Hello Stranger is something special. Even though one of the biggest conflicts is STRONGLY hinted at almost immediately, it doesn't take away any of the story's charm. Through it all Sadie Montgomery is probably one of the most relatable protagonists I've read in a while, even though she has a very unique worldview, which takes a bit of getting used to. Although this is ultimately a story about love, at its core it is also a story about growth. It is about learning to adjust to the reality of life and finding the joy in everything you can (and cannot) see.

The central romance is a quiet type of love built on small acts of kindness and letting someone finally see who you are. It's like if Love is Blind actually worked. All in all, the romance is special, it's built on familiarity and warmth rather than an all-consuming passion. It's healing, it's nurturing, it's freeing, but it's also good. I would go more into it but I feel like it would be spoiling it too much.

Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read this book early in exchange for an honest review.

Katherine Center does it again! Her newest book, Hello Stranger, tells the story of Sadie Montgomery, a portrait artist waiting for her big break. Sadie's world revolves around being able to paint faces. So when she has to have a surgery that affects her ability to see those faces - Sadie's world falls apart. I found myself rooting for Sadie throughout the book and was so sad when the book ended. This was more than just a rom com, but a truly beautiful story about love, happiness, and family!

This was my first Katherine Center book - I know, I’m way late to the party - and I really enjoyed it. With how many people had recommended Center to me, I think my expectations were really high. This was a sweet, well-written romance. I think the idea of face-blindness was unique and interesting. However, this didn’t blow me away. I’ll remember it because of the face-blindness aspect alone.
I found all the characters, including the main character, a little too much like characatures instead of real people. Joe was Helpful and Nice and Center leaned into that to the nth degree. Parker was the most over the top ridiculous evil step-sister.
I also thought many parts were very repetitive. When Sadie was first describing her condition, I swear I read the same paragraph at least three times. At the end, the resolution was explained twice. When she was working through how to paint, the options were listed many, many times.
My last hold up was the ending. Everything was almost too neat and coincidental. EVERYTHING. It felt forced and contrived.
All that said, I flew through this book. I wanted to pick it up again after pausing to sleep or, annoyingly, go to work. I will definitely pick up more from Center. It was a lovely, light read. If you like sweet, closed-door romances, I would recommend this one.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the author, and the publishers for providing this ARC copy to read and review. All the statements above are my true opinions after fully reading the book.

3.75/5 stars! Another interesting and enjoyable read by Katherine Center. Her book "The Bodyguard" was one of my favorite reads of 2022 so I was excited to pick this up. I liked the story itself and Joe and Sadie were so sweet together. There was humor, tenderness, and also dealing with fears. I think my only problem with this story was that the secondary cast fell a little flat. While Joe and Sadie's chemistry was palpable, her friends and family felt 2-dimensional at times.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Portrait artist Sadie Montgomery gets her big break and her meet cute—maybe— then everything comes tumbling down.
Readers feel those hits quickly.
Prosopagnosia aka face blindness means painting portraits is no longer feasible. Those portraits aren’t just the way she makes a living, they’re the connection to her mother who died when Sadie was 14.
Her face blindness is brought on by brain surgery and the swelling after. Her doctors hope the face blindness goes away as she heals.
And healing is a big part of Hello Stranger. Healing that comes about because of Sadie’s face blindness.
I loved everything about Hello Stranger. Author Katherine Center has created a perfect romance and an impossible to put down book that combines characters and conflict in a way that has readers cheering for Sadie almost from the beginning as she falls in love without realizing it.
Center has done something hard to do in romance. Readers knows exactly what’s happening but the main character doesn’t, and when she finally figures out the truth, we can’t help but cheering.
Sadie and Joe will stay with me a long time. The book has earned a place on my keeper shelf.
Also, don’t skip the author’s note and acknowledgements at the end.
Hello Stranger is a book filled with heaviness that never feels heavy. It’s a book of hope and healing, and, of course, falling in love. Katherine Center has earned a place on my auto-buy list with this one.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced reader copy of Hello Stranger.

I enjoy Katherine Center's books because of her creative plots and likeable characters, and Hello Stranger was no different! In this, the main character has complications from brain surgery, and the side effects mean she can no longer see faces clearly. This book has all the necessary characters-the struggling main character, the solid best friend, the enemy and the movie star handsome love interest, without being cliche! I enjoyed reading this book and was hooked until the last page!

Sadie is a portrait artist who lives in the small rooftop spot in her best friend’s parents’ apartment building. She is a struggling artist, so the spot is really supposed to be a studio where she can do her work, not a place to live. Sadie has also placed in the North American Portrait Society where she will be competing with other amazing artists.

One day, Sadie is outside and almost gets hit by a car when a man saves her. She goes to the hospital to make sure everything is okay when she finds out she needs to get brain surgery as she has a cavernoma that needs to be fixed sooner rather than later.

Sadie’s father, also a doctor, pushes her to get the surgery asap! He even makes the appointment on for her and she agrees to go. After she is done with her surgery, her best friend, Sue, visits her. Sadie recognizes that this is what Sue would say and do, but she doesn’t recognize Sue’s face! The doctors tell her that she has prosopagnosia, akanface blindness.

How is Sadie supposed to create portraits, especially for the North American Portrait Society, if she can’t see faces? How will she navigate her life without recognizing faces? Will her life ever go back to what it once was?

I really enjoyed reading this book. Katherine Center writing makes you really sympathize with the main character and root for the characters in the book. While there might be some “How did you not know?” thoughts, Katherine Center really explains it very well for the readers to understand what is going on inside Sadie’s head.

