Katherine Center can do no wrong in my eyes ! I was truly in need of a refreshing Romance read thats closed door, lets get to the point !
This book needs to be a pick up for this summers tbr
The banter-Check
The laughter-check
The ambiance- check
And the end of book crisis-check
Ugh I absolutely couldn’t get enough!
Slightly miscommunication but not in a terrible way that I want to throw the book at my wall
Ohhhhh and you guys there’s a dog !
The book takes place in key west Florida and as a Floridian myself I was truly impressed .
Yes yes yes and yes
Not only will u truly enjoy this book
The physical copy is going to be absolutely beautiful on that bookshelf !
This audiobook had me on my toes and I think it’s a book you’ll need to dual read !

Katherine Center does it again! I always know her books won’t let me down, and The Love Haters did not disappoint!

I loved how not only is there a superb love story, but how the real love story here is about falling (back) in love with yourself. I think most of us can relate to a time where we just didn’t feel like our best selves, and can had mastered trying to not stick out in any situation…and having to learn to love ourselves enough to want to be seen. Katherine Center has a way of writing exactly to my heart, making me laugh uncontrollably, cry along with her characters, and leave feeling like I lived a great adventure with my best friends. I loved every second of this book, and I can’t wait to come back and visit it again.

Always love Katherine Center’s books - they’re light & funny but still give you all the butterflies!! A little bit of a slow start but it picked up quickly! I love their banter and the chemistry was very clear. This book was so cute and I flew through it! Can’t wait to get the physical copy with the sprayed edges 😊

KC books are always fun, lighthearted (tho touching on important topics), funny, and feels like a big warm hug when you read her books! The Love Haters was no different! Tho, it almost felt like more.

While this book does have a romance aspect to between the FMC, Katie and MMC, Hutch, the real love story happens between Katie and herself. Katie struggles with her own body image and self worth. This comes after being jilted by her fiancé and the internet leaving not so kind comments about a public appearance she made with her ex before she got jilted. She has a fear of bathing suits and bright colours. She doesn’t like meh things about her body. So this story, really focuses more on Katie’s journey to love herself again and love her body. It’s a gentle reminder to all of us that it’s okay to not love yourself or how you look all the time, but we should all find something of our own bodies to love and value- as it’s our own bodies that help keep us alive and safe.

That doesn’t mean that the actual romance between Katie and Hutch isn’t anything to talk about. Whole their love story takes the back seat, it’s no less swoon worthy. I mean, Hutch jumping rope shirtless? Did I mean ruin he works for the US coast guard rescuing people out of the ocean?! So yes, he’s very eye catching, and Katie takes full advantage! Hutch is protective, kind (in his own way), loyal to a fault m, and will do anything for the people he cares about. What more could a gjrl want?

This book hits the shelves on Tuesday, and I highly picking it up if you have read bad loved KC’s previous books. This book is different, but no less special. Make sure you read the author’s note at the end!

Katherine Center has an amazing way of getting me out of reading slumps. So, when I picked this one up, I knew it wouldn't take long for me to get sucked in to the story. She had me hooked from the start! This book had joy and great banter. It was therapy and a warm hug all in one, but also so much action! Katie and Hutch have such great chemistry and I love how protective he is. If you are looking for a pick-me-up, this book is for you!

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NeGalley for the ARC.

I sat down to read a few chapters and inhaled it in one sitting. It has the light, effervescent style I really loved from The Bodyguard. As in all her books, I felt the chemistry between the characters and enjoyed the funny banter and the overall light tone despite some deeper emotions. I laughed and cried tears of anger and happiness. While I appreciate that her books are fast-paced and plot driven, sometimes it feels like the plot elements get way too zany and unbelievable, everything is dialed up to 11 and you have to really try to suspend disbelief. The end had a pretty melodramatic plot element AND kind of a dramatic misunderstanding plot where the otherwise very intelligent characters kind of decided to jump headfirst into assumptions and lies for plot reasons when everything could be cleared up by just a short conversation. I also wish there had been a bit more of a resolution to the romance. But overall I really enjoyed my reading experience. I am unsure about the choice of having the cover art show a female MC who looks like a size 4 when most of the book centers around her body image issues.

The Love Haters is not just a romance novel - it's also a story about learning to accept yourself and forgive yourself for your past.

