Sun, salt, secrets, and second chances! This book is the rom-com escape I didn’t know I needed.

From the first chapter, I was hooked by Katie who is funny, self-deprecating, and completely relatable. Facing the end of her job, she says yes to a last-ditch assignment profiling a heroic Coast Guard swimmer in Key West. Small problem? She can’t swim. Slightly bigger problem? She lies about it. And the swimmer is her coworker’s estranged brother and extremely distracting.

What follows is a perfect storm of mistaken identity, sibling rivalry, beach bar chaos, and slow-burn chemistry. Hutch is rugged, guarded, and hiding some hurt of his own, which makes his connection with Katie even more satisfying as it builds.

What I loved most, though, was how the book balanced comedy with real emotional stakes—fear, forgiveness, career choices, and learning to show up for yourself. Yes, there are hurricanes and conga lines, but there’s also vulnerability, courage, and one of the most satisfying romantic I have read in a while.

Perfect for anyone who loves their romance with a little salt spray and a lot of heart.

Katie has to make a video for her coworker's brother, Tom, a coast guard rescue swimmer or risk losing her job. Katie can't swim but fakes it. Things get complicated fast...

It's funny, sweet, romantic, heart-warming and everything that you expect a katherine Center book to be. I have been waiting for her next book for a while and this one doesn't disappoint. Really enjoy it. Aunt Rue was terrific and so was George Bailey. A truly outstanding cast. :)

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

Katherine Center, YOU GIRL… you know the way to a girl’s heart!

This book had everything I crave in a summer read: a HOT HOT grumpy male lead, a lovable, overthinking, body-conscious heroine, and a dynamic that’s equal parts hilarious and heartwarming.

I was thrilled to receive an ARC of this one—Katherine Center is easily one of my favorite authors, and she delivered again.

The chemistry between Hutch and Katie? Off the charts. Their banter and emotional push-pull had me hooked from page one. And THE GALS—oh my gosh, the gals!! Their scheming was the cherry on top of this delightfully whipped romantic sundae. Some of the best supporting characters I’ve read in a while!

This book is a breezy, laugh-out-loud, feel-good gem and an absolute must for your beach bag or poolside TBR.

This was my 3rd book to read by Katherine Center and it didn’t disappoint! I loved the MC and the found family aspect. The banter had me kicking my feet and giggling. This is a great book to pick up for a quick summer read.

You can read all of my reviews at Nerd Girl Loves Books.

It hurts my heart to give this rating to a Katherine Center book. Normally I love them. Sadly, this one missed the mark for me. The writing is still good and the characters were pretty well formed, I just didn't really like either of them or care about the plot.

Katie is a video producer and works for a company that creates promo videos for businesses. She finds out the company is downsizing and her creeper boss Cole tells her that it will save her position at work if she takes a job profiling Hutch, a hot shot Coast Guard rescue swimmer in Florida that heroically saved a person. She doesn't know how to swim or anything about the Coast Guard, but she doesn't want to lose her job so she goes.

Turns out there is a lot Cole left out about the job. 1. Hutch (a ridiculously hot guy) is Cole's brother and they haven't spoken in a really long time. 2. She'll be living in a cottage in his aunt's community, and 3. She'll have to film a lot of the video on a boat (did I mention she doesn't know how to swim?) Katie does what she always does, fakes it until she makes it. Katie suffers from crippling body image issues and there is a lot of self-hate talk in the book which hits close to home for me, which was a bit uncomfortable.

Hutch acts like he's got it all together, but inside he's dealing with a lot of strong feelings about the rescue. Even though the guy he saved lived, Hutch has a lot of guilt about the rescue (which I won't go into to avoid spoilers). He's totally against the video, but is ordered to cooperate with Katie by his commander. He just wants to get the thing over with and pretty much discounts Katie and everything she wants to do. They do have one thing in common, however - they both hate love (or so they think).

