Thank you for the advanced copy of this book.

I have started a new thing, where I don't read what the book is about before I read it. It keeps me totally surprised. In saying this, I had no idea I was going to love this book so much and learn so much about Prosopagnosia. Who even knew this was a disease? I love learning new things.

I absolutely loved this book from beginning to end. I was invested in all of the characters and loved the dynamics of the relationships. We all have issues and I loved how Sadie figures out communication is the key to truly being happy.

The narrator did a wonderful job being the different characters. I could visualize them in my head when she spoke.

Katherine Center has hit another home run with this book.

I wishe we could do half stars because this book totally deserves to be a 4.5.

Katherine Center never misses. Heartfelt, hopeful, and sweet. This story was wonderfully emotional and gave me all the feel good tropes without having felt like I’d read the book before.

Sadie is a portrait artist, who unknowingly suffers a brain condition and suddenly looses her ability to recognize faces. First off, despite the irony of the situation, this is handled believably and with gravity. The build of the story’s premise is slow but doesn’t feel it. The humor instilled in Sadie’s perspective is a joy. Watching the romance develop was fun and never boring.

Highly highly recommend!

Audio: 5/5 perfect. Calm, measured, and easy to listen to.

**I would like to thank NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, and Katherine Center for an ARC and ALC of this book! This will be available on 7/11/23!**

"Maybe life was full of surprises. Maybe disappointments could turn out to be blessings."

This was my first Katherine Center, but definitely won't be my last. I flew through this book within a few hours.

"It takes a certain kind of courage to be brave in love. A courage you can only get better at through practice."

Sadie Montgomery is our quirky, artistic heroine. After being informed that she needs to have an operation on brain, she goes through with it expecting and hoping for minimal side effects. Unfortunately, the swelling in her brain causes her to have face blindness. As a professional portrait artist prepping for her "Big Break," its not only terrible timing but also totally derails everything she is.

Luckily she has two cutie love interests to distract her. Dr. Oliver Addison, her dog Peanut's totally hot veterinarian, and Joe, the infuriatingly handsome man-hoe that lives in the same apartment complex as her.

I really loved her character but sometimes it felt like she was written a little too quirky to the point that I didn't fully believe it, especially in the beginning when you haven't built that rapport yet. Once I got to about 20%, it didn't bother me as much but it was still annoying.
While I started to root for her whole-heartedly, she wasn't the most likeable heroine for me.

The love-triangle took me a long time to figure out lol but there were still so many holes and parts that made me not believe it. Obviously this whole story is made-for-book, but I just wasn't really sold on any of the romance. It was kinda like all of a sudden they were in love but i wanted more build up for that. The tension and sparks wore off pretty quickly. Sadie had so much growth and self-improvement whereas the romance didn't develop into something of the same beautiful nature.

READER BE WARNED:
This book is more women's fiction, self-discovery, and healing than it is romance. The romance was more of an after thought in the story. If this is what you're looking for, congrats ignore my previous paragraph and enjoy. This book being mainly advertised as a romance is a little misleading.

While I have some complaints of this story, I can't deny how much I still really enjoyed it. It was fast paced and a total feel-good. I thought about this book the entire next day, which is always a sign of a great book for me. I will absolutely be reading more books by Katherine Center.

This was such a great read. It had everything I love about romance books and the end notes by Katherine were so fun to hear. This narrator was great.

**My review will be shared release day on my site and socials!**

INCREDIBLE.

Audiobook notes: Abolutely LOVED the audiobook. This brought Sadie to life and I’m in love with the entire production.

NEW FAVORITE KATHERINE CENTER BOOK. I am a weepy mess after finishing this. Couldn’t put it down, binge read, cry at the end, smile like a fool and love every single second kind of read.

I LOVED Sadie. She was my favorite kind of FMC. Personable and relatable. Flaws and strengths. All mashed together into this woman I adored. She made this book sing. Alongside her was the ROOOOMANCE. I don’t want to say too much because going into this without knowing too much is best. I just LOVED IT SO MUCH. It was swoony and real and full of everything I love about Center’s writing. Her ability to craft a story that I want to hug makes her one of my favorite all time authors.

Such a fated, sweet romance. Many powerful things Sadie learned. Another amazing read I will not get over!!

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: a little
Romance: make-out
Violence: low
Trigger/Content Warnings: sibling abuse (emotional, verbal, psychological) recounted, cheating recounted, prosopagnosia, brain surgery and recovery, grief and loss, death of a parent recounted

Wow! This is such a unique and intriguing story. The fact that it centers around Sadie, a portrait artist who, because of a necessary brain surgery that should have been no biggie, had lost her ability to see faces (aka, prosopagnosia or faceblindness). Yes there’s romance, and honestly I loved how the romance unfolded even if it was a slow burn and also not necessarily the primary focus. This was more of a story of Sadie finding herself, growing into who she is and figuring out how in the heck to do that when she can’t see the faces of anyone around her.

