Katie travels to Key West to film a promotional video for the Coast Guard. Hutch is the reluctant hero and Katie’s coworker’s brother that will be featured. Katie gets close to Hutch, her host Rue and Rue’s friends in this entertaining read.

I am such a huge Katherine Center fan and I was overjoyed to receive an advanced copy of The Love Haters. This novel was full of so much of her signature upbeat, fun, easy style while still including real life topics and struggles.

The story follows Katie, a filmmaker on assignment with the Coast Guard in Key West as she is tasked with following around Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson, coast guard rescue swimmer and real life hero, to create a recruitment video for the US Coast Guard.

As other reviewers have noted, there was quite a focus on body positivity and learning to love yourself. In my opinion, it was a bit much and bogged down the story, especially in the beginning. Katherine includes an authors note that the relationship between Katie and her body is supposed to be an enemies to lovers trope and I definitely saw that as the story progressed but I felt it took away from the primary romantic storyline a bit.

Overall, I really enjoyed this, if not quite as much as some of Katherines other novels. I would definitely recommend to fans of Katherine Center.

Many thanks to St Martins Press and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I'm in the middle of watching the Jack Reacher series so I pictured the man who plays Jack Reacher to be Hutch. This book was swoon worthy. I love Hutch. I also loved Katie's flaws and how this book explored those issues. Beautifully done. The setting made me want to visit the Keys and find a crowd of people like The Gals and Rue.

My first Katherine Center, and I hate to say it was a bit of a miss for me. I was mostly enjoying it until around the 75% mark when the plot became so messy and over-the-top (and continued this way until the end). I felt like it took away from Katie and Hutch’s romance which ended up feeling underdeveloped and unconvincing. I also despised Cole and felt like he was completely unredeemable as a character.

Despite all of this, there were things I did enjoy about the book, including:
- George Bailey (we love a 160lb lap dog)
- Rue and the Gals and their communal lifestyle
- The setting - tropical Key West
- The portrayal of body image issues/recovery from an eating disorder and the journey to self-acceptance
- The writing and pacing

I won’t write off Katherine Center yet as I know she’s beloved and I could appreciate her talent as a writer, but overall this was a disappointing read for me.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

This book has a cute idea of a plot, but I didn't love the implementation. Though entertaining with cute plots, the love story felt clunky, like the reader never had a chance to really root for the love because we were just as misled about the situation as the main character. The main character is self demeaning to be relatable and honest, but it comes off pretty ruthless and constant. Some of the interactions that were supposed to be vulnerable and spicy between the two main characters felt cringy. I also want to give a trigger warning for others with body image issues. The best friend "supports" the main character with this, but I didn't find it to be healthy. The ending had a well meaning lesson for readers, but felt cliche. I wanted to love this book, but I felt it unfortunately fell a little flat.

this book is horrible. it feels convincingly like it was written by open AI or chat GPT. her monologue about her eating disorder and body issues is triggering, weirdly placed, and throws off the entire tone of the book. i for one do not enjoy reading from a FMC who is annoying and weird and hates herself. boring and artificially crafted writing. just no absolutely no.

Katherine Center never misses for me. This wasn’t just a romance between two people, but also one where a woman learned to love herself, despite everything she had always hated about herself, and that in and of itself was such a healing journey to join her with. This was such a sweet story about love and friendship and self-image, and I can’t wait for it ti hit the shelves!

Thank you NetGalley and Katherine Center for this ARC!

Another Katherine Center hit. Her books are always so refreshing and I love her writing approach, which seems to always make the FMC so relatable, even if you don’t find yourself with the same struggles. An easy, fun, and romantic summer read, and Rue was just the icing on the cake. Be right back, booking myself a trip to the keys!

Katherine Center never disappoints and she's spot on with The Love Haters.

I won't reiterate the story here, that's what the well written summaries are for, but I will tell you what I loved.

