Ugh Sadie is terrible
Most of the characters are terrible
Very annoying
Being in her head is exhausting
I don't get why people like her?

What an interesting plot with a little twist at the end. Easy, enjoyable, and engaging! I loved the main characters and following along on the MFC's journey while navigating a faceless world.

I love KC. I love her stories of struggle and accomplishment and happiness. I love the messages that she weaves in her books. Her books will always hold a special place in my heart. Sadie's story is just as heartfelt and meaningful.

I tell people when I recommend these books that KC writes stories of personal growth with some romance in them. The romance isn't always first, but it's always there. This fits that bill. I flew through it. I loved how the story came together and adored seeing Sadie finally come into her own. I just wish that I felt more for her along the way. It was a smidge slower of a start than I wanted, but it fit what I needed exactly.

I absolutely adored this book. Did not want to put it down, I had to know what happened!!!

Sadie an artist gets face blindness, that one aspect just made this whole book so unique and so interesting! I loved her journey through this and how she coped.

I don’t feel like I can say much more because I don’t want to spoil it, but it was cute and also emotional, I got angry, but then swooned and felt so happy. It was seriously just an amazing ride with some great life lessons thrown in.

Also the narrator was just brilliant.

Hello Stranger is another lovely summer read from Katherine Center. Sadie Montgomery is struggling but has hope on the horizon - she’s a top 10 finalist in a portrait competition. Unexpectedly, she needs emergency brain surgery which results in a diagnosis of temporary face blindness. Through the recovery process, Sadie works on coping strategies and accidentally starts to fall for two separate men - Joe from her apartment building and Oliver the veterinarian. As the deadline for the portrait competition gets closer and her entry is no closer to getting done, Sadie tries new strategies while trying to sort out her heart and deal with her absent and sometimes cruel family. I found this story a heartwarming story of love, growth, and finding happiness. Patti Murin did a fantastic job with the narration, too.

I loved the audio to this book this was a rom-com with the perfect narration ever. Her voice was super fun and it told the jokes in such a good way that I was laughing out loud so many times. I listened to the narration at 1.5x and it was perfect. I enjoyed the different voices she was able to do. I thought it was a full narration and it turns out it was not. WOW!!! great narrator.

The book itself was quirky, fun, cute and had turns I did not expect. This was my first read by Katherine center and know I want to read all her books.

Hello Stranger features Sadie Montgomery in one of her most defining moments of her life as she places in the Top 10 of a nationwide portriature contest. Winning could mean fame, which could mean she could finally afford a place to live, among others of life's necessities. After collapsing in the road and being rescued by a good samaritan, discovers she has a malformed blood vessel in her brain. She wants to wait to get the treatment as the contest is in 6 weeks, but after a stern conversation with her father, is convinced to get it corrected ASAP. After the surgery, some swelling in her brain causes her to have the unfortunate side-effect of being unable to recognize human faces, a death sentence if there ever was one for a portrait artist. On her journey of recovery and acceptance, she comes to develop romantic feelings with not just one, but two men, both of whom she does not know what they look like! On her journey, Sadie might discover that she has actually been blind to a certain far longer than she could have imagined.

This novel is a delightful mix of romance and women's fiction, similar to Emily Henry's adult romances, and Hello Stranger is an improvement on last year's The Bodyguard. The heroes in this novel are quirky, intelligent, unflinchingly helpful, and hurt from past relationships, and you can't help but root for them. Sadie herself is deeply flawed, something other reviewers have called out as a negative, but one I find honest as she learns how to navigate relationships better and resolve conflict in healthier ways. If there was one character that was a detriment to the novel, it was her "evil stepsister" who very much acts like a palms-rubbing villian to Sadie. Center attempts to give reasons as to why the stepsister behaves as deplorably as she does, but it falls just short of feeling realistic.

Even with the negatives, Hello Stranger was a novel I tore through in less than 24 hours and was worth the sleep Iost trying to finish it! The narrator is also fantastic and does a great job alternating her voice for the different characters, in particular she was sensitive to changing it just right for the heroes.

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin's Press for providing an eAuidiobook for an honest review.

