Loved that. Katie was such a good leading character, relatable and such a funny inner voice. Her journey in this was very real, a little heartbreaking, hopeful and heart warming. I loved so much that she learnt to see herself and love herself. Hutch was such a good leading man and I just loved watching him and Katie ‘hating’ each other. Cracking chemistry which made me giddy in that way that romance does. Also really liked the supporting characters in Beanie, Rue, the Gals and George Bailey. A really enjoyable read that left me with a smile on my face and warmth in my heart. 5⭐️

I loved the depth to this story! Katherine Center has a way of writing witty romance books that are meaty. Katie's story was vulernable and relatable. I loved reading her journey with her body and seeing how far she came. Hutch and her story was just so fun!

Every Katherine Center book I've read so far is one that's meaningful and I always look forward to how she spins her love stories that hold so much to them. This one was intriguing at first and I really liked the concepts and storyline the author was going about with The Love Haters. What fell flat for me was the romance. At best, it felt like it was a friendship that kind of evolved to romantic feelings but it never had a spark or flourish to it. I always wanted more development between Katie and Hutch but it was like a flame that never built on. There's so many good things about this book but maybe it was a me thing, because I just liked it for what it was.

The usual KC romcom factor was in this one and I liked everything that helped shape Katie to grow her confidence with her body image issues, especially side characters like Beanie and Rue. Cole was that much needed 'antagonist but grows to be good' type of guy and good ol' George Bailey. When a dog has a full name consisting of two first names, kinda cool kinda cool. Again, the romance felt botched in this one and then the natural disaster at the end that should've solidified the romance but made me twist my face when I was reading, yeah no. I love Katherine Center for her storytelling but this one wasn't one I loved, and that's okay!

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing a digital copy to review in exchange for my rambly opinions.

Katherine Center writes such cute closed door summer romances. Was this anything groundbreaking? No, definitely not. That being said, I did have such a smile on my face while reading this book. It is a perfect light hearted beach read. The setting of Key West could not be any more ideal. I fear I have to visit simply by getting the vibes from this book. Our main character obviously had body image issues, and it is a bit knocked over your head by the end, but I did appreciate the author's note and how it related to her and helped her write this book. Sometimes the insta-love troupe makes me want to cringe into oblivion, but this one was done well. The premise was a bit unique, kind of got a bit clunky in the middle, but ended up satisfactory. I did very much enjoy learning more about the Coast Guard, and found the rescue aspect to be quite interesting and created a perfect amount of tension. Overall, while the story was far from perfect, I did enjoy my time reading and found it to be a great summer book! 3.75/5 stars.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced reader copy of this book. All opinions within this review are my own.

Unfortunately the further I got into this book, the less I enjoyed it. I really had to force myself to finish. The FMC was so immature and annoying. Her inner dialogue had me physically rolling my eyes. I know most books are far fetched, but I just couldn't buy into her story. I was rooting against her by the end.

Videographer Katie Vaughn’s boss is looking to downsize her staff. Co-worker Cole believes in her talent and has an idea to save her job. The Coast Guard wants a new promotional video to recruit members and he wants her to film it. He just forgot to mention the featured Coast Guard rescue swimmer is his ridiculously good-looking older brother Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson who he’s trying to avoid, and she “forgot” to mention that she can’t swim!

As the ‘80’s band The Thompson Twins sang: 🎶 Lies, lies, lies … yeah 🎶. This book is full of them. In fact, Cole lies like it’s his full-time job, while Katie’s are more of the omission type. Whatever the reason, those lies predictably cause some problems! That, and the fact that Katie is struggling with body image issues that make her want to avoid a bathing suit like it’s poison.

It’s trademark feel-good Katherine Center featuring two likeable opposites attract MCs, a delightful cast of side characters including Cole and Hutch’s very colorful “aunt” Rue and her posse of friends in Key West, Florida, a hilarious thunder-phobic Great Dane named George Bailey and Katie’s biggest cheerleader, no-nonsense cousin/bestie Beanie.

I didn’t feel as much chemistry with last year’s MCs in The Rom-Commers, so for me this was a return to characters I felt more invested in. It was fun to see all-business Hutch loosen up a little and color-phobic, insecure Katie learn to see herself and the world with more adventurous eyes. Their banter was top-notch. Honestly though - I think George Bailey may have stolen the show!

I always admire Center’s ability to take what could be heavy issues and find the joy and light in the situation. Hutch and Cole’s backstory with Rue was quite poignant (no spoilers), but never went dark, and Katie’s struggles with body image are something that most of us can relate to on some level. It’s nice to see a romance show characters with vulnerability and depth.

