ARC Review! Thank you Netgalley and SMP for letting me read this book!

I loved Katherine Center’s last book The Bodyguard! I was excited to read this one.

This one is about Sadie who has a brain bleed and when they fix it she can’t see people’s faces clearly! This is particularly bad for Sadie, because she is an artist who specializes in portraits. She is also six weeks away from an art competition that could change her life. Sadie meets two guys; Joe “helpful”, who lives in her building and the local vet Dr. Oliver who helps save her beloved dog. A love triangle begins but not really.

What I liked:
Joe
The Kim’s
The ending (I’m a sucker for a HEA)
Who Sadie evolved into
The voicemail
Sadie’s doctor

I didn’t love Sadie’s character at times and kind of wanted to yell at her!

I would definitely read another Katherine Center book!

🌟🌟🌟.5

Hello Stranger will be released in July!

What an incredible follow up to The Bodyguard! These new books by Center are incredibly lovely and I cannot wait to devour more. I am not usually a fan of a love triangle, but this was just so well executed that I could not stop reading. I fell for Sadie and I very much appreciate when author's take care with conditions they write about which Center seemed to have done here. This was a very unique read and so refreshing to read.

I read this book in one sitting, past midnight, with no pee breaks. It was that good. I can't remember the last time I did that!

Once I got used to the MC's stream of consciousness, I was completely charmed and captivated with her story. She has a lot of struggles with her prosopagnosia (facial blindness) and her mess-up family and just life in general. This book dives deep into some meaningful themes, and I both giggled and teared up at different parts.

But the ROMANCE. Oh, my heart. The romance is completely unexpected, but it took my breath away. I loved seeing their relationship unfurl, twists and all. It would make for a fantastic romcom movie. This book is now one of my new favorite romances!

Writing Aesthetic/Style: 5
Plot/Movement: 5
Character Development: 5
Overall: 5

Thank you, St. Martin's Press, for the arc!

Trigger/Content Warnings: facial blindness, seizure, brain surgery, bullying to the point of attempted suicide (off-page description), death of a parent, cheating

This was my first Katherine Center book, and I am definitely a fan. I really love that she incorporated a real health diagnosis and did a really great job at explaining it and incorporating it into the story. This was way more than a romance novel, as the character really went on a journey of self-exploration..which resulted in finding love in the end. Definitly will be recommending this sweet story to my friends. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC

Sadie Montgomery is a shoe-in to winning her first big break as a portrait painter until she wakes up in a hospital bed diagnosed with prosopagnosia - the medical term for face blindness. What happens when the face painter is unable to see faces when she needs to most?

Sadie only has a few weeks to figure out how to brushstroke her way to a win without her brain being able to compute faces. Can she do it while juggling family issues, her beloved but geriatric dog Peanut, and falling in love with two people? You can find out on July 11 when the book is available!

This is my third book by Katherine Center and she is an auto-buy for me now. I am very grateful that I was able to read this book in advance because it is amazing! I love Sadie and her love interests. Her family is a complete mess but her dog makes up for it. She is able to find herself while leaning into her other senses to navigate the world. It is a sweet, heart-warming, closed door, rom-com and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a feel-good book.

Thank you St. Martin's Press & NetGalley for the ARC!

This was a super quick read, and I found myself invested in the characters. While it took me a little while to get into the story line, I found myself really rooting for Sadie. I loved that she was able to find herself, gain confidence, and find love in the most interestingly unique way. Overall, I enjoyed the book, but it was not my favorite romance. A little too far fetched and out there, but I would definitely recommend this for someone who needs a quick, easy read. 3.5/5

3.5/5

Katherine Center definitely knows how to write a book. The main part of this story is that Sadie is suffering with prosopagnosia, or face blindness, after a brain surgery. I have never heard of face blindness before, but Center made it easy to understand in her descriptions. Sadie Montgomery is a great main character who might be childish at times, but she struggles through a lot, especially after her brain surgery. I liked the love triangle between Sadie, Dr. Oliver Addison, and Joe. It was woven so seamlessly into the story that is otherwise about a girl navigating her new normal after something tragic happens.

However, I do think there are a lot of things going on in this book that distract from possible heart fluttering activity. Sadie is still struggling with the loss of her mom, getting her big art career break, her evil stepmother and evil stepsister, and now her brain surgery and face blindness. That's a lot of things to juggle, even for a fictional character. Although there was a lot going on, I think it was put together well. While there wasn't as much love action as I wanted there to be, the reasons for that made the love story ultimately more enjoyable.

