Hello Stranger starts with Sadie Montgomery, a struggling artist on the verge of her big break, who learns that she’s a finalist in a prestigious portrait contest. On the night she is to celebrate with her friends, she has a seizure that later requires brain surgery, which leads to her postoperative diagnosis of face blindness, which may or may not be temporary.

Sadie has to deal with what this condition means for her art career and the contest while also dealing with family drama, her dog’s health issues and a potential romance with two guys - her vet and her neighbor. I enjoyed this story this story of Sadie navigating her life with her new condition. And how the change she made in the process led her to her happy ending.

Katherine Center has quickly become one of my favorite authors. Hello Stranger was a unique story line that incorporated face blindness, romance and personal growth. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for sweet, fun and feel good story to add to reading list.

This is only my second Katherine Center book, but I really enjoyed it as much as the last one! This book was so wholesome and heartwarming. Sadie was going through so much already with her financial struggles, add to that her terrible stepsister and tension-filled relationship with her family, and then experiences this medical issue that leaves her with a condition known as face-blindness. As you can imagine, for a portrait artist, not being able to see people's faces throws her entire life off-kilter. In this book, we follow her struggle to adapt to this condition, while dealing with a sick pet, family drama, AND the fact that she is supposed to have a piece ready for a very important art competition. Along the way she has to try other ways to create her art, leans on other people she wasn't expecting, and finds love. This story was really cute and I think it teaches us about perseverance, growth, adapting, and not judging a book by its cover. There's a bit of a plot twist involving miscommunication that I think was done really well and while I mostly figured it out early on, it was fun to read as it unraveled. Thank you to St. Martin's Press, NetGalley, and Katherine for this ARC.

This was just an adorable romance. It is very unique, I've never read anything like it before. Sadie learning how to draw portraits again was interesting. Joe is such a sweetheart and I loved how he was always there to help her out. I want a bonus chapter so we can have more of the two of them together.

I received an arc through netgalley.

I have been a big fan of Katherine Center for a while - so imagine my pure giddiness when her team reached out with an ARC!!! Big thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC that allowed me to DEVOUR this gem before it comes out on Tuesday!!

Katherine Center books are very much my happy place - I tear through them so quickly, I fall in love with the characters, there are plenty of twists that keep me guessing, and I can't put them down. There is also just such a sense of joy and hope threaded throughout. In her Author's Note at the end of the book Katherine touches on why she writes romance and why it is such an incredible (and too often misunderstood and dismissed) genre. Y'all will not be shocked to hear that I clapped and fist pumped while reading it.

Hello Stranger hit all the right notes for me. Our leading gal is Sadie, a struggling artist who is on the cusp of her big break when she makes it to the final round of a very prestigious portrait competition. She doesn't have much of a relationship with her Dad and Step Mother, and isn't able to cover rent for her less-than-ideal living situation. But she feels like it is all shifting when she makes it into that final round - and while she's on her way to pick up some celebratory wine (relatable!) she is in an accident.

While she survives, she soon is diagnosed with a temporary condition of face blindness. She can see everything but faces. This would be awful for everyone - but particularly for an artist who specializes in portraits.

What follows is a hysterical, sweet and deeply enjoyable story of a woman stumbling through life trying to make sense of her career, the hot vet, the neighbor who isn't what he seems, and her family situation.

For all of my Book of the Month friends, this is a July option!!! Otherwise make sure to add it to your TBR pile when it drops on Monday!! A goddamn delight of a read!

I'll post this on goodreads, retail sites, my bookstagram @scottonreads and twitter @sarahncotton

Thank you to the author, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for giving me the opportunities to read and review this book.

This book is so good! It comes out next week on July 11! I read my first Katherine Center book last summer when I read The Bodyguard. I recommend that book too. Both books have such colorful covers! I need to read more of her books.

The main character in this book, Sadie Montgomery, after a few medical events discovers she has acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia (face blindness). This can be a career ender for her since she is a portrait artist. Before her medical issues, Sadie had just found out she was a finalist in a portrait contest. Winning this contest could boost her struggling career.

Despite struggling with medical issues, career struggles, and family drama, Sadie tries to have a positive attitude and maintain her sense of humor.

The author did a great job researching face blindness and explaining it in understandable terms.

“But I guess that’s the great thing about life - it gives you chance after chance to rethink it all. Who you want to be. How you want to live. What really matters.”

