Take a photo of a barcode or cover
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
If Katherine Center writes it Iβm reading it! She always delivers a funny but heartfelt romance and this was no exception. I loved Katie and Hutch, the Coast Guard angle, small town Key West, the side characters (not you, Cole), and of course the big lovebug Great Dane, George Bailey. Katieβs self-love issues are a large theme in the book. A bit much at times for me but overall I really enjoyed this read! Grab it for your summer TBR!!
βπππ ππ πͺπ π¦ ππππ:
πΊ tropical setting
βοΈ found family
π forced proximity
πΊ workplace romance
βοΈ overcoming fears
π learning to love yourself
πΊ summer/beach reads
βοΈ amazing author notes
Thank you St. Martins Press, NetGalley and Katherine Center for the digital advanced copy!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Dysphoria
Minor: Car accident, Death of parent
DNF at 22%. I've never read Katherine Center before, but she is so highly recommended by my friends that I was excited to read this one. I was unpleasantly surprised when I started reading and realized that the primary conflict for the FMC of this rom-com? is her body image issues and history of an eating disorder. There is no mention of this in the summary of the book or the blurb. I have no problem reading heavier material and difficult topics, but not packaged as a light-hearted, forced proximity, summer romance. I was really turned off by a prolonged scene where the FMC has an internal spaghetti-western style "standoff" with her bathing suit because it's the first one she's contemplated trying on since middle school. She's crippled by her anxiety and negative thoughts, which her best friend laughs off as being a "phobia" she needs to get over by using exposure therapy techniques. I mean, why would anyone think such a situation is funny, and should be played for laughs? There are no TW/CW either in the e-ARC I received.
Thank you SMP for the opportunity to read this novel prior to release. I was not compensated in any way, and all of my opinions are my own.
Thank you SMP for the opportunity to read this novel prior to release. I was not compensated in any way, and all of my opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Dysphoria
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-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
This was so much fun! The perfect summer/beach read, with plenty of funny moments throughout, and a charming cast of characters!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Car accident, Dysphoria
Moderate: Cursing, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Vomit, Grief, Alcohol, Sexual harassment
adventurous
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Dysphoria
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This story is about a woman who works for a video production company and is assigned a job filming a promotional video for a coast guard search and recuse company with a rescue guy who is basically superman. They have a whole dynamic
Katherine Center is one of my absolute favorite authors and I was so excited to be approved for this ARC. I usually rate her books 4 or 5 stars and eagerly await the release of every new one. She is an expert on writing relatable female characters, funny circumstances and just enough adrenaline to have you spellbound and she absolutely nails that with this book, like all the others of hers I've read. There was an early moment where the romantic lead has to remove splinters from her butt that had me literally laughing out loud.
The core of the story is great, unfortunately this one missed the mark for me for a few reasons that I found too distracting to get over:
1. Huge focus on weight/body image from the female main character. It came up so many times and felt like a real focus of the book and I don't find that to be an enjoyable topic to read about, especially when it was clear that this woman was super attractive and in good shape. I understand that the whole thing is that that's what dysmorphia is, but it was just not what I signed up for and is not referenced at all in any of the blurbs.
2. Secondary female character who is a successful woman in her 40s is an offensive stereotype of an overly sexualized boss woman/"cougar" with no other salient characteristics. At first I thought this was going to be something where a lesson was learned about not judging or stereotyping people. Nope! That was just this character's arc. At least she isn't punished for this, but it felt like a huge miss and was also very distracting for me.
Ultimately I still love Katherine Center and have read 8 of her other books very enthusiastically, I'll keep reading everything she writes, but this one was not it for me.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advance reading copy for an unbiased review.
Katherine Center is one of my absolute favorite authors and I was so excited to be approved for this ARC. I usually rate her books 4 or 5 stars and eagerly await the release of every new one. She is an expert on writing relatable female characters, funny circumstances and just enough adrenaline to have you spellbound and she absolutely nails that with this book, like all the others of hers I've read. There was an early moment where the romantic lead has to remove splinters from her butt that had me literally laughing out loud.
The core of the story is great, unfortunately this one missed the mark for me for a few reasons that I found too distracting to get over:
1. Huge focus on weight/body image from the female main character. It came up so many times and felt like a real focus of the book and I don't find that to be an enjoyable topic to read about, especially when it was clear that this woman was super attractive and in good shape. I understand that the whole thing is that that's what dysmorphia is, but it was just not what I signed up for and is not referenced at all in any of the blurbs.
2. Secondary female character who is a successful woman in her 40s is an offensive stereotype of an overly sexualized boss woman/"cougar" with no other salient characteristics. At first I thought this was going to be something where a lesson was learned about not judging or stereotyping people. Nope! That was just this character's arc. At least she isn't punished for this, but it felt like a huge miss and was also very distracting for me.
Ultimately I still love Katherine Center and have read 8 of her other books very enthusiastically, I'll keep reading everything she writes, but this one was not it for me.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advance reading copy for an unbiased review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming
Moderate: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Car accident, Death of parent, Dysphoria
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. Martinβs 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.
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
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Eating disorder, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, Dysphoria
Moderate: Chronic illness, Infidelity, Misogyny, Blood, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail