I received this book via the publisher St. Martin's Press. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.
The Love Haters by Katherine Center Published by St. Martin's Press on 2025-05-20
Length: 315 pages
Reviewing eARC from the publisher St. Martin's Press
Rating:
Reading Challenges: #NGEW2025, 2025 New Release Challenge
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It’s a thin line between love and love-hating in the newest laugh out loud, all the feels rom-com by New York Times bestselling author Katherine Center.
Katie Vaughn has been burned by love in the past—now she may be lighting her career on fire. She has two choices: wait to get laid off from her job as a video producer or, at her coworker Cole’s request, take a career-making gig profiling Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer in Key West. The catch? Katie’s not exactly qualified. She can’t swim—but pretends that she can.
Plus, Cole and Hutch are brothers. And they don’t get along. Next stop: paradise! But paradise is messier than it seems. As Katie gets entangled with Hutch (the most scientifically good-looking man she has ever seen . . . but maybe a bit of a love hater), along with his colorful aunt Rue and his rescue Great Dane, she gets trapped in a lie. Or two. Swim lessons, helicopter flights, conga lines, drinking contests, hurricanes, and stolen kisses ensue—along with chances to tell the truth, to face old fears, and to be truly brave at last.
Swim lessons, helicopter flights, conga lines, drinking contests, hurricanes, and stolen kisses ensue—along with chances to tell the truth, to face old fears, and to be truly brave at last.
The Love Haters by Katherine Center is a contemporary romance about a videographer and an AST for the Coast Guard. Katie’s job is on the chopping block when her superior asks her to take his position filming a Coast Guard promotion video. She will be on site with them for three to four weeks getting enough footage to make the video, going on rescues with them and touring their base. The twist is she will be filming her superior’s brother, a brother that he doesn’t get along with, who became famous after rescuing Jennifer Aniston’s dog. Easy, right?
What I really enjoy about Center’s books is how realistic her characters are. The situations they are in may be unbelievable, but the characters’ thoughts, feelings, and actions are true-to-life. Katie is fantastically flawed. She’s highly self-conscious after being cheated on by her fiancé and criticized about her weight in the tabloids. Even a year later, she is still struggling to be comfortable in her own body. Now she has to be in a swimming suit in front of a really hot man. Nightmare!
Hutch, Tom Hutcheson, is Katie’s superior, Cole’s, brother. Cole and Hutch haven’t spoken since an incident the year before (no spoilers here). Hutch pulled strings to get Cole the job he sent Katie on so that Cole would be home for a special day between them and their Aunt Rue. He’s understandably upset when he realizes Katie is doing the job. Despite this, he is kind to Katie. His dog, George Bailey, loves her too.
While the story is a romance about Hutch and Katie, Rue and her gal pals steal the show. I love Rue. She’s an older lady who owns the condo Katie is staying in. She also happens to be Cole and Hutch’s adoptive guardian. She’s spunky and fun and brings color to Katie’s world.
Overall, I really enjoyed The Love Haters. I liked that it was more than a romance. It faced head-on the issues of body image, insecurities, and grief over the loss of a parent. Center has quickly become a favorite author for me. Can’t wait to read more of her books. If you are a fan of contemporary romance or women’s fiction, I highly recommend it.
About Katherine Center
BookPage calls Katherine Center “the reigning queen of comfort reads.” She’s the New York Times bestselling author of ten novels, including How to Walk Away, Things You Save in a Fire, and her newest, Hello Stranger. Her summer 2024 book is The Rom-Commers—a connected story to her blockbuster hit, The Bodyguard. Katherine writes laugh-and-cry books: deep romantic comedies about how life knocks us down—and how we get back up. She’s been compared to both Jane Austen and Nora Ephron, and the Dallas Morning News calls her stories, “satisfying in the most soul-nourishing way.” The Netflix movie adaptation of her novel Happiness for Beginners—starring Ellie Kemper and Luke Grimes—just hit the Global Top Ten in 81 countries, and the movie of her novel The Lost Husband was a suprise Netflix sensation in 2020, hitting number one and landing in their top 25 movies for the year. Her books have made countless Best-Of lists—at Audible, BookBub, and Book of the Month, as well as Goodreads’ Best Books of the Year, and Amazon’s yearly Top 100 books. Emily Henry calls The Bodyguard “my perfect 10 of a book,” and Jodi Picoult says of Things You Save in a Fire, “Just read it, and thank me later.” Katherine lives in her hometown of Houston, Texas, with her husband, two almost-grown teenagers, and their fluffy-but-fierce dog.
I loved this as I enjoy all of her books. I call then life fiction because they are more well rounded than focused only on romance. This genre has a fuller picture of the character’s lives.
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That’s a good way to describe it. Her books are so good! I’m newer to her. I’ve only read this one and one that came out last year. Hoping to delve into her backlist.
I’ve got to give this author another try at some point. Great review!
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