I am a big fan of Katherine Center and her writing. Hello Stranger was different than I have read before, having a face blindness medical condition keeping Sadie from recognizing those around her without help from their body language and clothes.

I went into this book blind (ha-ha) not knowing what it was about other than it was written by Katherine Center.

I loved the connection of this title to the story. I always try to figure out how the title is connected while I’m reading and I wasn’t expecting it for this book.

Hello Stranger was harder for me to get into than the other novels I have read by Katherine Center. Sadie didn’t seem like a mature adult at times and it was hard for me to connect with her!

The second half was much better than the first for me, but I would recommend this book to people who love books with dogs and hot doctors.

Can face blindness help you see? A portrait artist struggles with face blindness after brain surgery. But it actually helps her to see what was right in front of her all along. Interesting story with the romantic happy ending.

Thank you Netgalley, Katherine Center, and publisher for allowing me an early audiobook for an honest review! I have become a big fan of this author. This is a heartwarming story with an interesting, rarely done topic and I very much appreciated that. A downside to the rom-com genre is its predictability and sometimes it's done in a way that can keep me at 5 stars (because it's pretty much a given to have), but I felt like all the "twists" were just so expected and long drawn out in a way that was slightly irritating. I wish there had been more close calls with their conversations, at the very least, but not even that. Having said all that, it is still a pretty unique story with a wholesome message. Nice job!

Let me start this review by declaring my love for Katherine Center. While I have not read every book she has ever published, the handful of books I have read, all landed with me. The Bodyguard was one of my favorite books last year, and I could still summarize the plot of Things We Save in the Fire four years after reading it. THAT is saying something. Now having said all this, it pains me to say that Hello Stranger did not work for me. At all. The premise of the book is that Sadie, a starving artist develops a case of face blindness after undergoing urgently necessary brain surgery . As one could imagine, not being able to see faces turns out to be a bit of a challenge for a young portrait artist! Just as her career and life threaten to entirely derail Sadie meets not one, but two presumably handsome (remember, missy can't see faces!) strangers she becomes infatuated with.
Interesting premise, right?
Alas...
After realizing that I had figured out the plot twist 30% into the story (lucky guess/intuition?), I skim read the rest of the book, hoping to be surprised, but that wasn't meant to be.
Maybe it's a me problem? Surely it's a me problem, as thousands of reviewers on Goodreads strongly disagree with me! However, once I figured out the plot, I had no reason to keep on going, as the characters across the board (the only exception being the "hot vet" and Peanut the dog) were less than likeable and I cared very little to find out what happened to them.
I had a particular dislike for Sadie, our MC. She was whiny, self-absorbed, immature and loved to play the victim. Repeatedly I had to remind myself that she was supposed to be a woman in her late 20's and not a bratty 19 year old college drop out. I couldn't muster one ounce of empathy for her. True, her family is horrible, I'll give her that; alas I also found the evil step-relatives narrative entirely unnecessary. Sadie's best friend Sue was seriously lacking in the best friend department repeatedly ignoring Sadie's wishes and just doing whatever she wanted instead, but then again... Sadie is a challenge to like, so kudos for even attempting.
I truly dislike writing such a negative review, but I am nothing if not honest.
On the plus side, the audiobook narration by Patti Murin was fantastic!
In conclusion I would like to add, that while this book did not work for me personally, I am by no means turned off from reading the authors future works! Tastes vary, and not every book is for every reader.

I love Katherine Center’s books. But lately, her books have been hit or miss for me. Unfortunately, Hello Stranger was a bit of a miss. I appreciated learning more about prosopagnosia (face blindness), but I thought the story was preposterous. Without sharing any spoilers, did the author really think that we couldn’t figure out what was so obvious throughout the entire story?? While I did connect to some of the characters in the book, others were so over-the-top (especially the unrealistic depiction of the evil stepsister) that it just added to the ridiculousness of the book.

Ultimately, the book was entertaining, but I found myself rolling my eyes too many times. Perhaps it was just too much “com” in the rom-com for me.

