This book was amazing! Katherine Center knows how to write characters that will leave a mark on you. Sadie and Joe were so well-rounded and wholesome. I loved just how much we got to see Sadie grow and develop into such an amazing and relatable character.

As always, I was blown away by all the intricate details that Katherine Center does so well. And I'm excited to see what she has in store for us next!

Thank you to the publisher for kindly providing me with an ARC via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I was so excited to read this book; I have loved everything I’ve read by Katherine Center so far!

Sadie is an artist who wins a spot in a portrait competition, but also has to have surgery. After surgery, she realizes she has developed face blindness. Life gets pretty interesting as she tries to hide her new condition while falling in love with her veterinarian and maybe also her obnoxious next door neighbor.

This book was so heartwarming and hopeful, with the most relate-able characters. I loved every minute of it! Definitely recommend for lovers of romance, humor and of course love triangles! Five stars from me

Katherine Center has done it. This novel was a one day read. I couldn't wait to find out the ending. There were so many lessons in here amongst the love story. This will be a reread and probably a favorite this year.

Katherine Center can do no wrong! When I saw this was read now on net galley I literally ran towards my computer. She is the author that got me back into reading and I would read her grocery list.

As usual, this is about Sadie and her journey. She had to go through so much and seemed so alone.

I adored Joe and loved seeing their relationship develop. I was so invested that I just simply couldn't stop reading.

Parker is possibly the worst character in any book I've ever read. What was her problem?!?

I read this book in less that 24 hours. It's a classic KC book that will give you all the feels.

Fun, frothy, delightful - all the good things! Hello Stranger is a charming romance with a unique take on the miscommunication trope.

Sadie is a portrait artist. She is talented but hasn’t gotten her big break. That is all poised to change when she receives notice that she is one of 10 finalists in a prestigious portrait competition with a prize of $10,000. She has six weeks to submit a portrait. Sadie had it all planned out until she is in an accident and then discovers she has a medical condition which she needs brain surgery to treat. The recovery time is short so Sadie still has plenty of time to complete her submission but she soon realizes she is unable to see faces clearly and has face blindness (the doctors assure her it is likely temporary). Will she be able to recover her facial recognition in time for the competition?

This was an engaging read with lovable characters (not you, Parker!). 4.5 stars. Recommended to anyone looking for a sweet, mood-boosting read.

Thank you very much to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

This is my first Katherine Center book, and I can say with certainty that I’ll definitely be picking up more of her books! Center writes with an easy, approachable style—reading this book felt like sitting on the couch and gossiping with your best friend. I have to imagine the July publication date was strategic, because this book would make a fantastic vacation read.

When a book is written from a first person perspective (like this one), I often find it difficult to get a handle on the main character’s personality—I just naturally self-insert. To Center’s credit, I did have that problem with this book. Sadie really felt like her own character.

In fact, Sadie felt so real, I spent most of this book oscillating between wanting to knock some sense into her and feeling deep, deep, secondhand embarrassment for her.

Let’s be honest, even before her surgery, Sadie is a bit self-centered, and more than a bit judgmental. She has a habit of jumping to the absolute worst conclusions about people, some of which are justified, but others are not.

After her surgery, I was frustrated with Sadie’s unwillingness to explain her disability—especially as she and Joe became closer and closer.

I think most readers will see the “twist” coming a mile away (hence the second hand embarrassment), but I also think that must be intentional. As Sadie herself says, there were tons of hints, she just ignored them.

All of that said, I really appreciated Sadie’s flaws and how much she grew by the end of the book. And I can’t wait to read more of Katherine Center’s

Ms. Katherine, if you wrote obits in newspapers, I would read them for fun!

Gosh, this book was so good! Katherine Center is incapable of writing bad stories. I loved Sadie, I loved Joe, I loved Peanut, I loved the vet...all of the characters were spot on perfect! I can't wait for pub day so that I can get my hands on a physical copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you @NetGalley for the ARC of @katherinecenter ‘s Hello Stranger. This book was fantastically written. I rooted so hard for Sadie, and thoroughly enjoyed this emotional and heartwarming book! Another 5 🌟read from one of my favorite authors, I devoured it in 1 day.

What a fantastic romcom. Katherine Center does no wrong and I’ll forever be a reader of hers. I absolutely adored Sadie and would read many more books if she was in them. Such a relatable and thoughtful main character! I’d recommend this book to every single person who loves a romance. All of them. It’s simply a great, happy, heartwarming read.

