Once again, I stayed up until way past my bedtime to finish the last 40% of this novel by the fabulous @katherinecenter. I have loved all of her books and this one just adds to the love.

I loved the character buildup and the background. I had a harder time empathizing with the main character Sadie than I have other characters in the past. But I tend to struggle with being a realist (read pessimist), a wall-builder (read cold), and a loner (read bitchy). So I can empathize with characters I relate to.

Once this book all fell into place, I was along for the ride the rest of the way. I kind of knew how it was all going to happen really early on and honestly am always grateful for KC’s promise of happy endings. It’s not silly to want a happy ending - that’s what we all want.

Oh the story; let’s chat. Sadie is a portrait artist who suffers a seizure that ends up being a brain hemorrhage. The fix the problem but she develops face blindness: she cannot recognize nor see the full faces of the people she comes in contact with. As an artist, this is a problem because she’s just placed in a prestigious Art contest with a grand prize of 10K. But she can’t paint portraits if she can’t see faces. Hence the dilemma.

I loved this story - pre-order and mark your calendars for July 2023! (I also love that KC’s books come out right at my birthday - happy birthday to meee!)

Thanks for @stmartinspress and @katherinecenter for letting me have this copy sooooo far in advance

Unique and charming.! Liked it quite a lot. Good chemistry and humor, one scene in particular made me laugh out loud. Interesting premise here with the face blindness, an affliction I admittedly didn’t know much about beforehand. Thanks for the advanced copy!

Oh my gosh! Katherine Center has done it again. She has become one of my favorite romance writers with her last two books. This was so cute and funny! Her books always make me laugh. I absolutely DESPISED Parker, but this sweet book made me forget about the unlikeable character. Just an overall feel good book.

I so love this story!
I especially adore Sadie, the main character of this novel.
Sadie has brain surgery that creates an unusual follow-up complication she never expected to happen.
How will this young, creative painter learn to regain or gain some control over her life as she attempts to cope with the difficulties that she now must face?
There is actual laugh out loud moments, anguish, fear and hope as Sadie moves forward each day.
I was determined to figure out how life for this sweet young woman would turn out and I read it quickly.
There are so many layered pieces in this story that all come together nicely in the final pages.
I had no idea how the this would happen, but Catherine Center nailed it and this book will definitely be one of my favorites!
Thank you to #NetGalley and to #St. Martin's Press for this ARC and allowing me to read and provide my own review. Well done!

Katherine Center does it again by giving us a lovable, quirky character who triumphs again and again while failing in family, work, and dating. Sadie undergoes a brain surgery after a near death experience. The aftermath is more than just physical healing. She learns to accept help, speak up for herself and fall in love with the dashing veterinarian. Or Joe. Or no, maybe it is the vet. Lovely to read and satisfying to finish.

k.Center never disappoints a reader. Hello stranger is a look into a brian trauma that cause a person not to have face recognition. The charter needs to learn to trust internal natural abilities - while dating, family relationships- life.
I enjoyed the store line, but I did find it a bit too wordy.
All in all enjoyable read.

Thank you to #partner St Martin's for our copy of Hello Stranger by Katherine Center.

This book is available on July 11, 2023
Rating: 4.5 star
Genre: Romance/Fiction

Thoughts: I just LOVE Katherine Center's books. We were so excited to receive a copy of Hello Stranger. When you finish this book, you MUST read the author's note. I think it summarizes why I love romance books, as well as why I love Katherine's books so much!

This story highlights a medical condition that I wasn't even aware of to be honest. I love that her books portray real life situations...the struggles, but also the beauty and the light in the world. I truly always finish her books feeling better about life.

This book was wonderful...Highly recommend picking this one up!

