3.5 stars

i always have fun reading Katherine Center's novels, and her latest work is no exception.
i didn't enjoy this one as much as her other works; The Love Haters felt really fictional and not realistic at all at certain points, but a fun read nonetheless.

thank you Netgallery & St. Martin's Press for this e-arc!!

I live Katherine Center’s books. This one wasn’t my favorite of hers, but still great. I wish the book had more time with the characters being together however I loved the yearning and build up. I will always read this author.

I really enjoyed the characters in this book. Katie and Cole have some nice romantic banter and interesting jobs, and Rue and her gaggle of older ladies were fun. Some of the items that are used to generate tension were somewhat unrealistic and Katie's bad decision making when it came to running toward a hurricane made me role my eyes, but it didn't ruin my enjoyment of this novel.

Don’t go into this expecting a wild romance between two people. I would say go into this expecting the FMC to have a romance with herself. I think some of the negative reviews are because people wanted a passionate romance between our main characters but the actual romance between them takes up very little of the book. Expect a lot of learning self love and I think you’ll like the book better (if that’s your sort of book). I laughed out loud, and I nodded along to some of Katie’s inner monologue.

When I started reading this book it was like coming home (my favorite feelling), wearing a favorite comfy outfit and eating comfort food. I just love how she writes. Her characters are so real. I smile so much and I actually laugh out loud, which is definitely not easy to get me to do when I'm reading.
It was fun to have the story have an element of something I had never read about before--Coast Guard search and rescue. This story also included intergenerational friendships which if you know me, you know is my favorite. And those real characters? They are so likable--even the ones you aren't suppose to like, end up with some degree of grace offered to them. This story also features a dog--bonus points right there!
I've said it before, but I'll say it again: Thank Katherine Center for writing these uplifting, clean, rom-coms that are the heart of humanity. Oh, and if you didn't know it, her author's notes which are little soap-box speeches on the value of reading romance are priceless.

“No one’s born fearless. You have to earn it“

The Love Haters is a wonderful mix of a light summer romance and self help book for women who need to learn to love themselves and their bodies! It follows Katie who is in the midst of healing after a messy public breakup as she goes on location to the Florida Keys for a job with internet hero, Hutch. With the help of some colorful older ladies and her best friend Beanie she learns to love herself, her body and live life to the fullest all while falling for her coworkers brother. Definitely add it to your must reads! You won’t regret it.

Love Haters by Katherine Center is pure joy from start to finish! I could have easily devoured this book in one sitting — it’s that fun, fast-paced, and utterly enjoyable. Between the tropical Key West setting, hilarious swim lessons, chaotic adventures, and stolen kisses, this story felt like the ultimate summer beach read: breezy, warm, and impossible to put down.

Katie’s journey isn’t just about romance (though her chemistry with Hutch is perfection); it’s about learning to trust herself, be brave, and love herself a little more. I loved how Katherine Center mixed laugh-out-loud moments with deeper, heart-tugging lessons about facing your fears and choosing your own happiness.

If you're looking for a book that feels like sunshine, a little chaos, and a lot of heart, Love Haters absolutely needs to be on your summer reading list! A couple of trigger warnings for this one: parental loss and eating disorder.

Read if you like:
🌺 Found Family
🌺 Forced Proximity
🌺 Body Positivity
🌺 He Falls First
🌺 Self Love

This is probably my favorite Katherine Center book to date. First off, I adored Katie and Hutch. Both were really likable, kind people that you wanted to root for. Katie showed really remarkable personal growth throughout in learning to accept herself and work past her insecurities. Katherine Center always does such a great job writing side characters, and this title was no exception. Rue and Beanie were so lovable and George Bailey was a total star. Leave it to Center to write the dog's personality just as carefully and thoughtfully as her human characters. The overall story of the book was so fun and exciting. I really enjoyed the Coast Guard angle of the story and learned a lot about them throughout the book. I would recommend this title to fans of Emily Henry and Beth O'Leary.

I loved The Romcommers by this author that released last year, so I had high hopes for this one, but ultimately it left me a bit wanting.

One thing that I love about Katherine Center books is that you can count on there being some deeper lessons to learn. In this one, the FMC has to fight the internal battle of learning to love herself and her body, despite her past. This is a very important issue that every girl and woman will face, but it also took a lengthy amount of the book - pushing it very close to the women’s fiction genre, in my opinion.

