In Love-Haters, Katie, a struggling videographer on the verge of losing her job, takes on an assignment she’s completely unqualified for—creating an ad for the Coast Guard’s elite rescue swimmers. The catch? She can’t swim and has to fake her confidence to pull it off. But with the job taking her to Key West, she figures she’ll deal with the details later. The real challenge, however, is Tom "Hutch" Hutcheson, the reluctant subject of her project, who has no interest in being part of the campaign.

Katie, who prefers her all-black wardrobe, is immediately thrust into a world of color by Rue, whose vibrant personality pushes her outside her comfort zone. As their friendship grows, Katie begins to learn a lot about herself. The tension between Katie and Hutch adds plenty of angst, making their dynamic compelling to watch unfold. I also loved discovering the backstory of how Hutch, Rue, and Cole (Hutch’s brother) became a family.

This book will keep you hooked, building to moments that will leave you on the edge of your seat. An absolutely enjoyable read—grab your copy today!

Thank you, #NetGalley and #St. Martin's Press for my ARC.

I first of all want to thank Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for this arc prior to release in exchange for a honest review.

I’m not sure if it’s possible but this book had me laughing and cringing out of embarrassment for the FMC so many times and I loved it. I am usually a sucker for a strong independent FMC the complete opposite of Katie. I don’t think I have ever resonated with a character and their struggles more than I did with Katie. There are so many women out there that have struggled with the same body image issues, post breakup spiral, and struggle to prove themselves at their job. I’ve live through all of those struggles and it led me to feel this deep bond and empathy for Katie. Of course I also enjoyed the love story and the handsome sweet MMC Hutch, but to me the real romance was between Katie and herself. Teaching herself and everyone who reads this book to love themselves as they are because they are enough and they don’t need to hide in dark colors in the shadows. I truly empowering read that I did not expect to relate to this much.

Where has Katherine Center been all my life? The Love Haters is my first of hers and I immediately fell in love with her style. In this book, we follow Katie, a down on her luck video producer, and Hutch, a smoking hot Coast Guard rescue swimmer. When Katie is tasked with profiling Hutch in order to save her job (did I mention she can't swim?), will she be able to pull it off?

First things first, Katie is SO witty and funny! She takes everything in stride and cracks jokes through it all. She's not perfect, though, and that makes her real. She struggles with body image issues and I found this particular part of the book to have a great resolution. While falling in love with Hutch, she also learns to fall in love with her body and not be so hard on herself and what she sees in the mirror. Her personal journey throughout this book was a treat and handled so beautifully. Hutch is a fantastic MMC who has so much respect for Katie and his loved ones, but Katie was such a standout character.

A quick shout out to the best side characters, Aunt Rue and George Bailey! They stole the show if I'm being completely honest. I knew Aunt Rue would be a favorite the minute she uttered the word "chromophobe," and she had me laughing every time she was on the page. She also had me tearing up, but we don't need to talk about that...

There are some sillier parts of this book, like literally any scene with Cole, but I think ultimately The Love Haters will win everyone over with its heartfelt story (both the love story and Katie's own personal journey) and loveable cast of characters.

I can't believe I've been missing out on Katherine centers books my entire life. I've eyed a few of them and this has been the push I needed to jump into her backlog.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC.

Absolutely loved the latest from Katherine Center. There's nothing she writes that I won't read. This story follows Katie Vaughn is in the midst of a crisis, both personally and professionally. Her company is downsizing. Her ex-fiance is now a mega popstar. She has no idea how to save her job until her boss, Cole, gives her a project down in Key West. There is a lot to unpack afterwards, but suffice it to say, it was the best project of her life. There is great chemistry between Katie and the male lead of the story, Hutch, and plenty of family drama and backstory. I flew through this book and I know everyone else will too.

I truly enjoyed this romcom! I loved Katie’s humor and literally found myself LOLing at multiple moments throughout the book. I also was obsessed with the unique world I got to experience with both Katie’s and Hitch’s insane jobs! Seriously, this book made me wish I could be a videographer and/or rescue swimmer, like come on!!

As always, Katherine Center’s writing is so easy to read and completely engaging. If it wasn’t for my full-time job, I could have easily binge-read this book in one sitting.

The only thing that is holding this book from 5-stars is that all the plot lines felt like a bit much. While I appreciated the focus on body positive, combine that with the tragedy of Hutch’s past and that current tragedy with Rue (I’m purposefully being vague for spoilers’ sake), the plot felt like it was being pulled in too many directions.