Mid-way through the book another stressor is added to an already difficult situation, as if the couple didn't have enough problems as it is. I'm not really sure what it was about this book, but I just didn't connect with it. I felt there was a lot of unnecessary filler and the "twist" was a bit cringy. I didn't connect with either MC and frankly, didn't care what happened to them. But, that's just me. Others may completely disagree with me.

The bright spot in the book was Hutch's aunt and her friends. She cracked me up and the dynamic she has with her friends has me hoping I can find a group like that to hang out with once I retire. I'll also say that the narrators did a great job and I would have probably DNF'd the book if I hadn't listened to it instead of reading it.

I received a complimentary e-copy and audio copy of this book from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Cute. A little fluffier than some of Center's other books without quite as much depth, but I still enjoyed it!

I love Katherine Center, but I feel like giving this 2 stars is being quite generous. It started off ok and then just got worse and worse until I was hate skimming just to get it over with. These two characters had about as much personality as a pair of dried up coconuts and I just couldn't bring myself to care at all about either one of them. Katie sounds like a 14 year old most of the time and not someone in her late 20s/early 30s. She needs to go see a therapist and stop talking about how her pinkie finger is her favorite body part. We get it, she's insecure. I don't like my body, either, but I don't want to read about it for 320 pages. And other than having muscles for days, I don't get the appeal of Hutch, either. We don't get to see hardly any dialogue between them. There were huge time jumps where we're told they've spent weeks together and are really liking each other, but we don't get to actually see any of it. Tons of telling and no showing. It felt like an editor had plucked 50 pages out of the book and we missed all of their relationship development. Hutch's Great Dane, Aunt Rue, and her club of quirky old ladies, were the best part of this whole book. If I hadn't committed to reading this as an ARC I would have absolutely DNF'd. I had a hard copy on preorder to go see her on book tour and cancelled it, that's how much I hated it. Such a bummer.

Katherine Center was introduced to me through some of her previous ARCs and is the reason I continue to ARC for authors I haven't previously read before. This is another incredible book written by a stellar author.

Another great feel good romantic comedy from Katherine Center. This book will make a great summer read.

I’m usually a fan of Katherine Center’s books, but I have to say that “The Love Haters” is not my favorite one and I DNFed it about halfway through. The writing and dialog was brilliant as always, but I just couldn’t relate to the character Katie Vaughn. I understand what the author was attempting to do—to draw attention to body dysmorphia. However, it wasn’t just a part of the plot—it was displayed on practically every single page, but in a superficial way that perhaps if a reader actually did have body dysmorphia, it could be make their problems seem like they’d go away if only a man told them that they were “hot.”

The summary of the book made it seem like it would be a really fun read, but I just couldn’t get past the negative focus on Katie’s body. I felt like the author was trying too hard to deal with this, and it showed.

Many thanks to Net Galley and to the publisher for an ARC. I’m looking forward to the author’s next book instead.

Thank you to St Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinions. This was my first book by Center and, while I can see why people like her writing, the kitschy quality she uses isn’t for me. I DNFed

To save her job, Katie takes an assignment as a video producer for a Coast Guard rescue swimmer, Hutch, in Key West. There are two big problems: Katie can't swim and Hutch is the brother of her coworker, Cole, who was requested for this assignment and expected to show up. Katie arrives in Key West with a mess to untangle and a lot on the line.

Katherine Center can do no wrong. Her books are witty, romantic, and genuine. The Love Haters is no exception. Rue is one of my favorite characters of all time. I felt like I was in Key West living this chaotic dream with Katie. This is a perfect summer read.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of The Love Haters.

If Katherine Center writes it, I will definitely read it. Katie heads to Key West, presumably to save her job, by profiling Coast Guard hero, Hutch. Several problems arise with that, including the fact that Hutch and Cole, Katie's co-worker who sent her, have bad blood between them. And the fact that Hutch is a swimmer and Katie can't swim. Add Hutch and Cole's Aunt Rue, a hurricane and a great dane to the mix and you have a hilarious rom-com perfect for summer.

