Hello Stranger was the EASIEST 5-Star review I have had in several months. I admit, it took 2-3 chapters for me to get into the groove of the book, but once I was there...WOW!

Sadie Montgomery is the FMC and she has a whirlwind of a time in this book. She is a struggling portrait artist and has an accident that makes her not able to see faces properly. During her struggles, she meets her dream man and falls for him. How does it all work out? Read/Listen and find out. Do not miss out on this one.

I will recommend this book to anyone and I have already pre-ordered it.

Thank you for the ARC of this wonderful book. I have given a fair and honest review in exchange for it.

Sadie is a portrait artist who seems to finally be catching her big break, until sudden brain surgery leads her to lose her ability to see faces. On top of all that she is falling for two men at the same time, even though she can’t see their faces.

4 stars for the audio narration. Patti Murrin does it again. Her narration of Hello Stranger is pretty much the only reason I finished this one. She totally made the characters come to life.

2 stars for story. Oof, I feel like an outlier here, but this story just didn’t do it for me. I really struggled to connect with Sadie and found myself increasingly frustrated with her. I hated her relationship with her family and honestly just wanted her to grow up. I also just didn’t believe in the romance, especially the “love triangle” between Sadie, Joe & Dr. Addison. The ending had some redeeming qualities, but overall this was a miss for me.

The author’s note at the end was beautiful, though!!

Oh Katherine Center, you have done it again! Katherine Center has been an auto buy author for me for a long time. I absolutely love everything she writes and Hello, Strange follows suit.

📚 Hello, Stranger by Katherine Center
✨ Publication Date: July 11, 2023

Synopsis:
Love isn't blind, it's just 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.

Thoughts:
💕 A feel good read that I could not put down.
💕 This was a book that I was able to listen to in one session.
💕 Loved Sadie and the journey she goes on. When life does not work out as planned she continues to forge ahead to accomplish her goals.
💕 Family drama, laugh out loud moments and hopeful romance wrapped in this super cute cover.
💕 I just loved the author’s note at the end. It makes me like Katherine Center as a person as well as an author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC of the audiobook for Hello Stranger by Katherine Center through NetGalley. I really enjoyed The Bodyguard, so I was excited for this new book. I was not disappointed because Hello Stranger might be one of my favorite books of the year. It was such an interesting story and it was written so beautifully.

Portrait artist Sadie Montgomery is ready to celebrate her big break, becoming a finalist in a national portrait competition, but Sadie unexpectedly suffers a seizure and has to undergo elective brain surgery. While the surgery is a success, Sadie discovers that she has acquired Prosopagnosia (face blindness). How does a portrait artist paint when she has face blindness? With the hope that the Prosopagnosia is only temporary, Sadie must figure out to create her piece for her contest and how to get by without letting anyone know that she can’t recognize any faces. Sadie is just trying to win her contest, take care of her dog Peanut, and figure out her life when she falls in love or lust with Peanut’s new vet Dr. Addison and also the obnoxiously helpful guy Joe from her building. Sadie also has to contend with her wicked stepsister Parker and a stepmother that just won’t leave her alone.

The narrator, Patti Murin does such a wonderful job conveying all the emotions that Sadie goes through as she tries to make sense of her new life. The shifts in her tone between characters are seamless and her timing was perfect. I was fully captivated with the narration and story from start to finish.

This book made me feel so many things. It was funny and light, but also had elements there were so heartbreaking. It gave me hope and a sense of anticipation for what was to come for Sadie. Sadie was so likeable and I wanted nothing more than to protect her and be her best friend. She was so relatable and her frustrations and despair felt incredibly real. Even now, after finishing the book with a beautiful ending, my heart still aches at all of the heart wrenching moments. Without giving away anything, I really enjoyed the developing relationships in this book and reading all the cute banter. Along with the romance, Sadie’s uncomfortable relationship with her father and stepmother and her antagonistic relationship with her evil stepsister are very compelling. I did feel like Parker was over the top evil, but I suppose that made the relationship more interesting. There was so much to love in this book, all the small details painted such a beautiful story. It’s one of those books that I wish I could listen to it again for the first time.