Overall, this would be the perfect beach-read!! Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

This book gets my first 5 star rating this year! I absolutely loved this book! The characters are loveable and quirky in their own way right from the beginning of the book. I found myself laughing out loud because of the hilariously relatable situations and antics that arise. Highly recommend this book!

I love everything Katherine Center writes. Her novels are always witty with a great cast of characters and honestly a lot of the times they are the pick me up you need on a bad day.
Katie takes an assignment in Key West as video producer following a "golden boy" Coast Guard, Hutch who also happens to be the brother of the coworkers (Cole) who recommended her for the job to try to prevent an impending layoff. Upon arrival in Key West Katie meets Aunt Rue who raised Cole and Hutch. Aunt Rue is the technicolor to Katie's beige life and thus entertainment ensures.
This book is a romance but not only in the sense you think, it is also romance with ones self and the struggles one may have. I do have to say I was not expecting the body image aspect, I think it would have been a good idea to have a intro with trigger warnings, many people suffer with body dysmorphia and struggle loving themselves and you may never know what kind of trigger this book may have if someone didn't know about that before hand. I believe the grief of the brothers should also have been mentioned as a trigger warning and I believe it could have been handled a little better as well.
Overall this book was heartwarming and hard to put down! If you need me I'll be relaxing at the Starlite pool with George Bailey and the Gals drinking a Sangria for the foreseeable future.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

I’m definitely going to have to read more Center books because she is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Bodyguard was amazing, but this was absolutely perfect.

The characters, the plot, the vibes. Everything kept me entertained and I was actually sad when it came to an end.

I’d eat the book if it meant I could get seconds.

I’ll just have to reread it when it comes out.

rating: 3.5/5

This book was a super cute and fun romance journey with heavy topics incorporated as well. The FMC, Katie, mentions her experience of body dysmorphia as well as an eating disorder. As she struggles with her body image, she is also learning to accept and love herself before she falls completely head over heels for the MMC, Tom "Hutch" Hutcheson. As this book is described as a rom-com, it is so much more than that. It is a journey and discovery of self love, acceptance, and ultimately second chances.

I loved Hutch's character. He was a defined and astounded "hero" who has saved many lives in his career field. But, he was also this super grumpy man who just needed to be loved by the right person. He was going through grief himself and facing his own struggles, just as Katie was. They were drawn to one another and leaned on each other to heal.

It was so nice to see the two main characters fall for one another and their relationship blossom, even as messy as it was at one point. Eventually, it turned into something beautiful and was definitely worth fighting for.

Was I planning on ugly crying tonight and pulling my blanket higher over my face so my husband didn't look at me and wonder what's wrong with me? No. No I did not. But alas here we are. Thank you, Katherine Center, for pulling at my heart strings! (They were "overwhelmed with lots of emotions"/happy tears, by the way)

Katherine Center's writing feels like my inner monologue. She speaks to my millennial heart. I appreciate that, much like Emily Henry, she has managed to make romance/rom-com stories and make them so much more.

The Love Haters is another solid entry by Center, and the protagonist is charming. Sometimes the hijinx, mishaps, and plot are a little silly this time around. But I found it overall still entertaining and endearing. Definitely recommend if you're a fan of Center's writing!

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

I will always put a new book by Katherine Center at the top of my TBR. This one just wasn’t my favorite. Still wonderful writing and a heroine I really related to even if my ex is definitely not a hot celebrity musician. I also deeply loved the connection between the hero and heroine. God I could feel their longing leap off the pages. And don’t even get me started on the real star of the show- George Bailey. So why did this leave feeling more eh than blown away? Certain things were just too over the top for me and the conflict caused by Hutch’s relationship with his brother was off putting and took me out of my happy romance trance. Still a solid read but it makes me sad knowing that this could have easily been my favorite book by Center.

Katherine Center does it again with a well- written, rom- com that covers all the bases- I highly recommend it.

3.5 stars

Going into The Love Haters, I was expecting a fun, lighthearted romcom. While the story definitely had many of those moments (some of which were bordering on slapstick), I was surprised by the appearance of much heavier topics from the start.

The book's begins with Katie's body image issues, a topic which is carried throughout the story and is core to Katie's character growth. While this topic doesn't trigger me, I do think a CW at the start of the book should have been included since I know this can be a sensitive topic for others.

As for the romance, I did enjoy it but I wish we gotten more of the falling for each other parts. As a result, it felt like Hutch and Katie bordered on insta-love. While they got to know each other over the course of weeks, a lot of the time between when they first meet and the final stretch is not shown; we're just told about it.

