Leanne Olson

by Katherine Center, narrated by Patti Murin

releasing July 11, 2023 from Macmillan Audio

Hello Stranger is a very silly book, and I loved it.

The plot is ridiculous, so just go with it: Sadie is a portrait artist who suddenly needs brain surgery, and comes out of it with the inability to recognize faces.  She meets two new men: her veterinarian, Dr. Oliver, and her neighbour, Joe, while she’s preparing for a major art competition.

You can probably guess where this is going.  At times it was frustrating that as a reader things were SO obvious and Sadie wasn’t getting there, but fortunately Center used that fact to add to the comedy.  I laughed out loud multiple times.

I also appreciated that Hello Stranger isn’t just focused on the romance: Sadie has a tonne of character growth around her art and her family.  The supporting characters and potential love interests are wonderfully conceived and so fun to read about.

I listened to the audiobook version of this. Patti Murin is a fantastic narrator, and I don’t know if I’d have liked this book as much without her.  She beautifully captures the range of Sadie’s emotions, her confusion, joy, and grief.  She’s very funny and lends extra hilarity to some of the “who’s on first”-style conversations as Sadie tries to explain her brain condition.

🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for my review copy of this audiobook.