A charming slow burn enemies to lovers romance set in Key West, Florida. When Cole asks his underling, Katie, to take an assignment making a promotion video of the USCG, his reasons seem to be well intentioned. Unfortunately for Katie, it doesn't take long before she realizes they were anything but altruistic.

Described as a bruting hater of love, Hutch had the chance at fame but shied away from it. As a rescue swimmer for the United States Coast Guard he is willing to put that aside for a recruitment video, but when he finds out Katie also wanted to do a "Day in the Life" feature things get a little twisted. This slow burn, enemies to lovers will keep you chomping at the bit as Katie and Hutch are surrounded by the best supporting characters. From witty and funny banter with her best friend Beatrice to Katie finding herself within a retirement community of old gals, there are a lot of laugh about in The Love Haters.

I always enjoy Katherine Center's writing and consider her rom coms my ultimate summer go to.

Thank you St. Martins Press for the gifted ARC.

*50 States Challenge: Florida

First let me say, I love everything Katherine Center has written. While I enjoyed The Love Haters, it’s not in my top 5 favorites of Center’s novels.

I appreciate the likeable two main characters and cuteness of the plot, but this one missed the mark. Love Haters required readers to unreasonably stretch what is a believable in terms of the plot and conflict of this story.

What Center never fails to write is the laugh out loud banter and physical comedy, which is very present in Love Haters. I always enjoy the journey of her female characters, and Katie is no exception. Will I purchase my own copy of this when it releases in May? Yes! Because it’s Katherine Center.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an electronic ARC.

4.5⭐️

The brother Cole is immature and selfish, but other than him I loved all the other characters in this book. This is a story of Katie who finds herself and her self confidence with moments that are laugh out loud. This book reminds me a lot of The Bodyguard’s humor. This is a romance without any spice, and sometimes I just want a sweet story.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Need a good beach read this summer? Then you’ll love Katherine Center’s next release, The Love Haters! 😎

I’ll warn you now—once you get 80% of the way through, you will not be able to stop. I stayed up way too late finishing it 😅

I’ve loved Katherine Center’s books for years, but I gotta say this is the first MMC of hers that might be able rival Owen from Things You Save in a Fire! 😍

Hutch is strong, dreamy, heroic, and a hottie 😉 He gives major Maverick vibes and he’s an all-around great guy. Honestly, Katie was a lucky gal!

Speaking of Katie, I loved how she was down to earth and relatable. She struggles with body image throughout the book, and I liked the way the other characters kept pushing her to love herself.

As for other characters, Rue and the other elderly ladies collectively known as “The Gals” were absolutely a hoot! Oh how I loved them! Purely delightful in every way 😍

I have to say I did not love one of the plot twists where Katie got stuck in the lies of another character. Without giving anything away, that character is the worst.

My other problem is with a decision Katie makes 80% of the way through the book that was honestly a TERRIBLE decision. I was so mad at her!! It was so dumb!! (Not a 3rd act breakup, fyi)

Although, I will say, that section of the book did keep me fully riveted, so clearly as a plot twist it worked!

My favorite part of the book was when Hutch and Katie kiss for the first time. And probably their second kiss, too. Both of those scenes were fantastic!! 😍

As for spice, this book is closed door.

I would give this book 4.5⭐️, but I’d rather just round to a 5⭐️. Exactly the kind of lighthearted romance mixed with some depth that I love most. Katherine Center is just such a great writer!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I enjoyed the rescue divers storyline and all of the great details included about that industry. It was definitely a unique storyline and I loved the chemistry between the two main characters as well as all the old lady locals in Key West! I was a bit disappointed with how much of the book was taken up with her phone calls back to her friend. I think at one point i counted 6-7 pages (on my Kindle) where it was just her friend trying to talk her into wearing a swimsuit. I get it, body dismorphia/ED is hard but it sometimes felt like whiplash going from deep into that back into the romantic storyline. I honestly started skimming those sections entirely which is why for me it was only 3 of 5 stars.l despite loving the main characters and storyline!

There is nothing I love more in the middle of winter than a good RomCon!! It brings me so much joy and soothes my soul in the absolute best ways. I absolutely love Katherine Center’s books and all of her characters and the fun they bring to all of her books! Love Haters is a book I didn’t know I needed in my life but so happy that I got the chance to read it!

This book has my heart! Funny, sweet, and adventurous- another great romcom! The plot was a bit weak and the ending could be refined a bit more but the characters just mean so much to me! Love me some Katherine Center

3.5 stars rounded down.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this Galley.

I love Katherine Center. The Rom Commers was one of my favorites last year. I think she's got a real talent for banter, wit, and memorable scenes. The Love Haters had all these things. The dynamic between Hutch and Katie was funny and charming. Hutch was a great love interest—strong, intelligent, and heroic!! He had Katie and me swooning. Katie was a great FMC—she was quick-witted, motivated, and ambitious to a fault.

