3.5 Stars

A feel good story about Sadie, our main character, overcoming many challenges life has thrown at her all at once. We follow her journey after brain surgery has left her not being able to perceive faces. Now, she has to navigate her work as an artist and life in general without being able to see people’s faces. She discovers that sometimes we don’t see everything around us clearly and sometimes we only see what we want to see.

Overall I liked the idea and message of the book and it was a fun, quick, lighthearted read. It did take me a bit to get into the story off the bat, however the later half pace was better. I also did predict the twist early on in the story but I enjoyed reading how the main character discovers this.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Katherine Center for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this romcom! It took me a bit to get into, but I really loved all the layers. Center's characters are very dimensional and original. The misunderstandings were believable and hilarious. I really appreciated Center exploring some complicated medical situations and not shying away from showing what it's like to loose control of your life a little bit. Very relatable.

Overall, I found this to be a really smart, hilarious, and must-read romcom. Highly recommended. My favorite romcom this spring and summer.

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

4 stars

Who knew face blindness was a thing? I sure didn't. How awful! This was a wonderful premise for a story with multiple layers of interest. The main character is struggling with several challenges all converging at the moment when things should have been turning to her favour. Take some family turmoil, medical issues, financial crisis and the added fun of a "love is blind" trope and this is the novel you'd get.

I'm a fan. When's the next one?

Thank you to St. Martin's Publishing Group and NetGalley for the advanced copy of Hello Stranger by Katherine Center.

Struggling artist Sadie Montgomery and her adorable, spoiled senior dog Peanut, undergoes a "minor" brain surgery that results in seeing the world in a whole new way... facial blindness. She can still see! But recognizing faces proves impossible.

Katherine Center is an auto-read author for me, and has been for a long time. Her books are always such a nice combination of heartwarming, heart aching, and fun. If books were a hug, Katherine Center's would be those really good hugs. :)

This was a fun read! The facial blindness was definitely something I had never heard of. And I did enjoy how it was worked into some fun twists at the end. I had already assumed the main twist, but that didn't take away from the fun of it.

I enjoyed this book! I don't think it outranks some of my favorite Katherine Center books, but it's definitely worth the read.

Easy, cheesy, simple read and I loved it.

I liked Sadie (MC) a lot and enjoyed watching her navigate this time in her life. I cringed every time Parker opened her mouth, it was like watching a bad hallmark movie. Overall, I would describe this book as a cheesy hallmark movie.

the plot was super cute and easy to read. I kindddddd of predicted the ending, but it was wrapped up nicely. Katherine did a great job creating dynamic, enticing, witty characters.

I think her writing style is a breath of fresh air. It’s so simple without being overexplained or complicated. I’m also a sucker for 1st person POV.

This was my first book by Katherine Center and I will definitely read more by her. I was so surprised by how much I enjoyed this book! Such easy, cheesy reads.

I did not give this book 5 stars because I would’ve loved more of a relationship between Sadie and Joe or Dr. Addison, more smut or romance in general. I also thought Parker was just so awful and cringy I hated reading her parts lol.

Thank you to Net Galley, St. Martin's Press, and Katherine Center for the ARC of this book for an honest review!

Katherine Center can do no wrong for me.... she is one of my favorite authors however I couldn't really connect with this story. It started off very slow for me but it picked up and nobody does romantic comedy like KC :)

I am great at remembering people but terrible at names. And my big pet peeve is when people don’t remember me at all.

Hello Stranger is the story of Sadie, a woman who had a bleed on her brain and after surgery was left being unable see faces. She could see everything else but faces became jumbled. And she was a portrait artist. This was a cute romcom about overcoming the odds and pushing through, despite the obstacles. I figured out the “twist” pretty early but it was still entertaining and sweet to watch it all unfold. And the relationship with her stepsister added some comic relief. This is a perfect beach read (or lake read, in my case).

HELLO STRANGER
Katherine Center


In HELLO STRANGER we are following Sadie. Sadie has just had brain surgery and upon recovering she realizes she cannot make out people's faces. Every person she sees is a stranger to her. She has a form of Prosopagnosia.