Along with the FMC’s internal struggles, the MMC has to work through family conflict that takes the story to places I didn’t expect. I had trouble feeling their chemistry, which made it hard for me to follow the romance plot that was weaved within the women’s fiction/contemporary plot.

In the end, if you go in with expectations of mixed genres, lots of internal descriptive narratives, and life lessons with a love story that peeks through, you’ll enjoy this.

Perfect for you if you like:
Facing internal struggles
Healthy body image battle
He’s a Coast Guard rescue swimmer
Women’s fiction with humor and a love story

The Love Haters is a delightful, laugh-out-loud romantic comedy that’s packed with charm, sass, and just the right amount of slow-burn tension. Angela Casella delivers a feel-good romance with lovable characters, sharp banter, and a premise that had me hooked from page one.

The enemies-to-lovers dynamic is everything you’d want—witty, fiery, and filled with undeniable chemistry. The leads clash in the most entertaining ways, but underneath the sarcasm and eye rolls is a growing connection that feels genuine and heartwarming. By the time things start to shift, I was fully invested and rooting hard for their happily ever after.

Casella’s writing is clever, refreshing, and full of heart. The side characters are just as lovable, and the small-town setting gives the story a cozy, lived-in vibe. It's one of those books that feels like a rom-com movie in the best possible way.

If you’re a fan of enemies-to-lovers, fake dating, or quirky rom-coms with heart, The Love Haters deserves a top spot on your TBR. It’s light, flirty, and full of joy—perfect for when you need a romantic escape that makes you smile.

The Love Haters is a fast, fun read filled with sharp dialogue, lively characters, and plenty of heart. The story captures the messy, hilarious side of love without feeling clichéd. I just wish the ending had a little more depth. Still, a thoroughly enjoyable romance!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I loved this book! If Katherine Center writes it, I’m going to read it and love every minute of it. This book reminded me of some of her earlier books, which was so fun. I loved the character dynamics, the setting, basically everything! Definitely add this book to your summer TBR.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!
I am a Katherine Center stan. I really enjoyed the story line of this book. I felt as if I was learning in real time with Katie. Hutch was a great MMC and Cole was truly unsufferable as he was supposed to be. Truly my only complaint is that there wasn't enough of the romance. I wanted to see the relationship between Katie and Hutch develop more! I felt like we got more of the relationship between Katie and George Bailey then them. The body image representation was SPOT ON. I truly appreciate how Katherine Center always nails the insecurities of her characters.
3/5 stars!

What I loved: THE DOG - George Bailey is amazing and the best thing about this!

What didn't work: Mostly everything else. The main character was sweet but her focus on her body image got tiring after a bit, the love interest had an awesome job but felt a tad one note to me, and then, other than some adorable older ladies, the side characters were forgettable for me as well. I just couldn't get into this one and it just seemed like the romance didn't seem believable and the overall story was just meh. But I love Katherine Center and The Bodyguard is still one of my all time fav romcoms!

Recommended: yep!
If you like her other books, for a fish-out-of-water theme, for a soft and closed-door romance, for adults who are generally emotionally mature, for lots of silly scenes, for little doses of therapy between the characters

Thoughts:
Ahhh, Katherine Center. I've generally enjoyed all the books I've read by her, but I think this one is my favorite. It has one of my favorite themes, with it focusing on a person in an unfamiliar environment. MC is dealing with tons of color when she's a monochrome-only kind of person, and she's got no idea how to swim as she's about to be far over the ocean in a helicopter that may go down and trap her upside down underwater, and just so many other things she's suddenly dealing with. Also let me note that although I can swim, there's no way in hell I'm signing up for something that may have me trapped upside down underwater strapped into a heavy sinking metal contraption IN THE FUCKING OCEAN. So Katherine Center has solidified that new fear into my life, well written, well done, thanks for the warning! 😅

The romance and relationship between Katie and Hutch (his real first name is TOM, actually) is funny and relaxed and felt very natural even though it occurs over a relatively short amount of time. It's closed-door too, so no sexual things happen on page and there's a lot of yearning and wistful thinking. Katie is genuinely considerate of Hutch (and others) even with pressure on her about her job and her dreams putting her in a tough spot. Manipulation is low in this story which I appreciated because it's nice to just read a nice kind story sometimes. People in this book are, for the most part, the way I hope most people actually are. Just not Cole, fuck Cole.

