A cute rom com with an ending that left me smiling. What brought this down a star for me was just the predictability. I saw the end coming pretty much from the beginning, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the story as it went. I found myself laughing and smiling often. But also rolling my eyes some, as the main character finally came to the same realization that I came to many chapters before. Overall, worth the read/listen and a great romantic comedy to leave you feeling good! I listened to this as an audio and enjoyed the performance of the narrator, Patti Murin. This is one I would definitely recommend listening to!

A big thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, St. Martin’s Press, and Katherine Center for providing me with these gifted copies in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an audio copy to listen to in exchange for an honest review.

First off - the narrator is excellent. I loved every bit of her reading.

Second - Katherine Center is such a gifted person when it comes to writing books that are topic heavy but heart light. Meaning her books have substance and by no means deal with trivial issues for the main character. Yet somehow, I always feel so hopeful and joyful after reading her books. This one gave me the same feeling I had after reading Lisa Genova's work. I may have gone down a rabbit hole researching faceblindness.

Third - I LOVE an epilogue. It makes me happy.

I first fell in love with Katherine Center after listening to The Bodyguard and absolutely knew I had to get my hands on the audio of Hello Stranger the moment I read the book blurb.

With an amazingly unique storyline, Hello Stranger is full of love and heart, heartbreak and disappointment. A cast of characters including an adorable doggie, an insufferable sister, and swoony yet mysterious neighbor, Hello Stranger will hit you right in the gut before showering you with hope and love.

A total five star read.

I gave this one 2.5 stars on my personal rating system. Unfortunately it just wasn't the book for me. The plot felt very clearly laid out from the beginning and I didn't feel connected to the main character, nor the love interest.

This was a very cute story! Sadie is a relatable character, minus the face blindness! I’ve heard of face blindness but it was interesting to learn more about it. I like that she fell in love without really grasping what Joe looked like. A good story I listened to in one sitting.

4.5 stars

I became a fan of Katherine Centre last year after reading The Bodyguard and I've been making my way through her entire collection. Her writing is phenomenal and this is no exception!

I loved the FMC, Sadie, she was extremely relatable because she was such a disaster sometimes!

I ADORED the neuropsychologist Dr. Nicole and her talk about the art of self-confidence… it really stuck with me because do I ever need to work on that. She taught Sadie to fight with herself instead of fighting with others and I loved that.

I had some thoughts on where the book was going but I definitely did not see the ending and all the reveals!

My one beef with this book is why did Sadie not confront Joe even after they started talking and she thought he was a terrible person on the elevator?!


Thanks to NetGalley, MacMillan Audio & St Martin's Press for advance copies in exchange for an honest review.

Katherine Center is a go-to author for me! I love her work and this one was no different. The narration of the audiobook was fantastic - It kept me interested and it was easy to follow the dialogue. I thought the story was great. The main character was likeble and the plot line was fascinating! I actually studied the topic of prosopagnosia during a course in graduate school. It was neat to read about in fiction as well! The author clearly researched the topic and I thought it was well executed. I enjoyed the author’s note regarding romance and the comments made about people reporting that they are predictable, as they should be! I thought it was a great point and it applied well to the story. While readers may find it predictable, it is still incredibly enjoyable!

Another fantastic book from Katherine Center! She has quickly become one of my favorite authors and I always look forward to reading her books. They're a little formulaic in terms of the plot, but the characters are always endlessly endearing and relatable. Center tends to highlight a traumatic or life-altering event in each one of her books that one of the main character experiences. In this one, Sadie, a struggling portrait artist has brain surgery and an immediate result is face blindness, meaning her brain can properly see faces. Sadie has to re-learn how to do things she always took for granted in her life. I really liked the relationships in her life and seeing how they shifted. Patti Murin perfectly narrates the audiobook. She has such a relatable delivery, which perfectly suits Katherine Center's conversational tone.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for providing this ebook/audiobook ARC. All thoughts are my own.

So...I already read the digital version of this book, but I was so charmed by it that when I was also approved for the audio version, I excitedly dove right in for a second read. The narrator was perfect for Sadie. This book is another gem by Katherine Center. I also learned a lot about face blindness through this book, and through the Google deep-dive I did once I finished reading this book (the first time).

Thank you thank you thank you to NetGalley for early access!

This book was a delightful romp into the life of the perky, loveable Sadie. After a long term injury that affects her vision, Sadie, an artist, has to learn new ways to interact and essentially to see. Throughout the story, Sadie has a series of adventures and interactions with a variety of interesting people.-including possible love interests. Dealing with her injury and a difficult family situation, the question becomes will Sadie get her vision back? Will she fall in love? Will she be able to continue with her art? This book will answer all of these questions with a surprise at the end. Like me, hopefully you will fall in love with Sadie (and Peanut) and her steps and missteps for a satisfying and dare I say extremely touching read.

Katherine Center does it again, another meetcute (or two) and more loveable characters in zany situations. You’ll see the ending coming a mile away but you’ll enjoy the ride anyway. There are some heavy topics covered so take a peek at the content warnings but everything is covered gently.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for this ALC!

Content Warnings: Death of parent, Bullying, Medical content

I would probably give this book 3.5 stars.

I liked this book but I just had trouble getting into the plot. I realize this face recognition thing is real but I just had a hard time imagining it. And I really didn't like the character of Parker and thought it was a bit over the top. I did like how the ending turned out though, definitely wasn't expecting that.

