Sadie Montgomery is 28 years old and a portrait artist, just like her late mother. Her father, who doesn't approve of her career, quickly remarried after her beloved mother's death years ago. Her stepmother is difficult, and her stepsister is simply evil. Just as Sadie has the possibility of winning a portrait painting contest with a lucrative grand prize, an injury results in an immediate need for brain surgery and the swelling afterwards causes a condition called prosopagnosia, more commonly known as face blindness. While hopefully temporary, this makes it near impossible to paint portraits. With Sadie's life in complete chaos, she is helped by her best friend Sue. She also finds some solace in a crush developed for a new veterinarian who is caring for her dog. Joe, a neighbor she can only identify by the jacket he wears, also enters her life and after an assumption that he is a bit of a player, turns out to be a decent guy. But what about the hunky veterinarian who seems to also be interested in her? Life is certainly complicated for Sophie. Perhaps the change in her seeing ability can provide her with a new perspective on life.

Leave it to author Katherine Center to create an enjoyable book that is about a serious medical condition. Hello Stranger is romantic fiction and Center is an author who you trust will eventually make everything right. She has the talent of taking readers on journeys from misery to happiness. This isn't a spoiler. The author is unapologetically optimistic. That's why she has become an auto-read author. Sometimes you just need a book that aims to be joyful.

I am so happy that I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press. Katherine Center’s books are always excellent, and Hello Stranger is her best one yet! I loved the characters (except for the one we are supposed to hate), and I loved the relationship between Sadie, the main character, and her best friend. The ending of this book is perfection! Another five star book from Katherine Center—and I’d give it more stars if I could!!

This is one of those books that will have me going back and forth on my rating for days, probably weeks, maybe even years from now if a friend brings it up and asks me about it, I’ll still have the same reaction. I really really loved this book. It was interesting. It was original. It was nuanced. The characters were so wonderfully written. But I also have gotten really really fed up with the miscommunication trope. Especially when the third act breakup can be avoided/resolved with one conversation. And that was also this book. I will say that at least there was some reason, if not entirely rational, for this character to avoid that specific communication and Center even directly addressed it in the text because she knew some of us would be (figuratively) screaming at Sadie. I want to give it 4.5 stars but I can’t so I’m giving it 5. The lack of half star ratings is almost as frustrating as the miscommunication trope. This is a really weird 5⭐️ review. I get that. Idk, it’s where I’m at right now. It made me feel things, not all of them good, and that’s not necessarily bad. I’m all out of whack. Just read it.

This is my first Katherine Center book and she blew me away. Katherine did an outstanding job of writing Hello Stranger. I had never heard of what Sadie goes through (prosopagnosia), but through Katherine's writing I was able to feel her frustration, sadness, and then happiness as everything played out. The plot twist was one that you don't expect but it's exactly what you were wishing for. I cannot wait to read more from her.

👋🏻 Hello Stranger 👋🏻

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@potatoesandpaperbacks 4.5 ⭐️

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Thanks to Netgalley, Katherine Center, and St Martin’s Press for this Arc! It is released next Tuesday, July 11!

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Sadie is barely getting by as a portrait artist when she gets her big break- a top 10 spot in an elite portrait competition. Shortly thereafter, she discovers that she has to have brain surgery, which leaves her with face blindness. As she adjusts to her new normal, she tries to figure out a way to paint a fantastic portrait when she cannot see who she is painting. Along the way she falls for her dogs new vet, as well as a guy in her apartment building, and fends off attacks from her evil stepsister. Will Sadie overcome her face blindness in time, or will the condition wreck havoc not only on her professional life, but on her personal life as well?

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💭 Thoughts 💭

Another fun Katherine Center read! Sadie’s inner monologue was hysterical, and I enjoyed all of her escapades throughout the book. Yea, it was predictable but I enjoyed the ride!

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⌛️ Favorite Moment ⌛️

Due to her face blindness, Sadie tries some new techniques to paint Joe (the guy she has a crush on from her building). Her hilarious attempts include making him lay upside down, drawing a grid on his face, measuring all his features with a ruler, and touching him all over. These scenes had be laughing, and she did all of this without admitting to being face blind!

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. But I thought this was such a frustrating story, and I can get on board because of Sadie’s facial blindness. Her whole world was turned upside down and it was so frustrating. But I just didn’t love the actual story.

But I DID really like Sadie! She went through such a hard time and by the end she really was able to step back and figure things out. I like the start of the reconciliation with her dad and her step mom! I loved Sue and her parents! They were exactly the family Sadie needed. I even mostly liked her romance, it was so frustrating so much of the time. But the end was rewarding!

Listen, I’m all for the cliches, the ‘of course that’s what happened’, the ‘I’d expect nothing less from a romance book’! I TRULY am. But for whatever reason this one just…made me sad... She was a portrait artist!! She needed be able to see faces!! I just really hated seeing Sadie struggling to deal with her facial blindness and while it brought a lot of other things she very much needed to deal with…just the ‘of course that happened’ didn’t do it for me this time. So many things bad happened to her and I just hated seeing it again and again.

