4.5 rounded up!! This was a really great book, I absolutely loved the main character and the plot was very unique and told really well. I listened to the audiobook and devoured it in just a few sittings, and the narrator was excellent. Katherine Center is now on my list of auto-buy authors!

Hello, Stranger is author Katharine Center’s tenth novel, all of which are discreetly different and very special stories. Sadie Montgomery is having a wonderful day! She is one of only ten finalists in the North American Portrait Society yearly contest. This is the big break Sadie had dreamed of and now, fourteen years after her late mother gained the same position but died before the competition, Sadie is thrilled to be able to compete in her mother’s stead.

However, as Sadie and her best friend Sue Kim prepare for an impromptu celebration, Sadie has a non convulsive seizure as she narrowly misses being hit by a VW beetle as a Good Samaritan pushes her out of the way. When Sadie later awakens in the emergency room, it’s to find her evil stepmother Lucinda lurking over her, and a battery of tests awaiting her. These tests will discover a Cavernoma, a congenital and inherited malformation of blood vessels in her brain, the same malady that took her mother. Surgery is the only answer, but the competition is only six weeks away and Sadie has a portrait to prepare! Can’t she put it off that long? After all, she has lived almost three decades not even knowing she had it!

The answer is a resounding no and Sadie is a model patient. That is until the person who could draw with Norman Rockwell precision discovers she cannot see faces! She has acquired prosopagnosia, or face blindness.

This is such a well written human story! The characters are so well drawn, the circumstances both dramatic and humorous, and the demonstrations of kindness perfection. Not only was this a mesmerizing story, but it was also a lesson in maladies that aren’t too common. I very much enjoyed this book and certainly do recommend it!!

After a sudden accident and a subsequent surgery, Sadie’s life is completely flipped upside down. Before the accident she was on the cusp of having her big break and finally making it as a portrait artist, but after waking up from the surgery, the brain swelling is causing her to no longer see faces. While this may be only temporary, she only has 6 weeks to paint the most important portrait she will ever create.

Katherine Center can do no wrong. She writes beautiful and emotional romances. Her characters always have some very tough issues to deal with that pull all of the emotions out, but you also know there’s a wonderful outcome coming. Sadie’s journey was no different. I was curious where the love triangle would go (although I did correctly guess the outcome for once), what would happen with Sadie’s portrait, and what snarky digs her step-sister Parker would make next. This was another fun rom com from Katherine.

Patti Murin did a phenomenal job with the audiobook. I loved her narration and how she brought the story to life.

Thank you to SMP Romance, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the advance copies.

Sadie is barely getting by as a portrait artist, but landing as a finalist in an art competition is the break she needs to put her on the path to success. However, life is never that easy. She discovers a medical condition makes it necessary to undergo brain surgery. A supposedly easy surgery that should fix her right up, but she wakes to find out she can’t see faces. As if that’s not enough, her beloved dog gets sick and her evil stepsister moves into the building where she lives!

Sadie doesn’t know how she’ll be able to compete portrait contest with her condition but after some encouragement and counseling she’s determined to try other ways to sketch the human face.

Her beloved dog gets sick and she can’t lose Peanut! He’s a bright little ray of sunshine in her life, and the last connection to her dead mother. So, she takes him to the vet and immediately falls in crush with the sexy (from what she can tell, anyhow) vet, Dr. Oliver Addison. She also has strange run ins with her neighbor Joe.

Sadie had so many hits against her I was eager to see prevail! It took some work, change in attitude and help from those around her, but gradually bright spots came out of the negatives. Sadie’s past made it hard for her to rely on anyone but herself, but I was thrilled to see her learn to accept help from others when before she absolutely refused it. Her condition changed her outlook in profound, positive ways and it was a joy to see her grow. The romance had a bit of mystery to it. I suspected things, but I don’t want to say anymore, other than it was lovely!

Hello Stranger was sooo good! I was captivated from the first chapter and knew I’d have to finish in one day to see how it all turned out! I was all smiles as I finished, heart soaring with joy! Katherine Center’s note at the end really resonated with me! It hit the nail on the head on why I love romances: “love is nourishing” and “lets readers access a rare and precious kind of emotional bliss.” Yes!

I alternated between the audio and e-copy of Hello Stranger and I don’t think you could go wrong with either version. Patti Murin’s narration was perfection! I listened at my usual 1.5x normal speed. Definite recommend!