I'd say a solid 2.5 stars. Not my favorite, but it was a quick read, possibly also due to the fact that I started skimming. The premise: a portrait painter has a sudden seizure in a crosswalk and almost gets hit by a car but is saved by a cute dude, goes to get scanned after and discovers she has a weak blood vessel in her brain that caused the seizure and could cause her to stroke. She has surgery to fix it and then develops face blindness while her brain is still swollen from the surgery. She is infatuated by the vet who helps to save her dog and is also put off by some dude who was talking shit about some woman on the phone in their building's elevator. Turns out elevator dude is nice and sweet and cute...

I just kind of felt like everything was super cartooney, especially Parker, her evil stepsister. Also couldn't get past the fact that a bunch of the conflicts could have been resolved if she had actually conversed with people like a normal person getting to know another person. And could have disclosed her face blindness and solved a lot of her problems that way. Not spicy at all, either. Now I know!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my thoughts.

Hello Stranger was a funny, heartwarming and emotional read!

Sadie, the FMC, undergoes minor brain surgery and wakes up with a medical condition known as Face Blindness. Every face she looks at is a jumbled mess of a puzzle. Which is kind of troublesome seeing as she is an artist and paints portraits for a living. She's a also a finalist in a Portrait contest and the grand prize is $10K, which is money she really, really needs.

I thought the premise was original and I loved to see what kind of problems Sadie could get herself into with her condition! I thought she was a little unlikeable at times, and a bit selfish.

Joe, however, the MMC, was adorable! As soon as we got to know him, I found him sweet and kind. The way he took care of Sadie so many times was just swoony.

I thought the family drama with the evil step-sister was a bit much. Both Sadie and her step-sister were really immature, though I feel like they might have grown a bit towards the end of the book.

The last 25% of the book was amazing! Make sure you're not about to go to bed before you start the final quarter of the book, you won't be able to stop!

Some things were a bit predictable but overall, this was a really enjoyable read! I recommend it to fans of funny, quirky romances!

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Katherine Center gives her readers another great book to get lost in and enjoy. Sadie Montgomery is on the brink of her first big break as an artist and has a terrible accident which causes her to have face blindness. How terrible for anyone - but Sadie is a portrait artist and depicting the face is major for her success!! As Sadie faces this issue with the help of her close friend Sue, she realizes she needs to rely on the help of others, which is difficult for her to do as she has lived a fiercely independent life since she was 14 years old. It was very interesting the way the author writes Sadie's story and her increasing involvement with "the man of her dreams" ,Oliver, and the building neighbor, Joe, who she senses is a slimeball......all while being face-blind. The story gave all the heartfelt feels of sadness, desperation, loneliness, humiliation, anger and love. But most of all, as Sadie discovered more about herself and those around her, it made me smile, smirk, and feel good that happiness can prevail. The added storyline twists really gave some depth to the story and heart-pounding romance. Thanks to the author for giving knowledgeable insight into the diagnosis of prosopagnosia, face blindness, and ways that people use to combat it in everyday life. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this advance reader copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #NetGalley #HelloStranger

This book is very cute! It’s sweet and romantic and an enjoyable summer read. I highly recommend for any romance lovers (not looking for smut).

The reason there are only 4 stars is because the narrator really droned on and on about the same topics and thoughts, and the book could have been cut in half.

Thanks NetGalley for the advanced readers copy!

Sadie is a portrait artist who is struggling to really establish herself and prove to her family that she made the right choice in going the creative route for her career. Just as she gets her big break, life throws her a curve ball and throws everything out of whack.

This one took me a little bit to get into, but once I did, I couldn't put it down! I really appreciated how the main character's conflict was unique and complex. Definitely unlike anything I've seen before! And talk about the sweetest book boyfriend! They had a very slow start, but it was super sweet and he was so supportive even if he didn't have all the info.

The family dynamics were relatable but a bit far-fetched in parts... The stepsister was like something out of a cartoon. And it was odd that she didn't address some of the stuff with her dad until the end. Or at least acknowledge it more as she worked through everything.

All in all it was an interesting, dynamic read with lovable characters and witty writing.

"Seeing the world differently helps you see things not just that other people can't‐but that you yourself never could if you weren't so lucky. It lets you make your own rules. Color outside your own lines. Allow yourself another way of seeing."

