This book was so fun! From the love story between Katie and Hutch, to my favorite characters Rue and George Bailey, I loved almost everything about this book. It could be a little cheesy and over the top at times, but what great beach read isn’t? It was light-hearted while touching on aspects of self love and trauma in a beautiful way. I highly recommend this book to all rom-com fans!

This was my first Katherine Center read, and definitely won’t be my last! Huge thanks to Katherine Center, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 ⭐️’s
While this book didn't necessarily blow me away like some of Katherine Center's others, it's still a wonderfully charming story about loss, friendship and learning to love yourself as much as you love others.
Katie Vaughn's journey in The Love Haters had an intriguing setup with its mix of humor, high stakes, and a dreamy Key West backdrop. The story promised all the feels, but I found the execution didn't fully live up to the premise. Katie, a video producer faking her way through swim lessons and entangling herself in her coworker's complicated family dynamics, started as a relatable and spirited protagonist. However, as the plot unfolded, the chemistry between Katie and Hutch, the so-called "love-hater," felt underdeveloped and more told than shown.
Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc!

Katie is asked to film a promotional video for the coast guard, when her boss can’t make it. She’s told that Hutch is grumpy, hates love and doesn’t talk much. She later learns that the star of the video is his brother, and they haven’t spoken in almost a year. Cue family drama and grumpy/sunshine vibes. Katie ends up in sunny Key West learning to swim before she has to film dangerous rescues, and Hutch is her new teacher…

A lovely story of self love and saving yourself, even before the hero comes to save you. I loved Katie’s story and I adored Hutch as an MMC.

Katie has a powerful character arc around her self image and body image, where we explore the things she has gone through that put her where she is now. I loved Rue as her little sidekick that broke her out of the patterns she was in, moving her towards self love.

Katherine Center’s books are always centred around an interesting job, and the coast guard was a cool backdrop to learn about. The details about the helicopter rescues, and Katie having to learn more about escaping a helicopter was a fun touch. Also - I loved the dog so much!!!

I liked most of this book, but feel like one specific part in the back half really ruined it for me. The lies the characters go along with in this are just so far-fetched and don’t make much sense. Why not just refuse to be part of it? It just seemed like a convenient conflict to add in, but it didn't hit well for me. Otherwise I really liked the humor in the book, a fun Florida romance!

I enjoy Center’s books for what they are. I light rom com to relax my mind. I like the idea of this book, but every time I turned around she was packing something superfluous into the book. Did Cole really need to interrupt with the “fake dating” piece? It felt contrived at times. I know rom coms are reliant on tropes, but not every single one needed to be in the book. I really loved the premise of Rue with the Hutchison boys, and I wish Center would have focused on the complexities of that situation. I also felt the relationship between Katie and Beanie was underdeveloped. Nevertheless, this a great vacation book.

thank you to netgalley and the publishers for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

i loved the rom-commers and was excited to get this arc - but i have to confess, i'm a little disappointed. the good: it's breezy, occasionally funny and a quick read that is, overall, enjoyable, with a likable main character and some good side characters (minus cole). the bad: some of the plot points are just... stupid? sometimes in a way that lends to the zany feel of the book, but around the 60% mark, it just gets so dumb that i started to roll my eyes and skim. i also found that the pacing was strange.

i also think that it should be noted somewhere in the blurb what a big role self-image plays in this book. part of me wishes the publishers had included a trigger warning for eating disorders, because there's some behavior described that fits into that. there's an overall good message in here, just think it should be more obvious what readers are getting into when they start the book.

basically - this wasn't bad, but i didn't love it, either. the rom-commers was better.

Love Haters is for a specific type of reader. It is for the girl who feels (or has felt in the past) just like the main character, Katie.
Katie is a videographer journalist who is on the chopping block of getting laid off at her job when her coworker offers her to film a promo for the US Coast Guard and do a “Day in the Life” documentary about his hero brother. Hutch is intimidatingly gorgeous, but doesn’t know it and hates that he is ‘famous’ for saving Jennifer Aniston’s dog. He has a rough exterior that is hard to crack, even for his brother, let alone a love interest. Katie has body image issues and low self-esteem, which her best friend Beanie tries to help her through. Throw in a cheating famous ex-fiancée and Katie is doomed to find love. Or are they?

3.5-4 stars. That was an emotional roller coaster.

It started off a little slow. But then I started really rooting for Katie and Hutch. I detested when Cole showed up in Key West. Then the hurricane scene was overwhelming. The epilogue however, tied up all the loose ends nicely.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced reading copy.

I was a big fan of Katherine’s previous two books, so I was really looking forward to this one. For the most part, I enjoyed it. Katie made for a good heroine to root for and I loved Hutch, but I couldn’t quite buy into how quickly he fell for her. And the random ex-bf who was a famous singer never showed up when I expected him to. There was a great supporting cast that I liked reading about though.

Thanks as always to NetGalley for the ARC.

Let’s just say I am a huge fan of Katherine center and all her books! This one is no different. The relationship Katie has with her self-image was hard to read cause I feel we have all been there and the rejection of a loved one hits hard! Katie going to Key West and meeting Rue was the best! The way Rue immediately took her in and loved on her was beautiful to watch unfold. Then there is Hutch, I mean…come on! USCG or any military in a book is a huge win in my books. The best part of the book was George Bailey! Gosh, that dog had me laughing all throughout! I was hooked from the beginning and enjoyed being in Key West with Katie, Hutch and the gang! Kudos to you Katherine Center! Can’t wait to have it on my bookshelf!

Possible spoilers

This was my first Katherine Center book. I absolutely loved Rue and her friends and they weren't just a character you hear about once. I also loved how Hutch started off reserved and then started opening up to Katie as their relationship progressed. It did break my heart when the article about the song came on and people were saying mean things about it Katie. My favorite quote from Hutch was when he told her “You’re like a human hot fudge sundae” 😂 When I found out Hutch’s parents story of how they both passed so sad & Rue’s husband - Ugh, It was absolutely heartbreaking. I do love how Rue, Hutch & Cole ended up becoming a family. Ohhh and I also learned something new: Humming helps to calm and regulate your nervous system.

I really did enjoy this book. And I really did like her style of writing and look forward to reading more of her books

This started out sooo good I was definitely hooked. I wouldn't say from the beginning, because the beginning started a bit confusing at first. After a few pages it began making sense. This book touches on a lot of topics that may be triggering for some such as: Grief, Phobia, Body shaming, eating disorder, Internet bullying, some mention of suicide. The FMC is the one mostly dealing with these things.

I did enjoy the storyline until a little over halfway when the brother of the MMC came into the picture and started shaking stuff up. Once that happened I was a bit turned off by the story and where it was going but I guess I can understand because a lot of this story is about how the MMC and his brother haven't spoken in years and it's some family drama.

Overall this was okay I just wish a different route was taken with the brother I didn't like him at all lol.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

So, here's the thing. This book is going to piss some people off. But it's going to help others heal. Or, in my case — both. I think you'll be ok if you don't go into it expecting a rom-com. It's really not. Entertaining? Hell yes. Romantic? Sure. Funny? It definitely has its moments. Not that you won't notice a giggle or two escape. Just that they will probably be anchored by fury, frustration, or tears. And you might have to ask yourself why. Why do I feel so triggered by this writing?

Every now and then passages of writing will raise the bar for what I am looking to experience in a book. The more times that happens in a single piece, the more it sticks with me. There were literal breathless moments in this book for me. There's no other way to describe it. Like a cat stole my oxygen. Someone, maybe you, needs rescuing. This story, while not polished, is going to do some good in the world. With its infuriating characters and frustrating plot twists and long monologues and too brief romantic encounters and lack of candy coating. And to suffer through all of that for what, a kiss? Yes. But it isn't a hate kiss, it's a love kiss. And maybe a life lesson, or two. ★★★★ ½

Another hit for Katherine Center!!! I really loved “The Love Haters”. Katie and Hutch were two lovable characters that I only wish we’d gotten to spend even more time with. Their story had twists and turns I really wasn’t expecting and like usual, I both laughed and cried at points. I’ll definitely be recommending this to all of my friends and anxiously awaiting whatever Katherine Center writes next!

I have read two other Katherine Center books and this one is my favorite so far and makes me want to read her others.

The book blurb describes it accurately. I found Katie to be a likeable and relatable main character. Even if I don’t have the same hang-ups, a human can relate to another human not 100% of the time being marvelous. She wasn’t pathetic or woe is me but she was nearly done climbing out of an emotional hole at the start of the book. Her best friend Beanie is the voice of reason and champion of Katie. She’s a likeable side character with some good one-liners. Katie is our first person narrator and Katherine Center writes Iike Katie is your good friend telling you a long and entertaining story—complete with tone of voice in italics.
I quite enjoyed it.

The traditional separation of FL and ML at 80% felt natural and not forced. It was not some mild miscommunication that could have been corrected with two sentences.
There were misunderstandings but for reasons, they could not be clarified and those occurred prior to the traditional 80% mark.

Cole——needs therapy.

Things that bothered me: It’s weird that everyone left Katie to fend for herself with an oncoming hurricane they all knew about for 3 days? It does not line up with any of the characters—not Rue, The Gals, Cole or Hutch.
I wanted the pacing during the hurricane to be faster/frenetic. Katie came across as too calm. The very last section of the epilogue is too “this is the moral of the story”.

