Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of Katherine Center’s latest novel! She is one of my favorite authors, so I was so excited to receive it. I love “the feels” Center’s writing often brings and the balance between rom-com and more serious topics.

Katie is a videographer tasked with filming a promo video for the Coast Guard. She flies to Key West and meets her main subject, Hutch, who is known for being too serious and the ultimate gentlemen. Katie knows nothing about the Coast Guard and lacks the ability to swim, so her assignment is a bit out of her depth. However, she soon becomes immersed in Key West life - making friends with a group of older women and Hutch as her swimming coach and colleague. Things take a dramatic turn when her bosses Cole and Sullivan arrive to stir up her otherwise successful project.

Unfortunately this was not my favorite book by Center. There were aspects that I loved: the setting, aunt Rue, and learning about the Coast Guard. Hutch was a pretty great main character, but Cole was the absolute worst. There were several scenes involving Cole that really rubbed me the wrong way, and although Katie and Hutch did call him out, I didn’t like his behavior at all (and felt it wasn’t pivotal to the plot). The dog parts were mostly heartwarming, though a bit cheesy. The miscommunication trope was used quite a bit in the romance plot, which is my least favorite trope. Though I enjoyed parts of this novel, overall it felt flat and the pieces didn’t feel cohesive.

Though I was a bit disappointed in this one, I hope Katherine Center’s next novel is another favorite!

4.5 ⭐️
I really enjoyed this book. I loved the conflict between Katie and Hutch. Seeing Katie get to break his walls down was so fun to read and the dog had me crying at the end with his toad.

The Love Haters is a fun romance where our FMC is sent to Key West in the hopes of saving her job by filming a campaign for the Coast Guard. Her subject: viral, dog saving hottie, Hutch! This whirlwind romance where Katie gets to learn to relove herself and her body while also falling for Hutch is so well done, I really enjoyed it!

Absolutely another amazing book by Katherine Center!! Such strong, well rounded, amazing female main characters, Katie was no different!

What a journey - this love story isn’t just between the characters. Katie has a not-so-loving relationship with herself, and watching her journey was such a joy. She grew exponentially throughout the book and it was refreshing to see a character dealing with very real issues that a lot of us don’t even admit to ourselves.

Hutch was a great love-hater to fall in love with and grow along with Katie. He and George Bailey are quite a pair and I loved being with them throughout the novel.

Rue might be one of my favorite characters in a novel. She was so selfless and sure of herself. I thought for sure one of the twists was that Katie would do a hero video about Rue since Rue is the true hero of the book. She overcame one of the worst days in her life and gave everything for Hutch and Cole.

Cole, by the way, is despicable.

The epilogue and notes at the end really wrapped this novel up nicely. Another five star read from Katherine Center. I can’t wait to read whatever is next.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!! I felt like I won the lottery this week!! I dropped the other book I was reading to make sure that this was the first book I read in 2025.

Did I fall in love with Katie? Yes. & mainly for those 4th wall breaks. They were so well done, candid and honestly, hilarious. I wasn't expecting that in this book!
I also was not expecting this to be a book about falling in love with yourself more than anything else. It was a refreshing take and while out there at times, it was light hearted.

Did I feel like we didn't really get to know Hutch like a typical romance novel would have let us? Yes. But I'm ok with it!

Also, Cole needs to go like yesterday, yuck, lol.
and lastly, I did love that Hutch and Katie didn't have that "and they lived happily ever after" fairy tale ending. It felt more realistic. I'm so glad I was able to read this sooner than the release day, it made it that much more enjoyable.

I hate that I have to wait that > much longer for a new Katherine Center book now... :(

I devoured this book in one sitting, this was a fun romance book with such an outlandish storyline that I absolutely loved, despite knowing it is so unrealistic. yet, despite hurricanes & fake dating gone wrong, there were real issues beautifully (yet sadly) addressed in this book. The loss of lives in a drunk driving incident tore my heart in half, but as a former teacher at an eating disorder facility, the author tackled eating disorders so well. It was heart breaking to read, but it was so empowering too. These are stories that need to be told. Katherine Center, you are a star,

Thank you to the publisher / author / NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

**If you are sensitive to content relating to restrictive / disordered eating & negative body image, I'd recommend re-evaluating picking this book up.**

Katherine Center is such a hit-or-miss author for me. I loved The Rom-Commers (it was a top-ten-of-2024 book for me!), I liked The Bodyguard, and I really disliked Hello Stranger. I was so excited to pick up an advance copy of The Love Haters from NetGalley, but unfortunately I didn't love it as much as I was hoping.

Katie, our fmc, is a video producer whose organization is laying off a lot of its staff. To avoid losing her job, Katie agrees to take a job in Key West filming a promotional video for the US Coast Guard. The assignment is given to her by her supervisor at work, Cole Hutcheson. We learn that Katie has struggled for a long time with body image issues, including some severe restrictive eating exacerbated by her relationship with her then-fiancée putting her in the limelight. In addition, Katie seems to want to live an invisible life, wearing only dark clothing and avoiding any situation that brings attention to herself. Katie has been jilted a year ago and has been picking up the pieces of her life since.

