Wow, did I go through some emotions for this book! I love a book that brings awareness to medical conditions and disabilities as it brings new perspectives of challenges others go through, but also their outlook on life. The FMC is a little stubborn and has a hard time accepting help after losing her mom at a young age and having to go it alone and basically forced into a new family after her dad remarries. Her stepsister is awful, but I feel like her stepmother isn’t as bad as she seems. I loved the chemistry between Joe and Sadie. I felt like their relationship developed at a nice pace. Surprised at when some events occurred but nothing seemed rushed. Her relationship with her dad made me cry, especially when they had their moment and talked it out. I will say I was disappointed in Sue as a friend. Sometimes she’s there and awesome, and other times she just seems flaky and Sadie forgives her and brushes it off so quickly. I also was hoping that there would’ve been more with the Ex BF at the end with just a conversation blurb but it was very glossed over. I love that not only was it a romance, but also the having a good portion about her life, coping, and family dynamics was a nice change. Overall a good read and a book I couldn’t put down! 4.5 stars for me, but rounding up because it made me sad to finish the book and truly enjoyed it!

Many thanks to St Martin’s Press for the ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

“This love story really created fantastic anticipation.” That’s a direct quote from the Author’s Note at the end of this book - and an accurate way to describe Hello, Stranger!

I remember a buddy-read Zoom with Katherine Center for The Bodyguard last summer where she talked about the premise for this book which sounded so interesting - a portrait artist loses the ability to see faces. I don’t know what took me so long to start the ARC I received. I was immediately swept into the story and needed to read it quickly to know how it all came together. There is a terrific dog character, Peanut, who really enjoys Pad Thai 🤣 And there is another dog part that had me cracking up, too! 🤣🤣
I finished reading the book this morning, cuddled into my couch with my coffee and blanket (it’s not even 70 today!), and good news - the book will be available tomorrow if you want to read it, too!

Sadie Montgomery’s life changed in an instant. One moment, she’s celebrating the most significant achievement of her career as a portrait artist. Next, she’s facing a medical condition, face blindness, that could prevent her from ever achieving artistic success.

Hello Stranger is an enjoyable story of a woman struggling to find a new normal while addressing family issues and finding love. The focus is on Sadie’s journey to learn that asking for help and needing people aren’t weaknesses. There’s a lot of chaos and uncertainty along the way as well as support from an unexpected source.

The romance is secondary in this story. I wish we got a little bit more of it. I did like that there is an unusual aspect to the romance.

While I liked this book, there are other Katherine Center books that I would recommend before this one.

Overall, Hello Stranger is a lighthearted beach read that will leave you smiling.

3.5⭐

Favorite Quote:
“The more good things you look for, the more you find.”

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC of this book.

I adore Katerine Center, her books always have a feel good vibe. Love, friendship, families whether by blood or found she does a great job at creating a lovely story.

However, this was not my favorite book. I had to totally suspend disbelief and just roll with it. Did I think it was far fetched? Absolutely! Will I read her next book, of course!

It was a fast read.

I have mixed feelings about this book because I enjoyed the book and the writing, as I always do with KC books, but I did not particularly like the plot. I think one challenge that established authors like Katherine Center face is that after publishing so many good books, we begin to start comparing them with one another. I kept trying to not hold this book to any standard but it is hard when KC wrote books like THINGS YOU SAVE IN A FIRE and THE BODYGUARD. I really enjoy Katherine Center's books but this just wasn't my personal favorite. I read via ebook and audio formats and enjoyed both!

Katherine Center has hit it out of the ballpark!!! An amazing cast of characters, a squooshy love story, a fluffy dog and a few little life lessons to take away. Maybe we all need a little face blindness to take away some preconceived notions. Thank you Ms. Center for my feel good today!!

Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martins Press and Katherine Center for this ARC. I started this book on an emotional day and the story was so sad to me that I stopped reading it , just a few chapters in. I just couldn’t continue. But this is what makes her books so special, the emotion I feel when I read her stories. I did pick this book up again the next day and read it all the way through.. The main character I loved and felt so much emotion for her. .The step sister I hated, but that’s what we’re suppose to feel for her . The facial blindness was a new medical condition I’d never heard of along with a lot of other readers I’m sure, so that was interesting and how she handled it…I was very surprised at the end, and had to think about it for a while, was this confusing or a crazy ending? Definitely not. But somehow I knew all through the book, her male characters would somehow come together..

