I just read my favorite Katherine Center novel - this felt like watching a movie! I went into this book fairly blind (like I usually do) and it was so much more than I was expecting! I knew it was a romcom (of course) and the MMC was in the Coast Guard, but that was about it.

The Love Haters was a beautiful story about complex family dynamics, body image/learning to love yourself, healing, and of course a love story 💕 Katie, our FMC, is a filmmaker going to the Florida keys to make a promo for the Coast Guard featuring our MMC, Hutch. I wouldn’t quite call her sunshine, but he’s definitely grumpy… except with Katie. Everything progresses sweetly until Cole, Katie’s coworker & Hutch’s brother, shows up unexpectedly with a web of lies that turns everything upside down.

If that weren’t bad enough, a storm hits at the end of the book and Hutch, a rescue swimmer, is first to respond. While I kind of expected this to happen, the in between had me on the edge of my seat!

Two supporting characters I loved in this book were Aunt Rue & George Bailey (Hutch’s Great Dane)! They added so much color and humor to the book 💛

Thank you NetGalley and Saint Martin’s press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. I can’t wait for you all to be able to read this in May!

Katherine Center’s unapologetic love for writing romance makes me love reading her books. I’m comforted in knowing there’s always some swoon and warm fuzzies along the way to love. This book delivers as Katie sets out to interview Coast Guard rescue swimmer Hutch and save her job. Hutch is such a dreamy lead- he ticks all the boxes. Katie also struggles with self image and body positivity throughout the book which I can certainly relate to, so this felt more real than annoying to me. The final complication/scene in the book feels both extremely unrealistic and also a bit frustrating that Katie got herself into the situation, but I forgive a lot in the name of a happy ending courtesy of Katherine Center. I was grateful to receive a digital ARC from NetGalley. I did read several luke warm reviews of this book and understand some of the critiques, but while this book may have its imperfections, it’s a net win.

The Love Haters was a delightfully cute love story full of Katherine Center’s signature wit and warmth and charm.

While this wasn’t my favorite Katherine Center novel, I did really enjoy following the story of Katie, a documentary filmmaker who flies out to Florida to profile Hutch, a coast guard rescue swimmer. Hutch, you see, is a love hater, as Katie has been warned. But is he really?

The characters in this book were so lovable, from Katie and Hutch themselves down to the giant Great Dane named George Bailey. The story progressed nicely and built up to a surprisingly tense ending which I wasn’t expecting!

While I don’t think this book will stay with me for a long time, I will remember such a lovely idea from it - there are characters in this book who celebrate a deceased relative’s birthday every year by buying tons of bouquets of flowers and handing them out to strangers, then going out for dinner to share stories about them, ending the night by leaving the waiter a $100 tip in their name. I just love that idea!

This book comes out on May 20, and if you enjoy Katherine Center’s books I’m sure this one will be no exception! Make sure you check out the author’s note at the end. 💕

Thank you so much @stmartinspress for the advanced copy!

The Love Haters has a lot of great qualities, and will be a great summer read! Katherine Center knows how to write characters with definitive, unique personalities. This goes for main and side characters. Katie and Hutch are distinctively themselves, and as the plot progresses you understand the motivation behind their actions since we truly get to know them. The writing, as I’ve come to suspect with Katherine Center, was outstanding. The delivery of the humor was well intentioned, and brought everything together full circle. My main take away is that this book should come with content warnings as there are many conversations and personal dialogue about the FMC’s body image issues and how she starved herself at one point in her past.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book!

The Love Haters is everything I hoped it would be and more—charming, emotional, and full of the signature warmth and wit Katherine Center brings to all her novels. What truly set this story apart for me was the Coast Guard element. It added depth and adventure. But what stole my heart was the eclectic group of older women who formed a beautiful, unlikely bond with her. Their wisdom, humor, and fierce support made them unforgettable, and alongside Katie’s long-distance cousin Beanie, and the steady and handsome, Hutch, they became the driving force in her journey toward self-love and rediscovery.

