Thank you to Netgalley for the reveiw copy of Hello Stranger by Katherine Center. Katherine Center is quickly becoming a favorite author, and Hello Stranger did not disappoint.

Sadie Montgomery relies on her ability to see the intricacies and highlights in faces for her job as a portrait artist. One day, an accident uncovers a problem that when resolved results in her becoming face blind. Just as all her career is taking off, Sadie feels it coming to a halt. I loved the characters Katherine Center created, and I loved following the plot where it took me.

3.5 ⭐️

Sadie Montgomery recently had a health issue that led to her needing brain surgery. That surgery affected a specific part of her brain which resulted in face blindness. Suddenly, Sadie cannot recognize anyone's face, not even her own. This situation also greatly impacts her favorite hobby - portrait painting. She's just about to enter the most prestigious contest, which she's set to win, when this accident happens and now everything she tries to paint comes out all wrong.

Meanwhile, she meets two men whom she develops crushes on - her helpful neighbor, Joe and her amazing neighborhood veterinarian, Dr. Addison. She decides she needs to fake/hide her facial recognition troubles and act like everything is fine, when it clearly isn't. This leads to a few laugh-out-loud moments, but more eye-roll moments for me. Sadie is also a little bit self centered and doesn't ask either men much about themselves.

To top it off, Sadie's family is indescribably rude and horrible. I wanted to smack them all upside their dumb heads. And the people at the art show - I wanted to smack them also. I felt like Joe and Dr Addison both took advantage of her and I wanted to smack them as well.

Now, I love Katherine Centers books. I absolutely loved Things We Save in a Fire, How to Walk Away, and The Bodyguard was pretty good. But this one was just … a little too far-fetched for me. Sadie had a million opportunities to just explain to both men and to her family what had actually happened and what was going on with her physically, but she just decided to wait and hope that the swelling in her brain would go down and the face blindness would go away.

Oveall, this was a good quick read and I think most people will enjoy it. It's silly and cute at times. But I personally don't think it can compare to other books by this author.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Katherine Center books are favorites. This is a heartwarming, feel good romance that I adored.
I especially appreciated the aspects of face blindness in this story.

Hello Stranger is the story of Sadie, a portrait artist who has a seizure while crossing the street. She ends up needing brain surgery to fix a blood vessel in her head, which results in a side effect of face blindness afterwards. Sadie is devastated because she can no longer do what she loves and has dreamed of since she was a little girl. Can she come to terms with her new way of life and adjust to find a new passion?

I always love Katherine Center’s books and I wasn’t disappointed at all. This may be one of her best. Sadie is such a rich, fully developed character surrounded by a quirky, entertaining supporting cast of neighbors, friends and family. The writing is top notch and the storyline was unique and not at all predictable. I highly recommend this novel!

What’s it about?

Sadie has been trying to be a successful portrait artist since college, much to her father’s disappointment. But she finally gets her big break when she’s a finalist for a prominent art contest. All she has to do now is paint an award-winning, original portrait. But then, Sadie has a seizure and learns she has a brain condition that will require surgery. And, although surgery goes well, the swelling causes a malfunction in Sadie’s brain called “face blindness” that keeps her from recognizing faces.

Over the course of the book, Sadie not only has to come to terms with her inability to recognize people, including those she loves, but going on dates and falling in love with two men: her vet who saves her beloved dog, and her neighbor who she suspects might be a man whore. And then there’s the whole painting a portrait when she can’t recognize facial features in an organized way.

My thoughts:

My heart while reading this book was a big ole puddle. I adored Sadie’s character so much She has to confront so many things at once: her fear of her condition, her broken past, her evil stepsister, her father who abandoned her, her mother’s history before her death, her art and future, and, of course, love.

The whole plot with the dog both hurt and warmed my heart. I know all to well how much those dogs mean to us.

And the love story. I loved how this book played with how we perceive people. Katherine took away the physical impression and toyed with confirmation bias. I adored how it all came together in the end, which was exactly how I hoped it would.

I found Katherine Center's books late last year and I have been hooked since then. This book is no different. Her words have a way of investing you in her characters and giving them real world struggles and obstacles to overcome. If you enjoy friends to lovers, slow burn with disability representation, this book is for you.

I have been a fan of Katherine Center's books since I read her debut novel The Bright Side of Disaster over 15 years ago. I feel like an OG considering most people didn't discover her until a few years ago. Hello Stranger is another wonderful read from Katherine. It's a feel good, hope filled love story, but without the stereotypical chick-lit vibes. Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review. Can't wait for Katherine's next book.

