Did Hosea love Gomer the prostitute?

Absolutely he did. If we inspect a couple of key words we will see that he had no choice in the matter. In the Hebrew language we see that the following verbal phrase was used twice in Hosea 3:

יַֽעֲזָב־אִ֔ישׁ אֶת־אָבִ֖יו

Current interpretations most directly indicate the phrase means “tender embrace”, or even “tight squeeze”. “Tender” or (יַֽעֲזָב־אִ֔ישׁ) was equally used to describe ripened fruit throughout the Middle East from the 4th century BC to about 500 AD. Ripened and tender fruit, or “sweetly ripe” as would apply to the sensuality of humans is the most reasonable 21st century interpretation for what the author meant by “tender” and “sweetly ripe embrace”.

A colleague of mine from Gary, Indiana once emphasized that “embrace” (אֶת־אָבִ֖יו) during the 1st century more closely meant “linked” or even “fused”. Of course this “linking” or “fusing” is self determined and can be terminated by either party. And yet the attractive and unrelenting force of the אֶת־אָבִ֖יו constantly tries to pull the bodies back together and to keep them together. It is not too unlike glue or any high viscosity sticky substance.

So then we have that the author was conveying the idea of, a “sweetly ripe glue like or sticky embrace”, or even “sticky sweet”.

It is more than easy to see how “sticky sweet” applies to the type of unbridled encounters unquestionably experienced between Hosea and the attractive and skillful Gomer. It is important to visualize Gomer how she likely looked. We are definitely not talking about Gomer as in “Gomer Plyle”; that would be a complete buzz kill. Think “Christina Aguilera” as Gomer but with the seductive demeanor she could only exhibit after a drink with Bill Cosby.

Finally, since our own pop cultural linguistics are evolving and an alarming rate, “sticky sweet”, is more than appropriate in our white urban Def Leppard suburbs. But our multicultural society should also offer something in the hip hop vernacular such as “get up all in that” which much more adequately represents the complete passion that Hosea must have felt watching Gomer strut her stuff towards him.

First off, we can't interpret "love" in the mushy Valentine's-Day sitcom sense we imagine today. "Love" here is a lot more significant and difficult than that.

Love in the Old Testament sense is not divorced from actions. Loving actions don't spring from love; they are an inherent aspect of love. As wax eagle points out in the comments above, sexual intercourse was the central way that a man loved a woman. There were other ways, such as giving gifts, favouring her sons, etc.

It seems to me that in this case it does not mean sexual intercourse. Let's look at the whole of chapter 3:

The Lord said to me again, ‘Go, love a woman who has a lover and is an adulteress, just as the Lord loves the people of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.’ So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer of barley and a measure of wine. And I said to her, ‘You must remain as mine for many days; you shall not play the who*e, you shall not have intercourse with a man, nor I with you.’ For the Israelites shall remain many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or teraphim. Afterwards the Israelites shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; they shall come in awe to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days. (Hosea 3, NRSV)

It seems to me that what Hosea did was a kind of love that didn't involve sex, but was about his redeeming her (i.e. buying her back) and dwelling with her and keeping her from playing the who*e.

Now, let's look at the book of Hosea and why this passage exists. The book was written as a denunciation of the cultic practices of the Northern Kingdom. It is an extended metaphor, where the prophet Hosea represents God and Gomer his wife represents the faithless people of Israel, who had been "playing the who*e" by worshipping foreign gods. (Whether Hosea and Gomer were real people is entirely beside the point.)

Hosea's loving action in buying back Gomer represents God's loving action in buying back Israel despite her unfaithfulness. So Hosea's purer, less physical way of loving his wife is a promise of a time when Israel and God would once again live together in a pure form of love.