Center masterfully weaves together a story of resilience, connection, and empowerment. Katie’s growth—fueled by love in all its forms—left me feeling inspired and full of hope. This book is a radiant reminder that sometimes the most powerful kind of love is the one we find within ourselves, with a little help from the people who believe in us most.

Highly recommend for anyone who loves strong female friendships, a dash of adventure, and stories that leave you smiling long after you’ve turned the last page.

From the first chapter I was already getting a sense of the humorous nature of this book. Katie is sent to Key West to film a story about Hutch, a heroic Coast Guard. With her job on the line she agrees to the assignment, even though she is unqualified (she can’t swim) While she is there gets tangled up with Hutch and his life on the island.

Katie is funny and charming, and her inner dialogue made me chuckle. I was loving the vibe of her character and her quirky relationships with the rest of the characters. However it quickly took a weird shift when she started expressing her struggle with her body image. That is a heavy theme, and it didn’t feel like it fit with the lighthearted nature of the rest of the book. It felt disconnected from the rest of the story and it didn’t feel very authentic. I appreciated the plot line about her learning to love herself and accept her body, it added another layer to the “love story” part of the book as it was also a story of Katie learning to love herself. I just felt that it didn’t flow with the rest of the plot line.

The backstories of all the characters were really enjoyable and were revealed in pieces throughout the book. I enjoyed the slow revealing of Cole, Hutch, and Rue’s story as bits and pieces come to surface and explain the dynamic behind their relationships.

The relationship between Katie and Hutch developed slowly and authentically. They had plenty of challenges thrown at them, but overall it enjoyed their story.

Overall I give the book 3 stars, it would be a great book to pack along in your beach bag this summer!

Katherine Center can do no wrong.

A sweet, clean romance, that is perfect for beach reading!

I was entranced from the first chapter and loved how the characters and story evolved in this one. It’s a fun, quirky read, and perfect for relaxing.

Review of The Love Haters by Katherine Center:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

At this point, Katherine Center could write a grocery list and I’d still jump at the chance to read it. I love how she’s one author I can rely on to give us the happily ever after endings that we all need every once in awhile.

Make sure to add this to your TBR if you love:

💥 Tension-filled romance with explosive chemistry
💪🏼 A strong, witty heroine and a hero you can’t help but fall for
🤿 Men in uniform saving the day (and making us swoon)
👩🏼‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏽 The perfect mix of humor, heart, and happily ever after

I’m fairly certain this was my first Coast Guard romance book and I couldn’t help but sink into the pages (see what I did there? 😉😆). And of course, because it’s Katherine Center, we get that happily ever after we crave.

This book had everything I love - off-the-charts sexual tension, a swoon-worthy storyline featuring the Coast Guard (hello, men in uniform!), and Center’s signature witty, lovable characters who kept me grinning the entire time. Katie and Hutch’s undeniable pull toward each other was frustratingly satisfying. Toss in an eccentric Aunt Rue and her Golden Girls friends, giant scaredy-cat Great Dane named George Bailey, a supportive best friend, and an impossible younger brother to round out the cast - you’ve got yourself the perfect RomCom.

Characters aside.. The banter? Perfection. The chemistry? Electric. The happily ever after? Exactly what I needed! This book gave me all the feels while simultaneously laughing, and I couldn’t put it down. The best part was the consistent yet effortless way the theme of self-appreciation and understanding was woven into the storyline. If you love romantic tension, humor, and characters you wish were real, this one’s for you.

The Love Haters
By Kathrine Center
Narrated by Patti Murin
4.5 ⭐️

I was the definition of a captive audience for this story. Center puts humanity into her characters that I tend to instantly connect with. Add Murin’s ability to pour life into the characters through her narration, and I’m sucked in.

Katie’s body image issues made me uncomfortable. I think it’s because it’s difficult to not have at least some negative feelings re: body image in the world we live in. I think a good book making you uncomfortable is sometimes why we read. I don’t have a self image that in any way resembles Katie’s; and yet, I found myself pondering my own thoughts about body image and holding space for that. I really loved how this part of the story was wrapped up and found myself kind of liking having to think through some self help ideas along the way.

