Story for the Week
One of Corinne’s best friends used to tell us “black is the color of my soul.” Aly went through a phase in middle school where she wore a lot of black, almost exclusively black. She claimed it was her favorite color, and when I asked her why, that was when she told me black was the color of her soul.
I feel like it might be a middle-school girl thing. A few years later, when high-school Aly’s favorite color changed to yellow, Corinne went through a phase of wearing a lot of black. She parroted Aly’s comment, in jest, that black was the color of her soul. 🥷🏻
My favorite color has been green since I was a kid. I don’t know why. It just has been for as long as I remember. When I was about 10, my mom made some toys for my sister and brother and me. Mine was a frog because it was the only thing she could think to make in green. That led to a bit of an obsession with frogs. So I like green, and I like frogs. 🐸
Corinne’s favorite color has also been green since she was young. Not because I like green (I don’t think). When she was about six, my brother-in-law came to visit and stayed with us for about a month. Corinne adored her then 19-year-old uncle. He played video games with her. We went sledding. He teased her like an older sibling, and she snitched on him like a younger sibling. And he was a fan of the Green Bay Packers, who wear green and gold. So of course, she started liking the Green Bay Packers, much to her grandfather’s chagrin. I think it had something to do with Rodolfo, but she claimed it was because their uniforms are green.
Rodolfo lives with us now, and Corinne still adores her uncle. She doesn’t really care about the Packers anymore, but she does still like green.
When I mentioned to Aly that I was going to quote her in this post, her response was “oh GOD,” immediately followed by “let me know when it’s up so I can read.” And when I asked to confirm her favorite color is still yellow, she informed me that her favorite color now is…you guessed it…green, because it has all the best hues. She’s not wrong.
Katherine Center’s upcoming release talks a lot about color. One of the characters surrounds herself with a variety of colors and tells the main character: “It doesn’t matter what anybody thinks if you’re having fun. And all the fun is in color.”
Perhaps all the fun is also in GREEN….
Book Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5 Stars for The Love Haters by Katherine Center
320 pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: May 20, 2025
I received an advance copy of this title from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press.j
Publisher’s Description
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.
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Main Characters:
- Katie Vaughn – video producer for a mid-level production company in Texas, company director is on the verge of laying off a third of the staff and Katie is expected to be one of them, also creates her own “Day in the Life” videos of local heroes and posts them on YouTube, used to be engaged to now-famous singer/songwriter Lucas Banks
- Cole Hutcheson – Katie’s work superior who asks her to shoot a recruiting video for the U.S. Coast Guard in Key West as a way to keep her job, also suggests she could shoot a Day in the Life video while she’s there
- Beanie – Katie’s cousin and best friend, a personal shopper who moved from Texas to New York and FaceTimes with Katie every day
- Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson – Cole’s “perfect” older brother who works for the U.S. Coast Guard as a rescue swimmer in Key West, went viral after rescuing Jennifer Aniston’s dog and consequently received the nickname Pup Daddy, not interested in any kind of fame
- Aunt Rue – raised Hutch and Cole, owns a string of cabins that she rents out along the beach in Key West as well as a boutique clothing shop
If you’re in the mood for a fun romance, you can never go wrong with Katherine Center. Her upcoming new release is no exception.
Katie Vaughn works in video production, and the company she works for is on the verge of cutting jobs. Cole Hutcheson, in an effort to save Katie’s job (and his own), suggests her for a promotional shoot in Key West featuring U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmers. Cole doesn’t want to go himself because the “star” of the video is his brother Hutch, who Cole doesn’t get along with. So he volunteers Katie, who also produces her own YouTube Day in the Life mini documentaries of local heroes.
When Cole mentions that he almost gave the job to another colleague, he tells Katie that the reason he didn’t is because the other person can’t swim. Katie can’t swim either, but she figures Cole doesn’t need to know that because she really needs the job. Another facet of the job is that Katie will be staying in one of his Aunt Rue’s cabins, but she can’t tell Aunt Rue why she’s there. So many secrets…what could possibly go wrong?
There are so many past hardships that factor into the character development here that you really just have to read it for yourself. Suffice it to say that Katie has serious self-esteem issues and gets caught in the middle of family tensions because she is terrified of losing her job.
Romantic comedies have a formula. A couple meets, typically under unromantic circumstances, they get together, fall apart, and get back together. The joy of reading a rom-com is the journey to the happily ever after. One of my favorite things about Center’s writing is her ability to create funny and touching dialog that never fails to put a smile on my face. And her secondary characters perfectly round out her stories like Beanie and Aunt Rue.
When Katie describes Beanie’s support after Katie’s horrible breakup a year ago, she says, “…she took my digital scale—aka my closest friend—and wrapped it up in one of Lucas’s forgotten T-shirts, doused it all with lighter fluid, and set the whole thing on fire out by the street.” And when Katie is horrified at the idea of having to wear a swimsuit, Beanie makes her make a list of things she genuinely loves about her body, not things that other people would love about it. Everyone needs a Beanie in their lives.
Then there’s Aunt Rue who just feels like she is everyone’s happy place. She surrounds herself with color and fun and refuses to give in to negativity. When Katie arrives from the airport, Rue comes out to meet her with a hug. When she finds out that Katie’s luggage was delayed, she outfits Katie in colorful caftans and swimsuits, gets her fed and settled in her cabin, and insists on making Katie’s stay as fun and colorful as possible. When Katie worries about what other people are thinking about her (cue the self-esteem issues), Aunt Rue tells her, “It doesn’t matter what anybody thinks if you’re having fun. And all the fun is in color.”
This is a great story about being comfortable with yourself and appreciating the color in your life, all wrapped up in a romance whose happily ever after we all see coming. Set at the beach and just in time for summer….
This is one of my must-read authors, so I expected to enjoy it. Katherine Center did not disappoint. 🌞
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