Trigger warning: generational trauma with body insecurity

Katherine Center always draws interest through the careers her characters have. They are always unique and captivating. This time, Katie, is a video/documentary film maker who is sent to follow Hutch, a US Coast Guard rescue swimmer for a USCG promotion video. Problem is, Hutch has been labeled a “Love Hater” by his brother Cole Plus Hutch is very matter of fact with little to say and frowns, a lot. Plus he doesn’t ever do interviews. That won’t make Katie’s work hard, right?

I loved the character development of Katie and Hutch from start to finish. Although, you will fall in love with other characters: Rue (Hutch’s mother figure) and George Bailey, the aloof and toad-loving Great Dane (Hutch’s-men with dogs are always a win in my book).

One little note that bugged me, is that Katie was sent there by her work, but she had to pay for her rental and accommodations. That was weird to me. Not sure why I got hung up on that little part!

Thanks to NetGalley (my first ARC and experience with them) and St. Martins Press for the Advanced Digital Copy.

Katherine Center is a hit or miss author for me, some of her books I can't put down and others I struggle to finish but The Love Haters was one I couldn't put down. The love story between Katie and her body is so touching and thoughtfully written with sincerity and delicate. The characters are lovable and I truly felt like I was in Key West with them all. There is the boss/brother and he was as arrogant as can be but somehow pulls the story together. This was a 5 star read for me.

This was my first Katherine Center book. I’ve got a few on my shelf, and thank goodness, cause I need more of this. The Love Haters was quirky and charming - I loved the mix of humor and wit, trauma and drama, and the big summer vibes (despite it taking place in Autumn).

In the Author’s Note, it says “In the best stories, you’re *in* it. You’re a part of it. It’s happening all around you - and *to* you. You’re not just witnessing the characters, you *are* the characters.” And I was in it. I loved Katie from the beginning. She was relatable, and her backstory was interesting. It was a little random to have the pop star ex-fiance thrown in there other than to add beef to the moments where Katie started doubting herself again. But her journey to start loving herself and her body was beautiful. Hutch was a hottie (probably). Katie’s description of him upon first meeting was one of the best male love interest descriptions I’ve read in a long time. And George Bailey? Stop. This dog is real to me. He’s adorable and his back story and fear of thunder was so sad. The part at the end was tugging my heartstrings for this baby boy.

I finished this book in a day. It’s a quick and fun read, and super funny. The drama with Katie’s boss and “work superior” seemed a little silly and unrealistic - I might have been grinding my teeth at the reasons for not telling Hutch the truth - but it smoothed over quick enough. Overall, really enjoyed the characters and the filmmaking and the exciting search and rescue scenes.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC!
Publication Date: 05/20/2025

Let me start by saying Katherine Center is an auto buy author for me. I ADORE her books. That being said, this one fell a little short for me. I feel like I didn't really connect to the FMC Katie or her best friend Beanie whom she only ever talks to on the phone. There were still some funny moments that made me laugh out loud but it lacked dialogue and character development between Katie and the MMC, Hutch. I would have liked more scenes where they're actually talking and hanging out. I did enjoy all the George Bailey scenes but I think the whack-you-on-the-head focus on self love was a bit too much for me. Still couldn't put it down and finished it in a day so would recommend as a quick pool read. The Rom-Commers, Hello Stranger and The Bodyguard are still my favs.

I thought this book was good! This is a rom-com book through and through. There were so many moments where I can see the scene play out in a movie, and I thought those moments were funny. The fmc did annoy me a bit, but it’s a journey she must go through (I guess). The book was still lighthearted while also dealing with a serious submit. Was it the best way to deal with a serious subject? Not entirely, but I personally didn’t think it was bad. Overall, good book and enjoyed it!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an e-ARC! Didn’t know I needed a Coast Guard romance before reading The Love Haters. Really loved this book, especially the supporting characters of Rue and George Bailey.

Yay Hutch, boo Cole. I don’t love a miscommunication/lie trope so that’s my main dislike of the book. Hope to see it adapted as a rom-com movie. Also, there’s lots of discussions on body image which some may find triggering.

Not spicy.

I absolutely love Katherine Center. Her books have such a mix of fun, poignancy, big feelings, and hard conversations. She always tackles important topics in an accessible way that makes you think while you enjoy the experience. This newest book, The Love Haters, was just as fabulous as all her previous books. It dives into body positivity and eating disorders. It also has a fun beachy Key West vibe- one of my favorite vacation destinations- and she describes it SO well. The characters were enjoyable and layered. I had a challenging time reading this in bed, as is my normal practice, because I kept laughing too hard and waking up my spouse. There were so many fun characters, but the self-help addicted cousin takes the cake!

My favorite quote, "No one is born fearless. You have to earn it."

It is definitely a romance but the strongest and most central relationship to the story is the female lead character's relationship with her own body.

I loved “The Romcommers” I immediately wanted to read Center’s new novel.

I flew through the “The Love Haters”., I loved the FMC body image issues because who hasn’t experienced that? Very relatable. Loved the chemistry between FMC & MMC, I was rooting for them the entire time.

The bar scene where MMC’s brother is treating FMC as a prize to be won and how MC’s acted gave me the ick. Also the follow up when it was over yet FMC alluded to a kiss earned because of it wasn’t my favorite part.

I really enjoyed the book overall, I did want an update on FMC’s ex-boyfriend and a comeback of her new relationship.

I absolutely love this book. The plot was amazing and the characters were so realistic that they felt like people I’ve known my whole life. The book reads like a movie and I was sucked in. I absolutely will recommend this book to everyone!

Katherine Center is the queen of the readable rom-com, and I look forward to her new novel every time. Even The Rom-Commers, which many of the people I follow did not enjoy, was one of my favorite romances released last year. When I saw this ARC was available on NetGalley, I immediately put it next on my TBR. Unfortunately, this novel fell short of my admittedly high expectations. I will say before I go on, I will never hate a Katherine Center novel. I love her humorous writing style and the effortless way in which she tells a story. You really get wrapped up in all of her books, and this one was no exception.

The Love Haters follows video producer, Katie, when she is assigned the task of filming a recruitment video for the US Coast Guard in Key West. The video's main subject, Hutch, is the dreamy rescue swimmer and brother of Katie's supervisor, Cole. As with most Katherine Center novels, shenanigans ensue as our heroine must navigate the crazy situations she finds herself in. Her biggest problem - she can't swim! The setup of the novel sounded right up my alley.

As I started the novel, I was quite thrown off by the abundant discussion of our heroine's body image and history of eating disorders. This topic dominated almost the entire first half of the novel. I agree with other reviews that mentioned this topic, so please look at those for a more eloquent discussion.

So what about the romance? I wish that we had more scenes of Katie and Hutch interacting when they were getting to know each other. After the initial meet-cute scene by the pool, Ms. Center spends pages 'telling' us about their relationship through first-person narrative instead of 'showing' us. All of a sudden Katie had been in Key West for weeks and Hutch was in love with her! I wish we could have seen their relationship grow on the page more considering I greatly enjoyed what little we did get.

And don't even get me started on my absolute least favorite plot device that popped up about 65% into the novel. I refuse to discuss it, but it is related to Hutch's brother, Cole (aka Katie's direct supervisor).

I did love our cast of supporting characters including Hutch's Aunt Rue, and the discussions on grief and learning to enjoy life after great loss worked well for me. The 'flowers' moment was a highlight of the novel and provided an interesting view of our place in the world.

As with a lot of Katherine Center novels, the ending did make me cry. The emotion and humor is brimming from every page. We also have a very lovable rescue dog, George Bailey, whose presence throughout the novel raised my rating by at least half a star.

Overall, The Love Haters is an enjoyable rom-com with lovable characters and an interesting premise. I will continue to look forward to whatever is released next from Ms. Center.

3/5 stars.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley again for the ARC.

I loved this book. Katherine Center really knows how to deliver these heart felt reads. Totally unbelievable at parts but sometimes that's just what we need. If you are a fan of Emily Henry and Carley Fortune I don't think you will be disappointed with this one!

*+:｡.｡𝓞𝓻 𝓘 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓴𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓵 𝓭𝓸𝔀𝓷 𝓷𝓮𝔁𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓶𝔂𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓯, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓹𝓾𝓽 𝓶𝔂 𝓪𝓻𝓶 𝓪𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓰𝓲𝓻𝓵, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓱𝓮𝓵𝓹 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓸 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓯𝓮𝓮𝓽. 𝓘 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓼𝓺𝓾𝓮𝓮𝔃𝓮 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓲𝓷 𝓪 𝓽𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓱𝓾𝓰, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓼𝓪𝔂 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓸 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓮𝓪𝓻— 𝓬𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓮𝓻 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓵𝓸𝓾𝓭𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓷 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓮𝓵𝓼𝓮: “𝓘 𝓼𝓮𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾. 𝓣𝓱𝓮𝔂’𝓻𝓮 𝔀𝓻𝓸𝓷𝓰. 𝓨𝓸𝓾’𝓻𝓮 𝓫𝓮𝓪𝓾𝓽𝓲𝓯𝓾𝓵.”｡.｡:+*