Sadie is a portrait artist by trade and as you can imagine this disorder is very unsettling for her. She finds herself rediscovering what it means to be an artist and finds herself trying to piece back together her life in a more appealing way.

Enter not one, but two love interests to lust after. The rest is history.

I did an entire post talking about books featuring characters with Prosopagnosia. But this is the first romance novel I have ever read that featured this occurrence. I thought it created a very interesting dynamic. I have learned even more about the subject and I thought that was a big bonus for the book.

I loved the idea that since Sadie can’t make out faces Every. Other. Sense. Is. Heightened. This made for some of the steamiest scenes I've ever read by Katherine Center. Although fleeting, this tension between the characters went a long way.

HELLO STRANGER is a love story but it's also about grief. Not only the grief of losing a loved one but also the grief of losing and letting go of what you thought your life was going to be like. And giving birth to and accepting the life you were meant to live.

HELLO STRANGER is my favorite of Katherine Center's books. And it might be the most romantic book I've read recently. You can find HELLO STRANGER by Katherine Center everywhere books are sold, it's out now!

Thanks to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copies! It was a pleasure to read and be given the opportunity to provide feedback!

HELLO STRANGER...⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I am so glad that I came back and gave this author another go after not liking her last release. She impressed me with this one. I have rec this to my friends and family and even bought a couple physical copies. Such a good and interesting read

Katherine Center is an auto-buy author for me and I have loved all her books. This one fell flat and I was so disappointed. There were several things that just didn't work. Also, there was a huge continuity error and I hope was corrected before the book was published.

I am always honest with my reviews, and it pains me to say that this was not my favorite Katherine Center book but please do not let that discourage you from reading it. I have read so many rave reviews! Now that the book has been publishd, I plan to reread it to see if my opinion has changed.

Thank you to #netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed Katherine’s previous book and didn’t have high expectations as the synopsis sounded like it might not be my cup of tea. Spoiler alert - I was wrong. This was a quirky and entertaining romance novel that was very easy to read. To be transparent there were times when I wanted to bop the MC on the head because her behavior was mildly irritating but also I’ve never experienced the traumatic events she has so who am I to judge…she’s prob handling it better than I would. Katherine also managed to write it in a way that the plot kept me engaged even if the character wasn’t my favorite.

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center is a true delight! Sadie Montgomery life is complicated, but it has just started to turn around. She is a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition. But, then after complications she is diagnosed with face blindness? What does that mean when you are portrait artist?

This novel was incredible and I read it in a day which involved staying up too late. Sadie was such an interesting character who I connected with and enjoyed her journey. The secondary characters helped create the perfect story. The romance was beautiful and complicated in a good way. (To avoid spoiler I am not being too specific. ) I loved the writing style of hope and how it created fantastic anticipation. I appreciated the themes of being compassionate with our selves and others, embracing our humanity, and being reminded that we see what we expect to see.

"It takes a certain kind of courage to be brave in love. A courage you can only get better at through practice."

Hello Stranger will be a favorite of 2023 for me. The writing was magnificent, the characters were endearing, and the themes of hope and perseverance resonated with me. I very highly recommend.

I was given a copy by the publisher and not required to write a positive review.

Katherine Center has done it yet again! Katherine has a way of writing swoon-worthy romance moments mixed with belly laughing comedic wit. I went into this blindly but was more than pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this book.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an e-Book ARC.

After an accident, portrait artist Sadie suffers from hopefully/probably temporary face blindness (aka acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia). Will she be able to paint a portrait for a prestigious competition in this condition? And, what about dating?

Well. Hmmmm. So far my 2.5 star rating is in the minority, but overall, I was very disappointed by this plot and found the execution lacking. The meet cute at the beginning was well, cute, and I liked many of the characters, including Sadie, her dog, Peanut, her best friend, Sue, and new friend, Joe. I also absolutely LOVED Sadie's ritual on her deceased mom’s birthday of baking her mom's favorite cake and talking to her like she’s still alive.

However, I did not like Sadie's irritating stepsister, Parker, and the way she constantly bullied Sadie felt tiresome and overdone. I typically love books by this author but this one was missing the light hearted humor and much of it felt like one long pity party for Sadie. The overall message of the story was good, but the twist (which I guessed early on) was super lame in my opinion. I won't go into details to avoid spoilers, but let's just say that I don't buy the reasons presented.

If you're looking for another book about face blindness, then I would highly recommend Rock Paper Scissors (4 stars) by Alice Feeney!

Things You Save in a Fire (5 stars) and What You Wish For (5 stars) remain my favorites by this author.

Location: Houston, Texas

I received an advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This book was delightful! Center was able to take a serious subject and turn it into a lighthearted adventure. I adored the "anticipation" between Sadie and Joe. The family and friend dynamics only enhanced the overall plot of the book. Overall, it was a fast paced, perfect read for summer.

My only complaint was there not a single Chuck Norris joke! (Center's longtime readers will get it)

First I would like to thank St. Martin's Press for providing me a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

This is the story of struggling artist Sadie Montgomery and her adorable, spoiled senior dog Peanut, as she struggles with sight blindness, brought on by a "minor" surgery. Throw in a (maybe) hot vet and her (possibly) hot yet annoying neighbor, Joe, and you've got a perfect recipe for falling in love in the least likely ways!!

What I Loved:
- Peanut, I am ALWAYS a fan of pets in books cause who doesn't want to read about pet shenanigans
- Joe, he lives in Sadie's building and their landlord calls him "Helpful" he is always there to help and support the people of the building and just sounds like a guy I'd be happy to have in my life
- Face Blindness, I had heard of it but it was super interesting experience to read about an artist who lost the ability to see faces
- Sadie, I just appreciate reading about someone who is just struggling and dealing with day to day cause I feel like that is more relatable than characters who have it all together
- Setting, I'm a sucker for any stories set in Texas and I love that this was set in Houston since I am familiar with the city and that helped me build it in my mind

I ended up really liking this book, I will say it did have a bit of a slow start and I'm still a bit confused why the step sister was necessary for the story but once it got going I could not put it down. Anyone out there that likes a slow burn friends to lovers romance that has unique medical conditions, cute animals and a crazy hot neighbor then you should absolutely check this book out!

I absolutely adore Katherine Center. Her books never disappoint and this one is definitely a favorite. I honestly had to do a little research on this one. I had never heard of Prosopagnosia. I wanted to see if it was a real thing. Spoiler alert it is! I was shocked to read that Brad Pitt thinks he has this. I fell in love with both characters and rooted for them throughout their journey in this book. I laughed at Sadie and even teared up at times sympathizing with her. This book had me speculating but still doubting. I really fell in love with this book from the beginning. This is a must-read!

I enjoyed the concept but the problem is that I really did not care for the protagonist, Sadie. I get that Parker was a horrible person and I understood the struggles as an artist, but I ended up reading the story more for the fun lighthearted side while trying to ignore the parts of Sadie's personality that irked me. It was an enjoyable story otherwise.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This book exceeded all expectations! I had not read a Katherine Center book until picking up this one and it did not disappoint! The premise of the book was unique, the relationships, complicated and the inner turmoil, raw. If you're looking for a not so typical love story, this is the book for you!

Thank you @stmartinspress @netgalley for my review copy!

📖Sadie is a portrait artist with a lot to prove to her family. When she wins a coveted spot in a portrait contest, this is her big break. However, after an unfortunate accident and subsequent brain surgery, Sadie finds herself with face blindness. So wouldn’t it be just her luck to have her portrait submission due, have to figure out how to navigate life now that she can’t recognize anyone, oh and also fall in love with two different men?!

💭I started out a little unsure with this one, but I’m glad I stuck it out because I ended up being totally sucked into Sadie’s story. The face blindness aspect of the book was so interesting. I loved learning about the condition and it also made a unique plot for the story. I also liked that it was a nice balance of funny romcom type moments, but also some heavy emotional stuff too.

📚Read this if you like…
Miscommunication trope
Funny banter
Romcoms
Family dramas
Closed door romance
What Alice Forgot by Lisa Genova

✍️How I rated other books by this author:
Things You Save in a Fire- 4⭐️
The Bright Side of Disaster- 3⭐️