I typically love Katherine Center's books but this missed the mark for me. I was immediately put off by the FMC's negative self-talk at the start of the book, and was disappointed to find that it continued throughout. While she does come to 'love herself' at the end, I thought it felt weird for her to come to this conclusion after naming reasons she loves her thumb. I loved the cinematography aspect of things, Hutch as an MMC, and the whole USCG representation. I didn't love that she ended up randomly stranded on a houseboat in a hurricane though. It felt way too far-fetched and while I get that rom-coms aren't supposed to be realistic, this completely took me out of it.

A unique and fun love story with lots of great dialogue, interesting characters, and plenty of self-love. This is a great summertime read!

Thank you to St. Martins Press & NetGalley for this ARC!

The Love Haters may be my favorite Katherine Center novel yet! The storyline was different but included the not quite enemies to lovers trope & had its own handful of interesting tidbits. Katie agrees to a job in Key West, FL that she may not be wholly qualified to do, but agrees nonetheless to keep her job after her boss goes on a rampage firing people after a devastating life blow. Cole, Katie’s coworker, gives her the bare minimum details and leaves out his own personal reasons for not going to do the Coast Guard promo video- his years long competitive beef with his brother, Hutch, who Cole says is a love hater.

Katie goes to Key West just expecting to do her job and go back home. She doesn’t expect to end up on a journey to loving herself, making connections with an unlikely friend, and ultimately falling for Hutch.

📚 Pub Day Review: The Love Haters by Katherine Center

Am I a love hater? Maybe...
Romance can be hit or miss for me, and The Love Haters just didn’t win me over.

This rom-com follows a video producer who has to fake being a swimmer (what a twist!) to save her job and ends up profiling a Coast Guard swimmer named Hutch. Chaos and sibling drama follow, of course. 🌊💔

I love Katherine Center’s emotional storytelling, but her direct-address style doesn’t always work for me. Still, she manages to make me laugh and cry... so I guess that’s a win? 😅

Full review is up on my blog: www.cynsfictionaddiction.com

Katherine Center is one of my favorite romcom authors so I was very excited to receive an ARC of The Love Haters.
The story line is predictable but relatable, the characters are annoying, lovable and at times laugh out funny.
This is a good story but not one of Center’s best. I still will recommend it as a great read.
Thank you NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for my ARC.

Not my fav Katherine Center book but I really enjoyed this!!! I had a lot in common with the FMC and felt that the topics of body image were handled respectfully and honestly. Very funny, cute, emotional, a great read for the summer time! 4⭐️

Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC!!!

Another wonderful fun read about finding love in the most unexpected places.

I appreciated Katy’s self effacing demeanor but it lingered longer than I felt necessary to convey the message. I did find that Katy was overly focused on her body image to really enjoy her life. She received support from many people who expressed how harshly she judged herself.

It takes more than half the book before she comes to acknowledge that she needed to embrace herself in the body in which she was born. This occurs when she is faced with what she felt was a life or death situation.

When you put all the body shaming aside the love story is filled with all the anticipated features of this genre. I really enjoy Katherine Center and all her previous novels. I would still recommend this book to anyone who loves a good comedic romance.

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

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the arc copy of this book. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

One year after being cheated on by her famous fiancé Lucas Banks, Katie Vaughn finds herself taking a job in Key West as a last ditch effort to not get fired. As a video producer, Katie is tasked with following Coast Guard rescue swimmer Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson around to make a promotional video for the guard. Hutch only agrees to the video because he thinks his brother Cole / Katie's coworker is making it, and wants to mend their strenuous relationship. When Katie shows up to start the project and the truth is revealed, things get awkward. Fortunately for readers, Katie gets Hutch to open up and even befriends their Aunt Rue. Soon, she is opening up herself in ways she never imagined possible.

I am obsessed with Katherine's writing style, her characters, and her stories. This book had me smiling, kicking my feet giggling, and tearing up. This book made me want to be kinder to myself. This book made me want to be kinder to others. Please, do yourself a favor and read this one.

Thank you for sharing a piece of your heart Katherine.

5 stars per usual.

