contemporary romance, rom-com, audiobook
The Love Haters is my second book by Katherine Center and as much as I was looking forward to it, something about it didn't land right with me which is interesting because there is a lot I liked about it.
The Love Haters is about a documentarian, Katie, who is assigned to make a promotional video about the Coast Guard, specifically focused on rescue swimmer Hutch - who is internet famous for saving Jennifer Anniston's dog (yes, that's the story they're going with). Other characters include Katie's cousin and confident, Beanie; Hutch's brother, Cole, who also happens to be Katie's boss who gave her the assignment; their Aunt Rue, and her friends, known as "the Gals;" a great dane named George Bailey and some other Coast Guard side characters who were never important enough for me to learn their names.
The thing is, I liked and wanted to cheer for all the characters (except Cole, he's a jerk from start to finish), and I still couldn't bring myself to really like this book. I was constantly frustrated with Katie's negative self-talk and the inability of the characters to actually TALK to one another. As much as I loved Rue and the gals, I just couldn't forgive that everything with Katie was one step forward three steps back. Was it realistic? Maybe. Was it fun to read? No. Absolutely not. Especially not in a book billed as a rom-com.
There are some great books out there about overcoming insecurities and mental health challenges; this isn't one of them. While Katie's past experiences with therapy are discussed, it's clear she still has some work to do and it would have been a kindness if at least one character had said, "hey, maybe you should talk to someone" instead of trying to offer dime-store advice (looking at you Beanie).
I was particularly angry about some of the situations Katie is put in during the book. She is put in a terrible situation without her knowledge and I nearly stopped reading at that point, but decided to skim through some of it just to get to the promised happily-ever-after.
I read the book and listened to the audiobook, narrated by the wonderful Patti Murin, who has narrated a few audiobooks I've listened to recently AND I just realized is a bunch of Hallmark movies (my 2025 obsession - who knew?). As always, she did a fantastic job with the variety of characters and voices.
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