Such a sweet read. I finished it in less than a day. Loved the premise and the characters and it took me quite awhile to catch the big surprise!

“No matter how alone you ever are in life, you always have yourself, right?”

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s press for the ARC of this book! The whole concept of this book was fascinating.

Sadie is a struggling portrait artist hoping to make her big break with a portrait competition, but comes to find out she needs brain surgery, and as a result develops face blindness.

I loved the way the author showed that even though Sadie was not able to see someone’s face, her preconceived notions about who they are (and who they are not) had nothing to do with their face. And in the end it proved that just because you might have seen a face in passing over a long period of time, you might not have ever truly *seen* them.

It was a sweet story and I love that even though there was forgiveness, it did not “fix” every strained relationship Sadie had magically by the end.

Five stars!!

Sadie is a down-on-her-luck artist on the verge of her big break when an accident throws a unique wrench into her plans. It causes a string of events that triggers (hopefully) temporary face blindness right when she needs to paint a stellar portrait. Add in the stress of a sick dog, a neighbor nicknamed The Weasel, a hot veterinarian, and a wicked step-sister, and Sadie is at the end of her rope.

Her neighbor, Joe, was the perfect side character. He was funny, caring, and seemed to know just what Sadie needed and just when she needed it. The nicknames Sadie and her friend, Sue, came up for him were hilarious and made him even more endearing. When the inevitable miscommunication occurred, I wanted to reach inside the book and give him a big ole hug.

Hello Stranger had me clutching my neck at 2:00 AM in pure glee several times. The dialogue, the characters, The Big Reveal - it all had me jumping up and down like a school girl and wishing the book never ended!

Speaking of The Big Reveal...you're likely going to guess what it is but don't let that deter you. Watching Sadie figure it all out is worth it. I was screaming at my Kindle on several occasions, trying to get her to SEE what was happening in front of her eyes, then desperately moving forward until she did. Hello Stranger is written so masterfully that you'll live in a constant state of "will she or won't she" while also swooning over Joe "The Weasel' of all people and Dr. McHotStuff.

Favorite quote:

"Is that bag full of what I think it's full of?"
He didn't turn my way, either. "Do you think it's full of human kindness?"
"I think it's full of unwanted help."

I loved this book! In fact, I’ve loved every book I’ve read by Katherine Center. They are romance, rom com-ish, but most of all, they are hopeful. Hello Stranger did not disappoint! Colorful, quirky characters, a tragic happening and a buoyant resolution. Sometimes what you are looking is staring right in the face.

Another hit from one of my favorites, Katherine Center! The Bodyguard was one of my top reads in 2022 so this one had big shoes to fill!

Sadie Montgomery is celebrating a the biggest accomplishment of her life, placing as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition. The same one that mother placed in years ago before her death. But before she can properly celebrate, she finds herself lying in a hospital bed facing an upcoming brain surgery. One that leaves her with a condition known as face blindness.

This books takes us on a journey as Sadie learns to cope with her new diagnosis, deals with her family drama, and desperately tries to cling to her artistic dream…all while fallling in love with two different guys.

I loved the cleverness of this plot, such a unique situation making it one that will stand out to me in the future. The characters were fun and had me laughing throughout. While the ending was very predictable (I guessed it very early in the book) I still liked how it all wrapped up at the end.

My only criticism is that it did feel a bit slow at the start, not really sure why. It took me a bit to get invested but once I did, I was hooked until the end!

Overall, not my favorite KC book, but one I enjoyed and definitely will recommend. Thank you to Net Galley for allowing me an early digital copy of this book to provide my honest feedback!

After having a great time reading The Bodyguard, I immediately saw this new book was on its way and was thrilled. (BTW: The Bodyguard totally deserved to move up further as a Goodreads Winner in 2022!)

But... sometimes Katherine Center's books are hits and misses. This one was slightly uneven for me.

First, I felt as if my past year has been leading to my understanding of this world. 1) I adore watching Portrait Artist of the Year. It is fascinating to watch an image emerge, like magic. 2) It stuck in my memory about Brad Pitt saying he thinks he has face blindness. 3) After The Bodyguard, I read a few more of Center's books to get more familiar with her style.

In this one, it is very easy to see where the story will lead. While her author's notes share that folks love this sort of positive anticipation, I also don't like stories dumbed down so much that we see a pratfall coming miles away. I'm already cringing at the embarrassment that's coming and not enjoying it. There were plenty of moments like this in the book and it didn't work. Maybe it was meant to be endearing or cute, so when our heroine does get to HEA we feel her triumph, but it ultimately feels a little like cheap and lazy writer's technique.

The sheer power of her Happiness for Beginners is keeping me hoping the next one proves me right that this author deserves a Goodreads Choice Winner under her belt.

