Thanks St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

Synopsis-

Katie Vaughn doesn't believe in love. With no choice to save her job, but to shoot a promo video for the Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Hutch, as per her colleague Cole's request ( Hutch's brother), she flies to Key West, Florida. Hutch, she understands, is also a love hater and has a long standing rivalry with Cole. Katie's new work location is not exactly a paradise like she imagined and she has a lot to navigate through.

Review-

I loved the setting and premise of this rom-com. The beautiful Key West in Florida and Hutch’s loving aunt Rue with her cheery, colourful persona were the highlights complementing the dreary grey and self deprecating nature of Katie.

Center‘s writing infuses a lot of humour and naughty banter, adding vibrancy to this love-hate story. The chemistry and endearing camaraderie between Katie and Hutch build steadily, placing them in several awkward and hilarious situations gradually drawing them closer.

Hutch and Cole’s sibling rivalry is another major thread in the storyline and Center has excelled in portraying the complex dynamics of brotherhood encompassing hurt, loss, grief and plain old jealousy.

The author’s meticulous research into the workings of the US Coast Guard shines through adding a layer of intrigue and fascination.
George Bailey, the adorable Great Dane pet of Hutch, steals the show and me not being a dog person, ended up loving him to bits!

The ending throws Katie literally into the eye of the storm and she has to face her worst fears, while also disentangling herself from a web of lies not of her making, as her love-hate relationship with Hutch turns into something resembling real true love - tangible and magical.

I only wanted a teeny bit more from the epilogue, especially from Hutch’s POV, his feelings for Katie and their romantic life together. However, this was a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining rom-com.

I appreciated the author's note as Center describes how love stories are not just frivolous, but a great form of escape both into our inner selves & out of our overwhelming worlds, how they help us understand and love both ourselves & others better, improve our ability to empathise, be more compassionate and finally make us more human.

Definitely recommended to rom-com lovers!

This is my 8th book by Katherine Center and 4th book narrated by Patti Murin. They are surely a star duo combo. I enjoyed the Love Haters, even though at times the storyline was silly and over the top. The audiobook held my attention because lately life have been busy and hard to focus.

I laughed, rolled my eyes and most importantly was entertained throughout the book. Thank you to all the men and women who had served in the Coast Guard!

One of my most looked for books of May was The Love Haters by Katherine Center, one of my very favorites authors and one of the most authentic people I know! Katherine is an auto-buy author for me and I was excited to receive an ARC from @NetGalley this spring.
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The Love Haters, like all of Katherine’s books is a romance novel to the core, but unlike many others, Katherine’s romance novels always have some depth to them. In this one the protagonist, Katie, is dealing with negative feelings that she has developed from messages she received as a young girl and more recently from the internet! Her friend is working to help Katie reformulate those thoughts into positive beliefs about herself! Yay, for friends like this one!
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The romance part is just wonderful and feel good with all the frustrating angst that goes along with getting to that HEA. Did I roll my eyes a few times, yes, but did I love it anyway? Also, yes!
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There is also a dog! George Bailey may really be the hero of this story! His owner is a Coast Guard rescue swimmer who is, in fact, a hero. This is a fun way to learn a little bit about the brave men and women who regularly risk their lives to save others.
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If you haven’t already ordered this book from your favorite Indie bookstore or put it on hold at the library - act now! This is a great pick for one of your summer reads!
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Thanks to @NetGalley and to @St.MartinsPress for the ARC given in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

♡ Thank you for the free book and audiobook, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley.

This was a quick read with a fun setup and some heartfelt moments. The small-town charm and side characters added warmth, even if the central romance was not on fire. While the emotional depth and chemistry could have been stronger, the story still offered a Center’s usual charm.

This was such a cute book, I loved it! It was heartwarming, so funny and full of lovable characters!

Katie is a video producer who struggles with body image. Hutch is a Coast Guard rescue swimmer who loves in Key West with his Great Dane, George Bailey.

I loved Katie and Hutch (and George Bailey), they were such well developed characters and they were such a perfect match! I found Katie's struggle with her body image extremely relatable! I loved the way her cousin/best friend, Beanie, tried to slowly help her find parts of her body she loved, one earlobe at a time! Everyone should be lucky enough to have a Beanie in their life!

This is the perfect summer romcom!!

