Genre: contemporary romance

Sadie Montgomery has followed in her mother’s footsteps to become a portrait artist, specializing in hyper realistic portraits. She’s definitely on the starving artist range of the spectrum, and renting a not-quite-livable studio space/apartment from her best friend’s parents, but still feeling like she’s only one break away from better luck. She thinks she’s found it when she’s invited to enter the same portrait contest that her mother participated in before she died. But a nonconvulsive seizure reveals an underlying lesion that Sadie needs to have removed from her brain. A bit of routine brain surgery leaves an unfortunate complication - Sadie develops prosopagnosia, more commonly known as face blindness. Sadie is bereft, unsure how to process the loss of her livelihood (even if the doctors assure her it *may* only be temporary), until she meets the absurdly handsome veterinarian who helps rescue her dear elderly dog Peanut.

I hadn’t yet read a Katherine Center book, but had heard so many great things about her heartwarming love stories. I’m really glad I picked this up! Hello Stranger is told from Sadie’s POV, giving us insight into the confusion, depression, and terror she feels at the lack of recognition of people she’s known forever, from her best friend to her evil stepsister. Working with a neuropsychologist helps Sadie cope and learn some tricks, but it isn’t enough to help her feel less alone.

I don’t tend to read many contemporary love stories that aren’t totally bonkers, but when I do, I love ones like this that are wholly heartwarming with rich multi-dimensional characters who struggle with navigating their lives and find love in both the expected and unexpected places.

Thank you to St Martin's Press, MacMillan Audio, and Netgalley for an eARC and ALC for review. Hello Stranger is out 7/11/23, and I can’t wait for you all to read it, because there’s not much I can talk about in this review…

Sadie is looking for her big break and finally is almost there when she gets in an accident that leads to finding out that she needs brain surgery. Even though she tries to avoid having brain surgery, her dad (whom she is not super fond of) schedules it for her and it leaves her with facial blindness. The rest of the book goes through her trying to regain her ability to see faces and her struggles along the way. My favorite quote was "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."

I thought the story was a little strange at first, but 1/4 of the way in, I was hooked. I loved the artistic piece, the evil/crazy step-sister, the "two" love interests, and friendship shown in the story. There were parts that I literally laughed out loud at and others that I wanted to be able to give Sadie a hug. I did really enjoy the narration.

Thank you netgalley for the ebook and audiobook arc of this amazing book!!!

Katherine Center has such a warm way to write tragic things with a dash of humor. I love her tone and wit. The charm that oozes from these pages just melted my heart.

Katherine Center is an auto read author for me until the end of time!!!

this book was so infuriating, but so great. i loved it so much!! did i sob?? yes, but overall it was worth every tear!! katherine center is slowly becoming one of my favorite authors. i'm not sure if this is technically a cinderella retelling, but it definitely felt like it!! sadie and joe are just my new favorite bookish couple. i cannot wait to share this book with everyone!! 💕🥰

The reaserch on faceblindness was amazing.
More I though about book after reading I starated to appriciate it even more. It is amazing to think how your brain works. Author made a funny story about something so impprtant ❤️❤️❤️. Sadie finally has a life oppertunity in her art career, but a little problem set her back she finds out that she will need brain surgery. Brain surgery is successful but Sadie becomes face blind - may be temporary may be permanent. I loved all the neurology reaseach about face blind. This story is about Sadie falling in love with two guy while not able to recognize their face. Story is told only from Sadie side as she is trying to do everyday things while trying to ajust her lifestyle with hee new impairment. I loved the author's note how important romance books are.

I’d like to preface this with I have also read the book and I truly believe reading and listening and both unique experiences. That being said, listening to this was just as fun as reading!!!

Katherine Center seems to always take a different approach to love stories and I am quickly become a huge fan!!

Sadie was such a fun character to journey with in this book. Her facial blindness was interesting and frustrating to follow along with. It’s almost as if her lack of recognition made it difficult for my own imagination to run with the story. I loved it! That being said, I couldn’t help but fall for Joe’s character the most. My heart has a soft spot for good guys.

I did have a little trouble at certain parts. It seemed as if Sadie DIDN’T have facial blindness and spoke as if she could recognize the people around her. Throughout the book these were the parts I was expecting her vision to come back and her facial blindness to go away. This was not the case though, it just felt inconsistent.

I WILL say you might find the twist a little predictable, but Katherine wrote it so well that I now feel the need to go back and see if I can catch it at just the right moment!

Another great read from Katherine Center. Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the audiobook ARC!!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this audio ARC. I was incredibly excited to read this book, as I have loved all of Katherine's other books.

This was sadly not up to the other books she has written. This is primarily because every character was overly annoying, rude, or judgmental. If I don't like all the characters, it isn't a book for me.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for this alc. I adored it. Romance really feel me so good and this one was a special one. I adored everyone even the evil character but it has to be there. Maybe I needed a little more to fall in love with the book but when I did I could not let it go. So much passion, not all perfect made me feel everything so real. A story when the main character has to learn to live in a different way and build new connection. After a brain surgery she is not able to recognise faces and for an artist like her is essential. But she made it to make a sense of everything. And the ending melted me down for real.

Thank you Netgalley, Macmillan Audio and St. Martins Press for the free ARC!

After loving The Bodyguard, I was so excited for this book. Especially when you add in that I’ve seen so much love for this book going around. I really enjoy Patti Murin as a narrator as well so this had me feeling a lot of excitement heading into it.

Unfortunately for me, it missed the mark a bit. Since I have seen so much love for this book, I’m going to chalk this up to it’s just a me issue. If you like silliness and a good plot twist, then this would be a good book for you. It just wasn’t the book for me.