Is this literary genius? no. Was this probably the quickest I've gobbled up a book all year? yes 1000%. I really liked some of Center's older work (with some misses in the mix as well) and I can say that this one has been the easiest to read. There is some pretty major emphasis on body image and it attempts to be healing in it but the first time it's brought up is pretty crash course into the eating disorders of my past so if you are easily triggered by this (thank you therapy!!) I would give this one a miss. I also think this does lack some depth for all characters involved but truthfully I needed a mind melt and this provided that. Also George Bailey as a dog name? woof woof.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was a sweet story about a videographer and Coast Guard rescue swimmer. It takes place in the Florida Keys and would be an excellent summer read. It makes you want to sit outside in the sun and relax!

Overall it's pretty light hearted, but if body image issues are a trigger for you it might be worth skipping. The fmc has a very complicated relationship with her body, food and self image.

My favorite character by far with George Bailey, the Great Dane! "The Gals," a group of fiesta 80 year olds were a close second!

Katherine Center’s writing always feels like a warm hug, so funny, heartfelt, and real. I saw so much of myself in Katie and loved every second of her journey. The banter and romance were perfection!

Also, I listened to part of this on audiobook and LOVED it. The narrator totally nailed Katie’s personality and brought the story to life. If you’re into audiobooks, this one is a must. Such a fun experience!

If you need something uplifting and relatable, definitely add this to your TBR!

Katherine Center has done it again! Her love stories never disappoint. In The Love Haters, commercial videographer Katie finds herself in Key West after her supervisor Cole asks her to take over a project he doesn’t want while also helping her save her job as the company is laying off almost half the staff. The assignment? To create a Coast Guard recruitment film that highlights the excitement of the job. The added benefit? Cole’s estranged older brother Hutch, a gorgeous rescue swimmer who is far from the taciturn, love-hating Mr. Perfect his jealous brother makes him out to be. As Katie spends her days taking swim lessons from Hutch, being entertained by his eccentric and loving honorary Aunt Rue and her hilarious crew of Golden Gals, and being enthusiastically assaulted by his Great Dane George Bailey, she and Hutch grow closer. However, this is more than a sweet romance with a few steamy kisses. It’s also a story of Katie’s journey towards self-love after a lifetime of hating everything about her body. With the help of her best friend Beanie, who is well-acquainted with self-help books, and the sincere compliments from both Hutch and Rue, Katie finally recognizes how damaging her negative self-talk has been.

Center does a wonderful job of showing all types of love while also keeping readers on the edge of their seats as a hurricane brews. There is humor, heartfelt moments, harrowing water rescue, and so much more. Fans of Emily Henry, Abby Jimenez, and Beth O’Leary will love this one. Highly recommended.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

I've read a few Katherine Center books before, but this one did not hit for me. The FMC's insecurities annoyed me too much.

Full of endearing characters, from a quirky aunt to an adorable rescue dog, The Love Haters is the perfect beach read. While tackling serious issues including body image and grief, the story also highlights the breezy romance between Katie and Hutch and the impact of kindness and community.

In the perfect weather setting of Key West, Katie is tasked to feature “Hutch” and the work he does as a Coast Guard rescue swimmer. While initially sent as a last ditch effort to avoid being laid off from her job as a video producer, their professional relationship turns personal when sparks fly between the two.

An easy and fast read, I enjoyed this story to the very last drop. I find myself wanting to “hang out” longer with Katie, Hutch, Rue and the Gals. We all need an Aunt Rue and a George Bailey in our lives. They were my absolute favorite characters!

Thank you to NetGalley. St. Martin’s Press and the author for an early digital reviewer copy.

Okay, so The Love Haters wasn’t a total insta-love for me, but it was one of those quietly lovely reads that stuck with me more than I expected. The romance is cute—but honestly, the real standout here was Katie’s personal growth.
This is one of those books that reminds you to be kinder to yourself, even when your brain’s being a jerk about your body. Watching Katie navigate self-worth, body image, and healing after public humiliation was way more emotional than I bargained for. It felt real, and honestly, a little too relatable at times.
The banter between Katie and Hutch was great, and I loved how grumpy-sunshine they were without it feeling forced. The Florida Keys setting gave the whole thing this chill, sun-drenched vibe that made me want to read it with a frozen cocktail in hand. Also, Hutch teaching her to swim? Tender chaos. Love to see it.
Not a super spicy read, more like cozy and comforting with a side of swoon. The pacing dragged a bit in places for me, but by the end I was hooked! Definitely a solid addition to your summer TBR.

