I will never not love Katherine Center’s romance novels!
Without a doubt she is my go to for a summer romance read. A can’t miss for me when a new one comes out.

‘The Love Haters‘ is emotional and enjoyable, dealing pretty heavily with self love- more so than the romance between the two leads. Katie has been burned and struggles with seeing herself as anything special, Hutch has a martyr complex and refuses to prioritize his own happiness. The draw between the two is immediate but the build is very slow burn.

In all honesty I can’t say this was my absolute favorite of Centers novels - that honor still belongs to ‘Hello Stranger.’ The characters are lovable and realistic but the plot is a bit predictable at first and then the twists at the end (while fun) are a little bit odd. I still had a wonderful time reading, and I absolutely must give full marks for binge-ability. I couldn’t stop without finishing. Even though this isn’t her best, in my opinion, it’s still dang good and a flawless beach read.

The audiobook is wonderful as well. I don’t think the actors could have done any better. Pleasant to listen to and easy to follow, 5/5!

A Heartfelt Journey of Self-Worth and Second Chances
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐¾

The Lover Haters is my second book by Katherine Center, and her writing continues to impress me with its warmth, humor, and emotional honesty. Told in first-person, the story immediately drops you into Katie’s head, and I loved the quirky, relatable tone that made her feel real.

While this has an enemies-to-lovers element, what really stood out was the emotional journey Katie goes on with herself. Watching her struggle and grow was just as compelling as the romantic arc. Hutch was a standout. He believed in Katie, even when she couldn’t believe in herself, and that made their connection feel earned and authentic.

I adored the found family dynamic, the undercurrent of healing, and the deeper messages woven throughout the story. It’s more than a romance. It’s a reminder that we are often our own worst critics, and sometimes love helps us see who we truly are.

This was a cozy, emotional read with great characters and even better heart. Definitely worth the read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Love Haters by Katherine Center (@katherinecenter ) releasing May 20, 2025!

Thank you @netgalley, @macmillan.audio, @stmartinspress, and @katherinecenter for the ALC!

Man, these books have been hitting! I feel so happy! 😍

The Love Haters was beautiful! The body positivity message was much needed, and was portrayed so beautifully. Like seriously, I truly understood the motivations and emotions of the FKC. But please keep in mind some trigger warnings: former eating disorder, fat shaming, etc.

The love story was adorable. Not too predictable. And entirely swoon worthy!
The FMC, Katie, is a video producer who lied to get a potentially job saving gig. The MMC, Hutch is the job. He is a U.S. coast guard rescue swimmer who agreed to be the subject of a promotional video. The unlikely duo is pushed into a forced proximity situation, and even though they both hate love, somehow find love within eachother.

It was so beautifully done, kept me extremely captivated, made me laugh out loud, and cry (just a little). It was perfect. Also, George Bailey stole the show for me! 🐸IYKYK!

Highly recommend! Thank you for the ALC, I truly enjoyed the quality of the audio, and the voices behind the characters.

Thank you to MacMillan audio and NetGalley for this audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Expected release date: May 20, 2025

3.75 ⭐️
This was my first read by Katherine Center, and I really enjoyed this book! There were some moments where the FMC was a little annoying and repetitive with her inner monologue, and sometimes her actual dialogue. I can understand stressful situations and saying things out of pocket, but sometimes less is more. 🥴
But overall I really enjoyed the premise of the story. I liked the character development of the FMC and that the MMC was a total softy for her. Hutch was a great MMC and we love a dog lover.

I’m excited to read more by this author in the future!

In her author's note at the end of this story, Katherine Center says that sometimes a love story isn't about romantic love but about learning to love yourself and all of your flaws. While this book has a romantic love story at its center, its true message is really in Katie's journey to love herself.

I am a fan of Katherine Center's writing. I find her books witty and unique, swoony and memorable. The Bodyguard is one of my all-time favorite romances. This book is different in that I didn't find the love story to be particularly romantic. There is a lot of humor - several scenes had me laughing hysterically! - and a lot of adventure, but I didn't really get that swoony romance feeling.

The side characters in this book were the absolute stars, especially sassy Rue, supportive Beanie, and adorable George Bailey. The narration by Patti Murin brought so much life to these characters that they really stood out and made this book a lot of fun to listen to! I will be seeking out more books narrated by Patti for sure.

For me, this was a case of not every book is for every person, and some books find a reader at the wrong time. The themes of job loss and disordered eating were very triggering and I found it difficult to escape fully into the story. This is certainly no fault of the book itself, but a content warning up front would have helped.

Katherine Center, the queen of RomComs, and Patti Murin, the queen of audiobooks, are a match made in heaven!!!! I loved everything about this book -- flawed characters who find themselves, a perfect setting and the most adorable Great Dane named George Bailey.