I can already feel the ramble coming on so I’ll quickly summarize this review into a TL;DR— This book is stupid cute. Read it.

To set the scene📚:
Sadie Montgomery is a struggling artist that’s about to get her big break. She’s been following in her mother’s footsteps trying to find her place in the art world. After years of self doubt and being on the verge of giving up, she’s finally selected as a finalist for a renowned portrait contest in her area. She couldn’t be more excited about her news when her world is turned completely upside down. An accident causes her to lose her ability to recognize faces. The doctors say it might only be temporary, but for a portrait artist this predicament is detrimental. Sadie is left struggling to still see herself as a talented artist when she can’t see anyone around her anymore. The question is, will she ever heal from this?

The character(s)📚:
I’m only going to touch on Sadie because honestly I could talk about this girl all day. She was such a fun main character for me. The way she’s riding the struggle bus starting at page one hooked me. I love a character who kind of sucks at life. It makes me feel the teeny tiniest bit better about my own struggles. And wow did Sadie fit the bill. Not even a few chapters in I thought to myself, will this girl ever catch a break? She had a Bridget Jones quality to her that had me chuckling from embarrassment, but running to the next page to see what more could happen.

On top of her career struggles, Sadie was also attempting to handle conflict within her family and her dating life. I won’t lie, she’s incredibly whiny but it’s in the most relatable way. And honestly, she had a lot to rightfully complain about. It was refreshing to see a character failing. So often we get these perfect romances about perfect characters, but Sadie’s story is so much more than that. She is a bit of a negative thinker and when life threw her lemons, she squeezed them and got the juice in her eyes. I loved that she was so flawed and that it took a professional saying, “HEY. STOP THAT,” for her to realize that jumping to the worse possible scenario was impacting her in a bad way. Which was so realistic for me.

Thoughts and Plot📚:
This was my first Katherine Center book so I didn’t really know what to expect going into it. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this particular book reads like a YA novel. After being so drained in my personal life, something easy to consume was exactly what I needed. I don’t know if that’s the norm for her novels, but I loved it. I enjoyed that it was thought provoking without making me feel like I was jumping through hoops to understand it. The best way I could describe it is that it was poignant without being pretentious, which makes for an incredibly quick read. There were so many lines that pulled at my heart strings.

I found myself being really drawn to Sadie’s character. Her relationship with her father was so complicated that right away I felt a kinship with her. Her line in particular about trying to catch his voicemail so they didn’t have to talk in real-time stuck with me. I have a similar relationship with my father. A different situation entirely but I could understand that conflicting feeling of unconditionally loving someone, but still not meeting them eye to eye on a lot of matters. As well as the pressure it puts on you to try to live up to their high expectations.

This book was written incredibly well. It takes place entirely from Sadie’s perspective, so you get a dose of her fragmented reality. She can’t recognize faces so as the reader neither can we. It made the world so much more interesting but also so much more lonely. The way she had to use her other senses to build a picture of who she was speaking to and reframe her entire world seemed exhausting. Our ability to recognize faces is something I think a lot of us take for granted. The fact that that ability might be taken away someday hadn’t ever crossed my mind. Sadie struggled so much with recognizing voices and I realized I’d be right there with her. I’m terrible with picking out different voices and I can’t begin to imagine how out of luck I would be.

I got so frustrated for Sadie as we watched her navigate life post accident. There were people who went out of their way to make her life harder. But on the other hand, watching her form new relationships without being able to see was incredibly rewarding. It took away how superficial dating could be. The way she falls for two different men after her accident was heartwarming. Even without being able to see their face, she was drawn to them. First is caring veterinarian Dr. Addison, who takes her oddness in stride and saves her dog. Second is her neighbor Joe, who always happens to be nearby when she needs help picking up the pieces of her life. She tests the water with both of them, and they’re wonderful. Normally I’m a grump when it comes to love triangles, but I really liked the way this one played out. It proved that love truly is blind and the people who care about you will stand by you no matter happens.

Why you should read it📚: This book is truly adorable. The end wrapped up the story perfectly. So many mysteries are solved within one chapter and I felt completely satisfied. It was such a cute heartwarming story. I think a lot of people will be able to enjoy this one. It has diverse characters. It’s funny, it’s a tiny bit sad, it’s warm and fuzzy. It has a little bit of it all without being too heavy on the emotions.

Mood: Conversational, Heartwarming, Uplifting,
Spice: None — Very wholesome and sweet

This book was *chef's kiss!*
I am a big Katherine Center fan, and as usual, she did not disappoint. She is a masterful storyteller. I loved Joe! I'm giving this 4 stars instead of 5 simply because it was predictable, but the predictability didn't diminish my enjoyment while reading it! I was still compelled to power through in two days. Big thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I enjoyed Center's novel, How To Walk Away, and I was happy to get a copy of her newest one as well.

