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.

THIS WAS SUCH A CUTE BOOK!

This is the second Katherine Center book I've read (the first being 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘮-𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴) so this was an equally cute book. This book follows main character Katie. She is a filmmaker, currently employed but facing the chopping block. Her boss, Cole, assigns Katie a job that may not only save her job but help her with her side project as well (she does "A Day in the Life.." videos on Youtube of different heroes). The job in question is filming Tom "Hutch" Hutcheson, a rescue diver for the US Coast Guard. Only thing is, Katie cannot swim so she's super underqualified for the job, but her boss insists she goes.
Cole insists Katie go because he clearly does not want the job; not because he can't swim but because Hutch is his older brother and they do NOT get along at all.
Katie takes the job and meets Hutch, plus "The Gals" (a group of older woman living their best lives in the Florida Keys). What ensues is an adventure of swimming, facing your fears and possibly finding love (with yourself).

So I gave this book a 4/5. It was a super cute read and I found myself actually smiling and laughing at some parts. If you have read any books that were dark and you need to find some joy and light at the end of the tunnel, this is the one for you! It is a bit predictable (as is any rom-com) but there were some parts that kind of shocked me.
The ending I saw coming after a while but it was super cute and heart warming.

I recommend you pick this one up. It'll make a great poolside/beach read.

Katherine Center has a knack for crafting stories that are equal parts heartwarming escape and emotional resonance—and *The Love Haters* is no exception. In this charming tale, Center pairs a stoic and handsome Coast Guard officer, seemingly immune to love, with a woman struggling to see her own beauty and worth. Their unlikely connection becomes a journey of healing, revealing how love—especially for those who matter most—can grow out of brokenness.

The romance is sweet and layered, but the emotional depth is what gives the story staying power. It’s a testament to Center’s talent that readers are not only swept up in the fun, witty dialogue and seaside setting, but also leave with a deeper sense of self-worth and hope.

And let’s not forget George Bailey, the Great Dane, who just might be the true heartthrob of the story. With his loyal, gentle presence (larger than life),he steals scenes and hearts alike.

Whether you're looking for a cozy beach read or a heartfelt narrative with a message, *The Love Haters* delivers both with Center’s signature warmth and wisdom.

This was my first Katherine Center book and it definitely won't be my last! I have heard only good things about her books & I'm so happy I finally read one! I related to Katie a lot in this story and was rooting for her the whole time. I also loved Hutch and swooned over him so many times throughout the book. Reading and Katie and her body was super refreshing and relatable. I'm a mom of two and have lost a significant amount of weight in the past year. I was able to heal with the character as I read. I would definitely reread this book and will recommend to all my friends!

I have been excited for this one since I saw @katherinecenter post about her research trip to a Coast Guard base. I mean, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer as the main character? Come on. Unbelievably sexy, right? And Hutch does not disappoint. He’s the perfect cinnamon roll hero, gruff on the outside, but soft and gooey once you get to know him. The chemistry between him and Katie was sizzling. And even though it was closed door, as are all of Center’s books, it still managed to crackle with awareness.

But even more than the romance, the book is about Katie’s journey to love her body and be comfortable in her own skin. She has a background of people criticizing her appearance, and she has absorbed that negative outlook. She has to learn to love herself before she can love Hutch. Her inner monologue was so relatable. Fighting negative self image is always an ongoing struggle.

I adored the setting in Key West, with equal parts tropical vacation and military training. And the found family of side characters were delightful. The plot was unpredictable in a good way. At several points I was like, “I did not see THAT coming!” The first person narrative with breaks in the fourth wall to address the reader was unique. It gave “Reader, I married him” vibes. IYKYK!

Katherine Center has delivered yet another great romcom. It’s definitely worth the read.

Thank you to @Netgalley and @stmartinspress for the chance to review this ARC.

Finally! Third time's the charm! The Love Haters is the first book by Katherine Center that really worked for me! We've got great main characters, some amazing supporting ones, an incredible atmosphere, and a thrilling storyline to go with it!

Katie and Hutch fell into their attraction for each other so organically, making it fun to watch their slow and steady decent! Hutch's dog, George Bailey, was a great meddling addition, and so was Aunt Extraordinaire Rue! Hutch's brother Cole rubbed me the wrong way at times, but I did enjoy the overall character arc he was given! What a great use of an epilogue to wrap everything up! Also, this book had so many laugh-out-loud moments!

I was initially worried that Katie's whole personality was going to revolve around her body image, but after her initial character development, that wasn't the case; yes it still played a part in who she integrally was, but it was never overdone. She had a fantastic (and realistic) character arc, and I can see myself taking away many of the lessons she learned and applying them to my own life! (Hats off to Katie's best friend Beanie for being the kind and loving soul that she is!)

Patti Murin was such a great choice to voice Katie! She was fun and upbeat, bubbly even, but never obnoxiously so. Her voice was reactionary and portrayed emotions perfectly as the scenes played out! I absolutely love the Author's Notes that Center adds to her books - her love of the romance genre is revolutionary! Again, I appreciated that the acknowledgements were added within this audiobook; they are hardly ever shared in the audiobook format and as I always seek out to read them, it was delightful to have them read to me. The Author's Note and Acknowledgments are narrated by Center, which is always an added bonus!

I can finally see the hype in Center's work - and I can't wait to read her next romance!

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for the complimentary copies to read and review.

I’ve really enjoyed Katherine Center’s books in the past, so I was excited to pick this one up. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite land for me. The romance felt a little underdeveloped, and the chemistry just wasn’t there like I’d hoped. That said, I really liked Katie, Hutch, and Rue—they were strong, likable characters. Cole, on the other hand, drove me nuts. His immaturity made things worse for everyone and pulled me out of the story at times.

A lot of the book focused on Katie’s journey with self-esteem and learning to love her body. While that’s an important theme, it felt like it became the main focus and took away from the romantic side of the story.

Patti Murin’s narration was, as always, a highlight—she really brings the characters to life. And the dog? Absolutely adorable.

Even though this wasn’t a favorite, I still found things to enjoy. It just didn’t click with me the way her other books have. Still, I’m looking forward to what she writes next. Not every book will be the perfect fit, and that’s okay.

There is just always something so special about a Katherine Center book and she did it again with The Love Haters! This book had my giggling from the get go and the chemistry between the MC's Katie and Hutch was just so perfect. And I need George Bailey in my life!!!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book!