Hello Stranger is a contemporary romance and my first book by this author. I am just going to say it out loud that she might become my favorite. Sadie, our main female character, is grieving and estranged from her father. Lots of her decisions are taken due to this grief. She goes through a medical disorder that alters her life. What ensues is the story of Hello Stranger.

I didn't expect really much other than romance from this novel, and I was surprised. Perception and fun are the two elements that changed for me with my own trauma. And to see those two elements incorporated in this novel made this probably one of my favorite novels of this year. Who said trauma can't be fun? I laughed, cried a bit, got frustrated, and cheered for Sadie.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for this book.

CW: Surgery, grief, medical disorder, trauma

Thank you to Katherine Center, her team, NetGalley, and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC opportunity!

This was my first book from Katherine Center. People loved her book, The Bodyguard, and I will definitely give that one a try, but for me this one felt a little off.

Sadie is a renowned portrait artist and before her big competition, a seizure has undergoing brain surgery to repair a blood vessel. Only now, she has the inability to see faces… not only important in day-to-day life but crucial for her job. Through the recovery struggles her Peanut almost dies and she falls in something akin to instalust with the vet who saved him.

Sadie was whiny and a bit too immature for me to really root her on. While the story itself would have been very interesting, the FMC made it hard for me to get fully bought in. However, I will definitely be reading Things We Save in a Fire and The Bodyguard.

4.5/5 stars

Hello Stranger is an emotional contemporary romance. It is my fifth book by this author.

Sadie is a struggling portrait artist. She has gotten a big opportunity to showcase her work. However she has an accident that puts her art career (and life how she knew it) in jeopardy.

I really loved this book. However it was not what I was expecting. The cover is so bright and pretty. But the book deals with some serious topics. And while parts of it felt light, other parts definitely did not.

I was very interested in Sadie's career and family difficulties. And I was very invested in her struggles due to her accident. I really did not want to book the book down.

This book was emotional and beautiful. And it made me feel in all of the right ways!

I found Sadie's telling frenetic with heart. The story spotlights how acquired Prosopagnosia changed Sadie's perspective on life and how she went about hers. Grief, family dynamics, and romance all wove together to paint an unexpected portrait of love, for herself most of all.

Great story with swoon-worthy moments. Not a story of strong relationships with others but rather the idea that a relationship with yourself should always come first.

This story was well researched and I always enjoy reading Katherine's prose. Fun and entertaining although some parts felt flat. Romance and serious subject matters like parental loss are hard to intermingle, but Katherine does a great job of doing just that. I feel like it had a good balance of lightheartedness and seriousness. I am a fan and always will be. I'll read every new book she writes.

Reading books by @katherinecenter always leave me smiling. Things You Save in a Fire was the book that got me addicted to her books. Her female characters are smart and funny. I want to be friends with them all.

Hello Stranger had me laughing out loud. There were times where I wanted to reach into the book and give Sadie a hug and tell her everything will be ok. This book is heartwarming.

Parker, the evil step sister, yes they still make those 😉needs to#have her own book with a man to put her in her place. I’d read it.

Katherine Center’s authors note spoke volumes to me and I was a bit convicted about my views of romance stories. I am one of the readers who always say I don’t read a lot of romance fiction or eye roll and say love stories are unrealistic but yet I read them and love them anyway. “Self-protecting” or “fear of vulnerability” maybe...I adored this story, which I first thought started out as far fetched but I ended staying up until 2am to finish because of the hope and emotional bliss the story ignited in me. This is my fourth book by Katherine Center and all her books have been a 5 star read for me. She is definitely gifted in her writing of this genre and I will be here for it, patiently waiting for her next book to drop!

Katherine Center can do no wrong for me, and this just cements that even further. This book is just fun. Yes, there are hard parts, but overall it's just so enjoyable. While I thought I knew where this was going, I wasn't sure how it was going to get there and I enjoyed the ride. 4.5 stars. Add this to your summer reading list.

Hello Stranger is probably the most original romance novel I've ever read.

It follows the highly successful formula that all good romance novels promote BUT this one is different.

It will make you laugh AND cry AND stamp your feet in utter frustration but you will never have read a 'story' like this before.

It captured my attention from the first page to the last and I couldn't put it down. I'm overwhelmed by this book's originality whilst remaining true to its HEA expectation.

If you're looking for 'something different' in romance, this ticks all the boxes.