Okay was not expecting to love this one as much as I did! The story has so much to it, more than just romance. The main characters were extremely lovable and the third act break up was out of the ordinary in the best way possible (although I predicted what had happened, it was still so fun!).

I needed a lighter read after finishing a heavier book and this one was just the case! If you’re looking for a new, tasteful romance, this is the one!

I REALLY like Katherine Center’s writing. Her writing is so good! It’s easy to read and I was engaged the whole time. I loved Sadie’s thoughts and how funny she is! The story was told really well, I really like how everything came full circle by the end, it was exactly what Sadie and the story needed.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the latest novel by Katherine Center and wonderfully narrated by a favorite, Patti Murin - 5 stars!

Sadie is finally starting to achieve her dreams - she placed as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition. But then, the next thing she knows she's lying in a hospital bed with a condition that requires brain surgery. After that surgery, she has face blindness - she can no longer recognize the faces of anyone, which is definitely not a condition that a portrait painter needs. It's supposed to be temporary but shows no sign of abating. She no longer wants to leave her apartment and only does when her beloved dog, Peanut, takes ill. She falls hard for the vet, Dr Addison, who also leaves her disappointed. Then there's her neighbor, Joe. And the competition deadline is approaching!

Katherine Center writes the best romance novels - ones you just want to curl up and immerse yourself in. Which is pretty much what I did. You will root for Sadie, cheer on her friend, Sue, and her family, and shake your head at Sadie's own family. Center's novels give the reader a perfect combination of romance, hope, laughter, joy - I would be hard pressed to pick a favorite but sure loved this one! I switched between the digital and audio versions but I'm a big fan of Patti Murin so ended up listening to much of it. The face blindness aspect was very interesting too - be sure to read the author's note.

This story was the perfect rom-com, with the romance and comedy so well blended, I didn't find it at all cheesy. I also really loved learning about prosopagnosia (or face blindness), which I knew nothing about and was surprised to find is a rather common disorder.

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮:
🎨like learning about different disorders
🎨are a fan of romcoms
🎨enjoy a miscommunication trope

This book was an easy quick read that kept me entertained. I was definitely rooting for Sadie. I was sad we didn't get to see her and her best friends relationship more, but then her friend would have seen the twist. Speaking of the twist I didn't understand how they never talked about his job or NAME? I like how he gave her the confidence and Sadie grew into her own in the book.

This was a solid 3.5 stars for me

This was a quick read that was interesting at times. This author definitely has way of writing that is comfortable and easygoing. While this was fun there were some slow moving moments that dragged the story. It was interesting learning about face blindness. Overall a good read but not overly remarkable. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

🌼 Hello Stranger, by Katherine Center 🌸
I am lucky enough to have gotten early access to this delightful book by @katherinecenter from @netgalley & @stmartinspress! 💐 It is a sweet romance featuring an intriguing love triangle! And I especially loved the art references and of course, the dog! 🐶 🎨
Look out for this book in 3 days on June 11!

“Hello Strange” by Katherine Center has delivered once again a heart gripping romance that has you turning the pages.
Sadie is a portrait artist but comes across a big set back when she gets face blindness. Not sure what she is going to do since her life's work was built on the fact she is an artist, she has to face the condition and what to do about it.
I love the characters in this one. Each had their own personality and perspective on life. I love how you see Sadie navigate through love and family. This is a heartwarming story that is more than the romance aspect itself.
This is not exactly a fluffy read because the main character deals with grief, a diagnosis, financial problems etc. So a lot of hard subjects are tackled in this one like her last book The Bodyguard.
Even though I wasn’t exactly thrilled with this book every moment because of the topics that are discussed, it is still a good read and would recommend this book to any romance fan.

🎨 Artist FMC
🛼 Golden retriever MMC
🖌️ Strangers to friends to lovers
🎨 Clean romance
🛼 Trauma
🖌️ Health rep "acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia"-Face Blindness
🎨 Miscommunication is big in this one!
🛼 Peanut - dog side character
🖌️ Anxiety rep

Sadie is a struggling portrait artist who gets life changing news that she's in the top 10 spot to win $10k. She really thinks she can win it.....
Until she finds out she needs brain surgery.
Wakes up from brain surgery with
acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia - Face Blindness! How can she win a portrait contest when she can't see faces.

On top of this crazy new world with no faces her best buddy peanut 🐶 is suddenly sick. While taking him to his new vet she runs into a beautiful Veterinarian Dr. Oliver Addison 😍.

But her downstairs neighbor Joe has been helping her out a lot lately and sparks are flying.

Will the face blindness go away before the competition? Will she fall in love?

Sometimes, when we’re struggling, a well-meaning friend or family member will tell us that we just need to “see things from a new perspective.” But for the struggling artist in Hello Stranger by author Katherine Center, that old saying takes on a whole new meaning.

