Beginning was a bit much, middle was great, ending was soooo dragged out unnecessarily and the reason this became a three star read.

Overall this was cute. The main focus of this story is love in all aspects of the word. Friendship love, family love, new love, self love, and the biggest one of all: body love. The body dysmorphia was MUCH in the beginning of this story but I did like how it played out toward the end.

The romance was sweet but no way those two last past the epilogue. I didn’t get the chemistry at all but that’s largely to do with Hutch having little personality. He had cute quirks and sweet things about him but I kept imagining Zac Efron in Bay Watch. Maybe my own fault.

This is gonna be a book I’ll likely forget I read, but the in the moment read was enjoyable. Not upset that I read it and finished it but wouldn’t have missed much either!

Read if you like:
🫂 body positivity
🐕 DOGS
🌶️ mild spice (1/5 - two REALLY good kisses)
👵🏼 meddling old ladies
🌊 the sea
🛟 rescue heros

This book was way too focused on body image issues (the first 20% were almost exclusively on the topic), and it was written very immaturely and dramatically.

•Romance • Body Image • Rescue Swimmer Vibes•

📘 My take: There were plenty of charming moments—some laugh-out-loud funny scenes and a super sweet dog that stole the show. 🐾 This had the warmth and heart I expect from Katherine Center, but the pacing felt a little uneven and some character moments left me wanting more.

::WHAT I LIKED::
👉 The main character’s body image journey was thoughtfully handled.
👉 There were genuinely sweet and funny moments that made me smile.
👉 The dog? Total scene-stealer. 🐾

::WHAT I WONDERED ABOUT::
👉 The love interest was dreamy… almost too dreamy. I wanted more layers to him!
👉 The main character sometimes felt like two different people—her emotional journey didn’t always match how she showed up in the romance.
👉 The best-friend dynamic didn’t land for me. Their interactions felt repetitive and one-sided.

::YOU WILL LIKE THIS BOOK IF YOU…::
💘 Crave romance with meaningful themes
💋 Enjoy characters navigating self-worth and starting over
🐶 Love a cozy, dog-friendly read
🌀 Don’t mind when things lean more feel-good than fully fleshed-out

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

With each Katherine Center I read, I find myself loving her books more and more. Katie's got many problems - her love life is abysmal, her job is on the line, and she can't swim. Her not knowing how to swim is a big problem because she has to do a career-making profile on Hutch, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer. I absolutely adore Rue. She gives off fairy godmother vibes with her meddling. The paradise that she runs perfectly showcases girlhood too. Hutch is a grump but oh so dreamy. This was a great rom-com coming into beach read season. The audio was perfection, which I listened to in combination with the digital copy. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the gifted eARC and ALC. All opinions are my own.

Instagram post will be liive before or on release day.

Absolutely love Katherine Center books, however I did not like the body image insecurity.

4.5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing Group for this arc.

It was a fun, bingeable read, definitely a rom-com and less of a contemporary than she usually write! Great for escapism. If you’re looking for an easy, bingeable beach read, this is it the one for you!!!! :))) And as a former army wife, it was nice to read a military romance and already be familiar with all of the acronyms and training drills. Katherine does such a great job of writing romance while dealing with hard/serious topics. In line with her other books, The Love Haters is wowwww! Not enough words in the world can express how great it is! I loved the characters soooo much I literally was emotional with them. I also sat down and could not put this down, so I read it in one sitting! It is such an amazing read!!!
Kate and Hutch’s relationship was so nice to watch grow, and the whole story way so fun and light hearted, it really flies, before it knew it the book was over!!

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Thank you so much NetGalley and Katherine Center for giving me this early access to read this amazinggggg book!! Loved it so much!

3 stars for this fun, easy to read romance by Katherine Center. I had previously DNF’d her book The Bodyguard and The Rom Commers by her, but enjoyed Perfect Stranger so I wanted to give this a try.

While I still feel like she may not be the best author for my personal taste, I found myself enjoying The Love Haters the most of her novels thus far. .

The MMC Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson had me kicking my feet the whole book. Who can deny a Coast Guard diver with a Great Dane?! Unfortunately the same can’t be said for the FMC, Katie, who I would have like to seen more than just her struggle with body issues. I 1000% appreciate the effort Center put forth in exposing this extremely common issue, but for whatever reason the overall character didn’t largely appeal to me.

Thank you to St Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

This book was not for me. The main character spent too much time being stuck in her own head, and i could not feel the vibes of their chemistry at all.

The Love Haters by Katherine Center holds all of the normal charm as her past novels and it was a very slow burn + clean/closed door romance that I always appreciate from her. I will be honest and say that a conversation at the end of the book helped make the title make sense because the entire time I was reading I kept thinking to myself that it just didn't fit especially after her last release was titled "The Romcommers".

Center is very gifted in creating characters that you want to be best friends with and Katie, Hutch, Rue, and George Bailey were no exception. I loved getting to enter their world, to hear about their challenges, their fears, their dreams, and more. Each character went through a lot of growth in the book and at times it felt rushed but it all came together very nicely at the end. The setting was perfection and I want to go visit ASAP, but also I really appreciated how in-depth Center went about Hutch's job/position at the Coast Guard and you can tell she was intentional about everything that she was writing and sharing with her readers.

Overall I believe that readers will love this upcoming release by Katherine Center and I look forward to reading and reviewing more of her books.

Typically, if Katherine Center is publishing a book. I’m reading it and I’m loving it. For whatever reason, this took me a while to get into. Center is known for her unique FMCs, and for whatever reason Katie fell flat for me. All that being said, Love Haters is still an easy and enjoyable read like Centers other works (with the addition of an impossible to hate dog). While this is not my favorite Katherine Center book, there is no doubt I’m reading everything she puts out.