Katie has a poor opinion of herself, brought on by her fiance cheating on her and breaking up with her; plus her job as a video producer may be in jeopardy. An opportunity presents itself at work that she just cannot pass up but she's not quite qualified to do. She goes anyway.

Her colleague, Cole has been requested to film a video of his brother, a US Coast Guard rescue swimmer. He does not want to do it for many reasons so he gets Katie to go. To film this video Katie will need to go on helicopter rescues and must know how to swim. Katie does not know how to swim but she figures she can take a class when she gets there. There, is sunny Key West Florida, where she'll not only need to swim but she'll have to wear a swimsuit in front of other people.

Cole's brother is Tom Hutchison, or Hutch, a handsome and fit specimen of the human male who jumps out of helicopters into the ocean to rescue people. A hero, in other words. This is one of the things Cole hates about his brother.

Cole arranged for Katie to stay at one of his Aunt Rue's cottages, which sits with other small and cute cottages in a small vacationland sort of place. Rue rents these out to tourists but there's a group of 7-8 senior ladies, know as The Gals, who live there year round. Rue and the Gals take Katie in as 'granddaughter' of sorts and surround her with love and support.

Hutch is handsome and fit, a bit of a no-talker but also very kind. Katie gets along with him well until they both try to hide their feelings for each other. Katie goes about her job as professionally as possible until she needs to be rescued. A fun and heartwarming story of real heroism with a huge Great Dane named George Bailey and love all around.

Everyone needs to read this book.

𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠

📖📖📖📖

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝑯𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 is out May 20, 2025. Shoutout to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the opportunity to get this ARC!

I liked it. BUT, it’s not my favorite Katherine Center book. I’ve been devouring her books lately. This is the third I’ve read this month and my good friend @jlambolambo picked up another one for me this week!

𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒔: The main character, Katie, is HYSTERICAL! Laugh out loud funny. Her body image issues are so relatable, which makes her character that much better. She is coming off a breakup with her fiancé, sent to the Florida Keys on a videographer assignment, and making friends with Aunt Rue, old ladies, and bathing suits. And Hutch, the rescue swimmer she has to tail and document.

𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒔: The chapters move right along. They tie in a lot of information about the US Coast Guard. My husband is 23 years in as a reservist with the USCG, so this connection was awesome for me. I quizzed him on all the terminology as the book went on and it was all factual. I loved it.

𝑨𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑷𝒓𝒐: George Bailey, Hutch’s rescue Great Dane that is terrified of thunder, but loves Katie!

𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒔: I didn’t love the Cole/Sullivan storyline. I liked what brought Katie to The Keys, but once Cole arrived, eh. I also don’t understand characters that fall in love in a matter of days. It just is too hokey for me.

I am a Katherine Center fan. Her writing is funny, fast, thought out, and she doesn’t pour on the spice. I would recommend this book to everyone, but I wouldn’t say it’s the best she’s ever written.

Still add it, you will laugh out loud!

#thelovehaters #imalreadyhungry #georgebailey

Did not finish book. Stopped at 15%.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I don’t like to DNF a book. I want to give it a fair chance, especially an advanced copy. But after first few chapters I found a pattern that distracted me from following the story and enjoying it.

Primarily, the character dialogue. Cole and Rue talk like they are aliens trying their best to pass as humans. Like why didn’t Cole say the “hunky man that saved Jennifer Aniston’s dog” is his brother or called him by his name? He called him Pup Daddy or something of that line? I think it would make more sense for Kate to make that comment, not Cole. Also the way that Cole described his brother is weird. Siblings don’t talk about each other that way, especially if both are competitive with one another (or just in general).

Similarly with Rue. She is supposed to be this sweet and chaotic character and she definitely is but almost to the point of it being unrealistic. She’s also disrespectful of people’s boundaries! There’s some inconsistency with her personality too which is, again, distracting from the story and MC.

I really wanted to enjoy the story as the premise sounded fun but the secondary characters don't seem to be given as much attention and care as with Kate, which harms MCs and the plotline.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley who provided me with an e-copy of this book.