This is the most wholesome book I've read in so long. Oh, how I love Hutch and Katie. They're the most perfect couple in the history of perfect couples. I was giggling the whole time, and if I'm not giggling, I'm swooning. I can't wait to read all of Katherine Center's other books

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝕿𝖗𝖔𝖕𝖊𝖘˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆
🌸 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝙶𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝙼𝙼𝙲
🌸 𝙶𝙴𝙽𝚃𝙻𝙴𝙼𝙰𝙽 𝙼𝙼𝙲
🌸 𝙱𝙾𝙳𝚈 𝙿𝙾𝚂𝙸𝚃𝙸𝚅𝙸𝚃𝚈
🌸 𝙹𝙾𝙱 𝙾𝙽 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙴

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝕻𝖗𝖊-𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

I've been wanting to read a Katherine Center book for sooo long and today I got lucky and received the eARC from Netgalley and St. Martin's Press 💕💕

Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of Katherine Center’s latest novel! She is one of my favorite authors, so I was so excited to receive it. I love “the feels” Center’s writing often brings and the balance between rom-com and more serious topics.

Katie is a videographer tasked with filming a promo video for the Coast Guard. She flies to Key West and meets her main subject, Hutch, who is known for being too serious and the ultimate gentlemen. Katie knows nothing about the Coast Guard and lacks the ability to swim, so her assignment is a bit out of her depth. However, she soon becomes immersed in Key West life - making friends with a group of older women and Hutch as her swimming coach and colleague. Things take a dramatic turn when her bosses Cole and Sullivan arrive to stir up her otherwise successful project.

Unfortunately this was not my favorite book by Center. There were aspects that I loved: the setting, aunt Rue, and learning about the Coast Guard. Hutch was a pretty great main character, but Cole was the absolute worst. There were several scenes involving Cole that really rubbed me the wrong way, and although Katie and Hutch did call him out, I didn’t like his behavior at all (and felt it wasn’t pivotal to the plot). The dog parts were mostly heartwarming, though a bit cheesy. The miscommunication trope was used quite a bit in the romance plot, which is my least favorite trope. Though I enjoyed parts of this novel, overall it felt flat and the pieces didn’t feel cohesive.

Though I was a bit disappointed in this one, I hope Katherine Center’s next novel is another favorite!

4.5 ⭐️
I really enjoyed this book. I loved the conflict between Katie and Hutch. Seeing Katie get to break his walls down was so fun to read and the dog had me crying at the end with his toad.

The Love Haters is a fun romance where our FMC is sent to Key West in the hopes of saving her job by filming a campaign for the Coast Guard. Her subject: viral, dog saving hottie, Hutch! This whirlwind romance where Katie gets to learn to relove herself and her body while also falling for Hutch is so well done, I really enjoyed it!

Absolutely another amazing book by Katherine Center!! Such strong, well rounded, amazing female main characters, Katie was no different!

What a journey - this love story isn’t just between the characters. Katie has a not-so-loving relationship with herself, and watching her journey was such a joy. She grew exponentially throughout the book and it was refreshing to see a character dealing with very real issues that a lot of us don’t even admit to ourselves.

Hutch was a great love-hater to fall in love with and grow along with Katie. He and George Bailey are quite a pair and I loved being with them throughout the novel.

Rue might be one of my favorite characters in a novel. She was so selfless and sure of herself. I thought for sure one of the twists was that Katie would do a hero video about Rue since Rue is the true hero of the book. She overcame one of the worst days in her life and gave everything for Hutch and Cole.

Cole, by the way, is despicable.

The epilogue and notes at the end really wrapped this novel up nicely. Another five star read from Katherine Center. I can’t wait to read whatever is next.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!! I felt like I won the lottery this week!! I dropped the other book I was reading to make sure that this was the first book I read in 2025.

Did I fall in love with Katie? Yes. & mainly for those 4th wall breaks. They were so well done, candid and honestly, hilarious. I wasn't expecting that in this book!
I also was not expecting this to be a book about falling in love with yourself more than anything else. It was a refreshing take and while out there at times, it was light hearted.

Did I feel like we didn't really get to know Hutch like a typical romance novel would have let us? Yes. But I'm ok with it!

Also, Cole needs to go like yesterday, yuck, lol.
and lastly, I did love that Hutch and Katie didn't have that "and they lived happily ever after" fairy tale ending. It felt more realistic. I'm so glad I was able to read this sooner than the release day, it made it that much more enjoyable.

