This was a sweet romance where the main character, Sadie, is a struggling artist who must undergo a little “minor” brain surgery. Upon recovery, she quickly realizes that something is wrong. She can not see people’s faces. She is experiencing a side effect from the surgery called Prosopagnosia, face blindness…NOT a spoiler, this is part of the synopsis. (If you have read Alice Feeney’s Rock Paper Scissors or you are a Neurologist, then you already know what this is).

I loved how the author shows us the evolution of Sadie as she learns to navigate her new life and learns to lean on her other senses in order to help her identify people. I love how she had to discover a different way to paint portraits because of course, how in the world was she going to continue being an artist if she couldn’t see peoples faces.

The only reason I am giving this book 3.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 is because it was way too predictable for me. I guessed the entire plot in the first couple of chapters and it was one of those guesses that I knew I was right. And I was SPOT ON! BUT there were so many parts I loved and even found myself highlighting.

Now, if you are looking for a 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review, go and read the AUTHOR’s NOTE! I loved everything she had to say there. It was a beautiful love letter to romance novels. How in her 40’s was when she discovered that books could be fun (um, hello, that’s me!).

“Romance novels, rom-coms, happy love stories- they all run on a blissful sense that we are moving toward something better. The clues writers drop in romance novels don’t give you things to dread. They give you things to look forward to.”

“Knowing you are heading to a happy ending lets you relax and look forward to better things ahead. And there is a name for what you are feeling when you do that….HOPE!”

“Structurally, thematically, psychologically-love stories create hope and then use it as fuel. Two people meet-and then, over the course of three hundred pages, they move from alone to together. From closed to open. From judgy to understanding. From cruel to compassionate. From needy to fulfilled. From ignored to seen. From misunderstood to appreciated. From lost to found. That is a guarantee to the genre: Things will get better. It is a gift the love story gives you”

“I think love stories are deeply misunderstood- in part, at least, because they don't work like other stories. Love stories don't have happy endings because their authors didn't know any better. They have happy endings because they let readers access a rare and precious kind of emotional bliss. Yes, misery is important. But I think joy is just as important. I think the ways we take care of each other matter just as much as the ways we let each other down. That light matters just as much as darkness. That play matters as much as work, and kindness matters as much as cruelty, and hope matters as much as despair. More so, even. Because tragedy is a given, but joy is a choice.”

“…it's because love is nourishing.
We all sense it deep down, I hope-past the snark and the tough-guy exteriors. Love is healing. It's unapologetically optimistic. It's the thing that puts US back together. So I write stories about things getting better about people healing from hard things, and trying to connect, and working like hell to become the best versions of themselves, despite it all. I hope this story made you laugh. And swoon. I hope it kept you up way too late reading and gave you that blissed-out, oxytocin-laden, tipsy feeling that all the best love stories create. I hope it gave you something to think about, and maybe a new perspective. But more than anything, I hope it gave you something to look forward to.”

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review….Pub Date: 7/11/2023

Thank you to Katherine Center, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

First, let's take a moment to stare at and appreciate the cover of this book! It is hands down one of my favorite covers. Secondly, this book made me laugh out loud more than once. This book was more than just a romance book to me.

I loved Sadie, and let's not forget Peanut! This is definitely one I will recommend over and over again.

I forgot to write my review for this book! I loved it. Just like every other book I've read by Katherine Center. This one deals with face blindness, something I was familiar with after reading about it in another book. But how do you deal with that when you're a portrait artist? The character of Sadie was very well written and she tried so hard to complete a portrait to be entered in a competition. My heart went out to her. She was lovable, as was her neighbor Joe. This book was witty with a great cast of characters. Although, I care for the evil step-sister but she was a good character in this story despite her evilness. I enjoyed this book so much that I was sad to have it end. It would be great to have this made into a movie. I highly recommend this one for the beach, coffee shop, or just sitting at home in a comfortable chair. Grab a copy today!

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

I read this beach book in a day. Interesting set up with the complicated medical issue and what you see is not always what is real.

A Cinderella-like setup is not what this book ends up being. Through a series of miscommunications that almost seem impossible, the book brings together a tough family situation, trust, and art in a way that I didn’t ever really see coming.

It was a refreshing read and enjoyable the entire way through. While I don’t think this book is going to be as big of a hit as her last, it does fill that need for a good summer book to read that deals with big issues but in a light-hearted way. There’s a lot of self-discovery woven throughout this story that felt like a good therapy session in a positive way. I can’t wait to see what Katherine Center comes out with next!

𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵, 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭!