Another wonderful book by Katherine Center! She never disappoints - her characters are beautifully fleshed out and her storylines always fun. I especially liked this one, as I knew nothing about prosopagnosia: face blindness.

The twists & turns of the plot kept me completely engrossed in the story and I couldn't put it down. All in all, a sweet romance with a very interesting & unusual storyline, realistic conflicts, family dram, relatable characters and an HEA.

Many thanks to Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Such a great book! I had never heard of face blindness—what an interesting topic! I have loved all of the books I’ve read by Katherine Center and this one did not disappoint!

What a great story! I love Kathrine Center books. They always make we want to rewind and read the book all over again…and most of the time I do! 😁
I went into this book knowing nothing about it. All I knew was it was Kathrine Center, instant read for me. I came out the other side feeling like these characters were actual people in my life and I was just so happy for them 🥰 and then I remembered it was fiction 😞
This was such a cute love story and the love triangle aspect of this story had me cracking up and also wanting to shake our main character! 🤦🏼‍♀️
I can’t wait to add this to my physical collection of Kathrine Center books 📚

Hello Stranger was my first Katherine Center novel. I have been getting into more romance recently and can say this book encourages me to keep going. Overall the plot revolving around face blindness was very fascinating to me. Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney is the only other novel I have read with this disability. Sadie was a lovable character, I thought Parker was a bit too dramatic for me. I couldn't believe anyone would be like that. Additionally, I predicted the end twist and the plot of the whole story from the beginning but I couldn't figure out how it would be explained- I thought the explanation was a bit far-fetched. If you spend basically every second with someone you would know their voice - no matter the tone. However, I really enjoyed and I want to pick up The Bodyguard asap.

I love this book. As a medical professional, I found it intriguing, interesting, and informative. It felt like I was reading the story of a friend and I always feel that way when I read Katherine Center’s books. She really is a genius when it comes to writing. This was probably the best book that I’ve read in a very long time. The cover is gorgeous and the characters are fantastic.

This book is truly special. It’s a lifeline in an uncertain world. It’’s a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day and all the other cliches. It’s full of hope, love, grief, guilt, and so much more. I devoured this in less than a day. It left me, feeling happy, hopeful & most of all grateful. Thank you for that btw @Katherine Center. She has a gift. I can’t really explain it, but all I can say is, that I want more. Any book she has ever written, SIGN ME UP!

I absolutely love Katherine Center. Her writing always leaves me feeling hopeful for love despite the circumstances, and Sadie was no exception. Despite facing life altering circumstances, she worked through them and found love and success, and isn’t that what we all hope for in life? I loved that she blended both success in her career and finding somewhere to belong (ie a person to finally call family) and am already looking forward to Katherine’s next book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this new book from Katherine Center. I had heard of face blindness before, but hadn't thought about how someone might cope with this issue. I felt like I was in Sadie's shoes, trying to identify others without seeing their faces; the struggle, anxiety, and frustration when she was lost, and the excitement when she guessed correctly. All that aside, the story drew me in and I couldn't put the book down. I feel like I can't say much more without giving away spoilers, so just read it for yourself!

I love every Katherine Center book. This one was excellent. Her characters feel like real people. You root for them and want the best for them, but her books never feel cheesy or fake.

“The more good things you look for, the more you find.”

Oh Katherine Center…how do I love thee?!

Your stories are wonderful, inspiring, beautiful and swoony. They are hopeful and joyful and always full of heart. Hello Stranger is all of these…and then some.

Sadie is what you would call a struggling artist. She is quirky and lovely and made me laugh out loud throughout this story. She has a complicated family life stemming from the loss of her mom at age 14. She has always prided herself on not needing or asking for help from anyone. But that is about to change.

After a life altering medical condition, Sadie is forced to reexamine her life, her dreams, and her relationship with the word “help”. We are captivated by the helpful and majorly swoony neighbor Joe, many hilarious misunderstandings, the cutest dog named Peanut, and mostly delightful characters.(I’m looking at you Parker.) This is a romcom at its very finest filled with laughs, a unique storyline, and one of the most amusing heroines I’ve read in a long time. This heartwarming book completely consumed me.

“It takes a certain kind of courage to be brave in love.”

Hello Stranger By Katherine Center
4.5⭐

This is my first Katherine Center book and I was not disappointed. This book sucked me right in. It definitely has its cheesey moments but I was kinda here for it. I was all about our vet Dr. Addison and then was loving her neighbor joe, and then everything just came full circle. I did know about halfway through where the book was headed which would normally turn me off from the story but honestly still loved it. There is a medical condition that plays a huge part in the book that I found so fascinating that I found myself stopping the book multiple times just to look more into this condition.
I would definitely recommend this book to others.
* Closed door romance
Releases 7/11/2023

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

Katherine Center, this is my official application to adopt you as my mother. Or sister. Or just really, really cool aunt. Everything Katherine Center writes is exactly what I need. Hello Stranger was no different--it was sweet, tender, unexpected, and felt like being wrapped in a warm, cuddly blanket. I loved the characters, I loved the character development, and I loved the romance. Joe was a dreamboat of a leading man who, as far as I'm concerned, can do no wrong. I need 4 more books exactly like this one.

Between 3.5 and 4 stars! This was such a fun read. I thought this was a very unique topic for a romance novel and it was executed incredibly well.

I loved that Katherine Center did not shy away from highlighting the grittier parts experiencing something difficult; it’s not all sunshine and roses. But with this, she speaks to our resiliency and ability to adapt when we lose our sense of normal - hello portrait artist with the inability to see faces!

I will say I did not find the twist particularly exciting as you can very much see it coming, but I also don’t feel it needed to be. It was still a delight to read and will definitely give you some laughs along the way!