This is the first book from the author that I've read. I've heard so many great things about the author, so I have a ton of TBR books by her on my list. The cover and the title really drew me in, I love the bold colors and the title was interesting.
I really liked this book, there's a bunch of meet cute moments, and rom-com moments which I love. Then there's the cute dog, come'on now - who doesn't love a cute dog. Now the step-sister, I really loved to hate the step sister and I'm sure everyone will at some point, but I did from the beginning.
The end was great. It made everything come together. I would definitely recommend this to friends and family as a book to pre order and look out for.

This was such a wonderful book--easy-to-read and funny, with an enjoyable, closed-door romantic plot. Sadie is an artist, preparing for a prestigious art competition, when she has emergency brain surgery and loses her ability to see faces. Her portrait painting grinds to a halt, since her face blindess makes it impossible to render realistic depictions of her subjects. Luckily, Sadie is distracted by her handsome neighbor, Joe, and her beloved dog's dreamy vet, Dr. Addison. I kept turning the pages to find out which guy Sadie would end up with and if her ability to see faces would return. Highly recommended for fans of feel-good books! Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and the author for the librarian preview copy--I will definitely be purchasing this one for our library.

I devoured this one! Katherine Center is becoming one of my favorite authors. Hello Stranger did not disappoint.

Another winner from Katherine Center! This one deals with the topic of facial blindness and while I've seen this in some thrillers as of late, this was the first time I saw it in romance/women's fiction and I appreciated it as a plot point.

While I love Center and her work and I did love Hello Stranger, there was a plot point that truly screamed JUST COMMUNICATE that I found a bit frustrating - for that reason, this one ended up being a 4 star for me rather than a 5 - which is still a really high rating.

This was a sweet read, cozy and quick for a winter weekend, but not as tightly written as some of Center's others. I had to hold back from screaming at the book for certain questions or inconsistencies and also for the inclusion of some extraneous, unnecessary characters that weren't believable (her bestie kinda sucked, right?) or kind of unnecessary (Hello, Parker). BUT, for puppies, and art, and redemption, and love...I'll still probably read anything Center writes. If you don't read it too closely, it's a satisfying palate cleanser.

Katherine Center has not let me down yet!! I absolutely fell in love with her book The bodyguard and couldn’t wait to read Hello Stranger and AHHH it was amazing!!

The plot had me laughing out loud and this author knows how to create the most relatable characters that you completely fall in love with.

Read if you love:
♡︎ love triangles that are so good
♡︎ unique plot
♡︎ Family dynamics and drama
♡︎ adorable romances

In addition to Things We Save In A Fire by this author, Hello Stranger, is now one of my ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE Katherine Center books and top romance reads of all time! A MUST READ! 👏🏼 It’s magical, it’s a page turner, and has many twists! Center is a pro at writing a moving, swoony, real-life, love story that just makes your heart explode!

I recommend this book if you enjoy:
- Female main characters that go through multiple struggles but come out stronger
- Twists and turns in a swoony slow burn romance story
- Real life issues and not just fluffy stuff
- Strangers to lovers tropes
- Very well written love triangles
- Family drama (Step sister Cinderella-type drama)
- Amazing first and secondary characters

Catherine has very distinct and comforting writing style. I loved the premise of the story.
Sadie Montgomery is a portrait artist who gets diagnosed with a temporary perceptual disorder- Face Blindness just 6 weeks before her huge competition. We get to know about all her struggles in her daily life. Along the way she falls in love with 2 people, one is veterinary doc and her neighbour.
I didn't like some parts of this books bragged and ending could've been done better.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the arc in exchange of an honest review.

It is going to be hard to explain my feelings on this one. I enjoyed the romance and the relationship Sadie and Joe had. I have two problems with this book. The first is how unobservant and credulous Sadie is. Some "reveals" were very obvious to me and I "figured them out" quite early on and was frustrated with Sadie that she hadn't. She just couldn't put two and two together despite how apparent the situation was. My second problem is how Sadie fed Peanut human food and only human food. Needless to say, that is awful for dogs. Dogs need dog food and Sadie rarely fed Peanut kibble. It was also so frustrating to read how Dr. Addison did not tell her this fact and that he allowed her to bring Peanut Pad Thai when he was hospitalized. I can get over an oblivious main character but this poor care of the dog brought it down two stars. I enjoyed the writing itself but being in the veterinary field, I just kept worrying about Peanut.

Hello Stranger was an absolute joy to read. Sadie is a lovable protagonist & Katherine Center brought her and the other characters to life with humor, an outside the box plot line & a feel good story that provides the escapism I crave. Sadie has an accident and it leaves her with a condition that turns her world upside down, almost literally. I throughly enjoyed her story & how she navigates through it as it affects her love life, her career, & family. 5/5 stars from me. Can’t wait to read more by Katherine Center!

Katherine Center‘s romcoms are always positive and surprise me a bit. I absolutely loved her author’s note so be sure to read it too.