First I would like to thank Netgalley and St Martin's Press for providing me with an eARC and then Macmillian Audio for very kindly providing an early preview of the audiobook!

Hello Stranger follows Sadie, a portrait artist who, after an unexpected seizure and subsequent surgery, finds herself unable to recognize faces. While this would be devastating to anyone, it comes just after the news she's been selected to be in a life changing portrait competition. Compounding with her sudden onslaught of mishaps, she begins to have feelings for a handsome veterinarian and a charming man from her building.

I absolutely loved Patti Murin, our wonderful narrator. Her voice gave everyone such personality and life. Her inflections were top notch. I'm not one to laugh at books, but I found myself giggling so many times. This has to be one of the best narrators I've listened to in my burgeoning obsession with the medium. Obviously, a good narrator isn't much without good writing to read. I loved how this was written. It felt like Sadie herself was telling me all about her life. I found the writing witty and light.

But, that's where my happy feelings end. While looking over the few negative early reviews of this book, I found many said Sadie was unlikeable. I actually did find her enjoyable, but again, it may be that Patti gave such an amazing performance. But I can't say I found any other character particularly likeable. We have the comedically evil stepsister, the complicit stepmother, and a cruelly distant father. While I was told that Sue was actually Sadie's best friend, there were two major things that she did that made me question that fact. In accordance with early review code, I won't get into spoilers despite my biggest gripe being the ending. The end conclusion was very obvious so I can't tell if it was truly supposed to be a reveal or not. There was something so obvious that could have been corrected right away and would have completely cleared anything and everything up. The fact that didn't happen still baffles me. I also feel like there was very little character development. Everyone was the same, for better or worse, at the beginning as they are at the end.

This book was great! I chuckled when I figured out what was happening and rooted for our girl (& guy)! There was so much hope and joy in this story. The sister was so fun to hate and the people that Sadie surrounded herself with were a delight! The audio for this book was great!

What a sweet fun rom-com! I'm a fan of the author and her latest is a great contribution to the genre and her works.
Sadie Montgomery, an artist, becomes the victim of face-blindness. For anyone this would be life-altering but for an artist, it is catastrophic. This is the take-off point for Sadie's trials and tribulations, compounded by an unusual romantic interest. "Unusual" is putting it mildly.
Sure, you had to suspend reality and wonder if a love situation as portrayed, could really exist, but the author is so talented that I was caught up in the story, rooting for Sadie all the way. Center's detailed explanation of face-blindness along with its ramifications and medical explanations were so helpful in bringing attention to such an illness.
The narrator was terrific and was able to perfectly differentiate between the appealing characters. Fun!

ok let me start out by saying that this book was good! i had so much fun listening to it.
this book is about sadie, a struggling portrait artist that when she finally gets her big break, ends up with face blindness after a complication from a brain surgery she needed to have. sadie must paint a new portrait to submit for the art contest she got accepted into before her surgery while navigating her new reality of not being able to see faces. as she is trying to cope with her world turning upside down, she meets joe, her overly friendly neighbor determined to befriend her, as well as dr. oliver addison, her new vet she is convinced will be her new fiancé after he saves her beloved elderly dog peanut. sadie goes on a journey of acceptance and perspective as she is forced to look at the world differently.
my biggest gripe with this book was sadie's head was not always pleasant to be in. i found her to be extremely self-centered and pitying for a lot of the book, but then i had to give myself a reality check that i, too, would probably be the same way if everything that happened to sadie happened to me. there were times that i literally wanted to shake this girl and say
"stop getting in your own way and just get a move on babes!" all that to say there was so much good in this book! the vibes were very whimsical in an adult way and also just joyful in small ways. i was giggling and smiling my way through this book and all of the terribly awful and funny experiences that happen to sadie.

