🌊🚁🏝️Looking for a summer/beach read? This is it!
Romance, found family, Florida setting and even some suspense! I could totally see this as a movie🎥 and that is how I like my beach reads!

Could we have done with less body image issues? Just put the swimsuit on girl! Having the issue is fine it just felt a little over addressed I would say.

I loved the aunt character she offered a grounding and loving figure for both of the main characters.

The ocean is scary and I was on the edge of my seat for part of it! Not use to that in romance books and I liked it! Reminded me of some of Nicholas Sparks books but no one dies😉

So glad I was able to get this on NetGalley and thanks to the publisher for the copy!

Now what am I going to read this summer?!

I love Katherine Center's storytelling and this one was no exception. I fell easily into this story and was rooting for the characters. Like all her stories, there was the element of personal growth, along with romance. But I think this one leaned a little too hard on the personal growth piece, as sometimes the self-acceptance narrative took precedence over the romance to the point that the ending felt rushed. I would have loved to see one or two more scenes with our love interests once they were actually together. But still a solidly enjoyable read.

I’ve only read a handful, I always love Katherine Center’s books. They never fail to pull me in and keep me hooked, and Love Haters was no exception. This one was full of banter, wildlife trivia, hilarious dog antics, with a message full of self love and body positivity. I have a lot of backlist of KC to catch up on and I can’t wait!

This book was such a fun, vibrant escape! I absolutely loved Katie and Hutch together—their chemistry was electric, and their banter had me smiling the whole time. Aunt Rue was a total scene-stealer, and the Great Dane? An instant favorite. Watching Katie go from a gray, routine life to one filled with color, courage, and unexpected adventure was so satisfying. It’s romantic, funny, and just the right amount of chaotic. Highly recommend if you need a tropical pick-me-up with heart.

I will always read a KC book and I will always be endeared by the characters and get lost in their stories. Center does a great job at atmosphere and, in this one especially, found family. Rue and The Gals were a highlight. This one is very heavy handed on body acceptance, particularly weight. If that’s a struggle, know that it takes up a lot of the storyline. Center is also very personal in the way she narrates her books and I love that direct perspective. This one was very heavy on inner monologue. I think the self focus and the extra monologue got to be too much combined. All that said, I appreciated the author’s note where she shared Nora Ephron’s quote “Reading is escape, and also the opposite of escape” as well as her own “Love stories are the best kind of therapy”. I felt this, so mission accomplished. 3.5⭐️

After reading this, I'm done with Katherine Center books. Love Haters felt almost YA, that's how cringe the inner dialogue was. I know that Katherine Center books normally lean into that women's fiction area but the one I liked the most from her was The Bodyguard and I've been hoping with every Katherine Center book I've picked up since that I get that more romance leaning story. Love Haters focuses way more on the main character's relationship with her body and less on the romance. It's just weird that the titles of Katherine Center's books have been screaming rom-com (ie. the Rom-commers and the Love-Haters) but the romance is so underdeveloped. I feel like we never get to know the male leads enough to truly like them. Also, in this book, one of the characters, the brother of the male lead, is soooo frustrating.

While it was interesting to learn about the Coast Guard, I would not recommend this book to romance readers.

The Love Haters is a witty, sun-soaked rom-com about facing fears and falling for the last person you expect. When video producer Katie fakes her way through a dream assignment in Key West, sparks fly with grumpy rescue swimmer Hutch…who just happens to be her coworker’s brother. Full of humor, heart, and heat, this is a feel-good escape you won’t want to put down.

This was such a fun, comforting read that transported me to Key West and made my soul happy! Katie is a videographer who is dealing with an extreme case of body dysmorphia, so she is uneasy when her supervisor sends her to Florida to profile Hutch, a rescue swimmer in the Coast Guard. Katie also has another secret that makes this assignment difficult: she doesn't know how to swim. Luckily, Hutch's lovable aunt, Rue, takes Katie under her wing like a modern-day fairy godmother. I loved the characters, especially Hutch's giant dog, George Bailey, and I loved reading about Katie's journey of self-acceptance. This book is full of funny and touching moments, and it was like a vacation and a warm hug at the same time. I do wish that there was a bit more romance in the end (after a page-turning event the book was over pretty quickly), but I am just sad I have to wait a whole year to get another dose of Katherine Center's magic! The Love Haters releases on May 10 and will be perfect for your summer reading--thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and the author for the librarian preview copy.