This story follows Sadie, a struggling artist, who has been spending the last decade as a portrait artist. Right after she gets her big break, she has a seizure and ends up with facial blindness after brain surgery.

What ensues is a journey of friendship, family drama & dysfunction and love - where Sadie has to relearn how to love her life and create portrait art with the reality of her facial blindness.

I thought this was a cute story and I knew where it was headed which creates some great anticipation & tension.

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

I loved this book! When Sadie has to undergo a sudden brain surgery, her ability to see faces disappears along with her confidence at portrait painting. Sadie works on learning how to identify people without their faces, but as you will quickly see, her brain doesn't always get it right. What she thought were many different people may have ended up being the same person! I really enjoyed this, and the small twist at the end was a very satisfying payoff.

Katherine Center is an auto buy author for me. She is like the fairy God mother of hope and reading these stories is like getting wrapped up in a big warm hug 💖 Per the usual, I stayed up way too late gobbling up Hello Stranger. I laughed and cried and just really enjoyed every moment of this literary snuggie. Katherine also has this lovely Author's note at the end of the book where she gives her perspective on why people love Romance so much. A large part of it, she explains, IS the predictability. Or what she would call positive anticipation. So even though miscommunication tropes are not my favorite and their was some predictable predictability, the completely unique conditions and quirky characters created a "fantastic anticipation" and I ate it up! I dont want to say too much more because I think it's best to go into this one blind! Hello Stranger releases 7/11/23.

Katherine Center has and always will be an “abandon anything I’m reading until I’m finished with her book” author for me. Hello Stranger did not disappoint. I could not read this fast enough. I laughed, I yelled, I cried, I did a Breakfast Club fist pump. I love how Katherine Center balanced the heavy topics with hilarious banter. I loved following Sadie’s journey as she dealt with her grief and traumas and coming to know herself on a deeper level.

What to expect:
-top notch banter
-medical terminology
-lovable characters
-a very hateable evil stepsister
-family drama
-grief

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, for this digital ARC!

This was my first read by Katherine Center and OMG!! I loved it so much. I really thought it was going to be a normal romance by basing it off the cover and it definitely was not what I was expecting. I officially want and need all of her work. I loved this story 5 stars. I highly recommend

Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read this book early. After LOVING The Bodyguard, I was happy to tear into this one. The premise is that Sadie is just about to achieve her life goal in a portrait contest when she finds out she has to have urgent brain surgery. Afterward, she has facial blindness (yes this is a real thing) due to swelling from her surgery. She needs to wait for the swelling to improve and thus the facial blindness, but this may mean all her life goals go up in smoke. And how is she supposed to deal with the really cute vet who just saved her dogs life and the super helpful guy she keeps meeting in the elevator?
The first 30% (ish) of this book I found…difficult. Basically Sadie is just complaining about face blindness. At around 40% the story picked up a lot. It made me smile, it made me cry. It was sweet and uplifting. Ultimately it wasn’t as much of a success as The Bodyguard (for me)…mainly because I wanted LESS face blindness and more romance.

Sadie is a portrait artist whose world is turned upside down when learns she needs brain surgery. Following the surgery, she suffers from facial blindness and is unable to see or recognize any facial features. Although she doesn’t like to ask for help, she soon realizes she will need to accept help from others in her new situation. Her neighbor, Joe, is nicknamed ‘Helpful’ by the building manager, so it’s possible he might be just the person to help Sadie.

Katherine Center has done it again. I’m a huge fan of her books, and she always manages to write the most heartfelt, beautifully told stories. This one might be my new favorite. Have you ever experienced a book where you want to slow down, take in every word, and savor it? At the same time, you can’t stop reading because you just have to know what happens. This was that book for me, and I devoured it in a day because I just couldn’t help it. The character development was so masterful, and I loved each character, from Sadie to Joe to Peanut the dog. The author talks in her author’s note about building anticipation in romance, and she does this so well. It’s such a lovely story that addresses so many topics from grief to mixed families to medical procedures and disabilities. I’d recommend this book to anyone and everyone who wants a feel-good, uplifting, and charming book to devour like the most decadent of desserts.

Thank you to Katherine Center, St. Martin’s Press, and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Katherine Center has done it again. I just love her books. Romantic comedies with heart. It’s like watching my favorite movies. This is not even a favorite genre of mine, but I read anything she writes. 4.5 stars. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

A couple months ago I read The Bodyguard by the same author and just could not. I wasn’t a fan so I went in to this not expecting much but…

I loved this book. I knew far to early about the “twist” but it didn’t stop me from enjoying the book anyway. It was super fun to read. The sister made me so angry and I felt all the things the author wanted me to feel. Overall a cute little read that I would definitely recommend.

Absolutely loved this book. I was rooting for Sadie and cringed along with her through all of her mishaps. I learned a lot from this book and anyone who loves (and even those who don’t) reading romance books should read the author’s note at the end of this book. It was perfection. The only thing that could’ve made this book better is Parker being set on fire. Zero kidding.