Center's latest offering centers on a 28 year old struggling portrait artist who has critical brain surgery and ends up with prosopagnosia - a condition that affects the one spot in your brain that takes in the visual differences of people so that we can easily identify them.
Obviously this causes big problems in her livelihood as a portrait artist, but also gives her issues with identifying people in her building. Especially a few notable characters: her evil stepsister who (cartoonishly) ruined her life from age 14 on, her new veterinarian, and a previously unnoticed a neighbor she calls "joe" who she may have misjudged early on.
For me, this just doesn't hit the same way Center's earlier novels do.

"We're all just muddling through, after all. We're all just doing the best we can. We're all struggling with our struggles. Nobody has the answers. And everybody, deep down, is a little bit lost."

So refreshing. Katherine Center’s writing is funny, charismatic, and hits you all in the right feels. This book felt like hugging a long-time friend.

Dealing with a very traumatic side-effect from her surgery, Sadie is struggling to navigate her new normal: she can't recognize any faces, even her own. Obviously, as most would assume, face blindness is a very difficult thing to go through - what doesn't help is developing feelings for two men (at the same time), having a god-awful step-sister, and unpacking the emotional baggage your parents left you with while simultaneously, trying to make your big break as a portrait artist.

Center expertly weaves humor throughout the chaos of it all and somehow makes all of these heavy topics lighthearted and easy to read. Going on this journey with Sadie was one to remember - she is so kind and patient and the people around her are the same. A well done book by Katherine Center.

3.5 stars! I’ve gotten to read the last 3 KC books as an advanced review reader and let me tell you, it’s such an honor every time! KC is the GOAT with original plots. I like that her characters are messy and believable and real. Hello Stranger was a cute read. I loved Sadie. I admired her dedication, completing her portrait despite her face blindness.

This wasn’t my favorite KC, but I will always devour anything she writes. PS, go read Happiness for Beginners. It’s one of my fave of all time.

Thanks to St Martin’s Press and Katherine Center for the opportunity to read this ARC!

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy via Net Galley. I was so looking forward to reading this one. Throughout the book there were ups and downs and it kept me wanting more. So glad I was able to read this one in advance.

Say Hello to Hello Stranger, my favorite read of 2023 thus far! Author Katherine Center did not disappoint with this feel-good, slow burn that'll make you laugh and root for the protagonist the entire journey.

From the beginning, we meet Sadie, a quirky, lovable character still trying to find her footing after college with her artistic career. When Sadie gets a big break, she is ecstatic to share the good news, and we soon learn that her family relationships are on the same struggle bus as the rest of her life. All she has is her beloved Peanut, an elderly canine friend, and her best friend, Sue.

When Sadie suffers an accident leading to an acquired neurodiversity, her world is scrambled and upside down. Luckily, through the help of a good Samaritan, a veterinarian, a therapist, and a few friends from the past, Sadie can mend her aching heart and gain clarity on her life for the first time in years, despite feeling like a stranger in her own body.

Throughout the story, we skate around with Sadie in her mother's roller skates as she unpacks emotional baggage and finds her way. She falls in love and mends relationships, deals with bullies, and has no lack of embarrassing laugh-out-loud moments along the way.

This book is excellent for you if you love reading about artsy careers, slow-burn strangers-to-lovers tropes, neurodiversity, and you're all about animals. This book is a light read, refreshing and feel-good, with no spice.

I gave Hello Stranger 5 beautiful golden stars, and I plan to give it a permanent place on my bookshelf as soon as it releases in July.

Cuuuute. 💙 I don’t even need to read the synopsis, Katherine Center is an automatic read for me. This was so cute and had me smiling all the way through. It’s not my favorite of hers (that remains How To Walk Away) but it was definitely very enjoyable and I’m thankful I was able to read an early copy.

Hello Stranger definitely lands squarely in the romance category, but I also think there are two symbiotic arcs occurring. One of course is the strangers-to-lovers trope, but the other is Sadie's journey to accepting the cards she has been dealt and learning to cope with an unfortunate situation. Can you imagine being a portrait artist who can no longer identify faces? Her face-blindness also creates humorous drama in the book as she has to rely on context clues to identify the people around her (and often gets in wrong).

I really liked reading this book because it combines a lot of what I look for in a story. The spunky, spitfire of a female lead; the lack of toxic characters (really her evil step-sister is toxic, but we will let that slide because its a funny architype); the helpful, handsome, and thoroughly devoted male lead (I'm pretty sure the guy falls first in this one, we love that); the adorable dog sidekick... And the plot line is pretty funny, but I don't want to spoil it.

5/5 from me, this is my favorite Katherine Center book so far!

Love heartfelt rom-cops, with likable characters, and laugh out loud movie moments? Yes? Then this is the book for you! The main characters inner dialogue was hilarious and the relationship between the supporting characters were perfect. The premise of the story was intriguing as well, and came full circle in the end. It all revolves around an aspiring, “starving artist”, who is selected as a finalist for a prestigious portrait contest. However, due to an unfortunate event she is diagnosed with facial blindness and literally can’t see faces or recognize people. With the deadline for her to finish the once in a lifetime portrait looming, and her inability to recognize or see faces clearly, the reader is left with ridiculous funny and awkward situations. Add in a few meet-cute moments with some dashing gentlemen, it is your typical romance story that leaves you with hopeful anticipation throughout, AND with an interesting twist at the end. Long story short, I loved it! My favorite Katherine Center book yet!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press. This was my first ARC and it did not disappoint!

Thank you @netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of Hello Stranger by Katherine Center publishing in July 2023.

