She did it again!
One thing I learned is that you just can’t go wrong picking up a book by Katherine. The characters are super engaging, the romance is pure heartwarming vibes, and the story flows so well.

The Rom-Commers is still my fave, but this one came reaaally close!

As much as this is a book about falling in love with a coat-guard hottie, it’s also about learning to not hate your body after being raised in a diet-culture-obsessed world. I don’t think I liked this one as much as The Rom-Commers, but it’s a solid spice-free romance.

This is another great rom-com from Katherine Center! It had such a beautiful setting and provided all the tropical vaca feels. Filled with entertaining scenes (like a guy picking a bunch of splinters out of your butt) and of course some romance! This book is sure to make you smile! Thank you to NetGalley, publishers and author for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Thank you Katherine Center, Net Galley, and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

This is my second Katherine Center book. I read Hello Stranger earlier this year and really enjoyed her writing style and her ability to tackle difficult topics, so I was especially excited for a chance to dive into The Love Haters.

The Love Haters was an enjoyable read, but I didn’t find it to be particularly groundbreaking or a story that would resonate me long term. I found Katie to be a shallow FMC. Other than her journey to heal her relationship with her body image, I didn’t find her to be particularly compelling. Hutch read similarly to me - definitely a classic golden boy (although, I did fall in love with his rescue pup), neither characters were ones I found myself rooting for.

This was a light-hearted read that is perfect for the beach on a warm, summer day. There were parts of the book that kept me entertained, but unfortunately, this one just wasn’t for me. 3/5 stars.

I am pleasantly surprised by this one. I read another of Katherine Center’s books and really didn’t enjoy it. So when the chance to grab the ARC from NetGalley came up, I wasn’t sure if I should take it. While it’s not my favorite book I’ve ever read, it ended up fairly cute and is totally the kind of book I could see myself recommending as a fun beach read (especially if you know anyone who is like particularly offended by swearing and sex, as this is a very chaste sort of romance. Not my thing, but a lid for every pot).

i’ve read several katherine center books and they are always super good or just alright. unfortunately this one fell under just alright for me. i am sure there will be readers that looove it but it wasn’t my favorite. katie was sweet and so was her journey but there were several characters i didn’t care for. overall, a good read just not for me.

After years of hearing about how loved Katherine Center's writing is and how so many of her books pop up on people's 5 Star-Reads, I was thrilled to be able to have this arc be my first venture into her world.

I went into this not sure what I was expecting, maybe a simple romcom or another romance novel that had me swooning, but I didn't expect to go on a rollercoaster ride of emotions throughout the entire book. The characters feel real and believeable, and although our FMC, Katie, is dealing with absurd situations that many people would never encounter, we still find ourselves relating to her emotions at every chaotic moment she experiences. Even some of our loving side characters had so much more depth than you would ever get from any other romance novel, which is something I truly loved and appreciated about this story.

I don't want to spoil the ending, but let's just say towards the end of the book, I simply could not put it down. I was up until 3am finishing reading this. I had a blast! It reminded me of an early 2000's coming-of-age RomCom movie but in the best possible way. I'm so looking forward to when this fully releases so I can snag a physical copy!

Katherine Center, you found yourself a new fan.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the arc!

I love Katherine Center's books. This is yet another engaging, feel-good read with The Love Haters. Katie and Hutch’s dynamic is full of heart, humor, and undeniable chemistry, set against the vibrant backdrop of Key West. The story beautifully explores courage, vulnerability, and second chances—not just in love, but in life.

The author’s note stood out, adding even more depth to the book’s themes. A must-read for fans of emotional, uplifting romance!

Thank you to NetGalle yand the publisher for the early copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin Press for the arc on The Love Haters.

I greatly enjoyed this book. Katie is working to make a career for herself by making videos. She thinks she is getting a lucky break when she is sent to Key West to film Hutch, who is in the Coast Guard. I fell in love with Katie. She is fun and unconventional. There were many parts of this book that made me laugh out loud. Katherine Center created lovable characters in this book with some realistic issues. A definite read for rom-com and Katherine Center lovers!

#netgalley #stmartinspress #katerinecenter #thelovehaters #romcom #mslucysliteracycorner

I forgot how much I love the writing of this author. She had me hooked from the very beginning. I loved the characters. She sets the perfect picture that i can visualize.

This book also had multiple lessons to hold on too. So many things I wanted to highlight and go back to.

I was invested from the start to the finish. It had a good message and great feelings.

I adore Katherine Center and this was the perfect book for me right now.

I loved seeing Katie overcome her fears, learn to accept and love her body and just enjoy life after having been knocked down by love and the internet (among other things). Katherine Center does a good job of writing friendships and Katie’s friend Beanie might be one of my favorite female side characters. It was also interesting to learn a bit about the Coast Guard, which is not a first responder profession we hear much about.

This was a fast paced read and I look forward to adding it to my personal collection once published!

The Love Haters had all the ingredients needed to make for a cute summer rom-com. We departed from Katherine's typical choice of location of Texas for the Florida Keys this go around. Outside of Katie's co-workers, who were the absolute worse, I grew extremely fond of the secondary characters in this story... and maybe that's because the two main characters just weren't doing it for me. There was no foundational depth to Hutch and Katie's relationship and no strong passion even after. I've read books where the chemistry between the main two people were out of this world, and I just wasn't getting that this time. The last quarter of the book also took a weird turn for me. Things became a little too over the top to be believable and it made me realize that I just had no strong connection to Katie. I always appreciate Katherine Center's storylines and characters though. She is always willing to try obscure plots that you don't always see romance authors attempting. Maybe she hit it too hard out of the park a few years ago with The Bodyguard that it's just so hard to find something to top it, but The Love Haters will fall somewhere in the middle of all the books I've read so far in her collection.

Thanks to Netgalley and St Martins Press for this early copy of The Love Haters to read and review!

3.5 ⭐️

I love Katherine Center and quirky style of her writing and MCs. Her books are so fast and fun to read. They're true rom coms and I pretty much picture an early 2000's Sandra Bullock starring in all of them. And I love that all her books of late include an ode to romance books at the end.

I was very excited to dive into her latest, but unfortunately quite a few things didn't work for me, like the lack of character development for most of the characters but especially the MMC, the missing setup of their relationship, and certain plot points that I found unnecessary and lacking at the same time (but won't get into because of spoilers). This all said, KC seems to sprinkle some fairy dust on her books that make them just so charming. So, even despite all the qualms I had one this one, I somehow came out liking it. I'm very curious how people are going to take this one!

I have very strong feelings about this book lol. It's a classic rom-com and Katherine Center is a joy to read. There were many parts of this book that I loved, but also quite a few that drove me crazy. The initial set up of the book is that our main character Katie is convinced to take a video production job in Florida because her co-worker doesn't want to do it. However she doesn't swim (so she lied about it) and the whole thing feels kinda sketchy. I had a hard time understanding her motivations for this and things later in the book. The meet cute between Katie and Hutch was cute and I did really like them together. My biggest complaint of the book is that we didn't see them together enough! Especially at the end!! I was honestly shocked when it ended and it felt like there was not concrete resolution between them, it was only hinted at. I ended the book feeling really unsatisfied with the romance :(( There were multiple frustrating miscommunication tropes as well. BUT besides all of that and the very end, I really did enjoy the reading experience and flew threw the book. Thanks Katherine Center for a good time!

I. LOVE. Katherine. Center. LOVE.
Read it in one sitting! Then I was bummed because it was over and I have to wait for another one to come out! But, thanks NetGalley for giving me the digital ARC so I could spend a perfect day with this lovely, super interesting (the things I've learned from her last two books about the Coast Guard? Amazing!), yuuuummmmmmy, perfect book. And the notes about body positivity??? Ssssooooo good. I am tempted to buy it for myself so I can refer to it often for pep talks, as well as for my coworker who was raised by someone like Katie's stepmom (but like, 1000 times worse). ♥♥♥♥♥

The Love Haters follows Katie, a chronic self loather, on assignment in Key West to film U.S. Coast Guard swimmer, Hutch, reeker of coolness. The catch? Katie doesn’t know how to swim, and let’s just say that’s a very big part of the job, as is wearing a swimsuit and participating in weight checks much to Katie’s horror. The Love Haters appears somewhat superficial at first, but in classic Center storytelling, ends up jam packed with onion layered characters, and twists and turns that are like a Chef's kiss. The Love Haters is a love story to relationships, and not just the romantic kind. It’s a fantastic read that had me face planting on my dining room table more than once (thanks for that George Bailey).

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an early book review copy of this book!

The Love Haters is being released May, 20th 2025-mark your calendar!

If there's one thing Katherine Center's gonna do, it's write a perfect romance book. I can't wait to reread this book by the pool once summer hits! This book was beautifully written, funny, sweet, and still had that emotional pull that Katherine Center is known for. I fell in love with every character in this book! It felt like watching a romcom.

I am an all-time fan of Katherine Center - I've read almost her entire backlist and have given basically every one 5 stars. But this book fell flat for me for a particular reason: I was super caught off guard by the FMC’s body image and history of disordered eating and was surprised and disappointed this was not listed as a content warning, as I likely would have decided to skip out on this book. I wasn't able to get past the beginning of the book due to this, but maybe I'll be able to pick it back up again at some point in the future.

This story is a good summer rom-com. Katie's work as a video producer is in jeopardy due to mass layoffs, but she gets a chance at a project filming a Coast Guard rescue swimmer. Katie has to face a few fears including her lack of swimming skills, body image struggles, and juggling some light lies that her boss has spun up for her situation. Katie gets to find her true self and experience some adventure along the way.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, in exchange for an unbiased review.
This book was the first hate-read of 2025.
Center has written some great, light books about firefighters ("Things You Save In a Fire"), prosopagnosia ("Hello Stranger), and a survivalist hiking weekend ("Happiness for Beginners"). But this book is just a Mad Libs of brainless, unoriginal rom-com tropes: A white girl in her 20s, who reads like she's a teenager, works in media, and is a "mess." She meets a perfect white man who gives her self-confidence!
Given that this book is interchangeable with any of the Colleen Hoover/BookTok crap everywhere, I almost DNF'ed. And after reading the cringe, "Afterschool Special"-style Epilogue, I WISH I HAD DNF'ED.
My life is too short, and there are too many good books, to waste reading this.