I've only read one other Katherine Center book, The Bodyguard, and I loved it, so I'm thrilled that I also really enjoyed The Love Haters. I loved the voice of the main character, and I loved that she was so authentic and kind of a hot mess. The premise was so funny. I loved Katie's relationship with her cousin -- it was such a positive relationship, and Bea felt like a fully present character even though I think we only ever saw her on FaceTime. And Hutch! What a thoughtful loving love interest.

Some of the plot points were kind of ridiculous, but it was a hilarious ride. I read this in one plate sit and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I know when I pick up a Katherine Center book, I’m in for a treat. What can I say about The Love Haters? Love, love, love! I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed this book - from cover to cover, it was just a delight to read.

Read this one if you like:
🧡 Relatable characters
🧡 Summer romcom
🧡 Fun banter
🧡 Bright colors

Sometimes romcoms feel controlled by the tropes. And sometimes they get stuck in a trope and lose the importance of the story. This never happened in The Love Haters. Ms. Center rarely took the romance trope/route that I thought was coming. This is a romcom about love - loving yourself, your friends, your found family. Finding yourself and what makes you happy.

While I think this would be a fantastic pool/beach read this summer, I highly recommend the audiobook read by @pattimurin . She’s just fantastic and really brings Katie to life. I just didn’t want this one to end.

“Every time you have to be brave, you get to be a little braver next time.”

Katherine Center never misses. Every book she writes manages to crack my chest wide open, skewer my heart, and heal some long lost insecurity I’d become resigned to accepting as permanent.

Beyond a beautifully crafted romance, poetically written with embedded adventures and side characters you just wish you could call your own family, The Love Haters takes on an underlying message of self-love and how we deserve to not only accept ourselves—but to love ourselves for who we are, what we look like, and the life we’ve lived without any amount of shame.

On the romance front, I loved the give and take of Katie and Hutch’s relationship. Sensing his growing feelings for her from the very first moment, but her hesitancy around him because 1) she had yet to love herself enough to recognize someone else might be able to love her too after her very public break up with her now-famous ex-boyfriend, 2) she was there for work, and 3) her coworker had called his brother a “Love Hater”—meaning no matter how attractive she found him, it wouldn’t go anywhere.

But each one of her reasons falls away the more time she spends in his town filming him as he demonstrates his “heroic” ways and she learns more about what makes Hutch tick. But I think what I truly loved is that he only has one reason to stay away from her—and it’s because of a lie his brother, Cole, tells him: that Cole and Katie are dating.

…EXCUSE ME??? Thank goodness the truth comes out eventually! I was STRESSED. But MAN is it worth it in the end!

“You’re like a human hot fudge sundae.”

I don’t know if I could ever truly rank my favorite Katherine Center novels, because I love them all so much—and even if this isn’t my all-time favorite, I still thoroughly loved it and enjoyed getting lost in this Key West town with Katie, Hutch, and Hutch’s dog, George Bailey.

Tropes:
- Opposites attract
- Workplace romance
- Stolen kisses
- Daring rescues
- Fake dating
- Self-love
- Grumpy x sunshine
- Coworker’s brother
- Lovable dog
- Phenomenal side characters

[The Love Haters]

Thank you to Katherine Center, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martian's Press for the gifted ALC and ARC.

Katherine Center NEVER fails me!! No one sets a scene like she does and no one can make me laugh as hard as she can. I found myself cracking up and also thinking about life while listening to this book. Katherine has this special way of making you take a close look at topics that other people shy away from but balancing it perfectly with humor.

“𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵-𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘯-𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦.”

Katie and Hutch were such a fun couple. I loved them both together as a couple and separately as individuals. Katie is working through some major body image issues. (If you have triggers around body image or eating disorders, take a closer look before you proceed. Take care of yourself.) I love how she begins to love and appreciate her body after some major traumas. And Hutch was so grumpy but also such a good man underneath. I thought they had so much chemistry and I enjoyed their back and forth so much!

