4.5/5 ⭐️s
🫑 - kissing only

LOVES:
- That opening set us up for adventure and chaos. The rest of the book sure didn’t disappoint!
- GOD. The eating disorder/body image stuff was really tough. But her journey back to herself is what I was HERE FOR. The Beauty List and all of her epiphanies about her body felt good to read.
- Katie and Beanie’s friendship is magical, I absolutely love it 💞
- George Bailey, the dog 😭💗
- JFC, Hutch is a saint of a man. So pure. It’s awesome, though I also kind of understand his brother’s irritation. But just be better then! Learn from Hutch, be like him!
- The development of Katie and Hutch’s relationship was simultaneously adorable, ridiculous, and confusing. Katherine really jerked us around with these two 😆

CRITIQUE:
- Katie’s journey was really the focal point of the story, which I appreciated in a lot of ways. I also felt like it made it difficult to get to know Hutch as a real person and not this near-perfect human. I could’ve used a bit more of just them.

I laughed so much, got really mad at people on the internet, then at one point, I think I had a heart attack! Lots of stuff going on here, but it was a fun ride. Takeaway: everyone should love everything about themselves 💘

Thanks to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for the eARC 💝

Katie was burned really badly and very publically in her last relationship. Not to mention she is very close to being fired from her current job when her boss decides she wants to downsize the company. Her direct superior Cole, offers her an opportunity to produce a video for the coast guard who are looking to increase recruitment. She is following Tom "Hutch" Hutcherson a rescue swimmer who went viral a while ago for rescuing a celebrity's dog. What she doesn't know is Hutch is Cole's brother and she is about to get herself tangled in a huge web of craziness and forced to confront a lot of fears.

I LOVED the message of learning to love yourself and your body after having such a negative view of yourself. Hutch was honestly a dream man and I loved their chemistry, their connection felt very natural and the communicated well. I found myself laughing so many times, the cast of characters were so fun. The author once again put out a book that balanced fun and flirty with more serious topics and made a book I didn't want to put down.

I always enjoy reading Katherine Center's books. They are funny with wonderful characters and usually, okay mostly always, filled with romance. This was no exception. And there was a dog, George Bailey, in this story that stole my heart. This book wasn't just about romance and falling in love with another person, it dealt with body issues and learning to love yourself as you are. Some readers might not like the body issue in this book but it is a reality that many woman have issues with their bodies and don't like wearing a bathing suit (yes, that one would be me), but the author wrote about it in a tasteful way. There were some moments in the book that I did find a bit annoying and those were mostly the ones with Cole in them, Hutch's brother. I didn't care for him at all and I wish Katie would have stood up to him and not go along with his lies. But other than that one character, everyone else was very likable. Aunt Rue and the Gals were a hoot. I have to admit that this book wasn't my favorite of hers but I still found it enjoyable.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the review copy.

This was such a sweet book. The romance was super sweet and was a delicious slow burn. The underlying premise of body dysmorphia was poignant and seemed handled well. KC always picks such fun “jobs” to include in her stories and I loved the way these jobs were portrayed.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Summary: Katie and Hutch don’t have the best track record when it comes to love. When Katie, a video producer, gets the career opportunity of a lifetime, she can’t help but go along with it even if she gets herself caught in a lie along the way. Katie jets off to paradise to make a career-changing profile documentary on hot coast guard celebrity: Tom “Hutch” Hutchesen. Will the love hater change his tune along the way?

This is the third KC book I’ve read. I had a lot of fun along the way and I felt like Katie and Hutch were pretty realistic and genuine. I have to say that The Rom-Commers is probably my favorite by her, but this one hit all the right spots too. There were many serious notes, especially with Katie’s body image struggles and Hutch’s struggle with certain things from the past, but it was well balanced with witty and laughable moments throughout. It was a story about self-love just as much as it was a story about relationships.

5 Stars – Heartfelt, Hilarious, and Utterly Charming
I absolutely loved The Love Hater by Katherine Center! This book had everything I look for in a great read—smart writing, lovable characters, and a story that made me laugh, tear up, and cheer. Center has such a gift for blending humor with heart, and this book is the perfect example of that.
The main character was so relatable—flawed, funny, and completely authentic. I loved watching her journey of growth and self-discovery, and the romance? Total swoon. It felt earned, real, and full of chemistry.
What really stood out to me was how the story explored love in all its forms—not just romantic, but also the love we have for ourselves and those closest to us. It’s hopeful, empowering, and exactly the kind of book that leaves you smiling when you finish.
If you’re already a fan of Katherine Center, this one will make you fall in love with her writing all over again. And if you’re new to her books—this is the perfect place to start.
Highly recommend!

