I figured out what would be the twist very early on (and I’m not one who usually does figure things out), but even though I knew what was coming in general, it was a propulsive read.

There was one scene that’s a little hard to believe the timing of at the art show, so I had to really hold back an eyeroll. It seemed a little too forced.

All in all, if you enjoy romance or even romance plus a good finding yourself story, I think you’ll really like this.

I did find an extra word/typo on page 1 that I hope is fixed before publication. “...my and evil stepmother…”

Thank you to NetGalley for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

Can you possibly imagine what it would be like if you looked at all the people you come in contact with : friends, family, strangers, but could never see their because they looked like modern art paintings.? It’s called face blindness.

Hello Stranger is about a young woman who is an artist and has won a portrait contest where she’s one of ten finalists out of 1000 and now has six weeks to paint a portrait from a live model for the finals at the annual juried show where the prize is $10,000.

Meanwhile, she gets hit by a car and while she’s in the hospital, the doctors discover she has a genetic malformed blood vessel in her brain like the one that killed her mother and she requires immediate surgery which leaves her with temporary face blindness. The doctors don’t know how long it will last.

How will Sadie overcome her face blindness and paint the portrait now? Can her best friend Sue help her?

After four days she’s well enough to get her dog Peanut back from the vet where he’s been boarded but she can’t see the face of the new vet who she can tell must be really good looking.

Who else will help her? Family? Other friends? The internet? This book is a clever well written story which focuses on a real diagnosis: prosopagnosia and how it can affect people in real life. It’s definitely worth the read!

Wow! All the different pieces to this story really came together to make the perfect little puzzle. Hello Stranger brought awareness to a rare condition, while also fueling the reader with endless hope!

Sadie is an aspiring portrait artist who could really use a boost in confidence and self esteem. After a freak accident, she is diagnosed with acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia, aka face blindness.

Sadie finds herself in the middle of a slow burning love triangle with Dr. Addison and Joe, aka The Weasel, while also being thoroughly tormented by family.

Sadie is totally a character that makes you laugh, but also makes you really cheer for her to grow as a young woman. I found myself constantly asking, how on earth is this happening? 🤣🤭 Dr. Addison is Mr. GQ, while Joe is nicknamed “The Weasel.” They men couldn’t be more different, and yet she finds herself falling for one.

If you like:
🎨 BFF banter
🎨 Laughing out loud
🎨 Endless Hope
🎨 Family Drama
🎨 Love Triangles
🎨 Clean, light hearted love
Then this is a book for you!

One of my favorite things about this book was the author’s note at the end. Kathleen Center put so much into this book and it shines through! I absolutely have a new outlook on the every growing popularity of romance novels!

5 stars - I absolutely loved Hello Stranger by Katherine Center. The heroine is Sadie Montgomery who has not had an easy life. She is a struggling artist who paints portraits and has entered a competition and can win a big financial prize. Shortly before the final stage of the competition, Sadie learns that she must have surgery. As a result of her surgery, some swelling causes face blindness. Sadie is, naturally, distraught given the upcoming competition and doesn’t want to share the news of her face blindness with everyone she talks to. I don’t like to give away the entire story in my reviews so I will stop there. Just know that Sadie’s reluctance to adapt to her new challenges cause her have many miscommunications and awkward situations. As a reader, you cannot help but root for Sadie. This book will make you laugh and cry. Such a feel good novel.

A big “Thank You” to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an advance copy in return for an independent, honest review.

I’ve always really loved Katherine Center’s novels and Hello Stranger was no exception! In fact, it might be one of my new favorites of hers.

All the characters have the trademark wit I expect when reading a novel by Katherine Center. The banter was awesome. I laughed out loud the whole time! I loved Sadie and was really able to relate to her as a character. And Peanut! Such a cute little puppy sidekick. A Thai food-loving guy after my own heart. The romance was sweet (though not very spicy) and I loved the friends-to-lovers vibe. This book had so many layers and the way that all the pieces of the plot came together in the end was so satisfying.

Overall, I’d highly recommend! If you like a sweet romance novel with charming and hilarious main characters, plenty of family drama, and an ending that’ll restore your faith in humanity, this is the book for you!

