When I read my first Katherine Center romcom, I realized that her novels are so much more than “just” about romance and falling in love, and her latest book, “The Love Haters,” exemplifies that concept perfectly. It’s certainly about two people falling in love, but it’s also about love in general—the not romantic kind—and it’s about learning to love ourselves. At times, especially in our picture-perfect social media culture, we feel that everything needs to be perfect, and how many of us are perfect?

All of us, if we dare 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 picture must be curated and accessorized. And Katie, the main character in this novel, has been burned twice by love. She fell in love with a musician who, when he became a big name, cheated on her. And before the breakup with Lucas, but after he was a star, online comments about Katie’s appearance were so cruel she lost control. She starved herself trying to fit some perfect ideal of what her body should look like. And after all that, post Lucas, post “love,” she gave up and “let herself go.” n

Katie is not looking for love at all 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 is going to 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 be filming the video, and she meets the guy who will be the star of the show.

Hutch is a guy who is already kind of a star. He rescued Jennifer Anniston’s dog, and the video 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 and they’ve been estranged. Hutch is trying to connect with his brother. 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 happy ever after. The title, “The Love Haters,” is explained, and in a sense, that description of love is universal. Hutch tells Katie that he is a love hater, and he explains. He says, “Love is the worst.” And 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. And much of what he says about why love hurts, and why he hates love, could be true of the love we feel for anyone, not just a romantic partner.

We love our significant others, our boyfriends or girlfriends. But we also love our children. We love our dogs and cats. We love our friends. And we do worry about them. Lose sleep over them. They upset our orderly life (especially children and dogs and cats). But still we love. Because we can’t help it – we are wired to love others.

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; 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 romcoms 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. A story that we really want to end well. And this friend? She’s self-deprecating, funny, and just like us! She has the same insecurities we do, the same worries about life, and she’s just really nice. Center’s voice in her narratives is always unique to her writing, and the folksy, friendly, funny person who is telling us the story has us captivated. Completely.

Also, there’s a dog in the story. A huge Great Dane rescue dog from a puppy mill. A Great Dane who thinks he’s a Chihuahua and who 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 big, goofy dog.

This review was first posted on Bookreporter.com.

This review is based on the final, hardcover book provided by St. Martin’s Press, the publisher, for review purposes.