If I Stopped Haunting You just fell short for me. The two main characters did not have the chemistry or connection, and their relationship felt so rushed. The "haunting" aspect of the novel fell short for me as well. While I loved the idea of a spooky romance, it just didn't do it for me.

There was something about this book that didn’t sit right with me and I can’t figure out why. But I hesitate to recommend this book to anyone.

After reading the description, I was interested in this book and thought the cover was cute. I loved the concept and "enemies to lovers" is usually my jam. I ended up DNF'ing it in March, I just didn't find the book interesting and it didn't keep my attention.

This week, I thought I would give the book another try and finally finished it, but I wish I left it a DNF.

For me, the thing that bothered me the most was the main character assaulting their counterpart and victim blaming. Perhaps that is a trigger for me. The "to lovers" progress didn't feel organic. I was also looking for the side characters and the paranormal aspect to have more development. The progress felt very rushed.

Ultimately this book isn't for me.

I think I am in my spooky romcoms era because I have been really liking books like this. I loved this book and it was so cute! Highly recommend!

DNF - I am a fan of enemies-to-lovers but this was immature and toxic. I could not read any further as neither Penelope nor Neil had any redeeming qualities. I also did not think the way that their coincidence of ending up in the same writer's retreat by a lack of communication from their mutual friend was realistic. These characters need anger management as shown in the very beginning with Penelope throwing a book at Neil's head in front of an audience due to her hurt pride.

Additionally, it is important to note that as of the time of this review (December 20, 2024), there is controversy on the author writing as a BIPOC author claiming to be Native. So much so that even the author has a statement on the author's website (https://colbywilkens.com/statement/) and the next book in the series is pulled until further notice.

In conclusion, this is not a book I had any interest in reading more of due to the writing, the characters, and even the author. I would not recommend this book to others.

If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens is a heartfelt and emotional novel about love, loss, and the struggles of moving on. The story centers around a young woman who is stuck in the memories of a past relationship, feeling like she is still "haunting" the person she used to love. As she tries to let go, she has to face the pain of losing someone important in her life.

One of the things that stands out about this book is the way Wilkens captures the feeling of grief and how hard it is to truly move on. The writing is poetic and full of emotional depth, with lots of imagery that shows what the protagonist is feeling inside. The story takes its time, focusing on the main character’s thoughts and feelings, which might seem slow at times, but it makes the reader think deeply about how we hold onto memories.

While the pacing can feel a little slow, the book is perfect for anyone who likes stories that explore complicated emotions and relationships. It’s a touching and real look at how hard it can be to let go of the past.

A moving and beautifully written story, If I Stopped Haunting You will definitely resonate with readers who enjoy emotional, character-driven books.

Wilkens excels at creating characters that feel real, with all their vulnerabilities and flaws. [Love interest’s name], the person being haunted, is equally compelling, navigating their own journey of healing and self-discovery while grappling with the eerie presence of their former lover. The slow unraveling of their complicated relationship is both heartbreaking and deeply satisfying.

The supernatural aspect of the novel adds a layer of intrigue, but it’s the emotional depth and character development that truly make the story shine. The pacing is well-balanced, allowing for moments of tension and catharsis as both characters work through their unresolved emotions.

I want to start out by saying how I cackled at the tagline of this: "Ghosts aren't the only thing that go bump in the night". Blending horror and contemporary romance to me is a large feat. I always feel like one genre suffers in these types of books and unfortunately, that is also the case with this one. I'm not the biggest horror fan but honestly, the vivid descriptions were good and gave me the spooky atmosphere! Where this story was lacking for me was in the development of the romance - it felt rushed and forced. I hoped for more emotional depth given their history. Then again, connecting with Penelope was difficult, period. I didn't really find she had any redeeming qualities in her character. The plot as a whole felt rather disjointed. I'm also disappointed concerning the drama that came out about this author.

Thank you to St-Martin's Press, St-Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Given recent news with this author I will unfortunately not be giving a further review on this book. I have to include a star rating so I am rating this 1 star with this note as further context.

The information about this author that has come out is super yikes. On top of that, the story is not well-written.

I thought this was a super fun gothic and a lovely romp through Scotland. I enjoyed most of the drama between the two characters but the poor MMC just kept getting hurt by our FMC. Sometime it was accidental but other times it was intensional. Without the book assault this would have been a pretty good story.

Overall, the premise—haunted castle, writers' retreat, two people who can’t stand each other—was super promising, but the execution didn’t quite hit the mark for me. That said, I did appreciate the insights into Indigenous authors and the lack of representation in the writing world. I also enjoyed the secondary characters, Laszlo and Daniela.

Could not get into this book but kept trying…even by 80% it was still cringe and slow, so I went to see what other people were saying about it and saw the controversy about the author. Yikes.

I love enemies to lovers and I even love bully romances, but I was expecting a cozy horror romance with some steam...not full on physical abuse from the jump lol. I DNF'd I'm not even sure where, but I didn't get super far. I hate to DNF arcs, but when it's not it, it's not it. Two stars for, "an attempt was made."

I didn't quickly connect with this story or the characters. After reading some reviews, I thought perhaps the (perhaps) ambivalence to violence would be content I wouldn't enjoy--so I've decided to not fully read this novel. But, I did enjoy what I read.

DNF — I couldn’t focus at all on the story and therefore stopped reading. The writing style wasn’t for me either… I was incredibly bored.

DNF - I started this book and had to put it down because I was so bored. I'm sorry.
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the chance to read it, unfortunately it just wasn't for me.

I just do not think this book was for me. I found the characters unbearable with motives that made no sense. The main character hates the love interest because people like his book more, not a great start to enemies-to-lovers. The book was very slow paced and I did not find the horror elements creepy.

I... could not finish this book without both skimming and hate reading this. From the description and cover, I was going to love this. Instead, I hate it. I got whiplash from how quickly things were swinging from one way to another and I definitely couldn't find any situation in which these characters would have ever felt any of these feelings described. For me, this just wasn't it.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

It seemed that this book did not know what kind of book it wanted to be. I didn't buy into its enemies-to-lovers romance; but I also didn't find the thriller/horror elements of the book satisfying. I probably should have stopped reading when I realized that it wasn't a good fit for me, but I kept reading to see whether the ghost story resolved itself in a satisfying way. Unfortunately, it did not.

One thing that I did find interesting was its commentary around indigenous authors and contemporary publishing trends. The story started off strong with this theme at its center but didn't seem to know where to go from there.

Even now, I'm left with many questions: What was the thinking behind setting the story in the UK? It seemed like the caretaker would play a bigger role in the story; what happened there? Why did the haunting seem to be resolved so quickly with (ultimately) so little effort?