Truly adored this book. The characters are so relatable, the love triangle was unique, and the overall vibe was so heart warming. It’s a feel good book that had me grinning basically the whole time.

Katherine Center does it again! This book has such a unique concept. It’s charming and heartfelt and altogether fun! Center is definitely an auto-buy author for me from
here on out.

This read 50/50 split between fiction and romance, and for this story, it worked incredibly well. I learned so much about a health condition I didn't even know existed prior to this book in the most fascinating and heartwrenching way possible through the eyes of the protagonist.

Her character development was off-the-charts amazing. I'll admit I predicted the big mystery to how the love story would pan out almost immediately, but it didn't diminish the book for me at all.

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center ✨pub date 7/11/23✨

“We’re all struggling with our struggles. Nobody has the answers. And everybody, deep down, is a little bit lost”

⭐️: 4.5/5 (rounded to 5 on goodreads)

•

Just when she thinks her life is finally turning around by being a finalist in a major portrait competition, Sadie finds herself waking up in a hospital bed being told that she needs minor surgery. After her surgery Sadie develops a condition that prevents her from being able to recognize faces and turns her world upside down and unable to do the one thing she truly loves. As she faces the now faceless world Sadie must learn to see humanity in a new light and learn to look beyond what she can’t see to find what she’s really looking for.

_____

I absolutely loooooved this book! It was my first by Katherine Center & and I’m a sucker for a cute, wholesome, makes me “aww” romance and she gives us just that with Hello Stranger. I honestly didn’t find myself wishing more was happening!

It kept my interest the whole time so much so I didn’t want to put it down for even a second! I loved the uniqueness of the plot & everything the FMC did to overcome the challenges she was facing. I loved her growth, her courage, her fake it till you make it attitude that ended up kind of becoming part of her & that even when she wanted to give up she didn’t!

The only two things that I didn’t love were Sadie’s need to hide everything that was going on with her condition when the people she was keeping it from could’ve helped her tremendously and also the need to incorporate her mean stepsister. I really think she could’ve been fully left out but that’s just me 😂

But also Joe. I just love him. Joe & Sadie definitely had me rooting for them all the way to the end! The ending left me wanting so much more, so y’all need to definitely add this one to your tbr and pick up a copy this summer! 💕

•

Thank you to Katherine Center, NetGalley, St. Martin's Press for this ARC of Hello Stranger by Katherine Center in exchange for an honest review

Equal parts charming, fascinating, and heartbreaking— Hello, Stranger has something for everyone. I loved how multifaceted this was. The author weaves in elements of neuroscience/psychology, grief and loss, art and passion—I learned many new concepts I wasn’t expecting from a rom com! Although this was excellent, I grew a little tired of the main character halfway through which I think was the author’s intention because it was needed for the storyline but some may be annoyed like me? All in all, a cute love story that I will for sure recommend to patrons.

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center was my first read for this author. I will certainly be reading more! This story has unique plot points woven with laugh-out-loud dialogue, charming main and supporting characters, love triangles, and family drama. It has it all! I will advise for trigger warnings regarding grief and parental loss.

Meet Sadie. She is a portrait artist whose life is full of good and bad moments, but she keeps following in her mother's footsteps and striving for her lucky break. After all, that is the life of a “starving” artist, even if her style is described as Norman Rockwell. The day comes when she gets word she is a finalist in a high-profile portrait competition. It’s great news until Sadie realizes there’s a surgery she needs to have beforehand, and it’s non-negotiable. Recovery brings obstacles for Sadie, but her dog Peanut is there to save her sanity until he gets sick! Is the vet going to be able to save Peanut? Will Sadie continue to suffer, or will she triumph in the competition?

I found this an enjoyable read that was hard to put down. I loved the romance within the story, but the acknowledgments struck me. I highly recommend reading them as you venture along with Sadie.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

I recommend this book to anyone who likes a romantic comedy. It is especially good because Sadie, the main character, acquires a condition known as face blindness. I found this to be an amazing condition that I had never heard of before reading this book. The book has made me want to further research this condition. But, aside from gaining new knowledge the book was a fun and quick read. One moment to watch for especially: the joyfullness that jumps out at the reader when Sadie roller skates. At first, I did not find Sadie very likable. Her family issues seemed to have been holding her back in life and she didn’t seem to be very self-aware. This changed as the book progressed and at the end, I was proud of Sadie for the growth she had done. I am very appreciate of the digital ARC I was provided to read by NetGalley and St. Martin’s Publishers. This review is my own.