I think prosopagnosia is fascinating, I even did some research after reading the book to try to understand what someone with dace blindness sees. I can’t imagine not being able to decipher someone’s face and know for sure who they were in just a glance. And for someone who as an artist needs that part of the brain to function, wow.

I loved the way things unfolded with Joe and with Dr. Addison. I loved Sadie’s best friend. I hated her step sister (Parker, yuck!). I loved the family dynamic (while also hating it) and see how it resolved and shifted in the end.

Highly recommend and if you can get it on audio the narration is fabulous!

I thought this book was sweet and cute and I really liked the whole ordeal of face blindness. I find it rather fascinating.
I liked the family relationships and really enjoyed the beginning and end. I was a bit put off by lying and miscommunication. I find it frustrating. However, I still enjoyed the book overall.

Narrator Patti Murin, did a good job performing the story and different voices for different characters.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this advanced listeners copy. This is my honest review.

Blurb:

Love isn’t blind, it’s just a 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.

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 in love―not with one man but two. The timing couldn’t be worse.

Making judgment calls on anything right now is a nightmare. If only her life were a little more in focus, Sadie might be able to have it all.

I abandoned a different book that I was in the middle of listening to the second I saw Netgalley approved me to review Hello Stranger, and boy oh boy Katherine Center did not disappoint!

This is the quintessential rom-com, feel good, just overall adorable book. I think Katherine herself says it best in her author’s note — Hello Stranger was far from a “predictable” romance. However, there were layers of anticipation that built beautifully throughout the story. By the end, all of that hope and anticipation melted together to create the best feelings of happiness and joy for the characters. Then, on top of the feel-good romance, there are also deep aspects of a traumatic past and serious medical conditions that are being dealt with. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about new medical terminology and getting the perspectives of a patient dealing with a new diagnosis. I have also always been interested in how the brain works and functions. Therefore, this book kept me hooked from the beginning to the end!

This was such a refreshing story!

A really great read that I would recommend to anyone and everyone. This was my first book by this author but I will for sure be reading more of her books.

I'm on the fence about this one, this book left me feeling very confused about my feelings. I loved a lot of things about this story, the disorder Sadie has is very interesting, the relationship between Joe & Sadie was sweet except for the lack of actually talking about the basic things people talk about on day 1! I am not a huge fan of miscommunication, secrets and unnecessary drama and this book has all of these things. So in the beginning I was leaning towards 5 stars, then the middle I was down to 3 stars but the ending redeemed some of it and I settled on 3.75 stars... did I say the way this book made me feel was confusing??

I loved Joe, he was generally a really nice guy even if he was a little clueless about what was going on around him. Sadie on the other hand felt a little selfish to me. She was so wrapped up in her own stuff that she didn't even try to get to know details about Joe. I figured out what was happening about from the minute Joe & Sadie started "hanging" out at the coffee shop and because of that I noticed EVERY clue that they ignored so that made it hard not to yell at this book during some parts.

Patti Murin was great. She is really good at different voices for each characters!

#NetGalley #AdvancedListenerCopy #AudiobookAddicts #HelloStranger

This book was so much fun! After Sadie has a brain operation, the swelling causes her to have face blindness (it's actually a real thing!) and she is left with not being able to recognize faces. This makes for a difficult task when she convinces herself her Vet is her soulmate and simultaneously starts falling for her obnoxious neighbor.

Overall I had a great time reading this book. The concept was so unique, which really set it apart from most rom-coms I have read in the past. It was packed with romance, comedy, heartbreak, family struggles, and grieving. While the topic of grief can really bog down a romance, Katherine Center handled it in such a way that the book never really felt somber. I especially loved the small breadcrumbs laid out throughout the book, setting it up nicely for the "twist."

Thank you so much to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an early copy of this!

This review is for the audiobook version: Having already loved and adored “Hello Stranger” by Katherine Center, I jumped at a chance to recreate this wonderful experience via the audiobook narrated by Patti Murin. Murin was the amazing voice of Center’s “The Bodyguard” and she’s narrated multiple Christina Lauren romantic comedies. Patti has excelled again, giving an emotional, sometimes sarcastic, warmth to sweet, adorable Sadie, plus bringing to life loyal, fun-loving best friend Sue and the evil pair (with hysterically appropriate voices) of stepsister Parker and stepmother Lucinda, plus the “faceless guys”.

Katherine Center has created a romantic masterpiece, sure to be a summer bestseller and even a best book of the year. I suspect that hardcover and ebook readers will also want to experience “Hello Stranger” again as an audiobook and they will be delightfully rewarded! 5 stars!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an advanced audio copy in exchange for an honest review!