Dr. Addison was such a dream man. Clean and polished, but he ultimately felt too out of reach. Joe is such a lovable character, even after the unsavory way we meet him in the elevator. The love story is my favorite part of the book, and seeing Sadie confused over who she should pick is entertaining. This book is really nice, and I found it so interesting to see how the side characters' stories play out and see how their character's develop.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

I have not read a Katherine Center book I haven’t liked, but y’all this one is seriously one of my top favs of hers. I laughed out loud multiple times throughout this book and could not get enough of the main characters. There are a lot of books I would like to see as a film adaptation but I would really love to watch this one! Per Katherine Center usual our main lady is funny, witty, and independent. The story also takes place in the great state of Texas(which I love) and gives us a dreamboat of a man as our main guy. Add in a cute dog, and slow burn romance and you have yourself a perfect read for the summer!

To be completely honest, I was not the biggest fan of The Bodyguard when I read it last year, as I found it to be a bit boring and predictable and so I went into Hello Stranger a bit guarded. While the 'twist' in this book is also predictable (especially if you've read or watched a lot of romance), this book was anything but boring! In fact, this was one of the better romances I've read in a while. I absolutely adored Sadie and reading her struggle and eventual coming to terms with her condition. While some may find Sadie's inner monologue frustrating, I think the author really nailed the authenticity in how one would feel if their whole way of life was changed in an instant. The real shining star of this novel for me was perfect Joe. So many romances these days are focusing on more bad boy, player type love interests so Joe was such a breath of fresh air. He was sweet, goofy, and swoony. The tender war he handled Sadie's panic attack had me almost in tears. While I did find some flaws with this book (mostly Sadie's family feeling more like caricatures than actual people - especially Parker), I could not stop reading. I wanted to see the reaction of each character when they realized their misunderstanding so badly that I was sure my kindle would catch fire with how fast I was flipping the pages. All in all, if you're looking for a swoony, funny, clean (kissing only) romance book, this is the book for you.

4.5/5

One thing that this author does spectacularly well is writing about a topic that isn’t we’ll know and educating the reader while entertaining them. Through her books, I have learned in detail topics, diagnosis, and jobs that have never been at the center of romance novels. With a lead like Sadie, it was hard not to root for her as a person, feel empathetic towards her situation, and enjoy her journey throughout this book.

This is a character driven book where it focuses on Sadie’s growth and development while the romance aspect plays a secondary plot. The author has a way to make a wonderful romance book but having it not consume the whole story. There’s depth to her words that make this more than a romance book.

Going into this book, I knew I was just going to love it because this author curates stories that grab your heart. She has a magical way of inspiring her readers with a well rounded, heartwarming story. For those who love this author's previous work will no doubt fall in love with this story and those new to this author will easily love this book too. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC

Katherine Center's books always hit a very emotional spot but it's always done in a way that adds a bit of humor and I think it's what I love most about her stories. The only person i wasn't cheering for in this story was her absolute horror of a step-sister.

Thank you for the early copy for review!

Overall I really liked this book. I have read several other Katherine Center books and this one is as solid as the others. The characters were likable and the story kept me entertained.

Katherine Center has written another great story. The main character is a portrait artist who needs brain surgery. The surgery leaves her with a real medical condition, face blindness. This is devastating for her because she had just been named a finalist in a portrait contest and now she can't see faces as a whole, only as parts. She has to find a way to still submit an entry to the contest while dealing with a dysfunctional family, a new love, and several other obstacles in her life. I didn't see the plot twist coming and it was wonderful. I highly recommend this terrific story -- and I learned about face blindness as a bonus! Thank you to Net Galley for letting me read this book in return for my honest review.

I am an unapologetic Katherine Center fan. This is my favorite to date, although that may be because of my interest in the subject matter. A portrait artist is advised to undergo brain surgery. When she wakes up, she discovers she has a form of face blindness, making her job next to impossible. She has to get creative in order to meet a tight deadline and enlists her neighbor’s help in a clever way. It’s cute. It’s clever. It’s everything we’ve come to expect from A Katherine Center book.

OH. EM. GEEEEE. Katherine Center NEVER fails me!

This book was so, so adorable. I loved the twist towards the end too. I may actually reread this one to see if I can pick up on the hints for it (I never re-read), because I did not see it coming.