Fun, fabulous and flirty! The Love Haters is another Katherine Center classic with lots of action and romance but also with a good lesson within. As a young lady recovers from a rough breakup, she meets someone who teaches her to love herself and her talents.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this ARC.

3.5 ⭐️

The first half of this book was amazing, I loved it I fell in the love with the characters and their story. The second half was a bit of a whirlwind & a let down for me. Good overall!

3.5/5 ⭐️
this was such a unique concept for a book. I really enjoyed the self acceptance/body positivity aspect of this book. Katie finding her love for herself, was really enjoyable to read about. this took place in Key West, Florida and the setting was honestly perfect for the summer. I loved Rue, she was such a fun side character. Hutch, what a man. Never thought I would be reading about a swimmer on the Coast Guard but here we are. I really enjoyed Hutch and Katie‘s chemistry in the first half. I will say, Hutch‘s actions towards the second half didn’t really fit his character and kind of felt unnecessary. also, I really didn’t enjoy Cole’s character and honestly every scene with him made me mad.

Ultimately the miscommunication aspect of this book was my biggest complaint. The summer vibes and quick pace made this an overall really fun read, so if you’re looking for a lighthearted book to read this summer, I would definitely recommend this.

Thank you to Katherine Center, St. Martins Press and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

The Love Haters is the feel good book for everyone who loves love! Sue me, but I can’t resist a man with a frowny smile. Make him a heroic Coast Guard rescue swimmer and I am in heaven. The main character, Katie, is relatable as she works through issues related to self-love.

This book really has it all, including strong female friendships, a delightful Florida Keys setting, and a lovable giant dog. It has both humor and heart. I gobbled this one up, loving every page.

This was my first time reading a book by Katherine Center, and overall, it was a light read.

I appreciated how it touched on themes of body positivity and self-acceptance. The cozy setting was a highlight, and there were some genuinely funny moments that made me laugh.

However, I couldn’t bring myself to care much about the side characters since they weren’t given enough depth. The chemistry between the main characters also felt underwhelming. I liked their banter, but their emotional connection wasn’t developed enough, especially toward the end, which made their relationship feel flat. What frustrated me the most was the conflict. It could have been resolved so easily if they had just sat down and talked. And honestly, I couldn’t stand the part where Cole decided that the game winner would get to kiss his girlfriend. It was unnecessary and really irritating.

While I did enjoy certain aspects, especially the humor, I can’t say it fully delivered. It’s a quick read, but it left me wanting more.

This book!! Everything I ever wanted it to be and more! A book that can make you feel everything and make you laugh out loud? Nothing better! Probably one of my favorites from her and I like them all! Highly recommend, you’re going to love it!

This was another great read from the wonderful Center! As always, the characters, vibes and storyline was top tier. However, I did struggle a little towards the end. I felt like the rescue portion was way dragged out, and the epilogue was very rushed. Other than that, really really enjoyed this one.

As with every Katherine Center book I've read, the premise of The Love Haters was fairly unique. The FMC is a videographer who's going to film the MMC at his job as part of the Coast Guard. The only problem is she doesn't know how to swim even though that's part of the job requirements. Who better to teach her than Mr. Coast Guard himself?

The Florida Keys setting was pretty fun and bright - a big contrast to the black on black our FMC likes to wear. I also really enjoyed Rue and her friends, they're all a bit older and quirky and they brought some levity into the plot which was pretty necessary with the difficult topics of body dysmorphia and eating disorders etc. laced throughout the book. It's tough to deal with hard topics like that in romance and to be honest I'm not sure this book did a very good job of balancing all of that.

Hutch was dreamy lifeguard material. I never did watch Baywatch, but I can imagine he came straight from there and onto the pages of The Love Haters. He would be a great book boyfriend to add to the collection. I actually really loved Hutch but he also felt slightly underdeveloped - with no friends or hobbies, just a dog and a job. Aside from missing a little more development, he was very much the watch her from afar, love her in the little ways, silent about his feelings type which was quite endearing.