Also just some thoughts I had while reading:
Parker SUCKS. SO. MUCH.
Shout to Dr. Nicole just because she was exactly what Sadie needed.

Thanks to much to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Title: Hello Stranger
Author: Katherine Center
Genre: Romance
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Love isn’t blind, it’s just little blurry.

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.

I enjoyed Katherine Center’s latest read very much! It was worthy of binge-reading until 1 a.m. after a hellish day at work, if that tells you anything. Sadie was a little bit whiny at first, which got on my nerves, but I ended up liking her a lot. Why can’t I have a helpful/cute neighbor like Joe? Sadie had “strangers” popping out of the woodwork—like her horrible stepsister—but she also was surrounded by kindness. Her character growth was fun to watch, and I just enjoyed this book so much (even if the big surprise wasn’t really a surprise to me).

Katherine Center is a NYT bestselling-author. Hello, Stranger is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

(Blog link live 7/13).

Katherine Centre got it exactly right when she said that its the anticipation of the romance that we love.

This story was a perfect example of anticipation. I loved Sadie's character in this story. She is a strong woman working hard to be successful on her own and follow in her mom's footsteps after losing her as a teenager. The author brought in a real life issue - face blindness. I thought this made the story so interesting. It became a story that made me think about how I would cope, what I would try amd just how challenging this could be. Even through this adversity, the author weaves in romance for Sadie and keeps you guessing - first the stranger who rescues her, then the vet who helps save her dog, then the neighbour in her building. I had fun reading this book, smiling and laughing. It was exactly what I needed. The story comes together in this perfect way that left me smiling and wishing I could just keep reading Sadie's story. This is definitely a sit down and devour it kind of book. I will keep coming back to this author time and time again.

Katherine Center is one of my favorite authors, and this doesn't disappoint! I loved the characters of this book and it was a quick, fun read.

First, I want to say thank you to all the #sqafbookclub who have now introduced me to Katherine Center! I just found another vacation read author! Katherine Center is right up there with Elin Hilderbrand in authors I am going to be making sure I have in my pile of books to read on vacation, and when I just want a feel-good read.

The SQAF Book Club had a chance to chat with Center about her work (swipe to see the screen shot). Just like Hello Stranger, Center is full of positive vibes and I love that. She wrote about a traumatic situation, the main character Sadie suffers brain trauma, but in a very cheerful and heart-warming way. It is really a feel-good story.

The book’s optimistic nature actually reminded me of the strategies that Dr. Laurie Santos of Yale recommends in her Science of Well Being Course. It’s like Center took the course. The book actually helped me recall these strategies so I can remember to utilize them in my everyday life to ensure I am living my happiest life.

One aspect of our chat that I really enjoyed was when Center discussed the difference between her books and books that have more spice to them. She said that she really likes to write about the anticipation. From reading Hello Stranger I could really sense that, and I myself really enjoy the lead up. She also brought up how difficult it is to write a romcom with both anticipation and surprise, which really is so true. It is clear that Center spends a great deal of time thinking about her stories, how to write, how to improve on writing, what is appropriate for the genre she is writing. Definitely marks of an author who is trying to improve her writing for her audience.

The topic of face blindness was also so interesting. I had never heard of the condition and it was fascinating to experience it through Sadie’s eyes. Center herself spoke to Sadie Dingfelder, who has prosopagnosia, to ensure she had the details right. I really appreciate when an author does the research so the facts are accurate even in a fiction book.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the opportunity to read and review this novel and Katherine Center for the opportunity to chat with you.

I didn’t love this one. I think the main character Sadie is selfish and only thinks about herself. I think that she is so into herself and her problems she never asks anyone else anything. She was hanging out with Joe and never really asked him anything about himself besides who he sleeps with and about his divorce. I think the idea behind the book is interesting in the fact that she does have face blindness and is a portrait painter but I found myself annoyed throughout this entire book.

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center. There hasn't been a book I've read by Katherine Center that I haven't enjoyed. Each one pulls me into the storyline from the first chapter and keeps me intrigued the whole book.

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced reading copy! I love Katherine Center’s romantic comedies, and this book did not disappoint and is a great addition to her works. Sadie is a portrait artist about to compete in a national portrait art show, when she suddenly develops face blindness or prosopagnosia. While she’s struggling with this condition in the midst of this important competition, she also meets two men she’s attracted to and wants to date: her new veterinarian and a neighbor Joe. Can Sadie find love with this complicated developed condition? I love Center’s writing and banter. She makes it look easy, and she really knows how to pull you into the story. There were only a couple of things that I didn’t love about this story: the step-sister is a little too evil for my liking, and I found the face blindness condition kind of hard to understand when meeting characters. But overall, this was a great story, well researched and thoughtful, and I definitely recommend it for fans of Center, romantic comedy, and sweet, thoughtful contemporary fiction. The author's note is very nice as well, I highly recommend it, especially for fans of the romance genre!

