Every reader needs a dose of Katherine Center’s wisdom, most effectively absorbed through her annual summer rom-com.
“The swimmer I’m profiling hates love.
He’s a love hater? What does that mean?”
And…. There’s the hook! The back stories of main characters, Katie and the “love hater” Hutch, will captivate readers as the story unfolds. Katherine Center fills The Love Haters with tips for handling anxiety through conversations between Katie and her best friend Beanie-a friendship to treasure. Hutch faces his own demons of sibling rivalry through his noncommutative relationship with his brother. As always, the pearls of wisdom are strung from beginning to the triumphant end. Because we all know there WILL BE a triumphant ending; and this journey -one with helicopters and hurricanes-makes the arrival wonderfully satisfying! So, what’s Katie’s Big News? The Epilogue is like a warm snuggly blanket to wrap around readers.
In a nutshell, Katherine Center reminds us to “see our life as it really is; the hard stuff turns out to be good for us. And love stories are the best kind of therapy. They make us better at love which means getting better at life.”
Indulge in some therapy. Read The Love Haters.

Can Katherine Center do any wrong? I really just love everything she brings to a rom-com. This book had me kicking my feet, clutching my heart and basking in all of my feelings. It's been a few weeks from the time I read this book to the time I'm writing this review and I can actually remember what this book is about. That alone should be telling on how much I liked it. Were there a few things far fetched for me? yes, but I had a great time reading Hutch & Katie's story. A definite recommend from me.

An adventurous romance with a large emphasis on learning to love oneself. In this novel we follow Katie, a documentarian, who is tasked with creating a recruitment video for the Coast Guard Rescue team. With her job on the line, Katie resorts to “faking it until she makes it”. She is interviewing Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson, the rescue swimmer, and while a romance begins to build, old wounds are also opened for both characters and spending so much time together leaves little unsaid.

This was a quick read once I got into it but I can’t say that it was my favourite from Katherine Center. I had a bit of a tough time making sense of what was happening in the beginning but it picked up once Katie was at her destination and Hutch was introduced. There was a lot of negative self body shaming from out FMC at the beginning and the story does focus a lot on negative self talk and slowly breaking out of that cycle so just be aware of that if that is something that triggers you. I appreciated the best friend and aunt side characters as they added a lot of vibrancy to the story and helped our FMC work through her issues.

This was a closed door romance, which I can definitely appreciate when it’s done well, but I felt something missing from the connection between our MC’s. Halfway through there was a part that mentioned that they were spending everyday together but rather than showing us those moments the author just mentioned them in passing and moved on. I was craving more of the interactions because when they did come up they were great but I was left craving more.

Generally, I think Katherine Center has a very descriptive writing style where she loves to write a lot of detail about how the main character is feeling and dive deep into their headspace and sometimes that’s fine but it can interrupt the pacing of the book and I found myself skimming through the page after getting the main point.

Overall this was a fun read with some heavier topics and an adventurous story line. Thank you to St Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the eARC.

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!

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!

Katie Vaughn has to decide what the next step in career is does she go to do a profile on a coast Guard or stay in her current role. Katie doesn't know how to swim but is willing to take the risk for the next step in her career.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

This was a cute read overall, not to be dismissed as fluff though - the conflict between Katie and herself, towards self-love, was relatable. The drama around her and Hutch coming together was fun to read, and heart wrenching at times. His back story is one of grief and finding peace.

A story I could get absorbed in, a quick dive into two lives that were meant to be connected. This is not dual perspective and no spice but definite tension, read it anyway!

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this novel. I’m a huge fan of Katherine Center and thought the Rom-Commers was perfection- a tough act to follow. I thought the story was cute and had all the elements that make Katherine Center a great rom-com author. For me, the main character fell a little flat. I thought the skeleton/outline of her was intriguing and was curious to see how Center would explore the theme of body image, but I don’t think she executed it in a way that was believable. That part of her felt off to me and was glad that it took a backseat as the novel progressed. I’ll continue to read Katherine Center, but this one was a miss for me.

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.

I loved Katie's story. Her journey to self-love was so relatable. I loved Katie and Hutch together. I giggled. I kicked my feet. I enjoyed every page.

