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.

I am, admittedly, not a romance book reader, but I am a huge fan of Katherine Center. She writes real characters that are quirky, snarky, and downright interesting. Sadie, the main character of Hello Stranger, is everything I listed above and just a tad bit exasperating. I am not sure I know anyone who wants to admit their faults, but Sadie has a medical condition that explains a lot. Of course, it would not have been the same book, but I digress.

The thing that impacted me the most was the Author's Note at the end of the novel. Katherine Center talked about hope, the big reason for romance novels and their success. For me, it was not hope that propelled me to read this novel - it was having someone to root for in a world that is not all that hopeful. I wanted to root for an underdog and have that person become a champion. Whether it be in the romantic aspect of Sadie's life, her medical challenges, or her professional aspirations, I hoped for her to have everything she desired in life.

I have read many of Katherine Center's novels and I have enjoyed aspects of all of them. Though I had guessed what was going on in Hello Stranger (no spoilers), I liked the book just the same. I would definitely recommend Hello Stranger and cannot wait for the next novel by this author.

Disclaimer: I was given an Advanced Reader's Copy by NetGalley and the publisher. The decision to read and review this book was entirely my own.

Okay so Kathrine Center has become a new rom-com favorite of mine! Loved this book and I can’t wait for anything else she writes!

This was such a cute book! I love Katherine Center's The Bodyguard, and Hello Stranger lived up to the hype as well.

Sadie is quite literally a starving artist not living up to her surgeon dad's expectations of her when a freak accident happens. The accident uncovers a brain abnormality and Sadie's dad pushes her to have emergency surgery.

The surgery cause Sadie to have face blindness which really throws a wrench in her portrait artistry. Along the way she meets a few love interests, finds love, loses love, and finds understanding within her family.

5 out of 5 stars. Emotional, romantic, and full of growth!

Every Katherine Center is a joy. Hello Stranger takes the topic of face blindness and gives you a beautiful account of how a deficiency does not diminish your live. The dependable Rom Com plot is alive and well in Hello Stranger. Her visual descriptions of Houston and living in an urban environment are spot on.

We like the think or hope that this is a fair world, that everybody gets what they deserve, but the true is different. The world and our lives not always work on the basis that because I'm a good person only good thins will happen to me. This book shows this, and yes there is a HEA at the end but that is just happenstance.

When Sadie gets the opportunity of a lifetime as she becomes finalist of portray contest, at the same time, she gets the horrible news that she needs brain surgery, but it does not get better when after the surgery Sadie gets face blindness, how is she suppose to have her big break when every time she says a face her brain cannot translate the image.

I’ve never heard of face blindness before and I think this book made an amazing introduction of this topic. One of my favorite parts was when Sadie was checking on other people that had face blindness and one of them decided to look it as an opportunity and treat everybody the same, with kindness it was really nice to see that.

I had a lot of different feelings throughout the book. I cried a little bit, I laughed too. The book came together beautifully and Oliver a.k.a. Joe is an amazing guy and they truly both deserve the happy ending that they got

I loved this Katherine Center book! I had very little knowledge about face blindness, and I love that it shed light on something like this! The love story was also swoony!

The book was a 4.5 star read for me but the author's note was so good I had to increase my rating. As an avid romance reader, I felt like Center read my mind and addressed a thought I've been having after another reviewer kind of criticized me after I said a book was so predictable and flat and she said weren't romance books all kind of predictable? But Center gave me a new way to think about this feeling - the feeling of anticipation. Yes, we may know where a book is going but the journey, the feeling of anticipation is also so important! And Center does this so well. We may get to the destination we think but Katherine Center takes us on a windy journey that may still have some surprises! I've said it before but the true magic in Center's writing is how heartfelt her words are and I always feel a swell of emotion reading her books. This particular story is about Sadie struggling with a diagnosis of face blindness as a portrait artist. Wow, so unique and I felt like it was so well researched and described in this book. Take the delightful journey with Sadie and experience your heart being filled!

📖 BOOK REVIEW

BOOK: Hello Stranger
AUTHOR: Katherine Center
FORMAT: Audiobook
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
DID I CRY: No
PUB DATE: 7/11/23
RATING: 7/10
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you @smpromance @stmartinspress for my #gifted advanced copy of #HelloStranger 💙

MY THOUGHTS

This book was a ride. My very first Katherine Center book. It took until the last 5 or so pages before I was able to decide how I felt about it🤣

I’ll start by saying that this was a very unique plot. It was certainly different than any book I’ve ever read. And for that I was intrigued by the book, regardless of anything else I found it interesting and wanted to finish to figure everything out. The writing was fun and light and really contributed to the romcom feel, but the author also tackled grief in a way that I appreciated. I also felt like the characters personalities were exaggerated which added to the comedic aspect of the book. The ending, while semi-predictable, tied the whole book together for me. It was a satisfying feeling of knowing what was going to happen and seeing it play out.

