This book was just not for me. I cannot put my finger on it but it just didn’t work. It’s my first book by this author and I will definitely try another one.

This book was SO cute! I really enjoyed this. I had never heard of face blindness, so experiencing this alongside Sadie was interesting. I really enjoyed the various storylines - this is way more than a simple rom-com. The stories between her and her mom, her and her dad, and her and her step-family were just as compelling as the other storyline. I did see the "twist" coming and it made certain scenes even more emotional for the reader.

The audiobook is very well done.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I loved this book! Katherine Center is always a must read for me, I didn't even read the synopsis first, I was that confident. I really empathized with Sadie's struggles, I couldn't even begin to imagine moving through the world in this way. The love story was cute, and while I guessed the twist - the payoff was still great!

Once upon a time, I wasn’t too much of a romance reader. In fact, Katherine Center was probably one of my first forays into romance as a genre, and for a long time I couldn’t quite put my finger on why her books worked for me when a lot just…didn’t.
I realized after reading this book that her style is so unique–creative and not-so-tropey–and I think that’s why it spoke to me because I used to hate tropes.

I have since come to love many romance books, authors, and yea, maybe a trope or two, I just had this revelation and this makes me feel some sort of satisfaction having finally put my finger on that.

Anyway, I wasn’t sure about this one when I first heard about it, but because it’s KC I said, yes please, and…I loved it. It was heartfelt and funny; and the cast of characters were amazing (a lovable/relatable FMC who also happens to have a geriatric dog with a discriminating palate, a hot vet, an evil step-sister and a sexy/helpful neighbor).

The MC has a condition of face-blindness, and that in and of itself lends to a unique premise, as I also love to learn when I read. But what really worked for me was that Center gave a lot of detail as to how the FMC saw the world when she could not rely on her eyes/brain as she had all her life. She had to rely on other senses and clues to help her solve the mystery of who she was encountering every single day and many times a day.

And while I thought it was a fine read all along, I’ll be honest, the ending just tied everything together so nicely that it catapulted from an enjoyable to wow, Center’s the real MVP in about 3-4 chapters. I was really skeptical how this was all going to work out but she masterfully pulled it off and maintains MVP status in my mind and heart.

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced copy.

This was a wonderful story of Sadie and her happy ending.

The book opens with Sadie having a seizure and an accident. She then has emergent brain surgery and is left with face blindness because the area of her brain that processes faces is close to where her surgery site is. She is supposed to paint a portrait for an art contest, but is unable to do so.

She overcomes a lot of obstacles and finds ways to be positive with this change in her life. Her step sister Parker continues to bully her and skew their parents' view of what is happening and takes the face blindness as an advantage.

This is a solid book by Katherine Center and I will look forward to her next book.

I am a huge fan of Katherine Center’s books and devoured her previous novel, The Bodyguard, in 2 days. I had extremely high hopes for Hello Stranger, given how much I loved her previous books. While I enjoyed reading this book, the storyline was very apparent and, as the reader, I was able to predict how the book ended about a third of the way in. It’s definitely a nice summer read with a good message.

I have read several Katherine Center books. I have always, always rooted for the heroine in all of her books. They are usually smart and driven and just facing some challenges.

Sadie was none of those things. It was absolutely unbelievable how stupid this character was. Yes she had "face blindness" (Yes, I am aware this is a real thing, no I do not believe anyone with this condition could possibly be so completely obtuse), but this was just unbelievable. Truly the "twist" was simultaneously obvious and also so unrealistic that I didn't see it until the end, so then I also felt stupid.

Sadie herself was not particularly likeable -- a debbie downer to the core. And then her family was just horribly horrible people. One dimensional and again, unbelievable.

I'm really not sure what happened here.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of Hello Stranger in exchange for an honest review!

How to Walk Away hooked me on Katherine Center and her ability to write a believable love story. Though her last few novels didn't wow me, I loved Hello Stranger. This novel was akin to her older style, and I was all in. It was impossible not to adore Sadie, Joe and Peanut. I was enthralled with Sadie's journey through brain surgery and her resulting face blindness, and I learned so much about her condition. This book was a joy to read, and though I picked up on the twist early on, I still was hooked. Thank you Katherine Center for such a delightful novel!

Kathrine Center never disappoints!! Another great read! Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review! 5 stars

Katherine Center did it again! Her novels are always a treat to read. I first fell in love with her writing after reading “How To Walk Away” and have been a fan since.

She always brings a uniqueness to her writing, and reading about prosopagnosia, or fave blindness, was so interesting to learn about. Her characters are always relatable, funny and easy to love. I would highly recommend this book to friends and family!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first Katherine Center book, and now I can't wait to go through her backlist because this was utterly delightful. It somehow managed to be both light and humorous while also dealing with more serious and deeper topics. While there is a romance at the heart of it, I also liked that it was ultimately a book about a woman finding her true self.

I thought the whole idea of a portrait artist becoming face-blind was interesting and definitely something unique that I've never read about before, and Sophie was such a likeable character. I found myself smiling throughout this and its many sweet moments. Also, that bulldog misunderstanding? Definitely made me laugh.

