I would give this book a 3.5/5. While the plot was lighthearted and fun there were a few things that were not my favorite, specifically the main character constantly talking about her weight and the ending felt rushed. I thought that the constant talk about weight was very demeaning and repetitive and could have been portrayed better. The ending with the rescue scene seemed unnecessary and the epilogue felt like she was trying to rush the ending with a scenario that really did nothing for the book. I think there were many scenes that were neglected and the author didn’t spend exploring when she should have such as how the death of everyone’s family members truly impacted them or the love feelings between the main characters.

Okay, I wanted to like this book but it just did not land for me. Maybe 2.5 stars. I went into it excited for the romance and it was just not happening. There was too much glossing over the early part of their relationship. Instead of showing them getting to know each other, there would just be a sweeping statement that they got along really well, or that they found it so easy to talk to eachother. Okay?? Show me then! Why aren’t we seeing any of the time they are spending together?? I can’t ship them if I never see their relationship. They are carpooling to working every day, and I don’t get to read their banter??? I feel like the narrator kept giving me the TLDR, and I missed a lot of the good stuff. This lack of build up made some of the later romantic milestones feel unsatisfying and unearned.

There were lots of things that I feel like should have been fixed (or removed) in editing: all the characters flaring their nostrils, the FL unironically referring to the ML as an alpha (twice), giving the completely wrong description of what a Roman nose is (if you want to tell us his nose is straight, don’t call it a Roman nose), trying to show a character is shallow by referring to his type when it comes to women as Kewpie doll (huh??). I just kept feeling confused by the choices that were being made. Too much unnecessary lying. Too many badly fleshed out side characters (whom I didn’t care about). I can appreciate a character having body image issues, but sometimes the negative body talk got overly dark given the overall light tone of the book. There were some epiphanies had by the FL that seemed tossed in, and while I usually love adding some depth to a romance, these felt random and sometimes detracted from the romance plot that was already suffering from a lack of screen time. My main criticism is that the lead needed more time together on the page. Overall, the book felt rushed and unpolished. I’ve liked her previous books, so maybe this one just wasn’t for me.

4.5 ⭐️ Katie’s co-worker convinces her to prove her worth to their boss by filming a promotional video for the Coast Guard in spite of the not being able to swim. And the star of the video is her co-workers brother, Hutch, who is, of course, perfect in every way, except… he hates love. Awkward moments, hilarity, and drama ensure. TW: eating disorders

What I Loved: The dialogue! So fun and natural sounding. The theme of healing and self-compassion. Reading this was like a free therapy session. The characters- Hutch, Rue, and the Gals. The author’s note.

What I Didn’t Love: I wanted more background on Katie’s past so I could feel her pain more. I could relate to many things she said, but not to her. Also, Cole’s behavior felt unrealistic.

Still, I highly recommend.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a digital ARC.

The Love Haters is another wonderful book by Katherine Center. Her writing is always easy to digest and her characters always make me laugh. I am always a sucker for witty older characters and The Gals did not disappoint.

Thank you to the author and publisher for this ARC!

My review will be published on my Instagram gwensbooknook. The review was published January 29th. This book was amazing!! My first read by Katherine center and I can see why her books are so loved! I know it’s still the beginning of the year but this made it to my favorite read and might be hard to top! The plot, the main characters, the side characters who never really felt like that. It made it all such a beautiful story. This was a wonderfully written story about family, love and how we view others and most importantly ourselves. Loved everything about this book. I most definitely will buy and reread this when the books comes out on May 20th.

Thank you Netgalley & St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this book! I love the idea behind the story, but everything just felt so rushed and all over the place. I also had a really hard time connecting with this book and staying interested due to some of the ideas being so far fetched and unbelievable. I am disappointed to be giving a Katherine Center book such a low rating, because I’ve loved every other book of hers I’ve read, but this book was truly so difficult to finish.

A cute, warm and fuzzy love story. I can always count on Katherine to write a book that makes me feel good. The beginning was slow but it picked up half way through, I also enjoyed learning all about coast guards in the process!