Katie has finally gotten her life back together after a difficult break-up and is putting a lot of energy to her job as a video producer. When she finds out that there will be lay-offs, she's sure that she will lose her job. Until one of the managers asks her to take on a job filming a promo for the Coast Guard. The star of the promo will be Hutch. He doesn't like the press or talking about some of the rescues that he's done but the world knows him as the person who rescued Jennifer Anniston's dog. To do her promo justice, she has to train with the rescue group and go on a rescue with them. She is so desperate to keep her job that she agrees to go to Key West and film Hutch and be part of the team despite the fact that she doesn't even know how to swim. The other important thing about Kate is that she has a terrible body image problem. She feels that to look her best, she needs to wear all black and she hasn't owned a bathing suit for years. When her luggage gets lost, Ruethe person who is renting her a home for the filming takes her to a boutique and buys her a bright and colorful outfit. When she finally meets Hutch, there are instant sparks between them. One thing that Katie and Hutch agree on is that they both hate the idea of falling in love and want to avoid a relationship at all costs. When Hutch realizes that she's lied about knowing how to swim, he gives her swimming lessons and the more time they spend together, the more they realize that they might not really be haters of love. But when he uncovers other lies it may be the end and it will take a hurricane for them to realize what they really mean to each other.

This book was an interesting read. Though it was basically a romance novel, it touched on a lot of other issues -- mostly Katie's self confidence and her body image issues. But it isn't all serious -- there is also a lot of humor in this book brought on by George Bailey, Hutch's Great Dane and by Aunt Rue and her group of friends who just know that Katie and Hutch will be a perfect couple. Will Katie be able to learn to accept herself and realize that she doesn't hate the thought of falling in love? Will Katie and Hutch get their happily ever after? This book is a perfect summer read!

The Love Haters is a quintessential Katherine Center book: quirky heroine, reserved hero, and rambunctious supporting cast. It had her signature humor and light-hearted tone, and while I enjoyed the individual pieces of the book, the overall underpinning plot and conflict that kept the characters apart/added "romantic tension" really missed the mark for me. Basically the entire plot is centered around miscommunication based on a lie, and while it was tedious in the first half, it was downright frustrating by the second half.

The supporting characters are generally one of my favorite aspects of a Katherine Center book, but in this case most of them left a lot to be desired. I did adore Rue (Hutch's, our love interest, quirky aunt), but the rest rubbed me wrong one way or another (and one of them was responsible for my main source of frustration throughout the book).

The book does deal with some heavier themes, primarily Katie's struggle with body image and themes of eating disorders, and I did feel Katherine Center handled them with care. Grief was explored as well. However, in comparison to the Rom-Commers, the lighthearted tone that is so familiar in Katherine Center's books grated against the exploration of grief, as opposed to complimenting it.

Overall it's a fun and lighthearted beach read, it just wasn't the Katherine Center story I was looking for at this time. Regardless, I really look forward to her next release and can't wait to see what she has in store! I'll likely also revisit this one at some point in hopes of gaining a new perspective.

All the hearts and stars for this amazing book! 😍😍🤩🤩 I love Katherine Center books but this one swept 🌊 me away to warm sunny beaches 🏖️, you could see the bright happy colors 🌺 and see the beautiful story unfold like a movie.

I love Katherine’s author notes almost as much as the story. I will 💯 read anything KC writes and know I’ll find a love story for everyone, shining light on an unknown or known mental or physical condition and how everyone deserves to be seen and to be loved.

I loved Katie’s journey of loving herself and the found family with Rue, Hutch and I guess even Cole.

Thank you Net Galley and St Martin’s press for the ebook and alc copy. These are my own thoughts and opinions.

Make sure to get your copy and to get one to give to someone you love. 🥳

3.5/5⭐️
1/5🌶️

To be honest… I’m a little torn on this book. I, in general, really like how Katherine Center writes, so I was very excited to get this ARC… which is why I think I’m feeling weird about the book as a whole. I liked aspects of the ending, there were bits and pieces here and there that I enjoyed. Overall though… I’m not sure I’d call this a romance! The title is a bit of a head fake as well. I would say primarily this is a journey of a woman trying to figure out how to love herself after years of BRUTAL self-loathing and body dysmorphia. That journey in and of itself was a real challenge for me to read, as someone who can tend to lean in the same hateful space. At least she had her cousin there to attempt to coach her out… but my lord, that was hard to read.

