Thank you to #netgalley for allowing me to review this ARC. As usual Katherine Center has created another great story. I devoured this one, and have already started telling my friends about it.
At no point was this book un-interesting. I could see this becoming a Hallmark movie. It is a perfect Rom-Com, the dialogue between the characters is funny, this is something I love about rom-coms and not all rom-coms have the right humor and Katherine Center is always spot-on with it.
A delightful, poignant and humorous love story.

I love everything Katherine Center and this book is another hit. She has done it again!!! I was hooked from the beginning and devoured this in 2 days. Highly recommend!

This is my first Katherine Center book and it will not be my last. I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this book and I'm so glad I did. I read The Love Haters in two days and really enjoyed it.

The book starts with our FMC Katie on the verge of losing her job. She has already had enough bad luck thrown her way and has many insecurities due to her now famous ex-boyfriend. Her colleague Cole talks her into doing an interview he doesn't want to do with Hutch, a US Coast Guard swimmer. Hutch also happens to be Cole's "perfect" brother. A little thing she forgets to mention to get the job, she can't swim. Once she gets to Key West, she meets Rue and also meets Hutch in the cutest way. From there the chemistry takes over and so do Cole's lies.

I think the side characters could use more depth. I didn't really like Beanie or Sullivan. Although I don't think I was supposed to like Sullivan. Rue was fantastic side character. I loved her part in the story. Overall, I enjoyed this book so much. You get a slow burn, friendships, family, unexpected love, little bit of trauma, and a very cute dog too.

A huge fan of Katherine Center's books. Came for the plot, but stayed for the location, banter, and relationships.

The Love Haters by Katherine Center is the story of Katie, a scorned video journalist, who is sent on an assignment to film a recruitment video for the Coast Guard in sunny Key West. She meets “Hutch”, the Coast Guard rescue swimmer she will be mainly profiling for the video, and sparks fly instantaneously. Through found family, a hugely affectionate great dane, and a slow-burn attraction, Katie may find the balm she needs to soothe the tender parts of her broken soul.

I devoured this book and finished it in two days, I couldn’t put it down! The pacing is fantastic and the situations the characters are put in had me chuckling out loud. There is so much heart in this book and the evolution from how the FMC sees herself at the beginning of the story until it’s conclusion. She is very relatable and it was easy to find a connection with her throughout the story. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for richly developed characters, a beautifully tropical setting, and a story guaranteed to bring out all of the feelings! Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

This book was amazing! Still thinking about it and wondering how the characters are doing. I was rooting for every single character, including the “unlikable” one. Still thinking about Aunt Rue and how she’s doing! And if it is possible to go stay with her, sign me up!

I loved the humor and quick banter of the characters. Following Katie’s body issues and families dealing with loss was very relatable. It was hard towards the end when all the lies came to light and it was a little unrealistic of why Katie kept going a long with them.

I loved all the different dynamics in character’s relationships: Beanie & Katie, Hutch & George Bailey, Rue & her husband, Hutch & Cole. I loved Rue, I could read her whole life story!

I had high hopes for this book, as it was my first by Katherine Center and unfortunately it wasn’t a hit for me. The romance was such a slow burn and very light on romance in general. I found Katie’s body image issues a bit confusing. It was so over done in the story but at the same time felt like the portrayal of body dysphoria and possibly an eating disorder was not an accurate depiction. There were some swoonworthy scenes I really enjoyed (the first kiss), but overall the plot felt chaotic and too much of a slow slow burn.

The Love Haters has all the chemistry and heart you find in a classic Katherine Center novel! I could not put this book down! Everything about this story had me hooked from the very first chapter - from the Florida Keys setting, the hilarious grannies, brilliant physical comedy, and of course, the romance. I found myself laughing out loud and smiling uncontrollably many times while reading. The group of grannies had me rolling, while Cole drove me absolutely crazy (as I’m sure was intentional).

While I usually read for the romance, Katherine Center has a way of pulling me into the entire story beyond “just the romance.” The best way I can describe this is to say that while the romance was swoony and sweet, the subject matter, character development and adventure gripped me just as much, if not more, than the developing romance between Katie and Hutch. No spoilers, of course. Just read the book and you’ll find out why I was on the edge of my seat and couldn’t put this book down. Highly recommend!

Intimacy: Kisses only
Language: Moderate language (including at least one F-word)
Content Considerations: Eating disorder/self-image issues, innuendo, toxic relationship

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an eARC copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Katherine Center’s writing is my happy place.

This book is as funny as it is healing and swoon worthy.

The body image subplot made me feel so seen and I loved seeing this included in a romance novel. Is it risky? Sure. But for some of us, this type of acknowledgement to our lived experience feels so real.

Things I loved:
💕Emotional but honest take on body image (CW!)
💕a wonderful dog (George Bailey omg 🐕)
💕a devoted best friend/cousin (Beanie!)
💕Florida Keys setting 🌴
💕A real HERO’s hero / Coast Guard (Hutch 😍)
💕the romance of it all 😍
💕Friends that become family (Rue & the Gals)
💕healing journeys of our main characters
💕riveting hurricane drama
💕the comedic feel of the entire book

I loved these characters so much I didn’t want the book to end.