A sweet and heartwarming romance that also gets the heart pumping with some action-packed chapters in the third act. It was a cathartic read and a series of love stories within the one book--between Katie and Hutch; Katie and Beanie; Hutch, Cole, and Rue; and most importantly Katie and her self.

Katie was a well-developed protagonist and her conversations with her ride-or-die Beanie added emotional and comedic depth to her story. She possessed keen self-awareness and her narrative voice was engaging. I adored how you could see her self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-love grew with each page. Some of her affirmations and love, in the face of a slew of vitriolic online comments, were beautiful and moving. Moreover, it was impactful that some of her issues with her self-image predated her previous relationship, showing how negative talk from both the self and others can impact young people.

Hutch was a dreamy love interest and likewise had a well-developed backstory. He expressed a range of emotions, from sweet and caring with Rue, Katie, and George Bailey to protective and competent at work. The motifs of the hibiscus, the pennies, and the pie-in-the-eye were sweet and employed deftly. George Bailey the dog was a scene-stealer! To round out the principal cast, Cole was a bit of a caricature at times (though this served the story), Rue was a sweet and quirky old lady, and The Gals served as delightful matchmakers.

Katherine Center did a good job of grounding Katie's experiences in reality and respectfully discussed disordered eating, anxiety, exposure therapy, and grounding techniques, for example. This is the first book of hers I've read, and it certainly won't be the last! I'd highly recommend in the contemporary romance genre.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Admittedly biased as I am a huge Katherine Center fan but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Cute lighthearted story about Katie and Hutch - what started out as a work assignment becomes much more. Feel good story from start to finish. Great character development throughout. Highly recommend!!

I was unfortunately disappointed with this one. Let me start with the dislikes so we can end on a good note. My main complaint was that I was never hooked or really connected to the characters or their story together. Although the premise was different than your average romance which was promising, it was honestly pretty random, confusing and hard to follow for the first 30%. I loved some of the side characters but really hated the best friend Beanie and her approach to the body dysmorphia and eating disordered discussion with the FMC. Those are such sensitive issues that the character handles so poorly. Overall I wanted to love it but didn’t.

To say that I LOVED The Love Haters by Katherine Center is an understatement. I adored every minute of getting to know Katie (who would be my best friend in real life), Hutch, Rue, and George Bailey, aka the best fictional dog I've ever met.

When Katie's work superior sends her on an assignment to film a promotional video for the Coast Guard, she says that she knows how to swim (she doesn't...) and heads to sunny Florida.
In her black t-shirt and black jeans.
But Rue immediately dresses her in bright colors and slowly but surely starts to change her outlook on life, one vibrant co!or at a time....

Rue's nephew Hutch is the subject of Katie's documentary video and the original love hater according to his own brother. As he teaches Katie to swim and lets her bond with his ginormous teddy bear of a dog, Katie sees another side to Hutch. There's potential for a real friendship to grow until a comedy of errors unfolds and Katie finds herself struggling - literally and figuratively- to stay afloat.

I'm so grateful to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC. Katherine Center's books never fail to melt my heart and make me laugh out loud, and The Love Haters delivered on every level. Definitely one of the best reads of 2025.

I really wanted to love this book. Katherine Center is an amazing author and I really loved "The Bodyguard" and "Hello Stranger", but this book was a tough read for me.

As always, the dialogue between characters was so good! I also thought the overall plot was fun. Katie is a Videographer who is sent by her boss Cole to work on a project down in the keys. Unbeknownst to her, the project she is sent to do requires her to swim. Which is a problem because she doesn't know how to swim, and she has major problems with body image. The thought of being in a bathing suit terrifies her. Conveniently her boss's brother Hutch, volunteers to be her swim teacher and helps her conquer her issues with body image issues by telling her how beautiful she is. (We all know that works every time...)

