Such a cute and relatable romcom. It was so funny and yet emotional in just the right ways. Hutch and Katie were so cute and this was another hit from Katherine Center for me.

Oh my goodness, this audiobook was literally PERFECTION. I had already read this e-book copy, but I actually think I love the audio version even more because they really brought it to life! I love Katherine Center, she NEVER disappoints!

Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this advance readers copy audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

On the surface The Love Haters is a rom com but in true Katherine Center style it’s so much more. With a relatable protagonist and characters facing real issues. While remaining light hearted and with plenty of humor body imagine, self love, grief and loss, and familial relationships are explored. The narration was enjoyable and enhanced the story.

This book was started with us meeting Katie Vaughn, a talented videographer who is scared she is about to loose her much loved job. When her coworker Cole asks her to head to Key West to interview coast guard her Hutch she decides it might be a great idea and just what’s needed to save her career.

She arrived in Key West and fell in love with everything, Roo who is Cole’s aunt, the island, the people, and let’s not forget Hutch! Of course nothing goes to plan which gives us a fun storyline.

I thought all of the relationships were done well and I enjoyed all of the characters. My favourite thing about the book was seeing Katie falling in love with her body and who she was as a person. She struggles so much with how she looks or appears to everyone else when we first meet her but by the end of the storyline she is happy in her own skin. Isn’t that what we all want?

Fun storyline, lots of laughter and a very easy read.

Loved the authors note at the end.

Another good read from this author, it’s not my favourite of hers but I did enjoy it.

I was lucky to receive both an early Ebook and audiobook which I read going back and forth between the two. I thought the narrator Patti Murin did an outstanding job of bringing each and every character to life along with the great storyline .

“I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.”

I knew going into this one that I would love it as I had already read the book. I absolutely adore Catherine Center. The narrator, Patti Murin, completely brought the story to life. She was the perfect voice to tell this charming, heartfelt and amazing love story. It was also well produced. I didn’t need to speed up or slow down the reading speed. It is definitely an audiobook that I would re-listen to again in the future.

This was a charming and endearing novel that I loved and highly recommend to anyone who enjoys Katherine Center. It’s wonderfully, well-written with an adorable cast of characters, including eccentric Aunt Rue and George Bailey 🐾. 💗
This is SO much more than your average rom-com and ideal for females of all ages!! We all struggle with self-esteem issues at some point in our lives.
This story tackles several complex issues in a honest way. Katie, the protagonist, uses humor as a coping strategy which often lightens the mood and adds humor to the story. Katie and Hutch have undeniable spark between them and their sweet, budding romance is inevitable. You can’t help but fall in love with both of them.
The Key West location was close to my heart and the cover is absolutely adorable!!
The epilogue and author’s note are must reads.
My fellow readers I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes: “Next to creating a life, the finest thing a man can do is save one.” Abraham Lincoln
Thank you to the publisher/author for the opportunity to read this complimentary advanced copy. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

The Love Haters
audiobook ARC review 4.5⭐️
Narrated by Patti Murin

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook ARC. This is my first Katherine Center read and I devoured this cute and funny rom-com. Patti Murin does an excellent job narrating this story, her voice fits perfectly for the character.

Katie and Hutch have such great chemistry and the events that take place are hilarious. George Bailey is the silliest Great Dane lol he definitely stole the show.

Tropes:
Grumpy sunshine
Forced proximity
Funny side characters
Key West setting 🏝️
MMC Coast guard
FMC Video producer
Clean romance

I'm always a sucker for a good love story, but I also love when there's an important underlying message, and that was the case with The Love Haters. When the main character, Katie, talked about her self-negativity and body image issues...yeah, I felt that. I saw myself in her so profoundly at times that it made me cry. (Especially the ending where she has the conversation with herself on the boat. Not going to give away any spoilers. I'll just say it made me sob). The hero, Tom (aka "Hutch") is something special too. I mean, he serves in the military as a rescue swimmer for the Coast Guard, so he's like an ACTUAL hero. But, thankfully, he's not one of those alpha male heroes who think they're God's gift either. Hutch is kind, thoughtful, and humble, but he's also a fierce protector when it comes to the people he loves. So, honestly...how could you NOT love this man? The two of them together make such an endearing couple. I should add there are plenty of wonderful secondary characters too. Hutch's Aunt Rue is precious, and his dog, George Bailey - oh my goodness! Adorableness overload! I just wanted to crawl inside the story and snuggle with him.

I switched back and forth between listening to the audiobook version and reading the digital book version, and I enjoyed both of them. Patti Murin is an excellent narrator. And what can I say about my girl, Katherine Center? I just love her. She's a truly amazing writer, and it's such a joy to read her work. I always add her new releases to the top of my TBR list, and I highly recommend The Love Haters.

This is my first Katherine Center novel and I was not disappointed. Only reason this story isn't a 5/5 is because the voice actors male voice was not my favorite.

