I can always count on Katherine Center to deliver a book with incredible love stories. Her books are full of the most unexpected plot lines and I devour them every single time.

Rating - 3.75/5 stars!
Katie Vaughn is down bad. She’s fighting for a job at her mid-level company as a video producer, still reeling from her ex-fiancé’s betrayal, and her confidence is basically nonexistent. But when a career-saving opportunity sends her to Key West to profile Tom "Hutch" Hutcheson—a hunky Coast Guard swimmer (hello, sir), things start to get interesting.

What I Loved:
- A kooky auntie subplot? Say less. This book was full of fun, chaotic energy, and I was here for it.
- A matchmaking Great Dane that keeps pushing the MCs together? ICONIC.
-The setting—Key West! I took a girls' trip there recently, and it was so fun to be transported back.
- You can tell Katherine Center did her research on the Coast Guard—I actually learned so much.

Katie as an MC:
She struggles with body image—something many of us can relate to—but I appreciated that by the end, she found a sense of self-acceptance.

Katherine Center's Writing:
I loved the premise of this book. It had so much potential with the storyline. But I found it to be very choppy from scene-to-scene. I always felt like I was missing information because the picture hadn't been painted - just retold. I have only read The Bodyguard from KC so I can't be sure if this was book specific or it's just her way of storytelling.

Final Thoughts:
This was an easy, fast-paced read—perfect for the beach with a drink in hand. Fun and flirty!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for an ARC of this book. It publishes May 20th, 2025! (less)

This was everything I expect from a Katherine Center love story. We have our two flawed characters brought together in a unique situation that is well written and well researched, an interesting band of side characters, and something crazy and traumatic (for me) happening at around the 80% mark. I was genuinely so freaked out during the hurricane for the FMC, the dog, and the toad!
My issues are first of all, with how quickly the "Gals" fell in love with our FMC, it didn't feel natural or earned and instead came across as too convenient, I would have liked some more steps in building that relationship and secondly with her not immediately correcting Cole when he arrives, it didn't feel believable for the character in the slightest.
Overall I enjoyed this story from start to finish, and will continue to devour everything she writes.

Katherine Center has quickly turned into one of my must read authors, and Love Haters is another book that just solidifies that! This book had me laughing, swooning, and tearing up in all the best ways.

Katie Vaughn’s career is on the brink, and her only shot at saving it is profiling Coast Guard rescue swimmer Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson in Key West. But this gig comes with a few complications! For one, she can’t swim, and her coworker Cole (who got her the job) is Hutch’s estranged brother!

Katie’s journey from self-doubt to self-love was so relatable, and her banter with Hutch was the cutest! Throw in a lovable dog named George Bailey, an eccentric but endearing family, and the Key West setting that practically feels like a vacation, and you’ve got the perfect feel good read! There’s humor, heart, and just enough drama (hello, hurricane!) to keep you flipping pages!

This is the kind of book that reminds you to be brave, embrace who you are, and maybe even learn to swim! I loved every second of it! And don’t skip over the author’s note at the end! I felt so connected to Katie and her struggle with self image, and hearing Katherine’s reasoning for that part of the story definitely warmed my heart!💚🩷🧡

⚠️This book does contain a little swearing including a couple MA words, but no spicy scenes!

Huge thank you to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for the advanced copy of this audiobook, all thoughts and opinions are mine.

3/5 stars. While I generally admire and usually really love Katherine Center's work, this novel unfortunately did not meet expectations. Though the main characters Katie and Hutch were well-developed and the plot elements were engaging (with excellent narration by Patti Murin), the handling of certain themes - particularly the protagonist's relationship with body image and weight - felt somewhat lacking in nuance. The book's ultimate message about the importance of self-relationship being equal to external relationships is valuable; however, the execution fell short of Center's usual standard. While this may stem from my typically high expectations for her work, this particular novel ranks lower among her works (and I’ve read a lot of hers). This also isn’t a matter of more recent books not connecting with me as well, because I just read The Rom-Commers last month and was absolutely enamored - my favorite of hers yet.

This clean romance was such a great listen. I fell in love with most all the characters and the cute Great Dane. It's a story of self love, conquering fears, and finding love. I really enjoyed this cute book.

✨𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 you for the immersive reading experience✨

𐙚 Grumpy vs Sunshine
𐙚 Forced Proximity
𐙚 Found Family

The Love Haters by Katherine Center offers a heartfelt journey of self-love wrapped in her signature charm. Set against the inviting backdrop of the Florida Keys, the story is filled with humor, emotional depth, and memorable side characters. This story of self-discovery shines in its themes of personal growth and romance.

This was such a great book! While I've seen some reviews that say it leans more toward women's fiction, I think the romance was front and centre. There was great banter to keep it entertaining, with enough emotion to draw you in. It highlighted love in plenty of relationships and was full of warmth. Highly recommend in audio.

I loved this audio and the narrator! I already reviewed the ebook and loved it! Katherine’s stories are strong and her characters are real!

3.5 ⭐️ another fun read from the queen of wholesome romance!

I've heard folks who say that as much as they love a strong, independent woman, they're craving a story with a strong man who will save them and hold them with big, muscley arms and tell them they're safe. This is for those people. Hutch is the All-American hottie who doesn't have a drop of darkness in him. Katie is loveable, strong, and independent, which I love, and she is able to save herself... but Hutch is also *right there* with those big strong arms.

It's also for folks who don't mind the "she doesn't know she's beautiful" idea.

Overall, this was a fun read that was a nice, light escape. Patti Murin is great as the narrator; she always gets Katherine Center's humor so perfectly. And just like with Rom-commers, Center includes a thoughtful author's note to rationalize the value of her wholesome stories. This book does stick to her mission to write stories that are nourishing, healing, and filled with love.

Katherine Center is consistently one of my favorite authors, and I was overjoyed to receive this early audio copy of her upcoming book! Surprisingly, it took me much longer than usual to feel really invested in this one. I was close to the halfway point when I really started to feel highly invested in knowing what was going to happen next and care deeply about these characters, and I might not have given it that much benefit of the doubt if it wasn’t an author I had so much existing goodwill for. Once it started to click for me, though, it really clicked.

Katie is a videographer for a production company, and her job is on the chopping block. She’s headed to Florida to film a documentary featuring a Coast Guard member who does important search and rescue missions. If she does a great job on this work, she just might keep her job. The subject, known as Hutch, is devastatingly handsome, naturally. But that isn’t going anywhere for either of them, because Hutch has a reputation for being thoroughly uninterested in romance, hence the book title, and Katie has been badly burned via her last relationship with a well-known musician, who now writes songs about his regrets in letting her go. Fans online are aware of her and have treated her mercilessly, leading to Katie wanting to fade into the background forever, and also having a deeply problematic relationship with her own body.

The first half of the book focuses on the shoot and Hutch being super hunky and Katie trying to avoid bright colors, and it all feels kind of pointless until we get a little ways in and start to understand what motivates and hurt these people. That’s the point when I started to care deeply. There was also George Bailey, a Great Dane that becomes a key plot point and is almost human in how much you will empathize with him and for him.

There is so much good here. The relationship between Hutch and his brother Cole and the reason it is the way it is, their de facto aunt Rue who has been through more than any person should, and Katie’s evolving relationship with her own self. If this drags a bit for you in the early going, stick with it. You’ll be glad you did.

This publishes on May 20. Thank you #NetGalley #MacmillanAudio and #KatherineCenter!

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: The Love Haters
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: Katherine Center
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: May 20, 2025

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝:
⇥ This is a mix of good and bad. The FMC struggles with major body image issues, which is a central theme throughout the book. If that’s something you’re dealing with (and honestly, who isn’t?), it could be a trigger warning. I appreciated seeing it addressed, since it's not something that comes up often in books. However, many readers felt like this overtook the plot entirely, which didn’t sit well with them.
⇥ The narrator was fantastic!

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐝:
⇥ I don’t remember Katherine Center being a closed-door romance author, but the romance here was practically nonexistent. It didn’t even feel like a slow burn—just nothing. Then suddenly, insta-love at the end. Very odd.
⇥ Around the 75% mark, things went off the rails, and I found myself enjoying it less.
⇥ The dialogue tags—holy crap! I listened to the audiobook, and the number of times “said” was used should be illegal. Seriously, do traditional publishers even have editors anymore? Do they just not care? It was so distracting.
⇥ Her BFF Beanie was kind of shitty and I didn’t support their friendship.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:
★★★★☆
I have no idea why this book is called The Love Haters. I get her reasoning, but his felt forced—like it was only there to justify a clever title. Overall, this book was just okay. Not her best, not her worst. I DNF’ed The Rom Commers, and while this didn’t feel like classic KC, it kept me engaged enough to finish. That said, the story has been done before, the plot was weak, and Katie & Hutch were completely forgettable. I didn’t consider DNF’ing it, but I already forgot how it ended—if that tells you anything. Is it mean to say it felt like she was trying too hard?

Thank you @netgalley @macmillanaudio @stmartinspress for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the audiobook ARC!

However, I really did not like this book. There needs to be extensive TWs with the eating disorder, body dysmorphia, and over all extensive recovery of those issues through out the book.

As for the audiobook side of things, the reader felt too robotic for my taste, and parts that could have been more enthusiastic or emotional were lacking.

I’ve really enjoyed Katherine Center’s books in the past and this one was a miss for me.

It kills me to not have a glowing review of The Love Haters because so far I have fallen in loved with every single book Katherine Center has written, and especially her portrayal of women MC’s but she missed the mark here. I didn’t like the way body negativity was addressed or how Katie’s friend approached it, making her focus on her ankles, fingers, etc to love herself. It felt very forced to me and almost like the topic wasn’t being taken seriously.

A small pet peeve was how the military was portrayed but, I bc would’ve overlooked this if I liked the plot and Katie more. That being said, I DID love Hutch and his rescue - those two carried the story as much as they could. Between those two, and my love for Katherine Center in the past I stuck with the book and made it to the end, which made the read worth it in a lot of ways but, for what I have come to expect from
Katherine Center, this wasn’t it.