Katherine Center is one of my favorite authors. This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2025 and unfortunately only ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Our FMC Katie struggles with her body image, and I thought it was a bit too much. The chemistry between FMC and MMC was almost non existing.
I didn't connect to this one as much as other books from the Katherine Center. With that said the story was good and kept me engaged. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love this book from start to finish. It is perfection and exactly the book I needed in the moment I needed it.

I love the characters - especially how relatable Katie is as she’s thrown into all manner of situations. I love Rue and the ladies of the rental place. I love the entire story - the giggles, the anticipation and excitement and the slow burn- even the twists and turns that kept me reading, albeit sometimes frustratingly so. Also I love an animal companion, and George Bailey is the goofiest giant of a dog you could ever want, despite the mayhem.

I love the journey that Katie is on. Not just the crazy scenarios she finds herself in all in the name of saving her job. But her insecurities as well. Maybe I saw a little smidge of myself in her, and found myself reevaluating a few things about me as a result.

Also there are some hella exciting events I was not prepared for.

Anything Katherine Center writes, I will read! Her books always break me out of a reading slump and get me back excited for getting into a book. This book was super sweet, just like any Katherine Center books. The characters are funny and I found myself laughing out lout multiple times. While I don't usually mind if things in books are "unrealistic", this one took just one too many turns for me. Overall, I would recommend for anyone wanting an entertaining and fun read.

This is the first Katherine Center book that has been a miss for me…the pacing was slow and the characters (mostly the FMC) were very unlikable.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this EArc in exchange for an honest review!

This was so cute! Exactly what you would want and expect from a cozy capital R romance. It was funny, and I found myself cackling out loud in some places. The banter was great, the setting was great, and the vibes were immaculate. This would be great for any rom-com fan.

Thank you Netgalley and St Martins press for an ARC of Centers newest novel, " The Love Haters". She is a go to author for me and every book of hers feels like a warm, cozy hug. Out of all her books though, this was my least favorite. Katie has to save her job during a mass layoff, and her boss says he will help her with their boss to save her job if she films his Coast Guard brother's promotional video in the Florida Keys. His brother is a hot commodity since he was filmed saving Jennifer Anniston's dog! When Katie travels to Florida to meet " Hutch" sparks fly, and his dog, George Bailey, will steal your heart. However cute this book was, I couldn't get over the constant focus that main character puts on her body image disorder, and it felt way too repetitive for this novel. I did love the Florida Keys location and Aunt Rue and her loud outfits made this book in my opinion.

*4.5 Stars On My Instagram Account*

“He must have loved you, to write a song like that.” “Yeah, probably,” I said, “He just didn’t love me...good enough.”

"But I hadn’t thought I hated love. I’d thought I was just recovering from it."

"I regretted how mean I’d been. I regretted how relentlessly I had refused to show myself any kindness."

There's so much self reflection to unpack in the often touching, laugh out loud, The Love Haters, by introspective romantic comedy author, Katherine Center.

Katie's recovering from a broken engagement. To make matters worse her job as a video producer is on the line unless she completes a recruitment film for the Coast Guard highlighting their star rescue swimmer, the heroic, handsome "Hutch." The problem is she's supposed to participate in their rescue simulations and she can't swim. Hilarity ensues during her "I Love Lucy" predicaments.

But what Katie wasn't expecting was Hutch to be kind, patient and flirty. He's been labeled a love hater. Supposedly he doesn't believe in love. Then again, he hasn't met Katie before now.

In this single first person POV, leading voice actress Patti Murin reigns supreme. Her understanding of Katie's pain, her low self esteem and self degradation about her weight is raw and real.

Hutch's relationship with his brother Cole, a seemingly immature annoying character, also has a journey that left me owing Cole an apology. It was a definite "don't judge until you have all the facts" moment for me.

Reading and listening to The Love Haters is an abundance of laughs and tears, with an adorable Great Dane, a feisty Aunt Rue and swoony romance. Hutch is everything he appears to be, a good looking, sexy hero and the only thing he hates is not loving Katie sooner.

I received free copies of this book/ audiobook from Macmillan Audio, St. Martins Press and SMP Romance via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.