This was a really fun romance novel. It had an original story and likeable characters. The main character, who is a portrait artist had to have brain surgery that left her face blind right before she had a important art competition and before she met a man she would quickly fall for. She also has complicated issues with her family and is struggling with who she really is. The romance goes back and forth and keeps you interested and cheering on the love story. Perfect fun novel.

I LOVED this book. I have been a fan of most (if not all) of Katherine Center's books. I love how she writes romances. It's a rollercoaster without feeling forced. It's back and forth without feeling tedious. Its the perfect mix.

I really enjoy Katherine Center's books. She really knows how to write a romcom, and gives her characters a lot of, well, character. I've read books about facial blindness before, but never to this depth, and it was really interesting to consider the complexities of the story and wondering what it would be like to have one of the senses malfunctioning, throwing all the others off. Books like this lead me to wonder if men like Joe exist out there in the world, really and truly. Katherine Center is fun and refreshing.

Katherine Center had been a favorite author of mine for years, going back to before I would have called myself a romance reader. Her characters have major hurdles to overcome (impending blindness, paralysis, ptsd, etc.), but her stories are filled with such hope and happiness.

In this one, Sadie is a portrait painter who is gearing up for a competition that will hopefully kick off her career. In the lead up, though, she experiences a seizure that ultimately leads to brain surgery, which leaves her with a condition called face blindness. Basically, her brain can't properly process facial features to distinguish one person from another. Not only does this present some obvious challenges in the day to day (like not recognizing your evil stepsister), but it's extremely problematic for someone trying to paint a career defining portrait on a deadline.

While trying to find her new normal and prepare for the competition, Sadie also finds herself trying to navigate a complicated love life. She is absolutely certain her dog's new vet, Dr. Addison, is her forever person. At the same time, though, she's growing closer to her neighbor, Joe. Her initial impression of Joe wasn't great, but as he's helping with her portrait process and just generally showing up for her, she realizes she may have misjudged him. Add in Sadie's evil stepsister moving into her building, family drama, financial woes, and Sadie's insistence that no one know about her face blindness, and life is a bit complicated.

This entire story was told from Sadie's POV, which was especially interesting and entertaining because Sadie is the definition of an unreliable narrator. She's a quirky character on the best of days, but her condition further skews things, so you never really know what to believe as a reader.

This is a really fun and unique story with all the "Pollyanna" vibes I expect from this author.

Hello Stranger was my first Katherine Center book and it won’t be my last! I absolutely fell in love with her writing and the storyline! That was definitely a rollercoaster of emotions from beginning to end and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I cannot wait to catch up on her backlog and future projects!

I adored Center's previous book, "The Bodyguard," and was ecstatic to see the audio book for Hello Stranger being released. Center has a way of taking a traditional rom-com and pushing further, bringing you a story that moves you. Add this to the list of audiobooks that have made me cry! It's a beautiful story that I hope lots of people get their hands on.
I was provided an e-audiobook of this book by the publisher (St. Martin's Press) or author (Katherine Center) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review about how I feel about this book.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review. I liked the facial blindness aspect. I've seen this used only in thrillers, so it was interesting to see how it was used in a romcom.

HELLO STRANGER
Katherine Center


In HELLO STRANGER we are following Sadie. Sadie has just had brain surgery and upon recovering she realizes she cannot make out people's faces. Every person she sees is a stranger to her. She has a form of Prosopagnosia.

Sadie is a portrait artist by trade and as you can imagine this disorder is very unsettling for her. She finds herself rediscovering what it means to be an artist and finds herself trying to piece back together her life in a more appealing way.

Enter not one, but two love interests to lust after. The rest is history.

I did an entire post talking about books featuring characters with Prosopagnosia. But this is the first romance novel I have ever read that featured this occurrence. I thought it created a very interesting dynamic. I have learned even more about the subject and I thought that was a big bonus for the book.

I loved the idea that since Sadie can’t make out faces Every. Other. Sense. Is. Heightened. This made for some of the steamiest scenes I've ever read by Katherine Center. Although fleeting, this tension between the characters went a long way.

HELLO STRANGER is a love story but it's also about grief. Not only the grief of losing a loved one but also the grief of losing and letting go of what you thought your life was going to be like. And giving birth to and accepting the life you were meant to live.

HELLO STRANGER is my favorite of Katherine Center's books. And it might be the most romantic book I've read recently. You can find HELLO STRANGER by Katherine Center everywhere books are sold, it's out now!

Thanks to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copies! It was a pleasure to read and be given the opportunity to provide feedback!

HELLO STRANGER...⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I absolutely adore Katherine Center. Her books never disappoint and this one is definitely a favorite. I honestly had to do a little research on this one. I had never heard of Prosopagnosia. I wanted to see if it was a real thing. Spoiler alert it is! I was shocked to read that Brad Pitt thinks he has this. I fell in love with both characters and rooted for them throughout their journey in this book. I laughed at Sadie and even teared up at times sympathizing with her. This book had me speculating but still doubting. I really fell in love with this book from the beginning. This is a must read!

