Katherine Center's books are a reliable vacation from more serious books. The Key West setting and the relationships there range true. I felt like I knew the characters at the vintage motor court and wanted to hang out with them. Now of course the moment Hutch appeared, I knew love would ensue, and it did. Maybe it was a bit too much of a stretch, but it was still fun to follow the journey. I thought the struggle with body image made the main character more relatable and I enjoyed her friend and life coach who taught her to love herself part by part. Overall a good beach read from an author who never disappoints.

The Love Haters was a perfect light hearted book to read between darker novels. Katie made some frustrating decisions and the fallout between her and Hutch was based on miscommunication which was difficult to read but overall I enjoyed their relationship and the resolution.

Katie agrees to travel to Key West and make a documentary of sorts for rescue swimmers with the Coast Guard to save her job. She soon realizes quite a bit of information was omitted by her superior, some being lies that stemmed from long-seated anger and resentment. She soon finds herself intrigued by and attracted to Tom "Hutch" Hutchison who turns out to be her co-worker's brother. Katie has to face her fears and deal with the animosity she's held toward her body for years while trying to do her job and not fall for her subject.

It is a wonderful story about self-love, facing the tough parts of yourself and life, the importance of supportive people in your life, and the joy and anxiety of falling in love. I raced through this story in two days and felt like I was really in Katie's shoes - flying in a helicopter, being skewered online by strangers, the stomach-dropping fear of losing someone you love and also being afraid the end of your life is near. Katherine Center is a master storyteller.

The Love Haters by Katherine Center is a delightful contemporary romance that is both touching and relatable. The author has a unique way of crafting stories that are easy to read and touch on universal human experiences.

The story centers around Katie Vaugn, a charming protagonist surrounded by mostly likable characters, including our male lead, Hutch, and his delightful Aunt Rue. Stealing the show is a rescue Great Dane named George Bailey, who is simply lovable.

While the story is often funny and romantic, it also tackles serious issues such as body image. My one quip with the narrative is that instead of relying on an armchair therapist friend, Beanie, I wish a professional therapist had been employed. This would have made Katie's healing journey feel more authentic, as at times it seemed like she was just along for the ride in her own life.

The ending is very satisfying, and I adored the setting—a vintage motor court in the Florida Keys. I would love to spend time with Rue and The Gals there. Overall, The Love Haters is a quick, lovely story, and I am eagerly looking forward to Katherine Center's next book.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

This was such a fun book! I loved the plot with the brothers and Rue-the backstory really added depth. I like that flawed characters were the center of the rom com!

Katherine Center has pulled every single one of my heartstrings with her lovely, tender and thoughtful romance. It was easy to fall in love with not just Katie and Hutch, but with Aunt Rue, the Gals and even Cole. I’ve never wanted to live in Florida, but I just want to move into the Starlite and join this found family. I love the slow burn relationship of Katie and Hutch — the tension keeps me turning the pages with great anticipation. The Rom Commers was one of my favorite books of 2024 and I know The Love Haters will be at the top of my list for 2025. Katherine Center, please keep writing such fantastic books!

Thanks to @NetGalley and @StMartinsPress for the ARC. The opinions are all mine.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this advanced reader’s copy.

Outstanding book by Katherine Center! 👏

Katie is trying to save her job. She says yes to flying to the Florida Keys to do a piece about a Coastal Guard rescuer, who happens to be her producer’s brother. And oh by the way, she can’t swim.

The first scene that made me laugh out loud was when the exuberant Great Dane barrels into Katie with his lips flapping and ears undulating. That was a great scene! Hysterical! And many more followed.

One of the strengths of this book were the well-written, fully fleshed out supporting characters. Rue, Beanie, and George Bailey were my favorites and added so much to the story telling and character development of both Katie and Hutch.

“She loved all of her everything because it was hers.” Such a great commentary on self acceptance and self love.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC. I have always loved Katherine Center. Her books always have me laughing and smiling the entire time. This book did as well. I loved the complexity of these characters. The overall theme of forgiveness. The only reason I didn’t give it a five is because the ending scene was a little far fetched for me.

Okay, first you need to know that I LOVE KATHERINE CENTER, her books just speak to me.
You also need to know that I am so tired, because I stayed up all night reading this book. …it was a lot of, okay, just one more chapter.
I started reading her books in 2015 and it was Happiness for Beginners. This has been my favorite KC book for that last 10 years, enter The Love Haters.
I.LOVED.THIS.BOOK. Five stars. All the feels. and the one liners are on POINT! I love Katie, Hutch, I love Rue and The Gals, I love George Bailey, Cole is a twat, and we all need a Beanie!
I already want to reread it.

