Rom-com deliciousness! This book is a great reminder to order anything that Katherine Center writes. She is a master at serving up the perfect amount of romantic dilemmas mixed with witty banter to have you falling in love with her characters one page at a time.
Publishing just in time for beach read season!

*I received an arc of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

“We’re here to be alive. To feel the sun on our skin. To breathe deep in the wind. We’re here to feel it all. To love and cry and love some more.”

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read an eARC of “The Love Haters” by Katherine Center. I read “The Rom-Commers” last year and enjoyed it, so I was really excited to read this one as well.

As far as characters go, I really enjoyed out FMC Katie and the MMC Hutch, but the real stars of the show were The Gals and George Bailey! I loved the found family aspect and the ending was fantastic!!! Katie had so much character growth.

I don’t love the miscommunication trope, so that was a big aspect for me that hindered with my complete enjoyment of this story. However, the summer vibes of this story are going to be something that will make you want to pick this book up in June for sure.

This was such a fun book. I really like that the author is adding in extra depth with other completely normal problems. The miscommunication was really messy with the brother involved, but I ended up being ok with that included.

I dont have my posting schedule made for May quite yet, but I will share this title on my instagram at www.instagram.com/robinashleyreads shortly before publication day.

Katherine Center fans will be happy with this one! It's a cute romantic comedy with some fun twists.

Unfortunately, this book was not for me.

Grateful to have had the opportunity to read the audio that is narrated by one of my favourites - Patti Murin who helped bring this lacklustre story to life.

I absolutely love when authors include commentary on very real issues, especially those that are considered kind of taboo to discuss. THE LOVE HATERS centres around body image and as someone who struggles with this herself I wanted so desperately to connect with Katie’s story, however I found her self-love journey to be extremely cliché and unoriginal! It honestly felt like I was reading a manual on body image that they would have regurgitated to us in a middle school health class…

The romance between Katie and Hutch lacked chemistry, the most interesting and heart warming parts of this relationship revolving around Hutch’s dog…

The conflict between the brothers was petty and the resolution felt equally immature.

Overall, a disappointing read.
I have enjoyed previous works from this author but her I’m starting to think her style of romcom just might not be for me!

This book how can you not love it!!! Katie is a videographer in a company in Dallas. When she is given a chance to go and make a video about the Coast Guard she is dreading it but makes the best of it! Cole her boss send her to do a promotional video to get people to join up with a tiny little tid bit it’s his older brother hutch. As Katie gets to key west she is haunted by body image and her famous ex boyfriend and online trolls. Beanie Katie best friend tries to encourage her to look at the bright side of it all!

I love this book! It make me laugh and it’s just what I need I highly recommend!! So go buy it now!!!

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I have been a fan of Katherine Center’s books for a while, so I was excited to read her latest book. I can say that it is what I would expect. But I will also state that it was not my favorite of her books.

The story of Katie, who is rebuilding her life after a breakup and is on the verge of losing her job. She accepts an assignment to shoot a promotion about the Coast Guard focusing on the brother of one of her colleagues. Of course, the brother, Hutch is perfect. But he is also described as a “Love Hater,” which Katie also considers herself to be. Of course, none of what she expects to happen does.

It is the typical hi-jinks and HEA story. It was entertaining, and there are aspects that are explained later in the book that help the story make sense.

I was a little put off by the body image insecurities that were immediately expressed by the main character. There was some positive outcome with this, but it sat a little weird with me.

Will I continue to read books by the author? Yes! Was this a fav? No!
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Katie Vaughn can't swim, but in an effort to save her job, her coworker convinces her to film a promo video for the USCG and profile rescue swimmer Tom "Hutch" Hutcheson...who happens to be his brother.
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I'm torn over this book. There was so much potential, but ultimately, it didn't fully click for me.

Katie is recovering from an eating disorder and struggles with body image. This felt like such a big focus of the story that a trigger warning should be included (especially when we're given an example of her calorie counting). Her self-doubt and insecurities took center stage, making it hard to connect with her. And while I know the real love story is supposed to be between Katie and her body, it felt like she relied too much on others to push her forward.

