This is an adorable 90s rom-com style story. I have never read anything from this author before, and I truly enjoyed her conversational writing style. When I give a blurb to recommend this to my friends, I will say, "It's a nostalgic rom-com with loveable side characters, wild, sometimes unbelievable circumstances, but it's all in good fun."

Katherine Center has written another wonderful book that can make you laugh while also bringing in heavier issues in a relatable way. The two main characters in this book were well written and I wish we could have seen even more of them together. George Bailey and The Gals were perfect additions to the book. This book had me giggling while also having the ability to bring me to tears and then looking at myself in a different way because of the FMC’s enemy to lovers relationship with herself.

Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC. I’ve loved all of Katherine Center’s books and this one was no exception.

"The best love stories are never just about romantic love. They're always about so much more than that: Kindness, and joy, and belonging, and safety-- not to mention growing and changing, and healing form the past." Katherine Center in her author's note.

How true that quote perfectly wraps up this book and SO many of my thoughts about this one. I do want to thank Katherine Center, NetGalley, and St. Martin's Press for the eARC version of this book and allowing me to read it before it releases. These thoughts are all my own!

This story follows broken-hearted, unknowingly love hater Katie on her journey to fulfill a job she didn't sign up for, nor did she want. Enter- Hutch Hutchinson, who is unknowingly, non-purposefully, an around good person. He's just out to help, rescue, and save others and what he doesn't know he does is save himself and Katie both. But the connection I loved the most in this story was Katie and Rue. Rue is everyone's honorary aunt, who loves with her whole heart, and fixes all the broken places that need tending to.

The Love Haters gave me all the feels. It was so joyful, funny, and hit in all the places. The character relationships, the open honesty of the inner struggle so many people face, and the down right realness of everyday people, just living their lives to the best of their abilities kept me living in the Key West bubble but also wanting to go and experience a place like Rue's little slice of heaven. I am so glad that this time I FORCED myself to slow down, not devour this book in one sitting (which I totally could and would have) and soak in the greatness of Center's writing because her style and craft is all consuming. You will not regret reading this book, and you should set an alarm to get it when it releases.

The Love Haters (ARC REVIEW)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you NetGalley for the copy of The Love Haters

The Love Haters is a cute romcom. The romance is clean and actually very minimal, only kisses. This book is more about self discovery and healing than romance. I loved seeing the soft side of Hutch and vulnerability of Katie. It was a great and easy read!

Read this if you're looking for a light, funny, and charming quick read that will have you grinning.

Trigger warning: does mention disordered eating, weighing self, and body dysmorphia issues.

Tropes:
•forced proximity
•misunderstandings
•fake relationship
•competition
•family drama
•hero

This was the first book I've read by Katherine Center and I'm excited to check out her other books.

Overall, this was a great novel. It took me a handful of chapters to get hooked into the story but once I did, I fell in love with the story, the characters, and the humor it brought. There were so many relatable parts to the characters I became attached with!

Angry spoilers ahead...
I really enjoyed The Bodyguard and was hoping to love this one, but it took forever for me to believe the chemistry and then once it was real, I was getting irrationally angry at the male love interest. After the first time my 160-lb dog harmed someone, he would be on a leash. Two more times is just reckless and irresponsible which doesn't suit the character. Additionally, the man knows there is thumping against the boat and blood in the water, remarks it can draw predators, and then rescues the dog first and leaves the heroic woman he loves floating in chummed waters when she's just been traumatized saving his dog from a hurricane. And then she apologizes to him? For a misunderstanding? And he left her ass bobbing like a cork with Jaws and his friends. And then I'm supposed to cheer him on when he kisses her? This girl is a glutton for punishment. I don't expect much from male fictional characters, but saving me before the dog is top of the list. Let Fido and his mouthful of frog wait for a second. He literally has no concept of time because...dog. Also, Cole is a literal sociopath and somehow he gets a happy ending. I'm not used to ending a romance novel and feeling so pissed off. This review will likely never see the light of day, but maybe make this a dark romance with some spicy scenes. If she's gonna be with a neglectful man who puts her last behind animals, at least give her a few good spanks.

There is so much to like about this book (and I’m still on a high from the ending), so I’m going with 4 stars!

As Katie ventures down to the Keys to save her career, she meets Hutch, a no nonsense (but obviously hot) coast guard rescue swimmer. This book has a lot of good—lovable (and funny) characters, a Great Dane, humor and punchlines, and, my personal favorite, a unique ending. However, my biggest pet-peeve? The title doesn’t fit. Hutch being a “love-hater” is brought up like once at the beginning by his brother, yet it’s not mentioned again until the last chapter, which would be fine if his actions made it clear, but they don’t. Hutch is very clearly not a love hater in the way he talks about and interacts with Katie. The title quite literally doesn’t make sense.

And another peeve. This is tell not show kind of romance. There is no chemistry between to the two characters. In fact, it starts out not very romance-y at all. It’s more of a self-help book on how to love your body. Which by the way, this book needs a giant trigger warning for body dysmorphia, eating disorders, body shaming…literally all the things. PLEASE do not publish this without that! The whole first half is more or less about Katie’s struggles with her body image. Literally no romance; well, at least not palpable.

I know that’s a lot of criticism, but it did pickup about 60%. Then, all of a sudden there’s chemistry between Katie and Hutch. And the ending is pretty unique, and I didn’t see it coming. That part was the best part.

And the last thing I’ll say, for the love of all things, someone please take away Katherine Center’s ability to italicize anything. It is so annoying and distracting.

