I've read all of Katherine Center's books and this was one of my favorites. I will admit, I think it started out a little slow. The ending?! The last 75%?! Someone HAS to make this book into a movie. Thank you so much for the chance to read it. I'll be sharing my 5 star review on Good Reads for sure.

I’m not much of a romance reader, but Katherine Center’s books are clever and fun with good characters. The Lover Haters follows Katie, a video producer on the brink of losing her job, as she profiles a Coast Guard rescue swimmer in Key West.

Spoilers ahead: I love Katherine Center so I was so excited to read this book. As with other books she has written, I enjoyed the witty dialogue and some of the inner thoughts of the characters. Some things that I thought could be changed to improve the overall story of the book: I wish there had been some kind of payoff or resolution with the main character's ex. There was a lot of discussion of him and how he was using the idea of her to write songs, etc. and she was bashed a lot on social media by the public. I wish she had either spoken to him or had her own social media moment where she was able to speak to the public about her experience. I also did not love the brother storyline (the main character's coworker). He was selfish and annoying.

I'd read anything written by Katherine Center but goodness, this book was so charming and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I love that Center is able to write complex and conflicted characters, in a way that makes us recognize and confront our own challenges and flaws...but the books are still compulsively readable and lovely. This was among my favorites and I can't wait to see it soar when it's published in May.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for my eARC.

This follows Katie who works as a video producer and is in danger of losing her job. She has one last shot at keeping it - conducting a video profile of Hutch, who is a Coast Guard rescue swimmer. Unfortunately, Katie does not know how to swim due to a long-standing fear of swimsuits and body dysmorphia. She plans to fake her way through it and get swim lessons as soon as she gets there. She heads down to Key West and discovers Aunt Rue with a love of colorful kaftans, an oversized Great Dane who loves to bound into her, and that Hutch is her boss' estranged older brother.

Katherine Center continues to write delightful rom coms. Thoroughly enjoyed this - all characters felt real and fleshed out, the third act conflict did not feel contrived, and it was overall such a pleasure to read.

Katherine Center has a way of hooking me into a story and characters right away. I am not certain of it was because the main character was a Coast Guard rescue swimmer or if it was the female leads self deprecation that interested me the most. Either way it was a perfect love story with added emphasis on familial love and building your own family with deep friendship. A must read for 2025.

Katie is a video producer in danger of losing her job, but she has been given a lifeline by her coworker Cole with one caveat. She has to be able to swim. The job offered is to interview modern-day hero Hutch and produce a video about his daily life.
One tiny difficulty—she can't swim.
Hutch is a hunky Coast Guard rescuer, who is very upset to find Katie is doing the video instead of his brother - a tiny detail Cole omitted. Turns out the family rift has not been resolved for years. But hey, Hutch has a lot going for him, and the two slip into an easy routine in Key West, egged on by his Aunt Rue and her gaggle of girls.
Katie is very uncomfortable about her body size, and she keeps trying to become almost invisible in the way she dresses. Wearing a swimsuit in front of anyone, let alone hunky Hutch, is scary, but she has to learn how to swim, so the mental battle to do the opposite of what her fear tells her is challenging. Thankfully, Aunt Rue and Katie's best friend give her support and a bit of tough love as she fights through. This part is nicely done without feeling trite.
Towards the end, Cole decides to show up and cause as much aggro as possible, added to by one of the biggest storms Key West has seen and a dog who refuses to evacuate. I loved the dog.
Another enjoyable book by Center. It wasn't as engaging as others, but it has a lot going for it.

As a fan of Katherine Center books, this one filled that aching desire for more. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of The Love Haters. Hutch is an absolute hunk of a MMC, with such charming traits and impossibly desirable qualities. Katie’s realness with her body issues, self-worth and acceptance really made her character a strong read. Her development is beautiful to read.

Some plot points that I felt seemed confusing, or rushed, were the relationship to her ex-fiance and the aftermath of that, Cole’s lies and the need to urge them on, and Katie and Hutch’s relationship. The ex seemed to keep coming back, but never in a really tangible way. Only through songs and news articles, and I was expecting him to try and win her back to some degree rather than just online groveling. Cole’s lies bottled down to miscommunication tropes, and that took away from Hutch and Katie’s relationship. I would have loved more #Hatie moments, because each one was so perfectly swoonworthy, but still loved this novel nonetheless.

I think The Love Haters might be my favourite Katherine Center book yet.

I love that her books are genuinely very funny — I laughed out loud more than once. They’re also hopeful and the characters feel realistic, even when the situations they’re in are a bit silly.

In The Love Haters, video producer Katie is likely to be laid off unless she takes on a project to profile a Coast Guard rescue swimmer named Hutch. Unfortunately, Katie doesn’t know how to swim.

The peek in the life of a rescue swimmer was fascinating, and I loved the combination of heroic scenes and very silly ones.  Each character also has very realistic trauma to work through.

I read a lot of depressing horror and dark fantasy, so it’s fun to switch things up from time to time with a romance.  Katherine Center’s books are always so optimistic and good-natured in a way that would normally be too sweet for me.  I don’t know how she does it; somehow, I’m completely invested and a little weepy by the end about the goodness of people and the beauty of life.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for my review copy.

I am a huge fan of Katherine Center, and while this was not my favorite of hers, it was still a cute read! The love interest, Hutch, was swoon-worthy. The side characters were fun and endearing: the lovable, thunder-fearing dog, sweet Aunt Rue, and cousin Beanie with her body image wisdom! I really enjoyed reading Katie’s journey of self-acceptance. I thought the premise and some of the scenes were a tad cheesy, but this story had a great message. Plus, Katherine’s author's notes always have me choking up ❤️

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the e-arc!

I love Katherine Center! Her books truly make me smile.

When I saw Love Haters I knew I had to jump on it. There were so many things I loooved about this book. I love Katie and I reallllly love Hutch. He can rescue me any day!

This book made me laugh and sob. While there were a few things that gave me the ick and shake my head, especially after Cole shows up, I still truly loved it.

I also loooved the epiphany of loving yourself and the journey it takes to get there. There are a lot of things that I could relate to on this one. Very well done.

Thank you SMP and NetGalley for the amazing opportunity to read this early for an honest review. I can’t wait for it to release to put my trophy on my bookshelf.

Katherine Center checks all the boxes with her writing. I don’t know how she does it each time, but all of her books continue to be consistently perfect. This new title gave me everything: laughter, joy, and tears. The characters were well written and so was the pacing of the book. Not much more to say except this was sheer perfection. Katie and Hutch were so much fun to get to know and to read about- I savored this one, because I didn’t want it to end.

On a side-note, I always look forward to Katherine’s author notes at the end of all her books. Her love and passion for writing always shines through. 💗

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advanced reading copy. 5 big stars!

This may be my new favorite Katherine Center book! The Love Haters is a witty, heartfelt novel about not only finding love with someone else but learning how to love yourself. (Side note, I loved the author's note at the end of the book).

Katie was such a relatable character and I was rooting for her from page 1. Her journey not only to Key West but also learning how to love her body was so real and something I think most women have experienced at some point in their life. I also really enjoyed Katie's relationship with her cousin, Beanie; we all need someone to provide us with unquestioning support and love.

Hutch was a wonderful love interest for Katie; he was quietly supportive and helped ease Katie's insecurities, sometimes without even realizing it. His work for the US Coast Guard was interesting and I really enjoyed reading about their work.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an electronic advance reader copy.

Another great read from Katherine Center. I was just telling a friend the other day that she is easily my favorite rom-com writer. The Love Haters is another unique story with engaging characters. Her books are light-hearted and easy-to-read. Can't wait for the next one!

Thanks @netgalley @smpromance and @katherinecenter for the chance to read Katherine’s forthcoming rom-com, The Love Haters. It releases on May 20, 2025.

I could read Katherine’s quippy dialogue all day. Her stories are reminiscent of old school screwball comedies, and she puts her characters in hilarious situations. I laughed out loud so many times while I read this. But I think her signature move is that her stories also pack a heafty emotional punch.

