This book was very cute and made for a nice escape! So Katie, had to tell a few lies to get a job? What could go wrong? The chemistry between Katie and Hutch was sizzling, plus the relationship with Rue was heartwarming. If you need some fun and sun if your life, this book is for you!

This is a solidly 4 star book, and it's MUCH more like the old Katherine Center books than the newer ones - more schmaltzy, less modern, more internal monologue than action - but it made me cry and I want to move to the Starlite, so I'm rounding up to five stars. There is a pretty intensely discussed eating disorder (very near the beginning; it's not a spoiler) so maybe avoid if that's triggering for you.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley.

3.75 rounded up - I really really loved Katie and Hutch, both together and as individuals. And RUE AND THE GALS - forever! This didn’t have the same spark that I’ve come to expect from Katherine Center though, sadly. While I loved the plot overall, I think that the plot with Cole was unnecessary. I wish we had more opportunity to enjoy Katie and Hutch getting to know each other without Cole’s drama. This felt more like a coming of age story, and Katie even admitted a bit of a romance with herself?? than it did a ROMANCE. I think it could benefit from an adjustment in marketing a little

This book really hit close to home for me when it came to the body image aspects of the book. Especially when it came to the bullying the main character endured from the public. I love how the author talks about loving your body and how you can depend on YOURSELF rather than other people when it comes to that. The only issues I had with the book is that there were times where events were explained to us for way too long and that Cole was cartoonishly unlikeable. Other than that this book was pretty good.

This was a cute book to read. I loved the story between the two main characters the books definitely had some funny moments mostly between the brothers. I enjoyed the back and forth with hutch and Katie. There was no spice in this book, so if you are looking for that look else where. I also felt like the ending of this book left something to be desired. Like this amazing save happened and now we are a jumbled mess of an end. I wouldn’t mind a second book to get more of their actual love story.

Katherine Center… WOW. What a beautiful love story. When I say love story, I mean the love that Katie finds for herself, the way she grows to not only be comfortable in her body but to LOVE it. It deeply resonated with me. Katie is everything you could want in a FMC and her journey just was incredibly beautiful and powerful.

I’d be remiss not to mention how much I adored Hutch and the love between him and Katie as well!! This is a story of two people learning to understand each other where they’re at, flaws and all. There is so much grace and kindness between them and it makes for not only a believable but also warm love story.

Sometimes you read a book and it just touches your soul a little extra, and this is that book for me. I think I needed to read this story today. I now want everyone I know to read it and to fall in love with themselves throughout it too.


Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this book! I received a free advance copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This was such a good one! I knew I’d love it from the second I met the character of George Bailey, a gigantic and clumsy and incredibly lovable Great Dane. Katherine Center is one of my favorite romance writers for good reason. I just adore the way she writes characters that are endearing and flawed and often deeply relatable. Her romances are love stories, but they’re also so much more than that. The Love Haters is a romance, yes - but it’s also a story of found family, of facing your fears head on, and of self-acceptance. If you’ve ever struggled with body image, this book will make you feel deeply seen. As someone who grew up in the thick of diet culture and as an adult feels strongly about body positivity, I was hesitant when I saw that this book had a body positivity storyline because I know how easy it can be to get that wrong. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it early in the book - the last thing the world needs is another story where a woman can only see the beauty in herself when someone else sees it - but by the end I thought the author did a beautiful job with that storyline. And the author’s note at the end was honestly my favorite part of the book. It was so beautifully written and relatable and made me love the book that much more. All in all, this one was a great read. I fell in love with the Starlite and The Gals and of course George Bailey. If you’re a fan of romcoms, I just know you’ll be giddy about this one. I really loved it!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

Thanks NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a digital advanced copy of this book!

3.5⭐️
The Love Haters didn’t quite pull me in immediately like Katherine Center’s other books but it won me over in the end. I honestly felt like this was some of the better representation I’ve seen of negative self thought and body image issues in modern women’s fiction. Where it fell flat for me was it seemed to rush through the actual building blocks of Hutch and Katie’s relationship. We didn’t get really any “scenes” of them falling for each other. It was almost montage style which made me less convinced of their actual feelings for on another. I also wanted The Gals’ (Rue included) personalities to be a little more developed. I found them so entertaining and wanted more of them!

This book had great characters and a great plot. I couldn’t put it down. A few things were predicable but didn’t affect my rating. Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Katherine Center strikes again! This book was so charming. I loved the theme of loving your body just as it is and being kind to it. Katie’s friend Beanie is onto something! Thank you so much for this lovely read and ARC NetGalley!

4 ⭐️ Thank you St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley. I really enjoyed this book and loved being taken down to Key West and immersed into the Starlite with the gals.

This was a fun read, I just wish there would have a been a little more depth to both Cole and his boss and that the ending didn’t feel quite so rushed.