I am a huge Katherine Center fan, so I was over the moon when I was given early access to a copy of Hello Stranger. First, let me say that Catherine Center's characters are just the best. Quirky, relatable, and flawed. They just tug at my heartstrings every single time.

Sadie is no exception. She's a portrait artist with a very painful family situation and she's struggling to succeed in her career, but she doesn't want to give up. She's pinned her hopes on an incredible opportunity. But then tragedy strikes, and suddenly, as she heals from an injury, she's dealing with face blindness. The healthcare experts in her life can't seem to tell her if she will ever return to what she knew as normal. Meanwhile, her stepsister doesn't waste a crisis and provokes Sadie at every turn.

I’m not usually excited about a love triangle in a romance novel, but Hello, Stranger has a unique version and I adored it. Some readers are saying they saw the twist coming, but I didn’t. I could not figure out how the author was going to resolve this or which person in Sadie's life she was ultimately going to end up with. That's a testament to excellent writing!

So if you like a light hearted meaningful story with a heroine you can't help but cheer for, and a compelling plot that will keep you reading, then you need Hello, Stranger in your life. The ending is so hope-filled and satisfying. By the way, don't miss the author's note. It's exceptional. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my complimentary arc. I voluntarily read this book and now I'm going to tell everybody I know all about it.

Katherine Center can always get me out of a reading slump because I know that I am going to read a cozy, happy read, and Hello Stanger did exactly this, throughout the story I couldn't wait for it to all come together to the happy ending I knew I would get.

Sadie is a portrait artist, struggling to meet ends meet, when she finally gets a big break. While she is out getting ready to celebrate she suddenly loses consciousness and wakes up in the hospital, she needs to get brain surgery as soon as possible. Once she gets the surgery she wakes up to find that she has developed "face blindness" although she can see people's faces, she seems that as jumble up puzzle. How is she supposed to paint faces when she can't see them? How is she supposed to recognize anyone she knew and anyone new she meets?

This story had me laughing out loud so many times, Sadie was such a likeable character and I couldn't help but root for her the whole time.

If you are looking for a warm that feels like a warm hug I would definitely recommend this one!

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the ARC.

"Hello Stranger" is the perfect FUN love story! Similar to "Shallow Hal", our main character faces a life altering event that causes her to be face blind. She is left with the task of relearning how to interact with the world while not seeing people's true faces. To make matters worse, Sadie is a portrait artist, relying on her ability to see faces! Sadie is forced to learn how to ask for help in order to set things straight. She finds herself asking for help from one particular person in her building who she may or may not be falling in love with!

Review of Hello Stranger by Katherine Center

I don’t do star reviews anymore, but spoiler alert. This one has five stars. I listen to the audiobook in half a day. I couldn’t stop listening for anything. I got totally absorbed in the main character and her story. It was funny, it was sweet, and I learned some thing too. I love her style of writing so much. I can never find fault in it. I loved the ending of this one beyond words, and I never saw it coming. Pun intended. I highly recommend the audiobook for this one as well.

Synopsis from Amazon:

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..

Thank you to St. Martin’s press and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of Hello Stranger by Katherine Center.

I really enjoyed this book! The theme of blindness, especially in love, was so intriguing. I ended up doing some further research on the diagnosis of the main character, Sadie Montgomery, because one doesn't hear much about being "face blind." As an artist and young person, the situations she finds herself in are quite difficult and heart wrenching. I felt that Center did a fantastic job making Sadie relatable. I also appreciated mental health therapy being included at the forefront. Overall, bravo!!!! Highly recommend.

When Sadie wakes up from surgery with sudden face blindness, she finds herself needing to figure out how to navigate the world again, and how to deal with the emotional toil and career difficulties that this causes. Along the way, she also finds herself struggling to deal with family drama and torn between two love interests.

I loved this book so very much. Hello Stranger was my first Katherine Center novel, but it will certainly not be my last. I went into it knowing nothing about the plot, I chose it purely on word of mouth about how much friends had loved this author and I was not disappointed in the slightest. This was not your typical romcom, and I found it so refreshing. Sadie’s journey to finding herself again was the real heart of this story, and the romance was an adorable added bonus.

This book was so well written and I felt connected to the characters from the get go. I just loved how well this story was constructed and how everything came together at the end. No spoilers, but the ending was absolutely perfect!

Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
✈️ to: Houston, TX

Hello Stranger -- centered around a portrait artist named Sadie who loses her ability to see faces after a traumatic brain injury -- easily has one of the most unique romantic comedy plots I have ever read.

I'll admit: it took me a minute to get onboard. Sadie's character was a little silly, sometime borderline ridiculous, but eventually she wore me down and I liked her. I didn't really like the evil step sister trope, but I think it was more of a plot device? The romantic interest (I'm not going to spoil who it was!) on the other hand? I loved him immediately!

If there's a word to describe this book it's serendipitous. And while I did predict (a first!) the ending/twist, I ended up really enjoying Hello Stranger. Katherine Center has got romance down!

Summer just isn't summer until I have the latest novel by Katherine Center in my hands. I can always count on this author to bring a smile to my face, make my heart beat a little bit faster, and take me on an emotional journey. Every novel that I read by her just seems to hit the mark for me. Hello Stranger was just what I was looking for. I was torn between wanting to binge-read it and wanting to take my time to savor every word.

As always, her characters just shine. From the main characters to the secondary characters, each one adds something special to the story. I adored Sadie. She tried really hard to look as though she had her life together, but she was struggling. From family issues to money problems to the health concerns of her beloved dog, Sadie’s life was anything but ideal. To make matters worse, a health crisis made her suffer from face blindness. I will admit that I had never heard of face blindness before, but I can imagine that it must be a scary feeling to not be able to see and recognize faces. It was especially frightening for Sadie because she depended on her sight to paint portraits of people, it was her livelihood, and it was jeopardizing her chances at winning a big portrait competition that could really jumpstart a lucrative career for her.

Throughout all of the issues that she was facing, she was also interested in two very different men. I do love a good love triangle, and this one was extremely well done. I couldn’t have asked for any better, really. There was great chemistry, a slow burn, plenty of witty banter, and a ton of emotion.

I’m not a reader who enjoys shedding tears while she reads, but they were running down my face faster than I could wipe them away. I just felt so much while I was reading this novel. Oh, but don’t worry, this is such a well-rounded novel, you will feel a gamut of emotions with every turn of the page. I guarantee it!

Hello Stranger was such a wonderful read. If I’ve learned anything over the past few years, it’s that Katherine Center is one of my all-time favorite authors. I can’t recommend her enough. This book will definitely be gracing my list of favorite books of 2023!

*5 Stars

Hello Stranger is one of those books you open just knowing that you're in for a good time. And as expected, I loved every second of it!

This book is about a portrait artist named Sadie, on the cusp of her first big break, when an accident leaves her in the hospital with sudden face blindness that doctors "hope" will subside, with the biggest art show of her life coming up in just a few weeks.

During the weeks leading up to the art show, Sadie struggles with her art due to her face blindness, but also seemingly struggles to cope in almost all other aspects of her life. And then there is her love life...Sadie develops feelings for not one, but TWO, very different men. As with all Katherine Center books, this book was about so much more than romance, but of course, the romance was fantastic and so fun to read!

I absolutely loved this book, as I do with all of Katherine Center's book! It was unique, heartwarming and entertaining, with just the right amounts of twists and drama.

I highly recommend this book and urge readers not to skip the author’s note at the end! I love how Katherine Centre dives into the joy we get when we read romance novels and how she challenges some common perceptions of the genre, and so much more in this note.

Thank you to the author, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the E-Arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I have had this book sitting on my Netgalley shelf for a while and I finally read it and was a little mad at myself for waiting so long. The only other Katherine Center book I have read was The Bodyguard and I really enjoyed it. This was no different.

Sadie is a struggling portrait artist, she is a finalist in a portrait competition and has 6 weeks to produce a portrait for the competition. This is her big break. But, after a health scare, she has to have a brain surgery. The brain surgery leaves her with prosopagnosia, which is face blindness. How can Sadie paint portraits if she can't see faces?

On top of that her evil-step sister has just moved into her building to torture her. Her beloved elderly dog has a health scare and she can't recognize the faces of any of her friends and family.

Sadie does have some positive things, her vet is incredibly attractive and wants to take her on a date, and a man from her building, Joe, comes to her rescue more than once. Even though she can't see their faces, she is quite attracted to both men.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked Sadie's journey through the book, she really had so many things stacked against her and really struggle with admitting that she needed help or even relying on anyone else. She had to learn through the process to trust herself and ask for help and be willing to accept it.

I loved Joe. His character was so sweet and I really liked the friendship that developed between him and Sadie. He really was someone who loved to help others and I loved that aspect of his personality.

