2.5 stars

Penelope and Neil are rival Native authors, both in writing slumps due to recent life events. When a mutual friend invites them to a writer’s retreat in Scotland, they both jump at the chance, not knowing the other is attending.

The premise of the story held so much promise, but sadly it just fell flat. I was really hoping for more horror and not so much cliche statements and actions from these characters. Disappointing.

This enemies to lovers romance features a pair of writers who had a very public falling out. They attend a 4-person writer's retreat at a haunted castle, and sparks and ghosts ensue. There are several spicy sex scenes, some very spooky moments, and a satisfying conclusion.

I was honestly bored and was unable to finish this book. I am unable to give it a fair review since I didn’t even make it halfway through before I had to put it down.

I actually really enjoyed this. The characters were cute and so was the banter. I like the romance with a little bit of the horror in it.

However, i have heard some not so great things about this author.

Rival authors end up on a writing retreat in a haunted Edinburgh castle.

While I’m semi-familiar of the controversy surrounding this author, I can’t help but wonder, did she foreshadow her own undoing? She describes the FMC as “too white” and “not Native enough”…Who decided to investigate this poor author under the microscope? Anyway, regardless of the controversy surrounding, I had an ARC and felt an obligation to eventually read it. To be honest, it wasn’t half bad, but it also wasn’t memorable. It was definitely a rocky start with a public physical assault that resulted in blood. I don’t typically read contemporary with this kind of assault but continued through. She does gaslighting the poor MMC but it seems to be a projection of her own insecurities which gave it a pretty realistic dynamic when it comes to some couples not communicating their actual feelings.
The side story of the haunted castle and ghost they are trying to figure out why is haunting them was cute but definitely a side story that was resolved rather quickly by the end.
Cute but forgettable.

If I Stopped Haunting You is a fun story about struggling writers, and sworn enemies, Pen and Neil getting tricked into spending a week together in a Scottish Castle for a writing retreat. Things start to heat up when the myths of a haunting turn out to be real, and Pen an Neil have a dangerous ghost on their hands. The book definitely has spice (more on that later), and more serious tones as well. The author touches on many struggles BIPOC authors face in the publishing industry as well as cultural pressures of the Native community, and I appreciated this commentary. When it comes to the spice, I will say some of it was weirdly timed. The culmination of the ghost story was also a little strange. Overall, a decent spooky season read.

A great Halloween read, or perfect to pick up any time of the year really. It's funny and lighthearted, a great choice when you need to unwind.

I had high hopes for If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens, but it ultimately disappointed. The blend of horror and romance lacked spark, with flat ghostly scares and a rushed enemies-to-lovers arc between Neil and Penelope. Their relationship jumped from hostile to intimate without real depth, and the numerous awkwardly written sex scenes didn’t help. Penelope, in particular, came off as manipulative and borderline abusive, making it hard to root for her. The haunted castle trope felt tired, and plot inconsistencies made the story feel disjointed. Sadly, this one just didn’t work for me.

If I Stopped Haunting You was a disappointment to me unfortunately. I wanted more ghosts, but it didn't really get paranormal until the end. Plus, the banter between Pen And Neil and the lead up to their relationship seemed out of nowhere. Pen was unlikeable most of the time and blamed Neil for things out of his control. Ugh! This one was a miss!

Thanks to the publisher and #NetGalley for providing a free copy for an honest review!

Four authors meet on a writing retreat and haul up in a haunted castle located in a small town full of rich history. Two of the authors do not get along but find themselves at the same retreat. During their time together their feelings for each other change and grow.

Thank you netgalley, the author and publisher for the arc.

I did not read this book. I took it off my bookshelf when I found out the author lied about being Native American.

I’m half and half. I like it but there were also some parts that fell a little flat for me. It was an enjoyable read tho. It definitely had some creepy vibes with gore mixed in. There was really good banter between the characters. Their will they, won’t they energy had me all kinds of twisted up. The plot was pretty good and the author did a nice job of sneaking in undetectable twists. I really liked the ghosts but I was left wanting to know more about them. I think one of the things that kept sticking out to me was that there does seem to be a bit of repetition in the book, but overall It’s worth the read.

This was good but I was waiting for it to be great. Something in it didn’t mesh with me and that could just be me. The plot was interesting but something just felt like it was missing

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin’s Griffin, and the author for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! Unfortunately, I won’t be finishing this book, so I can’t give a full review. I started it awhile ago and couldn’t get into the story or characters. The author also has had a controversy going on that diminished my interest in their works. I'm rating it three stars as a neutral review.