4.5 well deserved stars!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I have been a fan of Katherine Center for a long time. Her newest addition, Hello Stranger, not only met my expectations but surpassed them. I fell in love with the characters Katherine Center created and brought to life in Hello Stranger. It was so well paced, addictive in that I could not pull myself away from it and so well plotted. Hello Stranger just might be my favorite of all her books!

The main character, Sadie Montgomery, was a struggling but quirky portrait artist. Sadie lost her mother when she was a young and impressionable girl. Her mother was her best friend and she missed her each and every day even though it had been years since she died. Sadie had followed in her mother’s footsteps and had become a portrait artist. Sadie was intent in following in her mother’s footsteps as a portrait artist.

When Sadie learned that she was named as a finalist in an art competition that she had entered, she had high hopes that her luck and life was about to change. Sadie had just been informed that she was one of ten finalists in the North American Portrait Society competition. She had six weeks to prepare the portrait that she would submit for the competition. The prize money was impressive and could change her current lifestyle in so many ways.

Sadie lived in a rooftop shack/hovel in a building that was owned by her best friend’s family. Mr. Kim had been told that Sadie was using the shack as an Artist studio. Unfortunately, Sadie was so broke that she and her adorable and faithful dog, Peanuts, lived and worked in the shack/hovel. Her father was a well respected cardiologist but Sadie’s relationship with her father was estranged. Sadie needed her father after her mother died but he was not there for her. He had remarried and Sadie acquired a step mother and an evil stepsister. Her father was unaware of Sadie’s current living situation and her financial woes and that was the way Sadie hoped to keep it.

Sadie could never had imagined how her life was about to spiral out of her control. A seizure placed Sadie in the hospital the day she learned about her becoming a finalist in the portrait competition. She was told that she required brain surgery and that it couldn’t be put off. What timing! She finally consented and remained optimistic about being able to complete her portrait in time for submission. Unfortunately, the surgery left Sadie with a condition called acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia or face blindness. How could a portrait artist paint her models faces if she could not see their features? What was Sadie going to do?

Sadie had another problem. She was attracted to two men. Sadie found herself fantasizing about a relationship with Peanuts’s veterinarian, Oliver. Then there was Joe, who lived in her building and was always there when she needed him. How could she choose between the two of them? What was she going to do? Would a long and passionate kiss make up her mind in a most difficult decision?

I adored Sadie’s character. Sadie was courageous, hopeful, determined, skeptical of certain aspects of the people she was associated with, a true romantic and good friend. I was surprised but pleasantly pleased with the conclusion of Hello Stranger. As Sadie’s and Joe’s relationship blossomed, I found myself rooting for them to accept their fate. I wanted them to find happiness with each other. Sadie’s friend Sue was just the kind of friend Sadie needed. I enjoyed Sadie’s relationship with her therapist as well. I was happy to make this journey with Sadie as she learned to deal with her face blindness, began to heal and found her own love story. Hello Stranger spoke about family dynamics, despair, acceptance, hope and falling in love. I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook that was narrated so well by Patti Murin. I highly recommend Hello Stranger to those of you who are hopeless romantics and can appreciate the real challenge that had been thrown in Sadie’s face.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen to the audiobook of Hello Stranger by Katherine Center through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I listened to the audio version and the reader was the perfect addition to an amazing book! I loved everything about it- dialogue, storyline, writing style and especially the way it made me feel. While the author is very popular, she is new to me but I will be reading all of her books now! Highly recommend!

This book was really entertaining. The ending was predictable but I enjoyed the process of getting there and did not mind guessing the ending. Will purchase for my library.

This was such a delightful read! I have had a lot of luck with Katherine Center’s books so I was incredibly excited to dive into her newest offering. There were parts of the story that were fairly predictable but I didn’t care since I was having such a great time. Once I started reading this one, I did not want to put it down. I had a wonderful time with this book and couldn’t wait to see how things would work out in the end.

Sadie was a great character and I loved getting the chance to see her work through some pretty big issues, including the sudden inability to see faces. Sadie is a portrait artist so seeing faces is vital to what she does. I couldn’t imagine dealing with some of the things that were thrown at her in this book. I really liked how the romance of the story was handled and thought it added a lot to the story. l I was eager to see Sadie find her happily ever after.

I listened to the audiobook and thought that Patti Murin did an amazing job with this story. I thought her voice was perfectly suited to this book and enjoyed the various voices that she used to represent the cast of characters. I felt like she added just the right amount of emotion to her reading. I listened to this book for hours at a time and believe that her narration added to my overall enjoyment.

I would highly recommend this book to others! I thought that this was a wonderful story about a resilient character that I couldn’t help but love with a nice dose of romance worked in perfectly. I will definitely be reading more of Katherine Center’s work soon.