This story was so much more than an "enemies" to lovers. As someone who has always struggled with body image issues, this story helped heal an inner part of myself. "I know what a supermodel is, and I know I don't look like that, but I just love all of my everything because it's mine." Sometimes we get too caught up in our own heads and it's okay to have our friends guide us for a while.

Also, Hutch is swoon worthy in every aspect and his golden retriever vibes are to die for.

Thank you Net Galley & Macmillan audio for the early preview!

I REALLY LIKE THE NARRATOR OF THIS BOOK, it’s so nice to listen to a good narrated book
The message of this book is strong and powerful
Big love

Katherine Center is one of my top favorite authors, yet I am still so surprised with just how very good Love Haters is. It is laugh out loud funny, genuinely insightful and charmingly romantic. Patti Murin gives an excellent narration. My favorite book of 2024 so far!

I've seen other reviews of people saying they didn't like this book, and they're allowed to feel how they did, but I don't know what they're talking about. Maybe it's because I can relate a lot to Katie's struggles with her weight and appearance and her deeply-rooted insecurities that she had to be more or less to be loved, but I flew through this book so quickly. I loved it. I loved all of it and wish there were more chapters so I could live in the story just a little bit longer.

People that are saying they didn't think the story had much romance read a different story, I think, or are used to different kinds of romance novels. Sure, this wasn't history's greatest love story ever told, but I definitely felt many moments of tension and anticipated the main couple getting together. I also just adored Hutch and his desire to take care of people to the best of his abilities; as someone whose love language is acts of service, he made me swoon.

Katherine Center is an auto-buy author for me and I have been eager to read The Love Haters since I saw it announced, so when I was able to get an audio ARC, I just about screamed. This made my year, honestly.

It pains me to write this, but I DNF’ed at 67%.

I was so excited for The Love Haters and I typically love Katherine Center’s books, but I found myself so bored with this one. The FMC and MMC fell flat for me, I didn’t care about them at all. Aunt Rue and her gal pals were my favorite part, I would’ve enjoyed a book solely about them.

🎧 I did enjoy Patti Murin as the narrator even though I didn’t enjoy the story itself. She was fantastic, as always!

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was able to listen to this advance copy. Patti Murin has done the narration for many of Center’s books and she does a fantastic job. She is able to differentiate voices in a way that isn’t distracting and she is able to do male voices well.
Katherine Center is an autobuy author for me and so I was thrilled to get to read early. As always, her characters were wonderful (including the sweet dog!)- I loved Katie and Hutch. Center writes characters with such interesting jobs that I often know little about. It was fun to learn more about the Coast Guard and their rescues. There was definitely not as much romance in this as in some of her previous books, there was a focus on body image issues and learning to accept and love your body. It was a fun read.

The truth is, I haven’t had much luck with this author—most of the books I’ve read by her haven’t really been to my liking. But this one made felt a little different (if I overlook a few things) ☝🏼. I really liked the story between Hutch and Katie; you can feel the chemistry, and their relationship develops in an interesting way. (+) I absolutely loved the scenes with the ladies from the pool and all of George Bailey’s mastermind moments 🫶🏼.

The rest of this review is me rating (to my future self) about the things I didn’t like:

(-) The first 20% felt endless. The chapters are long, and some of them drag on unnecessarily.
(-) Katie’s cousin had such bad vibes—she made her feel guilty for thinking certain things, yet at the same time, she pushed her to dwell on them even more. I also wasn’t very interested in the subplot about the ex-boyfriend.
(-) I wasn’t comfortable with how Katie’s insecurities about her body were handled. I understand the ultimate goal, but some of the things said/thought made me question things, and overall, I don’t think it was the best way to approach the topic.
(-) There were so many situations where I didn’t understand why she didn’t set boundaries, especially in a particular scene with Cole. Cole, in general, was one of my least favorite parts of the book.
(-) The last 20% was a real test—it gave me secondhand embarrassment. The whole situation felt so unnecessary, and I just couldn’t empathize with her anymore.

In summary, the characters had great chemistry, and the banter was fantastic. There are many lighthearted, fun, enjoyful scenes. The supporting characters (The Gals & GB) added fun moments to the story, but everything else just felt too cringy for my personal taste.

The narrator did a great job, it fit the story really well !

I love everything that Katherine writes. She just keeps doing amazing work. This was such a cute story. Loved the grumpy main guy.
The narration was very enveloping.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for my #gifted copies!

4.5 Stars!!

I liked this story so much more than I was anticipated liking it!

Katie has been burned by love and had challenging family relationships. When her job is threatened she accepts an assignment to interview and film a coast guard rescuer. The premise is to use the video as a Coast Guard recruiting video. Still, the rescue swimmer being interviewed was also in a viral video rescuing Jennifer Anniston's dog a while back.

Military, seal team, and Coast Guard books are my top love, so the behind-the-scenes of Coast Guard rescues spoke to my heart! It also doesn't hurt that Hutch is top-tier book boy!

The small community in the Florida Keys where Katie goes for her assignment opens their hearts up to Katie, building the best found family!

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a great job! Her performance enhanced the story!