If you want good clean fun with a splash of adventure … this one should do the trick! I read and listened to the audio by the amazing Patti Murin, who once again doubled the enjoyment. She and Center make a great team!

★★★★ ½

There is a reason I love Katherine Center’s books. She always manages to get me to laugh out loud. And that was certainly true with her latest book, The Love Haters. (‘I don’t have time to debate, anyway,’ I said. ‘I’m late to go drown in a helicopter-crash simulation.’) Besides the humor, her characters are always complex and lovable. And Katie and Hutch are nothing if not lovable.

Katie has issues. Body images issues thanks to her stepmother, relationship/trust issues thanks to her ex-fiance, and job security issues thanks her company’s director deciding to go on a firing spree. Which may have contributed to her lying to boss in order to get an assignment about the Coast Guard. What did she lie about? Oh, nothing special, just the fact that she can’t swim…and yet in order to cover the assignment she’ll be having to swim, even survive a simulated helicopter crash in the water. Oh and the man she is supposed to be cover just happens to be her boss’s brother, Hutch. She’s informed that Hutch is a love hater and that his favorite hobby is frowning. Of course Hutch is nothing like she expected, and not only is a complex and caring man, he has a lovable Great Dane who instantly takes a overly friendly liking to Kate. But in order to keep her job, she’ll need to find a way not only to learn to swim but also get Hutch to agree to do a personal ‘day in the life’ documentary for her.

As I said, I liked our leading characters quite a bit, but not only did I like them but the entire supporting cast. The pool ladies were a hoot. (Did I really just use the word woot?) The story is fun, filled with plenty of humor, not to mention a fair amount of heart. While The Rom-Commers remains my favorite of Center’s books, I still enjoyed the heck out of this one. Not only did I have the pleasure of reading an eARC of the book at the start of the year. I also got a chance to listen to an advanced copy of the audio version, and Patti Murin does a spectacular job with the narration. And I enjoyed it just as much the second time around. 4.5 stars (rounding up to 5) Thanks so much to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review the eARC and Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the chance to listen the audio version as well.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-love-haters-katherine-center/1146167523?ean=9781250283825&bvnotificationId=aa037857-366b-11f0-9a32-0e72cec3303d&bvmessageType=REVIEW_APPROVED&bvrecipientDomain=gmail.com#review/346861527

https://www.amazon.com/review/R36LKIP7GMHPO1/ref=pe_123899240_1043597390_SRTC0204BT_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

Katherine Center’s novels come out every year just as Summer is about to start. I look forward to reading her books because I know I’m going to love the characters and the fears and/or obstacles they are always trying to overcome. She writes with a tongue in cheek sense of humor but also with a lot of heart, which makes her books lovely to read. The Love Haters had all of these things. Wonderful characters who weren’t perfect and needed a little smoothing over, and obstacles that they needed to overcome before finding their happily ever after. This story wasn’t any different, so why didn’t I connect with it as much as I usually do?

Katie and Hutch were interesting, their lifestyle choices understandable, and the conflicts in their lives emotional. Each of them separately were amazing. I think I didn’t feel a huge connection between them as a couple. Katie had a tendency to hide herself behind some of her phobia’s and Hutch had learned from a young age to hide his feelings. These walls each of them had built kept the reader, or at least this one, from that connection that I’m always looking for between the romantic couple. For me, that was problematic and I felt a little like I was reading a synopsis of a therapy session. Hoever, the story was great, their situations relatable, and they were both lovely, nice people and you couldn’t beat the sunny setting.

Maybe it’s just me, but because of these little things I held back on my rating by one star. Nothing huge, this one is still a four out of five rating, but normally I go all in with five stars for this author, so it’s a bit of an anomaly for me. You may feel completely different!

This one was not for me - I did not at all like the heavy focus on the ED and body image issues. It was very triggering.

Katherine Center never disappoints!! I just devour her books! And this one was no different. I love a good, complicated love story with a happy ending. Just gives me all the feels!! Also, the audiobook was very enjoyable!! Highly recommend this read!!!

*Thank you partners @stmartinspress and @macmillan.audio for the #gifted e-galley and audiobook in exchange for an honest review.*

I loved this book!

I personally really enjoyed the FMC the the things she was navigating as I have been in those shoes. I can understand when those things don't have an explanation and a full circle moment but that's not the case here. I think it all came to a head really well. I will say, it needs a trigger warning of sorts. It is a prevailing topic throughout the story and 5 years ago I would not have been able to read this.