The plot was fun.. but the body image issues felt a little dragged out. I also felt like the plot was disjointed and unbelievable at times. The biggest example of this is the hurricane. There was supposedly a lot of thunder and lightning, which happens but is very rare for a hurricane. She also somehow manages to drive into an evacuation zone to board a houseboat, which is also not believable.

I still think Katherine Center is an amazing author and am excited to see what she comes out with next! This one just wasn't for me.

The Love Haters is a Classic rom-com! Filled with funny antics, meet-cute moments and a few twists along the way to HEA. If you’ve enjoyed Katherine Center’s other books you are sure to like this one. And if you haven’t read her yet, this is a good one to start with when it publishes in May!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely fantastic plot! Could not put the book down once I began reading it. Cannot wait for it to be released. I will recommend it to everyone I know!

The Love Haters was my first Katherine Center book! I am definitely a huge FAN of her writing. I am so excited to check out other novels that she has written. Love Haters introduces us to a woman named Katie who is scared she is going to lose her job due to budget cuts. She gets assigned to shadow a Military Rescue man who is extremely private named Hutch. As the story unfolds, their relationship begins to blossom. This was a romantic comedy and I devoured it!

I normally adore Katherine Center books but this one just drug on for me. I didn’t really like the characters and it just didn’t feel like her other books. Still a huge fan of course :)

Listen, Katherine Center books just get me. Every time. 
When we meet Katie, she's recovering (emotionally/mentally) from a very public breakup from her now very public fiance. She's been hard on herself, she's been mean to herself, and worst of all, she's listening to those few nasty trolls on the internet. When there's a notice of layoffs at work, she's handed a project by Cole Hutcherson in an attempt to save her job - all she has to do is pretend to be able to swim, make a fantastic video on the US Coast Guard and Cole's brother, and try to squeeze in her own side project while she's down there. Easy peasy! 
One thing I love most about Katherine Center's book is her character development. Immediately I felt like I knew Katie, I knew her struggles, I wanted to be her friend and help her. Enter the cast of supporting characters: Hutch - who doesn't want him looking out for you? Rue - we would be so lucky to have her bring some color into our lives. Cole - okay, he didn't have me rooting for him... The Gals - give me a group of older lady friends and an occasional congo line and I'm set for life! And Beanie??? We all need a Beanie in our corner, no question about it. The way these people surrounded Katie and were helping her heal her old wounds, some without even realizing it, was really special to read. Like in most of KC's books, the romance is there but it's not necessarily the pulse point of the story. I loved Katie and Hutch's banter and relationship building, but I really struggled with the Cole interference and justification. Not sure we needed that to add the confusion and take up space because the "being in love" didn't really come across the page to me at that point. While the ending goes a little over the rail, it comes back around with a good ol' epilogue that I more than enjoyed. 
This is going to be a great summer read for all of us looking for a little love and color in our lives. Thank you to St. Martin's Press, NetGalley, and Katherine Center for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for this advanced copy. It was a great escape and beautifully written love story of both romantic love and the process of loving yourself. Katherine had done it again and I’ll gladly continue reading her work.

Love Haters by Katherine Center is absolutely adorable. It centers around Katie, who is a film producer and documentary creator. In an attempt to save her job she's flown to Key West to make a promo film for the US Coast Guard. The catch is she doesn't know how to swim and needs to learn fast! I loved so many characters in this book from Katie, to Hutch (a handsome rescue swimmer), George Bailey (Great Dane), Rue, and The Gals. The story is delightful with ups, downs, and all the heart felt flutters. I highly recommend this book if you're looking for a sweet rom-com that would be such a fun movie.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me this book in exchange for my honest review!

I want to start by saying this book absolutely needs a content warning regarding the body image/ED issue. Only a few chapters in I was feeling triggered by the main character, and I’m in a good place with my body image right now. Please please include a warning because anyone who has struggled with disordered eating should not be reading this without a warning.

As for the book aside from that, I did enjoy it! There were some really fun, kick-your-feet and giggle moments. It did start to lose me a bit towards the last 1/3 of the book. I didn’t love the way the main character’s body image was handled at all and that’s really what has brought my rating down!