The story: Katie, a video producer, finds herself in the middle of a career crisis and decides to take a job profiling a Coast Guard rescue swimmer named Hutch. Sounds great, right? Wrong - Katie can't swim, Hutch is her boss's brother (and they don't get along due to a misunderstanding), and she has to fly to the Florida Keys where everything is colorful and hot. Cole, her boss, traps her in a web of lies which blossoms into a connection with Hutch. The chemistry between Katie and Hutch felt genuine and believable. The additional cast of characters - Aunt Rue, her friends and rescue dog, George Bailey, added comedy relief to the plot. I found myself laughing out loud so many times throughout the story. The setting was also dreamy, even though they did face a hurricane!

The audiobook - Patti Murin is the GOAT of narrators. She always does a great job on word emphasis and pronunciation. She makes listening enjoyable and manages to always hold my attention. She also does a phenomenal job voicing different characters, so I never found myself questioning which character was speaking.

Thank you so much to MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for an early listening copy of this book!

Katherine Center is the queen of funny and uplifting rom-coms! I always pick up her books when I need a mood boost, as I know that I can get wrapped up in an engaging story and not have to think about the real world for a little while.

Center’s newest edition, The Love Haters, takes us to the Florida Keys, making this the perfect summer beach read! Videographer Katie Vaughn is in a love-hate relationship … with herself. She loves her career choice of creating video content for the wider world, but can’t quite get over lingering body image issues from her younger days when she was the fiancé of a musician and was dragged on the internet for her looks. So when she learns that she will be headed to the Keys to create a promotional video for the US Coast Guard, she is both excited and nervous. For one, she has never worked on a project quite like this one, but when she learns that she will have to get in the water (she can’t swim), and wear a bathing suit (oh, the horror!), she starts to question whether or not this is such a good idea.

To make matters worse (or perhaps better?), the subject of her video is Coast Guard rescue swimmer Hutch Hutcheson, a hot hottie who went viral for saving Jennifer Aniston’s dog. Hutch is all business, no play, and Katie has to find creative ways to get him to open up and loosen up for the camera … all while maintaining her facade that she can swim, is perfectly qualified for this job, and believes she feels confident in a swimsuit. Not to mention finding a way to conceal her growing feelings for Hutch …

The Love Haters is for all of the, well, love haters out there! For those who have been jaded in relationships, whether with others or themselves. With a fun & flirty tropical environment, and lots of time in the water, The Love Haters is a quintessential summer read. There’s even a lovable Great Dane and a life-threatening hurricane in this book … both of which come together in the most inconvenient of ways at this story’s conclusion! If you are looking for an amusing read to while away the hot, summer days, pick up this book!

Katherine Center’s The Love Haters is a solid 3.5 stars for me! When you have an author who writes as prolifically well as Center, the bar is set pretty high, so while I certainly enjoyed The Love Haters, it falls just under some of her other novels that I have rated at 4 stars.

The audiobook of this novel comes recommended! Patti Murin has become synonymous with Katherine Center novels, and I have come to associate her voice with Center’s books. She has a great, engaging style, and makes listening to novels a lot of fun!

the setup…
Katie Vaughn is a video producer in Dallas whose job is currently on the line as the owner is “downsizing.” Her colleague Cole Hutchinson selects her to take on a plum assignment in Key West that just might save her position. The catch? Creating a Coast Guard career promotion video, which will require her being in the water…Katie can’t swim but doesn’t fess up. She will also be profiling nationally known hero Tom (Hutch) Hutchinson, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer who went viral online after a high profile save. He’s also Cole’s brother (they don’t get along) and this will be the only interview Hutch has conducted since that famous rescue.

the heart of the story…
Katie also has some serious body image issues I’d say were crippling. She’s never owned a swimsuit and only wears monochromatic colors…in Key West??? And, Hutch is expecting his brother to do the assignment so she’s showing up with lots of hidden agendas. Speaking of Hutch, he’s a male specimen that seems to be completely unaware of his “gifts” and hasn’t been in a relationship in a long time. As Katie was dumped by her fiancé a year ago, both get labeled as “love haters” by the lying Cole.

the narration…
Patti Murin nails Katie and does a fabulous job with a host of other characters. She gave a wonderful performance, managing the highs and lows with ease.

the bottom line…
While there’s loads of fun here including Hutch’s colorful Aunt Rue and his rescue Great Dane named George Bailey, the story does shift to address some very serious issues. There are tragic circumstances that caused the rift between Hutch and Cole who annoyingly plays fast and loose with the truth. But Katie’s body image issues are center stage, highly relevant these days. Forced to face them because of the assignment gave rise to some awful truths. I enjoyed her relationship with Hutch, despite the irritating communication wedge moments, as they were a natural fit. It’s another lovely story with depth that had me mesmerized.

