Katherine Center never fails to entertain me. I loved her books. They hold a deep meaning, and this one was love for oneself.

Katie is a video producer who takes an assignment covering the Coast Guard rescue swimmers. She can't swim. She does not want to be in a swimsuit after years of body image issues brought on by her stepmom and dating a now famous musician in the past. The public was not nice to her.

In hopes of not being laid off, she finds herself traveling to Key West, wearing bright florals after years of wearing black, wearing a swimsuit, and being taught how to swim by the Love Hater himself, Hutch. Turns out that Hutch is a beautiful man who does not want to be filmed. He does not make it easy.

Laughter, swoony moments, tears- Katherine is great at making you think and focus on the important things.

Katherine Center is an instant read for me every time. While her books are always fun and the romances sweet and swoony, I love that she always writes about something more serious with depth. She’s an emotionally intelligent writer and her books are so much more than a light beach read. This book is no different and is one of my favorites of hers! I enjoyed Katie and Hutch (and Rue!) and they were so easy to root for!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advance digital copy.

Love Haters

Katherine Center’s books are normally a solid four to five stars for me. The Love Haters was almost a DNF for me because of how it started, but I pushed through. I’ll give this one 2.5 stars.

Thanks to Net Galley and the author for an ARC of the audiobook.

I truly loved this so much. Patti Murin did an amazing job narrating.

I had fun listening to all the situations Katie got herself into trying to get the documentary filmed to avoid getting fired. I mean the woman can't swim and agrees to film a coast guard doc...

I thought the involvement of the old ladies at the pool was super cute and I really liked how kind Hutch is to everyone he interacts with. He is like a hard boiled egg. Once you crack open the shell, He's just a soft boy. He also has a great dane who is afraid of thunderstorms which I found incredibly endearing.

The writing itself was great as always. Center knows how to grab you and keep you wanting more. Her books are always a hit for me.

Overall, the romance, setting, and characters were fantastic including Cole who pissed me off many times (sometimes you need an annoying character to further your plot). I would definitely recommend this!

*4.5 stars*

It's been a while since I've read a Katherine Center book. I really love some of her older work like Happiness for Beginners and How to Walk Away and this one felt more like this! I just adored it!!!!!

I was instantly so smitten with the writing and characters. It was just so light hearted and fun while still having a great message behind it. I love how it has this underling message about living your body and cherishing what it does for you! It was such a good reminder. Plus the romance was SO CUTE! I mean as soon as Hutch was mentioned I was a GONER!! I pictured him like that guy who plays in the Reacher show. A big, manly, sexy rescue Coast Guard! I just loved their banter and the progression of their relationship.

The ending is a little over the top but honestly I was okay with it because it was fun! And it was just what I needed! I am just so excited about this one!!!! It's definitely worth checking out! Also, I love when there is a dog in a story and this doggie was precious! I would have gone back for it too!

I love all of Katherine Center's titles and this one, with it's body image issues, hit close to home. It was wonderful to see a character with an inner dialogue and how it impacts their lives. I am NOT a dog fan, but George Bailey is the best. It was a great story and I'd love to book a week at the cottages. I can't wait for the next Center title!

The audio narrator was great but I really disliked the story. The characters seemed extremely immature and I hate that the fmc seemed to lack self confidence. She seemed to thirst after Hutch which was annoying. I also disliked the drama surrounding the two brothers. I didn’t find it fun and found it to be quite messy.

I loved this book. Truly. It was such a fun, lighthearted read! I ended up taking this on vacation with me, and it is the PERFECT beach read for summer! The female main character is extremely likable and struggles with anxiety just as much as the rest of us. The male main character is dreamy, mysterious, humble, and kind...truly everything you could wish for in a love interest. Just...chef's kiss!

Initially, I DNF'd this book because of the FMC's body issues and how that hit home with me. However, when I got the audiobook, I picked it back up and really enjoyed the listen. This is not the standard rom com that we've all ready a bunch before, but its a story of a girl learning to love herself and conquer her fears, as well as finding home. Oh and love... I liked the adventurous aspects of the story and felt the love story ultimately came second to the story, to the benefit of the book as a whole.

**Review of *The Love Haters* by Katherine Center - 4⭐️**

*The Love Haters* is a heartwarming, easy read that blends romance with personal growth. Katie Vaughn, a videographer who's been burned by love and fears losing her job, is given a chance to profile a Coast Guard rescue swimmer in Key West. Tom "Hutch" Hutchison, a private man, has always declined such requests but reluctantly agrees to let Katie document his life.

The novel unfolds at a good pace, slowly revealing Hutch's past and the reasons behind his guarded nature. Katie finds friendship, self-acceptance, and love in Key West, leaving behind the toxicity of her previous life. Through her journey, she learns to embrace love, both in her work and personal life.

This sweet, easy romance set in a charming location leads to a fulfilling happy ending, making it a perfect read for fans of lighthearted, feel-good stories.

**Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.**

4.75 🌟
Spice: kissing

There Katherine Center goes, writing another one of my favorite books. I felt like Katie's thoughts about her weight/body were so relatable. I could resonate with her feelings and try to learn to love things about yourself. I adored Hutch and George Bailey. A single dog dad who's a Coast Guard rescue swimmer! What's not to love! Learning about how he, Cole, & Rue became a family was heartbreaking. They all lost so much but held onto each other. I was full-on crying at times.

The audio is fantastic as always. The whole story is so good, I can't wait to see what she writes next!