Tom "Hutch" Hutcheson is Cole's brother, and the star of the promotional video Katie has been sent to film. We learn that Hutch and Cole lost their parents in a tragic accident when they were children, and were taken in by their Aunt Rue. Hutch is a hero through-and-through, but insists that he is just an everyday guy, doing what other everyday guys would do.

I think what I struggled with most in The Love Haters was the absurdity of the plot - the circumstances in which Katie finds herself in Key West are shaky at best, but then as the plot progresses, further developments including Hutch & Cole's relationship were so unbelievable and nonsensical. It felt as if Center threw everything but the kitchen sink into this novel, which made it difficult to follow and understand. In addition, I found that the romance wasn't very compelling - Center did a lot of telling, not showing, how Katie & Hutch's relationship progressed, which made their romance difficult to believe in. Then, there were so many loose threads at the end of this book that the author tried to wrap up in quick succession in the epilogue, which left the reader with a fairly dissatisfying conclusion.

There were a few items I enjoyed about The Love Haters - including the supporting cast (Rue, The Gals, even George Bailey). The action towards the end of the novel was also very well written and held my attention. But, I just found the plot so confusing, I couldn't give more than three stars.

I will absolutely continue to follow Katherine Center as an author and pick up her next release, but unfortunately The Love Haters just missed the mark in my opinion. I'd still recommend, though, if you are a Katherine Center fan, you still ought to pick this one up to support.

I love Katherine Center's books. I love how they feature a woman overcoming something and finding love along the way. I find her books to be full of hope and joy and have a pretty high expectation for them because I enjoy them so much. But The Love Haters just wasn't her usual high level of character development, and I think it was Katie, the FMC. Katie works in video marketing and has a tiny following for her passion project- mini-documentaries of heroes. Katie winds up having to go to Key West to save her soulless video marketing job and has the chance to do a mini-doc on a super hot Coast Guard rescue swimmer who refused all interviews when he saved Jennifer Aniston's dog.

Katie is, of course, overcoming something. In this book, Katie is overcoming getting dumped by Lucas, who found fame and another woman while they were engaged. And somehow, along the way, Katie developed an eating disorder that lasted a year--and this is where Ms. Center lost me. Like many women, I know many people who have struggled with disordered eating. And it isn't something that just lasts a year. It's almost always a long-term struggle (for lack of a better term). Katie is able to overcome her disordered eating yet she struggles with body dismorphia which includes a fear of bathing suits. And yet, she's able to overcome that, too, by the goodnature of Rue (Hutch's aunt) and the Gals, a group of senior women who live in Rue's housing complex.

Katie and Hutch's love story is sweet, but something was missing. Usually Ms. Center does a fantastic job of helping you understand the characters' resistance to falling in love, but this one felt flat. While it's a good book and an entertaining story, this is not one of Katherine Center's best.

I can not believe that I got the chance to read and review one of my most anticipated books of the year before the release date! I started this book at 4am thinking I would read a few pages and finish it in the morning and I was incredibly wrong because I did not put down the book (other than to send some very excited texts to my best friend) until 7am when I finished the entire book and had a good cry. I did not put getting one of my most anticipated books on my 2025 BINGO card but this was just the best surprise. This is my second Katherine Center book, the first one being The Rom Commers and now I feel like I must go back and read all of her other books because I just adored these two! Everything in this book was so perfect, it made me feel all the feelings and I need May 20th to come faster so I can have more people to discuss this with! This book was everything I wanted in a rom com and more, I laughed (a lot, you should see my highlights), I cried (also a lot, check my pillowcase), and I just loved these two characters so much. Katie is I think one of my favourite characters that I have read to date. I love the body positivity shown throughout this book and seeing her find herself and being comfortable in her own skin was everything I didn’t know I needed. Hutch was also just amazing. I mean he might really be perfect (sorry Cole). Right from the start I was captivated by him, he was just the perfect sweet yet grumpy man and I would love to know what’s going on in his head the entire book. The way he takes care of everyone around him has my whole heart. I really liked how their friendship progressed and all the little bumps on the road that was filled with some (many) lies. Lastly can we talk about The Gals and the very large and meddling dog (not yet we can’t)! I can’t wait for everyone to read this book when it comes out on May 20th!

Okay, I'll start out by saying this wasn't my *favorite* Katherine Center book, BUT- it was an interesting story and I enjoyed it! Katie was a protagonist to root for, and I loved her own journey of self-growth, particularly the part about her body image. Sometimes I roll my eyes at those attempts because they can often feel like pandering, but it was well handled in this case.