The Love Haters was an engaging story with a great sense of community of characters. I enjoyed the underlying theme of honesty and integrity.

The Love Haters by Katherine Center was another hit. She always writes a great love story with witty banter and swoony scenes.
Katie has a job to do that will require her to follow Hutch, a total hero-type, and film him to make a promo for the Coast Guard. There’s one problem, Katie can’t swim, and this job definitely requires her to do that while in Key West on assignment. If she wants to keep her job, this is the only way to do so.
Once she meets Hutch and his Aunt Rue, who is quite a character, the story unfolds as Katie learns how to swim… and how to love again.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book!

Thank you to Netalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is only the second book of this author's that I have read, but it won't be my last one! This book had it all, drama, romance, lies and of course a rescue! I felt completely immersed in the characters, setting and story. Its not often a book can transport you right to into the story like this one did. It will be a romance hit this spring for sure!

I DEVOURED this book. It was so much fun! I’m absolutely obsessed with Hutch and found myself relating to Katie a lot more than I expected to. Katherine managed to keep the main story line lighthearted and fun, while also deep diving into some issues/insecurities that the characters had, and I loved that. This is a really perfect read to get you out of a reading slump or even if you’re just looking for something quick and bingeable in general.

This book was ok. It had good potential and then good too convoluted with so many genres and plots being thrown together. Eating disorder, fake dating, brothers fighting over the same girl, misunderstandings..:it became too many things in one book. It felt like lazy writing the last 1/3 and rushed to finish.

This new novel by Katherine Center is both a love story between the two protagonists and the love story of the female main character with herself. It is an uplifting, slow burn, closed door romance that will leave you feeling good.

While it makes you feel good, it also explores the ways that society and even those who claim to love us set unattainable standards for women's appearance that we then perpetuate in how we talk to and treat our own bodies.

In addition to the insights above, the book is also laugh-so-hard-you-cry funny at times, particularly when it comes to the male main character's dog. And has some plot twists that I definitely didn't see coming.

Strongly recommend checking this out when it's released later this year!

Thank you so much to Katherine Center, St Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

What I enjoy about this author's books is her attention to details and bringing an authenticity to her characters and story. She is great at writing realistic characters with emotional struggles that are not overdramatized. You can tell she does her research to show the unadulterated side of Katie’s personal struggles, but does it in a way that isn’t over exaggerated.

I enjoyed how the author wrote each scene vividly, to where I could feel the sun on my face and see the tropical beauty that surrounded Katie. This book had the author’s signature charm and attention to details, but it truly lacked the romance I was craving from Katie and Hutch. The lack of chemistry was disappointing and the banter/dialogue between them felt forced at times.

Overall this book is a charming story that touches on loss and the importance of loving yourself. The side characters are as likable as Katie and Hutch make for a well rounded story. I craved scenes with George Bailey in it because he just stole the show every page he was on. For those looking for a love story, I didn’t get much of that with this book. I think other topics shine more than the romance between Katie and Hutch and I didn’t feel that this was the center of the book.

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

I love this book! I think it has taken over as my new favorite by this author. Rom Com with a beach setting and bright colors. The main character struggles a lot with body issues-which I feel like a lot of us females can relate too!! Hutch is a dream boyfriend 😍
Loved Aunt Rue, not a fan of Cole.
Definitely pulled me out of my reading slump.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Adding this book to my top 10! So many funny and jaw dropping moments. I felt all the emotions. As Katie revealed more about herself I couldn't help but see my younger self intertwined with her story. Watching someone overcome so many obstacles and learning self love was so inspiring. I loved how her sister was along for her journey and the fact that her sister was freaking hilarious. On the contrary, there were some heavier topics that were written with so much grace and care and I couldn't help but be a ball of emotion. I won't give anything away.

I had a ball reading this book! I laughed, I cried, I did some self reflection and soul searching and that's more than I could ask from a book! When people ask me what lives rent free in my head, I'll definitely say it's this book.