However, it pains me to say that this book fell flat for me despite these things. I think it's very important to be aware there are major ED triggers in this book. I appreciate when an author writes about a real problem like body dysmorphia, but this was too much; it took over the plot at points. The author did say in the end notes that she wanted a sort of ‘enemies to lovers’ outlook on Katie and her body, which I see and respect the hell out of, but I think this could've been achieved better. The side plots were too ridiculous and not believable. The situation with the boss was absurd. Cole, Hutch’s brother and Katie's other boss, had no redeeming qualities; his storyline was too cringy and unbelievable, making parts of this super hard to read.

That being said, I adored parts of this, too!! George Bailey, Hutch’s dog, was such a great comedic character. Rue, the quirky aunt, was Fab and fun and so fleshed out and interesting. The setting was perfectly done, and I think the ending was amazing.

If you like stories about finding peace with your body, sexy coastguards, and many flirty scenes, this book is for you! I can't wait to see what Katherine Center writes next!

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book. This was such a cute Rom-Com. I love the main character and how she develops . This book is just as much about her learning to love herself, as it is about her falling in love with the cute Coast Gaurd. If you enjoy sweet closed door romances, than this book is for you.

I rated The Love Haters 4.5 stars and rounded up to 5 stars.

The Love Haters was an utterly delightful read. Katie has to go to Key West for her job to do a promo for the coast guard on her boss's brother. Just as things start to develop, her ex boyfriend and boss throw a wrench in her life.

This book was short and sweet. I shed a tear or two. I loved both of the main characters, Aunt Rue, and George Bailey. I will definitely look into Center's other books.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Katie's company is planning a massive layoff and, as a newer employee, she is on the chopping block. When her coworker Cole asks her to take a potentially career saving job making a recruitment video for the Coast Guard, she agrees. The problem is that she can't swim. Which is kind of a requirement to pass the escape from an upside down underwater helicopter test that she needs to take for this job. The subject of the video is Hutch, Cole's "perfect" brother that he is not speaking to who happened to become famous after he saved Jennifer Aniston's dog. Whose hobby, according to Cole, is frowning. Katie's time in Key West takes her out of her comfort zone in more ways than one.

I am a big fan of Katherine Center's books but I think this one may be my favorite! It started out where I could just read a bit at a time before bed, but when I was about 45% through, I just couldn't put it down and stayed up all night to finish. Aunt Rue is an absolute delight and one of my favorite quotes from her is "And all the fun is in color. My wish for you, is a vibrant, bright, glorious life." As usual, Center's main characters are very authentic and come with flaws and insecurities that are realistic. It was easy to empathize with the characters (most of them anyway - like in life, some people just make it difficult to feel for them). I liked that the relationships progressed at realistic paces and didn't have outlandish problems. It's told from Katie's POV so you learn her insecurities and issues early on but learn the histories and hang ups of the other characters as they are revealed to her. Definitely read the author's note when you finish - it was worth my extra lost sleep!

2.5 stars

This story is about a woman who works for a video production company and is assigned a job filming a promotional video for a coast guard search and recuse company with a rescue guy who is basically superman. They have a whole dynamic

Katherine Center is one of my absolute favorite authors and I was so excited to be approved for this ARC. I usually rate her books 4 or 5 stars and eagerly await the release of every new one. She is an expert on writing relatable female characters, funny circumstances and just enough adrenaline to have you spellbound and she absolutely nails that with this book, like all the others of hers I've read. There was an early moment where the romantic lead has to remove splinters from her butt that had me literally laughing out loud.

The core of the story is great, unfortunately this one missed the mark for me for a few reasons that I found too distracting to get over:

1. Huge focus on weight/body image from the female main character. It came up so many times and felt like a real focus of the book and I don't find that to be an enjoyable topic to read about, especially when it was clear that this woman was super attractive and in good shape. I understand that the whole thing is that that's what dysmorphia is, but it was just not what I signed up for and is not referenced at all in any of the blurbs.

2. Secondary female character who is a successful woman in her 40s is an offensive stereotype of an overly sexualized boss woman/"cougar" with no other salient characteristics. At first I thought this was going to be something where a lesson was learned about not judging or stereotyping people. Nope! That was just this character's arc. At least she isn't punished for this, but it felt like a huge miss and was also very distracting for me.

Ultimately I still love Katherine Center and have read 8 of her other books very enthusiastically, I'll keep reading everything she writes, but this one was not it for me.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advance reading copy for an unbiased review.

Thank you NetGalley for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm ngl I'm kinda disappointed in this book. This is the First Katherine Center book that I <b>HAVEN'T</b> given five stars to.

The Love Haters isn't a bad book it does tackle some great topics and <i>a lot</i> of trauma, but I feel like having everything in this book wasn't the way to go.

For example I think that Katie as a character is great, but I don't think she truly belonged in this book bc although she was the main character it didn't feel like she was the main focus when it came to her life outside of the Hutchinson's.