I really enjoyed this read. With the TW of body image issues, I’d highly recommend this.

Thank you NetGalley, Kathrine Center, Macmillan audio, and St. Martin’s press for an audiobook ARC and eARC copies of this story.

Just two MCs who realize they are love haters and enjoy spending time together. Katherine Center just knows how to write romcoms that will transport you into her world. Never let me leave I love it here.

Katherine Center is an auto buy for me. I can count on her books for a pick me up or to help me get out of a slump. This one was no different. I enjoyed the friendships within this story, as well as the loss, and learning to love yourself theme. I can always count on the humor in Center’s books also. And Hutch, I adored him. Will definitely recommend this book!

Katherine Center is so good at creating characters that are multi-dimensional that you care about! This was a fun love story & will be one I'll recommend all summer long.

Any Katherine Center book is an insta read for me. This was a cute story. I did find Katie’s body image issues to be a little much but overall the plot was good. A solid 4 stars.

I couldn’t connect with the characters. They never even felt like they had a connection. I had a hard time finishing this book. It was a good book and I’m sure someone will love it but this one was a miss for me. This story is really low on the romance scale. I have read other books but this one fell very flat for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for the copy of this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the arc of the book.

I love Katherine Center, particularly her newer stuff. I enjoyed this one for the silly banter and the general witty dialogue, but I had a hard time with the protagonist’s incessant talk about her body. I can, of course, as can every woman living in this world, understand and relate to body image struggles. But for some reason this went overboard- it was too much and distracted from the story. I needed her story of self love to come sooner. And without having a man involved in the slightest.

I, however, am willing to forgive the things that bugged me BECAUSE I really loved the afterword where Katherine Center talks about her process in writing the book. Who am I to judge?

Not my favorite Katherine Center but enjoyed it still.

Im normally a huge Katherine Center fan but this one just didn’t do it for me. I put it down and came back to it multiple times hoping it was a mood thing but then I realized I just wasn’t into the story. Maybe it’s because it’s less of a romance than I expected? Then on top of that imo the fmc and mmc had 0 chemistry which was disappointing. I do think others will really enjoy this. Again it was just not for me.

I was so excited for this book and expected a five star read and I think I was the victim of too high expectations.

I struggled with Katie the main character at first because I found her tone annoying, and I dislike reading about body shaming ourselves. I did feel in the end that her growth through the story and how she learned to love her herself and her body was great, it was just not my favorite thing to read at first.

I loved Hutch (and his dog) instantly. He was perfect (seriously!) but I didn’t feel their chemistry. I liked how the relationship progressed but I wanted to feel it more.

In the end, it’s a fun romance story with growth for the main character, and some cute storylines. Unfortunately it is not a new favourite but it was still a fun quick and sweet read.

I loved the first half. Hutch is a dream man, and I loved seeing him warm up to Katie. I loved the filming aspects, and the banter was great too.

The second half made me see red. So frustrating. Lying in that situation is NOT OKAY. Miscommunication is the DEVIL. And then in the climax, Katie felt overly dramatic. I was so disappointed because the first half was so stellar.

Content: kisses

I love Katherine Center’s books! I was so excited to get a ARC of The Love Haters by NetGalley. I loved Katie’s story l, it is fun but also about self love/worth. Aunt Rue and George Bailey were loveable characters. I didn’t feel a crazy connection to Hutch but I still loved him as a character. I recommended reading The Lover Haters to Katherine Center fan’s or if you’re looking for a well written spring/summer book.

Katie is a video producer who has the options to wait to get laid off or her boss, Cole's offer of a gig in Key West to interview the famous "Hutch". The problem is, Katie can't swim and Hutch only wants Cole, his brother, for the job. Needless to say, he's not pleased when Katie shows up. The messy situation was not what Katie was expecting but she quickly fell for Hutch, his eccentric Aunt and the island.

Katherine Center is always a must read immediately for me and this one did not disappoint. Though it was not my favorite KC book I still enjoyed it. Mixing Key West and an adorable giant dog added at least a star from me. I loved imagining lounging in the Keys while reading this.

Thank you Net Galley for this e-ARC!