How old are these people??? Eleven?? Except Cole that must be seven. I think I'm done with Katherine Center books...

Katie is at a crossroads. She can either go make a video profile of the new viral hero of the moment Hutch that rescued Jennifer Aniston's dog or stay put and be fired. Seems like a pretty obvious choice. When Cole (Hutch's brother who does not like Hutch) offers this lifeline she jumps at the chance of saving her job. Hutch is a Coast Guard rescue swimmer and Katie would have to pass swimming tests. But, Katie doesn't swim. Well, she'll fake it until she makes it.

First, the characters are supposed to be near 30 or over 30, and the way they talk, think, and act it's just like preteens. They are just all so childish and with no social skills at all. They don't talk like real adults; it's just such a stillted and unnatural dialogue. It's like the author wants so badly for her characters to be lovable and quirkys, that they don't feel like human beings talking. Katie's inner monologue is unbearable. But it's better than when she is talking to anyone; she reverts into a child and whoever is talking with does too. Hutch is just a nothing burger of a character; he's there to heal Katie's self steem and be hot I guess. The instalove and instalust are annoying, they don't build a relationship that we can follow and believe in. From the get go, they are so into one another and their interactions don't deepen the connection for the reader to see; we are just told about it.

And now, Cole, Hutch's brother. Oh my god... One of the worst and most irrational characters that I've read about. His lies make no sense: what the lies are about, why he is lying, the pressure he puts on Katie for just go with the lie that makes NO SENSE. Everything about his character makes no sense including his ending. What was that?? Why was he in this book?? Just to create tension because the main characters fell in instalove and in instalust so the author had to fabricate a point of conflict. But it was just so badly done. Cole's a spoiled and bratty child.

The story is paper thin - nothing really happens until Cole appears and when major event happens by the end of the book that was just shoehorned in with no need for it.

I think The Bodyguard is going to remain the only book by Katherine Center that I like and I'm going to stop looking for another one of hers.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and publisher for the ARC.

I love all of Katherine Center's books, and this one was no different. I think I could identify with Katie's body problems, since I have some of them myself. I loved her relationship with Hutch, and I especially loved George Bailey.

Rounding up to 4.5 stars. I adored this story so much! The Key West setting had me dreaming of sun-drenched beaches, I thoroughly enjoyed the characters, the side characters were so lively and fun, and the romance was as sweet as a sun-kissed summer breeze.

Katie is corporate videographer/producer tasked with shooting a promo video of the Coast Guard to help save her job. Her subject in Key West is her boss Cole's older "scientifically perfect" older brother and Coast Guard rescue swimmer Hutch. The catch, Katie doesn't know how to swim. But Hutch is going to teach her enough to be able to join the rescue team on the helicopter.

Hutch and Cole's Aunt Rue is a hoot with her gal pals who care for and watch out for Katie as much as they do for each other. And Hutch's Great Dane George Bailey is absolutely adorable in his immediate attachment to Katie. As the mom of a dog who is terrified of thunderstorms, George's trembling, panting and climbing on top of you behavior is spot on. And yes, I would rescue said dog, in any and all circumstances.

I could relate to Katie in so many ways. I confess I'm a chromophobe, like Katie, leaning into black, gray and blue as my go-to wardrobe colors. I've also seen a few reviews that complain about the emphasis on Katie's body self-image. But as someone who was urged to attend weight watcher meetings and go to Elaine Powers (iykyk) as early as middle school, and has not owned a swimsuit in 15 years, I could completely understand her body image issues. It's a real thing even it isn't relatable to everyone.

Katie and Hutch didn't really spend that much time alone together, but I bought into their relationship anyway and adored each individually and as a couple. Highly recommend this one to anyone looking for a sunbaked and romantic escape.

Let me start off by saying that I love Katherine Center. Her books are usually like cozy hugs. This one, however, missed the mark for me. The story was honestly too convoluted for a rom com, which to me was what this book was trying to be. I appreciated what was trying to come of the body dysmorphia and self confidence struggles with Katie, but it got mixed up in everything else and I just felt like I couldn’t focus. I didn’t feel like there was a ton of chemistry on Hutch’s end, I was sideswiped by the twist with Cole, and the end was just a bit overwhelming.