Beanie and Rue were amazing also, of course. My problem was that it was too much drama and too light on the actual romance. I smiled (maybe) one time. The counter balance of more light moments would have helped this story, I think. (The parts about her being shoved down or thrown in the water by GB didn't count for me, because I was worried about Katie!)

The part with Cole & Sullivan near the end was borderline unreadable. It was absolutely awful and felt really unnecessary and weird. I like the revelation between the brothers, but the excuses were flimsy and I still don't understand why Katie went with it.. it all made zero sense and REALLY brought the book down. I would have swapped that entire chunk out for something else. (Maybe her stepmom shows up? Maybe Cole is pining for Sullivan and uses Katie to make her jealous? Maybe Beanie comes to visit and that causes some sort of tension..? Anything would have been better than the C/S weirdness.)


All in all, this was a mid-level entry to Center's list, but I hope her next book has a little more fun and a lot more logic to the conflict.

I LOVED this book. It finally felt like a Katherine Center book. The last two were lacking but this book was so good. I read it in 24 hours. I loved the characters, the plot, the themes. It was all just so good. And the dog named George Bailey was an extra chef's kiss. I will recommend this to everyone,

Katie is on assignment interviewing Cole "Hutch" Hutcheson about being a US Coast Guard rescue swimmer. His own brother has dubbed him a "love hater" and Katie isn't too different herself. Honestly, I found Katie's incessant body dysmorphia remarks to be way to plentiful and quite frankly, annoying. Overall this was a cute love story and reconciliation of family ties.

This was definitely different to read. The career paths of the main character didn't really make sense to me but to each thier own. The story was great and the evolving chemistry was even greater.

I loved this one -- most of Katherine Center's books are home runs (or at least solid triples:)). I was hooked on this one pretty much right away. I really liked all of the main characters; Katie, Hutch, Rue and The Gals too!

I knew nothing about the process of Coast Guard water rescues. Katherine painted a detailed picture, providing enough information to be interesting, but not enough to overwhelm. It was a nice balance.

I also really liked how the main character's struggle with body positivity was portrayed. We went on the journey with Katie and her change in mindset was very believable and not contrived.

My thanks to NetGalley for offering this as a "read now" selection. The only downside is that I won't get to read it for the first time now on its May publish date!

Katie took a bit of getting used to, but Hutch & George Bailey were *chef’s kiss*! And while the storyline had a couple of unique elements and tad too bit fantastical ending, overall I really enjoyed the point Katherine was trying to make about valuing yourself & others!

Written by one of my favorite authors, this book does not disappoint. It is intriguing from the first page. The realistic characters keep the story moving, a real page turner. If I could give this book more than five stars, I would do so. Each time I see this author on a book (or on Netgalley), I want to read what she has written. She is a gifted and talented author with innovative themes. The reader learns from each story...they are enjoyable...curl up in a comfy chair, grab a warm throw, get a cup of steaming herbal team...spend an afternoon with the characters (people) in this novel. You won't be disappointed. Thanks Netgalley.

I love a good love story. I love it even more when I feel more emotions than just the giggly, feet kicking in the air excitement that comes from romances. I love it when a book makes me nearly cry, sigh heavily, read a tense scene so quickly I have to reread it to get the details….i love being connected and feeling….feelings. And that is exactly what Katherine Center does. Every. Single. Time.

I love Katherine Center books. Easy to read, Hallmark-like, take you on an adventure, and always have love.

That being said- this one was not my favorite. It took me a little while to get into the book and the characters that fell in love didn’t seem to have any of that building chemistry. They went from simply interacting to being in love.

I did enjoy the book though and will also pick up a Katherine Center book when I have the chance!

The emotions, and the healing journey in in this one are so perfectly written. There was a good balance between the humor of the narration and the struggles + the healing the MC goes through regarding her thoughts and her self-love for her body. I loved the arc of her self-growth as well, as how her BFF/cousin and her new found family helped it along.

Also the romance was so wholesome! And the dog was cute as hell 😭

++ All the Coast Guard related scenes were written so well! It's a cool effect, that as the MC is making a documentary about the Coast Guards and their work, the narration was so good and very show instead of tell that the reader gets a proper visual into the same.

TWs - death of parents/spouse due to a road accident (possible DUI) (past), severe self-esteem and body image issues faced by the MC due to public/media scrutiny in the past and present, cheating by an ex

-- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!

Katherine Center hits the mark again. This story was so sweet and so fun, but also so deep and inspiring. Katie has experienced some truly discouraging things which have led her to have low self esteem. She gets the opportunity to go to Key West to shoot a promotional video, and the people she meets there, along with her cousin/best friend (from afar) help her discover a love for herself that she’s never known before. At the same time, she’s falling for the subject of her video. And he’s falling for her too, until a lie makes him believe he can’t have her. I found myself smiling and laughing, and at times wiping away tears, which is honestly what I want from a good story.