Anyway, Katie, our FMC is filming a documentary for the Coast Guard with a focus on a rescue swimmer named Hutch who's not so thrilled of the arrangement because come to find out, our girl Katie can't swim.. The banter had me sat and I loved the swim lessons of it all. The end was honestly really fun and kept me on my feet but I wish we had a bit more to it.

I really loved the beauty list activity. It was a really sweet part of the book and a really great reminder that we're all different and our bodies are our homes.

Thank you SMP for the ARC <3

3.5⭐️

thank you st. martin's press for the e-ARC in the exchange for an honest review.

first, i will start by saying that katherine center always knows how to write a sweet romance that will gut-punch you right in the feelings. the shear emotions i was feeling throughout my read, there were just so many!

i thought the setup of the love haters was an interesting one; our fmc, katie, had sworn off love because her ex-fiance (who's a pop star) cheated on her. she then is thrown into going to florida for a work project, all because her coworker, cole, didn't want to do it himself. the catch? hutch, our mmc, is cole's older brother. the way cole talks about him being awful to be around and a love hater, makes katie quite hesitant on this project... but her job is on the line and has no choice. so when she gets to starlite, she has to spend time with hutch. but then she starts peeling back the layers and he isn't at all what his brother claimed him to be.

i personally found their romance to be cute, but quite fast because who can really fall for somebody that fast? three weeks is so soon - even with the forced proximity! i loved hutch's dog, george bailey. he was such a fun element to the story! also, boo forever at cole. i did not like his character one bit and what he did (and why) was shady as all get out.

this was more surface level to me and i didn't connect with the characters as much as i wanted to. i still would recommend to fellow romance readers!

I've recently become such a huge Katherine Center fan. I've been picking up her books on Kindle Unlimited and really enjoying them. So the moment I saw her new book on Netgalley, I had to try to request it. I'm so happy I was able to pick it up. I was hoping to finish it before release but struggled with reading it. I'm not sure what it was about this but I just didn't love it as much as I'd hope. I think partly it was me because I've been in bit of a slump recently. I haven't been really wanting to read as much as normal. I think also there were certain parts I didn't vibe with. I think mainly once Cole entered the story and was visiting them. Things got a little bit weird. I was surprised by how they handled it but it's a story after all. I'm looking forward to seeing what Katherine comes up with next.

*Thank you so much to Netgalley & the publisher for giving me a free copy in exchange for my honest review.*

The Love Haters is one of those books that you don't want to end. It's laugh out loud hilarious at times and will make you cry at times. This book has it all and Katherine Center has written another gem. Katie Vaughn's musician fiancé cheated on her after their engagement. He made it big with a song he streamed and his career took off. He was everywhere and with everyone.....yes, even women. When he was pictured kissing another woman, Katie had seen enough. Engagement off, Katie heartbroken, and feeling bad about herself. The personal demons came out big and Katie went into a dark place.

Katie is asked by her co-worker to travel to Key West and do a video profiling a Coast Guard rescue swimmer. The Coast Guard needs a new recruiting video that draws people in and Katie is sent to make it. Her company is laying off people in droves and Cole thinks if she does this story it will save her job. Katie agrees to go when Cole tells her this as she really wants to keep her job. So what if she lied to Cole about knowing how to swim, right? How important could that really be? She's just shooting video and interviewing someone. The rescue swimmer turns out to be Cole's brother, Hutch. He's also known all over the internet as Pup Daddy because he rescued Jennifer Anistan's dog off of the side of a cliff. That story blew up and he was pictured everywhere.

Katie gets to Key West and is greeted by Rue, Cole's aunt. She has agreed to rent Katie one of her cottages at a discounted rate. She's very pleasant and helps Katie find clothes when her luggage is lost and introduces her to her friends. Katie knows she must learn to swim and Rue helps with that, too. As she, Rue, and the gals head to the pool for swimming lessons she is barreled over by a horse of a dog, George Bailey. George Bailey never does that except to Hutch. It turns out Hutch is the swim instructor. Katie thinks Hutch is the best looking man she's ever seen and can't take her eyes off of him. Will she learn to swim before she has to get in the water to film Hutch? Will she past the underwater test in the helicopter simulator? How did Katie get herself into this and how is she going to get out of it with a great video interview?