Tiny things that won’t be a biggie if left unchanged: Never give a drunk person Tylenol, use ibuprofen. Why is Beanie’s dad and mom described as “my dad’s brother and his wife” instead of Katie’s Aunt and Uncle? Contraflow would be on for evacuation and I know Katherine Center knows that but she has to ignore that for the sake of GEORGE BAILEY the best wingman a woman could EVER ask for.

Who this is for: fans of Katherine Center, people on vacation, procrastinators, commuters, people in baths, and readers who want an easy going rom-com.

Will cross-post sections of this review to Goodreads.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC in exchange for honest review.

This book was set in the Keys!! Y’all I rarely read books set in the Keys. I squealed and was so excited. She even mentioned my little island! I woke my husband up to tell him. 🤣🤷🏻‍♀️

The part of the story, when Katie first met Hutch, when she was taking swimming lessons, was hilarious! I loved the banter between Hutch and Katie. It was perfection. Cole was a piece of work but I couldn't dislike him. He had some things he needed to work through.

This was such a lovely book to read before bed. Katherine’s writing is light and makes you happy. I loved escaping into the world she created with the characters. It was the perfect escape from the stress in my life trying to finish home school with Kole by the end of March and working 4 jobs. I can’t wait for this to PUB so I can buy a hard copy and maybe I can get a signed copy too!

Y’all know I’m really not a romcom reader. I typically read thrillers or horror novels. I will always read every single book that Katherine Center writes. If that doesn’t tell you that you need to read this book then I’m not sure what will make you pick up all of her books immediately.

⭐️ 5/5 | 🌶️ 0/5
Romance, Women’s Fiction
First Person POV | Single Narrative | FMC - Katie
Setting: Key West, FL
Publication Date: May 20, 2025

**Possible Trigger Warnings:
Body Shaming/Body Dysmorphia, death of parent, Infidelity, Grief, natural disaster, car accident

How dare Katherine Center write this masterpiece. She has a way with writing stories that are both lighthearted and deeply meaningful. This is such an entertaining and delightful story that beautifully balances themes of self-discovery, family dysfunction, friendships, romance, and career challenges. She doesn’t shy away from exploring complex family dynamics or mental health obstacles, and she does so with a level of depth, realism, and humor that make the characters so much more relatable.

The romance between Katie and Hutch was slow burning and swoonworthy, mixed with tension and misunderstandings. Their chemistry was great and definitely had me wanting more of their passionate moments.

There’s also the love story of Katie and herself. This is a huge theme in the story, with big emotional revelations and a bff who only wants the best for her. Everyone needs a friend like Beanie!

Lastly, the Author’s Note at the end was absolutely beautiful and took the words right out of my mouth.

Oh and how could I forget Lucky?!? I love the little side stories that add to the main storyline and make it all the more entertaining and relatable. The random tidbits of information was fun to read and learn about too. I learned so much from this book, on so many different levels.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for providing me this advanced reader copy of the book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I'm a huge Katherine Center fan so I was really excited to read this one. However I found the plot a little convoluted and hard to buy. The male MC was also a touch generic. But there was still that trademark banter that always brings a smile to myself and the climax was awesome!

I love so many Katherine Center books. Most that I've read are 5 stars and only 2 or 3 4 stars. This one was a huge miss for me.
I didn't feel the connection between the 2 MC beyond her being infatuated with his physical appearance. So many choices were completely unrealistic. How could a recruitment video highlight just one person. The Coast Guard is a team, a huge team. That really bugged me, too.
The dog though, I really enjoyed the dog.
I'm eager to see what Katherine Center has next.

As a chronic love hater myself, I thought this book could be everything I was looking for in a rom-com. I've read some of Katherine Center's other books before and enjoyed them, but this was not one of them.
The Love Haters follows Katie, a videographer sent to the Florida Keys to film a Coast Guard promotion in order to save her job. There she meets Hutch, a rescue swimmer and brother to none other than her coworker. Oh, and did I mention she can't swim? If only there was a muscular man nearby to teach her. Wait...
Unfortunately, the story just didn't quite work for me. The largest problem was Katie and Hutch's lack of chemistry. Halfway through the book they were already together, despite having few memorable interactions. The rest of the plot becomes a series of increasingly absurd circumstances keeping them apart that could have been solved with even a minimal amount of communication. The other characters don't pick up slack in this department either. Cole, Hutch's brother, and Beanie, Katie's best friend, only support the narrative when it's convenient, and fall really short in meaningful characterization.
Another large plot point is Katie overcoming her own insecurity and learning to feel comfortable in her body. I think this is one of the stronger points of the books, and watching her journey really adds another layer to her character. However, it often didn't match the pace of the main plot, and sometimes felt shoehorned in.
Did I still read this book in one sitting, and cackle out loud during several scenes? Yes, and yes. The Love Haters is a perfect easy beach read, or in my case, a distraction from the ever-increasing amount of homework piling up on my desk.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with a digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.