Thank you NetGalley, St Martins Press and Katherine Center for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5⭐️
I struggled with the first part of this book but liked the rest of it.

The first part heavily focused on body image and disordered eating and the FMC almost seemed proud of how “successful” she was. While this insecurity and distorted self-image played a role throughout the entire book it didn’t feel worth it. In my opinion, the topic either needed to be explored significantly more or significantly less.

Katie, the FMC, is given the chance to show her value at her company amid downsizing so she doesn’t share that she doesn’t swim when approached about an assignment to do a promotional video for the Coast Guard featuring their hotshot rescue swimmer, Hutch.

Hutch happens to be her co-workers brother and she’s told he’s a “love hater”, perfect but always frowning. He’s smart, sexy, generous, loyal and patient however on a few situations he gets bad intel and immediately shuts down versus asking questions and communicating.

Aunt Rue was obviously the favorite character and “the gals” were a great addition to the story.

I understand the secondary story was supposed to be about Katie finding her appreciation and acceptance of her body, self-love, body positivity and all that but it just fell flat for me.

A wonderful read!
This novel drew me in from the very first page and kept me hooked until the end. The characters were vibrant and relatable, the writing was engaging, and the story had just the right balance of heart and humor. Highly recommend!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

4.5 ⭐️ rounded up. Katherine Center always has a way of drawing in the reader with relatable characters, humor, and sweet moments. Not only does this book focus on romantic love, but also love for oneself. Katie had so much personal growth throughout the story, as she learns body positivity, to feel comfortable in her own skin, to find happiness, and love who she is. Hutch was so sweet and cute. And George Bailey was such a lovable dog and I love how he immediately bonded with Katie. Highly recommend this one!

“You’re like… you’re like a human hot-fudge sundae.”

“So you really do hate love.”
“A lot. So much.”
“Good choice, let’s hate it together.”

Thank you St Martins Press for my advanced copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the copy. Katherine Center has been one of my favorites authors in the past few years and I was very excited when I received the advanced copy of The Love Haters. We follow Katie Vaughn as she struggling to keep her job as a video producer while balancing the trauma from a past relationship with a famous singer. Katie is sent to Key West to shoot a promotional video for the coast guard. The video will feature Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson, a rescue swimmer. Along the way Katie and Hutch form a relationship. It was an entertaining read, but it was not my favorite of Katherine Center’s books. I didn’t enjoy the body image insecurity as it was very repetitive. I also feel like the two main characters were lacking chemistry. I did enjoy the character of Rue and all of her quirks. I also loved George Bailey.

⭐️
Unfortunately, I think the only Love Hater was me.

I went into this hoping for something light and fun — maybe a Hallmark-style rom-com (which, to be clear, I am into). But instead, I found myself dragging through it, and by the 60% mark, I gave up and just skimmed the rest.

The premise sounded promising: Katie, our main character, lies about knowing how to swim to take a job profiling Hutch, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer. I actually liked both of them! The problem? The dreaded “third act breakup” happened way too early, and it was so annoying. The central conflict felt completely forced — unnecessary drama where there didn’t need to be any. I couldn’t get behind it.

This book tries to be both a romantic comedy and a personal growth story, especially with Katie’s body image journey. I appreciated that angle at first, but it fizzled out — like it wanted to be a major subplot, but never fully committed. By the end, it felt tacked on.

The only character I had zero issues with? The dog. Perfect. No notes.

This is the third book I’ve read by this author and I’ve only liked one… is it time for our breakup?

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Another winner from Katherine Center! Katie's drive and attitude of "Say yes and figure it out later" was fun and I enjoyed watching her squirm but ultimately handle her uncomfortable situations. Hutch was absolutely perfect, but not *too* perfect. I loved their dynamic and enjoyed the banter and relationship building. I pretty much blew through this book and thoroughly enjoyed it!

Katherine Center is always a go-to author for me, but I had a hard time with this one. Katie's body image issues made this tough for me to get through, as someone who struggles with how to feel about my body.

3.5 rounded up.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. That isn’t to say it was bad by any means, just that I have enjoyed Katherine’s previous books and sadly this just was not my favorite. I absolutely adored Rue, and Hutch and Katie were very cute, but something just felt like it was missing. I think them getting together a bit later on in the book felt a bit rushed, and took away from the story I was hoping for. Katie’s struggles through the book felt authentic and I did love the body positivity aspect, but I just wish I could have connected with this story more!

Katherine Center is always top-tier. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one, but it didn't replace my favorite of hers. I thought Katie was an amazing female main character, and I loved seeing her growth and development throughout the story. I especially loved the beauty lists she was made to do each day. I didn't really know much about the Coast Guard, and while this was fiction, I thought Center did a great job of providing info and keeping things interesting. The story was fast-paced, and I enjoyed watching the love story unfold. What I didn't love was the miscommunication between Hutch and Cole. Their fighting took me out of the story, and I wish it had been resolved sooner. The drama just wasn't necessary. I also loved Rue. She brought so much joy to the book, and I found her advice and kindness refreshing. Overall, this was a great read, and I always love diving into Center's writing. Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the ARC to read and review!