This was a great romance! I love Katherine Center. It was on the cheesy/predicable side, but I thoroughly enjoyed the unique plot line of facial blindness. I would recommend Hello Stranger to romance readers and non-romance readers alike!

Sadie is a self-proclaimed struggling portrait artist, left ostracized from her father after he remarried a cruel woman with an even crueler daughter after the death of her mother, another struggling portrait artist. When Sadie finally accomplished her and her mothers life long dreams of making it as a finalist into the North American Portrait Society competition, Sadie really thinks like couldn't get better- until life proves her not to tempt fate and everything goes topsy-turvey. After a cavernoma in her brain causes her to have a seizure while crossing the street, Sadie is forced to get brain surgery to fix the issue, or end up the same way her mother did. The only downside, the removal of the cavernoma caused a post-surgical edema (swelling) that resulted in prosopagnosia (face-blindness), tough break for a portrait artist that finally got her big break. Over the next 6 weeks Sadie struggles to accept her new face-blindness, but still tries to work through and with it to complete the portrait for the competition. But, when her best friend and portrait model Sue unexpectedly gets whisked away for an elopement, Sadie is left with no choice but to accept help from her sleazy neighbor Joe. While working on the portrait together she ultimately discovers that Joe isn't the sleazball she thought he was, and Joe is actually a really great guy who is far more helpful than not. But when a case of face-blindness ruins the best thing she has going for her at the moment (ie, Joe), Sadie is left show casing her less than stellar portrait at the art showcase solo. Sadie ultimately comes in dead last, but thanks to her landlord and best friends dad, her painting earns the highest bid for their charity, and now proudly hangs in the lobby of her apartment building. At the conclusion of our story, Sue is back from elopement to celebrate and her dad invites "Mr. Helpful" aka Joe, where it is finally revealed that Joe is actually Sadie's super hot veterinarian Oliver Addison, and when she broke up with Oliver, she actually broke up with Oliver. The pair then go around the party and repeatedly tell the story to everyone about the case of mistaken identity. The End.

I gotta say, normally I love Center's super predictable storytelling and lighthearted, good natured fun. But this time, I almost DNF'd at 10%. As a fat person, there is just something unsettling as an author using a characters weight as some kind of plot driven punchline, a gotcha haha moment. And listening to Joe in the elevator describe this fat "woman" so early in the book, I was ready to close up shop and never turn another page again. It's disgusting to hear another person talk about someone that looks like you and how disgusted they are by this character. Not to mention heartbreaking. I used to love this author and now she's using fat people as a plot line? Disgusting. But, I kept reading, I did not actually stop there. I wish I could say I was glad I didn't stop there but I'm not really. What followed was super predictable, I could tell Joe and Oliver were the same person the second Oliver asked Sadie out on a date, because no Vet with an ounce of professionalism would ask out a patient (or their mother I guess) the 3rd/4th time they see them, regardless of how hot and quirky the patient (or mother) was. And so the rest of the book felt like a drag waiting for the big reveal to finally happen.

Let's be honest. It's super cringey to proclaim the first time that you meet someone that they are your future fiancé and husband and start planning the wedding. I get it, people do it, but this WOMAN is 28, she's not 14 or in high school. It's off-putting to say the least.

And through the whole book, I think my biggest problem was Sue. Sue is supposedly Sadie's best friend, but she never does one thing to earn said best friend title. The book starts with Sue throwing Sadie a party (fine) but telling Sadie that she HAS to buy wine for this party that Sue is throwing, when she knows (and Sadie even reiterates) that Sadie does not have money for that. Then, Sadie gets diagnosed with the face-blindness, and the ONLY person she confides in with the information herself (until the tail end of the book anyway) can't even be bothered to REMEMBER! Let alone recognize that throwing a party with a ton of people (her ex included!!!) just weeks after a TRAUMATIC BRAIN SURGERY and with a very INTENSE PORTRAIT DEADLINE FAST APPROACHING is not even a remotely good idea?? But Sue does it anyway because Sue wanted to. Then the final straw for me was the fact that she was the model for Sadie's portrait and she either doesn't communicate the seriousness of this to her fiancé or once again, doesn't even care about the seriousness of this so her fiancé doesn't realize how serious this is, because he just whisks her away. And being the horrible friend that she is, SUE GOES! With just an "lol byeee" to part with. Like that put Sadie in such an uncomfortable spot, it forced her to go to the event alone, Sue messed up big time, but she acts like her elopement was the only important thing going on. The trip was 16 days, her fiancé, or herself lets be honest, could've postponed the trip until the next time it came around in less than 2 weeks. But no. Sue is a selfish and terrible friend.