4.5 Stars
A beautiful story with all types of love represened. Katie's relationship with her cousin Beanie, and her attempts to get her to view herself and her body differently brought me to tears a few times. The journey of self-love was as important as the romantic love blossoming with Hutch.
Truly a tear-jerking, beautiful, Katherine Center book.

3.5 stars

Thanks so much to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advance copy of this book! I always love the arrival of a new Katherine Center book each year!

Katie enjoys her work as a video producer, helping companies raise their profile with promotional videos. On the side, she has a YouTube channel for which she films interviews with ordinary people who do heroic things.

When word gets a large number of employees will be fired to cut costs, Katie is a bit panicked. But then her coworker, Cole, taps her to film a recruiting video for the Coast Guard, by profiling Hutch, a rescue swimmer down in Key West. (He also happens to be Cole’s estranged brother.) Hutch had gotten some notoriety after a rescue, but he turned down any opportunities to cash in on his 15 minutes of fame.

Rather than stay and get fired, Katie agrees to the assignment. Of course, she can’t swim, but is that a big deal? She is quickly embraced by Hutch’s aunt Rue and her gaggle of friends, and is dazzled by Hutch in every way. But while Cole keeps pressuring her to get Hutch to film one of her hero videos, she understands why he is reluctant for publicity.

But then Cole arrives in Key West—with his and Katie’s boss in tow. Apparently Cole isn’t good with the truth, and to save his job—and hurt Hutch—he lies about his relationship with Katie. Lots of drama ensues.

I really love Center’s books, but sadly, this wasn’t a favorite of mine. I enjoyed the focus on self-esteem and body positivity, and loved Hutch (and George Bailey, his Great Dane), but miscommunication is one of my least favorite tropes.

The book publishes 5/20.

Katherine Center does it again!!! I have never related to a character more than with Katie, I felt like I was highlighting half the book

Kathleen Center's "The Love Haters" is another winner! This was a warm, fuzzy read that hit all the right notes, with a lovely dual theme of finding love with someone else and, just as importantly, with yourself. Katie's journey of self-discovery was so touching, a poignant reminder of the ongoing struggles with body image. Loved the subtle use of color as a metaphor for her growth.
Hutch? Total Glen Powell energy, especially in those Coast Guard scenes – think Top Gun: Maverick meets Anyone but You. And Rue and her crew? Modern Golden Girls vibes for sure! Center paints such a vivid picture of the motel and their personalities; I could totally see this as a movie.
This was super bingeable, though the beginning felt a tad long, and a few end bits stretched a little. My only real niggle is that Hutch didn't show much personal growth; he seemed pretty perfect from the get-go. Cole, though? Fantastic foil! Would LOVE a novella for his redemption arc.
Plenty of laugh-out-loud moments (shoutout to George Bailey the dog and the Cole/Hutch sibling dynamic) balanced with genuinely moving scenes about healing and reflection. Overall, a sweet read I'd recommend, though The Rom-Commers is still my fave Center book.

Has its moments, but not quite among Center's best. The setting of Key West is vibrantly captured and I loved how much I learned about the Coast Guard through Katie's assignment to profile Hutch; it is obvious how much research went into writing this, which I greatly appreciated. The romance between Katie and Hutch is sweet yet unfortunately slight, and the nice moments between the two of them had me wanting to see even more of the development in their relationship. The primary love story here is between Katie and her body, since she suffers from body dysmorphia, and it is wonderful to see her finally embrace the way that she looks and be cheered on by supportive friend Beanie. Two-thirds of the way through the book there is a plot development that led to a rough couple of chapters where I could feel a burning disdain toward a character who had primarily existed offscreen but emerged into the narrative in the most obnoxious way. Thankfully, this serves an important purpose and didn't spoil the tale for me, although it could have been tackled in a more subtle and less outsized way. The climax here is genuinely thrilling and while it requires much suspension of disbelief, it acts as a fitting capper to the story. Not one of my favorites by Center, but I'm glad that it acts as a rebound from my disappointing experience with The Rom-Commers.