Thank you to @netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! I appreciated that the diagnosis of face blindness was explained medically as well as just in layman's terms. It made the story feel more realistic and made it obvious that the author did her research into the difficulties that those with prosopagnosia face on a daily basis (no pun intended). At first I was really struggling to connect with and like Sadie because of her assumptions about people but later on it didn't bother me as much because I understood more of what she was dealing with. I do wish that there was a little bit more of a plot line involving Sadie's mom and her family, because it was mentioned a lot but wasn't really explained until the very end. This made the ending feel a little rushed. However, overall I really enjoyed this book and it makes me want to pick up more by Katherine Center. The story will stick with me for awhile after reading.

Things in Sadie Montgomery's life are beginning to look up. She's placed in the top ten for an upcoming art competition. She can finally prove to everyone that she can make a living doing what she loves and follow in her mother's footsteps. On her way to celebrate the good news, Sadie is in an accident and needs to have life saving surgery. It all goes well, but when Sadie wakes up, she realizes she's face blind. Meaning, she's unable to distinguish facial characteristics in the correct way. Everyone becomes a stranger.

With the art competition only a few weeks away, Sadie has to learn to navigate this new aspect of her life. Sadie begins to realize that there's a lot she hasn't been seeing.

I think that this book is hands down my favorite of Katherine Center's. She has such a way of taking traumatic events and topics, but making them full of hope. I had never heard of face blindness - or prosopagnosia - before reading Hello Stranger. It really makes you think about how all the senses are connected and work as a unit, but when one isn't working how the others have to step up and build up stronger. It also really showcases how much we, as people, perceive with our sight first and how that kind of start the building-block of our assumptions - for better or worse - about one another.

Sadie loses that perception. She has to make up for it by trying to distinguish voices or how someone walks, what they wear. She has to listen more about what people say. It's an interesting premise and a very real reality for some. I think that Katherine Center does a great job of making this understandable for people who have never experienced something like this before.

I loved the interactions between Sadie and Joe. I think it's safe to say, with Sadie building up her "new normal" there's going to be missteps. She's a very prideful person. She has been ever since her mother died and she had to begin a new life with a stepmother and stepsister who would constantly blame Sadie for the trouble she caused. She doesn't like to ask for help, she doesn't want the pity. She tries to navigate things as if she's fine, everything is fine. She learns over the course, that it's ok to not be fine, it's ok to ask for help.

Joe on the other hand always wants to help. He tries really hard to anticipate people's needs before they might ask for help so he can be ready. It's interesting to see Sadie and Joe kind of coming at things from opposite sides and meeting in the middle in that regard. All of there interactions are my favorite parts of the book. It's where we see Sadie begin to let her guard down just a little and be vulnerable.

I'll say that I called a few aspects of the story. I'm not upset about it. I was really interested in seeing how everything would play out in the end. This story is a near perfect read for me. I would have loved a little more closure on the relationship between Sadie and her family, but I understand that sometimes things don't get settled completely. They getting settled just enough.

Overall, this is another great read from Katherine Center. She's an author that should already be on your reading list, and if not, then you need to do so ASAP.

A solid 4 1/2.

This story revolves around a condition I'd never heard of but it sounds really interesting and frustrating. I can't imagine there are people who live like this every day.

Sadie wakes up from a minor brain surgery unable to see faces. She can see everything around her but the part of her brain that recognizes faces is no longer working. This is scary at first and I can't blame her for wanting to stay home all the time.

The main problem is that she's a portrait artist and now painting faces is nearly impossible.

As a reader, the thing I had a problem with was the voices. I don't want to say anything else so it's not a spoiler, but you'll know what I mean when I read the story.

Great writing and characters!

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

This was my first Katherine Center book and it was a fun read! Sadie, a portrait artist who suffers from “face blindness” as a side effect from surgery?! New nightmare unlocked. This twist was so fascinating and I really enjoyed learning about it. Also, I was thoroughly entertained by the writing style…I felt like I had a front row seat into Sadie’s thoughts.

One thing I do want to mention is that I didn’t like how every character miraculously turned a new leaf at the end. I’m probably too harsh of a critic but I wouldn’t be as forgiving as Sadie was. Some of the stuff her step sister did to her was truly horrific.

Although predictable, this was a cute story with lovable characters and fun banter.

… I loved the body guard which is why I jumped on this book. While it did have a unique story line it was lacking in some parts and the plot twist was really predictable once you found out about the MC condition.