A longer list of bits and bobs I didn’t like and this book just can’t squeak into four stars for me. Perhaps it will be someone else’s cup of tea but it just didn’t get there for me. It is an incredibly quick read, however.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book via NetGalley, but my review is all my own.

I’m convinced that Katherine is unable to write a bad story! I didn’t want to put this story down. I loved following each of the characters and the little sparks of love and family intertwined!

It has been MONTHS since I stayed up to finish a book because I just couldn’t put it down, and I have been in the slumpiest slump to ever exist - so for curing my slump and making me feel like I’m back to reading as normal, this book gets five stars for me.

There is a lot of content about the fmc’s history with disordered eating and negative self image, both of which can be triggering for me in books, however, I was not bothered by their inclusion and thought the book was written very tastefully.

There were some parts of the story and character choices that frustrated me at times, but they did not end up impacting my overall enjoyment of the book. I enjoyed the characters, plot, and pacing.

Don’t mind me, I’ll just be daydreaming about living in a cozy little tropical cottage in Key West. 🌴

I have been a fan of Katherine Center for a few years now, so to say I was excited to be approved for this ARC is a huge understatement!! I love the witty and charming way that she writes.

This specific story deals with some big emotions surrounding the FMC’s (Katie) abusive step mother, which resulted in very poor self confidence. The overall message and healing she goes through in this story is so powerful. As a military spouse I also really loved the Coast Guard MMC (Hutch)
nicknamed “Pup Daddy” after a rescue of his went viral.

I will always and forever read anything she writes. Thank you so much to NetGalley and publisher for this ARC!!

The Love H8ters by Katherine Center 💚
Standalone

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Adult • Romance
ARC Review
320 pages
🗓️ May 20

💚workplace romance
🩷close proximity
💚found family
🩷slow burn

📌 “You’re not not forgettable. You’re unforgettable.”

📌 “So you really do h8te love.”
“A lot. So much.”
“I h8te it, too.”
“Good choice. Let’s h8te it together.”

Sometimes we fall in love with someone else. Sometimes we fall in love with ourselves. Sometimes we fall in love with ourselves while falling for someone else… because we fall in love with someone, so we can fall in love with someone else.

I was 7 when my dad’s mom told me I was fat. I never thought I was fat. Or skinny. Or anything. I had a body. It was mine. My parents told me I was pretty and smart. So I knew that. But not fat. But maybe it was just something I was and it was okay because I was me and I was who I was.

Then my parents separated. And I thought it was me. Maybe I was fat and things like that happened to people like me. But they figured things out so maybe it wasn’t because I was fat?!

Not that long after my best friend got a boyfriend and she didn’t want to hang out with me as much. Which is normal. Or maybe it was because I was fat. I didn’t have a boyfriend. I didn’t want one eww but maybe it was because I was fat?! And so it went. You get the logistics of it. And it took me forever to stop limiting my calories, my food, my life. It took me forever to love all things myself.

Love is complicated. Love is ever evolving. Love is a moving, pulsing, living thing. And if I ever get to h8te love, I hope I get to h8te it with the ones I love too.

All of this to say, thank you @katherinecenter .

Sincerely, that 7 year old girl.

I had a really good time with this book, and didn’t want to put it down! 🏝✨

Thank you to MacMillan Audio, St. Martin’s Press and Raincoast Books for advanced copies. All opinions are my own.

✦ tropes & stuff:
✨ self love/body image
🛟 coast guard rescue swimmer
🎥 video journalist
⛅️ grumpy sunshine
🔗 forced proximity
🏝 tropical setting - Key West
🫶🏼 family + found family
💖 single 1st person pov

📝 mini blurb:
Desperate to not lose her job, Katie, a video producer, agrees to an assignment profiling Coast Guard rescue swimmer, Hutch.
Unfortunately, Katie doesn’t know how to swim - thankfully she ends up with a very good teacher 🤭

Katie’s has many adventures in Key West, and finds herself (and love) in the process.

•┈••✦ review ✦••┈•

⭐️: 4.5/5
🌶️: closed door, kissing only

Just want to start my review with a bit of a content warning - I’m not sure if this has been added in the final version, as I had an uncorrected proof.

