Katherine Center can do no wrong. The chemistry between her lead characters are always perfect, and this book is no different. It is delish.

This was a mixed bag. I loved the Key West setting. Rue and her friends were a hoot. I liked,Hutch but we just didn’t get enough of him. We didn’t get enough of Katie and Hutch together either. There were some cute moments but it was just very disjointed. I think more romance and less self reflection would have been nice. Also, I needed to know what Hutch was thinking. Plus , Cole was @ silly character.Can an adult man really be that immature.,Even with all that I did enjoy reading the story. And I must say George Bailey was precious.3.2 stars.

Wow, this book completely swept me off my feet. It was the kind of story that grabs hold of your heart from the first page and doesn’t let go until long after the last one. I read it in a single sitting because I simply couldn’t put it down.
Katherine Center has a gift for writing stories that are equal parts heartfelt, humorous, and deeply moving, and this one is no exception. There are LOL moments, emotional gut punches, and scenes so tender that they brought tears to my eyes. The characters are vibrant, the setting is dreamy, and the emotional depth is exactly what I love in a great read.

Even without giving anything away, I can say this: it’s a story about bravery—not just the big, dramatic kind, but the everyday kind that asks us to show up, to be vulnerable, and to take a chance on something scary and beautiful. There are twists, warmth, and just the right amount of romance to make your heart flutter.

If you're looking for a book that makes you feel everything, joy, heartbreak, hope, and love, this one is it. Sweet, smart, and unforgettable. Highly recommend.

I like Katherine Center’s books and was excited to review this title for NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press.
This was an easy, lighthearted read for me. I like how her stories focus on a MC’s profession that isn’t found in most books (that I’ve read so far at least) with this one focusing on the coast guard and videographers.

Personal Connection Moment: MC likes plain colors and is “afraid” of bright colors. While I don’t hate color, I do tend towards black/white/grey. Better channel Rue and pick a pop of color next time 😉

Favorite Side Character: George Bailey, Rue

4/5

Doesn’t top her book “The Rom-Commers” for me but a great read nonetheless.

I really enjoyed this book. There was only one complaint I have, there was so much detail leading up to why Katie went down to the Keys, but the actually love story didn’t really develop. There were quite a few wrenches thrown in the storyline/plot such as Cole lying to his brother that Katie was his girlfriend. The fighting in the bar between Cole and Hutch. The back story with Cole and Hutch’s parents dying in a car accident,…and how Cole really felt his brother saving him and always feeling like he was living in Hutch’s shadow…Rue taking the boys in.and loving them even though they were blood related.

Katie meets Hutch because his brother sends her down to Florida in an effort to save her job and create a recruitment video about the Us Coast Guard. Hutch isotherm response team that saves crowing people. It was pretty much love at first sight between Katie and Hutch. After a major hurricane Katie goes back to save Hutch’s dog, but now she is at risk of drowning but at the last minute Hutch comes down to save her and the dog George Bailey. She ultimately is not fired but she quits and moves to Florida to work for Rue and that’s it…. Please make a sequel about Katie and Hutch.

3.5⭐️
i love most of katherine centers books, but this book was kind of a let down- considering that it was one of my most anticipated books this year. maybe i just happened to read it at the wrong time, but i will be rereading when it actually comes out. coming into the book the writing/dialogue felt more cringy than usual. i would say i didn't really care for the characters that much up until 65% especially hutch, i didn't care for his character at all until we learned more about his character and background. the romance here was not my favorite either. i just felt like there was no chemistry between the characters. this book only started to get slightly entertaining during the 70-80% mark where there was a little bit of "drama". the ending of the last chapter before the epilogue was probably one of the only parts of this book i enjoyed.

It’s a love story, but not the kind you expect. Yes, there is an adorable romance between a videographer and her coast guard subject, but the real story is our main gal Katie learning to love herself. This is the exact perfect book you want for a chill day sitting by some water!

This was not at all what I expected, but for the most part I did enjoy this. Since Katie was our main focus, we got so much from her about how she sees herself and the steps she takes to remedy that, but the rest of the characters feel a bit more one-note. Other than my king, George Bailey, the massive stubborn Great Dane of course!

I do have to give a shoutout to the incredible research Katherine Center does for her books, this time with the deep understanding of the Coast Guard!

Thanks so much to Katherine Center and NetGalley for a chance to read this in exchange for an honest review!

I loved this book! The FMC was so relatable with body image issues and struggles. The community that they lived in was hilarious and amazing.

I had the honor of having this as my very first ARC ever and I’m so appreciative to NetGalley for this. I have read many other of Katherine Center’s book and I have loved them all; this one was no exception. I enjoyed finishing this story as we were on a cruise and I kept looking into the ocean water thinking that hopefully there was someone like Hutch out there saving people who needed saving!

I felt so badly for Katie being put in such a situation with her job that she had no choice but to go along with a scheme against her better judgement putting her in such a vulnerable and uncomfortable position. But ultimately I loved seeing how she grew and found this new little family with Aunt Rue and the girls and my heart just bloomed throughout the story making me wish I had a little community like this one day!

There was such a slow burn throughout the book that ended with so much freakin passion. Also can we talk about Hutch’s pool handstand??!