Incredibly sweet story. I have only read one other Katherine Center book (The Bodyguard) and it had me weeping the in the wee hours of the morning. This book was similar. Sadie, vivacious artist who opens the book suffering a concussion and requiring brain surgery navigates through life while managing different characters in her life: the absent surgeon father, stepmother and step sister who is not to her liking, and other fun people (no spoilers!).

If you have a moment, give this a read. If you’re incredibly empathetic, make sure you have tissues and chocolate. Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy as I fell in love with this just as I did The Bodyguard.

As a former psych major. It's always so cool to see things you learn about in school featured in a book! Sadie suffered from face blindness.

This was everything I look for in a romance novel. Katherine Center is one of my favorite authors because her novels just make you feel so good!

The twist in this was a bit predictable but I don't read romance novels for a spooky reveal. This book made me feel and I loved it!!!!

Katherine Center is an auto-read author for me. This one had the cute, quirky protagonist, the hot male lead, and some funny moments, It just felt a bit repetitive throughout the book.

I was really excited to see that Katherine Center had a new book, after reading The Bodyguard last year. Unfortunately, this really fell flat for me.

Sadie is a struggling portrait artist in Texas. She''s just placed in a prestigious competition when a medical emergency leaves her with prosopagnosia (face blindness) - she can't recognize anyone's face, except for her dog. Her doctor helps with other ways to recognize, but it's the worst possible timing. Her family isn't helpful (especially the world's worst stepsister) and her best friend mostly leaves her to fend for herself.

When her dog gets sick, Sadie meets Dr. Oliver (who's obviously handsome based on his gait). But when he stands her up, she ends up bonding with her neighbor, Joe.

It's definitely a unique storyline - I wasn't familiar with prosopagnosia - but the "twist" was painfully predictable. I really hated how Said repeatedly referred to her apartment as a "hovel." It felt lazy to constantly describe it that way. And while I understood why Sadie was hesitant to ask for help/be honest about her situation, it was frustrating at times. It was, however, interesting to see how she adapted as an artist.

I'm still interested in reading more from Katherine Center, but I'll be rounding this one up to 3 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC! Out in July.

TW: death of a parent

I adored this book. I love a book that makes me laugh out loud. I typically need more than romance in a story, but this was just what I needed. And I don't know how, but I did not see the twist at the end coming! It's a perfect summer read- for any time of the year.

I had high expectations coming into this book since I enjoyed Katherine Center's book "The Bodyguard" so much and this book delivered on those high hopes! Real rating of 4.5 stars.

I found this book to be very creative and unique. The main character Sadie is a portrait artist who has made the top 10 finalists in a portrait competition that could be the big break she has been searching for. Unfortunately, Sadie finds herself hospitalized and needing a brain procedure done. After relenting doing the surgery even with the time crunch for her portrait competition, she finds that she has face blindness and can no longer recognize faces. As a portrait artist, this proves to be quite the dilemma. Desperate to create a painting worthy of winning the competition, she looks into various ways to approach her project with no avail. All this while falling for not only her neighbor down the hall from her self-proclaimed hovel, but also her dog Peanut's new vet. Add some family baggage and drama on top and Sadie just can't catch a break!

This book was a fun read that I breezed through as the writing was fantastic and the pacing great. I really enjoyed all of the characters and the banter between Sadie and Sue. This book has it all from drama to chaos to vulnerability to swoon worthy moments. As an animal scientist, I did have a mini heart attack when I read about little Peanut's high carb people food lifestyle, especially with how dangerous that is in real life, but I understand it's all in good fun (and just don't recommend it or any of the foods Sadie feeds him for your dog!). I love that Oliver is a vet as it's such an underappreciated profession and how he spends time helping animals and their owners even when not at work. Sadie's adaptation to identifying people via their traits rather than their faces proved to be such an obstacle with not only her crushes but also her demonic stepsister and I really empathized with how frustrated she was between relearning how to paint faces and trying to identify those around her. I had never heard of face blindness before this book and I really appreciated the amount of thought and research the author put into this book regarding the topic. While I predicted much of the ending early on, I still found myself entertained and feeling like I really knew the characters by the end.

Overall this was a fun and unique read with a vulnerable side that made me contemplate just how chaotic life can be without facial recognition. Katherine Center knows how to write a romance novel and create beautiful characters that will leave you satisfied and comforted.