Unfortunately I just REALLY didn't care for Katie (or her side character cousin/BFF Beanie for that matter). This may 100% be a personal opinion but I don't think her self-deprecation and body dysmorphia was dealt with very well and I'm also not sure something that difficult could handled in tandem to a romanic plot successfully. Center seemed to be very careful in her writing keeping Katie from ever fully needing saving from Hutch, she was always dealing with her issues first (sometimes along with Beanie) before Hutch could swoop in. But at the same time all of her emotional homework felt so FORCED. And also begs the question of why she wasn't addressing her issues with a professional instead of Beanie? It was just mind boggling. I think it's a weird friendship dynamic for one friend to therapize another the way Beanie did to Katie.

In addition to Beanie, there was Cole. Cole, the other side character, is Hutch's brother and Katie's superior. But he was practically non-existent for way too much of the book. He and Hutch have their own issues to deal with but so much of this book is about Katie and her problems that I think that overshadowed everything - even the swimming lessons subplot ends up becoming an off-the-page thing fairly quickly.

(Also to note, there are some weird, random 4th wall breaks where Katie talks to us (the reader) and I was not a fan of that.)

All this to say, I think if this was a Women's Fiction book about Katie that could've worked for me. Or if this was still a Romance book but all the body insecurities were removed, that also could've worked for me. As it is, I liked the unique jobs, I liked the setting, and I liked both Rue and Hutch, but the rest was a miss for me.

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press for the ARC through Netgalley!

Katherine does it again!!! I love this book. It was exactly what I needed. All her books are so cute, comforting, and make me giggle and kick my feet.

Ok first let me say a big thank you to netgalley for an ARC of this book! I was so excited and interested to read it, I love romance and romcoms and this book sounded like my cup of tea!

However, I did DNF at about 15%. Truly, this was a first for me and so early on in a book. Let me tell you why. The way the fmc talks about her body and image issue *could* have been great and a learning experience BUT it instead came across as mind eating and overwhelming. I’m talking chapter one she kind of lightly taps into it and in chapters two and three it is so full blown and frankly a little triggering (even to someone who has not had an ed) that I couldn’t enjoy it at all. When it was first mentioned with calorie counting and weight it was like 6 pages so I thought “ok, that was a lot but it’s over”. I was wrong it continued on and on again and I couldn’t do it. My interest was immediately lost because I knew the rest of the book would be so laser focused on that main theme and it was not something I wanted to consume. Overall I do give it a 1 star which I know I guess I didn’t even really read it but the parts I did read did not make me want to continue to read this. I’m so sorry this was just a huge pass for me. If you have any triggers to weight, calorie counting, body image issues or self confidence issues, just don’t read this. For a book marketed as rom com this surely was not on the table.

4.5 stars. This was only my second Katherine Center novel, so I can't speak to all her other works, but I loved this and cannot wait to read the rest of her books!

The FMC Katie is reeling after being dumped by her long-term boyfriend after he becomes famous as a singer/songwriter. On top of that, she was ruthlessly dragged by the media about her appearance, leading her to develop an eating disorder. At the start of the book, she has mostly recovered from her ED with the help of her best friend, and moved on with her life by focusing on her career, while understandably shunning the idea of another romance.

At work, Katie is assigned to make a video documentary on Tom “Hutch” Hutchinson, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer, who (according to his brother, who is Katie's colleague) "hates love." She must travel to his base in the Florida Keys and follow him around at work for weeks as part of her assignment. The story is predictable in that we know this is going to be a romantic comedy about Katie and Hutch falling in love. But I really appreciated that Center is not afraid to tackle difficult topics to create messy and realistic main characters. The cliché that you must love yourself before you can love anyone else is the moral of this heartwarming story.

Perfect for readers who enjoy:
*Dogs featured as a main character
*Military MMC
*Grumpy + sunshine trope
*Coastal settings
*Fame-adjacent characters

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copies of both the e-book and audiobook in exchange for my honest review!

I absolutely LOVED this book! I’ve always said that Katherine Center’s books are like my therapy…they heal a piece of my soul, and this book couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.

And while there is a beautiful, swoony romance in this story and Hutch is the MOST dreamy, the most beautiful love story in this book is about Katie learning to love herself. And whew. That was healing. I loved every single thing about this book from the setting to the beautiful writing to the hilarious banter, and I am so grateful for Katie’s journey. I learned so much from her.