Katie Vaughn has been humiliated before, what's worst was it happened in the public eye. It took a toll on her self-esteem and confidence. Now her job is on the line unless she nails a gig profiling her coworker's brother, Tom "Hutch" Hutcheson who is a Coast Guard rescue swimmer in Key West.

Hutch is rather serious, and likes to keep to himself, so having him be the center focus of a video documentary isn't high on his list.

While I liked KC's writing, and this book is about self-love, healing, and acceptance, the parts that fell flat for me was the repeated self negative talk with the FMC. I get being self-conscious and having issues with your body image, but it didn't need multiple chapters addressing the same thing and how the FMC lives off less than 1000 calories a day. The other thing that irked me was the trope of miscommunication that was unnecessary and could've been left out.

Aside from those nitpicking, the story was fine. If you're looking for romance and spice, this book isn't it. There were some funny and heart-warming moments. And finally, I would like to adopt George Bailey because he stole the show.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this ARC.

I have to start off saying there is a big trigger warning for body image/disordered eating. I probably wouldn’t have read it if I knew that was the case. Katie (the FMC)has a lot of body image issues that continue through the whole story and it was kind of overwhelming for me at times. This book also has a miscommunication trope which isn’t my favorite. Katie only seemed to talk about Hutch’s body and how he was perfect or “heartbreaking” but we really didn’t see a ton of their relationship because of the miscommunication. It’s definitely a slow burn because they don’t get together until literally the last chapter so it kind of feels incomplete like a romance novel without any romance really. Either the story needed to be longer or we needed relationship building chapters. There were a lot of details for the side characters but some felt unnecessary and they still kind of fell flat. Cole was SO annoying the whole story which made it difficult at the end.

I really wanted to enjoy this book struggled with some aspects of the story. Katie is very relatable with her body image issues and what lead her to avoiding color and floral print makes sense. I also liked Hutch and liked that there was an attraction from the beginning and they did build on that over several weeks. I felt that Cole's role felt forced, I did not appreciate the lies he told as well as offering Katie up as a price during the drinking games. Their conflict could had been handled differently. Also the hot and cold attitude from Hutch was not fun. Rue and the girls were great, they made the story a fun read.

I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook. This is the first time that I have listened to an audiobook narrated by Patti Murin and I enjoyed her narration. She does a nice job handling every aspect of the narration. I found I enjoyed the narration portrayals for the characters and how she handles the wittiness of the book the best. Murin easily moves between the intensity of the emotions and encounters between Katie and Hutch with ease. She is able to make every character's voice distinct and one of my favorites is Rue. She is obsessed with bright colors, simply does as she pleases and has a unique relationship with Hutch and Cole. Katie is easily accepted by Rue, her friends and Hutch. All is well until everything gets out of hand - Cole is suddenly there facing his brother, trapping Katie in lies and forcing tension between Katie and Hutch. Still, the kicker is the hurricane Katie finds herself in all because of a Great Dane she just could not leave behind. Murin really does a wonderful narration during every laughable moment and the book is filled with them. Rue and her friends are amazing, the decisions Cole makes are wild and during a hurricane, Katie’s running commentary with herself and the Great Dane had me laughing out loud because of Murin's narrative performance.

This is an audiobook with a wonderful narrator which I definitely recommend!

I really enjoyed the characters in this book. They were so relatable and I enjoyed learning about different aspects of life I don’t typically read about. I love that this story was centered around the coast guard. Great read and good romance novel that wasn’t too cheesy!

Thank you to NetGalley and McMillan publishers for granting me access to an early copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

KC has the wonderful ability to make me laugh out loud one second and sob the next in the best possible way...and this book did not disappoint. The chemistry between Katie and Hutch was endearing and believable in my opinion. The chemistry between Katie and George Bailey was just hilarious and fun. I found Katie's struggle with her body image to be raw, vulnerable, and relatable and I appreciated how KC walked us (the readers/listeners) through the self-revelation and healing Katie experienced.

Patti Murin is one of my favorite narrators, so I was very happy to learn that she narrates this audiobook. As always, she was awesome!

Overall, I really enjoyed this story and would recommend to any rom-com lover.