3.5 ⭐️
very fun! read it in two sittings and enjoyed this sweet and fun romcom!

i am obsessed with The Gals and would love a whole book about them and their adventures! i enjoyed the characters across the book and katie was a fun narrator with a strong voice!

i thought the body dysmorphia and eating disorder depictions were well done. when you are in that headspace it does sound unreasonable to others even though you can rationalize it to yourself.

the pacing is a little wild. the big plot twist/upset was a little unexpected and i still don't totally understand what the actual motivation behind it was?
the epilogue - it felt almost out of order? and i was mildly confused while reading it.

overall katherine center always delivers exactly what you expect - a cute and charming romcom with a sprinkle of heart mixed in!

Katherine Center has mastered the art of writing romantic comedies and read like a breath of fresh air! I loved the setting and careers in The Love Haters. It felt like I was on vacation following their entertaining relationship play out in front of me. I look forward to everything Katherine Center writes and this book surpassed my heartwarming expectations. Thank you for the ARC!

This book is a love story to yourself, if you’re a woman who has body issues. I absolutely loved it! The message is an important one and it was done in such a thoughtful and sometimes humorous way. I so appreciated this book and will think of it for a very long time. Thank you so much!

This book was so cute! It was my first Katherine Center book and I cannot wait to read more from her. I loved the relationship between Hutch and Katie. I also loved the progression of Katie's body image. Beanie is a great friend for helping Katie through everything. I could not put this book down! George Bailey was my favorite <3

Katie. Hutch. Rue. Cole. The Gals. George Bailey!!

Welcome to your next favorite read! Katherine Center has a way of taking words on a page from print to soul food. This book is full of body positive, get the help you need, do the thing you’re scared of, witty, and sassy goodness. Then add in a spunky four legged Great Dane to keep it fun.

Tropes to love -
Coastguard
He falls first
Jealous brother
Finding yourself
Loving yourself
Feel the fear and do it anyway

Do yourself a favor and pick this one up. (Or The Rom-Commers or The Bodyguard or literally any of Katherine’s books.) Trust me, just do it.

I'm always excited to get my hands on a Katherine Center novel. I think this outing felt a little lighter than her past novels. On the one hand, that's great - the perfect summer read. On the other hand, it felt like this was missing something that I've come to expect and enjoy from Center.

I did absolutely LOVE the way Katie learns to speak about herself. I highlighted multiple passages when she realizes that she can love herself, that she can speak to herself in the way she wants to speak to others and be spoken to. I fell in love with the idea of being one's own biggest fan.

I also of course fell in love with Rue and the girls. May we all be so lucky as to have a Rue in our lives. And Hutch - he really is as perfect as his brother said, but without the sarcasm.

lots of the characters felt pretty one-dimensional? i thought katie was sort of annoying at times, i liked hutch but don’t think he had loads of depth. i did enjoy their romance but i didn’t feel it was all that developed, we were told about katie having these intense feelings for him developed over weeks, but i felt like they hadn’t even interacted all that much on-page at that point. beanie irritated me and cole was a complete waste of space. there was this whole section in chapter nineteen that just made me so angry and i couldn’t entirely wrap my head around the situation. like cole is the worst, but katie could have just walked away so it annoyed me that she didn’t. it felt like it was all set up to make hutch look like a hero, but i was just aggravated with all three of them by the end. then we had sullivan who was completely pointless, i liked rue though.

add on to all that the fact that i wasn’t expecting the eating disorder/body image storyline, and i don’t think i missed a warning for it. so i’d say that was fairly jarring in what i had thought was going the be a lighthearted romance book. it’s possible i missed a trigger warning, or there just isn’t one yet as this was an arc but oof. i’m not saying that sort of theme doesn’t have a place in romance, just that i’d have wanted to know in advance, and i struggled with it as it really took me off guard. i also felt like there was a strange tone to it all, trying to be humorous, which i didn’t love.

and then the whole thing at the end, like sure fine all good. who doesn’t love a bit of danger in their romance? but i could not believe the moment in my ROMANCE book when it really seemed like hutch was going to leave her there. sinking. in the ocean. i don’t care if it’s the official coast guard protocol or whatever, this is a romance book, and even though he didn’t leave her. him seeming like he was leaving her there felt like a weird choice. not very romantic.

had thought i was gonna give this 2.5 stars but writing the review has annoyed me all over again so it’s a 2.

Such a beautiful story - a love story between Katie and her body, her life goals, and the new people she meets along the way. I adored the Key West crew, Hutch is the hero of everyone’s story, and the banter is sooo good! I laughed out loud, almost cried, and adored the epic scenes as much as the small moments that help you see what Katie learns along the way. Highly recommend!

Center writes smart romances that are fun to read. This had likeable characters and all the romantic genre highlights, while also dealing with some serious issues of online abuse and the main character's struggles with body dysmorphia. The book setting in Key West added to the charm and all the bright colours! The conflict piece (all romances seem to have a bump in the road for the two main love interests) felt like a bit of a stretch but it did not affect my enjoyment of the book. Sometimes the enjoyment of entertaining novels like this one mean allowing a bit of latitude to keep the story fresh.

'...even if we do eternally need and long and want to be seen....maybe the most important eyes doing the looking are our own.'

From Author's note: Love stories make us better at love. In all directions. And getting better at love, or course, means getting better at life.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.