I absolutely love Katherine Center's writing style - she gives just the right amount of detail and I never feel like there's a lot of extra "fluff" where I just wish the writer would get to the point. She's engaging, funny, and creates characters that elicit a strong like or dislike (I'm talking about you, Sadie's evil stepsister) in the reader. This book had the added bonus of being about a topic I never knew existed, face blindness, so I learned something new. I'm not going to say anything about the plot because I don't want to give anything away, but I will say that this was a very compelling story that had me feeling all kinds of emotions throughout. Once I started, I did not want to put this book down.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing an advance copy for review.

Katherine Center is one of my favorites, so I wasn’t surprised that this one was another hit!

Sadie Montgomery has been diagnosed with face blindness — and the timing couldn’t be worse because she was recently named as a finalist in a portrait competition. While trying to cope with her condition and figuring out what to submit for the contest, Sadie falls in love.

This was such a unique plot! Sadie is a relatable and lovable character. The face blindness aspect made the romance more complex because Sadie couldn’t see the face of the man she fell in love with. It also put new things into perspective for her and I loved how her character evolved throughout the story.

Read if you like romances with —
💙 unique plots
💙 family drama
💙 dogs!
💙 humor

HELLO STRANGER is another heartwarming story that was engaging from start to finish!

I’m not gonna lie- I was worried about this book. I was worried that it was a bit of a downer bc the heroine couldn’t catch a break. Why was this book making me so sad and uncomfortable? Would I have to give @katherinecenter a not stellar review? She’s my fave, how could I do that to her? And then it shifted and shit turned around for our heroine…and holy crap, that was the whole point! This character had to crash and burn so she could rise from the ashes- a tenacious fiesty phoenix wearing roller skates.

Sadie is struggling portrait artist who is THIS CLOSE to catching a break when she has brain surgery and whoopsies it wipes out her ability to see faces. This premise could have taken the book straight to wacky-romcom-hijinks-town. But Center wouldn’t do us dirty like that. Instead, she takes us on an emotional journey with Sadie as she staggers through a faceless world trying to piece the puzzles of faces and of her life together. Sadie is the embodiment of a person telling everyone that she’s fine while surfing floodwaters in a dumpster that’s on fire. I’ve never felt so seen by an author in my life.

Hello Stranger is about healing from trauma- past and present. It gave me a strong case of the morbs at first, but truly blossomed into such a magnificent and heartwarming story. I will say this is very low steam, unless you count the steam rising from my face from the “eye feelings” that this book elicited. You’ve done it again, Center- you made me feel feelings beyond lust! Brava!

Smut- 1.1 stars
Romance- 4.7 stars
Story- 4.5 stars
Reading a book and feeling feelings beyond perviness- a hesitant 7.3 stars

4.5 stars!

Katherine Center does it again! I love her way of writing romance. This was predictable but not in a way that was annoying, it was super cute and emotional. I enjoyed Sadie as a character and of course, Center's male love interests are always incredible as well. I've always been intrigued by face blindness and find books about it intriguing. The fact that our FMC paints portraits of people and has a potentially life-changing competition added so much to the drama of having her condition, even if it is temporary,

In true Katherine Center fashion, she also adds a dash of self-discovery, a hefty dose of family drama, and a few loveable side characters (including an adorable dog named, Peanut), which all add to the charm of this book. The romance was 10/10 and the humor helped to lighten up the vibes as well. This book was emotional, heartwarming, and highly unputdownable. Katherine Center will continue to be an auto-buy author for me!

Before reading this book, I had never heard of face blindness/prosopagnosia, so the plot really intrigued me. (Yes, it’s an actual medical condition). You can tell Katherine Center did a lot of research on the topic, and she explained it in a way that’s easy to understand. The heroine, Sadie, is a very likable character, and it was interesting seeing how her other senses came into play when her sight was altered. (For those who don’t know what face blindness/prosopagnosia is, Katherine described it as seeing disjointed puzzle pieces of someone’s face where their actual face should be). It’s hard for me to imagine not being able to know someone immediately just by seeing their face, but there are people out there who have to deal with this every day. I loved the dynamic between Sadie and her family, and the relationship between Sadie and the hero, Joe, was sweet and endearing. I’ve always been a fan of Katherine Center, and this book is another hit. I would gladly recommend it to everyone.

If you love Katherine Center, you will love Hello Stranger.

I struggled to get into the book and it wasn't until about 50% of the way in that I felt invested. The pacing in the first half felt off and we were not seeing individual growth or much in Sadie's relationships.

That being said, I am so happy I stuck with it because the last half was worth it. In that we got to see some growth from Sadie and a blossoming relationship with Joe.

Did I see the twist coming, absolutely. Did I still enjoy seeing it play out? Absolutely.

3.5 rounded up to 4 because of the epilogue and writers note! She explained why “predictable” should be “hopeful anticipation”. I completely changed my rating and point of view because I looked forward to the characters figuring out what I did earlier on. I know some people ignore writers notes but in this case it made the book something much better and personal for me… so DONT SKIP IT! Book itself is 4 stars but her note is 5. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. I greatly appreciate it!