The beef between Cole and Hutch is incredibly stupid. From the start I just kept thinking a) HUTCH is not a cool nickname, it literally means cupboard and makes me think of an old lady who stores china dishes and porcelain doll figures. It's not cool. Also b) it's a nickname on their LAST NAME so it's not like Cole couldn't just also use it?? Maybe I can sum this up by just saying wow was Cole annoying. He's at least given some depth by the end but HARD PASS on that guy, ugh. Anyway, yes, their reason for being distant with each other felt very shallow and had me rolling my eyes in disgust at their idiocy.

The ending is goddamn -- y'all, it just ramps up from a smooth 30 to 100 in like, a page. Fucking insane, and also terrifying in so many ways. Genuinely scary situations, at least to me, that far surpass just "will he call me back" or "does he like me too" kinds of questions you usually see as the climax in a romance.

Best character: George Bailey. What an icon.

For me, Katherine Center is the Queen of Romance. She writes wonderful stories that have all the prerequisites of a romance starting with boy meets girl, trouble ensues, boy and girl end up together. What makes her the best is that her books have so much more than the usual. In this one, Katie struggles with self image among other things. She is a real to life character that you can’t help rooting for. Other favorite characters are Hutch, Rue and Bernie. Cole is initially hard to like, but ends up being somewhat redeemed. And the setting of Key West is perfectly colorful and dreamy. Each time I read a Katherine Center book it becomes my new favorite. This one definitely fits the bill!

This was everything we know and love from Katherine Center: cute, witty, and all tied in a bow in the end. I loved the characters, the banter, and the surprisingly action packed ending. There were parts that came together a little TOO perfectly, but hey, that’s why we love fiction, right? I really enjoyed this one!

This was a sweet story. Unfortunately not my favorite. I felt like I wasn’t able to connect with the characters. I was a fan of the plot.

I have read every Katherine Center book and this one did not disappoint! I really enjoy the Florida Keys and having that be the location for this book was PERFECT! While I enjoyed Katie, the protagonist, I see how she could trigger a lot of readers. She is healing from a severe eating disorder and has a lot of inner dialogue about her body image issues. I found her to be very real but I will give that trigger warning. I loved Hutch, the mmc, and found him to be swoon worthy. 4 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is Katherine Center’s best book yet!

"This was it. This was the phobia. Being exposed, in plain daylight, with nowhere to hide - and then being... rejected. By anyone. Even a stranger."

That's how this book made me feel... exposed. I don't even struggle with all of the same things the protagonist struggles with, but I could still empathize with her experience... especially her fear of rejection.

In her author's note, Katherine summed up the experience of reading this book perfectly:

"It's such an astonishing feat of human imagination. It's so much magic. Researchers have done all kinds of studies about what happens to our brains when we get lost in stories. Our mirror neurons flash. Our brains light up like what we're reading is really happening. We know it's fiction. We know its not real. But we believe it, anyway. And so stories have this power to resonate for us like nothing else in human life can. They teach us things we need to learn, and show us new ways of understanding, and answer questions we didn't know we needed to ask."

She goes on to talk about how this isn't just a love story between Hutch and Katie, it's a love story between Katie and herself "Specifically: Katie and her body - in a kind of enemies-to-lovers trope."

I am always getting myself into debates with people who don't take the romance genre seriously. Romance teaches you so much about the human condition: empathy, communication, connection, vulnerability, growth, healing, grief, fear, hope, passion, resilience, trust, etc. etc... When people compliment me on my communication skills, or my ability to hold an interesting conversation I say "thank you, it's because I read romance" and I truly believe that. Non-fiction can teach you facts, fantasy and fiction can teach you about politics and reveal truths the real world distorts through biases... but romance... romance teaches us how to connect. Connect with ourselves and the people around us. Isn't that a beautiful thing?

And as a certified love hater... this book inspired me and gave me a little bit of hope.

Tropes:
💚love haters to love lovers
🩷workplace romance
🧡found family/ meddling family
💚fake dating/lying/blackmail
🩷videographer x coast guard rescue swimmer
🧡lose yourself to love yourself
💚body positivity (this may be triggering for you, but I promise the ending is worth it)

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read an advanced copy in return for my honest review.