I've loved every book I've read by Katherine Center and The Love Haters was no different! In a last-ditch effort to save her job, Katie gets sent to Key West to make a promo video about Coast Guard rescue swimmers. One minor detail: Katie doesn't know how to swim, and lies to get the job, setting up some hilarious antics. The side characters (Rue and the Gals and George Bailey the Great Dane, in particular) really added a fun layer to the story. This is also probably the first time I've ever literally held my breath during the grand gesture in a romance novel!

I found Katie's journey to self-acceptance to be a relatable one, and loved how the author likened Katie's relationship with her body to an enemies-to-lovers story in her note at the end.

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.

Oh how I love a Katherine Center book and how she creates so many strong side plots within her book! This one was no exception! Katie is sent to film a promo for the coast guard and one member in particular: well known pup daddy (or the guy who saved jennifer aniston’s dog). But to do this job she has to learn to swim and battle some fears of her own, all while trying not to fall in love with the star of her promo video. I really liked this book, it was everything I’ve come to expect of her books, charming, sentimental with a fun twist!

This book was cute and well written. I've always loved Katherine Center books and this book was no different. The Key West setting was fun and it was a great light beach read.

This was such a good read! I finished it in one day. Katherine and NetGalley, thank you for allowing me to read early!

I absolutely fan girled with Katherine liked my good reads review (posted in the link below)!!

This was my first Katherine Center book and while I've heard glowing reviews for her previous novels, this one really wasn't for me.

The Pros:
-Light read
-Interesting setting (Florida Keys x Coast Guard)
-Great humor
-Lovable side characters (Rue and George Bailey!)
-Exploration of trauma and grief

The Cons:
-Poor plot development (the beginning of this book was so rushed that the romance became totally unbelievable and created no basis for the reader. The tension from the initial lies Katie told to get the job were immediately revealed but had little consequence - again, not believable! And the MMC was fine with that and immediately ok with giving her a ride to work every day? Giving her swim lessons? By the 75% mark I wondered if I had accidentally skipped chapters because it felt like whole parts of the plot I needed were skimmed over?
-Insta-love (I don't always mind this, but as before, the plot skimmed so briefly over the development needed for this romance that I had no concept of what these characters actually felt or drew them to each other.)
-Poor character development (the author spent a lot of time on Katie's inner monologue about her body image issues, to the exclusion of developing any other outward relationships. Because of this, I felt even the title for this book became a total stretch based on nothing.)
-The ending with regard to Katie's career rendered all the miscommunication and conflict up to that point irrelevant. I wished there was more reflection on what she decided she wanted out of life or context for who she was to reach that decision.

Overall, this is an easy, quick read with some lovely humor, but many missed opportunities in what could've been a cool story.

I definitely skipped over some house chores in order to have more time to read this story! I could not put it down!

Katie is in a battle with herself and her fears. As she is sent to film a video for an everyday hero (Hutch), she has to face those fears. The hero is her bosses big brother and she's been warned that Hutch hates love. As Katie learns to battle her fears, can Hutch learn to love love?

This book is a battle of the stubborn, learning to love oneself for who they truly are, and friendship. The kind of friendship that I think we all dream of having if we don't already. The story felt action packed, and by the end, I wanted to see Katie's videos in real life - I almost felt like I expected to find a link at the end of the story so we could see how amazing they were.

For some reason while reading, I felt a bit disconnected from the main character - like sometimes I would forget their names. While the other characters in this book are named often, Katie is not named very often and I sometimes lost sight of who she was, even though she is telling the the story. She also broke the 4th wall at one point and that was a bit discombobulating.

All in all, this was another rom com that hits some hard topics with just the right amount of levity and keeps you coming back for more!

Publication Date May 20th, 2025

I went into this after reading The Bodyguard and was thinking it would be a light fun read with a different spin and location. I wasn't expecting all the body insecurities with the FMC. I think there should be a warning beforehand because I was caught off guard and found parts at the beginning, especially, quite triggering, and I had to fight to push past it. Thankfully, the storyline eventually steers away from that discussion, I don't think I would have continued reading it otherwise. Once our FMC gets to her job posting at the Keys things picked up. I would have like to have seen more of what happened to the MCs story in the end. It almost seemed unfinished. There were some likeable side characters and an adorable dog that helped with the redeeming qualities, and overall, not a terrible read, but it wasn't what I was expecting going into it.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.