3.5 stars. I really love Katherine Center's books. This one, however, left me torn. There are parts of this book that I really loved and parts (mainly the middle section of the book) where I found myself being really bored. I didn't connect with either of the main characters and I felt that they lacked any sort of chemistry. 

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy of this book!

Right off the bat I'll acknowledge the elephant in the room: it seems like early reviews of this book are lower than the author's other titles, but honestly I'm surprised by this. Vacation vibes, a hunky "just listen to my instructions" love interest, a loveable Great Dane, and a *potential* brush with death? What more could you ask for??

When video producer Katie starts on a project for the US Coast Guard with a fake-it-till-you-make-it attitude, she has no idea what's in store. Profiling the Coast Guard rescue swimmer Tom "Hutch" Hutcheson should be easy: after all, she's good at what she does and, even though she can't *technically* swim, how hard can it really be to learn... and then practice on-water helicopter crashes? These are minor details in the grand scheme of her plan, which is to keep her job in the face of pending lay-offs and catch some sun while she does it. What ensues is SO MUCH MORE than she could have ever imagined.

A funny, career-driven, body-conscious but no less charming Katie is a woman after my own heart. It was refreshing to have a FMC dealing with and working through insecurity because, even if it's not the most romantic narrative to read, it's REAL. It's relatable. I honestly wouldn't have appreciated the story as much without this character arc and I'm grateful to Katherine Center for including it.

Hutch is DREAMY. Fans of the man in charge vibe will appreciate Hutch's tough on the outside, warm on the inside persona and empathize with his reluctance to be hurt in love (again). I can't count the number of times I squealed out loud in response to Katie and Hutch's flirty banter. I was also so in love with Katie's relationship with Hutch's loveable dog, George, that I re-read most of their interactions because of how sweet and adorable they were.

All in all, I really enjoyed The Love Haters and was absolutely on the edge of my seat towards the end (no spoilers). I love that it was as much a story about Katie falling in love with herself as it was Katie falling in love with Hutch (maybe even more so?) and this made the story even more relatable and meaningful to me. Now please excuse me while I go re-read Center's backlist.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for The Love Haters for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

First, I love Katherine Center and all of her previous books. I think I have rated all of them 4.5 or 5 stars. This one was good, but not one of my favorites by her. I loved the back story of the two brothers, Cole and Hutch, and I also liked learning about Katie's past with her ex-finance who is now a famous pop star. But here is where my "but" comes in...I was not invested in the romance between Katie and Hutch. It just didn't seem real to me. The attraction was one thing, but all of the sudden Hutch changes who he is and who he has been for his entire life once he meets Katie??? It just didn't make sense and honestly I did not even want them together. But again, I loved the storyline with Hutch and Cole and their "aunt Rue". That was my favorite part of the book and why I am giving this 4 stars.

Thanks again for the ARC!

Another gem from Katherine Center! The Love Haters is full of rom-com vibes with just the right mix of humor, heart, and a dash of mystery to keep you turning the pages. I fell in love with the characters just as much as they fall for each other—Center really knows how to write people you root for.

Katie, the FMC, is recovering from an eating disorder, which adds depth to her character without overwhelming the story. It’s not the main plot, but her healing journey is woven in with care and empathy—it even felt a little healing for me as a reader.

And of course, there’s the lingering question: Are they love haters, or just unlucky in love until now?

My favorite quote:
“Who knows what kind of magic goes into one person liking another person?”
Exactly.

If you love smart, heartwarming romance with real emotional layers, this one’s for you.

Thank you to netgalley for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3/5 stars. While I generally admire and usually really love Katherine Center's work, this novel unfortunately did not meet expectations. Though the main characters Katie and Hutch were well-developed and the plot elements were engaging (with excellent narration by Patti Murin), the handling of certain themes - particularly the protagonist's relationship with body image and weight - felt somewhat lacking in nuance. The book's ultimate message about the importance of self-relationship being equal to external relationships is valuable; however, the execution fell short of Center's usual standard. While this may stem from my typically high expectations for her work, this particular novel ranks lower among her works (and I’ve read a lot of hers). This also isn’t a matter of more recent books not connecting with me as well, because I just read The Rom-Commers last month and was absolutely enamored - my favorite of hers yet.

While I love a good “rom-com” novel, this is my first of Katherine Center’s books I have given a go even though I have seen her books recommended many times.

For me, this one just did not hold my interest and the characters were less developed than I would expect and it made it hard to connect and keep my attention to the storylines. I will be trying another of Center’s books but I think this one just wasn’t for me.

