I want to preface this with a note: I read this before I listened to the audio book, and the audio book 100% kept me enthralled for the entire 10 hours, and this took me about a week to read in ebook format. Katherine Center and this narrator are just nailing it, one after the other.

This is a super cute (even though I don't normally like love triangles) love triangle, and the humor, complexity, moments of every emotion under the sun really tie it all together.

What I loved;
🛼 Peanut
🛼 Character growth
🛼 The cutest romantic moments
🛼 Learning about Prosopagnosia

And one of my favorite pieces of the plot, that you learn quite quickly, is anytime with her terribly awful step sister and her almost as bad step mom. Something about those two really really made me want to punch them, and I think thats just beautiful.

This was not for me. I found the main character to be very immature and independent at great detrimental cost to herself. Her entire family- step-mother, step-sister, and father have single-faceted personalities to the point of ridiculousness.

The plot was incredibly predictable, and the miscommunication trope was taken above and beyond what I consider reasonable and enjoyable.

Narrator was 5 stars.

Hello Stranger was a joy to listen to. Katherine Center always knows have to suck you into the story!

Hello Stranger is about a medical diagnosis I have only vaguely been aware of and was interesting to have it in this book. Made me think wow how would I do on this situation!

The narration was enjoyable to listen to!

I can’t wait to see what Katherine has in store next!

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an ARC of this audio book.

I have read and loved every Katherine Center books, and this book was no exception. I love her style of writing, and the humor that she has in her books. Lets face it, she just writes fun and smart books.

In this book, the main character, Saddie, had to have brain surgery, and ends up with face blindness. It was a condition that I had heard about. but didn't know much about it. It was really interesting to journey with Saddie as she navigates her new condition. Along with a dysfunctional family and a looming art contest, Saddie has a ton on her plate.
I really liked listening to this as an audiobook. The narrator was great!

3.5 stars. Sadie needs unexpected brain surgery, which her surgeon father convinces her to have right away. The only problem is, she's a portrait artist competing in the biggest contest of her life in a few weeks' time, and the surgery has left her with a post-op complication: she can't see faces. It's temporary. Probably. But still a problem, because she has to paint a new portrait for the contest, and her face blindness is making it an impossible task. Ashamed and frustrated, Sadie keeps her condition under wraps as she stumbles through caring for her dog, her career, and the surprising arrival of TWO seemingly perfect men into her life. She can't see their faces, but she knows one of them has got to be "the one" — doesn't he?

Alright so this story was adorable, but I found The Bodyguard to be much more on the "com" side of romcom, while Hello Stranger was pretty firmly a romance. The twist (if you can call it that?) is easy to predict, but I will admit that I did love Katherine Center's author note about predictability in romance novels (definitely don't skip it). Sadie herself is kind of annoyingly stubborn and isolating, but that's part of her journey, so don't get too exasperated with her.

Overall, this is a very cute story with some good "life lesson" type of takeaways, so don't skip it if romance is your thing! (It's not really mine, I'm here for just the romcoms, but I can appreciate it.) Thank you to Katherine Center, St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for my advance audio copy.

Hello Stranger is Katherine Center's latest novel. She is an auto-buy author for me, while her books are at the heart romances, they also address deeper issues. Who would you be if you couldn't see faces? What would you do if you made your living as a portrait artist and lost the ability to see faces? Hello Stranger is another hit from Katherine Center.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for my copy of this audio book. The narrator is great and I really enjoyed the afterword read by the author.

Me = disappointed!😫

I’m a huge Katherine Center fan, even proudly displaying several of her works on my favorites’ shelf. So what happened here?🤷‍♀️

Sadie’s dream is about to come true. She’s a struggling artist who became a finalist in a prestigious portrait competition. But now all that hard work may be for naught as she recovers from a repair of a leaking blood vessel in her brain. That’s right, six weeks before the final competition Sadie had to have brain surgery that left her with the inability to see faces!
And yes, it’s a real thing! Face blindness (Prosopagnosia).

I wish I could say I empathized with Sadie, but just couldn’t. She was such a despicable character even before her surgery. Selfish, whiny and rude.

The storyline itself gave me some difficulties. Inconsistencies regarding whose voice Sadie could recognize and who was a stranger every time they approached her.
Example:(view spoiler)

Those are just a few but they just seemed to be endless.

A buddy read with Susanne that we both came away with identical thoughts and feelings. It generated quite the discussion, let me tell ya!!

I see most readers absolutely loved this book and I wish we could have joined them.