At first I was questioning the premise, but in the end I thought it was perfect. I finished it last night thinking Katherine Center has done it again. Bravo.

Themes: 👁️😊🎨🖌️🖼️💜

My feelings: 😀😃😁😍🥰😘🤩🥳

#netgalley
#readmorebooks
#readmorebooksbywomen
#readersofinstagram
#goodreads

I really enjoyed this book. At times cheesy, but mostly original and unique. The story idea was unique and I even learned something when reading it.
Posted online at Instagram.com/millybooksta

Really enjoyed this one. I knew of face blindness but wasn’t super familiar with the details, so I loved learning more about it while falling in love with the main character. Her frustrations felt real and mirrored my own as I rooted for her to figure it out. Overall very well written characters, including the surrounding cast, and one I definitely recommend.

I love this book so much! It was very engaging from the start! The concept was really interesting.

Saddie, a struggling artist, had a genetical condition in her brain. She needed to go under an emergency surgery after her sudden seizure episode that resulting in her brain ability to see faces. The story revolved around how she was trying to make a name for herself in the upcoming competition, the struggle of not seeing faces, mending her relationship with her family, and finding new love.

I also like when Saddie and Joe were having conversations. Joe was really patient and seemed to always had the perfect answer for Saddie. I always found myself laughing or smiling when reading their scenes. Honestly, I wished that dr.Oliver could be in the story longer, because I felt like he just showed up a bit in the beginning and then he suddenly disappeared.

Even though I already saw the big twist, I still had fun following the story until the revelation.
Hello Stranger might be my first Katherine Center's book, but I promise it will not be the last. And I plan to re-read it once the finished copy is out.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eArc in exchange for an honest review.

Katherine Center is the absolute queen of cute, joyous novels! I will never get enough of her writing!!
This was an eye-opening (no pun intended) book about face blindness and perception. What I adore about KC is her ability to make you understand different disabilities and different careers- something many authors seem too lazy to do nowadays.
The FMC was a little too needy for my taste, but adorable just the same. I wished we could have had more of a love triangle because the plot twist was a bit predictable.
However, all the little things you learn and feel from reading her books simply do not compare.

3.5/5

I really liked this book and mostly enjoyed reading it! The plot and premise were good and it actually kept me interested. What I didn’t really like was the main character Sadie. I found her to be immature and a bit annoying. She was too childish for me. Creating all that drama because she can’t communicate properly. Ughhh! Seriously! If we cancel out those issues I think this could have been a 4.5. Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the arc. ☺️

She has done it again! I have truly enjoyed and have been entertained by each book Katherine Center has written and this one did not disappoint. Thank you St Martins for the ARC and a chance to read this early!

Katherine center never does any wrong in my mind, but this one wasn’t my favorite of all her titles!

Don’t get me wrong. I loved the book, I just was a little…lost?

I think I expected more passion and romance and instead felt like I may be inside a living Picasso painting the whole time.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy of this ebook.

Hello Stranger was the book I didn’t know I needed! This was my first Katherine Center book (and won’t be my last - such cliche I know). I was preparing for some realt heartbreak while getting ready to read this book but it’s such a feel good story. Sadie was such a lovable character and I truly was rooting for her to get the whole world. The romance aspect in this book was a little weak - there didn’t seem to be all that much chemistr. I am not a huge romance/spicy book reader so I was looking for a solid plot more than steamy romance so this was totally fine with me but readers looking for the romance and passion might find this one to fall a little short for them.

Thank you Netgalley and St Martin's Press for allowing me to read this fun & compelling book!

Summary: Sadie is a starving portrait artist who ends up being diagnosed with prosopagnosia (face blindness) after having a seizure in the middle of the street and is rescued by a good samaritan. From there, Sadie does not know how she will continue being a portrait artist. She struggles with how to use her other senses to recognize people (even loved ones), questions why everything bad happens to her, has major trust issues, doesn't want help from others, and is grieving the loss of her mother. And as if dealing with all of that wasn't enough, she meets two men who like her during the worst of times.

I absolutely LOVED this story. I enjoyed learning more about prosopagnosia and how people live with it. I loved Sadie's character and all of the other characters in this book. Everyone was three-dimensional. I could relate to Sadie's attitude of not relying on others or needing anyone's help; if you want something done, do it yourself. Sadie's character grew a lot throughout this book. Learning more about not only changing how her mind tells her to see but how she sees the world around her negatively vs positively.

"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"

Katherine Center has an Author's note at the end of this describing her thoughts on writing and romances. She says she "writes stories about things getting better - about people healing from hard things, and trying to connect, and working like hell to become the best versions of themselves, despite it all." She did all of that and more with this story. I liked that it felt like an intriguing fiction and romance novel at the same time. There was so much substance to this story, and I devoured all of it!

Overall this is a 5-star read for me. I really enjoyed my time reading this story.

HELLO STRANGER is a fantastic mistaken-identity romance with a twist: Sadie has face blindness, so she actually can’t recognize even her best friend’s face. Katherine Center embeds the book with just enough medical details to create a realistic setting, especially as Sadie herself has trouble understanding what is happening to her, so the unfolding information feels authentic to Sadie’s experience. It is a bit strange to read a romance novel without a clear description of the love interest’s face, but perhaps that is an apt metaphor about not judging a book by its cover.

This book has an extremely interesting premise and engaging writing. Still, I struggled with the implausibility of the storyline and the immaturity of the main character, Sadie, and the lack of depth given to the love interest, Joe. I was expecting a romance, but the romance didn’t really even begin until halfway through and never felt like the central storyline or particularly believable.