I have never met a Katherine Center book that I did love. This is no different. I loved the aspects of the book that you can apply to life. How often do we as women look at ourselves in a harsh light? Just like Katie. Everyone process grief differently, some carry it for a long time. Just like Cole. And man how lovable is Rue? I wish we all had someone in our corner from the get go like her. Having your person like Beanie, the road to relationship with Hutch and discovering own goodness are all the aspects of the book grab a readers heart and make us spiral on into the whirlwind of this book.

Thank you St. Martins Press for my advanced reader copy. Can’t wait to see what Center does next!

Videographer Katie barely knows her co-worker Cole, but when he asks her to sub for him and create a Coast Guard recruitment video on site in the Florida Keys, it might be a way to save her job as the company faces layoffs. Katie's been curating her own mini-documentary series A Day In The Life, where she follows everyday heroes for 24 hours and then combs through the footage to produce a six-minute short. Cole is convinced that a deep dive on his hero brother, Hutch, who rescued Jennifer Aniston's dog and has been dubbed the Pup Daddy, will go viral and launch her independent career. It’s a prospect Katie can’t turn down, so off to Florida she goes, even though swimming is a prerequisite and she has never learned how to swim. Cole is a liar by omission, though, not revealing that the housing will be through Rue, the woman who raised the two brothers after their parent's tragic death.

Upon arrival, Katie's missing luggage is an excuse for Rue to outfit Katie like a parrot in vibrant colors and prints curated from her tropical clothing boutique--a 180-degree departure from Katie's New York style (all-black-down-to-her-underpants) wardrobe. Rue asks Hutch to offer swim lessons to her newest tenant--in front of an audience of her widowed friends, no less--but when Hutch's dog, George Bailey, exuberantly tackles Katie on sight, the medic and Aviation Survival Technician spends part of the evening picking deck splinters off her haunch, instead. The forced proximity, from the filming to the swimming lessons to the family of choice that Rue has put together lead to Hutch and Katie inevitably catching feelings. The more Katie gets to know and admire the private, modest Hutch, the less she wants to subject him to the possibility of a viral video about his heroic life, and in spite of Cole's insistence, refuses to push the issue even though it might cost her job.

At this point, Cole decides to "help" by bringing their boss, Sullivan (a divorcee on the prowl), to visit--on the pretense of seeing his "girlfriend" Katie. Cole is hoping that bringing Sullivan to the Keys to meet Hutch will nudge Katie into getting A Day In The Life on Hutch--which means Rue and her cronies are now trying to deflect Sullivan's inappropriate advances, and Katie has to spend 24 hours with Hutch and George Bailey on his houseboat, while he's upset with her for not revealing she's dating his brother (except she isn't) who is still holding a grudge for, among other things, his wife having a crush on Hutch and trying to convince him to marry her. At their rehearsal dinner, no less.

There's an emotional storm brewing for most of the book, and it manifests literally as a fist fight between the two brothers and metaphorically as Hurricane Rafael, a Category Four frenzy of wind and water heading for Miami. The final twenty percent of the book becomes a gritty survival story when Katie fails to evacuate before the storm hits the coast, and gets trapped on Hutch's houseboat with the dog. The denouement is tense, cinematic, and emotional.

Katherine Center excels at creating strong, vivid, and complex female protagonists with a unique, clear voice. Her dialogue is fresh, real, and authentically funny/awkward/emotional, and the voice is consistent from start to finish. Katie is wonderfully vulnerable. Secondary characters--ride-or-die Beanie, flamboyant Rue, conniving Cole, and unhappy Sullivan--could easily have been one-dimensional characters, but each has a dignity and depth and grace beyond initial impressions. Most of all, Hutch is not the monster that Cole sees him as.

Katie has a all-to-relatable love/hate relationship with her body, and in fact, the author's note reveals that Center considers Katie to be caught in an enemies-to-lovers trope with her own body, and this is almost secondary to the romantic relationship between Katie and Hutch (who is portrayed as such a do-gooder, Boy Scout, perfect guy his brother can't stand him because of it). Katie's depression over being ripped apart online after attending a music awards ceremony with her ex (who then cheated on her and dumped her) led to a period of disordered eating. Admirably, a number on the scale is never named, demonstrating the author's sensitivity to food and body issues. Katie conflates getting down to a size zero and a body with a thigh gap with discipline and dedication as she undertakes a starvation study experiment. Katie credits her best friend/cousin Beanie with helping her get mentally sound and back on track. Katie is characterized as someone who overcomes challenges not in a linear fashion, but in a circuitous one, which is incredibly realistic: we learn our life lessons over and over, more like a spiral, hopefully with a deeper understanding on each pass. Things are not easily resolved, but incrementally better over time.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #TheLoveHaters via #NetGalley courtesy of #StMartinsPress in exchange for a fair and honest review; a review will post to HLBB on 5/20/2025.