Another fantastic book from Katherine Center, you can’t go wrong with her stories, everyone one of them is unique, heartwarming and awesome. A perfect summer read.

Thank you SMP Romance for this gifted copy.

𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 by Katherine Center releases tomorrow July 11, 2023.

https://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx/

I enjoyed this story and the writing. The topic of face blindness was interesting. I liked the characters, but they seemed a little oblivious.

Sadie Montgomery never saw what was coming . . . Literally! One minute she’s celebrating the biggest achievement of her life—placing as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition—the next, she’s lying in a hospital bed diagnosed with a “probably temporary” condition known as face blindness. She can see, but every face she looks at is now a jumbled puzzle of disconnected features. Imagine trying to read a book upside down and in another language. This is Sadie’s new reality with every face she sees.

But, as she struggles to cope, hang on to her artistic dream, work through major family issues, and take care of her beloved dog, Peanut, she falls into—love? Lust? A temporary obsession to distract from the real problems in her life?—with not one man but two very different ones. The timing couldn’t be worse.

If only her life were a little more in focus, Sadie might be able to find her way. But perceiving anything clearly right now seems impossible. Even though there are things we can only find when we aren’t looking. And there are people who show up when we least expect them. And there are always, always other ways of seeing.

Loved it.

Katherine Center’s books always leave me feeling more hopeful and reflective than before, and Hello Stranger was no exception! This was probably Center’s most heavily researched book, and the focus on the main character having face blindness was so fascinating. I had never heard of this condition before reading about it here.

Here are some other things I loved about this book:
💙 Sadie’s ability to keep going even though she was facing a huge challenge. Many early reviewers of this book have said that Sadie was whiny, but I thought the opposite. Of course she was down on herself a lot of the time because of her situation, and that is completely understandable because it was such a hard thing to deal with. But she came out the other side more grateful than before. Her character growth was incredible.
💙 Joe was such a sweetheart and an enneagram 2 to the core (like me!) I loved his servant’s heart for helping pet sit for the animals in the apartment building.
💙 there were so many lovable side characters: Sue, Mr Kim, and Augusta were all fabulous.
💙 Sadie’s cute dog Peanut was one of my favorite parts!
💙 the twist in the story was so out of left field for me! But it made for a very satisfying ending.

I loved the healthy balance of hopefulness and reality in this book, and it was a joy to read! Already can’t wait to see what Katherine Center comes up with next!

🤍Book Review🤍
📖 Hello Stranger By Katherine Center📖
Overall Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️


My thoughts~ I Found out something pretty interesting as this book does have a pretty unique plot, there is a neurological disorder where people are unable to recognize faces, it’s called prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness. Something I had no idea about until I read this book. You learn something new everyday.
Sadie is a young unsuccessful artist whose world gets flipped upside down after she is diagnosed. She gave me many different vibes throughout the book some I loved such as her quirky personality and some I didn’t love as much, she did come off a tad winey and demanding. She ends up having 2 love interests but because of her new diagnosis she has a hard time remembering there faces or which one is which, this kind of surprises me because if you really like someone shouldn’t you know there other features or voice?
It was a very predictable read but I still enjoyed it, it was a supposed to be a fun heartwarming story an I definitely got what the author was intending to be written it just wasn’t the story for me.

Talented portrait artist suffers a medical emergency that leads to face blindness. Sounds like the plot of a crazy Lifetime movie, but in Katherine Center’s capable hands, it’s a funny, heartwarming, emotional story. Sadie is about to compete in a portrait competition that could set her career on a different path, and suddenly, she can’t see faces, let alone paint them. And on top of that, she starts crushing on two different men she’s never even seen properly.

I hate love triangles, and luckily, that aspect of the story turns out to be minor. This is really Sadie’s journey, and besides, it’s obvious early on that Joe is the superior option. I really enjoyed watching Sadie get to know him and trust him and let him help her, something she’s loathe to let anyone do for her. They’re so sweet together, and their romance develops naturally at a good pace.

But the most interesting aspect of this story is the face blindness. Sadie’s struggle to cope felt so real, so stressful. The narrative does a great job of taking the reader along with her, from her initial despair, to her denial, to her finally learning to cope and adapt. The different painting techniques she’s employed while experiencing her face blindness were so interesting. So yeah, this is a romance, but it’s really the story of Sadie trying to find herself, and she’s so damn likable you’ll be totally rooting for her.

There are some plot points that some readers might be bothered by – past death of a parent and a truly heinous stepsister who takes evil to another level. But those things shaped Sadie, and I thought the scenes about Sadie’s late mother were especially lovely.

This story was the best read so far for me this year!

Before I give a synopsis of "Hello Stranger", I wanted to discuss the main character, Sadie Montgomery.

Sadie has been through a lot in her young life. She lost her mom when she was just a teenager, her father blamed Sadie for her death, her father remarried Lucinda not long after her mother's death, and to top it off, there was the evil step-sister, Parker who made Sadie's life miserable by being a bully.

Sadie is a struggling portrait artist who is trying to make a decent living. She is excited to be a finalist in an important art competition with a grand prize of ten thousand dollars. At the beginning of the book. Sadie finds out that she has an abnormal vessel in her brain that needs to be repaired. Sadie was hesitant at first because she didn't want to have the surgery before the Art show. Her father, who is a surgeon convinced her to have the surgery as soon as possible.

The surgery was a success but with one glitch. Sadie has developed face blindness. This condition was bad timing to say the least. How can Sadie prove herself as a Portrait Artist if she can't recognize her own face.
Can Sadie prove she is still a good artist to her family and the art world?

This was an unique story. I learned about face blindness and also enjoyed the rom com story with Sadie and Joe. Many thanks to Net Galley and St. martin's Press for an ARC.

Let me just say that I’ll read anything that Katherine Center writes. There is just such a smoothness to her stories.

Sadie experiences an episode in the middle of the street leading her to wake up in the ER with a diagnosis requiring surgery. The surgery however leaves her with acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia, or face blindness. Not being able to recognize faces is a hard pill to swallow for a portrait artist. She needs to rely on her other senses to recognize even her family and close friends.

Even though I figured out a plot twist really early on I still really was so invested in seeing where the story went staying up until midnight to finish it because I couldn’t put it down.

There was family drama and the stepsister was purely evil, but I loved how her other family drama was resolved.

I don’t want to spoil anything so just go read it! Thank you to @theromanticbibliotheca and @thebluehaired_reader_ for indulging me in all my messages while reading it and not telling me if I was right.

I received an arc for review, all opinions are my own and given freely.

I did not appreciate the fat phobic phone call conversation in the elevator (even if it was later to be revealed it was about an animal) it was really cringe and unnecessary to the plot. I also could not stand the female lead. What rational person elects to opt-out of necessary brains surgery because they have an art contest to win? DNF.

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center is the story of life, love and strength. Sadie Montgomery was on cloud nine. After being selected as a finalist for the North American Portrait Society’s competition, she knows this is her ticket to success. However, it is thrown into question in a single moment as she wakes up in the hospital and needs a simple, yet simple surgery. After being pressured to get the surgery, sooner rather than later, she wakes up with a “temporary” condition known as face blindness. Each face she sees is a puzzle of jumbled features. Sadie is determined to win the contest and she works to overcome her condition. Added to the stress of the competition is family drama, her sick dog and possible romances with two different men. Will her face blindness truly be temporary? Could everything else come into focus as well?
Hello Stranger is a wonderful story of overcoming one’s disabilities and finding the life you always wanted, even if it’s not the road you thought you had to take. While I was expecting a different type of story, I was enthralled by Sadie’s experiences and her determination to not let her condition hold her back. A mix of humor, family drama, and romance, Hello Stranger reminded me of Ms Center’s 2018 novel How to Walk Away. I cheered for Sadie as she finally found the courage to speak up and declare “no more” and live the life she wants. There are a few pleasant surprises as the story winds down that are heartwarming and will leave readers smiling as they close the final pages. Readers can’t go wrong with a Katherine Center story and Hello Stranger is no exception. I highly recommend Hello Stranger!

Hello Stranger is available in hardcover, eBook, and audiobook

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center is about a young woman, Sadie Montogmery, a portrait artist who undergoes brain surgery and loses the ability to see faces. So how will she paint portraits when she can't see faces? Sadie Montogomery has been following in her mother's footsteps by becoming an artist; she has even been placed in a competition where her mother was established years ago.

I enjoyed this book.

"The more good things you look for, the more you find."
This book had a really unique premise and even though I could figure out where some of it was going, I still enjoyed it! At time I wish there was more development of the relationship, but I thought Sadie's growth throughout the book was well done! Overall it was a cute book with a happy and satisfying ending!

4.5 Stars

This was my second Katherine Center book and she is an author I definitely want to read more from. I love that I have a decent backlist to pull from for her, but I'm also mad that it took me so long to find her. The way she writes is just fantastic, and while the romance might not always be the main focal point of her story, I still absolutely love it and couldn't put it down. I was hooked from the very start of this one.

