When I read my first Katherine Center rom-com, I realized that her novels are about so much more than “just” romance and falling in love. Her latest book, THE LOVE HATERS, exemplifies this concept perfectly. It's certainly about two people falling in love, but it's also about love in general (not the romantic kind) and learning to love ourselves. At times, especially in our current social media culture, we feel that everything needs to be perfect. But how many of us truly are?

All of us, if we dare to admit it, feel that pressure. Can I post a picture of a book I reviewed if there are dirty dishes in the background? Of course not. The image must be curated and accessorized. And Katie Vaughn has been burned twice by love. She fell in love with a musician who, when he became a big name, cheated on her. Before the breakup with Lucas, but after he was a star, online comments about her appearance were so cruel that she lost control. She starved herself in an effort to fit some ideal of what her body should look like. After all that --- post-Lucas, post-“love” --- she gave up and “let herself go.”

Katie is not looking for love now. She's trying hard even to like herself, with the help of her cousin and best friend, Beanie. When she is given the job of creating a promotional video for the Coast Guard and realizes that she will have to learn to swim and --- gasp! --- wear a swimsuit, Beanie's self-help mode goes into overdrive. Katie travels to Key West, where she will film the video, and meets the guy who will be the star of the show.

"What sets Center's novels apart from other rom-coms is the narrative she creates. Her brilliant first-person voice feels like we are talking to a friend who is telling us a fascinating story that we really want to see end well."

Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson is already kind of a star. He rescued Jennifer Aniston's dog, and the clip went viral. He's handsome, humble, and a real-life hero when he dives into the ocean to save people (and dogs). But he's not looking for fame and glory; he actually shuns it. He's only doing the video because he thought his brother, Cole, would be the one filming it. They’ve been estranged, and Hutch is trying to connect with him. So he's surprised when Katie shows up instead of Cole.

There's a lot of prevarication as well as comedic twists that put wrinkles in Katie and Hutch's love story. But Center's perspicacious comments about the human condition are what will stay with you long after the happily ever after. The book’s title is explained, and in a sense, that description of love is universal. Hutch tells Katie that he is a love hater, proclaiming, “Love is the worst.” He goes on to share what love makes us do: it upsets our orderly life, it haunts us and worries us, it makes us say “yes” when we want to say “no,” it keeps us up all night with worry. Much of what he says about why love hurts and why he hates it could be true of the love we feel for anyone, not just a romantic partner.

Center also focuses on another kind of love that's really easy to fail at: loving ourselves. We beat ourselves up over many issues. It might be that we haven't succeeded at what we wanted; our bodies don't look the way we want them to look; we don't fulfill the expectations we find on social media in terms of the size of our house and its furnishings. There's so much we can find fault with, just as Katie did at the start of the story.

But the message Center is sending, loud and clear, is that it's okay to “let go.” In fact, letting go of the expectations of others and accepting ourselves for who we are is essential to being happy. In the Author's Note, she offers advice about falling in love --- whether it's with yourself or with someone else: “We can train our own eyes to look with kindness, and pay attention to what's beautiful, and focus on what's right instead of what's wrong. That's how you fall in love --- and stay in love --- with anyone, including yourself: see the best in that person and enjoy the hell out of it as often as you can.”

What sets Center's novels apart from other rom-coms is the narrative she creates. Her brilliant first-person voice feels like we are talking to a friend who is telling us a fascinating story that we really want to see end well. And this friend? She's self-deprecating, funny and just like us, with the same insecurities and worries about life that we have. Center's voice is always unique to her writing, and the folksy, friendly person who is telling us the story has us captivated completely.

Also, there's a dog in THE LOVE HATERS: a huge Great Dane rescue from a puppy mill who thinks he's a Chihuahua and has fallen in love with Katie. You'll love George Bailey (the dog), but you'll love Katie more. And you'll be rooting for her throughout this madcap romp replete with Coast Guard heroes, helicopters, daring rescues, colorful Key West clothing, blue skies, a hurricane, mixed signals, love at first sight, and a goofy dog.