Excellent audiobook. I thoroughly enjoyed the reader of this book and the plot moved along at an excellent pace. I did not enjoy this one as much as the bodyguard, but it was a close second.

I loved this book! I am not a Katherine Center fan. i will be going back and reading everything that she rights. Loved it so much!

I could not stop smiling when I was listening to the Audiobook!

This book has a verry weird premise: a portrait artist that is face blind. I do not know how Catherine Center came up with this. Many books have had the two main characters use different names an secretly communicate online via dating apps but this allows for the same type of plot device while using a unique mechanism: the face blindness.

I really appreciated how the portraiture and facial features of each character were described. The humor and banter and inner dialogue was also great and had me laughing out loud multiple times.

The romance was a little slow but these again, the main character develops feelings for two different people!

This is my favorite Catherine Center boo and I highly recommend reading it!

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for the honest review.

Imagine not being able to see people's faces. This is such a hard concept for me to grasp, it literally makes my head hurt pondering it, but such is the life of Sadie Montgomery after she has brain surgery to correct a genetic condition and awakes to discover that she can no longer recognize anyone by their main identifier - their face.

As a portrait artist, this is a huge dilemma for Sadie. How is she supposed to create art from people's faces when she cannot see them?! This condition has descended upon her at literally the worst possible moment because Sadie, the struggling artist, has just been selected as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition ... a contest that could literally change her life.

As if things could not get any worse, Sadie's beloved dog Peanut falls ill, and she finds herself insta-in-love with her dreamy new vet, Dr. Addison. At least she thinks he is dreamy since she can't exactly see his face. At the same time, she has started to develop feelings for the once-repulsive-turned-charming guy in her building, Joe, who has been helping Sadie without actually knowing he is helping her. Not only is Sadie not telling anyone about her condition, she is also a staunch non-acceptor of assistance from anyone, which makes navigating the world when you cannot see faces all the more difficult. It also creates some sticky situations when you are falling in love and you cannot see the guy(s)' faces!

While Sadie struggles to cobble together a portrait for the competition, she finds herself juggling issues with family, friends, and of course ... her two new love interests. All Sadie knows is that her face blindness needs to correct itself and fast before she makes an even greater mess of her already messy life.

I am a very selective rom-com reader. but I always enjoy a good Katherine Center novel. At the end of Hello Stranger, Center explains why romances have such appeal - that they offer hope and the promise of a happy ending. This resonated with me because I know that I can turn to Katherine Center whenever I need an entertaining, uplifting, feel-good story, which Hello Stranger certainly is. That's not to say that Hello Stranger stays away from the worries and stresses of life - in fact, this book chronicles the death of a parent, the loss of a career, and both personal and pet health scares - but Center writes in such a way that you can believe that no matter what happens, everything is going to be okay. This display of resilience in her books is partly why I find myself turning to her time and time again.

That is not to mention her amazing characters and compelling plotlines! I am always thoroughly entertained while reading Center's books, and I found Hello Stranger to be both hilarious and horrifying because I just cannot imagine suddenly having my ability to see faces taken from me. This scenario set-up some really intriguing storylines, and although I "saw" the main twist coming from a mile away, it was a lot of fun "seeing" the pieces all come together.

Katherine Center books always get the royal treatment when it comes to audiobook productions, utilizing amazing narrators who evoke such personality and voice in their character interpretations! I was instantly drawn into Patti Murin's narration of Hello Stranger, and found that she was brilliant in bringing Sadie Montgomery and her truly unique plight to life.

Absolutely love Katherine Center! Such a joy to read all of her books. I also love a somewhat “you’ve got mail” twist, with falling in love with the same person in two capacities. Continually impressed by Center’s characters, writing style, and how enormously enjoyable everything she writes is.

I will be withholding my review of this book in solidarity with the St. Martin's Press boycott.

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press

🎧 Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio

I absolutely loved this book! I listened to the audio version and Patti Murin did a wonderful job on the narration.

