"***[No spoilers, but PLEASE NOTE: I wrote the climactic scene of this book with the very specific help of an actual, active-duty US Coast Guard rescue swimmer. We sat at a table and he walked me, step by step, through *exactly* how that moment would happen. Dog and all.]

Now to the review:

Here we are again! I do this every time.

Every year, when one of my little books shows up all newborn and vulnerable on �ϻ�����Ӯ����, I feel a massive compulsion to jump in a write a review *of my own book.*

Is it tacky to do that?

I mean . . . probably?

My opinion can't exactly be unbiased.

But then I wonder if anybody's opinion is unbiased. And then I think about how everybody who's reviewing any of my books will have (hopefully) read it . . . but nobody on earth has read any book of mine as many times as I have. Or as with as much obsessive care.

And then, ultimately, every time, I decide to jump in and give these little cuties five VERY LOVING stars.

But this year, I'm thinking maybe it's not enough for me to say that *I* love this book.

Yes: reading, and re-reading The Love Haters has done countless nourishing things for me as a reader. But I'm not just writing these stories for me. I'm writing them for *all of us.*

Different writers are trying to do different things with every different book they write. But I'm always trying to do the same thing in different ways.

I'm always trying, no matter what the story is, to lift us all up a little, to make us laugh, to bring us comfort, to give us a kick-@$$ love story, and to pull meaning out of the chaos of life.

Every book, every time—that's what I'm shooting for.

Here's what The Love Haters does for me—and also what I truly hope it'll do for YOU.

• I hope it makes you swoon—and gets you caught up in that rising, hypnotic, incomparably delicious feeling of hopeful anticipation that you can only get from a really great love story.

• I hope it gives you characters you can believe in and root for.

• I hope it keeps you up too late. 😘

• I hope it takes you on an adventure that sweeps you away from everyday life for a while in the best, most soul-nourishing way.

• I hope it makes you laugh.

• I hope it makes you cry a little. Or at least get misty-eyed. Maybe it will, and maybe it won't, of course. Everybody's different. But there are two places in this book where my eyes fill with tears every single time. And my personal favorite kind of love story is one that cracks you open a little.

💖
If reading reviews on �ϻ�����Ӯ���� has taught me anything, it's that we are all collaborators with the author when we read a story. Our experiences are all a bit different based on how we helped the author bring that story to life in our heads.

I hope this one comes to life for you in ALL the best, most page-turning, most emotionally resonant ways. But even if it's only some of them . . . I'm happy. Something is more than nothing! I'll take it.

READ IF YOU LIKE:

• Rescue great danes
• The Florida keys
• U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmers
• Restored vintage cottages
• Houseboats
• Aviator sunglasses
• Swim lessons
• Stolen kisses
• Daring rescues
• Guys who try really, really hard to do the right thing


Thanks for being here! LOVE Y'ALL!!
XOXO"

"                                     ― ꪆৎ ― 4 stars 🍊 ⊹ ࣪ ˖

⊹ i began to realize that love wasn’t dead, but it wasn’t forever, either. it was something in between, a moment in time where two people existed at the exact same moment in the exact same place in the universe.

as someone whose greatest fear is death and who avoids the topic like the plague, i was always apprehensive about picking up this book. but the seven year slip by the same author is one of my favourite romances so i wasn't going to let my fright of death stop me from reading another great book by her. and great it was. although a bit insta-lovey (a pattern i seem to be finding in all the books ive read of hers so far), there was so much depth and love in ben and florence’s flourishing romance. ive never read quite a book like this- one that revolves around death and ghosts, things that are not conventionally believed to be woven into a romance story. but poston was able to beautifully narrate such topics, with heartfelt tenderness and gentleness. i was able to deeply resonate with our protagonist, florence, which made the story all the more meaningful to me. i was a bit nervous as to how such a unique storyline could end but to my surprise, i adored it with all my heart. "

"rtc! this was so good!"