I can't believe I am saying this at a Katherine Center book, but DNF @ 40%. I am just as shocked as you are. I struggled to make it even this far, bt I am tapping out here. First, I do not feel any chemistry or spark between Hutch and Katie. For a romance, that's sort of the most necessary thing, you know? There are a lot of zany things going on featuring George Bailey the dog and Rue, Hutch's aunt, but none of it feels authentic. It feels like manufactured chaos for cheap laughs. My biggest gripe is about the enemy within: Katie's body dysmorphia. I know what's coming, Katie is going to realize that she is amazing and wonderful and fantastic as she is without having to mock, comment, criticize, or even think about her body/trauma/dysmorphia, but it is her one, singular personality trait. The only other thing I can tell you about Katie is that she doesn't know how to swim. Her body is ALL she talks about. She is constantly negging herself and how she looks, critiquing every single thing she sees and does. I know all too well the sting of being judged by my body, and it doesn't feel good, I can tell you that, but I don't think my weight or my body would be the first thing people tell you about me. If I knew Katie in real life, this is what she'd be known for, despite her efforts to the contrary. She seems to relish in her self-loathing, which is, I'm sure, the opposite of what Katherine Center wanted to accomplish. It feels borderline hateful at times. I hope it is just me being too sensitive, and I am not discounting that, so enjoy as you wish, but it feels really mean-spirited to me, which I have not ever come across in a Katherine Center book. I am all for open, honest, healing conversations about overcoming body image and authenticity in the age of photoshop and AI, but Katie's journey feels impractical and hollow to me somehow. Again, I am super bummed about this. Still, I always enjoy a book narrated by Patti Murin! She is excellent here. I might try to read this book in the future, but as of right now, it's a DNF.

Thank you to NetGalley, Katherine Center, St. Martin's Press for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

3 Stars
This wasn't my favorite Katherine Center book but I still enjoyed it for the most part, I just found it difficult to connect with any of these characters for some reason. I liked seeing Katie's growth throughout the story, though I wish she got there all on her own instead of having help from others, especially a man, for her to find her confidence. I also didn't really feel we got any chemistry from these two together and the author could've spent more time developing it. I did like the narrator though, she kept me intrigued in the story throughout.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5 — because I’m a forever Katherine Center fan)

Every time Katherine Center drops a new book, it’s an immediate auto-buy for me, and The Love Haters completely delivered on everything I love about her writing: big heart, belly laughs, swoony moments, and a heroine you root for with your whole soul. 🥹💕

Katie Vaughn is in career crisis mode when she takes a gig she’s absolutely not qualified for profiling a hot, heroic Coast Guard swimmer… even though she can’t swim. (Tiny detail. Nothing to worry about) Enter: Hutch. The grumpy, gorgeous, emotionally guarded rescue swimmer with a secret soft side and a Great Dane the size of a boat. 🚁🐾

This book has everything: fake-it-til-you-make-it chaos, sizzling chemistry, laugh-out-loud banter, and genuine emotional growth. The setting? Dreamy. The side characters? Unforgettable. The message? Katherine Center always finds a way to sneak in life lessons wrapped in joy, bravery, and just enough heartbreak to make you feel it all. ❤️‍🔥

📚 If you love:
• Forced proximity in paradise
• Grumpy/sunshine slow burn
• Smart, emotional rom-coms with depth
• Characters becoming braver versions of themselves
…run, don’t walk. This one’s a heart-hug in book form.

I have been reading her books for years and on a bad day, I love picking them up to re-read. Some of my favorites are: How to Walk Away, Things You Save In A Fire, The Bodyguard, and Hello Stranger. This one first right in with my collection or re-reads!

Thoroughly enjoyed this book! Katherine Center always hits home runs with her stories and this was no different! This story was so easy to sink into and just get lost in. Hutch was book boyfriend perfection and so swoony! I loved the growth we saw with Katie and went along her journey of self discovery and self worth. And what made it sweeter was how Hutch treated her. I seriously can’t get over them. Loved this so so much!

I love the way that Katherine Center writes. Her books are cozy and comfortable and entertaining and full of love. The Love Haters follows Katie as she is making a promo video for a coast guard rescue swimmer, who turns out to be her coworker's brother. She finds herself in the middle of some very complicated family dynamics and also starts catching feelings. It's a fun read, with a quirky female main character and some cute, albeit a bit under developed, side characters. I want to be friends with Rue! The audiobook narrator made the story feel alive. I especially enjoyed the Author's Note read by the author in the audio version! Katherine Center, you are a gem.

If Katherine Center writes it, I will read it. And I will experience all the emotions while km reading. She did not disappointment with this novel, this novel reminds me of the grit and raw emotion Katherine Center incorporated into "Things to Save in a Fire" and the romance of her newer novels ❤️💔

In an attempt to save her job, video producer Katie agrees to profile hero coast guard swimmer Hutch in Key West. Their first "meet cute" with Hutch's rescue dog George Bailey had me crying with laughter 🤣 The Great Dane was my favorite main character and I will not apologize for saying that. I did love Katie and Hutch, their chemistry and their personal development. The honest conversations and Katie's internal thoughts had me feeling an emotional connection to Katie as well, she could be one of my best friends in real life.

The only reason this novel is 4⭐️ and not 5 is that I despised how much Katie let her "coworker" used her and talked to her and about her 😡 Just NO and I wanted Katie to find her backbone sooner. But alas I am not the author so I was just along for the ride.

I just loved the cast of characters, the plot and the ending of this novel. I can't wait for more people to read Katherine Center's newest novel!