We’re very much in the minority here, enjoying cocktails on Outlier island.🍹😎🏝️ .

I had both the digital and audio versions, and on the positive side I did enjoy the narration from Patti Murin.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martins Press and Macmillan Audio.

OMG!! I really love this one 🥰 It kinds of reminded me of the Korean movie or drama called The Beauty Inside, as the main female character also has propagnosia. However, I didn't expect the plot twist here in this one! And, I kept on smiling to myself while listening to this book everytime Sadie and Joe interacts lol

I can’t get enough of Katherine Center’s books! This topic of face blindness was very unique and not something I’ve seen as a topic in books I’ve read previously. This book kept my attention and I loved all of the characters especially Sadie and Sue. I will definitely be recommending this book! This was a great read on audio!

⭐⭐⭐⭐¼ (4.25 stars)
I've recently stumbled upon a hidden gem that left me with warm fuzzies and kept me thoroughly entertained from start to finish. Katherine Center's upcoming release, "Hello Stranger," is a delightful mix of family drama, mistaken identity, and a medical quirk that had me hooked and grinning throughout.

Let's start with the main plot point of prosopagnosia, or face blindness, which was completely new to me. Center seamlessly weaves this unique condition into the story, adding an endearing layer to the main character's experiences and relationships. It's an intriguing twist that will make you appreciate the little quirks that make us human.

Speaking of the main character, Sadie Montgomery, she's an absolute delight to follow. With her lovable quirks and relatable personality, Sadie quickly steals your heart. Her journey is filled with charming mishaps and unexpected encounters that keep you eagerly turning the pages, hoping for her happily-ever-after.

If you're an audiobook enthusiast like me, you're in for an extra treat. Patti Murin, the narrator for the audiobook version, deserves applause for her stellar performance. The pacing of her narration is so spot-on that you can easily enjoy the audiobook at double speed without missing a beat.

I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for providing me with an early copy of this delightful book in exchange for an honest review.

"Hello Stranger" is a charming and entertaining read that deserves a spot on your must-read list this summer. So mark your calendars for July 11th and get ready to be whisked away into a world of mistaken identities, family dynamics, and a touch of medical quirkiness.

Katherine Center has quickly become one of my favorite authors. I can’t explain exactly what it is about her writing that just draws me in, but I love it.

Hello Stranger is a fantastic story. I absolutely adored the narrator as they brought this story to life.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape for this audiobook. This is my honest voluntary review.

I stayed up half the night finishing this book. I think it’s Katherine Center’s most brilliant novel yet. It’s also super frustrating. Why? Because (1) it deals with the condition called “face blindness,” which is extremely hard to understand, and (2) it addresses the consequences of face blindness, mainly “confirmation bias,” which means that if you think something is true, you are selective about the available facts to convince yourself of that truth. (Think of those perpetual hot button topics like politics and religion, the ultimate examples.)

A teeny tiny percentage of people will ever experience face blindness. BUT 100% of us yield to confirmation bias. We do it constantly. And THIS is the brilliant part. Katherine Center does to the reader what face blindness does to her main character, Sadie—essentially creating a puzzle, purposefully leaving out information, forcing us to use our confirmation bias crutch (without realizing we’re doing it,) then offering those missing puzzle pieces we didn’t know we needed in her best ending EVER of any of her books. (I’m playing my CB card here and calling it a fact.) 😁

I’ve done so much thinking about HELLO STRANGER since finishing it early this morning. It is a book you really have to read twice—once without all the puzzle pieces and then again with the complete picture. And yes, I’m leaving out a plot summary on purpose because making these discoveries is part of the experience. Just know that if you still want to punch the wall after reading half of it, keep going! It’s SO worth it.

And don’t worry! Along the way you’re still wittily treated to Sadie’s journey of self-discovery, an annoyingly cute neighbor, a dashing vet, an adorable dog, a looming work deadline, an evil stepsister, and the karmic satisfaction of being helpful and compassionate despite immense challenges.

Katherine Center does it again! The banter is so good, and so realistic! I will read anything she writes!

3.5 stars (rounded up)!

I thoroughly enjoyed Katherine Center's last novel "The Bodyguard." In fact, it was one of my favorite books from last year! Unfortunately, I don't think "Hello Stranger" is quite as good.

