Hello Stranger by Katherine Center
Love isn’t blind, it’s just a 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.
For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Library Love Challenge
The Reason
I had this on my TBR before I read The Bodyguard but ended up reading The Bodyguard first and loved it. I think I’m probably going to read as many of the author’s works as I can!
The Quotes
“The more good things you look for, the more you find.”
“We’re all just doing the best we can. We’re all struggling with our struggles. Nobody has the answers. And everybody, deep down, is a little bit lost.”
“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.”
“Light matters just as much as darkness. Play matters as much as work, and kindness matters as much as cruelty, and hope matters as much as despair. More so, even. Because tragedy is a given, but joy is a choice.”
My Thoughts
Amnesia is an overdone cliché, but face blindness is something completely new and in this story, allows us to imagine some of the same scenarios that amnesia could put the protagonist in. It’s a tiny bit cheesy and dramatic, but I loved how the story played out and I love the chemistry between the main characters! I’m also not a huge fan of miscommunication tropes in general, but it worked for this story, and I think to an extent, it’s genius how the author uses these tools and mold them to tell a wonderful and hilarious love story!
My Feels
I loved this one and I think it might be my favorite romance so far this year, which is saying a lot because I’ve read a couple of great ones so far! I can’t wait to read more from Katherine Center!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?