I was in the mood for a light romance and had seen all the good reviews for this book and that it was on the NYT bestseller list, so I decided to try it. It wound up to be exactly what I was looking for. Katie Vaughn is a video producer at a company that's about to lay off a bunch of the staff. To try to save her job, she agrees to an assignment that could really help her career. The first problem is that the assignment is to profile Tom "Hutch" Hutcheson who's a Coast Guard rescue swimmer in Key West. One of the requirements is knowing how to swim, but Katie doesn't know how. The next problem is that Hutch is Katie's co-worker Cole's brother, further complicating the situation. Cole has already described Hutch to Katie as a love hater. When Katie meets Hutch, she finds out that he's devastatingly handsome. She has to overcome her fear of the water and helicopters to try to do her best at this assignment. In the process of trying to produce a great video to save her career, she also learns a lot about herself and what she really wants from life. This is a great beach read for summer and I recommend it. Thanks to #netgalley and #stmartinspress for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This has been my favorite book by Katherine Center! It is a perfect summer read.

You've read the summary already so you have an idea of the story. It makes me sad that so many people were unimpressed by this one, when I so clearly enjoyed the story of Hutch and Katie.

I highly recommend if you want a fun rom-com, grumpy sunshine story.

Thank you to Netgalley for a free review copy of this for an honest review!

This book was a bit of a mixed bag for me. It had moments where I was eating up the romance and tension between the two MCs. Then there were moments where I was hitting my head with the choices that the author was making with the writing.
One thing I want to start off by mentioning, is that this book centers a lot around a negative body image. I didn't like how much of the story focused on this aspect, without any true work to heal by the FMC. The FMC just uses validation from the MMC to feel better about herself.
I also just really disliked the final act of the story. It was over the top dramatic and distracted from everything else that happened in the story. It really pulled me out of the story. I also just felt like it was predictable how everything was going to unfold.
Some of the things I enjoyed about this story were the romance. I liked the slow burn nature, and thought there was a great amount of tension that was built up between them. I really looked forward to all of their scenes together and see their connection continue to grow.
I also really liked the setting of the story. The military, but beachy vibes of the story were top tier. I liked seeing them explore the area as they got to know each other. The side characters that we got to meet and how it was linked to her job was a lot of fun.
Overall I think I am going to be done reading books from this author. They have been a bit hit or miss for me. I didn't hate my time reading this one but I didn't love it either.

I'm starting to find Center's romance novels to be a bit formulaic. The main characters have all been running together in my mind, and nothing particularly sticks out about any of them from her last couple of novels. While this is for sure the case with The Love Haters, I enjoyed this one. I did like Katie and rooted for her, although I felt she made some really dumb choices and ignored her instincts a few too many times. I liked Hutch a lot but, again, nothing super distinguishing about him as compared to the male mains in Center's last few novels. The plot in this one was somewhat realistic and the ending in particular definitely worked for me. Overall, this was fun.

You can always count on Katherine Center for a well written novel with heart.

There are lots of cute rom-com moments and characters (especially by the group collectively known as “the gals”). However, the author prevents the novel from becoming too saccharine with the MC Katie’s arc of personal growth, and loving herself. The plot is interesting, and has a good pace to keep you reading. The slow burn romance between Katie and Hutch is “chefs kiss”.

I recommend this book (and author), to anyone who enjoys rom-coms with a bit of heart.

3.15 ⭐️s

This was definitely surprising. The home slide drama was unexpected. There is a character who is intentionally INFURIATING and it works. He alone made me consider dnfing the book but that is much of his purpose. I found Katie, the FMC, to be in many ways both relatable and a mystery. I want to give her both a hug and my therapist’s number. The highlights of this story were absolutely Rue and George Bailey.

Was I entertained? Yes. Is this my favorite of Katherine Center’s works? No.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Love Haters! It included many of the things that I love about a cute, summery rom com, and as a bonus, it was a clean read. This book made me laugh at some of the scrapes that Katie got herself into, some by her own doing and some based on the circumstances. It also had a sentimental thread with Hutch and his backstory. Most importantly, it had characters that were enjoyable and well written. I loved the growth that Katie had from the beginning of the book to the end. Hutch was the perfect MMC… his character combined with his epic job made him so pleasant to read about. Rue was also a wonderful addition the the story. I loved her excitement for life and color, plus she offered some great wisdom along the way. Cole drove me crazy as the book went on, but I think that was how it was supposed to be. Katherine Center has a way of writing characters that you connect with and enjoy reading about.