Hello Stranger is a fantastic romcom! The journey the main character goes on is compelling, relatable, and hilarious! There were so many moments I wanted to tell the main character not to make a mistake, while also unsure whether she was actually making a mistake. The twists were wonderful. The storyline was not predictable. And the research by the author was thorough. This was a well thought out, well written, story that even non-romance readers would enjoy. I definitely recommend this love story!

I thought the audiobook was very well done! The narrator did a great job. I listened at 1.75x speed which is my normal speed.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this advanced audio copy.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is the second book from this author that I have read and I loved it as much as the last one (The Bodyguard). The “love triangle” was hilarious and I really enjoyed the banter between Joe and Sadie. I liked the face blindness aspect of the story as well. I had never heard of that condition before so I actually learned a lot while reading the book. 4.5 stars

A huge thank you goes out to St. Martin's and NetGalley for the opportunity to read, listen to, and review this wonderful book.

Sadie is a (slightly-struggle-bussing) portrait artist who just found out she's a top-ten finalist in the same art contest her mother was in before she died. This contest means everything to Sadie... but then, she faces a medical emergency that requires brain surgery. A crisis that causes her to lose her ability to recognize faces (AKA face blindness). A PORTRAIT ARTIST who cannot recognize FACES. Yeah, that'll go well. On top of that, Sadie finds herself falling for not one, but TWO guys (without being able to see their faces). She also has to figure out how she's going to complete her portrait piece for the art contest without any sense of facial recognition. Did we mention that she also has an evil stepsister trying to ruin everything? At least she has her dog bestie, Peanut, and her human bestie, Sue, by her side.

THIS BEAUTIFUL, WONDERFUL BOOK. I loved it. I loved Sadie so much. Her voice, her character, her sense of humor, were all so well-written and relatable. I think we've all been at that point in our lives where we're failing at adulting, and Center nailed that in her main character. We love a great dog character, we love a great rom-com bestie, and we LOVE a hot veterinarian. This book checks off all three of those boxes. I enjoyed getting to learn about a medical condition that I really didn't know anything about at all. I'm a huge fan of psychology so reading and listening to Sadie battle her face blindness was fascinating to me. I loved the entire Kim family as side characters - they're adorable. The love triangle in this book is actually one that I loved (I'm not a huge fan of that trope usually, but this one is unique... read and you'll see why).

All in all, the audio was amazing. The story was amazing. The characters were amazing. Please read and/or listen to this fantastic book if you have the chance. I can't wait to read more of Center's novels.

This story was a fun uplighting story about Sadie Montgomery, a struggling artist who finally catches a big break by becoming a finalist in a portrait contest. Just shortly after learning of her winning she must undergo a medical procedure that leaves her with apperceptive prosopagnosia or face blindness. This leaves Sadie unable to identify not only new people that she meets, but also everyone that she already knows. Since her job is a portrait artist, it really complicates things.

This cute romance story also involves a romantic love-triangle involving her veterinarian and an awful-turned-sweet neighbor and a bit of family drama. This story is a great fun read with a couple of laugh out loud moments that will lead you cheering for the main character.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first Katherine Center and now I know why people are fans! I will read more by her in the future. Romance isn't my go-to genre but I liked story. It's a little predictable, which is ok by me! Misunderstanding isn't a favorite troupe but this one was done well.

This was a quick and fun read. I loved Katherine’s book the Bodyguard so I had to scoop this one up. This opened my world to the very frustrating condition that causes face blindness. This felt very much like a version of Cinderella, evil stepsister and all. This was a solid 3 star book, light, cute and funny but there were some moments that felt a little much. All in all I enjoyed this book.

ℍ𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕠 𝕊𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣
Katherine Center
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What a sweet romance book!

Sadie has things going in her direction until she ends up in the hospital with a “temporary” condition in which she can’t see people’s faces but rather puzzle pieces. That is not a good thing for an up and coming artist.