Spoilers Included!
I thought this story was very engaging. I literally stayed up all night to finish it. I did think there was one hole in the story that bothered me., but I would still recommend.
Spoiler....
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If Sadie were leaving multiple messages on Joe's phone, wouldn't he likely have a VM message which stated his actual name? Especially as a vet he would specify who he was in his messages. So, even though I knew it was the same person for all of the story (and I think we were supposed to able to easily figure that out), Sadie should have known as soon as she first called his phone. I also thought that since she specified Dr. Addison's very specific gait that she would recognize that gait on Joe.. If not in his jacket, I thought this would be a way to recognize him and she would see him as the vet and not the neighbor. So, those 2 elements were questionable to me, but overall I loved the story line and would recommend this book.

I definitely paused my other books when I was approved for Katherine Center's new book, Hello Stranger. And once again, Center delivers a wonderful book.

Center has cemented herself the queen of feel good reads. She has a knack for crafting stories with characters that have every right to feel hopeless, but yet choose to see the good and beauty in the world. Hello Stranger's Sadie is absolutely in this camp.

It's impossible to close a Katherine Center book without cracking a smile. When I finished Hello Stranger, I grinned and marveled how Center can take all the ugly emotions in life and turn them into a joyous, optimistic story. As always, I can't wait to read her next book!

NOTE: I received this ARC from NetGalley!

I found this book to be very charming. The two leads were very likable and though it was predictable, the Prosopagnosia (face blindness) aspect was fascinating and didn't feel like a gimmick. I found some of the family dynamics with her stepmother and stepsister in particular to feel a little scattered. All in all, an enjoyable read!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Katherine Center, and NetGalley for the chance to read an early copy of Hello Stranger. I loved this book so much! I am a huge fan of Katherine Center and Hello Stranger was no different. Sadie is a portrait painter who, after experiencing a medical emergency, develops facial blindness. Hell Strange is the story of how Sadie grows and changes as a result of this facial blindness. The character development of Sadie was really emotional and the romance that follows is very sweet, with lots of chemistry. I loved how the book made you laugh and cry throughout. This was a 5 star read and I cannot recommend this to readers enough!

I was granted an ARC of this wonderful novel by one of my favorite authors. It did not disappoint. Sadie has fallen on tough times. All she wants is to be loved by friends and family and be left alone to her own dreams of becoming an artist. I found myself rooting for Sadie She counts on her good friend Sue and Sue's parents for understanding and help. Her mother passed away and her father just doesn't connect with her. Her step mother and stepsister are, in her mind, evil. Without giving too much away I will tell you that an unfortunate event sends her to the hospital and where it is determined she needs surgery. After this surgery she is left in a peculiar state. This post-surgery event will change her life. I thought it interesting to learn about this very real problem. The story goes on and Sadie's life changes in many ways...and while she feels hopeless....she learns how to cope. This story has love and laughter all over it. I found myself racing to see how this would all turn out for Sadie and discovered that this story taught me that one should never give up hope.....I recommend it whole-heartedly and
as always await the next masterpiece from this author.....

Katherine Center writes tug at your heart books that have a misunderstanding before the finish. The FMC, Sadie, is an artist. After getting nominated for a huge prize, she suffers an episode that requires brain surgery. After brain surgery, she suffers from Face Blindness. She can't see faces.

This book documents a portrait artist and her struggle with finding out how to learn people with this new (maybe temporary) disability.

Joe is her neighbor, that has lived in her building for 2 years and she's never seen before the day of her surgery.

I will say that I can give this book 4 stars because although Joe is a cinnamon roll MMC, this movie is just too predictable. I could predict the plot twist far to far in advance. I still enjoyed it, but it was very easy to predict.

Thanks to St. Martin's Publishing and Netgalley for eARC.