These books are just SOOOO cheesy I can't do it. Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. I have tried multiple books by this author because people seem to love them, but I just can't do the level of cheese and incompetence of the main characters.

This book was a really good non-explicit romance. I enjoyed the blossoming love of Hutch and Katie, the brotherly love of Cole and Hutch, and the enemies-to-lovers trope of Katie and her body image. This was really well-written, and the conflicts that arose were NOT expected. Katherine did a wonderful job, as usual, writing this book. I also appreciated the fact that she wrote this romance without any open door scenes, as it proves that it can be done! Will definitely recommend this one to others.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audiobooks, and You Had Me At HEA for the eArc and Alc!

The details:

Katie Vaughn is given an opportunity to save her job as a video producer while her boss has been firing people left and right. What better way to do it than get to video the viral sensation “puppy love” who is a US Coast Guard rescue swimmer who saved Jennifer Aniston’s dog. This gig could make or break Katie’s career. Will Katie be able to keep her job? Or will Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson get her fired before it even starts when the video producer he wanted isn’t the one that shows up?


This was my first Katherine Center so I wasn’t sure what to expect. While I enjoyed the book overall, I think the audiobook made it more enjoyable for me. Katie had a lot of growth in the book (TW for body image in case that is a hard topic for you) and I think it was easier overall to complete with the performance of the audio by Patti Murin, who I think did a great job.

I want to read more from Katherine to see how this one compares to her others. Overall it was a fun read but felt more on the cheesy side of romance books (which is not necessarily bad, but might not be for everyone).

Spice: only kisses

3.5⭐️ no spice
this was a fun bingeable read, definitely a rom com and less of a contemporary than she usually writes. This wasn’t my favorite from KC but this was a silly fun time and I enjoyed it! It is unrealistic, funny, and great for escapism. If you’re looking for a easy bingeable beach read, this is it!
Also was nice to read a military romance and already be familiar with all of the acronyms and training drills i’m already used to hearing as a Navy wife.
The Romcommers is my favorite KC novel though I have that one 5 stars!

Really enjoyed the narrorator on this one too

thank you Netgalley for the ARC

another hilarious rom-com from catherine! after becoming familiar with her other books, i knew i needed to start this one as soon as possible. it was hilarious, i loved the romance, and the character development was top tier! a great beach read!

OK I really love anything by Katherine Center. She does such a great job of writing romance while dealing with hard/serious topics. In line with her other books, The Love Haters is fantastic! I LOVED the characters and actually cried while reading. I also sat down and could not put this down, so I read it in one sitting! I would highly recommend this book!


Thank you to the author, St. Martin's Publishing Group, and NetGalley for providing a copy to review!

This was the first Katherine Center book I've listened to/read that lost me for a bit.
What I loved:
The storyline of Body Positivity.
Hutch
The friendship with Beanie
The older, wise ladies
George Bailey
How Katie wasn't stuck on a loser ex.
Family reconciliation

What I didn't care for:
What seemed like unnecessary Deception. - Hutch was emotionally mature enough to handle the truth. It just seemed over complicated.
Too slow of a burn for me.
Cole

All in all, even though I got a little disinterested in the middle, the ending was strong and Katherine Center will still be an auto-read author for me.

Thank you Net Galley, Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press, and Katherine Center for an ARC of this story.

THE LOVE HATERS was a fun, romantic comedy that has all the good parts of this author’s writing: funny and improbable situations, a lot of heart, and a message that leaves you thinking long after you’ve finished the final page of the book. I enjoyed it and even though it wasn’t what I was fully expecting, I thoroughly devoured the book and, to me, it was worth the read.

I thought this book was going to be a love story between Katie, the FMC, and Hutch, the MMC, and it was. But to me, the story more centrally focused on Katie’s love of herself. I think as people and maybe society as a whole, we forget how to give ourselves grace and empathy. And this book centers on that idea of having our FMC embrace the love of herself while also falling in love with another who sees her in a way she does not: extraordinary. I enjoyed that message and Center’s ability to craft that narrative, balancing these very tricky subjects while also writing a story that was engaging.

But I can see how some of the aspects of the story might not be favorites for some readers. There is a lot of miscommunication. If you’re looking for a more romance centered novel, this isn’t quite it. And some readers might feel that the more heavier topics deserve more nuance or depth (or even vice versa, that the book and premise as a rom-com is too light to take on those issues in a meaningful way). But to me, I felt that Center, for what the novel is for and about, does a good job balancing these aspects.

Overall, I inhaled this book and enjoyed reading it. If you like some clean romance, a bit more heavier topics of body image, quirky situations, and fun writing, this is a book you should read.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Katie is a videographer who is sent to do a story on a Coast Guard rescue swimmer despite her inability to swim. When she arrives and meets Hutch, she realizes there was more to this assignment than meets the eye.

I’ve been a faithful fan of Katherine Center since The Bodyguard. Her style of writing and romance is whimsical and easy to read. I enjoyed the characters in the story and her attempt at including a heavier topic into the storyline. Although some of the miscommunication was frustrating, it didn’t take away from enjoying the story overall. Another fun summer read and I look forward to her next!

Thank you to the publisher for providing a free ARC for review via NetGalley.

This story is a fun, heartfelt rom-com set in Key West, following video producer Katie Vaughn as she pretends to date a Coast Guard hero—while hiding the fact that she can’t swim. With witty dialogue, emotional depth, and a lovable cast (including a giant dog), the story explores self-acceptance and personal growth. Though a bit predictable at times, it’s a charming, feel-good read with Katherine Center’s signature warmth.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read the advanced digital version in exchange for my honest opinions!