The Love Haters had its fun moments, but it wasn’t my favorite Katherine Center book. The setting was great, and I liked the premise of Katie taking on a job she wasn’t really qualified for, leading to some entertaining and occasionally frustrating situations. The romance had its sweet moments, and I did like the love interest. But a big part of the book focused on Katie’s insecurities, particularly with body image and calorie counting, and it started to feel excessive. I completely understand that people of all sizes struggle with body image, but the way it was written just didn’t sit right, especially without a trigger warning. It took away from the overall enjoyment of the story for me.

I did like Katie’s journey of self-discovery, and the book had some heartfelt themes about confidence and overcoming fears, but again I wish TW had been involved. But in the end, while it had its enjoyable moments, it didn’t fully work for me.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

very quick read! katie grew a lot throughout the book and i loved Rue. definitely spends a bit too much time at the beginning with body image

The Rom-Commers is one of my favorite rom-com novels ever, and this has been a highly anticipated 2025 release for me, so it really pained me to DNF this at 50%. I really wanted to push through, but just kept dreading picking it up.

Unfortunately I just really didn’t connectl with the FMC and found her banter really annoying (like the way she repeated everything back to whomever she was talking to in question form). I felt no chemistry between Katie and Hutch, and did not swoon even a little bit during their first kiss. I just could not bring myself to care about these characters or their stories.

I know a lot of people will love this, but it just wasn’t for me. Although, I’ll still continue to pick up anything Katherine Center writes!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this ARC.

OBSESSED! This was such a cute story! I loved everything about it! I can’t even give a critique, I read it in one sitting it was that good— I couldn’t put it down!

Katherine Center does such a great job balancing comedy and serious topics in her romances. I find her writing and characters laugh out loud funny at times, but they always have something deeper going on in their lives that is explored throughout the story. This one particularly contains characters who deal with lack of self confidence, body image, comparison to others, and grief in various forms. I loved the characters and the story and just overall had such a fun time reading it!

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the early copy in exchange for a review!

What a perfect beach read! Loved the MCs and the side characters, especially George Bailey. The setting in Key West was so cozy and fun. I loved the playful and funny vibes throughout the book, but there were also some emotional moments/backstory that definitely made me cry. I'm not sure I'd say either MC hates love, it was more like insta-love actually. The FMC breaks the fourth wall regularly, which was an interesting choice but I thought it worked well. The climax was way more intense than I expected, but there were still humorous moments thrown in. Overall, I really loved this book and will definitely recommend it to friends and patrons.

I thought that this book was really strong. I’ve read a couple other Katherine Center books and have loved all of them! The way that she transports you into the world is so immersive. The setting for Key West, the people that she is around, and the connections that Katie makes all add so much to this story. I thought the job was such a unique aspect and I loved reading about something that I have never heard about before. Obviously Hutch was the perfect male main character and was so love able. I first read The Bodyguard by her 2 years ago, and I absolutely fell in love. This story was just as addicting and love able. I enjoyed it so much!!

Thank you Netgalley so much for letting me read this arc. I love Katherine Center's books. Her last book, The Rom Commers was where I knew she would be an autobús author for me. The was emotional, funny, and lighthearted. I can't wait for the physical copy to be released.

I love Katherine Center, but this was not it for me. Katie, a grown woman who inexplicably doesn’t know what the Coast Guard is, travels to Key West to film a documentary about a hot, super hot rescue swimmer. Her main challenges are wearing a bathing suit, a 170 pound dog that keeps inexplicably putting her in harmful situations, a terrible man at work who is also the super hot guy’s brother, and not understanding how hurricanes work.

Speaking more on the bathing suit, a large portion of this book deals with body image and self love. Now I understand any woman, size 0 to infinity, can have body image issues. And while I appreciate her journey for self love, as an actual plus size woman, it just felt absurd for how much of this story she’s concerned about weight, only for our very hot man to reassure her about how very hot she is.

Thank you to Net Galley for a free e-book in exchange for this honest review.

I wasn't sure about this one for the first half but then it got a lot better. I think could've helped to have trigger warning for eating disorders and body image issues since I wasn't expecting it to be so heavy. I did end up liking the romance in the end.

Everything that Katherine Center has ever written has been the perfect love story, and this was no exception. I need to reread The Bodyguard again to see which book of the two takes the top spot, but this one was one of my faves! The last bit of this book had my heart racing. I will say that this book was a little different than what I expected--surprisingly, more of this book was focused on the quest to love her body versus loving someone else (which is totally fine). The only thing I didn't really care for was the whole Cole plotline, but everything else was great. And as always, the Author's Note made me smile.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of The Love Haters in exchange for an honest review!

It's a DNF for me. The last few Katherine Centers books just haven't hit for me & this one was entirely too specific about our FMC calories eaten per day (with no tw/cw for restricting or food/calorie counting - not a tw for me, but also not what I really want in a romcom). I adore her books, but I just couldn't get past this & a friend told me it didn't get much better so it's a DNF. I think it'll be great for some, but just not for me.

Thank you @netgalley and @katherinecenter for an early copy of this book I was so excited to read it.

First off any book with a Great Dane will win my heart. I absolutely love dogs in books and George Bailey was such a good addition.

I had such a fun time reading this book. It was exactly what I expected from a Katherine Center book in the best way possible. I didn’t know much about the Coast Guard and it was so fun to read about. I also loved Hutch and Katie. They had such a fun dynamic and so much depth to their characters. The characters who really stole the show for me were Rue and The Gals. I absolutely loved them. I love when side characters add so much to the plot. Overall I loved this book and would definitely recommend!