I absolutely loved this book and would recommend it to anyone who loves romcoms. I would love to see a sequel to this book as there's still a lot I want to know. Will Katie do enough to keep her job? Will she be able to get Hutch to warm up to her and relax for the interview? Will Hutch cooperate when he thought his brother would be doing the interview? Why are the brothers estranged? Why does George Bailey, the Great Dane, love Katie so much? I rate The Love Haters 4 stars and think it's the perfect beach read. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll root for Katie, Hutch, Rue, and George Bailey. The book is out now so go get it and enjoy! I'd like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy of The Love Haters in exchange for a fair review. #TheLoveHaters

I went into this one mostly blind and figured I would just love it because it was KC. Katie is our FMC and she has a lot of body issues and poor self esteem stemming from the public eye and a disaster of a breakup. She is hyper focused on trying to make herself invisible now and has to come to terms with loving herself. She lies and says she can swim, and takes a job covering the Coast Guard in the Keys. She is covering Hutch, her co worker's hero brother. Immediately she falls for him. Hutch is a wonderful human. He is grumpy, but you can tell that he sees something in Katie that he just wants more of. Until one day, a switch is turned off and she can't figure out why.
Then, things start to fall apart and take a turn. Things were going along swimmingly for me until Cole showed up and things got derailed. Then there were a plethora of things I found honestly.. just weren't believable.. that happened at the end of the book. I am usually ok to suspend my sense of reality in books, but they are usually fantasy.
All in all I really enjoyed Katie as a main character because she had so many of the same struggles that we all have and we have to learn to fall in love with ourselves because that is who we have to live with forever. We have to forgive ourselves for being mean to ourselves and remember it's so important to love what we have. 3.5 stars.
Thanks to St. Martin's, Netgalley and Katherine Center for an early copy.

I don't even know what to say about this beautiful book! Katherine Center certainly knows how to write, and her words are always so meaningful. This story grabbed me from page one, and the way it unfolded kept me engaged the entire time. Katie is basically my soul sister, and I think so many women will relate with her character and the ups and downs of life she experiences. Add in the swoony love story with the hunky Coast Guard swimmer, Hutch, and this book will make you feel all of the emotions. I truly enjoyed reading every page, and I hope that all of the women that read this book take away just a small bit of the confidence boost that I did. Katherine wrote a wonderful romance, but this book is so much more than that! Go read it! You won't regret it!

First of all - thank you to St. Martin’s press and Netgalley for sending me an arc of this one!

If you’ve never read a Katherine Center book - you should probably drop what you’re doing and go read one - her actual writing is fantastic!

I tend to lean towards the spicier romance, but I like to throw in the odd closed door / kiss-only type of romance every once in awhile (I refuse to call them “clean” romance, as that implies open-door spice is “dirty”) - and I always know that a Katherine Center book will not disappoint!

This one was not my favourite by her - at times I felt the romance was overshadowed by the MFC’s body positivity issues, and other times it was a lot of telling but not showing (the two main characters drive to and from work together, and we are told they spend the time talking about everything and getting to know each other - except we rarely see snippets of these conversations, so the love connection wasn’t as clear to the readers as it could have been).

That said! The overall messaging was great, and that author’s note at the end was *chefs kiss*. Beautiful.

Just because this wasn’t my favourite by Katherine, I have no doubt a physical copy will still be added to my book shelves in the near future…

Katherine’s books have become such a joy for me, I always look forward to reading her romantic stories that feel unique. She has a gift for highlighting real life struggles, handling them gently and helping readers feel seen. Her characters always feel so REAL!

Hutch, the hot coast guard rescue swimmer MMC, was impeccable. He was down to earth, kind and always trying to do the right thing but also complicated and tortured by his past. Our FMC, Katie, struggles with body image issues and while I personally found how she overcame them to be healing, it could be triggering for some. I loved how they built a friendship and eventually found each other.

I absolutely loved Rue and her girl gang! They were the perfect secondary characters in this story who added just the right amount of color without distracting from the main characters.

The conflict at the end was what bumped this down to a 4 star for me. It frustrated me how Katie didn’t fight for herself in the situation she found herself in.

Overall, this fulfilled my need for a comfort Katherine Center read and gave me all the swoony romantic vibes I needed.

What to expect:
*enemies to lovers
*grandma gang
*body image issues

Katherine Center does it again! Witty, warm, and full of heart, this story had me grinning, swooning, and rooting for Katie every step of the way. The fake-swimming, real-feelings chaos? Perfection. Hutch? Swoon. And the voice? Classic Center—sharp, charming, and totally addictive. She never misses. 💘🌴

Katherine Center has quickly become one of my favorite authors. I look forward to reading her books every year, this one was no exception. I absolutely adored all of the characters. The characters are a quirky, lovable bunch. Katie and Hutch were 😍 I loved their relationship from the start and it only got better. I know this was hit or miss for some people but I liked reading about Katie’s struggles with body image. As someone who really struggles with that myself it was nice to see it represented in a book. I loved seeing the growth in her character. Katie and Hutch were just so easy to root for! The perfect book to read this summer.