Katherine Center knows how to write a romance where the characters aren’t perfect. They all have flaws adding layers of dimension and realism. Several of her male leads are a little grumpy but remain totally swoon-worthy.

Katie works for a video production company that is in the process of laying off a large portion of the staff, so when Katie is given an assignment by her direct boss that could save her job, she jumps at the chance. Katie travels to Key West to film a segment on the Coast Guard. She will follow her boss’s brother, sexy-as-sin, Tom “Hutch” Hutchson.  Does it really matter if she can’t swim?
 
I enjoyed Center’s latest novel while I was reading it. I found the plot to be mostly forgettable once finished. The main heroine spends much of her internal monologue focusing on her body image, stemming from childhood trauma that has followed her into adulthood. Although I feel the topic is important, the sheer volume of dysmorphia discussion frequently took me out of the story.

If you are a fan of Center’s Things You Save In A Fire, I think you may enjoy her latest offering.

Loved the characters, but the story didn’t land for me. Too predictable, not very relatable. The cover will hook readers, but not sure this one will be very memorable…

First let me begin with how much I loved this. The lesson in loving and accepting yourself is something I definitely need to work on myself. Katherine Center knows how to slip in these important lessons in each of her book.

My only complaint is I wish there had been a dual POV. I feel like reading Hutch's point of view could've helped give us an insight to his thoughts and feelings.

Katherine Center is an amazing author and this was another amazing rom-com. I truly enjoyed it.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC!

I loved the Key West setting and learning about the work of the Coast Guard. Hutch was an amazing male lead, and I appreciated that he never crossed any lines and was respectful to Katie and his brother. Unfortunately, the body dysmorphia and repeatedly calling out that she wasn’t one of those girls who was gorgeous but just didn’t see it became too repetitive for me to fully engage in the book.

Well, this was a delightful romp of a rom-com! I feel like all of Center's stories are just warm hugs in book form. I identified with Katie so much with her insecurities, and what's not to love about Hutch?

I really really enjoyed this book! I enjoyed that the careers were very different than other romance books. It brought emotions to light from characters pasts. I loved the small details. Especially where she rescued the Pennies hutch had been collecting to represent his mom. I hated Cole but I think that was on purpose! In other news, Katherine Center strikes again with her romance novels!

Yet again a solid story from Katherine Center. I have enjoyed every single book I’ve read from her so far, and this is no different. I will definitely start making my way through her backlog! I have found that Katherine Center’s books are quick reads that really pack a punch.

I really loved all of the relationships in this book - not just between our FMC Katie and our MMC, Hutch. All of the supporting characters served a purpose and helped to develop Katie & Hutch as real, raw humans. I particularly enjoyed Rue & Beanie.

The exploration of Katie’s feelings and relationship with herself really spoke to me as a young woman, and I felt like Katherine did a great job of conveying such a delicate subject and making it felt authentic. It added depth to the story.

One of the only qualms I have is that I expected a little more ‘love hating’ with a book called ‘The Love Haters’. While I enjoyed reading Katie & Hutch’s relationship, it felt like they got together a little too quickly and easily, and I expected a little more grumpy from Hutch.

Thank you to Netgalley, Katherine Center, & St. Martin’s Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

I always enjoy Center’s writing, so it was pure joy to dive (pun sort of intended??) into this brisk and buoyant love story about a commercial videographer and the US Coast Guard rescue swimmer she profiles. While the romance is as delightful as always, Center turns much of the story’s focus on the heroine’s relationship with her body, which is full of resentments built from years of internal and external pressures to look like a supermodel while coming up short. Over the course of the story, the heroine learns to appreciate the body she has and the life she’s living without focusing so much on her weight or lack of a thigh gap. Balancing her struggles with her body image, we get a trope-leaning romance that tips into the screwball with a have-to-go-along-with-it fake dating scenario, lots of forced proximity, a huge, quirky dog who ups the chaos of every scene he’s in, a bevy of nosy but lovable septuagenarian ladies, and a dramatic rescue scene ripe for a sweeping soundtrack and the perfect pullback shot. It’s fun. It’s relatable. It’s joyful. It is, as Center explains in her author’s note: the perfect escape, and also, the un-escape that fully immerses us in the story, and makes the joy resonate well beyond the page.

There are some things in this book that are really cute and fun to read. The main character has a great sense of humor, and there are some sweet moments as the friendship and romance develops.

I had a really hard time getting past the body/eating conversations and how much they monopolized the book. I know the author’s intentions were positive, but I didn’t like the way the main character harped on weight and seemed flippant at times about how her stepmother handled her weight.

Once again I know that Center’s intentions were good, but it unfortunately took over a lot of the plot for me.

3.75ish lol Thanks NetGalley for the advanced copy. I LOVE Katherine Center. I wanted to love this so much more. There were moments for sure but there were certain plot lines that left me feeling kinda ick especially later in the book. That being said, it has some really great stuff too! Love the setting and most of the supporting cast(wish we were shown a bit more than told)...same for a lot of the relationship building. Loved George Bailey so very much! Was this my fav no but I will never stop reading this author ever!!!!

I love s good enemies to lovers tale and this fits the bill. Using the pairing of a Coast Guard rescuer and a corporate filmmaker who can’t swim. It was interesting and informative and the side characters like Rue and the Gals were a lot of fun.

There is however a character who about a two thirds of the way in causing some havoc with some silly plot contrivances that did not work for me compared to the rest of the story. Other than that, it was very good.

