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After an accident, a struggling artist realizes it's hard to face your issues when you literally can't recognize faces in this novel about finding love while confronting a haunting past.
Imagine not being able to see people's faces. This is such a hard concept for me to grasp, it literally makes my head hurt pondering it, but such is the life of Sadie Montgomery after she has brain surgery to correct a genetic condition and awakes to discover that she can no longer recognize anyone by their main identifier - their face.
As a portrait artist, this is a huge dilemma for Sadie. How is she supposed to create art from people's faces when she cannot see them?! This condition has descended upon her at literally the worst possible moment because Sadie, the struggling artist, has just been selected as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition ... a contest that could literally change her life.
As if things could not get any worse, Sadie's beloved dog Peanut falls ill, and she finds herself insta-in-love with her dreamy new vet, Dr. Addison. At least she thinks he is dreamy since she can't exactly see his face. At the same time, she has started to develop feelings for the once-repulsive-turned-charming guy in her building, Joe, who has been helping Sadie without actually knowing he is helping her. Not only is Sadie not telling anyone about her condition, she is also a staunch non-acceptor of assistance from anyone, which makes navigating the world when you cannot see faces all the more difficult. It also creates some sticky situations when you are falling in love and you cannot see the guy(s)' faces!
While Sadie struggles to cobble together a portrait for the competition, she finds herself juggling issues with family, friends, and of course ... her two new love interests. All Sadie knows is that her face blindness needs to correct itself and fast before she makes an even greater mess of her already messy life.
I am a very selective rom-com reader. but I always enjoy a good Katherine Center novel. At the end of Hello Stranger, Center explains why romances have such appeal - that they offer hope and the promise of a happy ending. This resonated with me because I know that I can turn to Katherine Center whenever I need an entertaining, uplifting, feel-good story, which Hello Stranger certainly is. That's not to say that Hello Stranger stays away from the worries and stresses of life - in fact, this book chronicles the death of a parent, the loss of a career, and both personal and pet health scares - but Center writes in such a way that you can believe that no matter what happens, everything is going to be okay. This display of resilience in her books is partly why I find myself turning to her time and time again.
That is not to mention her amazing characters and compelling plotlines! I am always thoroughly entertained while reading Center's books, and I found Hello Stranger to be both hilarious and horrifying because I just cannot imagine suddenly having my ability to see faces taken from me. This scenario set-up some really intriguing storylines, and although I "saw" the main twist coming from a mile away, it was a lot of fun "seeing" the pieces all come together.
If you're an audiobook lover, Katherine Center books always get the royal treatment when it comes to audiobook productions, utilizing amazing narrators who evoke such personality and voice in their character interpretations! I was instantly drawn into Patti Murin's narration of Hello Stranger, and found that she was brilliant in bringing Sadie Montgomery and her truly unique plight to life. - Brooke, Public Relations Librarian