I love Katherine Center, but couldn't get in to this book. I listed on audio and it perhaps it was the narrator, but it was just too upbeat...and just too much for me.

katherine center does it again. i don’t know what kind of magic she puts into her books, but the lover haters had me smiling and swooning like an absolute goober. even when her heroines are going through it emotionally, there’s still this warmth and joy that radiates from the story and katie’s journey was no exception. this was an easy five star read that left my heart full and my cheeks sore from constantly laughing.

katie might be the heroine i’ve related to most from katherine’s books. her struggle with body image hit so close to home that i found myself tearing up more than once. she was such real and vulnerable but still willing to put herself out there. watching her come into her own, especially with the help of rue and hutch, was healing on so many levels. and hutch was that guy. the quiet, big hearted softie who sees you even when you’re hiding. i’m still not over the hibiscus hair clip moment. absolute perfection.

i am such a sucker for side characters. rue and her scheming squad of elderly besties were a delight, and george bailey the great dane totally stole my heart. the last 20% of the book had my heart in a vice grip. and the author’s note? it filled me with so much joy and left me in tears. katherine writes with so much love and care. it truly shines through every word. i’ll keep recommending her books until i’m blue in the face, and the lover haters is going straight to the top of that list.

content: kisses

thank you to st. martin’s press and macmillan audio for a gifted copy. my thoughts are my own.

This book took me by surprise. I wasn't prepared for how closely I related to Katie. It was jarring at first, but I appreciate Katherine's exploration of an enemies to lovers type trope with the main character herself. It was beautiful & I am looking forward to trying some the techniques Katie does with Beanie. A quote that goes with this from the book is "I mean, an abusive relationship with yourself is still a relationship, right?" I enjoyed getting to know the 'real' Hutch alongside Katie. He is the epitome of what a good man is. Their relationship had many ups & downs, but it made them stronger in the end. Rue is everything to me!! I need a Rue in my life. Her outlook & gusto about life is infectious!! George Bailey is the best wing man a guy could ever have. I would say I think the Authors Note could be added to the front, or give more of a warning about the content. As I know I was triggered after first but was able to continue, I know that may not be the same for others. Happy Reading!! I am giving it a 4.25 star rating out of 5.

This book may be titled "The Love Haters", but it is all about actual love. Love in its many different forms. Love for family, love for oneself and your body, love of found family, love of animals. Center once again hits it out of the park with the emotional pull and characters you can empathize with. While we may not have had the same set of circumstances that got her there, there isn't a woman out there who hasn't felt like Katie does about her body at some point in their lives. It made her so relatable.

And the found family vibes were on point. I absolutely adored Rue and her band of ladies at the Starlight. How can you not love a band of feisty, meddling, old ladies. And they brought some great humor to some of the heavier topics.

The remote Key West setting and interesting aspect of Hutch being a member of the coast guard, make for a perfect summer reading getaway.

TW: body image, eating disorder, parental death, motor vehicle accident, problems with alcohol
Tropes: forced proximity, loveable elderly, body issues/positivity, adventure, cute doggo, closed door

Thank to NetGalley and St. Martins press for my advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Dearest Katherine,
Can your next book pretty please be less stressful and terrifying?
Don’t get me wrong— The Love Haters is beyond fantastic. However, I don’t think my heart rate can handle another book like this anytime soon.

Single POV
Great dane who thinks he is a tiny puppy
Swooniest hero of all time who will totally ruin you for all men in the history of ever
Self-healing
Found family

I wanted to love this latest romance from Katherine Center, but it fell short in so many ways. While having a very cute premise, the characters were extremely one-note and flat, just relying on very flimsy personality traits. The plot itself started fine, but went off the rails at the end and seemed phoned in. This premise of documentary filmmaker and her subject had potential, but overall did not live up.

“That’s not how love works at all. When you’re in love, you don’t want to make other plans - you just want to make plans with the person you’re in love with.”

This was my first Katherine Center novel and I enjoyed it so much! I feel like a lot concluded in the novel around the 46% mark, so I was interested to see what more needed to happen (the answer is a lot). I’ve seen reviews that say this isn’t her best work and that makes me excited because I get to experience even better books after loving this one!

The military aspect was fun. Since my husband is in the military, I love the shoutouts. I love stories about family drama and healing. The strangers to lovers was enjoyable. I feel like the relationship progressed naturally and I loved how straight forward our MMC was!