I am telling you, once you finish this book be prepared to head to her backlist.

What I Loved Wednesday

“I’m also not declaring that kisses are magic. Though maybe the right ones at the right time with the right people are—who knows.”

Katherine continues to be one of my favorite rom-com writers.  She just has a way of making the characters feel so real and the reader feel so seen and of course the romance so swoon-worthy!

Katie is sent to Key West to film a promo video for the Coast Guard.  Her main subject is rescue simmer and love hater, Hutch.  But there are a couple of slight catches.  First,  Hutch is expecting his brother and Katie’s coworker Cole, so he isn’t really happy to see Katie for this project.  Second, Katie can’t swim, which is a problem for this particular assignment.  Will these two allow themselves to be brave and face past hurts or will they be swept away in hurricane force wents?

I liked watching Katie working through her insecurities and learn to love herself, with the help of her best friend Beanie, and Hutch’s aunt Rue and of course Hutch too.  I loved that Hutch knew he wasn’t perfect, he was just trying to perfect for those around him.  I enjoyed hearing and learning about the Coast Guard…and really wish I could see Katie’s “A Day in the Life of Hutch” video.  And I loved all of the amazing support cast!  Beanie and her self-help persona, trying to help Katie find the good in herself.  Aunt Rue who was truly living her life to the fullest, despite things not always being at their best and then helping Katie find the ‘color’ in her own life again.  The Gals were the perfect example of little old ladies meddling a little and just enjoying themselves (hope I have a group of ladies like this when I get to be their age).  And George Bailey, while coming from horrible beginnings, found humans to love and be loved by, and who I think could sense the potential of love around him😉  And no surprise, Katherine include another writer’s note, just as lovely as her story.  This book was everything!

“Because every time I’m around you—and today was the worst of all—I want…I just want…everything.”
 
Thank you so much Katherine Center, St Martins Press, and NetGalley for this delightful digital ARC to enjoy…and boy did I enjoy it!

The Love Haters publishes May 20, 2025…mark those calendars, because you won’t want to miss this one!

Katie is assigned a project (one that may determine if she loses her job) to film a coast guard recruiting video in Key West. The catch is the swimmer she’s filming is her superior (Cole) older brother, Hutch. She is told Hutch hates love and doesn’t want fame (he got some fame from saving Jennifer Aniston’s dog) and expects a grumpy guy but really he isn’t. A hurricane hitting puts her in a precarious situation (with Hutch’s Great Dane).

I usually love Katherine Center’s books but this one was just okay. Mostly, I felt the first half went pretty slowly and then the second half picked up a lot. I really liked Hutch’s character and Rue (their aunt) was an amazing supporting character.

Super fun romcom! I read this in a couple of days. I could totally relate with the body issues, without being engaged to a Star. My biggest issue was the lying about Cole. I didn't feel like the stakes were high enough to lie about being his girlfriend when you are super into his brother. Also, the ending of who saved her was pretty cheesy. Overall a really fun read, but very unrealistic.

George Bailey was the star of the show-
I’m not exactly sure why this one’s not hitting 4 or 5 star statuses for me, it’s feeling a bit flat compared to the others by Katherine for me. I do think this is sweet, and sort of cheesy, but I still 100% recommend center’s works always .


Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an arc in exchange for honest reviews.

I was so excited to see a new book from Katherine Center!
I was a bit disappointed with the Rom-Commers and went into this book with lower expectations. I’m happy to report that it exceeded my expectations and I enjoyed it very much. It was funny, cute, relatable and I think had elements of contemporary fiction that made the book feel more substantial than just a fluffy rom-com and I loved the FMC’s growth throughout the book. This book gave me similar vibes to some of Ashley Postons books in that sense and I think fans of her books would enjoy this! Definitely give it a ready😌

Delightful! I actually laughed out loud then looked around to see if anyone heard me. Then I laughed again! The thought processes and the shenanigans of the main character are quirky and funny.

I think this is better than the last three books. As always, there is a strong theme in the book- this one is about body image. I got a little exasperated with the main character, but that fit because so did her best friend.

I think the ONE thing that didn’t ring true was the event at the end as well as our hero’s reaction. I’ve actually searched the web several times today trying to figure out if it was plausible. Even if the event is plausible, his reaction was very puzzling. But, this is ONE thing out of the entire book.

I give this 4.5 stars, rounding up to 5 stars. Loved it!