I went back and forth about how I would rate this as I read it. Because there were things that irked me a lot but also somehow I loved it??? So four stars it is.

I was not a fan of the body image plotline, if only because I felt like it I was beaten over the head with it. But it wasn’t too heavy the entire time, so it didn’t drag my eating down too much.

Also the plot just got insane in the last half. As I was reading it, it just felt so ridiculous. My reader brain could push it aside and enjoy it, though, which isn’t the case with all books. 😂 I like how the fake dating trope kind of got flipped on its head here.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley for the ARC!

3.5 stars. There are a few authors that can deliver the witty banter that makes rom coms sing. This was severely lacking in that dept and just didn’t love how insecure our female lead was. We all have body image issues and I think important to shed light on that, but it plagued Katie throughout and was honestly a bit too much and distracting. The story ran a little long and wish she could’ve realized her own worth without the scene with Hutch midway through. Overall, good writing and held my attention just hoped for more!

This is my first book by Katherine Center and I really enjoyed this book. It was a great summer read with good humor and relatable topics. It had some small issues but overall I think the book was really enjoyable and entertaining.

Ahh Katherine Center… she seriously can do no wrong when it comes to a book. One of my favorite things about her stories is that you know there’s going to be a happy ending—even with a title like Love Haters.

Something I always love about her books is the characters. Every single one is so well-written. She has a way of making them feel real, relatable, and like people you’d actually want to know.

I also love when she gives the main guy a super intense job—she did the same thing in Things You Save in a Fire (my forever favorite!), and I think it adds such a fun, unique dynamic to the story.

Katie, the main character, was so much fun. I loved her journey—especially how she came to love and appreciate her body more throughout the book. And Rue… I think she might’ve been my favorite. She reminded Katie of who she used to be and brought so much life back into her world. Katherine wrote that relationship so well.

And Hutch—ugh, loved him. He had such a kind, steady heart, and the connection between him and Katie was just the sweetest.

Sure, there were a few parts that felt a little unrealistic… but honestly, I didn’t mind. It made the story more fun. And I mean, of course Hutch had to come to the rescue at some point, right?!

It’s a closed-door romance (love that), and while there are a few curse words, it’s not as many as her last couple books.

Such a fun read. I really loved this one. Thank you NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for my honest review!

I think I've read all of the books that Katherine Center has written. I cannot lie and say that this was my favorite, but The Love Haters was a very readable romantic comedy. There were some areas where readers needed to suspend disbelief, but following the love story between Katie and Hutch was a sweet story.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me.

rating: ★★★.75
"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯, 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵. 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯, 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴... 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵"

my favourite thing about KC is that she reminds us through all her works that romance and love happen around life - that in finding yourself you open a whole new world and this book was nothing short of that.

As always, I giggled my way through it and wanted to hold the main character in the warmest and tightest hug for as long as the pages would let me, but we are no strangers to the notion that all great things must come to an end. We traverse with Katie as she finds her way within her self, whilst also being sent on a really fun (but also abnormal) journalism job in attempts to save her job - sounds easy enough... until it isn't.

This genuinely felt like summer and would make for a perfect on the go, vacation read due to themes, time period and of course the location!

I think this is such a love story to the girls who lose sight of themselves in this extremely constricting time that we are in - the social media era. where day in and day out we are continually reminded of everything that we are not causing some to forget everything that they are. Katie is flawed, but no in the ways that make her a bad person, just flawed according to not fitting into a certain box so I loved seeing the conversations that we held around such a sensitive, and timely topic.

the rating wavered for me slightly only due to a trope that I usually disconnect from that didn't add anything to the reading experience, but other than that, extremely fun and will be thinking about all the beautiful quotes we were gifted with.

many thanks to NetGalley for this ARC ♥︎

I love Katherine Center’s storytelling and writing but this was a miss for me. I couldn’t get behind the main character, the storyline didn’t feel cohesive, it lacked normal KC charm, and there was unnecessary friction that took away from the story itself. The deeper themes were so heavy handed they just didn’t land for me and side characters were a miss as well.

But, I can see how others would enjoy this if you are looking for a summer time contemporary romance with themes of adventure, a fun sidekick pup, and swimming and Coast Guard training. It just wasn't for me 🙃.

Thank you so much for Katherine Center’s newest novel!
This is my fifth read from Center and her writing style is like a warm hug, jumping back into her love stories.
I did not see a trigger warning at the beginning but I do think it’s important to note there are themes of eating disorders and body dysmorphia.
While not my favorite novel from Center, I can see how her themes are growing. The amount of knowledge she has in writing her books to make things believable (granted I have no knowledge of filmmakers and Coast Guard divers) but I believed it 100%.
There were some parts where I was confused at the pacing, but the ending made up for it. And the dog- we always save the dog!! There were still a few typos in the proof I saw, but I’m sure they’ll be taken care of!
Overall, this one is a 3.5 for me. I rounded up to a 4 ⭐️

Katherine Center is my favorite author, and this book just added to why I love her! The Love Haters is a delightful rom-com filled with laughs, heart, and a bit of chaos. Katie, a video producer burned by love, heads to Key West to profile Hutch, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer. The catch? Katie can’t swim, but she pretends she can, leading to some hilarious moments. With a complicated love triangle, a tough aunt Rue, and a quirky Great Dane, it’s a fun mix of romance, humor, and personal growth. I’m trying so hard to find a way to get to her book tour!