Were there things in this book that were a little bit unbelievable at times? Sure. Did I still enjoy it anyway? Absolutely! I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a quick and sweet, summery romance.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Listen, I love Katherine Center, but I fear that this book just was not for me. While there was nothing inherently bad about this book or the writing style, the plot just felt very disjointed and not as refined as a usual Katherine Center book. The setup was great, and very typical of a cute summer rom-com that Katherine Center is known for; however, the execution just didn’t hit the way I would have hoped.

This book follows Katie Vaughn who is facing some struggles in both her personal life and her professional life, and when she gets an opportunity that she simply cannot refuse she finds herself in paradise with a certified “love hater” as she attempts to fake it until she makes it. While I was so excited for this premise, the overall execution just fell flat. The stakes that built the foundation of the whole conflict/premise of the book were not as serious as the description made it sound, and the way everything played out had the book basically wrapped up around 60-70%. While there was the introduction of a secondary conflict, it just felt so late in the story and therefore made the ending feel rushed as it resolved so quickly. Overall, while I still enjoyed my time reading this book, this was unfortunately not my favorite book by this author.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Netgalley, and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I liked this book. It’s perfect for a summer read, heartfelt, funny and a little over the top. I appreciated the narrative around body image and self doubt and related to that a lot.

This is not my favorite of this author's books. I struggled for the first quarter or so with trying to like the main character, Katie. It's not that I didn't believe someone could be insecure about her body or the other self esteem issues that Katie seemed to struggle with, but that I didn't buy into the way those things impacted this specific character. It was less relatable and more annoying. But Katherine Center is a favorite author, so I stuck it out, and that was the right call. The second half of the book really picked up for me, and I was completely invested in the couple from then on. I did really like the hero, Hutch, and the coast guard stuff was fun to read about too.

Katie Vaughn’s love life has taken a hit, and now her career might be next . To save her job, she agrees to profile Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer in Key West—despite not knowing how to swim ... and pretending she does.

For me this book was slow, the pacing just felt off and it wasn't till I was well past the halfway mark that I really started getting into it.

I'm not sure what it was, but I didn't really feel much of anything for this couple... like she could have ended up with the brother and I might have been ok with that.

This book was wonderfully written. A major theme of this book was forgiveness - of ourselves and others.

Another major theme was being comfortable with and loving your body, as it is, because it’s the only one you’ll ever get.

Far too often we care what other people perceive us to be when they look at us but what’s most important is that we love who we are and whoever doesn’t think we’re perfect the way we are, doesn’t deserve to know us.

While there were very cute moments between her and her love interest, I felt like the focal point of that book was about her falling in love with herself and being unapologetically her.

I enjoyed this book and will remember bits of this for very long to come.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me an advance reader’s copy of this book!

George Bailey is the best wingman there ever was.

More story of self-love than a romcom, The Love Haters felt so real and raw with little snippets of fun thrown in. My first Katherine Center and it won’t be my last.

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

You can never go wrong with a Katherine Center book. This one is just the same. I always love the sense of adventure mixed with a bit of realistic danger. This book was no different.

Katherine Center always writes the most fun rom-coms that then punch you in the face with some seriously deep emotional baggage to work through. The Love Haters is no different. This book has plenty of charm and laughs, but also delves deep into issues of body image, self worth, and moving on after toxic relationships. This book also touches on topics of alcoholism and the death of a spouse/parent. Most of these topics I felt were written extremely well, though I sometimes struggled with Katie's self-talk relating to her issues with eating and body image. Overall, I really appreciated this book and thought Hutch was one of her best MMC's yet. Aunt Rue and George Bailey were exceptionally great side characters (Lucky too, IYKYK!)

Patti Murin provides her signature style on the audiobook which I thought fit Katie's personality well. For some reason, I always picture Ellie Kemper when I hear Patti Murin's voice in a rom-com.

I absolutely love @katherinecenter and her books and this one was no exception! I love that it follows a video producer and a coast guard and his day to day as a hero.
Cole, his brother, and Aunt Rue have a really sad backstory, but I love how Katie softens them each and brings them all back together. This was such a fast and easy read for me and I really enjoy Katherine's writing. Definitely pick up this cute summer romcom!