I really enjoyed the premise of this story and thought it was wholly unique. I've never read a book about Prosopagnosia (face blindness), so this was a first for me. The way Center works this condition into the context of her book is seamless! It brings about a bunch of different dilemmas and problems that the main character, Sadie, must navigate as someone recently diagnosed with Prosopagnosia. Sadie's entire way of life as an artist is turned upside down with her surgery and subsequent diagnosis. She is about to enter a very esteemed and important art competition, but she suddenly finds herself unable to see (let alone paint!) faces. With a plot like this, the miscommunication trope *actually makes sense* despite how much I personally dislike it. I think it is used effectively between Sadie and main male character, Joe, although it makes the ending of the novel quite predictable. Unfortunately, I found Sadie to be a major buzzkill of a character, which damaged my enjoyment of the book a lot. Even before her medical issues, I found Sadie to be a little insufferable and quite immature. Because of these personality traits, a lot of Sadie's interactions with Joe feel devoid of the significant chemistry to get me to root for them as a couple. I found their pairing to be lackluster. Luckily, this book is a breeze to finish, aided in large part by Patti Murin's awesome audiobook narration. It's hard to stop listening to one of Katherine Center's books once you get started!

Thank you to NetGalley, Katherine Center, and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an ALC copy of this book! All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for my review.

This is my first book from Center and I really enjoyed it! I thought the premise was very unique! Usually when characters are “face blind” it’s not acquired, so seeing it from this POV was very interesting to say the least.

The main character was fun and spunky; but she grows so much within the novel, in her un-willingness to ask for help, her relationship with her family, and in her acceptance of who she is as an artist.

The romance in the book was adorable, and definitely one of the more interesting relationships I’ve read!

This book also had one of the best author’s notes following the novel.

This was my first Katherine Center book and it did not disappoint!! Face blindness is so fascinating and Center did a great job capturing the challenges and triumphs.

I really enjoyed this one! It reminded me of a twist on Cinderella and I loved the mysterious elements thanks to the face blindness. The Bodyguard was my first Katherine Center book and I loved it so I was nervous going into this one. I really enjoyed this one but it didn’t have as much humor to it as the Bodyguard but it still was really good! This might be one of my favorite new releases of the year! It was nice to read a cleaner romance book too that surprised me along the way - reads like a good mix of romance and women’s fiction. The author’s note was so good too-so glad it was included in the audio!! Definitely one I would recommend to anyone!

Content notes: toxic family relationships, medical content

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book early!

Once more, this was a very enjoyable story by Katherine Center. I love her writing style. I wasn't excited by the blurb for this one, but having read Center's work before I was really looking forward to reading it anyway. As expected, Center made it work.

This is a slower moving, closed door romance with some cute giggles. I enjoyed getting to know our MC, Sadie, as well as the surrounding characters. It was fun to root for Sadie and I looked forward to her figuring it out and getting together with her person.

There is an interesting author's note at the end where Center discusses predictability vs positively valanced anticipation in romance novels that is certainly worth a read. I've considered this concept before, but as you would expect Center put it into words much better than I ever could. Center also includes a quick bit of information about prosopagnosia that is interesting. So, when you finish the story, keep reading.

I listened to the audio of this one. It was narrated by Patti Murin and it was excellently done. I would recommend this format.

I am already looking forward to reading whatever Center writes next.

I liked the unique premise of this rom com and thought it highlighted some great moral dilemmas. I like how she fell in love with "two" people essentially, but I won't spoil that part. Overall, I enjoyed the book and found it to be heartwarming.

3.5 stars

A solid page-turner, though not perfect in my eyes. The concept and ideas in the story are super unique and compelling, though everything falls flat in the execution.

The characters are very two-dimensional without the genuine backstory and internal arc of those from The Bodyguard. I can't make hair or tail of Sadie's family and their treatment of her. It was brushed upon towards the end, but I find it unsatisfactory. Sadie gave me mainly a damsel in distress vibe with Joe there to clear the evening up for her. He threw me off guard with the way his whole personality morphed over and over as a puppet for the plot.

As in The Bodyguard, Center continues to shine in her writing, her style being effortless and very addictive. Some scenes in the book shine brighter than the rest which awed me as a reader. Parts where Sadie makes a doormat of herself made the characters go down in my eyes, but let's be clear, I still adore Katherine Center's flow of words.

I can only speak for myself, and I found the twists very predictable even though this was only my second novel by the author. As I said before, the plot was a little weak.

Once again, Patti Murin's voice astounded and captivated me. (She narrated The Bodyguard too, so if you enjoyed her in that audiobook, you will love her this time too)

Putting all of this aside, this is only the second novel I have read about face blindness, this one covers the issue in more depth, so I'd say go for it if you want some knowledge along with the entertainment.

Many thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.