Katherine Center is a must read author for me. I liked this book but not quite as much as her others. Usually the lessons the characters learn are much more subtle, but I feel like the body image part of the plot was overemphasized. Overall, it was still a good read though, and I will definitely be eagerly awaiting the next Katherine Center book!

Katherine Center delivers another heartwarming, witty romance that balances emotional depth with playful banter. The Love Haters is a story about confronting fear, rediscovering joy, and embracing love in the most unexpected places. Katie is a relatable, stubborn protagonist whose journey kept me laughing and rooting for her throughout. The chemistry between her and Hutch was both electric and emotionally satisfying. If you're a fan of feel-good love stories with smart, self-aware heroines, this one's a win. However, I found the story somewhat hard to get into at first. I am a HUGE Center fan (read every book thus far!) but this was not my favorite.

This book was so cute and such a fun, quick read. I love every Katherine Center book I have read, and this one did not disappoint at all. The perfect summer read

3.5 stars rounded up

🙌 What worked for me:
• Rue! I loved her so much and wish she was my aunt.
• Hutch's and Cole's backstory with Rue. It was both heartbreaking and touching at the same time.
• George Bailey. I love great danes, and he was such a good boy.
• The meet cute. It had me giggling.
• Katie, out FMC, dealt with being put in awkward situations really well.

🚫 What didn't work for me:
• I felt like so much of this book focused on body positivity. As someone with a history of disordered eating, body positively has not been good for my mental health (I'm more a fan of body neutrality), so this book's push was a bit much for me.
• The ridiculousness of some of Katie's thoughts as she was heading onto the military base...civilians don't need to salute military personnel, And the fact that the officer didn't tell her that when she asked...🙄
• The (one-sided) sibling rivalry was over-the-top

🤜 Would I recommend: Yes. Even with the negatives, this was still a cute romcom. Plus, I just live Katherine Center.


Read if you enjoy:
✔️ Dog Dads
✔️ Tropical Settings
✔️ Funny Meet Cutes

Katherine Center is hands down one of my favorite authors. This book was beautiful, fun, heavy and light at the same time. There were some moments that made me literally laugh out loud and others that made me cry. I find her characters to be so relatable and well-written. Katie’s character and struggles really resonated with me and I felt that her journey in this book was so important. The title is deeper once you finish and reflect upon the book. It’s a love story for acceptance and finding peace in who you are.

Seems like I am in the minority with my rating, here, but this book was everything I expect from Katherine Center!

This book pulled on every emotion! Not only does KC know how to make me laugh, but she also knows how to make me sob!

Katie was kind of a quirky FMC and Hutch seemed grumpy/standoffish, at first.

Aunt Rue might have been a side character, but she was the best! Her and Hutch’s Great Dane, had me LOLing every time they were mentioned.

These 2 side characters knew what they were doing with Hutch and Katie!

Finding out about Hutch, Katie and Rue’s history, was heartbreaking. What they went through was terrible, but they found a way to make the best of a bad situation.

I love how Rue quickly pulled Katie into their dynamic, and didn’t let her stay in her shell.

The character development for both MCs was amazing!

Thank you Katherine Center and Net galley for this arc in exchange for my honest review!

2.5/5 I'm not a big reader of rom coms, but I've enjoyed this author's work in the past. She's always created smart female characters that don't fall into cliches. But this one for me was way too cutesy verging on cringy. What happened to our smart and capable female protagonist? Why is every situation so silly? This may work for some readers, but I'm not a fan.

DNF at 31%. I got talked into requesting this book by my boss, LOL, but I just couldn't finish it. The female main character was annoying, not endearing, and I dislike the trope of the FMC as the ditsy, clutzy girl at work. And all of the body shaming/body positivity was like a hammer. Just not for me.

3.75 stars
George Bailey ❤️🐾🐸

I liked it. This was my first Katherine Center book, but not my last. Went in knowing there would be no spice, did not miss it. BUT I needed more romance! More moments between Katie and Hutch.
Katie struggled with her body image and chromophobia. This book was more about her healing. I just wish she didn’t need Hutch to make her feel/realize she’s beautiful. Beanie (her friend) put so much work in…

Hutch may be the dreamiest of Katherine Center's male love interests, but what really makes this novel stand out is the way Center flips the enemies to lover trope on its head. Yes, it's loathing to love, but instead of simply falling for a man, this is a story about how to love yourself (it helps that Katie is also diving into lust with the rescue swimmer of every reader's dreams). Fans of The Bodyguard and The Rom-Commers are sure to swoon for Center's latest love story.

There is no question of was this book good, it was. It wasn't however as good as I feel like it could have been. I needed more character development in the beginning from some characters that were brought in the last 1/3 of the book. The ending also gave me a little whip lash and not in a good way. I wish the connection between our FMC and MMC was a little bit stronger even if it was somewhat a forbidden love. I love the small town vibes from living in key west. I haven't seen many books where the MMC is in some type of work force (coast guard). So I loved learning all that information that I wouldn't of had if I didn't read the this book. I would recommend this book to readers that are looking for a beach read or even like an airport book. It was cute and had it's moments but I kept wanting more from our characters. Katherine Center's writing is easy to read and doesn't leave you confused. I never felt lost anywhere throughout the book. Almost four stars (3.75)