I also really liked the author's note at the end about romance books being a source of joy and how that should be celebrated.

Katherine Center's books have some of the prettiest covers and I'd read the ARC of her latest release - Hello Stranger back in April, and though I didn't love it as much as her other books, I did enjoy it! I feel like her recent books have more of a rom-com feel to them with the serendipitous coincidences, so that makes me prefer her earlier releases like Happiness For Beginners. But still, her writing is just as amazing as ever with relatable characters that we can't help but love!

Hello, Stranger follows Sadie Montgomery who has just been selected for the finals of an art competition, before the discovery of a health condition that requires brain surgery. The surgery goes well but unexpectedly Sadie wakes up and isn't able to recognize faces anymore. Though the doctors assure her that it might be temporary, it's still a blow to her as she's a portrait artist and this is almost crippling to her, especially when she needs to come up with a stunning piece for the finals. On the bright side, she does like her dog Peanut's new vet, and there is also her new neighbor Joe who is always there to help her when she needs it.

It was hard not to like Sadie as she was tenacious and caring. Sadie goes through a lot of character development and she fails repeatedly but always gets back up again. But I hated everyone else in the book including her father, step sis and even her bff. Honestly they didn't deserve her and were horrible. I guessed the twist early on but I wasn't too keen on the romance here. It requires you to suspend a lot of disbelief. I can understand Sadie missing the clues as she was preoccupied and struggling but the other characters' reactions weren't too believable.

So yeah, overall it was a fun, enjoyable read with an FMC that I adored, but I was annoyed by all of the other characters lol 😂

This was a fun read, and I loved the perspective of Sadie. Towards the end I couldn’t put it down, but the middle was really slow for me. It is worth reading as it highlights a condition I had never heard of before, and really gets you thinking, but was a very predictable romance read.

You guys! This was my first Katherine Center book and it certainly won’t be my last. It was such a cute read! This book made me smile and laugh and I honestly didn’t see the little twist coming towards the end.

I loved Sadie’s character and felt invested in her life and her story. I definitely recommend this book as a cute summer romance.

Thank you so much NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5)

Another excellent book by Katherine Center!! She has such a way of taking a premise that might be something ridiculous, and making it absolutely work! I loved all the characters in this book and how there is so much more to this book than just a typical romance.

I knew I was going to love Hello Stranger in the first chapter, when Sadie is singing "I Second That Emotion" in a party dress in the middle of a grocery story. I knew I had found my people. What happens next is completely unexpected, but, in typical Katherine Center fashion, she tells Sadie's story with humor, a little bit of snark, all while still managing to let the complex emotions she's feeling come through. For those of you who have never read a Katherine Center novel, Hello Stranger is the perfect place to start.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to review!

✨this was such a silly, goofy, cute story!!! i loved following Sadie along on her very tumultuous time in her life, the struggles and the romance and the emotions of it all!

✨there were really emotional moments revolving around Sadie’s parents and feeling alone and misunderstood and ignored that I really enjoyed and I’m glad that the resolution felt real and reasonable and not magically fixed with one conversation, that is so real.

✨of course the romance was the star of the book and our main male love interest was perfect. calm, understanding, helpful, SELFLESS FORREALLLL, and I loved him. I think Sadie at times was a bit aloof. Both as a character trait and because of her medical issue that is introduced at the beginning of the book. But overall, the “reveal” / “resolution” had me giggling and screaming “OF COURSE!!!!!” And that was really fun and goofy.

✨highly recommend and I think I’m gonna have to read the rest of Center’s backlist 👀

✨thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read a free eARC in exchange for my honest review!

I was really hoping to love this book! Katherine Center is a new author for me and i'll try another book of hers but this one wasn't one I loved. It read incredibly slow for me and my interest was never peaked enough to want to continue reading. This book was a DNF.

3.5 ⭐️ rounded

Thank you, Netgalley, for the ARC!

I loved The Bodyguard, so I was so excited to receive this ARC. And I enjoyed this book a lot. It was super easy and fun to read despite being pretty emotive at times.

I loved the plot surrounding her job, especially since it was already crumbling before the surgery. It was interesting to see Sadie navigate that alongside her family with which she already had turmoil. I didn’t care much for the romance since I think this story could’ve been strong enough with the work and family plots (and I can’t stand love triangles). I honestly didn’t pay attention to the romance part.

But it was cute, though. I didn’t hate it. Especially by how it was resolved at the end. Iykyk…

This has nothing to do with my rating, but I hated Sadie’s family, especially Parker. Oh, the willpower to not punch her in the face that Sadie couldn’t see.

A totally enjoyable book, filled with laughs and love. Sadie is an aspiring artist, hoping to win an upcoming art competition when an accident renders her with facial blindness. Although temporary, Sadie can’t see facial details, resulting in a lot of weird situations. Add in a best friend, Sue, and Joe, a love interest as well as Sadie’s complicated past, and you will experience a really fun read. Recommended. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.