I really liked this sweet take on what happens when we can’t see what’s right in front of us. Sometimes you need to see with your heart and not your eyes. Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review

All of Katherine Center's books are a joy to experience and this one was no different! The topic, however, was unique. I have heard of face-blindness or prosopagnosia before but don't know much about it, so I found it fascinating to read and learn about. The main character is a portrait artist who is struck with this new condition that may or may not be temporary, and it introduces all kinds of challenges. There were some parts of the story which I didn't find very realistic, but overall it was a fun and interesting read, the characters were really likeable and I enjoyed trying to unravel the mysteries within the story!

The audiobook narration by Patti Murin is lovely and perfectly suited to this book, she really embodies the characters and draws you into the story.

The concept of Hello Stranger is unique as I do not recall reading a story involving face blindness before, so I was excited to try it. The story follows 29-year-old Sadie Montgomery who is struggling in life. She constantly wants to prove herself to her father, who seems disinterested in her life. She has a rocky relationship with her stepmother, Lucinda, and has an evil stepsister, Parker. As a struggling portrait artist, she does not have funds, so she is lucky that her best friend, Sue’s (Soo Hyun) parents have an extra space in their building that she gets to live and work in for free. She believes her life may finally be turning around when she discovers that she is a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition for a chance at $10,000. Unfortunately, she faints and ends up in a hospital where she walks out with a face blindness condition that may or may not get better. The story follows her life as she tries to adjust to this new way of life.

She ends up meeting a guy who lives in her building, Joe, who does not leave a great first impression. Luckily, he shows her a different side of himself and the two end up closer. When Sadie’s furry best friend, Peanut, gets sick, she rushes him to the hospital where she meets Dr. Oliver Addison. This adds even another obstacle in Sadie’s life as romance may be in the cards. This was an interesting addition and how it ends up does make sense, however, some of the details were lacking in how all the pieces should fit together. The relationships that are formed between Sadie and each suitor was well-done as they fit Sadie’s ridiculous nature.

As a character, Sadie was not likeable, for me. Some readers may enjoy her or find her more tolerable, but I found her selfish and narrow-minded. It was already odd to me how Sadie was almost 30 and struggling extremely with finances yet did not even bother to work part time to earn money while she continued to pursue her dreams. While I sympathized with her journey, the story does center around her character helping her or getting to know her, but she never seemed to reciprocate. Her character though does experience some growth, which was great, although I wish there was a little for her friend Sue. She seemed to lack empathy as Sadie is going through a lot and it was as-if she didn’t care. Since I was lucky enough to read the ebook version and listen to the audiobook, for me, the audiobook did help make the characters a little more bearable, but not the best. I think some of this story needed more work in the details, but I still loved Center’s writing style. Overall, I loved the concept more than the execution, but I think many readers will love everything. I look forward reading more from Center in the future.

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio, for the opportunity to read this enjoyable novel. The opinions expressed are completely my own.**

This was such a fun read!! I loved the characters, the chaos, the drama, and the romance!! It was such a cool idea, to include a face blindness element. Prosopagnosia is something I’ve head of before, but only in a “from birth” scenario. I had no idea it could be caused by surgery or accidents. That added an element to the story that I really loved.
Peanut, you sweet little Lorax looking pup, I love you with my whole heart. I loved the veterinary care aspect of the storyline, as it added another bit of tension. I was rooting for little Peanut the entire time. Having the love of a dog is a feeling that absolutely blesses a person, and I love to see it in a book.
If you’re looking for a fun, emotional, super cute read, this is definitely it. Thoroughly enjoyable, definitely memorable. The narrator did an excellent job with this work.

This is a wild ride – in the best possible way. This story has so much going on with the heroine and so many lessons to be learnt. Sadie who is a portrait artist suffers facial blindness due to brain surgery, that may be permanent or not, no one can tell for sure until the swelling goes down. This alters her life and her perception of both people and herself. I love her journey both romantically and personally. The romantic interests in Sadie’s life add so much spice and intrigue to the story – and romance of course. This story brings out all the feels.

The narrator was easy to listen to and understand.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Sigh such a great story. I could not put this down. I hadn’t read a story with this subject and found it super interesting. The characters were well rounded and awesome. Except for one, they can kick rocks.

I listened to the audiobook and I highly recommend this! The narrator was wonderful.