I loved the characters and this unique story. Truly one of Katherine Centers best yet. The audio had a wonderful narrator and I just loved these characters.

The audiobook, “Hello Stranger,” was a well-narrated romantic read that offered a rom-com feel, misfortune of circumstance/an accident, and several different plots woven together to create the world around the main character of Sadie. The concept of the story was interesting- the idea that the thing you love to do most (and generates income), could somehow be take away from you at the height of your career and I think that the author does a good job of exploring this throughout the novel. Overall it is a great beach read, some plot points are a little bit lost or over the top, where they felt unexpected, but all in all, a great and interesting story.

Katherine Center writes the most heartwarming romances. I really enjoyed this one and would recommend it.

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center is a sweet and uplifting romantic comedy that brings attention to the beauty of life and how easily we take things for granted. The protagonist, a woman recovering from a life-changing accident, learns to reassess her priorities and rediscover the joys of life beyond her career. The book is filled with moments of humor, heart, and personal growth, making it a lovely and engaging read. I found the message about appreciating life and its unexpected turns to be one of the strongest elements of the story.

However, the romance, which is a key element of any rom-com, felt a bit light in comparison to the deeper themes. While the book certainly has its charm, I found that it read more like general fiction than a typical romance, and I was hoping for a bit more of the emotional connection and chemistry that I usually enjoy in this genre. The pacing was solid, and the ending wrapped up perfectly, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that the romance took a bit of a backseat to the broader life lessons.

As for predictability, I saw the ending coming early on, which made some of the twists feel less surprising. Still, that didn’t stop me from enjoying the journey. The main character’s realization took a bit longer to come than I expected, and I found myself wishing she had reached that conclusion earlier—much earlier! That said, the story is filled with enough humor and warmth to keep you engaged, and I appreciated the positive, feel-good tone throughout.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Patti Murin, and her performance was fantastic, really bringing the characters to life in a way that made the experience more enjoyable. Overall, Hello Stranger is a light and pleasant read (or listen), perfect for anyone looking for a happy, fluffy book without too much depth. While it didn’t quite meet my expectations for a rom-com, it’s still a worthwhile read if you're in the mood for something uplifting and easy-going.

For me, this is a solid 3-star book. I’ll definitely give Katherine Center’s other works a try, but this one didn’t quite hit all the marks.

What would happen to you if you suddenly lost the one thing that you need for your job, your livelihood, your personal success? Sadie Montgomery is a portrait artist about to potentially get the big break that will make her a success in the eyes of important family members when a potentially serious health condition sidelines her. But even worse, as a portrait artist who specializes in faces, her medical condition has left her with the inability to read faces, called face blindness.

I'll admit, I'd never heard of face blindness and this book makes it so that I'll never forget it! Sadie actually takes her situation quite well and she does have the help of a lovely therapist who helps Sadie navigate this fairly serious change in how she views the world. But there's no way to avoid the fact that the portrait she needs for the contest is not completed, and she'll have to tackle it while she has face blindness.

But there are some bright spots -- namely two -- her new veterinarian who she fantasizes about marrying, and one of her neighbors who lives in the apartment building. Joe, the neighbor, starts out by giving Sadie a wrong impression that gradually changes to something like friendship and maybe more. I don't want to say much more about this, but I truly loved how this unfolded! I had an inkling about what was happening here, but it wasn't confirmed until that glorious ending when a beautiful HEA lands in Sadie's heart.

By the end of this story, I just loved Sadie. The story is told in her voice and point of view which is cute and funny and sometimes sad. Sadie has suffered some loss in her life, for sure. I adored how the family situation come together nicely, even the episode with Sadie's evil stepsister.

I finished this book with a smile on my face and I ended up going back to read the deliciously sweet ending a few times since. Things almost go south for Sadie, but her friends really come through for her.

I loved everything about this -- from the story of a young artist finding her true creative calling to the romance that develops way before the start of the book. The romance here is just a lovely, slow build, that had me loving Sadie and hoping that everything would work out for her.

Overall, this is a terrific feelgood story that had me smiling and re-reading right away. I devoured this is a couple of days because I really needed to know how it all ended up for Sadie, including her art and her family.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

4 STARS

Hello Stranger is a captivating romance that stands out due to its unique premise—one of the main characters suffers from face blindness, adding a fresh layer of complexity to the typical love story. The book delivers an emotional yet heartwarming narrative, with well-developed, likeable characters who feel both relatable and endearing. The surprises woven into the plot kept me intrigued, and the romance unfolds in a way that feels genuine and touching. The story also highlights the challenges and nuances of living with a condition like face blindness, which adds depth and authenticity to the character's experience. Overall, this book is a delightful and thought-provoking read, perfect for fans of romance with a twist.

"You can't see when you're not looking."

There are many lessons of love and grief in the engrossing romantic Hello Stranger by one of my favorite romance authors, Katherine Center.

Sadie feels she's on the right path when she's a finalist in a prestigious art portrait contest; until she's hit by a car, has a lesion on her brain that should be removed to avoid deadly consequences, and wasn't told about the remote chance of developing Prosopagnosia, face blindness. How's a portrait artist supposed to make a living when faces appear jumbled to her brain?

In the midst of this catastrophe, Sadie is dealing with unresolved grief over her mother's death when she was 14 years old. Her Dad remarried quickly giving Sadie her nemesis, stepsister Parker, who is best described as, "She has a pretty face. Too bad she ruined it by being pure evil."

I was genuinely thrilled to hear Patti Murin narrate this book with her ability to express grief, anger, sarcasm, love and humor with pure realism. When Sadie meets veterinarian Oliver Addison to treat her dog Peanut, she starts planning their wedding in her mind even though she has no idea what he looks like; then she meets Joe who seems to be a player but is always there when she needs someone.

I alternated reading and listening to this romance that blurred the lines with family drama, life changing medical issues and finding yourself. Sadie's two men care for her but neither knows about her face blindness. She's so focused on not needing anyone that she's not seeing the truth, an obvious twist, and it has nothing to do with her illness. We often look in the mirror and say hello to a stranger.

I received a free copy of this book/audiobook from the publishers via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

One of my favourites who really knows how to play with the heart strings the narrator was absolutely a delight to read this beautiful novel an emotional yet inspiring read

**NetGalley review*

3.5 Stars

I absolutely love Katherine Center books and my review here won't change that, but this one was not my favorite by her. While I enjoyed Sadie and Oliver's story and the anticipation of watching their love bloom, I found some of the dialogue and the plot line juvenile. Learning about face blindness (prosopagnosia) and more about the part of your brain this associates with (fusiform gyrus) was super interesting and reminded me of the research Jodi Picoult puts into her novels. Overall, this one was okay, but I didn't love it as much as I hoped I would. I'm glad Sadie got her happy ending romantically, with her family, and with her career. Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Katherine Center for allowing me to listen to this in exchange for a review.

Hello Stranger is a heartfelt, character-driven story about Sadie Montgomery, an artist who suddenly develops face blindness after a life-changing accident. As she struggles to adapt to her new reality, she grapples with personal and family issues while navigating complicated feelings for two very different men.

Katherine Center is an auto-buy author for me; she does a fantastic job creating flawed, relatable characters who grow and evolve over the course of the story. My one personal criticism is that I didn’t particularly love the face blindness aspect because it veered a bit too close to the miscommunication trope which is not my favorite. Overall, it’s a touching, thought-provoking read about love, self-discovery, and the unexpected ways we see the world. The audiobook, narrated by Patti Murin, brings the characters to life with warmth and sincerity. A solid 4-star book that’s both heartwarming and real.

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.