Super quirky and cute. Really love the art angle and learning about medical conditions previously unheard of.

Soon after artist Sadie Montgomery places as a finalist in a prestigious portrait competition, she suddenly collapses and finds out she needs brain surgery. After the surgery, Sadie doesn't recognize her best friend - and soon learns she has a (hopefully temporary) condition known as face blindness. While she tries to figure out how she's going to paint a portrait for the competition when faces are a jumble to her, she meets and starts to fall for two men!
I've read three books by Katherine Center and loved them all, so I was thrilled when I found out Hello Stranger was available as a "read now" title on NetGalley. I quickly became fascinated by Sadie's journey - her struggle to navigate the world and paint again, as well as her burgeoning friendships with her neighbor Joe and a handsome veterinarian. I figured out what would happen in the end, but that was a good thing; as Center writes in a thoughtful afterword, romance novels are so satisfying because of the sense of anticipation they create, and I truly loved every minute of Hello Stranger. Center's novels are always a little bittersweet, which makes them irresistibly poignant.
Hello Stranger comes out July 11th and I've pre-ordered both the hardcover and the audiobook. Please consider reading it this year!
I also highly recommend The Bodyguard by Center, which was my favorite book of 2022!

Hello Stranger had many endearing moments. The attraction between Sadie and Joe was sweet and kept me entertained. I felt the story itself was all over the place and it was hard to keep up at times.

You can always trust Katherine Center to give you story to hit right in the feels. Sadie Montgomery makes a living painting portraits until an emergent medical procedure causes her brain to lose the ability to see faces. Now not only is she jobless, she left not even being able to recognize those closest to her, even a neighbor she thought she despised, but needing a little from, realizes it’s much easier to see the inside of people when you can’t see the outside.

Thank you to NetGalley for a advanced e-book in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you for letting me read this arc! I found this book very charming. The idea of a stranger was something I haven't reward before. I would recommend and read again

Another hit by Katherine Center!! This book made me laugh out loud. Sadie is a hoot…albeit a kooky, immature hoot. If you can overlook her typical millennial immaturity vibe, you’ll fall in love with her. Sadie and the chemistry she has with her love interests are palpable and believable. You’ll root for her to find love. One thing I couldn’t get over, was the “evil stepsister.” No rational adult acts this way. She was OTT and those parts of the storyline were pointless to me. Katherine Center always knows how to write a likable lead and a story that can tug at your heartstrings.

This was the second Katherine Center book I’ve read. This is a very much a close door contemporary romance. The single point of view and the unreliable narrator makes for an interesting story.

I really appreciated the different take on this book. A portrait artist with a brain injury causing her to have temporary face blindness. I felt like this really was a story about the main characters personal growth and the romance was a side/secondary piece.

I requested this book because I really enjoyed The Bodyguard and while this book wasn't exactly the same, I still enjoyed it. The actual plot is really interesting and quite unique.

For rom-com lovers, this book will fit the bill. It is simultaneously fun and heartfelt and deeply interesting.

Spoiler: I did find the reveal a little too unbelievable. If nothing else, her dog would've recognized him as the vet. That being said, I didn't dislike the reveal but it just felt a little too much.

📚 Hello Stranger
✍ Katherine Center
📖 Contemporary Romance
⭐ 4.5/5
🌶️ (only kissing)

🙏 Thank you to Katherine Center, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC of Hello Stranger in exchange for an honest review.
◾
💭 Portrait artist Sadie Montgomery has just been named a finalist in one of the most prestigious art competitions in the country and is on the cusp of her (long-awaited) breakthrough when a series of unfortunate events land her in the hospital with what is (hopefully) a temporary bout of face blindness. Hoping she can compensate for being unable to recognize even the most familiar faces with a brave façade and some strategies from her doctors, she tries her best to keep living her life and finding creative approaches to painting the most important portrait of her career. But when everything- including her love life-starts to feel more blurry than she can handle, she'll have to figure out what she really needs to see for everything to come into focus.
◾
🎯 What I loved: Katherine Center has a wonderful way of making the emotions of a book come to life. I quickly went from laughing hysterically at the predicaments and awkward situations Sadie got into to empathizing with her missing her mother's presence dearly. Sadie was a totally endearing roller-skating, supermarket crooning, artistic, dog-loving heroine with lots of personality and her love interest(s) were both swoon-worthy. Plus, always extra points for setting the story in Houston and painting such a wonderful picture of a city I love. Yay for Houston-based authors!