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center
FIVE GIGANTIC STARS

Holy crap! I didn't know what I was getting into. I didn't even read the blurb before requesting this one from NetGalley. I was NOT disappointed and instead was so incredibly presently surprised. I adored this book. I would recommend this to anyone no matter what type of books you like. I mean, it's a romance but there's so much more here. Compassion. Learning. Growing. Accepting. Ahh! I just loved it. Patti Murin narrated this perfectly!

Read the blurb because nothing I can say will do it justice. Or skip it and just read the book.

"I'll be Joe for you, if you want." ❤️

#HelloStranger #KatherineCenter
#PattiMurin #NetGalley #MacmillanAudio
#Romance #ContemporaryRomance
#Accidents #FallingInLove #Veterinarian
#Prosopagnosia #FaceBlindness

I received an ARC copy of the audiobook from the publisher. Thank you. All thoughts are my own opinions.

I first read Katherine Center last year in december. I started out with her novel The Bodyguard, which i absolutely loved with a passion. So after finishing that book, i went in search of a new one, and this book caught my eye. So slowly I've been waiting. I was counting down the days and months, and then when i requested this book, i had my fingers crossed. I was shocked that i was approved for this, and im so glad that i did. Because i absolutely loved it. From the premise to the characters and cover.
I love the fact that even though she couldn't see her love interest, she still fell in love with him. That ending i didn't see coming, but i thought it was a cute one. And was rooting for joe the whole time . I felt relatable to the character, sadie. This is a book you can't put down. I listened to it in one sitting with no breaks you must pick this up

Katherine Center's other book: The Bodyguard was fantastic! And this one y'all!!! So good! I loved the humor and the romance so much! I can't wait to read more books by this author cause so far her books are hitting!!

Katherine Center is, at this point, an auto-buy for me. She is a reliably fun author who will always bring a smile, some real life laughs and warm fuzz. Hello Stranger hits every beat and came with the unique and cool bonus of teaching me a lot about a rare medical condition, face blindness, that I admittedly was not very familiar. I had intended to savor this audio book over the weekend but, alas, it was too good and I devoured it in one day while running errands and doing chores around the house. Thank you to MacMillan for the early listening copy, it was the best Friday treat!

Read for:
-Reliable Rom Com
-Fuzzy feels
-Hopeful
-Hilarious
-Informative

4/5 stars!

Pros: I think Katherine Center is a very dependable author—my favorite of hers is The Bodyguard. I think readers who have loved her prior books will be excited to get their hands on this one. Two elements of this book that I especially enjoyed are its Houston setting and that the main character is an artist.

I also really liked this on audiobook. Patti Murin is a great narrator. After listening to The Bodyguard and now Hello Stranger read by Patti Murin, I hope she will continue to narrate Katherine Center's books.

Cons: This is not a con of the book but is just my reading preference—I do not like the trope of if people would just communicate . . .

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to read this book.

Overall an enjoyable and unique read.
For me - the main character read very young to me & that kept pulling me out of the story. It felt as if I was reading a YA main character rather than adult woman. I did really enjoy the plot and romance aspect! Definitely an interesting read and I look forward to reading more from Katherine Center!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I love how much I can count on Center for a heartwarming story no matter what. It doesn’t matter the scenario or even where the characters live, I know I can cozy up to her books and feel warm fuzzies. HELLO STRANGER was no different.

Center pulled on my heartstrings while entertaining me with romance as well as the educational component to the story. I had never heard of Sadie’s disability, which immediately prompted me to learn more about her condition. Center has an incredible talent to weave in multiple storylines without overwhelming the readers with too much information. She truly has the ability to mix in the perfect amount. Like her other books, I found this to be a page turner trying to move as quick as I could to see how things would play out.

Sadie and the other cast of characters are so easy to fall in love with and understand from your first interaction with them. While there are some bad apples, of course, this story was so wholesome and incredibly sweet.

PS - READ THE AUTHOR’S NOTE!!

Big thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC! You can get your copy on July 11.

Content warnings: death, bullying, grief, gaslighting, body shaming, suicide attempt

I’m pretty new to Katherine Center but I love the tone of her books and this one was great.

Sadie is a portrait artist that just had a stroke and the surgery has caused some swelling in the part of the brain that connects faces to memory. (prosopagnosia)

It was a pretty predictable story but so enjoyable to be in. Such a fun story with great characters, nothing too wild but definitely gets a little emotional.

I also really liked that I learned about prosopagnosia which I had never heard of before. If someone just told me about it I would have just been like okay I don’t really know what you mean but that sounds really tough. But seeing Sadie’s story still seemed very tough but a little more understandable seeing the day to day interactions.

Overall I had a great time reading it. I did want a little more healing/closure with her family.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for an eARC.

I absolutely adored this book when I read it and loved it even more when I listened to it!! Such a cute book!! *Swoon*

I absolutely LOVED this one! Katherine Center brings her A game as usual, and brings us an amazingly beautiful and unique book that I devoured in 24 hours.

Best book I have read in a LONG time!!

Where to start! Where to start! This book is hands-down, the most unique, original, and beautiful work of art I have read in a long time!

It’s almost hard to write about without giving anything away. Katherine waves a beautiful web throughout the story with the characters and events. While you think you know where the story may go you can’t stop turning the pages to find out how it unfolds. . . And if you’re right.

My only feedback for Katherine is the same as it was for The Bodyguard. Get rid of that epilogue, it does not add to the story. If it would’ve ended with the last sentence of the last chapter, I would’ve been left, throwing my kindle across the room at 1 AM cursing that it’s over while simultaneously cursing the absolute brilliance of the author. The book is a masterpiece, and the epilogue brings it down.

That being said, thank you so much to Erica Martirano and St. Martin’s Publishing Group for making my week! It is definitely one to remember! A big thank you to NetGalley as well for providing me with the ARC!