Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - The Love Haters: A Novel

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The Love Haters: A Novel by Katherine Center

40 reviews

kelly_e's review against another edition

1.5

funny relaxing medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Title: The Love Haters
Author: Katherine Center
Genre: Romance
Rating: 1.50
Pub Date: May 20, 2025

I received complimentary eARC and ALCs from St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted

T H R E E • W O R D S

Erratic • Sappy • Beachy

📖 S Y N O P S I S

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 fakes it that she can.

Plus: Cole is Hutch’s brother. 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 also 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.

💭 T H O U G H T S

After reading Katherine Center's 2024 release, The Rom-Commers, I officially broke up with her books. While I enjoyed her earliest work, her writing style has evolved (starting with The Bodyguard to be more comedic than romantic and it no longer includes the emotional depth I crave in a romance novel. And yet, here I am having finished The Love Haters and feeling exactly how I felt last year when I swore off reading her new releases.

It's never a good thing when I prefer the side characters to the mains in any romance novel. Aunt Rue was an absolute delight, and I honestly would have preferred an entire book dedicated to her and her story. Then there is George Bailey, Hutch's rescue dog, need I say more. While I cannot fault Hutch's character either, I simply wish the story would have unfolded from his POV because I really didn't like Katie's character.

Patti Murin, as a narrator, really brings the characters to life and adds personality to each one. The pacing and tone were well executed and I do think it was is an entertaining audio listen. I cannot fault her because she is simply narrating the story she was given.

And that is where the good ends.

I didn't like the story all that much. There are so many outlandish situations that nothing felt real. The romance itself felt superficial (could she have mentioned his physical appearance more?) and it lacked any real chemistry.

Center has tried to check too many boxes in one book and as a result, the story suffers greatly. The lack of focus and endless list of tropes makes everything feel forced. Honestly, pick a lane and stick to it, there will be other books. She's also trying too hard to be witty and to come up with the most over-the-top moments that aren't particularly funny or entertaining, but rather quite ridiculous.

I appreciated the inclusion of body image and self-confidence issues, however, it also felt somehow shollow and forced rather than giving the story the emotional depth I suspect it was intended to. This isn't the first time I have said this about a Center book, but it simply feels like she includes these serious topics to tick the rep box rather than really researching whatever topic it is she's including. What Katie is dealing with is a serious mental illness and no where in the story is there talk of treatment or ways in which is dealing with it. In fact, there's no real resolution and it seems to disappear with all of Hutch's compliments, etc., which just isn't realistic.

I have no doubt The Love Haters will be a hit with many readers over the summer months, it just really didn't work for me. I certainly appreciate the themes of self-love and acceptance within the narrative, yet it's painfully obvious Center's humour (or lack there of) and current writing style don't jive with my tastes. I swore off picking up Center's books after reading 2024's release, and here I am again doing the same. I think it's safe to say, I've learned my lesson.

📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• deception
• furry friends
• forced proximity

⚠️ CW: body shaming, eating disorder, fatphobia, body dysmorphia, mental illness, bullying, death, death of parent, grief, toxic relationship, car accident, infidelity, alcohol, alcoholism, vomit, terminal illness

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Isn't that how it always is? The thing you're afraid of is never the thing you should be."

Content Warnings

lyssaloo92's review against another edition

3.0

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book!
This one took me a minute to get into and I wasn’t sure that I was going to enjoy it. Somewhere along the way I was able to sink in. It’s not my favorite Katherine Center book and, based on the description, I was hoping it might be!

Some of the storylines weren’t the most believable, so if you’re someone who doesn’t enjoy that in your books - this isn’t the one for you. If you are open to whatever a fiction book might bring you, then it’s a pretty wholesome story.

It does explore some complex family trauma and personal struggles with body image and self-esteem. I personally felt as though that was resolved in an unsatisfactory way and it felt very sudden. Beanie’s list response also felt flippant. It gave off “it’s that easy” vibes and seemed insensitive for the topic at hand.

Overall it was a decent read with fun characters that you found yourself rooting for.