Unfortunately, there was just not a lot of good going on in this book for me. There's enough that I did in fact make it to the last page, but idk that is really that great of an achievement.

i really really love her first book the bodyguard but right now im currently prefer to not have anything to do with st martin press right now.

Katherine Center stays an auto-buy author with this insightful book. Center always does an incredible job of weaving romance with real-life emotions and problems. Life isn’t always a fairly tale, and it can be if you truly open your eyes to the beauty in life. This book explored face blindness and the impact this very real condition can have on someone who wasn’t expecting their world to change in an instant.

Sadie miraculously survives an accident, and not only survives, but wins the game of recovery. Until the doctor’s realize her recovery isn’t as perfect as they thought - she suddenly can’t recognize faces. Sadie navigates her new world and rides the emotional waves of a lifestyle altered.

This book is, like all of Center’s books, is an exploration of life and how to face it head on - no matter the circumstances. There’s a transformation story and a love story. I loved this one although didn’t feel the 5-star pull that some of her books have. It’s possible this is due to the fact that face blindness is simply hard to relate to for someone who’s never experienced it. Despite missing that 5th star, I am very grateful to learn and follow Sadie’s story.

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

Another sweet romance by Katherine Center! Some unbelievable elements and a little too repetitive, but cute story that also provided education about face blindness. The characters were well developed with engaging dialogue that dealt with heavier themes of loss, mistaken identity, grief, and coming of age moments.

I typically enjoy everything by Katherine Center, but this one missed the mark a bit for me. I thought the main character was hard to like, which made it hard to keep reading. Overall, the story was okay but it was not my favorite.

Sadie is a portrait artist who just learned she is a finalist in a prestigious art competition. She is flying high until she experiences a medical issue that requires her to undergo brain surgery. Sadie wakes up from surgery to her worst nightmare--she is face blind. Adding to the drama, she is now torn between two men--neither of whose faces she can see.The “anticipation” of what would happen, next and after that and after that, ETC, delivered all I wanted and more! (DO READ her acknowledgments at the end of the book).
Love me a fabulous romance, but it's also safe to say I am officially obsessed with Katherine Center!

Give me everything and anything Katherine writes. I adore her characters, her plot and everything in between. Definitely a must read

Hello Stranger was a very fun read - I was a little skeptical at parts of the book and then came around after reading the author's afterward. It's a fun escape like most Katherine Center books that will keep you entertained.

I loved this! A really refreshing romance novel.The characters felt fully realized which led to me really rooting for the relationship

This one was delightful! Sadie is a portrait artist and has is a finalist in a competition. However, she has suffered a severe seizure that sent her to the hospital where it was discovered she needs brain surgery immediately or she could die. Her mother had the same problem and did not have the surgery and did die and so she relents and undergoes surgery. Now postoperative she now has face blindness. She cannot distinguish one face from another. The man she met on the street could be the same man next to her and she would not know. How is she going to be able to paint. Also, how can she remember who is who when she cannot remember who she spoke to before. This was a fun story that took Sadie through all the stages of recovery and when she finally learned how to let someone help her she was able to live life a little easier.

This was the first Katherine Center book for me, and I will definitely be looking up more! I found this to be an easy, fun read that kept me entertained throughout. Sadie was likeable, though I was not a fan of her step family. I liked her friends, and enjoyed getting to know Joe as well. And you couldn't help but love Peanut! There wasn't anything in particular that made this book a must read for me, but I would recommend it for a no stress, relaxing on the couch read.

And the cover is just so cute!!!

I had never heard about face blindness, but it was interesting to learn more about the science of the brain. Katherine Center's books are like a warm hug and are endearing. While the conflict of the romance is a bit predictable, I loved seeing the character development. I felt all of the characters were well built, and included enough family drama, humor, emotional tugs, and resolution to feel satisfied.

Make sure to read the author's note about romance novels - it was like a lightbulb about why I find this genre one I'm drawn to, the hope, the bliss, the anticipation that is all positive.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing access to a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.