I am so thankful to Netgalley for the chance to read this early. Katherine Center has become one of my favorite authors because she has this way of bringing her characters to life through her words. Katie and Hutch meet when she is sent to film him and the Coast Guard. One thing I love about what Katherine is how she can create these special moments between the two characters. I know many probably won't like the conflict with Cole arriving with his web of lies, but I felt that helped show how much Hutch was enamored by Katie with how protective he was. Even though it is written in Katie's perspective, I could how much Hutch was hurting throughout the book (with the little tidbits sprinkled in). I fell in love with their story from their meet cute to the daring rescue (and swoon worthy kiss). I cannot wait for this book to come out in print so I can add it to my collection. I know this is a book that I will want to go back and reread time and time again!

📚 ARC BOOK REVIEW 📚

The Love Haters By Katherine Center
Publication Date: May 20, 2025
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A huge thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this #gifted e-ARC of the book in exchange for my honest review!

📚MY REVIEW:

So, do you always feel this beautifully uplifted, like your heart is busting with happiness, after reading a Katherine Center book?! If the answer is yes, I'm clearing all other reads from my TBR in favor of more Katherine Center!

The Love Haters was my first book from this author, and it is now, without a doubt, one of my favorite rom-coms I've ever read!

First off, the title is adorable; let's be honest, we've probably all had moments in our lives when we've been haters of love too. This is a friends-to-enemies-to-lovers love story about Katie and Hutch, who experience some laugh-out-loud adventures along the way. This is also an enemy-to-lover story about Katie's relationship with her self -- and her self-image. This is also a second act kind-of story (my favorite!) featuring The Gals, a group of older women who all permanently rent rooms in the Starlite Motel in Key West. It's a story about the complex relationships between siblings, friends, and family... And about the ways we can heal those complexities if we give ourselves permission to see things from a different perspective.

I genuinely loved every single storyline in this book! I was astonished at the depth of the plotlines and the richly warm ways in which Center wrote about these characters. There was humor, cuteness, emotion, tension, healing, empowerment, and so much joy in the pages.

And let me tell you, don't even think for one minute about skipping the author's notes at the end! This was like a TED Talk from Katherine Center that made me cry happy tears while I simultaneously gave a standing ovation in celebration. I swear, those pages of author's notes encapsulated perfectly what it was about the book that made me love it -- and made me somehow love it even more.

Whether you're already a fan of Katherine Center or are new to her books like I was, The Love Haters is an adorably sweet happily-ever-after rom-com that is the perfect read for Valentine's Week. Or the week after. Or next month. Summer, autumn, winter. It doesn't matter. I can't rave about this book enough -- if you're a fan of a feel-good rom-com, be sure this one gets on your TBR as soon as possible. I know I'll be buying a copy for my bookshelf as soon as it's published in May!!

#TheLoveHaters #KatherineCenter # #NetGalley #NetGalleyReviews #ARC #romcomreads #romcoms #booklover #bookaddict #fivestarreads #bookreviews #bookrecs

This book gave me all the feels - happy, sad, nervous, and relieved. I adored the romance that blossomed between Katie and Hutch. I love how Katherine Center novels are full of delight but she's also not afraid to touch on heavier topics. This book focused a lot on body image and how the FMC struggled with some trauma from her past. It had such a good message about loving yourself and learning to ignore hateful comments on social media. There was also some family trauma from the MMC's past and I appreciated how he finally learned to let someone in. They both were quick to forgive. Overall it was one of my favorites from this author!

Katherine Center has a great way of drawing you in. Loved the main character’s changing relationship with her body. Loved Rue and the Gals and George Bailey. There was good chemistry with Hutch, but didn’t feel like it needed the shenanigans with Cole. I also typically haven’t the titles of Center’s recent books, and this was the same.

3.5🌟 This book was typical Katherine Center: a rom-com that touches on serious topics.

Katie was left by her fiancé after a video of him singing and playing guitar went viral, leaving Katie with some serious self doubt and body image issues. At work, her boss is firing people left and right when her coworker, Cole, throws her a lifeline to keep her at the company by offering her a project in Key West to film a recruiting video for the US Coast Guard. Little does she know, she’ll end up falling for the star of the video project, Hutch. From there it follows the typical rom com story arc with some twists and turns I didn’t see coming.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and there were certain parts that definitely surprised me. The setting and descriptions throughout were great and really transported me into the story. Not my favorite Katherine Center but I enjoyed it!

Thank you Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for sending me this book in exchange for a review.