Then, things in Key West just got messy. Unnecessary lies, random drama, and slapstick moments made it feel all over the place. I was half expecting Katie's ex to pop in to make more drama! And while Hutch is very much a good guy, he lacked depth making the romance fall flat for me.

That said, there were fun, laugh out loud moments that kept me entertained! It's just the mix of a heavy topic with the lightness of the story didn't quite work.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of The Love Haters.

I’ve read a lot of Katherine center books and tend to love them. This book took me about 30% to want to read it. I do like the main characters of Katie and hutch and especially aunt rue. I think at the beginning it didn’t seem as authentic.

I like the overall storyline and the way they come together in the end. George Bailey of course steals the show.

this book really frustrated me, the way the author dealt with what is clearly an eating disorder in the main character was flippant and harmful imho. Also her ogling the male lead constantly and only talking about hot he was was very annoying to me.

Katherine Center does it again! Relatable characters with character development throughout. A fun and engaging romance full of humor while still hitting deep topics of self worth, bravery, grief and family. Don’t miss the author’s note at the end - it really pulled it all together for me.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

I'm a fan of Katherine Center, and this book was another fun ride, but unfortunately, from time to time, I did feel that there were too many subtopics to tackle and that nearer to the end some ideas for the characters felt a bit forced/ contrived. However, it is still a solid romance, and a light beach read. I must state I read the ebook and audiobook in tandem. I got invested in most of the main and supporting characters and I loved the dog George Bailey. The love story was still entertaining and the rescue job aspect was well done. Overall, a quick and easy read.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this ARC. This is my honest review.

I! LOVE! KATHERINE! CENTER! This author can do no wrong in my eyes. This story is wonderful -- the tension, the pacing, the side plots and other characters... I need another book by Katherine immediately! Katie and Tom's relationships and respective backstories have so much realness and depth to them and I subconsciously find myself comparing all other rom-coms to the standard that Katherine sets in her books. Escapsim at its finest while simultaneously being rooted in reality. This book made me feel all the feels, including laughing out loud multiple times. Read this!!

I just read my favorite Katherine Center novel - this felt like watching a movie! I went into this book fairly blind (like I usually do) and it was so much more than I was expecting! I knew it was a romcom (of course) and the MMC was in the Coast Guard, but that was about it.

The Love Haters was a beautiful story about complex family dynamics, body image/learning to love yourself, healing, and of course a love story 💕 Katie, our FMC, is a filmmaker going to the Florida keys to make a promo for the Coast Guard featuring our MMC, Hutch. I wouldn’t quite call her sunshine, but he’s definitely grumpy… except with Katie. Everything progresses sweetly until Cole, Katie’s coworker & Hutch’s brother, shows up unexpectedly with a web of lies that turns everything upside down.

If that weren’t bad enough, a storm hits at the end of the book and Hutch, a rescue swimmer, is first to respond. While I kind of expected this to happen, the in between had me on the edge of my seat!

Two supporting characters I loved in this book were Aunt Rue & George Bailey (Hutch’s Great Dane)! They added so much color and humor to the book 💛

Thank you NetGalley and Saint Martin’s press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. I can’t wait for you all to be able to read this in May!

Katherine Center’s unapologetic love for writing romance makes me love reading her books. I’m comforted in knowing there’s always some swoon and warm fuzzies along the way to love. This book delivers as Katie sets out to interview Coast Guard rescue swimmer Hutch and save her job. Hutch is such a dreamy lead- he ticks all the boxes. Katie also struggles with self image and body positivity throughout the book which I can certainly relate to, so this felt more real than annoying to me. The final complication/scene in the book feels both extremely unrealistic and also a bit frustrating that Katie got herself into the situation, but I forgive a lot in the name of a happy ending courtesy of Katherine Center. I was grateful to receive a digital ARC from NetGalley. I did read several luke warm reviews of this book and understand some of the critiques, but while this book may have its imperfections, it’s a net win.

