4.25🌟 - I enjoyed it!

Katherine Center books are so fun! This was such a unique premise with the main character dealing with the condition of face blindness. It is creative, sweet, and overall a really cozy romance read. There were predictable moments, but the overall swoon and how it all came together really worked for me.

Hello Stranger was very charming and emotional, and kept me entertained throughout the story. I enjoyed Sadie's journey, the author made me feel for her and care for her as a character. A unique, interesting premise as well!

I had to DNF this book. I found the start of this book to be really great. The relationship between the main character and her father I really liked. But I found it confusing and hard to get interested in. It was a pass for me.

Katherine Center is one of my new favorite authors. I learn something new in each book I read and her books always leave me feeling better when I am done. In this story I learned about face blindness and how it affected the main character. I love her view on life and how even during difficult times, we can find happiness and joy. Her books always remind me to have hope and joy!

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫- {HELLO STRANGER- Katherine Center}

Is anyone else still chasing the high of Katherine Centers “How to Walk Away” and “Things You Save in a Fire”? I keep wanting to be blown away by her but she hasn’t been able to make me fall for the main characters of any of her books since. Everything feels rushed, from the main characters to the token best friend to the villains…I just was not impressed.

I did think the premise was super interesting. After tragically failing at life for years, Sadie is trying to prove herself as a portrait artist after switching her major from pre-med 🩺 to fine arts 🎨. She has six weeks to paint the best live portrait of her life and prove her father and everyone who bet against her wrong. Too bad she suffers a non-convulsive seizure in the middle of a crosswalk, gets saved by a stranger, rushed to the hospital, diagnosed with a rare brain malformation and undergoes a life saving procedure that leaves her with “Acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia”….aka facial blindness. Kind of inconvenient for an artist that paints faces for a living!😬😐🫣 The next six weeks are a chaotic race against the clock to churn out a award winning piece of art, fall in love, and try to distinguish between all the “strangers” that come in and out of her life.

So yea cool premise, but sub-par characters and overall forgettable love story in my opinion 😔

I have been a fan of Katherine Center ever since picking up " The Bodyguard", I have not been disappointed yet.
Hello Stranger was very charming and emotional, kept me entertained throughout the story. I really enjoyed Sadie's journey, made me feel for her and care for her as a character. Really looking forward to reading more of Center's work.

I had no idea how much I would love this book when I started it. The narration was phenomenal!! The characters were so easy to fall in love with too. I kept thinking I knew what was going on but I really didn't.

And now, I'm going to dig my roller skates out of the basement, wrap myself in bubble wrap, and go for a spin ❤️

This was such a fun book!

I loved the unique / creative plot!

Overall a very heartwarming story <3

I simply loved this book. Thank you to St Martins Press for the eAR ! Center has a way of captivating her audience from page one, and takes a very real (and sometimes hard) look at life and weaves the magic of love through the cracks. Can’t wait for what’s next!

What a fun and unique romance! While parts seemed unrealistic, and predictable, it was still super entertaining seeing it all unfold. I laughed out loud several times while also getting teary eyed at times.

4.5 stars

As a huge Katherine Center fan, this one fell a bit short for me. Sadie seems a bit whiny and self-centered at times. I did like the storyline, which is what kept me reading. Just wish I could have like Sadie a bit more.

This romance was super unique as the main character dealt with something I haven't seen in a romance before (face blindness!). Not only does this impact the main character as an artist who now can no longer recognize faces, but it makes it hard when she's trying to figure out which of the two potential love interests she's in love with.

Sadie decides to hide her struggle which means that there's a lot of humorous scenes around that. I'd say this is something that could really work for some readers (especially if they love comedy of errors) but might have too much second-hand embarrassment for others.

Fans of Center's previous books will enjoy this one!

Oh my god. I didn’t even know what to expect with this one. And I’m so glad I did not really know what was gonna happen. This story is unique to any other stories I’ve read before. I’ve never read a book with a character who has face blindness. I know it’s a condition but never seen it reflected in a character and I think the way this story progressed, it was such an uplifting one. Like I think the ending could definitely be considered predictable but it also was so well done.

May the publishing gods and all future writers bless us with more stories like this one.

This was a fun rom-com with an original premise. Sadie is a portrait artist trying to make ends meet. She has a rocky relationship with her dad, stepmom and actual evil stepsister. After an accident it’s discovered that she needs brain surgery but an unfortunate side effect of the surgery is a condition known as face blindness. Not an ideal outcome for someone who paints faces for a living. As she’s trying to adjust to her new life she falls for two men, her friendly neighbor Joe and her new veterinarian who she assumes is dreamy (even though she can’t really see his face.)

I really liked Sadie as a character and this has some entertaining banter and laughable situations. Yes, some of the story is a bit far fetched but if you’re looking for a sweet story with the inevitable happy ending Hello Stranger is a great pick. Moderate language, no steam.

This was Center's strangest work yet, almost to the point of confusion on my end. Not a bad book, just not for me. I'm already looking forward and ahead to her next book that looks to be more up my alley.

I keep seeing Katherine Center’s books every where. The covers appeal to me and always catch my eye. However, I had never actually picked one up to read until Hello Stranger. Friends, I LOVED Hello Stranger. This is the kind of book that appeals to my mid-thirties middle class woman self, and I can see how others in my category group would absolutely like this book.

Hello Stranger follows Sadie Montgomery who is about to hit it big as a portrait artist. Only, one day, she passes out, wakes up and finds out she needs to have brain surgery. After her surgery, it turns out she can’t recognize faces anymore. This messes with her life so much and also really gets in the way of her entry into a portrait contest. She finds herself also caught between two men — one a neighbor that she had an initial bad impression of, and the other, her veterinarian. But, she can’t see or remember their faces.

I really enjoyed how Sadie was written and characterized. She is so kind and nice and just a real girl’s girl. She is not a complainer and works so hard in life. I liked that she’s an artist. I loved how she treats her dog. The romance in this book was so interesting to me too. I totally knew the twist thanks to reading Goodreads reviews ahead of time, but it did not negatively impact my view of Hello Stranger. I know I for sure will be reading more of Katherine Center, as it feels like I am the target audience.

I'm not going to lie, I primarily requested this book bc the FMC is named Sadie and I am a sucker for MCs with my name! lol. This was a cute and interesting read. It is outside of my typical genre and that definitely played a part in my overall enjoyment but that is absolutely a me issue. I can't imagine what Sadie went through after her surgery and peanut absolutely reminded me of my own little dog.

Hmmm. I liked it. An entertaining story & I will not look into it further so that I can keep positive thoughts. thank you.

Katherine center does it again! Such a cute story!! I loved (and severely hated) the characters - ugh Parker was the worst !! But the love story and the chemistry between Sadie and Joe was *chefs kiss* she always has the perfect characters. Sweet and cutesy, or evil and horrible. The only thing I have to “complain” about is I wish the love story started a little earlier hahaha!!

Katherine Center does it again! This is such a cute read, just like her others. But it totally pulls at the heart strings in all of the right places. I like the comedic relief and the romance!