Another fabulous read by Katherine Center! This one tackled facial blindness and what it means to really see people....and ourselves. A wonderful message and a cast of likable characters you'll root for from page one.

Definitely a cute love story but not my favorite by Katherine Center. It was a unique concept and injury that caused so much to happen. I loved that she pushed through it and I loved that she fell in love without really “seeing” the person she was falling in love with.

🌀Synopsis
Sadie is struggling but getting by. She thinks her lucky break is coming when she enters a contest and becomes a finalist. Then there is an accident that leads to them finding an issue in her brain. Her father convinces her to have surgery to fix it but this leads to her losing a piece of her vision. Which is very important considering she’s a portrait artist and she needs to paint someone’s face for her competition.
While she struggles to recover there is a man in her building who helps her. The two move quickly from friends to a relationship. Sadie is forced to dump the vet she had been seeing before but suddenly things go wrong with Joe and Sadie is left in the dark as to why.
When the two finally talk again Sadie realizes the mistake that was made and they both find that their relationship has been different from what they thought- but wonderful in the same way.

This book was a delightful romp into the life of the perky, loveable Sadie. After a long term injury that affects her vision, Sadie, an artist, has to learn new ways to interact and essentially to see. Throughout the story, Sadie has a series of adventures and interactions with a variety of interesting people.-including possible love interests. Dealing with her injury and a difficult family situation, the question becomes will Sadie get her vision back? Will she fall in love? Will she be able to continue with her art? This book will answer all of these questions with a surprise at the end. Like me, hopefully you will fall in love with Sadie (and Peanut) and her steps and missteps for a satisfying and dare I say extremely touching read.

To say I love Katherine Center is an understatement. Much like the duo Christina Lauren, Katherine just knows what she's doing and never fails to deliver a rom com that gives readers everything we need and want, while still feeling fresh and surprising.
Sadie our heroine is scrappy, creative, and totally lovable. She has a hard past and deeply misses her mom. Sadie's life turns from up- upon receiving a prestigious nomination for an art prize- to upside down, when she's in an accident and wakes up with facial blindness. Not automatically knowing who she is talking to can make dating, among other things, very difficult. Thoroughly enjoyable beginning to end, excellent narration.
Dog lovers, this one will feel extra sweet.

This book was absolutely adorable. It started off really strong and hooked me in. The main character's condition, prosopagnosia (or face blindness), is something I really knew nothing about. It was interesting to learn more and see how that influenced her everyday life, especially as a portrait artist. The love interests are also really dreamy once you get to know them. I will definitely keep Katherine Center on my list of authors to watch out for because her writing was really well done, and I adored Patti Murin's narration as well.


Now...I was going to add something about how I guessed the big reveals extremely early on but honestly, what does it matter to include? It was the author's note at the end that completely changed how I feel about "guessing" the ending of romance books in general and the positive valence that is tied to them vs the negative valence I feel with most other book genres I read. The anticipation was still beautiful, despite knowing how it ends. This isn't a mystery novel.

However, I will say that the one part of the book that really frustrated me was the miscommunication trope. If this is a trope that you really can't stand (it's me...hi), keep in mind that it is extremely necessary to keep the plot moving. And I understood that. But it just made me want to shake the character as someone who values open and honest communication more than anything. I get why it had to be there. It doesn't mean I have to like it.

Also: please do not feed your dog like the MC does. That is horrific. But I'm a cat person so what do I know.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC!

4.5 This book was positively adorable.

After suffering a seizure, Sadie learns that she has a congenital malformation in her brain. The surgery to repair it leaves swelling in the part of her brain that recognizes faces, leaving Sadie face-blind.
Sadie's mother died when she was young, and the rest of her family is pretty terrible (I would've enjoyed less of the awful stepsister). Sadie's wish to follow in her mother's footsteps as a portrait artist is not respected and her biggest hope is to win a portrait competition and prove her talent, which feels impossible when she can't see faces.
Sadie suffers emotionally after repeatedly failing to improve. With the help of her best friend Soo, and new relationships with her veterinarian Dr. Addison and her neighbor Joe, she tries to find her way through a life that's now confusing and often upsetting.
There's a just right amount of detail about how Sadie "sees" faces, which was really fascinating, and also about how the brain separately perceives emotions even when your brain can't make sense of faces.

The author's afterword was beautiful and the narration was excellent!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for audio and digital ARCs of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Another great romance by Katherine Center. I really liked the main character and the narrator was fantastic. Highly recommend.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook ARC! Hello Stranger tells the story of Sadie Montgomery, a struggling artist who finally gets a chance for a big break when her painting is chosen for competition for a major award. When her best friend, Sue, sets up a party to celebrate, Sadie heads out to purchase supplies. After shopping and running into a handsome stranger, Sadie suddenly collapses. She now must have surgery or run the risk of dying. Surgery it is! However, the surgery has side effects and Sadie, a portrait artist, now suffers from face blindness - right before her competition where she must submit a new painting. With her future at stake, Sadie must find a way to accept help, especially when it's offered by her bowling-jacket-wearing, kind neighbor, Joe. On top of that, in between the chaos of her competition preparation, Sadie's beloved dog, Peanut, becomes ill and Sadie rushes him to an emergency vet. Dr. Oliver Addison, who seems perfect in nearly every way and is interested in Sadie. Can Sadie save her career and open up to love with someone who's face she can't perceive? This is an utterly charming romance from Katherine Center, and Patti Murin offers a fantastic performance bringing the story to life.