Don't even get me started on the Rue, the gals and the most lovable Great Dane. (plus the toad!) They brought so much to the story.

This is such a fun, easy read that I had so much fun with!

Grab this one if you love:
✨ Small Beach Town
✨ Boss's Brother
✨ Forced Proximity
✨ Grumpy x Sunshine
✨ Coast Guard Hero
✨ Body Image Struggles

📚 Book: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
🔥Spice Rating: 🤍

Spice Rating
🤍 clean romance
💗 closed door/ fade to black
❤️ spicy content (a few detailed scenes)
❤️‍🔥 explicit, play-by-play (major part of the plot)
🖤 graphic, more than vanilla

Quick Summary: A "culture of appreciation" novel

My Review: The Love Haters by Katherine Center is a contemporary women's fiction/romance novel. It was released on 5/20/25.

About the Book: "It’s a thin line between love and love-hating...

Katie Vaughn has been burned by love in the past—now she may be lighting her career on fire.

Swim lessons, helicopter flights, conga lines, drinking contests, hurricanes, and stolen kisses ensue—along with chances to tell the truth, to face old fears, and to be truly brave at last."

In My Own Words: A story about surviving heartbreak, taking chances, and learning to love & appreciate self

About the Characters:

Katie - >

I genuinely liked Katie. She was a character who was easy to relate to. Her experience was believable. Her state after her loss was understandable. Her background and her relationship woes influenced how she saw herself and how she perceived the world. Her journey towards wellness and healing was remarkable. Even though the choices she made were so far from her norm, they were necessary for her growth. In the end, I am so glad she chose to take a chance and put herself out there. The omissions and deception were a vehicle that drove her story, unfortunately.

Hutch - >

In terms of the love interest - Hutch - he was a noble guy. He was good. He was heroic yet humble. He cared about his family and his community. He loved his dog. He was a little rough around the ages, but at his core, he was decent. When it came to Katie, he seemed to want to explore the possibilities, even though he was guarded. He tried. The same could be said, regarding his brother - he tried. Hutch was likable. Some of his actions were questionable at times, but when all was said and done, he was upright.

Cole - >

Cole was not a good guy. He had a chip on his shoulder. He was manipulative, self-serving, proud, and bothersome. I didn't like him. Even when his story took an unexpected turn, I felt like he still didn't have a clue. I did not see real growth in him. And the insta situationship was a no for me. It did not flow.

George Bailey - >

What a good boy! His fear and that whole big predicament that came later in the story... my heart.

The Supporting Cast - >

Aunt Rue and her fellow seniors were delightful. They were tuned in to all that was happening. I loved their relationship with each other. They were fun and frisky. There was a lot of wisdom and insight in this peculiar friend group.

Beanie was a loyal bestie. She stayed true the entire way through the story. I could easily see her cheering her girl on. When her list was revealed, it showed just how well she knew her friend. I loved her culture of appreciation idea.

Sullivan, the boss, was interesting. I liked her backstory mention. I did not care for her prowling and pushiness. The way her story played out with the brothers was a no for me. It echoed what happened between the brothers and the ex.

My Final Say: This novel was a bit different than the other KC books I have read. It was a story within a story, in my opinion. On the surface level, it was about a woman who was clawing her way back into life and employment. Beneath the surface, however, it was about a woman coming to know herself, challenge herself, lose herself, and love herself. It was also about having the courage to connect with people of interest. At the end of the day, both Katie and Hutch had to choose to free themselves from past issues in order to move forward and find true happiness.

I was not a fan of the lying games. It became too much after a time. I guess I didn't understand why it kept going. Neither that, nor the hiding of the health issue from being found out - I did not get why it was important to keep it from the person who should have been the first to know.

Other: Readers who like stories where you have to dig deep to find meaning will like this one. It's a slow burn, life lessons, learn to love yourself in order to learn to love others kind of read.

Rating: 3.5/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: A
Status/Level: 👍
Romance: +/-

Thank you to the author, to the publisher (St. Martin's Press), and to NetGalley for granting access to a digital ARC of this title in exchange for an honest critique. It was a pleasure to review this work. I look forward to reading more from this writer.