WOW. This book is for sure one to add to your summer TBR list next year! Coming out July of 2023, Hello Stranger, features Sadie, an aspiring artist who was at the peak of her career. She had just found out that her artwork would be featured in a portrait contest when she had an unexpected seizure in the middle of the road. Luckily for Sadie, a bystander flew in to save the day…and her life.
Essentially, Sadie had suffered a traumatic brain injury and needed surgery in order to resolve the issue. After having surgery, she was left with prosopagnosia aka facial blindness. She could no longer make out anyone’s faces. She recognized people based on their other characteristics like voice, hair, and gait.
This condition caused a lot of confusion for Sadie and obviously she struggled with her job since she was a portrait artist. The one constant through all of it though? Joe. Read the book to find out more about the swoon-worthy character that Joe plays.
Much of this book focused on traumatic brain injuries, specifically venous malformations. It went into detail about brain surgery and also prosopagnosia.
As a venous malformation survivor myself, this book spoke to me. When I was 17, I wasn’t as lucky as Sadie and my malformation burst. I had a massive stroke requiring immediate brain surgery. It was a scary time and I feel so lucky to be alive. I love seeing awareness being brought to something that many individuals are unaware of so HUGE kudos to Katherine Center for being an advocate and truly making me (and so many other people) feel seen. ❤️

Katherine Center has done it again! I've read all of this author's books and while I've loved all of them, I have to say that this was my favorite! It has a unique storyline, engaging characters, interesting relationships, and an ending I truly didn't see coming. I found myself laughing aloud at the end, surprised and in awe of how she pulled it all together!

The main character's experience with facial blindness was something I'd never heard of before, and I found it very interesting to learn about. I appreciated both Center's research on the condition and her insight and character development on how all challenges can bring positives as well. I highly recommend this book- looking forward to what she writes next!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my gifted review copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing this DRC in exchange for an honest review.

Katherine Center has done it again!! Already an auto read author for me, her books are always warm and inviting. This one did not disappoint. Sadie Montgomery is a struggling artist. She is estranged from her father and has a Cinderella-esque relationship with her step mother and evil step sister. Her struggles seem to go from bad to worse when she learns she needs brain surgery and her father (an accomplished doctor) will not allow for delay. Coming out of surgery, Sadie feels great, until her bestie Sue comes to visit. Faced with an earth shattering surgery complication, Sadie must figure out how to navigate both life and her impending art show final.

During this time, Sadie finds she must lean on new cues for people and society. She notices people she hadn't previously, including her neighbor Joe and her new vet Dr Oliver Addison. This becomes critical when Sue is whisked away. Sadie realizes Joe is a supremely helpful and caring human. He assists Sadie work through more grief and trauma than even Sadie realizes. Just when I began to wonder where Dr Oliver Addison had gone after saving Peanut, he rears up in the story for a tense and ultimately glorious ending.

Katherine Center has a talent for taking things most people take for granted and showing us, with a swift kick in the behind, how much we are missing out on. This book leaves readers feeling the warm and fuzzies with a side dose of "don't forget to see and appreciate the things around you".

This is my second favorite Katherine Center book! I was skeptical after reading the description but it sucked me in and I am lucky to have received an early copy from the publisher!

Loved this book! I am always a fan of Katherine Center but this might be my new favorite! This was just such an unique romance that I read so quickly.

I’m in love with Katherine Centers’ plots. In Hello stranger an aspiring artist life blows up in a matter of weeks and she’s left figuring out how to put the pieces back together. Figuratively and literally because she can’t recognize anyone’s face. From the first chapter I knew I was going to enjoy this read. The story takes the reader along with recently diagnosed ,Sadie, and highlights the brain condition of prosopagnosia. Never having heard of this condition prior, it was interesting to see it highlighted in the main character along with her process of healing and seeing things differently. In general I loved the theme of being forced to look at life differently, wether that be the strangers you’ll never see again or the people who’ve been in front of you the entire time.

Everything comes to a complete stop when a new Katherine Center book is released. My #1, must read, comfort reads. And this one does not disappoint. Although I actually saw where this one was going early on, it certainly did not take away from the enjoyment I got from reading it. It was an absolute honor to get to read this in advance. Thanks NetGalley, much, much appreciation!