Well written, usual pace for K.C. books, and you feel the main characters emotions heavily.

Highly recommend!

I've been a huge Katherine Center fan after reading the Bodyguard! While I did love the Bodyguard, I just feel like Hello Stranger blows it out of the water and is probably my fave Katherine Center book to date!

What I loved:

- Sadie. I mean when I say Sadie may be one of my favorite female protagonists, I'm not exaggerating. She's real, she's relatable, she's funny.
- If you like your romance novels to have a side of drama like I do, this one is perfect! There's plenty of family drama to enjoy and I felt like it added to the plot instead of detracting from it.
- This book is really just unique. It's a special read that is like nothing else I've read before honestly.
- Mental health representation
- The romance will quite literally leave you swooning.

I loved Hello Stranger so so much and it's for sure my favorite read so far this year. If you're looking for a unique romance with a bit of drama, give this one a try!

A massive thank you to NetGalley, Katherine Center, and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this ARC!

4.5 Stars Hello Stranger by Katherine Center is probably the most original plot line that I’ve read in a while. There was a twist at the end that I saw coming before the reveal, but it was still a fascinating story. Portrait artist Sadie Montgomery has finally gotten her big break—she’s a finalist in a very selection portrait competition and she needs to produce a completely new work for the show in six weeks. Unfortunately, Sadie is then diagnosed with a malformed blood vessel in her brain and needs surgery to fix it right away. After the successful surgery, Sadie suddenly can no longer recognize anyone. She has acquired prosopagnosia—aka “face blindness”—and everyone including her family, friends, and strangers look like a Picasso painting of a rearranged face. While lamenting how she will compete when she can’t paint a portrait as she normally would, Sadie fixates on her dog Peanut’s veterinarian, Dr. Oliver Addison. Though she can’t see his face, she can tell he’s very attractive and she gladly accepts when he asks her out. Sadie decides to keep her diagnosis from everyone, including her neighbor Joe, who suddenly seems to be everywhere. Sadie and Joe strike up a friendship, that then seems to develop into more. But what about Dr. Addison and what will she do about her career and the competition?

As I said before, this was a completely new plot line that didn’t rely on the same recycled tropes. Once I figured out the twist, it felt glaringly obvious, but it was still a delight to watch it all unfold and be revealed. Although Sadie felt scared about her new reality with her face blindness, it caused her to question her judgement in a way that felt uncomfortable, but it also pushed her to question other things. She began to look for other styles and ways of painting, rather than copying the style that her late mother had used. Sadie began to see more possibilities and notice other things about people that she hadn’t noticed before. The one part of the story that really irked me was the character of the wicked stepsister, Parker, though the author did a good job of making this character get on your nerves just like she did Sadie’s. Parker deserved worse than what she got, but I also wouldn’t have been mad at some redemption for her in the epilogue, but oh well.

This story was truly charming and I loved the whole thing!

4 stars! I am so excited I got to read this as an ARC from NetGalley!! I moved my rating up a bit once I saw how the story resolved and came together. I devoured this book. I almost read the entire thing in about 8 hours. It was a very consumable book! Having said that, I did have some issues with it. I thought almost all of the family scenes, especially with Parker read very YA. I wish the family dynamics had been more mature content. I feel like it was very high school which is atypical of Katherine Center IMO. Also, there were many scenes that were frustrating leading up to the end because they just flew by with no explanation. While the ending did surprise me and increased my enjoyment level, there had to be a little suspension of disbelief, even with all of the explanations, but I do think it was clever. Sidenote: I loved the author's note.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this advanced copy!

This is my third Katherine Center read and they just keep getting better! Oh how she makes me swoon!

I love that our mc, Sadie, stays optimistic through out everything that is presented to her. She finds herself with face blindness, battling with her evil step sister, a 'kidnapped' best friend and a sick pup, Peanut.

What I love most is that Katherine Center layers this story so well with things happening left and right but it is never overwhelming. One chapter I am hating the "mutton muncher" in the elevator and pretty quickly I am falling for the guy switching off the breaker to end a party. From the jump I knew this would be 5 stars.

This book might be my new favorite by this author! The perfect book to get me out of my reading slump. I laughed, cried and swooned with Sadie. She’s the perfect heroine, dealing with a new diagnosis and figuring out life out all while managing to make me laugh along the way…and find a little romance. ;). For sure grab this novel. You won’t regret it!!!