Idk how to put this bc although her life as a whole made sense, with like, how much trauma she has from her ex and her step-mom creating her body dysmorphia and dislike for colors, wanting to blend in to the background and not be perceived. Because the only 3 things I can think of that fully relied on that part of her were Rue pushing her into bright colors and bathing suits (partly due to needing to swim for the mission), the fear she had leading up to getting onto the scale, and having a breakdown. And although I love Beanie (bc i have a similar personality to her) she really isn't that necessary to the story i think having Hutch or Rue be that person for Katie would've made everything much more impactful and cohesive.

I do truly love and relate to the dynamics displayed with <s>Cole</s> Ace and Hutch's relationship. At one point it cut a little too deep with how they fought. But I tell you what, I <b>love</b> how stupid and petty Cole is. He felt like a comic relief character and I think my favorite parts of this book are with him coming in and fucking shit up. I fully truly dearly loved that arc. Trying and succeeding in making Hutch jealous? Perfection.

Do I really think it was necessary to throw in Rue having an incurable disease? no. Did I like the epilogue? no. I still think this is a good book just not up to par with her usual.

I hate to say this because I really enjoy Katherine Center's novels, but this new one was a disappointment. It felt like a badly tuned guitar that a musician tries to make work, but then about 2/3 through, it breaks a string and is really just a disaster. So much about this book struck a bad note for me.

In Katherine Center's author bio, it says she writes "deep rom-coms" and I'd say that's completely accurate and why I like her books so much. The Love Haters was full of (mostly) charming, relatable characters, romance, friendship, family, grief and healing. I laughed out loud; I cried. The only thing I didn't love was the "fake relationship" trope about 65% of the way through the book. I get why she added it, but it bothered me and I don't think it was necessary to move the plot forward. Anyway...overall, I really enjoyed this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Are you a fan of romance that leads to self-love, growth and acceptance? This was not only a love story between the FMC and MMC but it was really about loving yourself, accepting you are enough and finding your happiness with what you have.

The plot follows Katie who is a video producer with a knack at human profiling. Her co-worker convinces her to take a gig of a lifetime in Key West to shoot a promotion for the Coast Guard. Cue amazing beach vibes for the setting. Katie's journey leads her to navigate an upsetting past that seems to keep holding her back. However, with the help of a crew of found family, she learns to let go and really figure out what is important to her in life.

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press and NetGally for the e-ARC. I LOVED loved loved the author's note at the end of the book. Her message about self love was loud and clear in this book and I thoroughly enjoyed the story as well.

I LOVE a Katherine Center book. LOVE. This one was no exception! I really could not put this book down, and when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it. This book had such likeable characters (well, until the ones that aren't so likeable!), and while some of this book had me frustrated, overall it was a phenomenal book. I felt, I laughed, I cheered... and that's all you can ask for from a book! Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

I proudly wear my badge as a Katherine Center super fan! When I snagged an early copy of The Love Haters, I was over the moon—and boy, it did not let me down! I devoured it. The story hits the ground running, introducing us to Katie, a scrappy filmmaker in Dallas stuck under the thumb of a boss who’s a tyrant with chip on her shoulder. Just when things couldn’t get crazier, she’s sent to sunny Key West by Cole, an irritating upper level filmmaker, who “just wants Katie to keep her job,” for a US Coast Guard promo. Katie can’t swim and doesn’t even own a swimsuit! Enter Hutch, her intriguing subject, and things spiral into chaos. True to Katherine Center's style, this tale is bursting with layers and lovable characters that you can’t help but cheer for. This book had me swooning, tearing up, laughing, and my heart brimming with hope. It’s the ultimate feel-good kickoff to summer reading!

I am so happy I got to read this ARC! Katherine Center’s writing has such a lightness to it that it’s such an easy read, yet takes you on a journey of human emotions, specifically in this book, a journey of human emotions and reactions to in the face of tragedy & trauma, from different perspectives & circumstances. I truly enjoyed getting to know Katie & Hutch, Rue and George Bailey! But I may be a little in saying that my absolutely favorite parts of this book were every single mention of the Florida Keys. Being a South Florida resident, reading about the magic of the Florida Keys in such an accurate portrayal made me grin from ear to ear! Made me feel so proud to know that little part of the world belongs to us, and how incredibly lucky we are to be able to experience it. Smitten by The Love Haters

Katie is either going to get laid off or take a gig profiling a Coast Guard rescue swimmer in Key West, faking being able to swim. She takes the gig at the request of her supervisor, Cole. Only to get to Key West to find out that the man she's profiling is Cole's brother and there's bad blood between them. Then, she finds out she's staying in a small resort owned by Cole's grandmother and suddenly, she's enmeshed in family dynamics she both loves and fears. A few more lies and misunderstandings ensue before the flying sparks settle into place. This is one of my favorites by Katherine Center.