The story of this one was so unique and one I had never read before and I loved seeing the representation of the brain injury in this one. The plot twist was not one I saw coming, but was one I absolutely loved. And I loved that while dealing with some pretty heavy issues, this was still such a heart-warming and funny book.

As I mentioned, while the romance was definitely there, this one also focused quite heavily on the relationships between Sadie and her family, which was a great addition to the story. There were a few over the top and kind of unrealistic moments, but I still loved them and how the turned out. And when it comes to Joe, the way he was with Sadie was just absolutely wonderful. I love how he was there for her and never pushing, and the way he supported her was just perfect.

✔️ Neighbors
✔️ Complicated Family Relationships
✔️ Plot Twist
✔️ Brain Injury
✔️ First Person Single POV

𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲: to laugh and fall in love at the same time.
𝗣𝘂𝗯 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: July 11

"𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙛𝙤𝙧, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙"

This is another Katherine Center book that just stole my heart since its first page. Every time I read a book of hers, I know that she’ll deliver something more than a love story, there’ll always be life insights sprinkled in them that I just absolutely adore.

So here we read about a woman who refuses to ask for any help and a man who is a compulsive helper. 😂 But when you suffer face blindness after a recent brain surgery, living life everyday would be a little easier with a little help. Otherwise, you’re cluelessly breaking up with people left and right 😅 That’s all I would say about this book, because I really think you should just go in blind with this one!

As a healthcare worker, I love occasionally coming across stories with a medical component to it, I loved reading more about prosopagnosia from a patient’s perspective and the author was so smart with how to use this storyline effectively!

It took a little while for me to like the female lead, but hello for amazing character development at the end! I just love the chemistry between the two leads! That rooftop scene? Guys, please DM me when you get to this part because I am just gushing with how cute that scene was! The male lead? Top book boyfriend material! The banter? Equally flirty and witty! The ending? It was everything! ❤️

Ugh go read this please! I wasn’t even able to keep track of the tropes because I was fully immersed in this story!

Buddy read this with my tagged girlfriends and it made the book even more special. As we all know, life is busy rn and I’m so happy I was finally able to join a buddy read again!

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

Thank you @netgalley for the free digital and audio copy!

💭Are you good with remembering faces or you remember names better?
☕️ I’m bad at both 😅

This is my first book by Katherine Center, and it definitely won't be my last!

Sadie is finally getting her big break as a portrait artist: competing in a prestigious competition for $10,000 and national recognition. However, when an accidental seizure leads to Sadie getting brain surgery, she is left with a side effect called "face blindness", which causes faces to look weird and not correct. Sadie refuses to accept help from anyone, even with this condition, until she meets "Joe". Slowly, she starts to accept help as the effects of her face blindness become more and more daunting.


Overall, I enjoyed this book.

However, Sadie was super frustrating for about 65% of the book. She continually felt embarrassed about her condition, when she definitely couldn't control the outcome of brain surgery. Almost all of her conflicts could have been solved had she been forthcoming about her condition, instead of hiding.


I enjoyed the medical aspect of this! I appreciated that Center brought a rare condition, Prosopagnosia, to light. I could feel Sadie's stress and apprehension throughout the book and it made me feel for her. The love triangle was a fun twist, as well as the drama that came with Sadie's family. The side characters really made this book stand out and made it so fun!!

Thank you to #netgalley and #stmartinspress for an #eARC of this book! All opinions are my own!

Katherine Center is an auto buy author for me, and I didn’t even read the synopsis before requesting Hello Stranger on NetGalley! I’m glad I didn’t because for a romance, this one is perfect to go into blind (pun intended!).

I loved the writing in this book. Center blends romance and women’s fiction so well, and can totally draw her readers in from page one! I always find reading about face blindness to be intriguing, but having a portrait artist that can’t see faces was a new take on it which was done really well.

Sadie, the main character, struggles with her new face blindness after an accident and has to figure out a way to paint a portrait for a contest she’s in. There’s a great scene in the book where she’s painting her neighbor and love interest, Joe. Joe is one of my new favorite characters, and everything about him was adorable.

There are some touching moments in this book as well as some laugh out loud funny moments. There’s a bit of a twist which I saw coming, but I loved reading the book to see when Sadie would figure it out. All in all another great story from Center, and I highly recommend it.

I listened along to the audiobook while reading my eARC, and I really enjoyed Patti Murin as the narrator. She brought Sadie to life and you could totally feel her angst with dealing with her face blindness.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for advanced copies in exchange for my honest review. And thank you Katherine Center for joining our book club for an amazing chat!