Full review published on NightsAndWeekends.com and aired on Shelf Discovery

Katherine Center strikes again! Hello Stranger is more than a romance novel, it’s really about a woman trying to find her way in an obstacle filled life. Her facial blindness is just one more problem, but when she meets a very sharply dressed veterinarian she’s determined that they are the perfect match. Until she meets her very helpful neighbor. Unable to identify anyone by their faces she has to rely on all of her other senses which makes for some great comic relief. Sadie’s sad story becomes heartwarming and that humor makes a kind of unreal problem feel very real indeed.

I thought it a very clever tool to write a novel where descriptions of people’s faces just don’t happen. Just like Sadie, the reader is totally reliant upon the clothing people wear, their perfume, or even what they eat to identify friend or foe. This novel was really different and although I wasn’t surprised by where it led me I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the journey. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest.

Another hug from @katherinecenter! Her books are like a hug for my soul leaving me happy and smiling every time.

Happy Pub Day to KC and her newest novel, 𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓! It’s got humor, grief, hope, and (of course😍) swooning. While I knew where it was going, I most definitely enjoyed the journey of getting there.

Sadie is a struggling portrait artist that has a medical emergency and ends up with a condition causing facial blindness. She must find a way to make a living, continue her work as an artist, and allow others to help her. Her dog’s new vet, Dr. Oliver Addison, finally asks her out on a date. However, she’s also finding that her neighbor, Joe, keeps showing up to help even when she doesn’t think she needs it. This book is swoon-worthy.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Katherine Center will continue to be an auto-buy author for me. Hello Stranger is available today so get your hands on a copy and smile your way through this one.

Thank you @stmartinspress and @macmillan.audio for an early copy!

This book reminds me of why I'm such a KC fan! I loved the plot of this one, and I loved Sadie and Joe! It seemed that Sadie was always met with something to knock her down, family, illness, and denials, but she never let it stop her! This friends to lovers romance had so much more than romance. It has a great story with a twist in there. When I got to the twist of the story, it was like turning on a light switch. That light switch plastered a permanent smile on my face for the remainder of the book! I had a ball of emotions with this one, sad, happy, mad, funny, and giddy! I can not forget about Peanut, Sadie's adorable little pup baby! Y'all know I'm a dog lover, so that just added more to the story for me to see how much she loved her fur baby!

Houston-based Sadie Montgomery is a portraitist who has struggled for years to earn a living. She is thrilled to be a finalist in an art contest that will award a ten thousand dollar prize to the winner. In the coming weeks, she hopes to paint a portrait that will captivate the judges. Sadie is dismayed, therefore, when a medical issue arises that sidelines her. After undergoing surgery, she develops a supposedly temporary side effect— prosopagnosia—an inability to recognize people's faces. For someone in her line of work, this is disastrous. Adding to her woes, her dog has been sick, her nasty stepsister delights in bullying her, and Sadie develops feelings for two men at the same time.

Katherine Center's "Hello Stranger" is a breezy and farcical tale with heart, warmth, and humor. Readers will relate to the hard-luck heroine, who mourns her late mother and is desperate to prove that she can succeed on her own. She stumbles along, waiting for her big break and trying to survive on the pittance she earns. This romantic comedy has its share of flaws. Center's secondary characters are stereotypes: the loyal best friend; pushy stepmother; creepy stepsister, and judgmental father. In addition, some of the scenes are sentimental and far-fetched, but the author gives the story a boost with her talent for writing amusing and touching dialogue.

The surprise ending will shock no one, since the big reveal is telegraphed long before it occurs. Nevertheless, it is fun to watch Sadie trying to extract herself from one awkward situation after another. Furthermore, with the contest deadline looming, the heroine is frantically trying to create a portrait of a face that she cannot see, a challenging task that seems destined to fail. On a more upbeat note, with the help of a counselor, Sadie is attempting to improve her negative attitude that, thus far, has kept her from moving on with her life. We feel a connection to Sadie, who learns the hard way that needing help and feeling vulnerable are nothing to be ashamed of. After all, relying on others when necessary is an essential part of being human.

6 stars!!!!!!

I loved this book SOO MUCH!!!

Sadie is an artist trying to make it in the business when she suffers a seizure that reveals the need for brain surgery. Unfortunately, the swelling post-surgery has left her with a condition known as face blindness. This is a REAL problem for a portrait artist! A portrait artist who's just become a finalist in a very big art competition that requires her to paint...a face! To top it all off, she's falling for two different men, but can't see their faces...at all! Can she win the competition? Will she wind up with one of her men? The answers...like the story...are ridiculously fun!

This book is FULL of heart. We see Sadie navigate a world that's not serving her particularly well, learning valuable lessons along the way. She's been dealt a bad hand that just keeps getting worse. But the people in Sadie's life make it better. Her best friend Sue, her dog peanut, the men in her life, and Sadie's new psychologist help her see humanity in even the toughest-to-like people. There's a super villain here in Sadie's stepsister. There are challenging family dynamics as well. And Sadie's struggling to hold on to her dream of being an artist because it's not paying the bills, and now she can't even see the subjects of her paintings!

