Katherine Center continues to deliver time and again with a lovely romantic quick read! Coming off Rebecca Yarros' new book Variation which also includes a Coast Guard rescue diver too, this was the perfect book! I absolutely loved the entire storyline and how Center develops her characters so well, especially Hutch and his dog who my favorites! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

Can Katherine Center do any wrong?! I think not! This book was amazinggg and now I just want to go back and reread all of her other books because I need more of her writing.

Katherine Center’s books are always a pleasure. She is on my very short list of must read authors. The Love Haters did not disappoint! It’s an ode to love in all forms - self, friends, family, and romantic love all play a part. Plus we have quite an action adventure as well. Don’t miss this one!.

First of all, I am a huge fan of Katherine Center and will read everything she writes. I was so excited to get to read an advance copy of The Love Haters. Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity.

Katie is still trying to recover from a breakup with her now-famous boyfriend and is on the brink of being fired. Her coworker, Cole, sends her to shoot a promotional video for the US Coast Guard in hopes of saving her job. Once there, she meets a rescue swimmer named Hutch, who just so happens to be Cole's brother. There is an immediate attraction and Katie finds herself falling in love. However, there are many obstacles that are determined to get in her way...self-doubt, lies, and a giant dog named George Bailey to name a few.

Katherine Center's books are always so uplifting. This book is not just about romantic love, but self-acceptance and self-love. In her author's note, she says, "We can train our own eyes to look with kindness, and pay attention to what's beautiful, and focus on what's right instead of what's wrong." I felt like she was speaking to me on many of the pages throughout the book. Plus, the witty banter between characters kept me laughing. It's just a pleasure to read her books.

Thanks Netgalley, Katherine Center & Team for the opportunity to have early access to read this lovely story.

I have read a handful of Kather Center's books and, while they have all be lovely and quippy and quaint in there own way, this has by far been my favourite. There was an interesting and unique love story, while also a deep focus on found families and female friendship.

I really liked Katie as a FMC, I personally found her relatable, in her mix of outward confidence (primarily related to her career) and her internal self consciousness (particularly related to her body). For me it was a real reflection of what it's like to be a woman - this constant teetering between knowing you are good enough and exuding that in certain scenarios, while also internally constantly contemplating and ruminating (and sometimes obsessing) about how others might see you and, as a result, negatively impacting how you see and talk to yourself.

Katie's conversations with Beanie her Cousin-Sister-Bestfriend also reminded me of the type of conversations I have with my own Sister, Cousin & Best friends - many of whom are also long distance. That portrayal of friendship felt very real, and not surface level to me, as I find can happen in many romance novels where the friendships take the backseat to the romantic relationship. The two talk about nothing, minute retellings of how their day went, to gossiping about love interests, to building each other up and calling each other on their "bull shit".

I also really like when I learn things in a book. So often the occupations of characters in a novel or nebulous or nondescript office jobs. Not knocking those jobs in real life- I have one - but it rarely lends itself to a convincing or compelling story line. I picked up a lot of little nuggets not just about the US Coast Guards, but also about weather, helicopter's nomenclature (heli-copter vs. helico -pter) and self help tidbits (research shows it takes 5 positive experiences to outweigh 1 bad experience - per the Gottmans I believe).

My only "constructive comment" would be (and this may be because I was reading an advanced copy) the version I read had quite a few grammatical errors. Missing words in a sentence, or duplicate words in a sentence etc. Nothing that took away from the story, but does cause the reader sometimes to pause and reread and re-interpret the sentence as a result.

The Author's Note was also enjoyable to read - and I don't often get too far into those.
But I particularly liked these two tidbits that relate to the story and the genre in general:

"Reading love stories isn't frivolous. It's profound. It's not an escape, it's the opposite. They aren't shallow, they're deep. Start looking and you'll see it too. Love stories make us better at love. In all directions. And getting better at love, of course, means getting better at life."