Content Warnings

jphillips87's review against another edition

3.5

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book focuses on a documentary filmmaker and a coast guard rescuer who are forced to work together through a series of lies. Naturally, sparks begin to fly early on in their relationship. This book was my first Katherine Center even though I have others on my TBR and I flew through it in 24 hours.

I enjoyed both main characters but the side characters living at the "motel" (and of course the dog) really added to the story. I found the first half a bit predictable (but in the best way) as there is something comforting about romances that follow an established pattern. However that definitely changed later in the book with some unanticipated twists.

I really enjoyed the first 50% of the book but the next 25% was a bit of a struggle. I didn't enjoy the brothers' relationship and found a couple scenes with them could have been handled differently or excluded, especially when it came to peer pressure.

Overall none of my complaints stopped me from finishing the book on the same day.. If you are someone who reads trigger warnings I would recommend checking them out before picking it up as the book touches on some topics that could be triggering.

Content Warnings

juanat77's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I’ve read all but one of Katherine Center’s books and I have to say this is my absolute favorite! I appreciate that she writes closed door romm-comms. It’s rare to find a solid closed door heartfelt funny romance novel.

I feel like Center’s writing has really evolved. The Love Haters tackles multiple serious issues as her previous novels while still keeping true to her humor and lightheartedness and of course pulling at your heartstrings.

This particular story focused on self love which, seriously, we can all use more of. The FMC, Katie, is so critical of her body she struggles with naming a body part she loves or even finds beautiful. She is “scared” of wearing swimsuits and covers her body as much as she can. Her wardrobe consists of black clothing to draw the attention away from herself and hide. She meets a woman named Rue who is a free spirit, showers Katie with colorful clothing and shows her how to enjoy life. There is also a male love interest, Hutch, who appreciates Katie and helps her with her self discovery.

Katie is such a relatable character with the dark wardrobe and the constant struggle of loving and accepting herself which is difficult due to the criticism woman experience on their figures daily. Center seamlessly weaves the combination of self discovery and humor. I love that the story wasn’t focused on Katie changing her body but rather loving it.

4.5 stars!!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you NetGalley, Katherine Center and St Martins Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Content Warnings

mcstressy's review against another edition

2.25

lighthearted reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

LIKED:

The body dysmorphia and self-love aspects of this book are the most successful in my opinion. I wish that it had a bit more grounding as the story progresses, but it made the character relatable to me as someone who has similar issues. I liked Beanie having Katie name small parts of herself that she loves and the silliness but also realness of it all. ..but then the cover of this book has Katie look teeny tiny and perfect and I’m frustrated. I know this is in ‘Liked’, so I won’t be too negative about it, but it was flawed, despite being the strongest part.
I’m not from the Keys, but this book did make me want to go to the Florida Keys. Except the last 10%, I’m good not being there for that. But that section of the book was by far the most entertaining.
I generally liked George Bailey, but omg the name. The amount of times I read the full name ‘George Bailey’ was exhausting. But I did like how George Bailey fit into the overall story and the ultimate climax.
Rue was great and I wish she was in the book more, honestly. She was in it a bit, but the amount of love that Katie has for her in the end feels like it needed another chapter or two.
I like the title of this book, it’s fun. I think the cover is also pretty fun, and definitely stronger than her last cover (as it tells more of a story)

LAMENTED:

There is FAR too many things happening in this book. She’s doing the “Day in the Life”, Swim lessons, Learning to love herself, The Coast Guard stuff, The middle of the book fake dating thing (ugh), The tragic family backstories, The famous ex-boyfriend, and more. It was exhausting and never gave time to the characters that they deserved, really. I loved The Romcommers and felt that Center really nailed the balance between Romance and Women’s Fiction, but that was not nearly as successful here.
Her having a famous ex-boyfriend is unnecessary. It added nothing. And that’s disappointing.
The side characters were unpleasant. Beanie was kind of a terrible friend in many ways. And Cole?? I hate that man. I know we’re not really supposed to like him, but what a petulant ass. Ugh.
…I may get hate for this but I found Hutch really boring. I don’t really understand why they like each other besides lusting after each other, well, Katie lusting after him and then him just falling for her for no real reason? I don’t know. I felt very underwhelmed by the romance, which was very disappointing.
Oh boy. The scene in the bar with the darts is just atrocious. It is deeply uncomfortable and I do not understand why it is necessary. I mean the whole Cole/faking date bit is just hugely frustrating and a weird thing to drop at over 50% of the way into the book. That should have been earlier and the kiss bet removed entirely.