3.5 ⭐️!

I received an ARC of The Love Haters on NetGalley. I absolutely adored this book. I’m a big fan of Katherine Center anyhow so no surprise there! This book had me grinning like a madman while reading it. My family would say “what’s so funny?” This book… It’s so dynamic, so funny, so deep. There’s a cute love story in the book. Lots of self love and deep inspirational thoughts. I devoured this book in a day. I’m sad it’s over, honestly. Add this to your 2025 must read list!!

What a fun quirky romance! True Katherine Center style and super cute! This was a fun quick read. I love the main characters banter and sometimes mysterious love language.

I will always and forever read anything by Katherine Center and this was no exception. This book was funny and heartfelt. She really puts magic into her stories that keep me coming back every time! Grab it and hug it and keep it close because this one is a goodie!

Unfortunately could not get through the book. I kept trying to get back into it but its just a no from me. I had high hopes for this one so it pains me to DNF it : (
Thank you kindly to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC!

*3.75
Endlessly entertaining, romantic without major spice, and there's a dog!

I genuinely stayed up past my bedtime every night to read this one! I loved the unique jobs and our main characters. It read exactly like a Hallmark film and it absolutely worked! I think what held it back from a higher rating (and has received the most criticism for peers) is the body image discussion. I think the element of this topic would have been fine but goodness me, the topic was EXHAUSTED. So be ware of that if you decide to pick it up and be prepared for it to be silly and a bit "slapstick" in quality. I was happy with the self love elements and the relationship as a whole but I'm not an epilogue person so I should have left that unread lol

I absolutely love Katherine Center and she's been getting better and better with the last few most recent books, but this one did not continue that streak. It was kind of a mess. It took me a good 40% to even feel like I was interested in the characters and even then, it was so silly and far-fetched, it was hard to hold on to the end. I appreciated the fun setting and the body-positive arc, but most of the action wasn't the romance and wasn't for Katie, so it was hard to feel fully invested. I'm here for the next one, but this one wasn't it.

I love Katherine Center’s romance novels, and this one is no exception. It’s a love story on several levels including romantic love, love between siblings, and even self love. A great read!

I always jump at the chance to read + listen to @katherinecenter new novels! I love the narration and the characters she builds in THE LOVE HATERS are some of my favorites. Thank you @stmartinspress for my early reading + listening copies!

I loved the setting (Key West, hello!) and the characters- quirky, can’t remember the last time she wore a bathing suit Katie and rescue swimmer, dog saving, famous Hutch.

Katie is caught between her co-worker, Cole and a lie he’s been telling Hutch, his brother. Not to mention the fact she’s going to Key West to document Coast Guard rescue swimmers…even though she can’t swim. There are literal laugh-out-loud moments [cue the black bathing suit incident] and so many moments I just wanted to hug the characters- especially Rue + her Golden Girl vibe girlfriends!!

The narration is fantastic as always for Center’s novels- so feel safe grabbing that copy, if you are as busy as I am, and love a good book for a long run!

Read this if you love:
Rescue Swimmers
Videography
All things Coast Guard
Key West
Grumpy + Sunshine
Medling, Golden Girls-esque neighbors + friends
Pontoon Boats

Maybe steer clear if you are scared of helicopters + hurricanes. <3

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

I’m officially 50/50 for Katherine Center’s romance books. 2 I’ve loved and the other two not so much. Unfortunately this falls in the latter category.

This one tried to take on too many story lines at once and in doing so lost the point of the story very quickly. That along with the uneven pacing of the story really took me out of it. I wanted to love it but I ultimately didn’t feel connected or cared enough about our characters to rate this any higher.

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: The Love Haters
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: Katherine Center
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: May 20, 2025

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝:
⇥ This is a mix of good and bad. The FMC struggles with major body image issues, which is a central theme throughout the book. If that’s something you’re dealing with (and honestly, who isn’t?), it could be a trigger warning. I appreciated seeing it addressed, since it's not something that comes up often in books. However, many readers felt like this overtook the plot entirely, which didn’t sit well with them.
⇥ The narrator was fantastic!