Romance content: Just kissing!
TW: She had some body image trauma she had to work through.

I was so excited for this one, but it was just okay.

'The Love Haters' is about Katie, a woman who travels to Key West for a big interview at her coworker's behest to avoid getting laid off. The man she's interviewing, Hutch, only agreed to the interview on the condition that his brother (her coworker) do it, so when she turns up, they make make the best of things.

I really enjoyed the second half of this book. It was cute and fun with adorable side characters and felt like the perfect summer romcom.
Unfortunately, the first half of the book was just a vehicle for her body image issues. It was constant. It was actually to the point that I cared about her issues less than I would have otherwise.

That narration is really what carried this book for me. The voice acting was well done and made me stay interested, when I would have put a physical book down.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and to MacMillan audio for the ARC of The Love Haters by Katherine Center.

Patti Murin does an excellent job narrating the story -- I honestly had trouble pressing pause because I was enjoying her narration so much. I listened to the whole book in one day.

As for the book itself -- this is my first Katherine Center novel and I was really excited because I've seen her name all over the best seller lists the past few years but hadn't given one of her books a go yet. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity. Unfortunately, after listening, I'm not sure her style is for me.

I LOVED the first 50% or so of the novel. I thought we were seeing great personal growth for Katie, even if her feelings about her body seemed to take up way more of the story than the actual plot while she simultaneously just ogled Hutch while decrying that same pressure on herself. I thought it was so cute how he was teaching her to swim and while they liked each other it didn't fall into instalove and graphic sex -- there are two kisses the whole book. It seemed like they were having a nice steady progression to something real while Katie got her life together. and she and Hutch got to know each other. But, after the 50% mark, it felt like the story was more about drama than about a blossoming relationship, and the worst part was that none of the drama needed to happen. All Hutch needed to do was say "My brother called and said this..." and Katie could have responded with the truth and the story could have continued as it had been while still including the wild Coast Guard adventures and a familial reconciliation. Unfortunately, Center seemed to lean way too hard in the opposite direction.

I honestly almost DNF'ed this book at 73% - 83%. Like I wanted to fast forward and throw my phone against the wall. Everything related to the Cole plotline was the worst, which I will leave in the notes to the publisher to avoid spoilers. Seriously, one conversation and the book could have gone in an entirely different more positive rom-com-esque direction and instead it went with all this unnecessary character drama that added nothing to the story except to make me dislike the main characters. To make the section worse, at one point in this section Hutch is drunk - like very drunk - Katie thinks about kissing him with knowing he's not in his best frame of mind - she doesn't, but she doesn't even consider his consent, just that he might reject her. and this is after we've had to read multiple attempts of another character violating her personal space without consequence. Like, honestly, everything happening in this section made me really, really dislike the story.

After this weird fever dream of a section the book does recover even if it does go a bit off the wall extreme, which is actually the original direction I thought it was angling for and was expecting (though it was WAY more extreme than I imagined it would be). And, again, I listened to it all in one day and was invested in what happened. It's just...god, that 10% of the book was so appalling for no reason, and I wanted the characters to be smarter than that given both of their past traumas and their dramatic honesty with each other prior to that moment. It really soured me on the rest of the story.

2.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this advanced copy. You can pick up The Love Haters on May 20, 2025.

As a Katherine Center fan, I expected to fall in love with this book and these characters like I have her other books. Unfortunately, this one didn't quite hit the mark for me. While I loved the premise (work trip to Key West and shenanigans as she attempts to film sexy Coast Guard and "Love Hater" Hutch), the execution fell really flat for me.

From the get-go, we get a feeling for Katie's predicament at work and her reasoning for needing to go to Key West. But we're also hit unexpectedly with avid descriptions of Katie's struggles with an eating disorder and continued body dysmorphia. These issues are in NO WAY clued in or indicated in any of the marketing for this book. There's no content warning at the beginning for readers who may be sensitive to Katie's situation. And not only does it play a role in Katie's backstory, but it continues to DRIVE the plot and her character development for the majority of the book.

I'm not saying the inclusion of important issues like ED and BD is bad or wrong. I can't speak to whether this was a good or bad representation of the situation. But the rest of the book was VERY over-the-top, campy, and quirky, and the tone just didn't fit with the serious matters being discussed at times (including brief mentions of suicidal thoughts).

Like interspersing body dysmorphic thoughts while he's pulling splinters out of her butt was a no for me.

Aside from that, I was initially drawn into the story and romance between Hutch and Katie. I appreciated the direction Center was trying to go with Katie learning to love herself and be more open to adventure. But the third act break-up?? Conflict?? With Hutch's brother came out of NOWHERE and completely took me out of the story.

And don't even get me started on the rescue at the end.

In all honesty, I found Center's author's note at the end to be the best-written part of the whole book. She talked about her continued love for writing romance novels and how reading these novels is akin to falling in love with pieces of yourself, and I found glimpses of the author I loved who wrote The Rom-Commers. But The Love Haters was all over the place, disjointed, not humorous or fun in tone, and definitely not marketed correctly.