After an accident leaves Sadie with face blindness, she struggles to cope - she was recently named a finalist to the North American Portrait Society competition but she can no longer see faces, she has fallen in love with two people, and her evil stepsister has moved into her building.

This was cute! It was probably the “cutest” of all of Katherine Center’s books. I figured out the twist pretty quickly, but I still wanted to keep reading! The audiobook was well done!

“ᴡᴀꜱ ʜᴇ ꜰʟɪʀᴛɪɴɢ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴍᴇ ᴏʀ ʙᴇɪɴɢ ᴀ ᴘᴀɪɴ? ʜᴀᴅ ʜᴇ ᴀʟʀᴇᴀᴅʏ ᴡᴏɴ ᴍᴇ ᴏᴠᴇʀ, ᴏʀ ᴅɪᴅ ɪ ꜱᴛɪʟʟ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ ᴄʜᴏɪᴄᴇ?”

This was a very unique story that drew me in from the start. The female MC Sadie is a portrait artist and suddenly has an obstacle preventing her from painting faces. This in itself caught my interest as I had never heard of her condition - face blindness - so it was interesting to learn about and how we form our own opinions of those around us based on presumptions from their face. When that one element of recognizing someone or judging someone goes away - what do you do?

This book had so much substance to the plot and subtle twists that it kept you engaged. I loved the side characters in this story from the landlord, to the bestie, and of course the love interestS. Is there a bit of a love triangle going on?

I thought the story did a great job of dealing with toxic family dynamics and overcoming grief. How do you build a life for yourself when you lose your support system, and are still grieving the loss of someone? It was very interesting seeing Sadie navigate all of these dynamics and work to overcome and balance her life. She never came across as a damsel in distress, and very much was find a way forward person.

🎧I listened to this on audio and loved the narrator. I thought she did a great job of encompassing of who the FMC was, and keeping you invested in all of the characters and story.

This was my first book by @katherinecenter , and I will definitely be checking out her others!

Read if you like…
🎨Forced Proximity
🎨Witty Banter
🎨Family drama
🎨HEA

Thank you to Netgalley, Katherine Center, and publishers for the arc.

This is a Romance/Women's Fiction. This book has so many things that kept me pulled into the story, and I loved all the characters. There are a few twisted and side things going on in this book that I really loved. I will not go into details because it may spoil things for other readers, but I will say this book was really well written with a great storyline. The main character was just so great, and she got face blindness after a surgery that takes place in the very beginning of this book. I loved seeing how she handled it, and I really do not know how I would handle not being able to see people's faces. I listened to the audiobook of this book, and I really enjoyed the narrator. The narrator was easy to understand. I was kindly provided an e-audiobook of this book by the publisher (St. Martin's Press) or author (Katherine Center) via NetGalley, so I can give an honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

I loved this! This was a well-written, funny contemporary romance, with a unique premise and likable main character. When Sadie, an artist, develops a condition known as face blindness, she has to learn re-learn how to paint portraits in time for an upcoming competition. Sadie's sense of humour was great and the audio narrator captured her personality brilliantly, hitting just the right tone for the reflective moments and making the comedic moments burst to life.

At first, I wasn't too happy that one of the love interests seemed to be a character who was a bit of an asshole in the beginning of the story, but the twist in the final chapters completely changed my view on this (we also realise that the LI was not, in fact, being an asshole.) Honestly, the twist was probably one of the best I've read in a contemporary romance in long time, and I didn't see it coming. After thoroughly enjoying this, I treated myself to a copy of The Bodyguard, and I'm looking forward to reading that too.

3.25-3.5 Stars
I wanted to love this novel, but it was too predictable!

Sadie Montgomery was recently in an accident that caused her face blindness. Instead of letting everyone around her know, she thought it would be best to keep it mostly to herself. She continued to live her life as usual. She even tried dating! Of course, misunderstanding and drama ensue.

I love the author's writing style, but the story was too predictable. A few pages in and I was able to predict the entire story. Also, everything happened too conveniently.

Overall, good enough to read, but it didn't wow me.

***Thank you to NetGalley, Katherine Center, and Macmillan Audio for graciously sending me the audiobook to review. As always, all thoughts are my own.***

I really liked this book but I was not surprised since I have read most of Katherine Center's books and liked all of them. This book, as in most of her books, is a love story that also includes some kind of life lesson or human value that is incorperated into the theme of the book. I like that because it makes this book differnent from most romances.The main character is a young woman searching for her best self. She has an accident and the result is her getting temporary "face blindness". I have not read much on her condition but I know that "face blindness" is real. That makes this book quite unique since the she can't see the face of anyone including the man she is attracted to. This leads to some funny situations that had me laughing out loud. I like the character development in the book too. It is a fun book to read on the beach or during a vacation. I recommend it.