On a side note, the audiobook narrator was fabulous and I would definitely listen to her again.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed listening to this warm-hearted lighter read that has substance. I appreciate the way the author didn’t shy away from dealing with tough issues but did so in a graceful way. I liked the way the story played out, there was a good balance of predicable events and unpredictable surprises.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I have loved every Katherine Center book I have read, but Hello Stranger is my new favorite. I appreciated the female main character having facial blindness (Prosopagnosia). I'm in the medical field, so I enjoy books that include some medical elements. This was the best lighthearted, entertaining, and twisty romance for Sadie. I don't want to say more because that could affect the ending. I am also a huge fan of Patti Murin, so give me all the books she narrates.

Thank you, Macmillan Audio and St. Martin's Press, for my gifted copies.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the suprise of an advance listening copy of "Hello Stranger" by Katherine Center. I love a juicy instrospective self study of a person who encounters unexpected and not easily resolved dilemmas and our main characters faced some big ones. I really like the writing style, especially in audio form. It read like someone was telling me their story and that is not easy to do. Some of the characters were challenging to rally behind, but I was mesmorized by the plot and the dialogue. It was a rewarding listen.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of the audiobook to review.

I absolutely loved this. My new favorite Katherine Center book. It had me hooked from the start. Patty Murin is a delightful narrator. I appreciated the research that must have gone into writing about facial blindness, and the notes at the end about the condition. The twist was obvious given the premise but it was well-developed.

4.25 stars

I quite enjoyed this book. As the writer states in her note at the end of the novel, she likes writing about love stories because of the anticipation of what’s to come followed by the satisfaction when it actually happens. There was more going on in this book than I initially expected there would be. I also found myself baffled by how the protagonist couldn’t put certain clues together, but in the end, I suppose it was more realistic that she didn’t. I also had a range of feelings about the protagonist’s relationships with her family members, and even if I didn’t love all of the choices, I do think they were largely believable. All in all, this book was different yet still similar to my last one by the writer, and I’m glad I was able to read it.

Just as cute the second time around. Hello Stranger may just be my favorite Katherine Center book to date. The audiobook version is just as lovely! I’ve recommended it already to so many family members and friends who adored Bodyguard. Thank you so much #netgalley for the ARC to listen in and be wrapped up in Sadie and her artists heart all over again.

I LOVED THIS BOOK 😍🩷 This is my first Katherine Center book and I will definitely be back for more.

This book is the true definition of "love is blind". It shows that without looks, it is easier to judge someone's character based on their actions. First impressions matter but they aren't always what they seem.

This story was just so lovely. I felt for Sadie and it was very much a story where the audience knew what was going on but the MC didn't. I just wanted to yell at her the entire time but having never dealt with face blindness, I'm as oblivious as her friend Sue.

The narrator did a great job and I would listen to more books read by her.

Lastly, the author's note at the end of the book was beautiful. Something all rom-com lovers need to hear. "Believing in love is believing in hope.

I loved The Bodyguard and Things You Save In A Fire by Katherine Center, so I was very excited about this new book, Hello Stranger. Unfortunately I didn’t love it, although many advance readers have.

It’s the story of an artist who specializes in portraits and suddenly, after a “minor” brain surgery, she can no longer see people’s faces. I had never heard of such a thing before, but apparently this “face blindness” is a real condition, sometimes permanent and sometimes temporary. Luckily for Sadie, the doctors feel it’s a temporary situation for her, brought on by post-surgical swelling that “should” go away. In addition to this face blindness, Center also has Sadie dealing with long-term reverberations of her mother’s death and continued bullying by her step-sister, Parker - which seemed a bit excessive to me, as they are in their late 20s, but childhood/teen trauma runs deep. Even so, I didn’t much care for Sadie, the main female character. She didn’t seem very likable, and as she was the main voice of the book, she seemed very immature. I had to suspend my disbelief as Sadie didn’t recognize people’s voices, even people she interacted with on a regular basis (other than her best friend, Sue). I did anticipate the twist in the story which involved two men she was interested in, but that’s okay. As Center says in an author’s note, she prefers to use “anticipate” as opposed to “predictable” and I get that. I just wish I could have enjoyed the journey to the anticipated HEA more than I did.

I bounced between the audiobook and the ebook for this title, which was very convenient. The audiobook was nicely narrated by Patti Murin.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this book and to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.