This novel focuses on a portrait artist, Sadie, who has surgery that results in facial blindness. The writing and pacing of this book worked well. However, it was incredibly predictable and, for me, Sadie was more annoying than quirky. She just didn't work for me as a protagonist. The miscommunication trope can occasionally work well, but this was so out there.

An unusual premise of a portrait artist developing face blindness leading to some big mix ups. It took me a while to warm up to the main character, Sadie. She starts the book feeling pretty sorry for herself and blaming everyone else for her issues. Her stepsister is a fabulous antagonist you can't help but love to hate. But as the story unfolds Sadie develops more depth and her relationship with her neighbor is sweet. Sadie's best friend is also a fun foil to Sadie's unhappiness. I always love Katherine Center's books and this is another winner.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the preview copy!

If you look up the word ‘cruel’ in the dictionary, I’m pretty sure you’d see Parker’s name beside it.
I couldn’t put this story down. The anticipation of knowing what was going to happen next in Sadie’s life. I squealed in excitement a few times, I got super annoyed with the evil step-sister… Overall, Sadie is such a beautiful character. The lessons along the way and overall growth. And Joe, sweet sweet Joe! It was so nice to see the truth in humanity through Sadie’s eyes. How mistakes and mishaps and miss-understandings have an impact on us.
I don’t know if this review makes any sense, but I just loved this story so much! A definite must read

I always seem to like books best when the plot is realistic, and despite the main character being diagnosed with a very rare disease, it was so easy to relate to her. The way she responded to situations were ways no one would ever admit that they would respond that way. This brought validation for me as a reader.

It was such a good storyline with unpredictability.

The book was a little slow for my personal taste, but I think this was due to the deep descriptions.

This was the first book that I read by this author - I will definitely be reading others in the future!

Special thanks to NetGalley for sharing a digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Katherine Center allowing me to read an ARC of Hello Stranger in return for review.

I love Katherine Center books and this one was no different, it has all the feels along with a touch of learning about Prosopagnosia (Face-Blindness). The main character has her flaws but learns those flaws are what makes her, her. Also along the she grows and learns how to ask for help and how to communicate instead of relying on herself only. As always a great read!!

I just finished reading Katherine Center’s latest novel, “Hello Stranger,” due to be published July 10, 2023, and it is her best book yet! There are several things Katherine Center does really well which garner her a top spot among my new favorite romance authors. She manages to deliver an intricate, exciting, and fascinating plot with incredibly strong, well defined characters that provide realistic, funny, and engaging dialogue.

The main character in “Hello Stranger,” Sadie Montgomery, is a fiercely independent protagonist as a young artist aptly fitting the characterization of a “starving artist.” She will not accept help from her father, a prominent cardio thoracic surgeon, who believes one of her greatest mistakes was changing majors in college from PreMed to Fine Arts. He doesn’t see that art is not only something Sadie truly enjoys because it fulfills her and makes her happy, but that she is also extremely gifted and talented at it. Sadie remains steadfast in showing her disapproving father that she is doing well as an artist eight years after receiving her BFA, creating portraits for a living and entering contests with her “real artistic paintings.” She wishes to prove him wrong and so even though she lives in a room/studio apartment that is smaller than her college dorm room, she doesn’t ask her father for any financial help nor will she accept it from her step mother, Lucinda.

She also won’t accept any help from a handsome stranger. Sadie refuses to let a complete stranger pay the $18 for her three bottles of cheap wine at the corner bodega when she realizes she doesn’t have her wallet, but he doesn’t listen and pays anyway. Sadie is purchasing the wine for an impromptu celebration that her best friend, Sue, is throwing on Sadie’s rooftop to celebrate her acceptance as a finalist in a huge artist competition. Throughout the story, Sadie continues to show how determined she is.

Katherine Center is a reader’s author. She lets her characters become vivid and real. They not only jump off the page to show that they are people we all know or wish to know, but they choose to do what we, as readers, are hoping and cheering for them to do. They are all-in, flawed, unique, and totally believable. This doesn’t just hold true for the protagonist Sadie, but also Sadie’s best friend, Sue; her father, Dr. Richard Montgomery; her step mother, Lucinda; her annoying step sister, Parker; her doctors; her lovable smush face dog, Peanut; his handsome new vet; and “Mr. Helpful” Joe.

I adore witnessing the characters’ actions and growth. The plot arcs are full of hope and little promises of happily ever after to come. The characters can be quirky, funny, sarcastic, or serious, and those sentiments easily come through in the dialogue.