This is my first Katherine Center book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved that the book was set in Key West, as it is one my favorite places. The chemistry between Katie and Hutch was perfect. Aunt Rue was a great addition as well. I can’t wait to read more from this author!

I usually love Katherine Center was but was so disappointed at this! I don't think I've ever given one of her books lower than 4 stars but had to with this one.

Once again, Katherine Center delivers a story full of joy, hope, and LOVE. The Love Haters features a love story with a very good member of the Coast Guard (he rescued Jennifer Aniston’s dog!!) but more importantly, it shows a woman learned to love herself. Be sure you also read the author’s note, it is truly a thing of beauty.

i am unfortunately choosing not to finish this book and i am deeply disappointed.

i love katherine center and have been such a fan of her past work. i love her focus on love stories, specifically rom-coms, and the way she defends the genre. however, the love haters covers a topic i care about deeply with a lack of care and understanding that makes this impossible for me to continue reading. disordered eating is a serious issue that many people deal with. i watched it tear my sister apart and in the end nearly kill her. she survived and is better today, but not without intense intervention and care. this book treats EDs like some quirky trait rather than a life threatening disorder/disease. when writing about heavy topics, it’s really imperative to consider the implications of what’s being written about. this should have been done differently or converted into a different plot line altogether. again, very disappointed.

I was really excited to read this as I had read The Bodyguard and gave it 5 stars. Unfortunately, I found that my enjoyment for this could not have been farther from that of my Bodyguard experience. I felt like everything in this book was over the top, and none of the characters read as people I could connect with. The first 30% of the book dwelt heavily on the FMC's issues with disordered eating and body image, and it did not come off in a way that you could empathize with. It felt more whiny and "woe is me". Then the MMC is described as being a "love hater," only to be immediately shown as caring and compassionate and clearly into the FMC, so the grump trope really did not pass the vibe check. Perhaps my least favorite part was a particular scene where the MMC's brother goads him into a drinking contest even though he repeatedly declines, as he abstains from drinking for personal reasons. As someone who chooses not to drink for reasons other than needing to/alcoholism, I found this profoundly disrespectful. I deal with judgment about it every time I go out with people, always prodding for an explanation, and 1) you should never have to give one: no thank you is no thank you! and 2) NO ONE should ever force you to drink! So, to see that play out in this book was really not OK with me. All that aside, I really felt like the spark between the FMC and MMC never really ignited. I appreciate a clean romance, but they did not even seem compatible. I have heard such good things about this author, so this book was a huge shock and letdown for me.

Had a bit of trouble getting into this book. Wasn’t my favorite Katherine Center book but definitely fun for the summer read

Thank you NetGalley and St.Martins Press for providing me with a copy of The Love Haters to read and provide my honest review. I actually went into The Love Haters completely blind- I had a great experience with The Bodyguard, so Katherine Center already had my trust- and I was not at all disappointed. I really enjoyed this story. I really like Katherine Center’s writing style and the way she tells a story. Katie’s inner monologue was witty and had just the right amount of humor. I found her ridiculously relatable- at times it felt like I was in my own head. Her body image issues, while pretty severe, are something that a lot of people can relate to, myself included. I love being able to find aspects of myself in a character, especially when I also get to watch them grow and get their happy ending. I really had a fun time reading this book despite finding myself crying at a few points- Katie’s personal issues felt a little too real.

I loved that The Love Haters really hi-lighted strong female friendships and how healing they can be. I really liked that Beanie helped Katie work through her personal issues and they weren’t magically solved by Hutch. I loved that Hutch just supported Katie and made her feel seen. Their relationship was sweet and charming. I love a broody and quiet mmc, so Hutch was beyond ideal. But I did love George Bailey most of all. Overall I really enjoyed The Love Haters and will definitely be picking up another book by Katherine Center.