The narration was well done - even if I few words were mispronounced if you ask me (it’s gif not Jiff like the peanut butter, but I digress).

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an audio copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. While Katherine Center is one of my favorite authors, this title did not deliver for me. I really disliked many of the characters (especially Cole!) and did not find myself rooting for the romance between Katie and Hutch. I enjoyed this audiobook for an escape from real life but I was hoping for more depth from the story and characters. However, I will still look forward to reading Center's next novel! 3 out of 5 stars.

Rounding up from a 4.5.I was in the mood for a sweet rom-com (after lots of thrillers and literary fiction), and this totally fits the bill. It is fun and light and I really enjoyed it. Katherine Center writes romances that aren't spicy--which if you asked me I would say I didn't like that--but when I read her books, I don't miss it at all. I loved the FMC and the MMC and found the dynamic playful. I listened to the audiobook, and Patti Murin creates the most likable characters. I also recommend listening to the author's note--I don't think it would even spoil it to listen (or read) before--she discusses her philosophy of storytelling and all the research she did with the Coast Guard, etc. Makes the author and the story even more endearing. Some people are getting turned off early (as I feared) because of a triggering issue with the FMC and her body image. (This is more of a trigger warning than a spoiler.) The author is using the details to show that disordered thinking can happen to anyone, and internet trolls certainly don't discriminate as they work to take people down. Nonetheless, 97% are going to be taken aback when we can't even see that size even in our rearview mirrors. But really the FMC is relatable and likable. If anything, she is positive and working on herself--arguably this is a romance about Katie falling in love with her self. If you love a light, fluffy romance, you will love this. Audiobook is amazing.Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the advanced copy and the opportunity to share my review.

4.5 stars rounded up!

Thank you so much for to Macmillan Audio the ALC and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. These are my honest thoughts!

Katherine Center stories fill my soul, and this one was no different. I absolutely loved going on this journey with Katie and Hutch (and Rue and Cole). Katherine's writing has all of these complex layers of storytelling that is rare, and I'm sucked in every time.

Katie has body image issues. Cole's avoiding home. Hutch hates love. Rue's love is overbearing. And all of these pieces fit together like a perfect little puzzle, told in a story that will capture the attention of readers across the globe.

Katie gets an assignment to make a promo video for the coast guard, and her star pupil is Hutch. Hutch's brother, Cole, is Katie's... manager? And sends her in his place. Katie and Hutch meet twice before Hutch finds out that he's going to be working with Katie, and Katie's in crisis about being in the Florida Keys without her luggage, in clothes that make her too visible, which makes her uncomfortable.

There seems to be a push and pull from Hutch when it comes to Katie, and we don't find out why until Cole randomly shows up and history reveals itself, but when they're on, Katie and Hutch's chemistry is... amazing. Hutch seems to see Katie in a way that no one has cared to before... with the exception of her closest friend and cousin.

Add in the adventures of filming a promo for the coast guard, being required to pass a coast guard swim test thingy (very official name mentioned in the book, but I've forgotten lol) DESPITE NOT BEING ABLE TO SWIM, so.... Hutch gives you swim lessons (swoon), Rue and her shenanigans, a Great Dane named George Bailey that for some reason loves you and likes to knock you into things/people/off the dock/boat, and then evacuating the Florida Keys due a hurricane.... this book is full to brimming with everything I love about Center's storytelling. It's an adventure. It's a lesson to be kind to yourself. It's a story about family. And most of all, it's about communication.

And the AUDIO IS AMAZING. I just love Patti Murin specifically telling Katherine Center stories. Her voice is like a warm hug and she does an amazing job of playing all the parts. Fantastic via audio if that's your preferred reading method!

I thought this book was really fun and lighthearted to listen to. It had a great dose of humor in it and it felt like it would make a great movie!
Do I think that Katie was a little too caught up in her body image...yes but it didn't take away from the book at all. It was just kind of like a part of her personality.

The Love Haters is Katherine Center at her finest. When Katie agrees to go to Key West to film a promotional video for the Coast Guard, she knows several things: 1. Her job is on the chopping block and her colleague Cole is giving her this opportunity to save it. 2. She can't swim. 3. The last thing she wants to do is be seen in a bathing suit. Ever.

When Katie gets to Key West and meets Hutch, the Coast Guard rescue swimmer she's profiling, she knows he's a hero (having famously saved Jennifer Aniston's dog), he's, as Cole informed her, a love hater, and quickly learns he's incredibly pissed that she shows up instead of Cole, both his brother and the filmmaker who was supposed to shoot the promo. The two strike a deal: Hutch will teach Katie how to swim, and in return she'll work on getting Cole to help mend their estranged relationship.

But somewhere between swimming lessons, spending time at the pool with loveable Aunt Rue and the girls, filming the promo video, and a hurricane, Katie finds love not just with Hutch, but with herself.

Beautifully written. Beautifully narrated. Can't wait to listen again!

I usually love Katherine Center but this book missed the mark for me. The lies from Cole, the hurricane scenario, the constant self doubt and questioning… it just got too unbelievable and too out there and irritating for me. The narrator is great for the audiobook but the story itself fell short. Extra star added for Rue.