Cute romance, but didn't like as much as her others - just didn't feel there was as much depth there to the main character. Overall, I did enjoy this tale of a videographer who must overcome her fears to save her job and maybe even meet the man of her dreams when she agrees to make recruitment video for the Coast Guard. Good read for the summer!

This was a wonderful story about accepting and learning to love every part of yourself and seeing yourself through the lens of those who care about you. Katie, once the fiance of a famous pop (or was it rock, not really important), forgets that the Internet can be debilitating when catty women can hide behind keyboards. She takes everything to heart and spirals until Beanie (her cousin) steps in. Here she is a year or so later, and while her professional life seems to be going okay, she is still afraid of being seen. Enter a project that she is absolutely not qualified for but she's going to do it anyway. she learns to grow and to accept the color in herself. I really enjoyed the story and George Bailey lol.

If Katherine Center writes something I am jumping all over it. It follows Katie Vaughn who has been burned in the past by love and is subsequently bleeding into her career. She has the choice of getting laid off as a video producer or take a gig that would change the trajectory of her career by profiling a coast guard rescue swimmer in Key West. Some key points, loved how Center continues to intermingle human emotions in a way that sways the heart, though I did find that the FMC was very self deprecating to the point of ad nauseum.

This was a perfect summer read. It was the perfect combination of cozy, heartwarming and atmospheric Florida vacation vibes with fun angst, romance, and a deeper if undercurrent of self-love and acceptance. I loved the balance of emotional and flirty beats throughout the story, including some fun adventure-y stakes at the end! Totally recommend for a summer read and one of my favorite Katherine Center books yet!

Is KC using a ghost writer or something? I swear I haven't been wow'd by her since The Bodyguard and it's killing me! The writing feels flimsy almost and I don't want it to because I've always loved her. Sigh.

Really enjoyed this book, but I wish there had been a TW about the disordered eating discussed within it.

I absolutely loved this book. Katherine Center is one of my favorite writers and this story was so great. I loved how detailed she was with her research of the Coast Guard and the Keys. The love story was so much fun to follow.

I really wanted to love this book but I'm not in the place right now who is actively struggling with her body image. Others may find this really cathartic but I found I needed to put it down and return when I'm in a different season of life.

Katie Vaughn makes videos. Most of them are corporate training or promotional videos. But she has a side gig where she makes videos just for herself, to put on her personal YouTube channel. For those videos, she spends an entire day and night with someone she admires, showing 24 hours in the life of a hero. So when her boss asks her to go to the Florida Keys to make a promotional video of a Coast Guard rescue swimmer, she has to agree. Even though she doesn’t know how to swim. Especially since the rumors are flying in the office that cuts are coming.

But her boss Cole tells her that this is the perfect job for her. Because the rescue swimmer, Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson is the same person who notoriously saved Jennifer Aniston’s dog after it had gone over a cliff and gotten stuck. So not only would Katie be making the video for the Coast Guard, she could also make her Day in the Life video about Hutch. Cole says he can guarantee her access, because he knows the hero puppy rescuer. Because it’s his brother.

When Katie gets to Key West, she meets Cole’s aunt Rue, who not only puts her up in one of her cottages, but she also buys Katie some clothes to help her out until her luggage shows up. Rue takes an immediate liking to Katie and tries to get her to add color to her mostly black wardrobe. And she reassures Katie that she knows a swimming instructor who can help her prepare for the swim test she’ll have to pass before going up in the Coast Guard helicopter to film an actual rescue.

But Katie is horrified to find out that her swimming teacher is Hutch. And having to put on a swimsuit is bringing up her body image issues. Her issues had started when she almost a teenager and her stepmother had put her on a diet. They got worse when her singer/songwriter fiancé Lucas suddenly got a lot of traction online and his career skyrocketed. Katie had gone to an awards show with him, and the online community was most unkind. And then he had cheated on her, publicly. Katie had finally started to feel better about herself, coming up with body parts she liked about herself on their near daily phone calls with her best friend and cousin Beanie.

Fortunately for Katie, Hutch is patient as a swimming teacher. And his dog, a Great Dane named George Bailey, seems to be in love with her. And Katie spends her days learning about the Coast Guard and filming at their base. But she still has to learn to swim well enough to get herself out of a simulated helicopter crash. And her ex-fiancé Lucas has written a song about how he was wrong to let her go. And she can’t help but notice that Hutch is not just a hero and rescuer of dogs, but he is also smart and funny and a genuinely good guy. And tall. And handsome.

But there are secrets between the brothers, and Katie gets caught up between them. She has to go along with Cole, in order to save her job. But she insists that Cole tell the truth, so she’s not caught up in their family drama anymore. And when a hurricane shows up, nothing matters but basic survival.

The Love Haters is a an uplifting rom com about a woman who not only falls in love with the boy, but she also learns to love herself. Katherine Center has a way of writing stories that are funny and smart but also send waves of healing and warmth through my soul.

I listened to the audio book for The Love Haters, and I thought Patti Murin’s narration was perfection. She brought Katie to life, and she read Center’s words with emotional intelligence and grace, imbuing the story with love and wonder. I adored this book and just breathed in this world with each word. This is one of the books of summer. Or fall. Or whatever season you’re choosing to read in, this will be a book that will linger in your thoughts and in your feels for a long time.