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐝:
⇥ I don’t remember Katherine Center being a closed-door romance author, but the romance here was practically nonexistent. It didn’t even feel like a slow burn—just nothing. Then suddenly, insta-love at the end. Very odd.
⇥ Around the 75% mark, things went off the rails, and I found myself enjoying it less.
⇥ The dialogue tags—holy crap! I listened to the audiobook, and the number of times “said” was used should be illegal. Seriously, do traditional publishers even have editors anymore? Do they just not care? It was so distracting.
⇥ Her BFF Beanie was kind of shitty and I didn’t support their friendship.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:
★★★★☆
I have no idea why this book is called The Love Haters. I get her reasoning, but his felt forced—like it was only there to justify a clever title. Overall, this book was just okay. Not her best, not her worst. I DNF’ed The Rom Commers, and while this didn’t feel like classic KC, it kept me engaged enough to finish. That said, the story has been done before, the plot was weak, and Katie & Hutch were completely forgettable. I didn’t consider DNF’ing it, but I already forgot how it ended—if that tells you anything. Is it mean to say it felt like she was trying too hard?

Thank you @netgalley @macmillanaudio @stmartinspress for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I'm a big fan of Katherine Center's work but this one missed the mark for me. The protagonist's struggle with her self image took over the entire plot, and while it's a subject worth discussing in a romance novel, it felt a bit heavy handed. And it lent itself to the tired notion that a woman needs a man to tell her she's beautiful before she can believe it. And the man - Hutch - had some mildly surprising depth to him, but that could just be because the reader is initially set up to expect a literal Ken doll. Plus, the trademark Catherine Center chaos was not nearly as chaotic as anticipated, which was a bummer. Overall, I think the idea was to poke and prod at humanity's idea of "perfect" and how it's internalized - but by taking two people with completely opposite ideas of self worth/image and make them fall in love to essentially "fix" each other kind of ruined it. I still had fun though.

3⭐️

**big big thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC!!**

Let me preface this by saying I enjoy Katherine Center's writing and 'The Bodyguard' is one of my faves.

I was so excited to get my hands on the ARC of this book, and there were some parts that I liked, but mostly, I was a bit bored.

I didn't feel the chemistry between Kate and Hutch, and the romance wasn't as prominent as I would have liked.

I did appreciate the way the author wrote about Kate's relationship with her body and the growth she made with this. I did find it hard, though, to read the negative self-talk and about her relationship with food.

I think this is a sweet rom-com with summer vibes. Wasn't totally for me, but I would still recommend giving it a go.

If you are a fan of rom-com books, then you are probably already a fan of Katherine Center. Her newest book, The Love Haters, didn't disappoint. It is a heartwarming and witty story. As usual, her characters are relatable, and you can't help cheering them on as they navigate their love life.

About The Love Haters:

This is a rom-com about falling in love with someone else. The real story, though, is about Katie Vaughn learning to love herself first. Her negative self-image has affected her life in many ways.

Most recently, on a job to video a promotional commercial for the US Coast Guard, Katie struggles. She worries about not knowing how to swim. She also worries about how she will look in her bathing suit. How can she do her job when it involves wearing a bathing suit? In her eyes, Hutch, a member of the Coast Guard, is an anatomical god. He is not only the main character in her promotional video, but he is the estranged brother of her boss, Cole.

Can Katie prove her worth and keep her job? Can she also learn to love herself enough to fall in love with someone else? Read The Love Haters to find out.

My Thoughts On The Love Haters:

If you have ever struggled with your own body image, you will relate to this book. As others see Katie as beautiful, she hides behind her jeans and black t-shirts. I loved this part of the book. It made her character very relatable for so many women.

I haven't discussed my two favorite characters yet, though. Of course, George Bailey, the Great Dane, is one of the characters I fell in love with throughout the story. I could relate to owning a pet that is terrified of thunder and lightening. That part isn't fun. However, George Bailey is also extremely lovable, and is owned by Hutch. The other character is Hutch and Cole's Aunt Rue. Her colorful clothes and personality truly stand out in the story. I know I would have wanted her in my life also. She and her friends showed that friendship in your older years is an important part of life.

If you're looking for a charming and relatable rom-com with surprising depth, The Love Haters is a must-read. I learned a lot about the Coast Guard from this book. I tend to remember books more when I learn something from them. It was fun to read a romance book that dealt with an occupation that I don't know much about.

I gave this book four out of five stars. It was a fun read, and I'm glad I saved it to read on vacation. It just put a smile on my face. I looked forward to getting back to the characters when I read at night.

What is your favorite rom-com book?

This is the second book by Katherine Center that I have read and I think I am hooked. I really enjoy her style of character development and relationship development. Katie's growth with body image and self-doubt were relatable. I loved the dynamic between her and Hutch. Hutch was my favorite part of the story. Seeing how fast he fell and how clueless Katie was to his developing feelings hooked me. Solid read. Will keep thinking of the characters including Rue and George Bailey for the foreseeable future.