The Love Haters was a delightfully cute love story full of Katherine Center’s signature wit and warmth and charm.

While this wasn’t my favorite Katherine Center novel, I did really enjoy following the story of Katie, a documentary filmmaker who flies out to Florida to profile Hutch, a coast guard rescue swimmer. Hutch, you see, is a love hater, as Katie has been warned. But is he really?

The characters in this book were so lovable, from Katie and Hutch themselves down to the giant Great Dane named George Bailey. The story progressed nicely and built up to a surprisingly tense ending which I wasn’t expecting!

While I don’t think this book will stay with me for a long time, I will remember such a lovely idea from it - there are characters in this book who celebrate a deceased relative’s birthday every year by buying tons of bouquets of flowers and handing them out to strangers, then going out for dinner to share stories about them, ending the night by leaving the waiter a $100 tip in their name. I just love that idea!

This book comes out on May 20, and if you enjoy Katherine Center’s books I’m sure this one will be no exception! Make sure you check out the author’s note at the end. 💕

Thank you so much @stmartinspress for the advanced copy!

The Love Haters has a lot of great qualities, and will be a great summer read! Katherine Center knows how to write characters with definitive, unique personalities. This goes for main and side characters. Katie and Hutch are distinctively themselves, and as the plot progresses you understand the motivation behind their actions since we truly get to know them. The writing, as I’ve come to suspect with Katherine Center, was outstanding. The delivery of the humor was well intentioned, and brought everything together full circle. My main take away is that this book should come with content warnings as there are many conversations and personal dialogue about the FMC’s body image issues and how she starved herself at one point in her past.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book!

The Love Haters is everything I hoped it would be and more—charming, emotional, and full of the signature warmth and wit Katherine Center brings to all her novels. What truly set this story apart for me was the Coast Guard element. It added depth and adventure. But what stole my heart was the eclectic group of older women who formed a beautiful, unlikely bond with her. Their wisdom, humor, and fierce support made them unforgettable, and alongside Katie’s long-distance cousin Beanie, and the steady and handsome, Hutch, they became the driving force in her journey toward self-love and rediscovery.

Center masterfully weaves together a story of resilience, connection, and empowerment. Katie’s growth—fueled by love in all its forms—left me feeling inspired and full of hope. This book is a radiant reminder that sometimes the most powerful kind of love is the one we find within ourselves, with a little help from the people who believe in us most.

Highly recommend for anyone who loves strong female friendships, a dash of adventure, and stories that leave you smiling long after you’ve turned the last page.

From the first chapter I was already getting a sense of the humorous nature of this book. Katie is sent to Key West to film a story about Hutch, a heroic Coast Guard. With her job on the line she agrees to the assignment, even though she is unqualified (she can’t swim) While she is there gets tangled up with Hutch and his life on the island.

Katie is funny and charming, and her inner dialogue made me chuckle. I was loving the vibe of her character and her quirky relationships with the rest of the characters. However it quickly took a weird shift when she started expressing her struggle with her body image. That is a heavy theme, and it didn’t feel like it fit with the lighthearted nature of the rest of the book. It felt disconnected from the rest of the story and it didn’t feel very authentic. I appreciated the plot line about her learning to love herself and accept her body, it added another layer to the “love story” part of the book as it was also a story of Katie learning to love herself. I just felt that it didn’t flow with the rest of the plot line.

The backstories of all the characters were really enjoyable and were revealed in pieces throughout the book. I enjoyed the slow revealing of Cole, Hutch, and Rue’s story as bits and pieces come to surface and explain the dynamic behind their relationships.

The relationship between Katie and Hutch developed slowly and authentically. They had plenty of challenges thrown at them, but overall it enjoyed their story.

Overall I give the book 3 stars, it would be a great book to pack along in your beach bag this summer!

Katherine Center can do no wrong.

A sweet, clean romance, that is perfect for beach reading!

I was entranced from the first chapter and loved how the characters and story evolved in this one. It’s a fun, quirky read, and perfect for relaxing.