This book has a heavy focus on body image & disordered eating. Katie, the fmc, spends a lot of the book learning to love her body. In the author’s note at the end, Katherine mentions how it’s an enemies to lovers story between them.

Personally, I found a lot of her thinking to be very relatable, and I connected well with the character, but I can see it possibly being triggering for others.

💭 what I loved about this one:
- their meet-cute(ish - technically the 2nd time they met)
- their banter, and Katie’s thoughts, had me laughing out loud often
- why Hutch collects pennies 🥹
- “You’re like a human hot-fudge sundae or something” 🥹
- how both really didn’t know their appeal, and were able to show it to one another
- George Bailey 🐕 mischievous pup
- the hair clip 🌺
- I adored Rue & Beanie as side characters, their roles in the story & their wisdom

🙃 what didn’t quite work for me:
- Hutch giving into drinking, when he doesn’t drink for a very valid reason
- some of the lying made me uncomfortable, and I didn’t appreciate Cole’s lack of consent in the way he treated Katie

🎧 audiobook thoughts:
So cute, Patti Murin did a fantastic job and made this so fun & unforgettable!

📖 The Love Haters by Katherine Center
💜: contemporary romance
🎙 narrated by: Patti Murin

Thank you to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for my complimentary eARC of The Love Haters. Thank you to Macmillan Audio for my complimentary audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I can always count on Katherine Center for a perfect summer read. The Love Haters does not disappoint.
The sights and sounds of Key West are an amazing backdrop. Katie and Hutch are about to take you on a rollercoaster of emotions.

Perfect if you like:
Personal growth
Family drama
Body positivity

Also included (and not my favorite)
Dog in perilous situation
Lies by omission

Once again, Patti Murin did an excellent job with the narration.

Katherine Center is my go-to author for the swoon and she did not disappoint with The Love Haters. I must admit that there were moments when I was frustrated by the lies/misunderstandings but I pushed through them knowing that the moments of resolution would be worth it and, of course, they were times 20! Hutch puts the H in hero, Katie is an extremely relatable FMC with great character development, but George Bailey stole the show. Loved it.

Katherine Center has done it again! With every one of her novels, I fall in love with a new book boyfriend and am thoroughly smitten with the side characters in the story. This time, Hutch is, in his brother's words and in reality, absolutely perfect, and Aunt Rue, George Bailey and Katie are wonderful characters that made me laugh and cry (sometimes at the same moment).

My favorite aspect of the novel was how the author addresses body dysmorphia, without ever naming it or really letting us know what Katie actually looks like. The message was clear--it just isn't important. Katie has issues with body confidence and I could totally relate to her, as will many readers. Her relationship with her cousin is the best girlfriend we all need, boosting confidence and keeping you humble at the same time. I loved her so much! I also enjoyed Rue and her friends, they were such a fun group and reminded me of a group of my friends who are older ladies just enjoying everything about life.

I've seen some of the less stellar reviews, and was a little nervous going into this one. I am very happy to say that if you are a fan of rom-coms, enjoy a closed door romance, and especially one where the main character makes significant personal growth through the novel, you will love The Love Haters.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and Katherine Center for the digital ARC of The Love Haters. The opinions in this review are my own.

I want to start by saying I typically love Katherine Center’s books. I look forward to her new work every year and I typically rate them between a 4.5/5 stars. I was so excited to get this arc and saw some initial positive reviews. Right off the bat I was hit with a character who clearly had had an eating disorder and disordered eating habits. There were no trigger warnings for this which is something that when it comes to eating disorders is so important. I have read books before that dealt with this topic and they were handled with care and included trigger warnings at the front of the book. That certainly was not the case here and I’m honestly gob smacked that both the author and the publisher did not deem these necessary when putting this book out into the world. For a woman approaching 40, disordered eating habits and body dysmorphia affected myself and many of my friends, specifically in our 20s when all we saw in the media was content that promoted this.

I definitely think that there is a place for sensitive topics in romantic comedies when they are handled with care. That is certainly not the case here. Very disappointed.

I want an Aunt Rue in my life—who doesn't? She was such a bright spot in this story. I also really enjoyed the Coast Guard angle, which added a unique twist. That said, Cole just didn’t work for me. He annoyed me early on, and unfortunately, that never really changed. I found myself wanting more of the actual love story between Hutch and Katie . There were moments I enjoyed, but overall it just didn’t fully deliver for me.