There was a twist in this book, I did see the twist coming before it was revealed but I still enjoyed it. Overall this was a super quick and fun read.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the digital arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was hovering over my rating for a bit but then I got to the author’s notes. I loved Katherine Center’s take on romance stories and the anticipation - as opposed to predictability, which is a term I’ve possibly overused in romance reviews. This was such a hopeful and joyous story that I had to give it a good rating!

Sadie Montgomery is a portrait artist who's been selected as a finalist in a local competition and she couldn't be more excited. But a freak accident, a neurological diagnosis, and immediate surgery leave her with a condition called "face blindness." She can see, but every face she looks at is now a jumbled puzzle of disconnected features.

Sadie struggles to cope with her new condition but with the support of her best friend, a compassionate therapist, and the disarming tenant down the hall, Sadie slowly develops the confidence to face her fears and her new reality.

The reveal is not surprising, but the anticipation and the journey are delightful. And the ending maintained the warm, hopeful feeling without being perfect.

Premise: Sadie is a struggling portrait artist who has a medical emergency and wakes up with face blindness. How can a portrait artist work when she can’t see faces? To make matters worse she has the most important portrait of her life due in 6 weeks for a prestigious competition. A competition her mother never got to complete as she died just weeks before the deadline of the same medical condition Sadie suffers from.
I am enjoyed this book and it makes for a quick read. Some initial thoughts:
1. Marketed as a romance this is more of a women’s fiction that has some light romance, rather than a standard romance novel. If you have only ever read this author’s last book The Bodyguard do not expect the same experience.
2. While I am enjoying this read I find it hard to relate to the main character. She doesn’t have many redeeming qualities and her constant whining about her situation becomes redundant.
3. My favorite character so far is Peanut, the lovable Thai food eating dog.
4. Yes, there is a love triangle but the characters spend more time rescuing and helping Sadie through yet another crisis than actually forming a relationship.
5. While the face blindness aspect is unique and initially intrigued me, I found it hard to relate to the situation on an emotional level.

Overall this is a solid read that I know will be a hit with most readers. I am enjoyed my experience even though this story is not what I expected. Thank you to Katherine Center and Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

Katherine Center has done it again! Her new novel Hello Stranger was one of my most anticipated reads of 2023 and I’m thrilled to share that it not only met my very high expectations, but it actually exceeded them.

Hello Stranger follows the protagonist Sadie Montgomery. Sadie is a gifted portrait artist and when we meet her, she has just placed as a finalist in a prestigious portrait painting competition. She is beyond ecstatic until she is quite literally blindsided by a life changing event and finds herself in the hospital diagnosed with “face blindness.” The doctors hope her condition is temporary, but there’s no way of knowing how long it will last. If Sadie’s career involves painting faces for a living, how is she supposed to do her job and how is she supposed to paint her competition entries. Needless to say, Sadie is distraught.

What always draws me to Center’s books is how strong her heroines are in the face of adversity. No matter how big of an obstacle they face, there’s always a sense of perseverance and hopefulness and we see this with Sadie as she sets out to cope with her situation and try everything in her power to get those portraits painted. I’m not very familiar with face blindness, but I thought Center did a wonderful job of handling the condition with respect and sensitivity, while at the same time, infusing Sadie’s journey with her signature warmth and humor.

Another area where I really appreciated Center’s humor revolved around Sadie’s complicated relationship with her father, her stepmother and her evil stepsister, Parker. There’s a nice balance between dramatic moments and humorous ones as Sadie interacts with them, especially Parker, who loves to torment Sadie on a regular basis anyway, but being able to prank her without being recognized is just too irresistible for her.

While much of the story focuses on Sadie’s journey as she copes with face blindness, there is also a romantic element. Even though Sadie cannot see their faces, she finds herself attracted to two very different men she encounters while looking for distractions from her situation. One is her new neighbor, an obnoxious yet endearing guy named Joe, and the other is the veterinarian who saved her beloved dog, Peanut’s, life. The timing is of course terrible because she has more important things to worry about than her love life, but she cannot deny that she’s attracted to both men. I loved watching Sadie navigate her way through this love triangle she didn’t expect to find herself in and was more than satisfied with how this aspect of the story plays out.

Filled with relatable and realistic characters, witty dialogue and a storyline that is both heartwarming and humorous, Katherine Center has another winner on her hands with Hello Stranger. It’s easily one of my favorite reads of the year so far.