LONGED FOR:

More swim lessons? I thought there would be way more swim lessons and I was left disappointed
REMOVE the weird kiss bet. None of that.
Less of the military industrial complex but that’s me.

Will I read the next one? : Quite possibly. As mentioned, I really liked The Romcommers, and with Katherine Center’s intensive backlog, I suspect this one is just not for me where others may be.

*Thank you to SMP & NetGalley for providing this ARC!

Content Warnings

shawniejo's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous challenging emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Content Warnings

demi_sewell's review against another edition

5.0

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley, so thank you!! I flew through this book very quickly and loved all the parts of it! It's a story about how Katie Vaughn, who is a video producer, is thrown into a situation by a colleague she doesn't really like, and her job is on the line. Cue having to go to Key West and one 🔥 Coast Guard hottie who happens to also be a hero, with his own story. There are a gaggle of other characters, but I especially liked seeing how Rue fit into the brothers' dynamic and how she supported Katie through her challenges. Katie's vulnerability and strength as she faced her fears were so well-written. Such a fun, feel-good rom-com with the perfect amount of heart and heat. Highly recommend if you need a light and happy read! 🥰📖

Content Warnings

jefferz's review against another edition

4.0

funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Swimming lessons, a hot coast guard rescuer, Key West charm, plus a 160 lb great dane? The Love Haters by Katherine Center has a recipe of elements perfect for a sweet and bubbly summer cocktail of a read. Featuring a fun and light-hearted plot with a bit of added substance from heavier topics like body image and public scrutiny, The Love Haters delivers a solid romcom experience, despite being a bit formulaic and predictable. Although I had a few minor nitpicks regarding the overall pacing and how the novel executed some of its more dramatic moments, I still found it very entertaining and worth reading.

Mixing the tropes of a fish out of water (or in this case, surrounded by water) with the disheartened and romance skeptic, Katie’s story is one that’s both fun to read as well as one that’s quite relatable. Apart from the main plot involving Katie trying to produce a promotional film featuring an unwilling real-life hero in an effort to keep her job, there’s a secondary storyline involving body image and self-acceptance. While the former serves as the main hook, it’s the latter that I found pleasantly surprising and effective. While the two storylines seemingly have little to do with each other on paper, they both gradually begin to play off and eventually compliment each other, providing great character development as Katie discovers her own self worth next to the unsmiling yet perfect Hutch. Rather than merely settling with just being funny, Katie’s time in Key West quickly becomes a journey to self-appreciation and love, adding additional intention and depth to the story, albeit executed in a casual manner without the ambition or finesse to make it a standout feature. I went into The Love Haters having previously read Center's The Bodyguard which I considered to be an excellent romcom, and unsurprisingly got a few good laughs in this book as well, though the humor isn’t quite as funny here (Hannah is a more amusing and entertaining MC). However when compared, The Love Hater’s back-half definitely had a bit more substance while The Bodyguard was mostly just a good fun time.

Immediately obvious from the get-go, one of The Love Haters’ highlights is the sunny and pastel-tinted portrayal of Key West and its far-removed, relaxed feel. Despite only one sentence of the synopsis advertising the story’s setting (along with the Coast Guard, another element incorporated well), I found Center’s choice of Key West to not only be a great narrative choice given its proximity to NAS Key West, but also for flavor and quite literally extra color. Having lived in “paradise” for the majority of my life, I’ve become accustomed and quite tired of how generic and all-encompassing tropical vacation locations like Key West are often portrayed in media. In The Love Haters however, Center’s approach and descriptions of Key West goes much further than what I was expecting for the story. Obviously romanticized for the feel-good nature of the novel and genre, I consistently found the descriptions and movements around the island to feel truly lived-in and well-researched, particularly Key West’s signature building style and distinctive colorful fashion. While not necessarily being the most lyrical or poetically beautiful descriptions I’ve read, Center captures the lifestyle and image of the island perfectly and many important plot elements simply could not work without the Key West location and warm portrayal.