I loved this book! Sadie is an artist who has brain surgery and then gets a type of amnesia where she can't see faces. This totally sucks for her because she's a portrait artist. She then meets 2 guys who she's very interested in... or so she thinks!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

Bahhhh! So.. did this story have some cheeseball moments, a few cliches & a lil bit of “I can already see what’s coming”? Absolutely!
But I love you K Center & I wish you’d be my got damn friend already🥴😂
Rocky, heartwarming, feel-good, coincidental, frustrating as hell & gahh, I loved it every second!
4 solid ⭐️! I will always, always read Center’s work.
Huge thanks to Netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review!🙌🏼

"Hello Stranger" by Katherine Center is pure PERFECTION!! Sadie is an Artist who has her life turned upside down by an accident and she suddenly sees life differently. She has to face her past grieve, while trying to navigate through her current situation. With the help from her best friend Sue, a helpful neighbor Joe, and a hot vet Oliver, and a not so evil stepmom, Sadie learns its ok to need/accept help from others. When Sadie's world does not look like how she is used to. Sadie realizes that maybe she never really "saw" before and with a different view things became more confusing while also becoming a bit more clearer! This book is full of Heart, Love, Acceptance. Courage, Forgiveness and little Misunderstanding!!

🌟 THANK YOU to the Publisher, Author and Netgalley for the ebook in exchange for an Honest review!!

#HelloStranger
#Netgalley

I was so excited upon receiving this book, and it was everything I hoped for and more! A romantic tale with a side of medical drama, touching and delightful at the same time.

This book was soooo fun! Found out I was lucky enough to snag an early copy and did nothing but sit and read for the next 4 hours!

Katherine once again, made me fall in love with the characters and while I suspected the “twist” it was so much fun to have unfold! I’m always left wanting more from her characters and the same rings true with this book. Such a delight and will be adored by many to come when this book hits shelves in July!

From the very beginning of the story the connection to Sadie is easy and a sense of who she is comes through in such a likable way. I was drawn to the storyline of Sadie and her dad as well as how much she loved and was similar to her mom. I wanted to eat Pad Thai with Peanut and was thrilled he lived to see the happy ending.

Katherine Center did it again, this time with "Hello Stranger," an unforgettable story of a woman who forgets faces.

Sadie, an aspiring artist is living out of her studio after a bad breakup. There with her dog Peanut she is trying to figure out how to get out of the studio and make her mark in the art world. She is poised to enter a prestigious portrait competition when she finds out she urgently needs brain surgery. When Sadie wakes up from surgery- all seems fine until she realizes she can't see or recognize faces anymore. Family, friends, the barista at the coffee shop- she can't recognize any of them from their faces. Sadie learns to use social cues, and relies on voices to help her navigate life as she recovers. What she can't figure out how to do is how to recreate faces for her submission to the portrait competition. Among all of this- her dog gets sick and she fears losing the one thing she can recognize.

I think every time I review a Katherine Center book, I emphasize the strength of character development in her stories. Center's writing makes the story come alive and flow. She connects you to the characters so there is an emotional investment in what happens next. "Hello Stranger," is about relationships with yourself, the people around you- those you've known forever and just met and how to overcome adversity in difficult situations. When this one comes out in the summer, I highly recommend you put it in your beach bag, carry-on, or add it to your e-reader!

Thank you, as always to @Netgalley St. Martin's Publishing Group and Katherine Center for allowing me to read and review early, always an honor!

I love Katherine Center’s books, so I was really excited to get to read this one. Hello Stranger is incredible! I absolutely loved it.

I can’t even imagine having to go through Sadie’s journey. To first find out that you need brain surgery, then you wake up and can’t see faces - I think I’d just find a hole to crawl into. That’s not what Sadie does, however. She finds the strength to power through it, and I admire her so much for that.

The romance aspect was really cute. I really liked “Joe,” he’s a great guy. The twist was great, although predictable (which isn’t a bad thing at all!)

There is also a lot of family drama in the book, which I always love. I think it adds an extra layer of depth to the book. I loved Parker and all of her pranks, even though they were awful.

This might be my favorite book of Katherine Center’s so far. I’ve never read a book centered around face blindness, and it made it so interesting. I definitely recommend it!

This was a great book! This one tugged on my heart strings. Definitely recommending to friends! Thanks Net Galley!

When I start a new Katherine Center book I know to turn off my phone, cancel appts, find a comfy spot and just read. I say this every time but this is my new favorite. Katherine creates characters that are nuanced, real, and fascinating.
Sadie’s life is already complicated. Still trying to gain respect from her father, she’s lost her apartment and boyfriend. Her beloved dog is getting too old and she’s been accepted in a prestigious portrait art competition where she must have a portrait ready in six weeks, but now finds out she must have life threatening brain surgery. While at first surgery seems to be a success Sadie soon discovers she can no longer see faces and has face blindness. Not great in the best of times but for a portrait artist who has to paint one in six weeks, catastrophic, and her best friend doesn’t get it.
When she meets the new handsome vet who saves her dog she decides here is some good news, he’ll be her future, and he’s nothing like the creepy neighbor in her building she keeps bumping into.
Center has done extensive research into portrait painting and face blindness, presenting her facts in an interesting layman way. You can tell she loves research.
Her romances are always a cut above the ordinary with unusual plots, wonderful characters, and a joy to her writing that always comes through. This is a wonderful romance book I can easily start reading a second time.

This was such a fun twist on the “amnesia” novel. The main character loses her ability to recognize faces, which is sometimes hilarious, sometimes sad, but utterly fascinating. I appreciate learning more about facial fusiform gyrus, but also appreciated it being as part of a fun romance. Would recommend!