🙅‍♀️ What I didn't: I'm never a huge fan of characters withholding information and didn't understand Sadie's desire not to share what she was going through with the people in her life- although if she had, most of the book's events wouldn't have happened, so I get the strategy. But, it didn't make it slightly more difficult to connect with Sadie's character.
◾
Read if you love:
* closed-door romances
* forced proximity (neighbors)
* books involving unique medical diagnosis
◾
See also: The Reunion, The Dead Romantics, Wish You Were Here

Katherine Center has delivered a book full of ALL the feels once again! Don't think I have read a single book by this author without tearing up at least once when reading.

Sadie is a struggling artist, hiding her "failures" from her family. She lives in her studio rooftop hovel, semi illegally, and is desperately yearning for her big break. When one day the promise of it arrives! She makes the top 10 finalists for a huge portrait competition. The very competition her mother had been a finalist in years prior, before she died suddenly. Excited to come up with the best portrait ever to secure the coveted first place, Sadie is crossing the street when she has an accident. She wakes up in the hospital only to learn she needs brain surgery, ASAP.

What I love about Katherine's books is that we have hard and heavy topics interwoven into the story. In Hello Stranger, Sadie gets acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia / face blindness after her brain surgery. Imagine waking up one day and not being to recognise the face of anybody?! (I 100% identified with Sadie's panic that this would not mean she'd also be able to recognise the face of her soul dog, Peanut!). Sadie must learn to navigate the world unable to recognise people on approach or at all. She must learn new ways to know who she is interacting with: gait, clothing, voice etc. I found this fascinating to read about.

The romance in this book is subtle and kind of a slow burn (though some might find the declaration of love a little out of the blue). I think it fits perfectly in the world where Sadie cannot recognise anybody. She is falling in love with Joe through every other sense. Imagine the trust you must have to develop for an individual if you have no idea what their face looks like? Especially when your evil stepsister is constantly trying to throw your life off the rails.

Things I loved about this book:
- adorable pup (Peanut)
- overcoming adversity to thrive
- Diversity representation/unseen disabilities
- Strong support system that isn't your blood family

I loved Katherine Center’s previous book The Bodyguard, but I was quite disappointed with Hello Stranger. I found the family drama to be very over the top and I didn’t like the romance at all. However, I enjoyed learning about prosopagnosia (face blindness).
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

*spoilers*
Thank you netgalley for allowing me to read this book! This book was different and was very refreshing! It was interesting to read about the medical side effects Sadie got after her procedure. I really connected with her on how close she was with her mom I truly don’t know what I would do without mine so when she talked about her mom it pulled at my heartstrings. I hated Parker so much!!! I loved Joe and I really liked how he wasn’t who you thought he was and just turned out to be so much better. I liked that Lucinda turned out to be better than I thought she was and I just loved how she fixed Sadie’s moms dress for her. I also really liked how Sadie’s dad tried to patch things up with her after everything. I really liked how the whole art contest felt realistic in the sense that she didn’t win and she finally got to say everything she has been wanting to say. I loved the twists that came along with the face blindness I mean what is better than having the two people you thought you liked be the same person!! This book brought love is blind and fate to a whole new level. This book was just all around beautiful! I loved the bodyguard by this author and am so happy I loved this one just as much now this author is an instant buy for me.

I read Katherine Center's The Body Guard in January and quickly decided that she's an "instant read" for me. Meaning I will instantly read anything she puts out. So when I learned I could get my hands on her upcoming release Hello Stranger, I requested it immediately, and am so glad I did!

Things I loved:
-lots of good one liners - I laughed out loud multiple times
-first person POV
-romance isn't the only story line happening

This book is written, as if Sadie, the main character, is telling you the story after the fact and I ADORED it. It was like listening to a new friend tell me all about their life. Katherine Center made her relatable, quirky, funny, and real. The same can be said of the other characters in the book - even the ones you don't hear much of. Each character has just the right amount of back story and development needed to make you love them. I had lots of hopeful anticipation for the ending of this book while reading, and it did not let me down.

Run, don't walk, to buy this when it hits shelves later this year!

Thank you to St Martins Press and Netgalley for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts