This romcom is full of heart. It has a coast guard rescuer who is hot, hot, hot plus a filmmaker who is sent to Key West to film him in action. I enjoyed the laughs and romance–other than a miscommunication midway through the story, this was an entertaining read.

Katie works for a company that makes corporate videos. She hears rumors there could be layoffs so when Cole, her superior, asks if she would film a promo for the Coast Guard in Key West, Florida, she jumps at the chance. The Coast Guard wants a recruiting video showing how exciting the job is. The only problem for Katie are the requirements. She needs to know how to swim plus she’ll have to be strapped into a helicopter simulator and flipped upside down. When Cole asks if she is fine with it, she says yes and tells herself she can figure it out later.

The guy she will be profiling is Hutch and he’s a genuine hero. He rescued a golden retriever by being lowered down a cliff and then it turned out to be Jennifer Aniston’s dog. Hutch refused to do interviews until now. (He said he wasn’t a hero, just doing his job.) But he agreed to do it if Cole’s company films it. But Cole doesn’t want to go, it turns out he and Hutch don’t get along – they are brothers and Cole is holding a grudge about something in their past! He says Hutch is perfect, always serious and never has fun – just works out, drinks water, eats healthy and rescues people and hasn’t dated anyone in a year because he hates love!

Katie thinks she might hate love too! She found love exhausting and disappointing and she’s only twenty-six! She was jilted a year ago by her fiancé, Lucas, who is now a famous musician. Lucas became TikTok famous overnight and he went on tour. But Katie didn’t want to leave her job to be a roadie so she stayed behind. When she went to an award show with him, the internet attacked her for looking frumpy. So, she started a new diet and lost weight but she was cranky and hungry for a year. She and Lucas split up when she found out he cheated on her and she decided to scrap the diet and begin a journey of self-love and body positivity. Her overcoming her body issues are a big part of the story and my heart went out to her.

Cole arranges for Katie to stay with his Aunt Rue in Key West and Rue and her Gals add a lot of laughs to the story. She offers to find someone to teach Katie swim lessons and of course it turns out to be Hutch, who also brings along his big, loveable dog.

My main quibble with the story was the big miscommunication that kept them apart for a little too long. But I loved watching Katie and Hutch’s escapades together. We see them share a few hot kisses but this is a closed-door romance.

I loved all of the kindness and joy we see in this story with Katie, Hutch and their found family. I was inspired by Katie’s journey of overcoming body image issues and I think readers that enjoy this theme along with a romance in a beautiful beach town will find joy in The Love Haters.