Sadie Montgomery is a finalist in a portrait painting competition that can vastly improve her struggling career with its $10,000 grand prize, but just before the contest an urgent needed surgery causes complications which leads to face blindness where Sadie loses the ability to recognize faces. This could be career ending for her. She is now having to come to terms with her ‘new normal’. Meanwhile, she falls for two different men along the way, her helpful neighbor and the sophisticated veterinarian who helps save her pup, peanut (who was a delight)!

Sadie was a gem. She made me laugh out loud so many times throughout this read and her inner dialogue was so entertaining. The author really did her research on face blindness and presented it in a very understandable way. It was a page turner from the very beginning for me.

I loved getting to know all the different characters in this one, even the not so likable ones like her step sister, Parker. The descriptions of the characters were so well done and I really melted into to storyline. I didn’t have the ending completely figured out so I had a definite ‘wow’ moment at the end, and I LOVED IT. The ending was worth it!

This book was fun. I’ve been a fan of Center’s for a bit now, and this one was a good follow up. I liked the plot and the characters, and the execution was good as well.

Thank you for the advance audio book. Katherine Center is a superstar in the romance world and to be congratulated for this brave novel. She has selected to feature an overlooked and often unrecognized health condition with zeal.

I loved this fresh take on mistaken identity. A fun read that I was eager to get back to. I will be reading more from this author.

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for an e-galley audiobook. All opinions are my own.

I absolutely LOVE Katherine Center! She does a great job creating quirky characters and a fun love story. I have always appreciated the research she does and how she incorporates it into her stories. It makes the stories make a lasting impression more than just a sweet story.

This story about Sadie, a portrait artist who finds herself in a conundrum when she recieves some unfortunate news about her health. I laughed out loud multiple times as Sadie isn't one to just let tough times get the best of her.

My absolute favorite Katherine Center book! I loved the descriptions and relationships. The condition of the FMC is unique and gives an extra bit of mystery and curiosity.

We see what we're looking for."

Hello Stranger is a novel about an artist who loses her ability to see faces and the two men she is torn between.

Sadie is a portrait artist who just learned she is a finalist in a prestigious art competition. She is flying high until she experiences a medical issue that requires her to undergo brain surgery. Sadie wakes up from surgery to her worst nightmare--she is face blind. Adding to the drama, she is now torn between two men--neither of whose faces she can see.

This is the perfect summer read and the audiobook narrator is fabulous and would be great for audiobook newbies.

This novel blew my mind!

Sadie is a portrait artist, just like her mom was. She is nominated to take part in a competition but after an unexpected brain surgery, is left with face blindness condition.

I didn't know much about face blindness before reading this book, but it was certainly interesting to learn about it. The story was inspiring and put things under perspective as we follow Sadie trying to cope with her current reality as best she can. It was funny at times, sad at others but certainly not boring. It had quite a few twists I seriously didn't see coming.

I loved following her as she discovered 2 potential love interests, and how she tried her best to get by and recognize people she knew. It makes you wonder how weird it would be to be in her position. It's kinda scary in a way.

I'm so glad I read this book and will for sure be recommending it a lot to other people.

Katherine Center is so delightful. This story is so creative, the characters deep and lovable, and it’s just a wonderful time in these people’s world.

After reading The Bodyguard, my expectations were high for this author. While I enjoyed this book quite a bit, I really did have to set aside my “reality goggles” and go along for the ride. It danced the fine edge of feeling contrived, that absolutely perfect storm of miscommunications, missed communications, and coincidences that allowed the MC to believe what she did. Besides that, it was delightful and I laughed out loud at times. Would recommend.

Thanks for the review edition.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I am still swooning over the love interest in this story. I found the story arc interesting and the characters were well developed.

“Hello Stranger” by Katherine Center is a delightful blend of romance, art, and unexpected challenges. Sadie Montgomery, a portrait artist, faces a life-altering diagnosis of face blindness. As she grapples with her new reality, she finds herself drawn to two very different men. The novel beautifully explores love, lust, and the unexpected ways we perceive the world.

This book was SO wonderful. I have loved Katherine Center's writing for a while now, and it just solidified it more with this one. I thought the characters, the plot, the conflict, all of it was amazing. I enjoyed the descriptiveness of it, and I actually felt like I could picture it in my head. I read the entire thing in one sitting, which just shows my love for it. I highly recommend this one for everyone!