I didn’t particularly care for the MC. I found her condition to be an excuse to be just dumb. I wanted to shake her most of the book. I definitely didn’t connect with her & i had a difficult time empathizing with her. I also didn’t particularly care for the supporting characters, they were a lot. I was also a little disappointed by how prominent the B-plot was, and felt like the love story took a back seat to everything else.

Two words: delicious anticipation. I’m growing to really appreciate a good love story every now and then, and I especially appreciated the author’s note at the end of the book. Hello Stranger gave me all the oxytocin-laden bliss Katherine Center intended me to have.

"Hello, Stranger" by Katherine Center is an absolute gem in the world of contemporary romance literature. Center has a unique ability to craft characters that are not just relatable but deeply authentic. I wasn't sure how I would connect to a romance where one character was unable to "see" the other, but Center pulled it off! In fact, Sadie's experience with face blindness, made the romance in the book that much more unique and therefore satisfying. I loved all of the twists and turns and reveals.

This is a delightful, heartwarming story; a book that reminded me of the beauty in unexpected connections and the transformative power of love. "Hello, Stranger," is a must-read, and it reaffirms Katherine Center's position as a true master of the genre.

Highly recommend.

This was my first ever read by Katherine Center and I went in completely blind, and I while I enjoyed the authors writing style I just didn't love the story as much as I hoped I would have.

I received this ARC in return for a honest review. Katherine Center never disappoints! This was a cute romance that reminds us there are “always other ways of seeing”. The books main character suffers from prosopagnosia or face blindness. I looked up the statistics and 1 in 33 people suffer from this condition. The main character is also an artist so as you can imagine it makes what she does very difficult. This book is mostly predictable with a few surprises you don’t see coming. If you want a book you can just sit back and enjoy pick this up for an easy fun read.

I’m a little sad because I struggled with this book and I usually love Center’s books. I found myself putting this book down and not wanting to pick it back up and it’s honestly because I couldn’t connect to the characters. The premise is so cute, Sadie a struggling artist has an unexpected medical emergency that leaves her with face blindness. She falls for two men who both help her. One, the guy that lives in her building and the other the vet who saved her dog. The problem is that I didn’t feel the chemistry with either love interest and the side story with her terrible family took way to long. The plot twist at the end was interesting. Overall, this was just an okay story.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the E-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book was just SO perfect! I loved how descriptive it was about facial prosopagnosia, especially because I have a hard time with faces myself. While I don't have the condition, I do have poor visual working memory (in the 19th percentile!), which often leads me to not be able to recognize people (one time when I was little, I confused a strange man for my grandfather!) and can be harrowing. So this book really spoke to my soul.

And I loved the love interest too, gah. I immediately wanted to go back and re-read parts as soon as I was done. I really wish they had more scenes together, but I also loved reading about her on her own, so it was still so good! I cannot recommend this book highly enough and so very much look forward to what Katherine Center writes next!

Katherine Center did it again. I absolutely love her books. They address real life grief and struggles in many different forms. Her books show love and intimacy without being steamy. I would recommend her books to anyone!

I was excited to get an ARC of this book after reading The Bodyguard. Katherine Center’s use of dialogue in that book, along with the sassy female lead, made me fall in love with her writing.

I expected much the same from this book, and it didn’t disappoint. I absolutely adored the main character Sadie and her sass, her determination, and her passion. The banter she has with the other characters, especially with her “horrible” neighbor had me giggling. Throw in a cute dog, and I am sold. While Sadie suffers a medical emergency, she seems to lose control over everything (the little control she has), but her fight to persevere is so admirable. She goes from the brink of losing it all, to getting all she wanted (and needed!) and more.

I didn’t enjoy this as much as The Bodyguard, and I think it is mainly the dynamic with Sadie’s best friend that really threw me off. The abandonment and lack of sympathy (hard to empathize with a condition like Sadie’s when it is so rare) was just hard for me to digest or understand why that friendship was even included.

Still a very cute book, and alls well that ends well.

A little slow to start but overall an enjoyable and humorous ride. This was my first Katherine Center book and I will definitely be watching for her future books after this one

Very different book for me. A portrait artist on the verge of being famous has to have a surgery that leaves her unable to see faced clearly. Romance and women's fiction is how I would characterize this book. I loved it and loved the characters.