Sadie Montgomery is a struggling portrait artist about to get her big break-or so she hopes. Things are looking great, until they're not. After a potentially life-saving surgery, a week in the hospital, Sadie is back home and everything should be back to normal. Except it's not. Sadie can no longer see faces. Troubling for the average person, life-changing for a portrait artist. She tries to hide this from everyone, only a few people know what she is currently experiencing. Sadie is hopeful the doctors are correct, and as her brain swelling from surgery goes down, she will be able to see faces once again and get back to her usual life. With her world in chaos, things continue to get worse. Sadie's beloved dog, peanut suddenly gets sick. Thankfully the dashing Dr. Addison is able to help. Not only does he save Peanut, but he also asks Sadie on a date. While trying to avoid her obnoxiosu neighbor Joe, who somehow manages to show up just when she needs a little help, Sadie finds her self falling for two men. How can this possibly be? Through a tough few weeks, Sadie learns how to access her creativity in a new way, deal with her past that refuses to stay in the past, and find love in the most unexpected places.

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center was fantastic. There’s just something about her writing that just grabs my attention and sucks me in. This was an easy 5/5 start rating for me. I didn’t realize face blindness was a real thing until I read this book and I find it utterly fascinating. The romance in this book was great and hilarious. I love the dynamic between the two. I would not mind a sequel to this book.

The narrator did a fantastic job and I just hope they continue to narrator her books.

Thanks for the early arc in exchange for an honest review.

I am so bummed that my ride along with Sadie Montgomery has come to an end. I was first introduced to #KatherineCenter thanks to #TheBodyguard being highlighted by #BOTM. Little did I know that her style would immediately hook me. But what are the chances that book lightning happens twice? I was so excited to find the answer to that when #netgalley and #macmillilanaudio approved me for an #ARC. Even more exciting, apparently book lighting can strike twice because the author has done it again!

Sadie is ... well she's kind of a mess but also a lovable mess that you can't help but root for. And root I did. I couldn't stop listening to this book. The narrator, the main characters, the supporting characters... heck, even the bad guys left me wanting more. Many times there are multiple story lines in a book and it can be distracting and in the end lead me to thinking the extras weren't needed. That was absolutely not the case here. All of the pieces were expertly woven together and I had so many "ah ha" moments when the bigger pieces started falling into place.

If you are looking for a great summer read, do yourself a favor and make being a stranger with this book a thing of your past.

💭Thoughts:
Katherine Center does it again! She has such a wonderful way with words. I really loved this book! I found myself completely emotionally invested in what happened to Sadie. I couldn’t imagine dealing with face blindness. It was such a unique plot point for a romance novel.

I loved the narration in the audiobook. Patti Murin always does such a great job. The voice she gave Parker made me laugh every time. She really was the epitome of a mean girl.

The story flowed well and I loved the little twist at the end. I actually didn’t see it coming, though I should have. It wrapped everything up so nicely and put a big smile on my face!

Katherine Center is an auto buy author for me for a reason! She knows how to write romance! I highly recommend this book!

Sadie has always wanted to be an artist, and her father wanted her to be a doctor. This is hard for her dad, because Sadie’s mom was an artist as well. He tells her he will not support her if she chooses this life so of course this caused tension.

She enters a portrait competition, and finds out she is a finalist. Winning this contest can be life changing for her! She is thrilled at the potential to win the contest. Unfortunately, she needs minor surgery. When she wakes up she discovers she can no longer see faces. This becomes challenging as people come to see her. Her best friend Soo Hyun is always supportive and encouraging. Sadie’s family, not so much.

Sadie does not want anyone to know about her face blindness. She gets home and recognizes her dog Peanut, so that is a positive thing. When he gets sick she takes him to an emergency vet. Dr. Addison ends up asking her out on a date. Adding to this novel is her neighbor Joe, who is annoying, but helpful when Sadie needs it.

As relationships form, can she navigate the face blindness? She is trying to face her past and look forward to her future. How can a portrait artist paint if she does not see faces?
Centers novels are always sweet with a happy ending. If you want a nice feel-good novel, this one is perfect. Love this Texas novelist and cannot wait to meet her this summer.

Such a fun little romcom. I adored that this book was written by a Houstonian and SET in Houston — I'm a local, if ya couldn't tell. Now, this book is kind of silly and not entirely believable, but it's totally a fun ride with some great characters. The mystery of who our main character is going to end up with — the dreamy vet or obnoxious (at first) neighbor had me reading on for sure!

This book was so dang good!

The narrator did an exceptional job bringing the characters to life and keeping me enthralled with the story!

This sweet romcom was so easy to read (or in my case listen to) and Katherine Center has a great writing style that I personally really enjoy!

Now there were a few things that did bother me such a a fatphobic joke and sometimes wanting to yell at some of the things these characters were saying/doing but other than that I really enjoyed this book!

I think I read a different book then everyone else?

I need to note the 20 year old “don’t help me I’m independent! except I really need a lot of help please and will never appreciate it” is a massive turnoff for me. So bam, right out of the gate I struggled with our FMC, Sadie.

The premise however was interesting especially since I’ve never even heard of prosopagnosia. Basically Sadie entered a portrait contest, had brain surgery, then couldn’t see faces anymore. Insert bizarre love triangle that was fairly obvious.

I enjoyed the Bodyguard quite a bit and will absolutely be back for more Katherine Center but this one wasn’t for me.