Another aspect of The Love Haters that I enjoyed was the portrayal and inclusion of the Coast Guard rescue operation that was cleverly integrated into Katie and Hutch’s story. Although it provided a lot of great slapstick comedic material and a narrative reason for pairing them off outside of “work”, I was impressed how Center was able to connect the military angle back to Katie’s personal demons. Aside from the obvious and overdone inability to swim element (providing plenty of Hutch eye candy scenes), I found a particular rescue helicopter flight protocol requirement very cleverly utilized for Katie’s self image storyline, particularly it’s takeaway message. While stereotypical, Hutch’s Coast Guard background also worked in the story’s favor as an understandable layer to his resistance to initial attraction, rather than merely being another generic standoffish aloof love interest. And while completely predictable and almost obligatory for the genre, the rescue motif near the conclusion also provides excellent romance opportunities if you know what I mean.

While I enjoyed reading the novel which went by very fast, upon completion I felt that pacing and the overall focus of the story to be a little misplaced. While the first two thirds of the story was entertaining enough and Katie/Hutch had good chemistry, it mostly felt like fun in the sun slapstick fluff. That may seem like an odd thing to point out considering some of Center’s other novels mostly consist of quality, yet still slapstick content. However, once the novel hits the 60% mark, the real meat of Katie’s character story begins. The final third of the story abruptly shifts the tone and focus, which felt quite jarring compared to how relaxed the rest of the story felt. Additionally, the “lies” highlighted in the book’s synopsis and character relationships honestly started to feel quite chaotic, particularly nearly all of Katie’s coworker Cole’s character motivations and the conflict with his older brother Hutch. Their strained relationship, uncomfortable reunion, and all the conflict that follows felt quite manufactured and unusually forced due to a lack of foreshadowing or context clues (the exact same note I had with the love interest and familial discourse featured in The Bodyguard). The deceptions and plot progressions felt progressively more over the top, not to mention rushed and out of left field. To Center’s credit, the progressions were unexpectedly twisting and certainly amped up the story, invoking the worst thing that can happen trend. I fully believe that the plot and developments in the back of the story could’ve completely worked if more of Hutch/Cole/Rue’s backstories were incorporated into the first half of the story instead of revealing all of the cards in the moment, or if this narrative shift occurred far earlier in the story. Its current placement causes the chapters before it to feel like wasted pages underutilized while everything afterwards rushed and excessive.

While Katie is given good character growth potential which culminates in a dramatic and unexpected ordeal with Hutch’s great dane George Bailey (while the good, it could’ve been great with more time), Hutch on the other hand didn’t feel as developed. While there’s a lot of interest revolving around his Coast Guard career and image-breaking moments with his dog and Rue’s gal pals, I was a bit disappointed that his character ultimately ended up simply being Mr. Perfect and morally flawless. The novel’s entire setup revolves around the world finding him attractive and perfect after a rescue video he’s in goes viral (much to the ire of Cole), but I was surprised that the story didn’t actually capitalize or twist that public image for narrative purposes and greater depth. While that’s slightly to be expected given the story’s feel-good tone and genre, this is again another point of criticism I had with The Bodyguard and its love interest Jack Stapleton; both male love interests felt too perfect and by extension, bland and forgettable.