This book truly shows how someone can go through events in life being so terrified, and with bravery and support and really trying, can come out overcoming struggles of life. I give this book 5 stars and already pre-ordered the hard copy and can’t wait to meet Katherine Center on this book tour! ❤️🥰

A fun summer read. Loved The Gals and the overarching theme of loving yourself. Cole’s character, while necessary, was hard for me to understand - the lying was a bit unbelievable.

I love Katherine center books, but this one might be my favorite! It was so sweet and cute and romantic and fun! I loved it!

Was this bingeable? Absolutely.
Were there things that bothered me? Yes.

I love Center's way of sucking you right into a story. She has honed her craft and knows it well.

I usually appreciate Center's ability to take hard topics and make a light heartfelt story about them while still getting the emotion across. However, in this case, it felt like she completely dismissed the emotion. Everything felt so flippant. Except for Hutch. He was great.

⭐️ 3.75

This was a solid read! The Love Haters was my first Katherine Center book and I liked it! Two things I didn't enjoy/couldn't look past — the use of italics was overused and it kind of drove me nuts 😅 and I felt like the romance wasn't as well developed as I would have liked it to be. By the time I got to the end it kind of left me wanting for more, like we hadn't seen the main characters' relationship all the way through.

What I liked: The characters! Especially Rue and The Gals 🥹 I also really liked the setting, who doesn't want to read a book set in Key West?!

Who I would recommend this book to: This is a total beach read — if you have a vacation coming up, or just want something light for summer, pick this up when it releases on May 20!

I'm looking forward to reading more Katherine Center books in the future!

I adored this book! Love Haters is the perfect mix of laugh-out-loud funny, swoony romance, and growth. Katie pretending she can swim to chase a dream job and ending up in Key West with a grumpy, gorgeous Coast Guard hero who just happens to be her coworker’s brother. It’s chaotic, sun-soaked perfection. Add in a Great Dane, an eccentric aunt, conga lines, and stolen kisses, and you’ve got a rom-com that had me smiling from start to finish. I didn’t want it to end!

I loved this book. It’s such a good summer time beach read! Bodyguard was my favorite Katherine center book before i read this one. I think it’ll land on my reread list for next year.

I'm struggling between two and three stars and honestly I feel the only reason I am is, because of who the author is and the usual love I have for her books. This one was not it for me though. The FMC quickly put a bad taste in my mouth with her severe body image issues. Don't get me wrong! I have body image issues like everyone else and I appreciate the author bringing this topic up in this book. However, it was excessive and obsessive and felt forced. I was willing to overlook those issues, but once she brought the brother, Cole, into the story it just became too farfetched and ridiculous. I continued to read because the pacing and writing was good. I just didn't care for the plot. I am sad this didn't work out for me as I always enjoy reading Center's new release every spring. I look forward to reading more of her books in the future and hopefully they'll work out better for me.

**Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion. I am posting this review to my Goodreads account immediately and will post it to my Amazon & Instagram accounts upon publication.

Really liked this one. At times, it was a little too much telling-us-but-not-showing-us/montage for my preference and I wanted to see more of the relationship developing. Also, the big scene at the end was a little anticlimactic. But it was sweet and romantic and kept me hooked!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an e-ARC of this story.

Unfortunately, this was a miss for me. At the very minimum, there needs to be content warnings in the beginning. The majority of this story is our FMC, Katie, having body image issues, discussion of ED and fear of swimsuits. While in the context of the book I understand where her issues stemmed from and it’s actually really horrible what she went through, these can be really triggering for a lot of people. I genuinely don’t think we needed a calorie breakdown in chapter 2 to understand she struggled with an ED and how hers manifested. I understand why people have DNF’d this story because I almost did many times.

Now for the story and love interest. Hutch is fine. He’s nice. But I found their chemistry lacking. I just wasn’t invested in their story. It didn’t hook me in. The story and romance itself just felt underdeveloped. We were so focused on her struggling through her body image that the rest felt secondary for most of the book. The ending was actually really stressful and that alone could have been given a vague content warning. Alas, the part of the book I enjoyed was Rue, George Bailey, Hutch as just an all around good guy, and the epilogue.

So anyways, if you are going to read proceed with caution regarding content warnings. Ones I would include: cyber bullying, ED, body image issues, death of parents (past, but described in detail how it happened), boating accident (trying to be vague to avoid spoilers on this), and discussions of death and dying.

Billed as a rom-com, this was not a favorite in that genre for me. I love a sweet, uncomplicated, trope-y romance but this one was just a bit too much for me to enjoy. First of all, there is some serious body image stuff going on here which was at times hard to read. And, there are a lot of lies between the principal characters which I found off-putting. Breakneck plot but at the expense of developing the chemistry between the two principals.

“even if we do eternally need and long and want to be seen…maybe the most important eyes doing the looking are our own.”

This book was cute! The title is a bit misleading as I really didn’t feel like the FMC was a love hater at all, but I did love her! I actually related to her a lot and will be taking some of her self-discoveries to heart. The love story was cute, but feel like it could have built a deeper connection between the two love interests. Rue saved the day and the book for me, I just love her so much and wanna know more about her!
The book did fall a little flat for me. I wasn’t kept intrigued most of the time, and again, just felt like we could have gone deeper with the characters and moved the story a little quicker. The end almost felt like it needed to be wrapped up, so she did and threw in an epilogue to tie it all together. Enjoyed it, but think it could have been better ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5