This might sound sad or dark, but it isn't. I laughed until I cried multiple times! I swooned. The plot had a hint of spice, and it felt absolutely right. The cinnamon roll heroes Sadie finds herself with were perfection. I wound up highlighting a lot of the sage wisdom passed to Sadie from her psychologist because it was so life-affirming. It made me see life in a different way, which I LOVED. And I had a great deal of fun while reading this! Even the author's note about the value of romance novels was compelling. (Don't skip it if you read this book!) I'd never read Katherine Center before, and now I can't wait to read more!

Trigger warnings include: seizures, brain surgery, brain-related complications, death of a mother (before story begins), ill elderly dog (who is fine in the end), bullying, attempted suicide (before story begins)

I'd like to thank St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the e-ARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

HAPPY PUB DAY TO KATHERINE CENTER AND HELLO, STRANGER!

Sadie Montgomery has just learned that she will be a finalist for the North American Portrait Society competition, the same competition her mom was supposed to compete in before her untimely death. After a near miss reveals a need for brain surgery, Sadie wakes up after the surgery to discover she has “probably temporary” face blindness: she can see the individual aspects of a person’s face, but they are a jumbled mess. Sadie struggles through the next few weeks, trying to figure out how to paint a portrait when she can’t see faces, while also dealing with family drama; taking care of Peanut, her treasured dog; and trying to keep others from knowing about her condition.

Another fantastic read from Katherine Center! This book is like a warm hug from a loved one – you may see what is coming before the main character does, but you will still get all the warm, happy feelings as you go through the story. I stayed up past midnight to finish this story. If you like feel-good women’s fiction, don’t miss <i>Hello, Stranger</i>! I can’t wait to hear what Center has to say about this book when her book tour stops in Indiana later this month.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book.

5 Stars!
I'm not sure how Katherine Center does it. I have a few must-read authors, but I can’t say that I've loved every one of their books. It’s reasonable that a reader won’t resonate with every book by a favorite author. The thing is, I've yet to be disappointed by one of KC's stories. I simply connect with her style of writing with its breathtaking mix of poignancy, wit, and romance.

Hello Stranger has a creative premise and with careful research, the author fashioned another unique heroine with Sadie's altered vision after a traumatic accident. The heroine navigates a painful past, the interest of possibly two different men, and her family's unrealistic expectations.

My attention was snagged from the very beginning and never waned. With Sadie's inability to recognize faces, I got to see what she didn't and enjoy the untangling of her misconceptions. As with every Katherine Center book before this one, I felt joy throughout my reading and it was irrepressible by the end.

Notes on the audiobook:
The audio presentation was excellent. I can usually tell when reading would be a better experience than listening. Aside from simply liking the narrator's voice, I also have to agree with the narrator’s interpretation of the material. I know that I’ve listened to Patti Murin before, but now I’ll be sure to check her library of work for more great listens. Her voice(s) suited the material perfectly with smart cadence, diction, and expression.

Happy Pub Day to Katherine Center and Hello Stranger! Pub Day 7/11

I'm a fan of Katherine Center. She is known for writing solid romances with fun storylines full of comfort and hope. Yet she always introduces the unexpected into what is typically a highly predictable genre. In this case it's a struggling artist with a strange side effect from an injury, a couple (??) of possible love interests, and the cutest sidekick of a dog I've seen in a while.

What I love about this book is the way Center works in an interesting and relatively unknown medical condition that forces our artist to approach work and life in a different way and to learn that it is ok to let others help you. I found the family dynamics to be over the top and the conclusion a bit farfetched, but it was still a fun and fast read. Maybe not my favorite Katherine Center book, but I'll still be first in line when her next book is released.

Note: The author's note starts as a reference to her sources for the research on the medical condition and continues into her love letter to romance books and the romance genre. It is well worth your time.

I both read and listened to this book. I enjoyed Patti Murin's narration of the book.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, MacMillan Audio, and Net Galley for the Advanced Reader's and Advanced Listener's copies of this book. Opinions expressed are my own.

Do you ever read something and just think that you will never be able to find another book you love just as much? This is it for me. This is my favorite read of the year, hands down. It was such a wonderful, crazy, jaw dropping, frustrating, happy and emotional book. I guess that’s a lot of adjectives to use when I can just say it was simply a beautiful story. I actually screamed when I figured out the “puzzle” in the story before Sadie. And then the twist on top of the twist! I knew the first connection, but the third threw me for a loop! (This sounds cryptic, but just don’t want to spoil anything.) Katherine Center, I am forever a fan now. Thank you for putting this story into the world. I will never not be thinking about this book.

I’m a big Katherine Center fan and have read many of her books. In this one, the main character - a portrait artist - has a brain surgery and acquires facial blindness. Clearly as she is a portrait artist, this throws her life askew.

I appreciated the chance to learn about facial blindness. I feel that this story didn’t capture me the way her books normally do. Still an enjoyable read, but doesn’t top her others for me. However, it shares similar things to most of her books, finding love and finding your own happiness. My favorite of hers remains How to Walk Away.