This is a tough review to write because I am a big fan of KC and the books she writes. While I haven't loved every single one, I do look forward each Summer to a new release. Last year with THE BODYGUARD, I listened to the audiobook and the narrator, Patti Murrin made that book for me. If it weren't for her, I probably would have DNF this one.

I can see why everyone is giving higher ratings, but I am unfortunately an outlier and I this one just didn't work for me. Surprisingly, the comment that I've seen so much about the MC being insufferable didn't bother me much? I think the narrator did a flawless job of voicing this character and bringing her to life. Where I had issues was with the book being way over the top. Each member of Sadie's family was insufferable in their own way and it was too much. Particularly, when you learn the backstory of the "rivalry" between Sadie and her stepsister, Parker. All of those bad things Parker did that she framed Sadie for and everyone in the family just rolled over and believed it was Sadie? (I don't want to get into spoilers, but there were some very serious things that Parker blamed Sadie for and yet it was very easy for Sadie's father to believe it all happened without any prior history of this behavior.)

Continuing with how things were so over the top - It was a revolving door of bad luck and misunderstandings that led to Sadie always getting the short end of the stick...on everything...A lot of it is fine, but by the time we reached the art show scene at around 80% (I was at my limit at that point), things got kind of ridiculous.

It doesn't matter to me that I guessed the big twist early on in the book. I don't care about certain predictability in a romance, but coupled with everything else, I had a hard time.

I will be sure to request KC's next book as an audiobook in hopes that this was an anomaly. If you loved the book - Great! I'm glad. I hope I love her next one too.

Review Date: 07/17.2023
Publication Date: 07/11/2023

Another fun book and sweet romance from Katherine Center. She never lets us down.

Sadie has never had anybody to believe in her. Despite protests from her father, she is a portrait artist who has finally gotten her big break. She's a finalist in the same contest that her mother was part of before she passed away. Her dreams were materializing at last until she has to have surgery that leaves her face recognition altered. How is she going to paint a portrait now?

Joe lives in her building and she has been under impressed after hearing a phone call he made in the elevator. But as she gets to know him, she discovers that first impressions are not always correct. She finally has someone who believes in her until he ghosts her and she has no idea why. Will she ever be normal again? Will her family ever see her as worthy? And what in the world is wrong with Joe?

I gave this ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I loved the audio version. I love this narrator, Patti Murin. This was a perfect beach read for me. I love Katherine Center's male characters. This had the mean girl, family drama, medical crisis, romance, and the woman who persevered and had the kindest heart. It was a win for me!

Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for an advance audio copy in exchange for an honest review!

Another 5 star read by KC. I don’t know how she does it but I hope she never stops. They all revolve around strong independent women, which rocks. As an almost 30 yr old myself, this kind of main character always makes me happy.

Sadie is an artist who does portraits who acquires a disability that interrupts her work right at the beginning of the story. The book focuses on how she navigates her new life. This roller coaster of emotions and love and friendship and let down and apologizes made for one amazing story.

I also loved the extra information on prosopagnosia at the end. It gave some insight that only increased the value of the book.

Representation of disability within books helps share the difficulty of people lives who have these disabilities but also shows how they adapt and have great lives.

Thank you KC!

Katherine Center has crafted a unique novel in Hello, Stranger that explores the ways we know people and the barriers that prevent us from knowing them. Perspective helps us see clearly, and perspective is what Sadie Montgomery lacks. After a sudden needed surgery, she has “face blindness” and feels her world collapsing as her dream of being a portrait artist depends on perceiving facial features.

Sadie, estranged from her father, still mourns the loss of her mother and dislikes her father’s wife and her stepsister. She has one close friend and dotes on her little dog Peanut. But her small world explodes when she must navigate this new world of “face blindness.” She meets a handsome new vet, Dr. Addison, or at least, Sadie thinks he is handsome. Trying to interact with people becomes so challenging when their faces are puzzle pieces. She runs into Joe, a man with a dicey reputation who lives in her apartment building, but cannot recognize him every time. Sadie cannot even recognize her family. And through it all, she is determined to paint a portrait despite the challenges.

This is a sweet, emotional novel that has humorous moments but reaches deep into the experiences that hurt us and never leave us, making our perspective faulty. But it is also about the power of healing and forgiveness and love. I listened to the audiobook and thought the narration brought all the characters to life. Highly recommended!

I liked this book a lot. There's Trinidadian expat representation? By that I mean a Trinidadian going to school and living outside of Trinidad. The distinction better explains the lack of an accent in the audiobook. I loved learning about face blindness. I also like that at the end of every few chapters, I had a new theory or wonder to find out about later in or at the end of the book, It's a good read!