I received a review copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio.

5.00⭐️ | 📖🎧Hello Stranger by: Katherine Center | 📅 Pub Day: Tuesday July 11, 2023

I was so pumped to get a Hello Stranger ALC last night ( on the actual Pub Day, thanks to @macmillan.audio ) that I stayed up and binged the whole audio in one sitting BECAUSE IT WAS JUST THAT GOOD! After reading The Bodyguard in January, and subsequently giving that 5⭐️ and now Hello Stranger getting the same @katherinecenter has a nice seat on my auto buy author list!

Short and sweet synopsis: Sadie, a broke portrait artist becomes a finalist in an epic portraiture competition with a $10,000 prize. Through a series of unfortunate medical events she becomes “FACE BLIND” (which as you can imagine is a slight problem for a portrait artist) and there after hilarity, seriousness, love, and more ensues!

Thanks again to @netgalley , @macmillan.audio , and @katherinecenter for the ALC in exchange for my honest opinion!

Hello Stranger follows Sadie Montgomery as she is celebrating the recent news of being named a finalist in a portrait competition. This is could be the big break she has been waiting on but next thing Sadie knows, she is waking up in a hospital and needs to have a procedure that leaves her with "temporary" face blindness. This will not work when she has to have a portrait complete in just a few shorts weeks. With the help of a stranger, she is able to figure out a way to stay in the competition.

This was such a good read and I enjoyed it so much more than I expected! The audiobook was fantastic and i am very thankful to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to listen to an early recording.

When I first finished Hello Stranger, I felt that I didn't have anything particularly positive to say about the book. It was my first ever Katherine Center novel, and I think my expectations may have been too high, given how popular she is. As I’ve had some time to sit with my thoughts, I realize that I do actually have some highlights. First, however, I’ll start with two key elements of the story that just didn’t work for me.

1. This book required some major suspension of disbelief in order to make the plot work. I can’t really say anything more without spoiling it (and I know for some people, the “twist” was their favorite aspect of the story), but I personally did not find the plot, specifically the ending, believable. In my opinion, all it would have taken was one single sentence of dialogue between the MFC and MMC to completely derail the entire romance engine.
2. The narration was very action-driven, a lot of “next I did this” and “then I said that” instead of setting the scene with descriptive language. I prefer stories that I can get completely lost in, rather than being told what’s happening.

However, at the end of the book there is an afterword by Katherine Center, in which she talks about why she unabashedly loves romance books. This section was my *favorite* part of the whole book. She talks about how so many books are driven by “negatively-valenced” anticipation, or a concern that things might get worse. But in HEA romance books, the anticipation is positively valanced. The predictability IS the point. That’s why we read them. That’s why we love them.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC. And thanks, Katherine Center, for the Happily Ever After. For that, I’m giving Hello Stranger 3/5 stars.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy of Hello Stranger by Katherine Center.

I absolutely loved this book. The ending and the authors note tied everything together so well and made me love it even more.
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I enjoyed reading about Sadie and her story. I empathized with her and her challenges and struggles with her medical diagnosis (don’t want to spoil anything!) . I also loved the friendship and the romance in this novel.

There were some miscommunication aspects to this novel but I was able to look past it with how it was set up and based on Sadie’s situation, ending and authors note.

I absolutely love Center’s writing, she is able have me connect and empathize with her characters so well.

I listened to this audiobook and can’t recommend it enough! The narration was so well done and paced perfectly!

Another amazing book by Katherine Center!

Loved Sadie immediately. Her struggles were a lot, but she kept on plugging along with grace and humor. Was not so sure about Joe at first, especially that elevator phone conversation, but oh my he grew on me.

This story is so unique and every character was perfect. I didn't know much about Sadie's condition going in but feel like I do now.

And Peanut - you had to love Peanut and his foodie ways!

From start to finish this book just warmed my heart!

Many thanks to NetGalley, MacMillan Audio and St. Martin's Press for both an ALC and an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Happy Pub Week!!!

What a bright, beautiful & fun book cover! While I have several of Katherine Center's books, this is the first one that I have read and I absolutely loved it. This is a book that I would love to see turned into a movie.

This is such a sweet, heartwarming story! Sadie has overcome so much in her life and the hits just kept coming…her seizure, slow recovery from her brain surgery (with complications), family drama, health issues with her senior dog, etc. While there were some moments of weakness, I truly enjoyed reading how she prevailed and dealt with any issue that came at her.