Videographer Katie has been burned by love after getting cheated on very publicly by her suddenly famous musician ex—and to make matters worse, the Internet decided to take her down a peg or two too making her feel about as attractive as a bridge troll. When she learns she also is on the chopping block at work, she agrees to profile the hero brother of one of her coworkers—a Coast Guard rescue swimmer named Hutch. Besides the not-so-small problem that Katie can’t swim, being in Key West is anything but simple when Hutch turns out to be the most scientifically attractive person she’s ever met and also a bit of a love hater. Through swim lessons, helicopter flights and too many rescues after Hutch’s dog enthusiastically jumps on Katie, they have to decide how truly brave they are.

Steam: 🔥 (only a couple of kisses)
Tropes: cool job, touch her and die, fake dating, caretaking, only one bed, meddling family

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc!

Unexpectedly deep and unexpectedly action packed, but still an enjoyable romance to boot! I enjoyed this novel and it re-emphasizes my enjoyment of this authors work.

Katherine Center has become one of my favorite authors, and I love when I get to read an advanced copy of her books! Her last book, The Rom-Commers, was one of my favorite reads last year and my favorite book of hers, so I was thrilled to read The Love Haters.

The premise of the book is that Katie is talked into going to Key West to film a recruitment video for the Coast Guard. Her work supervisor, Cole, talks her into this, and it is going to be filming his brother, and he doesn’t want to do it. No work is going to be doing layoffs and he tells Katie this will help save her job if she does it well. There’s just one little problem, Katie doesn’t know how to swim and will be required to do training that involves swimming.

Hutch, Cole’s brother, meets Katie when she arrives in Key West and agrees to give her swim lessons, not realizing she has been sent in replacement of Cole, until she arrives at the Coast Guard station. I like the writing of the book and how their relationship seem to naturally grow as friends. The ending does get a bit unrealistic, but if I can overlook that fact, and just read the story as it is, I really enjoyed it and it is another Katherine Center hit! 4 1/2 stars!

Every single time I read a new Katherine Center book, it becomes my favorite!! The Love Haters is no exception. This book is like a warm hug. While I absolutely LOVED the love story between Katie and Hutch, the true gem here is the love story of Katie and herself. My goodness, it is incredibly refreshing to read SO MUCH body positivity and self love talk!!!

This book is funny, fun, relatable and even a little thrilling!! I laughed, cried, gasped and ended another Katherine Center book in awe. The ending was NOT what I expected and I loved it so, SO much.

10/10 would recommend!!

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy of this book. Though it isn’t due out for a bit and I’ve got a fairly prolific stack of staring me down, this jumped to the top of the pile. I adore this author and this book is part of the reason why. A great storyline with interesting and authentic characters, both main and secondary, complex myriad emotions, family relationships, sexy slow burn romance, love, loss, secrets, lies, humor, wit, lots of snark and a fabulous giant dog. Katie is a documentarian who loves her work. Getting people to open up and share their story that goes viral for the right reasons makes her happy and feel satiated. When she is told her job as a video producer is at risk she kind of gets bamboozled into taking an assignment she is ill equipped to handle. She is afraid of the water and cannot swim and her next subject is an aviation survival technician. The people who jump out of helicopters to handle insane water rescues. Um, a few swimming lessons should be good right? I loved this from cover to cover.

I adore Katherine Center novels, and while this one wasn't my favorite, it was still a solid read that I'd definitely recommend.

Rue, her friends, and Hutch's dog were the real stars of this show. I want to go to the Keys and have a kindly older lady take me under her wing. I could appreciate the whole "love yourself" theme throughout the book, but at times I grew a bit bored with it. However, I know that is something a lot of people deal with, so it's gonna be super healing and reaffirming for some readers.

I didn't like how Hutch was always portrayed as being perfect, because perfect can also be boring. There is enough of a backstory and brother drama for him though to keep it interesting.

Also as someone with central heterochromia, it was fun to see it mentioned.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.