Read if you enjoy:
☀️ Grumpy vs Sunshine
😎 Protect her / protector vibes
👵 Elderly women just want to have fun too
🫶🏼 Family healing from trauma

I think I’m in my romance era and I’m here for it. Check this one out! It released today 😍

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

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

I think I've already clearly established that I love Katherine Center, and I was so excited to receive an ARC of her newest novel! I really enjoyed this one, especially the tropical setting and the lovable side characters George Bailey and Rue. It was funny but also had a lot of heart, which are qualities that Katherine Center infuses into all of her books.

If you read this, be aware that the main character (and narrator) has pronounced body dysmorphia. I think most people have felt some dissatisfaction with their bodies at some point, but Katie's struggles are significant and are a large part of her story.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

The Love Haters follows Katie a video producer who gets sent to Florida to produce a video for her company about Hutch, a grumpy puppy saving coast guard hero. What follows is the hilarious and sweet relationship between Katie and Hutch. I really enjoyed not only the romance between Katie and Hutch but also the romance and relationship development between Katie and her body. Throughout the novel Katie struggles with body image issues and she slowly works her way through those issues.

I love Katherine Center’s writing because there’s always a whimsical quality to it and you may think you know where the story is going but then there’s a surprise plot twist And you’re back at the start.

Throughly enjoyed and cannot recommend enough!

Katie is still trying to live in shadows after getting publicly cheated on and dumped by her now famous, singer ex-fiancé. Her job is in turmoil because job cuts are looming and she is desperate to stay there. When her co-worker, Cole, offers her a job filming a Coast Guard promo video profiling his brother "Hutch," a rescue swimmer in the Floriday Keys, she takes it. While there, she's forced to deal with her body insecurities and swimming fears.

After being dumped in such a public way, Katie's body issues turned traumatic. Her one friend and cousin, Beanie, was her sole source of comfort with daily FaceTime calls until Katie met Rue and The Gals in the Keys. Rue, the owner of the property Katie was staying at, was also the caregiver for Hutch and Cole when their parents died. Rue and her friends enveloped Katie in all the love and friendship she was missing. I loved every bit of their antics.

The side plot of George Bailey, the Great Dane, was highly entertaining and mildly stressful, given what happens in the latter half of the book. (No pets perish.)

Hutch was so caring and treated Katie with respect as he taught her how to swim and go through parts of the rescue training. While this is definitely a slow burn romance, much of the book was dedicated to showing Katie how to love herself even when she isn't feeling it. I think Katie's overall growth helped strengthen her future relationship with Hutch. I wish we had a better epilogue of their relationship but overall, I really liked the book.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this eARC. The Love Haters is out now.

🌊 B O O K R E V I E W 🌊

First and foremost, thank you to @stmartinspress and @netgalley for always giving me the opportunity to read Katherine's books as soon as they're available ❤️

And second, happiest of Pub Days to THE LOVE HATERS and @katherinecenter !!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

"𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘴."


I don't know why I keep doing this to myself... 😅

I love Katherine's books SO much, but they always leave me mad, emotionally devastated, and then hopeful when I hit the very end.

This books took me on a JOURNEY. And I don't know how I'll ever emotionally recover.

🌊 Opposites Attract
🚁 Workplace Romance (kind of?)
🌊 Forced Proximity
🚁 Overcoming Fears
🌊 Handling Past Trauma
🚁 Florida Hurricane
🌊 Body Dysmorphia
🚁 Handling Grief and Loss
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#bookstagram #booksta #books #booksbooksbooks #avidreader #ilovereading #thetwistedlibrarian #professionalbookworm #thelovehaters #katherinecenter #book13of2025 #whatsnikkireading #advancedreadercopy #stmartinspress #netgalley #oppositesattract #workplaceromance #forcedproximity #overcomingfears #florida #hurricane #handlingpasttrauma #griefandloss

I love KC's books; they are always a feel-good go-to read for me. This one, unfortunately may have been my least favorite of hers. The Rom-Commers and The Bodyguard I absolutely loved, I wish this story would have been a bit more like those. Katie Vaughn, takes a job as creating a video profile of “Hutch,” a Coast Guard rescue swimmer in Key West. I did not really feel the chemistry between Katie and “Hutch”. I wanted it. It just was not there. The amount of body image issues Katie expressed throughout the entire story was contrasted with the ”perfect man.” Ugh, there is not a perfect man. Why do women compare themselves to this? I did love Aunt Rue as a side character. She seemed like a lot of fun! The writing was entertaining and I did enjoy reading, I just was not as connected with this one as others that I have read from KC. I did listen to the audiobook and LOVED the narrator.