"People say you have to love yourself first before you can love others. But I don't think it's that linear. Learning to love yourself is a process - and a circular one at that. Not to mention a big project. We all struggle with what it means to be seen in the world. While we don't really have much control over how the world chooses to see us - we can see ourselves for ourselves. We can train our own eyes to look with kindness and pay attention to what's beautiful and focus on what's right instead of what's wrong. That's how you fall in love- and stay in love - with anyone, including yourself: see the best in that person and enjoy the jell out of it as often as you can."

I love this author and have enjoyed all of her books. I will be honest, this book wasn't my favorite and it is because I don't love the brother troupe in RomComs. In this case Cole works with Katie and but in an attempt to help save her career he sends her on a trip to film with his brother (because they don't get along). It just isn't what I enjoy when family members put others between their differences, so this is a me issue with the book! Thankfully there is a fun dog (scared of thunder) that lightens the mood and I loved their Aunt Rue too! I am so thankful to have read an early copy of the book. I know it will be a hit when its out in May and I will still absolutely read books from this author in the future!

This book admittedly took me a while to get into, but once I did I was hooked. I loved Katie and Hutch and experienced every emotion along with them: frustration, fear, longing. I wish we had more romantic Katie/Hutch moments, but the epic saving at the end of the story didn't disappoint.

Anything Katherine Center writes, I will read. Every time. This book was amazing. Perhaps my favorite book she has written. I was laughing and giddy and love every word. The characters were relatable and I cannot wait to get a physical copy to read again.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to enjoy this book ahead of time!

3/5

Thank you NetGalley for letting me read and review this!

I was so excited to read this book, I've heard nothing but amazing things about Katherine Center (and have a few of hers on my TBR shelf) so when I got this ARC, I moved it to the top of my list! I am a native Floridian who's been to Key West a few times before for vacation, so seeing a book that highlights are Floridian family down in the Keys was a fun one for me!

As my first Katherine Center book, I will see that this was so cute but I think it also could have been a little more? When it came to some heavier topics such a grief and body image, I wanted a little more but that could just be personal preference. I think that having an ex boyfriend who was a rockstar and the world was commenting on my body would absolutely send me so I think Katie was handling it far better than me lol

I do think it gave such strong rom com vibes in the best way, it was fun, light, and flirty! I absolutely loved George Bailey; cute dogs in romance books always get me! Hutch and Katie were an adorable to read about and watch as their story unfolds. The beachy vibes in this are making me ready for summer romances already in this cold January weather! I can see this being very popular this summer!

I think Katherine's writing is so fun, she had me giggling and swooning over the chemistry between these two. It was fun to see her highlight Key West in this way. Enjoyed this read so much!

The Love Haters
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Katherine Center is always such a good go to when I need a fun and comforting story. Even better when it takes me to the Florida Keys during the middle of a cold Minnesota winter!

Katie is on a mission to save her job with a documentary about the US Coast Guard. The only problem is she doesn’t know how to swim and that’s kind of a requirement for following them around.

This story was full of characters that had a lot of growth. Katie’s story shows a lot of how she deals with her body image after a very public breakup while Hutch deals with a lot of grief. Katherine’s writing always feels like a warm hug at the end!

The Love Haters by Katherine Center
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I love anything @katherinecenter touches! I’m so excited this book lived up to my expectations 🩷.

What I liked:
•this author’s books generally deal with serious issues (self-image in this one), serious problems (no spoilers, but helicopters & water are involved), love (obviously!) and humor. She is an author that consistently makes me laugh!
•the love interests, Katie & Hutchare complex characters per usual and I love the imperfections!
•the dog, George Bailey, come on….and the toad….seriously I just want a book about their relationship 😍
•Aunt Rue, her Vrbo The Starlite, and her lady friends “The Gals” added the color to this story! Just sweet and fun!
•we are living in a crazy time…this book is the joy and predictable happy ending we need! That’s not a spoiler! Katherine always promises a happily ever after!