The story of Sadie Montgomery is one which definitely fits the description Katherine Center once gave in an interview as “bittersweet comedies.” I read this novel in two days and just did not want it to end! I highly recommend this story to all readers. It’s an absolute five star recommendation. It is a love story, but the characters show real depth and emotions which make this story so much more than that! There is a love triangle, family conflict, life-changing medical events, and Sadie’s search for her place in the world.

One place which Sadie most definitely belongs now is in my heart.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and of course Katherine Center for allowing me to read this wonderful ARC before the publication date!

Katherine Center knows how to create unique characters in the most profound situations. And she nails it - every. single. time.

Sadie Montogmery is a portrait artist, just as her mother was. A portrait artist who, after side-effects from brain surgery, experiences the most life-altering consequence: she can no longer recognize faces...including her own. With a competition and ten thousand dollars on the line coming up in the next few short weeks, Sadie is racing to relearn everything - from how to paint a portrait without seeing her subject clearly, to communicating with everyone around her (especially if she can't tell whether she really knows them.)

And really, Sadie needs to learn how to rely on herself and others in other ways than what had come naturally before the surgery.

This book did a lot of things really well, including, the portrayal of the mental crisis when Sadie could no longer recognize anyone she loved. Looking back, I was surprised she didn't dive into a deeper depression when she encountered face blindness, especially given she couldn't see her own face.

While this was a five-star read for me (how could it not be), I did find myself slightly disappointed that the end was wrapped up so quickly. I loved Sadie and Joe's (or we can say Oliver - did anyone else see this coming from a mile away?) relationship, but it felt as if there was a big build-up throughout the book, which ended just minutes after the resolution of the book. I think their relationship could have been taken to other levels that weren't met in this book. I had expected there to be a little bit more romance or steam than there was.

A very special thank you to NetGalley for sharing the advanced reader's copy of this novel.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. I loved the author's last book so I was excited to read this one. I enjoyed the book. It was a fast and light read. I liked Sadie and Joe's characters. They had great chemistry. I wasn't a fan of the secondary characters though sadly. Sue didn't seem like the greatest best friend. She constantly seemed to forget her condition or not fully understand it like how the surprise party was a bad idea. Then the trip itself seemed a little selfish also and terrible timing. I wish there was more involved with how her character is a great friend besides her family.
Parker was extremely over the top evil. I wish either there was more karma with her character or she at least showed why she behaved the way she did. I felt like the dad and stepmother made up for themselves some but I wish there was more of an apology for never believing Sadie.
The book was predictable but it still felt like a happy ending.
I will read another book by this author but I feel like this book is not my favorite by the author.

Every other Katherine Center novel that I have read has been a solid 5 stars. This one, while enjoyable, didn't quite have the emotional impact on me that her previous ones had. The family drama in this story seemed a bit unrealistic - Sadie's step sister was cruel in a way that didn't make much sense to me, especially as an adult character (her cruelty seemed a bit more believable when she was a teen but it didn't translate logically into adulthood). Her father's treatment of her, while explained in the novel, was wrapped up a little too neatly for me.
I did very much enjoy the twist at the end and overall I found the book to be a fun read.

The struggles and set backs that the main character goes through in this book that show her how to perceive things in her life differently was a great eye opener. Not only did she have physical set backs to work with and through but also emotional ones in order to truly change and enhance how she was living her life. Enjoyed reading this book

Wow! Wow! Wow! I literally jumped up and down when I got approved for this arc on NetGalley and it did not disappoint!

This story was so perfect and unique! The characters were amazing & although I figured out the twist pretty early on it didn’t take away from the ending at all.

Sadie is dealing with a complication post brain surgery that is causing face blindness. The doctors say it’s only temporary but the biggest problem? She’s a portrait artist with a major competition deadline in 8 weeks…and her model just left the country!

I had never heard of cavernoma prospoagnosia (face blindness) but reading this book but Center explained it so well in this book. I love the representation she gave to those who experience cavernoma prospoagnosia and how she described the complexity of the human brain. Also, how she delved into the complexity of grief and a broken home was heartbreaking.

Not to mention the swoonworthy men in this book! The looks, the banter, the relationship development is *chefs kiss*!

Another incredible book from Katherine Center & I can’t wait to pick up a physical copy when it is released, July 11th!

Thank you to NetGalley, Katherine Center & St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read this masterpiece of an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

So cute! A really unique plot with the perfect characters to add to it. “Joe” was amazing; I am in love with this man. I don’t how she didn’t notice that he was the same person as Oliver, so that was reallllyyy dumb. Nonetheless, it still worked very well in the book.

Sadie character’s grew appropriately but the ending with Parker was silly. I wish we could see Parker and Sadie at least come to neutral state, where they both agree to stay out of each other lives. Her dad pissed with his past actions (which is the point) and it just made unredeemable. It felt like the author was trying to have her relationship with her family slowly grow into a more loving one, but it just didn’t work. Good thing it was a subplot.