Egalleys for The Love Haters were provided by St. Martin’s Press and a copy of the audio book was provided by Macmillan Audio, both through NetGalley, with many thanks, but the opinions are mine.

I love Katherine Center and everything that she writes. Her rom coms are so fun! This book did not disappoint. It will make for a great summer read!

.Even though the title is The Love Haters, there were no love haters here, just a few weary ones.

Katie’s job is laying off people and she’s pretty sure she’s next. Her coworker Cole attempts to help her by sending her in his place to Key West to produce a video featuring a rescue swimmer Tom, his brother.

Tom hates being in the spotlight, he agreed to do a video for his brother, only to be blind sighted by the fact that his brother ditched him and sent Katie in his place.

Katie learns to love herself while falling in love.

I enjoyed this cute story… and more important George Bailey!

I had high hopes for this one as I LOVED the Rom-Commers. This one fell a bit more than I anticipated and I wish I could like it more.

Although it was a good premise, it was not executed the best. The characters were cute and it had the basic couple dynamics but I wish more could’ve been more.

As always, Katherine Center has presented a moving, feel-good-about-life story in THE LOVE HATERS. A woman shying away from love after a horrific public break-up with her fiancé accepts an exceptionally challenging work assignment to save her job from upcoming job cuts and is forced into close and personal contact with a man known for his brusque, heroic ways while looking astoundingly handsome and himself shying away from relationships. Let the awkward and intensely comical and yet relatable games begin! The dilemmas, the dialogue, all of it is memorable, trademark Center. This is a story with a huge heart written so well that I couldn't put it down. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

Katie is at risk of getting laid off from her job as a video producer when her coworker, Cole, offers her a plum assignment making a recruiting video for the U.S. Coast Guard. What he fails to tell her until after she's arrived is that the hero starring in the video is none other than his estranged brother, Hutch, who was expecting him, not her. Hutch and Katie start off on rocky terrain, but quickly warm up to each other as the job progresses. But Hutch's behavior seems to be hot and cold, and Katie can't figure out why the first man she thought she could trust in ages is giving her mixed signals.

I am a huge Katherine Center fan and really, really enjoyed this book. It's not my favorite Katherine Center book--it doesn't tug at the heartstrings the same way some of her others do--but it's a fun ride that reminds me a bit of Swept Away by Beth O'Leary or If All Else Sails by Emma St. Clair while being totally its own. I really enjoyed learning more about video production and the coast guard, and I was really rooting for Hutch and Katie the whole time.

Thanks to St. Martin's for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 9/10

Another great Katherine Center read - this one centered around Katie, looking to keep her job by taking on a challenging documentary opportunity on the Florida coast. Cue lovable characters, challenges, beautiful scenery, coast guard day in the life, and a natural disaster... it keeps you wanting to turn the pages!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for a review copy.

Review: The Love Haters by Katherine Center
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4 out of 5 stars)

The Love Haters follows Katie Vaughn, a video producer on the verge of being laid off who gets assigned to profile a viral rescue swimmer named Hutch. The catch? She can’t swim—and no one knows. As Katie fakes it through filming (and swim lessons), she’s also facing her own insecurities and messy romantic past.

This was a super satisfying romcom. I loved the Florida Keys setting, the vulnerability in Katie’s journey with body image, and the way Center handled it all with heart. Hutch was an instant favorite—patient, grounded, and genuinely good. The Gals brought the perfect dose of humor and support, and George Bailey stole every scene he was in.

It wasn’t a total page-turner the whole way through, but the emotional payoff was worth it.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

While the concept of The Love Haters sounded fun - Katie's in Key West to film a video profiling Hutch, a rescue swimmer, and she can't swim! - we didn't love it as much as we thought we would.

It had some funny bits but did Katie and Hutch have any chemistry? The FMC’s body image issues and past eating disorder was hard to read about. But there was a super lovable dog who caused a lot of chaos. The setting sounded like paradise and we'd love to visit Starlight Cottages and hang out with Rue and The Gals!

While Cole (Hutch's brother) brought much needed conflict, he was unlikeable and gross. Plus there was a hurricane and a crazy adventure to go with it that we just couldn't imagine. Overall it hurts us to say that it lacked the heart and depth that her earlier works had which we loved and it was just too silly for us.

Katherine Center's books emphasize the importance of love, even in the face of challenges. Her upcoming novel features a videographer who falls for a US Coast Guard rescue swimmer, blending joy and humor with themes of trauma and self-love. Read THE LOVE HATERS.

Katherine Center can do no wrong! Maybe I loved this book so much because my name is also Katie and I am not comfortable in my own skin but I found it to be such a wonderful read with fun banter and sassy characters and I love the elderly ladies!

Katherine Center does it again! She has become an auto-buy, auto-read author for me since I read The Bodyguard. I absolutely loved Katie, Hutch, Rue, Beanie, George Bailey, and The Gals!! This book was funny (sometimes laugh out loud funny) and sweet, with a dash of adventure. It was inspiring and hopeful and full of wisdom. The Starlite cottages were a lovely place to spend time with these delightful characters. I don't want to say much more because I don't want to ruin anything. Just know that it's a good story and dive in!