What I didn’t like:
•at first I thought the plot was a little silly but it grew on me and I loved these characters!

Thank you to @netgalley and the author for access to the digital arc of this book. Publication is set for May 20, 2025.

Book 3 of 2025
Read 1/20-24

It is a fantastic book. The plot is great. The writing is great. If you love Katherine Centers other books, you'll love this one too. Katie’s struggles are relatable. Coworkers who try their best but always with an ulterior motive. The hero, a coast guard rescue swimmer, is loveable and dimensional. The ending is sweet.

FYI Its a closed door romance

It is a fantastic book. The plot is great. The writing is great. If you love Katherine Centers other books, you'll love this one too. I loved the story of Katie and her struggles ( somewhat relateable). The ending is good and sweet. I liked the male main character too. Not sure how accurate water rescue/ military scenes are so good in with an open mind!

Buy it!

I am so biased because I am huge Katherine Center fan, and she has done it again! She has written an adorable page turner that I could not put down. With an equally cute and bright colored cover as usual! Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for a copy of this book for an honest review.

I love Katherine Center and this was a solid read but not one of her best. It just felt like it was lacking depth honestly.

This was my first Katherine Center book and boy was I pleasantly surprised!

This book gave me all the feelings. Starting with heartwarming, I loved the characters. Hutch, oh my gosh. I don’t think there’s a bad thing to say about Hutch. He was adorable and thoughtful and a little tortured because of his past, but the way he was with Katie was absolutely perfect. And his rescue Great Dane, George Bailey? Ughhh I could scream over this man and his dog and his perfect everything.

Katie is working through a lot. Her step mom and her ex fiancé did a number on her, and she has a lot of self negativity because of it. Her best friend, Beanie, is her biggest supporter and helps her work through it, but she’s struggling with major body issues throughout the book. I know some people didn’t like the way some of the darker themes were handled in this book, I heard it was too lighthearted for more serious topics. I personally really enjoyed the way Katherine wrote about it. I don’t think it was taken lightly, or made light of, or even joked about. It was heartwarming, and the way her loved ones helped her through these things didn’t downplay the seriousness of it.

This book made me laugh, a lot! The characters were great, there was so much depth to them and they felt real while reading about them. Even the more unlikeable character had me laughing. The dog was perfect, added so much to the story and I loved him. Definitely a 5 stars for me, can’t wait to check out more of her books. This coming from a girl who usually likes more spice in her romances, but there was so much to this story that I didn’t even feel like it needed that.

You know the show Chopped? Well, if there were a writers' edition, Katherine Center would be a reigning champ. She can cook up a batch of this genre no matter what ingredients she has on hand.

"On this latest episode, let's open up our baskets to... Coast Guard, documentary filmmakers, Great Danes, houseboats, complex family dynamics, and... rock stars!"
If you're a fan of her previous work or just want a fun rom-com read, this latest release serves. See what I did there?

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced reader's copy so that I could give my honest feedback and review.

This will be posted on my Goodreads and amazon account.

With the author being Katherine Center and the setting in the Florida Keys, I knew this was a must-read for me. Fun characters involved in truly laughable situations kept my attention throughout. This book will be a great addition to any vacation! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC ebook I read and reviewed. All opinions are my own

I’m always a fan of Katherine Center and enjoyed her latest! It did take me a little longer to get into than usual, but once I did, I loved the characters and how the plot moved. Some parts are a bit “silly” and too far fetched, but overall I liked The Love Haters.
Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange of an honest review.

What an enjoyable read! Katherine Center took me to Key West, and I enjoyed hanging out with The Gals for nightly dinners and fun in the sun.
Some parts of the book just didn't seem too believable to me. I don't want to say what they were because I don't want to give anything away. A little bit more romance would have been nice too because I felt the chemistry. All in all, a fun read and I liked it.