The side characters are another area that I felt hindered the novel’s enjoyment and the author’s ambition to be more than just a romcom (see Center’s extended author notes). While I found Rue to be lovely, decently developed, and having great character moments with Katie and her worries, Katie’s relative and friend Beanie (forgot what their relation was, perhaps a sign of what little impression she left) felt noisy and distracting to the story. Their girl talk gossipy phone calls about Katie’s time in Key West constantly felt like interruptions to the flow of the story and didn’t feel like they added anything of value. I realize how this sounds given I’m a male reader criticizing gal pal banter, however other reviews by female readers also share similar opinions of Beanie and her phone calls. Beanie’s narrative purpose in the story was clearly intended to be a foil to Katie’s self-image doubts and to help her reframe her opinion of herself, but the execution of their conversations felt underwhelming and lacking depth, given the weight of the topic. This is made all the more noticeable when Katie finally has her “ah-hah!” moments which feel less than satisfying when her support from Beanie all feels so trite. I almost would’ve preferred if Beanie was axed completely and her contributions to Katie’s growth were left solely to Rue, or less predictably, maybe even Katie’s boss Sullivan (the one who may fire her constantly). There’s a perfect opportunity near the end of the story where Katie and Sullivan have a brief heart to heart that could’ve strengthened both Sullivan’s character and the story considerably had it been fleshed out more. The same could be said about Cole whose lies and motivations felt all over the place. While the plot developments and conflict technically make sense on paper, the actual execution and my reaction to them while reading ranged from bafflement to confused amusement due to the lack of setup. The ARC version obviously may be different from the actual published version, but the ebook copy is not very long and certainly could’ve been longer if it allowed greater development to make Cole’s actions more believable. As it currently is, Cole becomes the scapegoat for every plot twist that feels like a narrative stretch under the guise of “I had to do it for you to keep your job”. The story falls back on this explanation far too many times, particularly since the initial reason for Katie taking on the Key West job in the first place is for that same repetitive reason.

Despite some concerns about the pacing and side characters, I found The Love Haters to still be an entertaining read and an above average romance novel that’s awfully close to being an excellent one. The vibe and content is very much on-brand for what readers have come to expect from Katherine Center’s novels. The vibrant Key West setting and constant swimming-related events paired with a sexy tall Coast Guard also makes it a perfect summer vacation read, likely intentional given its announced late May publication date (also on-brand for me reading the summer story in Winter much like my Xmas themed reads in July). Overall, The Love Haters is a very easy book to pick-up and is a safe recommendation for most romance or chick lit readers.

Content Warnings

treesreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Check back later, I will post my full review closer to the release date!

Pub Date: 05/20/2025

Content Warnings

oxfordcommas91's review against another edition

3.0

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
As a fan of Katherine Center, I'm sad I didn't connect more with The Love Haters. (I think others on here & other reviewing sites have already pointed out that the title of this book is odd at best and doesn't really align with the content). I kept looking for the spark that I usually feel in reading a romcom and I unfortunately have to say that I didn't feel it in this book. Her characters usually feel rich and emotional but they fell flat for me.
The basic synopsis is that our female main character, Katie, is a videographer worried about the latest round of layoffs at her firm. She's given an opportunity that she thinks may hold a layoff at bay - taking an assignment to shadow a U.S. Coast guard rescue diver in Key West, FL even though she, herself, cannot swim and is slightly terrified of anything water related. She meets Hutch and he's well... he's perfect. He's attractive and athletic and though a bit brooding by nature, he thinks Katie is pretty and by the second day he's giving her swimming lessons. As with any other Center novel, though, there's a lot more than is apparent from the surface. Which is when things get a little bit... sideways for me.
Katie and Hutch are both beautiful people who don't believe they're beautiful, so they need a quirky character trait. Katie unfortunately gets my least favorite character trait to convey complexity - body image issues that have been so well honed over the years that she nearly has a panic attack looking at a bathing suit. If you have a history of disordered eating, I imagine this novel would be fairly traumatizing to read, so please heed that content warning. Hutch, while a seeming caring, chill guy, reads hot and cold for no apparent reason all the time.
I really thought I understood the plot of this one until the last 25% - where it escalates into something that felt out of a different novel entirely. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing so much as that it felt completely out of left field and disconnected from what we'd been reading for much of the book.
Writ large, I was entertained (there was plenty of banter and moments of character growth and I did learn a lot about the coast guard) but it felt a little loose and sloppy for Katherine Center, who I consider up there with the best romcom authors. The Rom-Commers was one of my favorite romance novels of 2024, but this book - and these characters - missed some of the magic.

Content Warnings

More...