ARC/ ALC REVIEW:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Katie Vaughn is a self-proclaimed, ‘love hater’. After enduring a nasty public breakup, thanks to her famous ex- fiancé, she dove head first into her career. Working as a videographer, documenting has been the major source of her happiness. Unfortunately, her company recently announced it was in the process of major downsizing. With her job on the line, Katie must travel to Florida to secure the reluctant Tom ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson as the subject for her upcoming video. Will she succeed in getting the footage she needs to save her job, or will her budding relationship with Hutch stand in the way?

Don’t be fooled by Katherine Center’s latest novel, The Love Haters, being marketed as a summer romcom. While this book does feature romance, Center demonstrates that love is not limited to the confines we Americans have put on it. Taking a page from the Greeks she beautifully demonstrates self- love (philautia) and family love (storage).

My absolute favorite demonstration of love in this book is Katie’s journey to self-love. After being torn down physically from both her step-mother and the public’s unrealistic expectations of her body, Katie begins hating her appearance. It was heartbreaking to see her get to a place where she nearly starved herself. In addition to taking meticulously notes in her food diary, she would scrutinize herself for going over her allotted calories and limit her wardrobe to all black. Knowing first-hand how deeply disordered her relationship with food/ clothing was, getting to see her not only overcome, but be at peace with her own body was truly inspiring.

While Katie’s self-love journey resonated stronger with me, it could be argued the strongest love story in the book was that between Hutch, Cole, and Aunt Rue. The decades of history the ‘family’ members shared makes it difficult to top. I loved the resolution they came to after finally hashing things out (while celebrating the anniversary traditions). I wasn’t sure they would be able to get past their collective pain, seeing as it was so deeply rooted and rarely discussed.

I had the pleasure of consuming this book in two formats; physically reading it and listening to it on audiobook. While I enjoyed both, I highly recommend the audiobook. Patti Murin is a phenomenal voice actor. Her narration elevated the already fantastic story to an even higher level.

Needless to say, I simply adored Katherine Center’s The Love Haters. Her stories make a lasting impression on all her readers. I know I will be thinking about this particular one for quite some time!

Special thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and Katherine Center for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

I had fun with this. The premise of a woman who can't swim being sent to film a recruitment video following a Coast Guard rescue swimmer is amazing!

I loved Hutch and George Bailey!

I really enjoyed Katie's journey from insecurity to self-acceptance.

My one issue is in all of the Katherine Center books I've read so far, there is always a plotline or scene that I find ridiculous or annoying enough to ruin some of my enjoyment. For this book that is Cole. As Katie said “you just keep making everything worse”. He was the plot device that caused conflict and kept the story moving and it just felt a little forced.

All in all, I had a good time with this. If you love Katherine Center’s writing I think you will enjoy this one.

Katherine Center has been an autoread author for me for several years now and while I enjoyed this one, it wasn’t my absolute favorite. I liked Katie quite a bit as a character. She was silly but had depth to her as well. I think her self-discoveries throughout the book, while a little Hallmarky, were valuable things to consider outside of the book. Hutch was a little too perfect and that was his main flaw for the book which…I don’t know how I feel about that. I still liked his and Katie’s relationship but it was a little “Wait, you don’t know you’re hot?” “Wait, YOU don’t know YOU’RE hot?” if you get what I mean.

The plot itself was a little convoluted. There’s a lot of suspending your disbelief with the way things play out at basically every turn. And there were a lot of times when Katie felt like she had no choice but to [insert poor decision here] and I just feel like with a little more brainstorming, we could have come up with some other solutions.

I liked all of the secondary characters and felt like they added some fun dimension to the story. But I do wish we’d gotten more from The Gals. I also wish we’d gotten more of a two-way relationship between Katie and Beanie. I really liked Beanie, but it felt like she’d been doing a lot of work propping up Katie for decades and I just wanted to see what she gets out of that relationship because it felt exhausting.

Okay, I know I’ve had a lot of criticisms, but I really did like the book. It was interesting to learn more about the Coast Guard. I liked watching Katie develop as a character. And as always, Katherine Center’s books are just so easy to read. The writing is great, dialogue feels natural, and the characters have a great level of chemistry.

Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.