Overall, The Love Haters was still an enjoyable read for me. I thought the heavier topics were relatively well addressed (despite being surprised by them) but I found that there should have been more time spent developing the romance. Oh and I can't end this review without mentioning George Bailey, Hutch's rescue dog and the highlight of the book!

Thank you St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC via Netgalley.

this was the last book i read during a 24 hour readathon and quite honestly is probably the only book that could’ve kept me awake for the last few hours.

in short – i. loved. this. so much. now i need to go through katherine center’s entire backlist because wtf this is probably one of my favorite books ever?

i don’t even know where to start with my thoughts. i guess the plot, because it was just so much fun. and i feel like i overuse the word “fun” to describe plots but that’s truly what this was. there was adventure and laugh out loud moments and just... fun.

my favorite part, though, was katie. if you’re a woman – fuck, if you’re a human – you’ll be able to see parts of yourself in her. you’ll relate to her feelings or the things she’s gone through or her journey to growth. you’ll fall in love with her so easily.

and hutch!!! love him as a character, love him as the love interest. he was so perfect for katie and it was an honor watching their love for each other grow throughout the story.

katherine center has a way of writing like no other. she puts things into words in a way that seems like it should be impossible. how does she know the perfect way to describe a feeling? how does she make her characters so effortlessly feel like real people? from page one i was hooked on her writing.

so, um, read this the second it comes out. in the meantime, i’m gonna go read all her other books brb 🫶🏼

thank you to st martins press & netgalley for the arc! all opinions are my own <3

I absolutely loved this story. Katherine center never disappoints and I felt like this book of hers had such great build up for the two main characters to get together. I would've loved an epilogue of like 5 years later and seeing what happens to them.

Katherine Center can do no wrong. The Love Haters by Katherine Center was no exception. She is so good at writing complex characters and weaving their stories together. The Love Haters was fun, deep, and cozy.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

Another strong story by Katherine Center. This book covers all kinds of love. Romantic love, self-love, family love, love for pets, dutiful love, best friend love, etc. Nearly at every turn, this book follows characters who are motivated by one form of love or another but it doesn't hit you over the head with it. There were a few times when I wanted to give Katie a push through her own self-imposed barriers but thankfully, she had her best friend and Rue to help her do that within the story. Would have loved to have a little spice with this but that might be my only criticism.

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC copy!! This was a great slow burn, mild spice romance read. As with all of Katherine’s books, the writing and depth of the characters really captivate you. I honestly enjoy every one of her books. This one is def worth the read.

This was for the most part, a delightful book, in keeping with what we have come to expect from author Katherine Center. I loved the vividly described Key West setting and the amusing banter between the characters. Our main female character, Katie Vaughn, experiences personal growth by the end of the book, which is a characteristic I like to see in my romance novels. The theme of learning to love yourself is an important one and I was happy to see it in this book.

What fell a bit short for me was the relationship between Katie and the "love hater", Hutch. The "lack of communication" trope always frustrates me in romance novels, and I found myself wanting to shout at the characters, "Just talk, why don't you?" The thing that most troubled me in the book however, was the issue of body dysmorphia experienced by our main female character. I was always a bit confused by it. There was never a vivid description given of Katie, so it was hard to visualize her. Was she really overweight or was it all in her mind? Did she have an eating disorder? The amount of stress and unhappiness her body image caused her does not seem to be something anyone could get over in a short time. The secondary characters were also a mixed bag. Rue, Hutch's spritely elderly aunt, was totally delightful, as were her gang of elderly gal pals. Cole, Hutch's scheming brother, was unlikeable, and his behavioral motivations were not totally clear. Why exactly were he and his brother estranged? It was a situation of "just get over it" in my opinion. Katie's boss and her sudden appearance on the scene seemed an unnecessary plot point.

Overall, I did enjoy the book but was frustrated by the characters' behavior and confused by their motivations. The description of the Key West location, the adorable dog, the lovable elderly secondary characters, and the fantastical ending brought this up to 4 stars for me.

This was a return to KCs great love stories full
Of mid hap and second chances. Instant connection and swoon. The characters supporting and main are delicious in this book and as KC writes them makes me desire to be there with them in the action of everything!
I felt this book went back to the bodyguard where the plot drives the characters and you have the biggest love story on hand.
Who you are rooting for and who you experiencing are one and the same.
Probably should mention a trigger warning for ED as the main character has major personal growth. As well as past traumatic loss of family (off page) but details are encountered.

Second chances
He falls first
Damsel in distress
Work romance
Meddling family
Celebrity romance ?

As expected I laughed I cried I absolutely enjoyed