I was fortunate enough to get my hands on an ARC/audiobook of this upcoming release from Katherine Center. I really enjoyed this book. The FMC deals with body image and many of us can relate. The underlying love story wasn't unique but the setting, the characters and the dog (OMG, the dog) made it all feel fresh and full of life. Overall a solid rom-com! Also, George Bailey might be my absolute favorite KC character.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan audio for the ARC!

Katherine Center's The Love Haters is an emotional, witty, and heart-squeezing slow-burn romance that had me fully invested—laughing, swooning, and occasionally side-eyeing my family when they caught me audibly reacting. Katie, our endearing (and hilariously self-deprecating) protagonist, has been through the emotional wringer—thanks to a high-profile breakup that left her with a shattered self-image and some serious trust issues. Enter Hutch, the grumpy, emotionally barricaded “love hater” who tries so hard to resist the undeniable chemistry between them, and his brother, Cole, who isn't exactly making things easier.

This story is all about the build-up. It’s got tension, longing, and enough yearning to power a Victorian romance novel. But if you’re waiting for full-blown fireworks, you may just get the sparkler version—pretty, meaningful, but no raging inferno. While I personally loved the journey, the hopeless romantic (and okay, smut lover) in me was left craving just a little more payoff.

Patti Murin’s audiobook narration was the cherry on top. She was Katie—effortlessly delivering humor, heart, and perfectly distinct character voices. For once, I didn’t speed up my audiobook because I wasn’t ready to let the story go.

Would I reread this if I could experience it for the first time again? Absolutely. Would I also secretly wish for an extended epilogue with a little extra heat? Without question.
Thank you NetGalley, Katherine Center, and Macmillan Audio for allowing me the opportunity to listen to this advance audiobook and to provide my honest feedback.

I knew I would love this book… not only because I adore the author but because this book is just what every woman needs! I love the friendship and slow burn between Katie and Hutch. I love the amazing and caring Aunt Rue, who had so many of her own traumatic struggles and turn that into love and support for those around her. Katie is blessed with the most amazing best friend who guides her to realizing how much she actually loves herself and her body for all the beauty it holds. Everyone needs a best friend like that! And the cherry on top is there’s a great Dane in the Story as well! This book would make an amazing book club book! It’s one that we stay uplifting your heart for a long time!

ALC review! Thank you to Netgalley, Katherine Center and McMillan Audio for this advanced listener copy of The Love Haters in exchange for my honest review.

Katherine Center is one of my favorite rom-com writers because her books are laugh-out-loud funny and have the most swoon-worthy MMCs! Her books are so emotionally charged and it is not uncommon to be laughing at one moment and crying the next. The Love Haters was no exception.

Our FMC is a videographer who is facing possible layoffs at her job, so she takes an assignment that she is woefully unqualified for in order to gain favor at work and save her job. Our MMC is the job!!! He is a coast guard hero who doesn’t want to be in the lime light for reasons we learn later in the book. Also, he is her boss’s brother and there is some serious tension there!

Do yourself a favor and check this one out and let me know if you loved it as much as I do!

Another Katherine Center book I absolutely loved! I was fortunate enough to receive an advanced listening copy from Macmillan audio/Netgalley. I loved Katie and Hutch. They both came with their own traumatic pasts that seem to seep into their current lives and these things are discussed throughout the entire book. Everyone has their own self loathing about things that haunt them, have happened in the past, and even things they still seem to struggle with currently. I personally enjoyed hearing about what each main character went through and how they have tried to remedy some of the pain and hurt.
Here are just a few things I loved about the book that you may love too:
- grumpy x sunshine
- coast guard hero (MMC)
- it's got that true rom-com feel. There is a connection, there is miscommunication, there are some fibs, and there are some truths that finally surface
- this comedy and banter in this was definitely for me.
- I loved the narrator Patti Murin, I think she was perfect for this book and I love her cadence, tone, voice, vocal expressions. This audiobook was done very well!
I hope everyone who gives this book a chance when it releases in May, loves it as much as I did!

This book was such a delight to listen to. Katherine Center wrote another delightful rom-com that had me grinning and laughing out loud (and gasping with concern a few times). It was excellent.

Katie’s job is at risk. She takes an assignment she is unqualified for as a last stitch effort to save her career. During her assignment she is met with the ‘love hater’- Hutch who is strangely related to her co-worker. While Katie is video producing Hutch and the national coast guard, family secrets and dynamics are spilled- way more than she bargained for when agreeing to take this job.

I have a little bit of a love hate relationship with this book but my overall thoughts were that I enjoyed it. The first part of this book, I wanted to sit Katie down and shake her. She has so many insecurities that she struggled with day to day and it was painful to read for a bit but at the end of the day, there are people that struggle with low self esteem and while it was hard to read, I enjoyed following Katie's journey. I looooooved Hutch. I don't know why but I did. I never really felt like he was a love hater either. AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON GEORGE BAILEY. I just wanna hug him. There were some eye roll moments in this book for me... mainly every single thing Cole did at any time lol.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishers for the incredible opportunity to review an advanced copy of The Love Haters by Katherine Center.

Thank you netgalley for an ARC of this book

I always love Katherine Center's books. They are always the correct women's fiction to romance ratio for me. This one was no different. A huge dog named George Bailey, and Hutch are a great duo. Hutch is a great book boyfriend. He was really kind and patient with her.
There are some trigger warnings so make sure you check those before jumping in. She struggles with her self confidence. But she never let it get in the way when respecting and loving Hutch.