I really enjoyed the premise of this book but not so much the execution, unfortunately. I found myself not very engaged or eager to finish it. Thank you so much to St Martins Press for the e copy in exchange for an honest review!

If someone committed physical assault to me and then ruined my reputation ... all I'm saying is, I would hold that grudge UNTIL THE DAY I DIED. There would be no enemies to lovers - just straight ENEMIES.

⭐.5 stars
🌶🌶/5 spice

I had really high hopes for this book - the cover was cool, the title drew me in and the enemies-to-lovers trope in a haunted castle = PERFECTION. But unfortunately, this one took me like 3 months to finish and I only did it so I could submit a review.

Normally, in a romance book - I can forgive some absolutely ridiculous plot points if the VIBES are vibin, you know - but this one was completely unforgiveable...

🚨WARNING - SOME SPOILERS ADEAD🚨



The book literally starts out with the FMC assaulting and berating the MMC in public and ruining their reputations in the process ALL because she's JEALOUS... why their friends decided to LIE to them to get these two together is the first of, very many cases, why their friends SUCK ASS. Why they even agreed to stay is beyond me? And the instant like "MAN HES HOT" was like WHAT DO YOU MEAN HOW CAN YOU LIKE HER??

I was instantly mad - but then the creepy stuff started happening and I was like you are forgiven FOR NOW... but this better be good.

I will say the tension between the two was nice but they refused to act on their obvious flirting.

Yada Yada Yada ... they start realizing they have feelings and get more into the ghostly stuff. At this point, I was pretty much only here to for the ghostly stuff.

The smut was also decent - so I'll give it that.

Then I really started to get mad because Storm literally got THROWN down a flight of stairs or whatever... is knocked UNCONSCIOUS... and Pen starts immediately giving some death monologue (like girl chill, try and help him first before just coming at him like OH HES DEAD) then he just pops his eyes open like HEY IM FINE FAKING LOLOL (but also he can barely stand bc YEAH fell down the STAIRS)....

and when you think it couldn't get more ridiculous... she suddenly has an idea and runs out into a freaking BLIZZARD and their friends just choose to stay inside and let the INJURED GUY who can barely walk and see RUN AFTER HER (point 2 like TERRIBLE FRIENDS).

Oh yeah and all of them have basically hooked up with one another at one point?? What?

AND HES HAD A SECRET TATTOO of her book cover on him and she saw it like a MILLION times and didn't recognize her own book cover?? Plus somehow they just happened to stay at a castle IN IRELAND that she didn't choose for someone who was directly related to her?! The odds of that are like 0%...

Basically, I just couldn't with this one. It was just too ridiculous for me and I read lochness monster smut... so that should tell you something.

❤ Big thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions!

This story follows two rival authors, Pen and Neil, who are forced to spend a week together at a haunted Scottish castle in hopes of overcoming their writer’s block after a falling out. While the setup is intriguing and the initial tension promising, the story suffers from repetitive plot points, underdeveloped characters, and a spooky subplot that feels disconnected from the main romance. Laszlo provides some much-needed levity, but overall, the book feels like two clashing genres that never quite come together.

4.25🌟
I was unsure where this book was going ... was it a literal or metaphorical haunting? Was it horror or Gothic? Where was the romance gonna be? I am pleased to report that it was a great enemies to lovers romance, but I'll leave the determination of the "haunting" part up to you. 😊 I loved the Indigenous rep and respected the hard conversations. What I really loved was the way the protagonists came to really see one another. ❤️
**I am no longer reading anything from this author**

I started reading If I Stopped Haunting You and was thinking this is just okay. I really didn't care that much for some of the characters. Then I read some reviews and saw stuff about the author and her heritage that seemed sketchy. So I stopped reading. I don't support people who try to take another culture and make it their own.

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This one was tough.

Tough in the fact that I felt the author was pushing the race narrative way too much instead of just letting the story evolve and speak for itself. It’s apparent the author has some backstory with indigenous peoples vs white people.

I also didn’t find any of the characters likeable. I didn’t feel the connection between Pen and Storm. It was intense dislike and then instant attraction?

The writing style was clunky and didn’t flow well. It was very young in its prose.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me, I didn’t feel push through enough of the story to make my informed decision.