I have enjoyed Katherine Center’s books but this wasn’t it for me. I struggled to connect with both characters, Katie feels airheaded and shallow as she is consumed with her weight and decisions she makes near the end of the story doesn’t align with the growth we expected her to make. She grows as a character but the resolution for her character feels rushed and uncharacteristic.

The main male character is one-dimensional. He may have secrets that help us better bond and understand him, but it feels clear that the dynamic created is lust and not something more transformative like in Center’s other novels. There are gut wrenching moments, but the book feels unfinished and/or just unpolished.

This book felt like a big hug, but it also had me laughing out loud! I love a book with some giggle
moments!
Katie's job has been threatened and her coworker enlisted her to take his place as a producer making a piece profiling the rescue swimmer, Hutch. There's one problem Katie can't swim, and she'll be filming on a helicopter over the ocean. More problems arise while Katie is staying with Hutch's aunt, Rue. A hurricane is coming and Katie is developing feelings for Hutch!
This is definitely a book you want to read. Thank you to @smpromance @katherinecenter and @stmartinspress for the digital arc.

First, I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martins Press for an eARC in return for an honest review!

This book started off SO strong, I loved the characters, and it was FUNNY! Katie was so relatable, from her body image issues, to her worries about her career, to her many fears. I loved her dynamic with Beanie, their relationship was so sweet and added such a nice touch to the story. Beanie was her #1 supporter and i loved reading about sisterhood in books.

Hutch was lovable and i was falling for him at the same time as Katie was. Rue was probably the highlight of this book for me. I loved her and I want her story, I need to read about her and her husband’s love story, even if it will wreck me.

This was a solid 4⭐️ UNTIL about 60%.. When lies and miscommunication began, it lost me a bit.. I enjoyed the ending, but it didn’t quite feel like enough to give it 4 stars.

Overall, this was a sweet read. This was my first Katherine Center book, and I do plan on reading more!

I absolutely LOVED this latest gem from Katherine Center. Has all of the rom-com-dram I have come to expect from her. Tender and thoughtful and hilarious. Three cheers for George Bailey!!

Katherine Center is reliably witty and fun.

The Love Haters was a quick read with all you want from a rom-com: humor, jealousy, flirting, and a colorful aunt named Rue.

I devoured this book. As an avid Katherine Center reader, I wait on pins and needles for her new books. I was given the privilege to read this as an early copy, and let me tell you. IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT. I laughed out loud so many times, I had a crease in my forehead, and I was so happy yet sad when I was finished. I LOVED Katie. She was such a real person that I often forgot that she was the main character. And Hutch? Seriously?? We need a sequel. =]

Katherine Center is one of my favorite authors when it comes to romcoms, and I’ll pretty much read anything she writes. This book was just what I needed to get out of a reading slump.

Hutch and Katie are both really likable characters, and I enjoyed spending time with them. It’s an easy, quick read for a cozy day. The reason I didn’t give it a higher rating is that I felt the ending was missing something. Even so, I’d still recommend it to other romcom fans.

This book was glorious (as Rue would say).

I received an ARC from NetGalley. I might update my review after it is published with excerpts or quotes I loved after it’s published.

I have always loved to read but this is the first time I have ever felt like stumbled upon a book that I needed at a particular moment in time.

The Love Haters is, of course, a rom com between an unlikely duo - Katie, a videographer who wants to tell the stories of hero’s while blending into the background herself, and Hutch, a US Coast Guard rescue swimmer with certifiable hero status he would like to escape from. A series of ups and downs both builds and threatens their relationship. Twists and romance ensue. But more poignant for me than the relationship between the couple was that between Katie and herself. Katherine Center aptly calls it an enemies to lovers trope. At 9 months postpartum (and frankly for most of my life) I have struggled with body image. I wouldn’t say that reading this novel has suddenly fixed me, but I definitely feel a higher capacity for kindness and love towards myself.

The Love Haters is a fun, chuckle out loud but also tear up more than once, story that makes you really take a look at your own life, which is not something I have found recently in a book. Having only read The Bodyguard from Katherine Center, which I enjoyed, I would say this blows that out of the water. It was a stay up way past my bedtime and think about the next chance I will get to read kind of book. I plan to check out more of her books but this will be tough to beat!

I actually didn’t feel the chemistry as much as I would have liked. The supporting characters were a mixed bag and felt all over the place. Still entertaining but not one of my favs.

Big thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for the arc to read and review.

My first thoughts after finishing this book was, “this can’t be the same author that wrote the Bodyguard??!??” I had so much high expectations for this one but unfortunately it just didn’t hit the mark. The romance felt way too instalovey, like we aren’t even at the half way point and confessions are being made. To top it off the characters lacked a lot of depth which in the end made them hard to connect to.

The only thing preventing me from giving this a 1 Star was the message Mrs. Center was conveying. Our main character Katie, greatly struggles with body image and self esteem. The big theme behind this book was discovering self-love. Katie truly got to explore this throughout the story and watching her person growth in this area was enjoyable.

Overall, even though I didn’t love it I would still recommend especially if you’re a Katherine Center fan.