I hate that I have to wait that > much longer for a new Katherine Center book now... :(

I devoured this book in one sitting, this was a fun romance book with such an outlandish storyline that I absolutely loved, despite knowing it is so unrealistic. yet, despite hurricanes & fake dating gone wrong, there were real issues beautifully (yet sadly) addressed in this book. The loss of lives in a drunk driving incident tore my heart in half, but as a former teacher at an eating disorder facility, the author tackled eating disorders so well. It was heart breaking to read, but it was so empowering too. These are stories that need to be told. Katherine Center, you are a star,

Thank you to the publisher / author / NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

**If you are sensitive to content relating to restrictive / disordered eating & negative body image, I'd recommend re-evaluating picking this book up.**

Katherine Center is such a hit-or-miss author for me. I loved The Rom-Commers (it was a top-ten-of-2024 book for me!), I liked The Bodyguard, and I really disliked Hello Stranger. I was so excited to pick up an advance copy of The Love Haters from NetGalley, but unfortunately I didn't love it as much as I was hoping.

Katie, our fmc, is a video producer whose organization is laying off a lot of its staff. To avoid losing her job, Katie agrees to take a job in Key West filming a promotional video for the US Coast Guard. The assignment is given to her by her supervisor at work, Cole Hutcheson. We learn that Katie has struggled for a long time with body image issues, including some severe restrictive eating exacerbated by her relationship with her then-fiancée putting her in the limelight. In addition, Katie seems to want to live an invisible life, wearing only dark clothing and avoiding any situation that brings attention to herself. Katie has been jilted a year ago and has been picking up the pieces of her life since.

Tom "Hutch" Hutcheson is Cole's brother, and the star of the promotional video Katie has been sent to film. We learn that Hutch and Cole lost their parents in a tragic accident when they were children, and were taken in by their Aunt Rue. Hutch is a hero through-and-through, but insists that he is just an everyday guy, doing what other everyday guys would do.

I think what I struggled with most in The Love Haters was the absurdity of the plot - the circumstances in which Katie finds herself in Key West are shaky at best, but then as the plot progresses, further developments including Hutch & Cole's relationship were so unbelievable and nonsensical. It felt as if Center threw everything but the kitchen sink into this novel, which made it difficult to follow and understand. In addition, I found that the romance wasn't very compelling - Center did a lot of telling, not showing, how Katie & Hutch's relationship progressed, which made their romance difficult to believe in. Then, there were so many loose threads at the end of this book that the author tried to wrap up in quick succession in the epilogue, which left the reader with a fairly dissatisfying conclusion.

There were a few items I enjoyed about The Love Haters - including the supporting cast (Rue, The Gals, even George Bailey). The action towards the end of the novel was also very well written and held my attention. But, I just found the plot so confusing, I couldn't give more than three stars.

I will absolutely continue to follow Katherine Center as an author and pick up her next release, but unfortunately The Love Haters just missed the mark in my opinion. I'd still recommend, though, if you are a Katherine Center fan, you still ought to pick this one up to support.

I love Katherine Center's books. I love how they feature a woman overcoming something and finding love along the way. I find her books to be full of hope and joy and have a pretty high expectation for them because I enjoy them so much. But The Love Haters just wasn't her usual high level of character development, and I think it was Katie, the FMC. Katie works in video marketing and has a tiny following for her passion project- mini-documentaries of heroes. Katie winds up having to go to Key West to save her soulless video marketing job and has the chance to do a mini-doc on a super hot Coast Guard rescue swimmer who refused all interviews when he saved Jennifer Aniston's dog.

Katie is, of course, overcoming something. In this book, Katie is overcoming getting dumped by Lucas, who found fame and another woman while they were engaged. And somehow, along the way, Katie developed an eating disorder that lasted a year--and this is where Ms. Center lost me. Like many women, I know many people who have struggled with disordered eating. And it isn't something that just lasts a year. It's almost always a long-term struggle (for lack of a better term). Katie is able to overcome her disordered eating yet she struggles with body dismorphia which includes a fear of bathing suits. And yet, she's able to overcome that, too, by the goodnature of Rue (Hutch's aunt) and the Gals, a group of senior women who live in Rue's housing complex.

Katie and Hutch's love story is sweet, but something was missing. Usually Ms. Center does a fantastic job of helping you understand the characters' resistance to falling in love, but this one felt flat. While it's a good book and an entertaining story, this is not one of Katherine Center's best.