Such a delight to meet all of these characters - I loved Joe & Peanut!!! I thought there was great character development. This story grabbed me from the beginning - I was going back and forth between the ebook and audio because I just couldn’t put it down! I loved everything about this story! It is definitely a book that I would read/listen to again. I really enjoy when an author brings awareness to illness, issues, events that one may not typically know about. Katherine did this so beautifully! I have never heard of Prosopagnosia (Face Blindness) before. Sadie’s story definitely shows you that you shouldn't take anything for granted - sight in her case, because you never know when it will be taken away.

Hello Stranger is truly an epic love story - with “fabulous anticipation”! I adored the ending and the author's note at the end was icing on the cake.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐡𝐚𝐬
Strangers to friends to lovers
Miscommunication
Love Triangle
Mental Health Trauma
Health Issues - Face Blindness

I had both the ebook copy and audio of this book. Patti Murin did a wonderful job with the narration!

𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: July 11, 2023
𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬: 336
𝐀𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨 𝐋𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡:10 hours, 39 minutes

Thank you to @NetGalley, @stmartinspress, @katherinecenter & @macmillan.audio for the Advanced Readers Copy of this book for my honest review!

This delightful and heartwarming novel introduced me to Sadie Montgomery, a struggling artist whose life takes an unforeseen twist after a life-altering accident leaves her with face blindness. Center's portrayal of Sadie's journey was captivating, filled with humor and an underlying sense of hope. The well-crafted characters, including loyal best friend Sue and intriguing love interests Joe and Dr. Addison, added depth to the story. I appreciated the author's thorough research on face blindness, shedding light on this lesser-known condition. The narrative, exclusively from Sadie's perspective, was skillfully performed, delivering laughter, romance, and vibrant energy. This story was an unexpected joy, reminding me of the power of resilience, the value of chosen family, and the beauty of perceiving the world through different lenses. The audiobook narrated by Patti Murin, enhanced the already delightful experience of Katherine Center's novel. Murin's performance brought the characters to life with her engaging and animated delivery. Her narration skillfully captured the humor, romance, and liveliness of the story, making it a joy to listen to. As the sole narrator, Murin effectively portrayed Sadie Montgomery's perspective, immersing me in her world and emotions. Her voice added an extra layer of depth and authenticity to the characters, making them even more relatable and endearing. Murin's skillful interpretation of the story further heightened my enjoyment of this story, solidifying my appreciation for both the book and the talented narrator. If you're looking for an audiobook that will entertain and uplift you, I highly recommend giving this book a listen.

So I read this book in one day. I am an absolute Katherine Center fan and this book just further proves why. I am usually someone who is not that into love triangles, but this just somehow worked for me. I also found the premise to be really interesting and clever. I mean a painter that is face blind and then to up the ante works with a hot model... like say less. I was fortunate enough to go to a signing for this book and meet this author in person and it truly even furthered my love for her and this story. If Katherine Centers name is on the front cover I will be reading it no matter what's inside.

This was so adorably cute! Now - I did guess the twist around the 20% mark but I didn't even care due to how cute this book was. Would certainly recommend. The narrator is also very easy to understand at 2.5x speed.

Our FMC has realistic flaws, family - life - relationship - it all felt very real. this does include the miscommunication trope but it is done well because of the main plot and how the FMC sustained injuries making her ability to recognize faces go all wonky.

The ending wraps up everything nicely - 4 / 5 stars

TW: Death of a parent, verbal degradation via a sibling.

Very fun & enjoyable read. a bit of a Cinderella story with a rare medical disorder and a love story. I couldn't stop listening. The reader was incredible and gave great voices and kept the book fun. I felt myself drawn to the characters and really caring about them. I related to the character and felt the emotions jump off the page.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and netgalley for giving me an advance copy of the book.

𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵, 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭!

Another fantastic book from Katherine Center, you can’t go wrong with her stories, everyone one of them is unique, heartwarming and awesome. A perfect summer read.

Thank you SMP Romance for this gifted copy.

𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 by Katherine Center releases tomorrow July 11, 2023.

https://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx/

I really, really love this author's books! I liked the story almost just as much as her other novel i've read "The Bodyguard" - it had that same optimistic undertone and butterfly-inducing romance.

The story here was extremely, extremely predictable, so if that's something that you usually don't like, this might not be for you. It was almost so predictable that I wondered if it was on purpose and the reader was supposed to know what was happening all along? But either way, I did enjoy going through the story picking up on all the hints pointing toward the big reveal.

Overall, I loved Sadie, I loved our male main characters, I loved the conflict with her family. It was all just so well done! This author will continue to be an auto-buy for me.