I love a good enemies to lovers/workplace romance by itself and then add in thrill and mystery and a haunted Scottish castle and I will not move from *this spot* until the book is complete. This tale has all of the elements of a great paranormal romance. It was simple in it’s execution and I appreciated the “less is more” approach the author took with limiting characters and outside distractions. The author’s choices in that arena lent so nicely to the setting and plot points. I would absolutely recommend this binge-able and seasonally appropriate story to anyone looking for a great way to fill a rainy afternoon indoors.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fun read! I never would have thought to put romance and a haunted castle in the same book, but it works here! Two rival authors end up at the same writing retreat at a haunted castle in Scotland. Pen and Neil bond over the fact that they're the only ones who can see the ghost and eventually realize that their hatred is pointless. At one point Pen pretty much says IDGAF about the ghost in the room watching us, I want to get it on 😂 I laughed so hard! Great read! Perfect for spooky season!

I didn’t get to finish this book, I got a new Amazon prime account and my kindle deleted everything associated with my previous account including all of my downloads and I only just figured out why it wasn’t appearing whenI tried re-sending to my kindle multiple times. Now I’ve finally found the source of my problem and changed/updated the kindle email and can now download books again. I just missed the cutoff for the archive date which sucks. It really messed up my reviews for all of the books I’d requested over the past few months, I apologize. I liked what I was able to read so that’s what I’m rating.

As a YA book this is okay it's something I could see my high school students reading but not necessarily my cup of tea. The characters were pretty childish for books I tend to gravitate for the maturity level just wasn't there. I wish it was more spooky with characters who behaved more mature.

Not for me but could be for someone else.

2.5 stars rounded up. This was book was a case of cute, seasonally appropriate concept, meh execution for me. I ended up skimming most of it because I just never found anything to really pull me in. There were a few funny parts though and I can see why the story as a whole would appeal to others.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

Rating: 4/5
I received an eARC for my honest opinion.

This was such a cute spooky thriller mixed with romcom. In this book you will meet Penelope and Neil along with their friends. Penelope is invited to a writing retreat in Scotland, and they will be staying in a haunted house. Penelope is so excited to be going on this retreat because she has not been able to write a book that she has liked in what she feels like forever, ever since she threw a book at an author, she thought she looked up too, and if she could just get him out of her mind and work on a book she knows it will be great. However, once she gets to the retreat, she finds out that her friend has invited Neil Storm, the man that she threw a book at. Now she has to figure out how to get him off her mind and write a book or maybe die from the ghost in the castle.

I really enjoyed this romcom a lot, and I found it perfect for the fall time. I loved that it wasn’t just a romcom, but you will also find mystery, suspense, a lot of banter and enemies to lover’s romance. It is written in dual POV, which I loved because I got to see each of the main characters’ thoughts and what they really wanted. I found the slow burn between the characters to have been done perfectly and didn’t feel as though it would never happen or that it was rushed. I thought the author did a great job with the pace of the book and adding the right amount of mystery and suspense to keep you hooked on the haunting that is going on. The plot was a little bit everywhere but for me it worked with different elements that the author was doing. I found the mystery of the haunted castle or mansion was revealed at a perfect pace and it really helped to allow the characters to come together working on a goal and building up feelings that they had both hidden away.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes romcoms, mystery and suspense.

I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin Press for the opportunity to review this book.

Generally? Meh.

The trigger warnings at the beginning threw me a bit and I think there was another way to use the idea of selling out to White culture and an Indigenous person than using a slur constantly in the first chapter of the book.

The characters were undeveloped and antagonistic.

The writing was jumpy. I'm glad I'm not the only person who didn't enjoy this book.

DNF @ 7%

In the prologue, I didn't really like how the two protagonists were speaking to one another. I felt myself literally cringing a bit as I was reading. And then the FMC throws a book at the MMC's head and makes him bleed.

I tried to push through a bit, and got a little further, but I don't really like how either of the main characters interact with other people, so I'm putting this one down.

1.5 stars

At first I thought this book just wasn’t for me. As time went on, I was willing to expand that to more people. The start was a hard sell for me- in what universe would it be acceptable to throw a book at someone so hard it draws blood? If you are wondering if there is a huge character arc where she sees the evil of her ways- you will be sadly disappointed. I thought I would at least stick around for the paranormal element, but it was so lame. I have so much second hand embracing some of the lines. This coupled with trying to take on some heavy issues just doesn’t land right.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for advanced copy to form opinions from.

Two enemy horror writers find themselves at the same haunted castle writing retreat. When spooky things begin to happen to Penelope and Neil, they put aside their differences to overcome the hauntings and their past feud. In the end, new feelings spark between them, their writing, and the ghosts.

Penelope (Pen) and Neil are both Native American authors and I liked the commentary in the novel about BIPOC writers and their struggles in publishing. I do wish more of their heritage was shown in terms of dealing with their haunted surroundings. The best line we got was a discussion between the couple wishing they'd brought sage with them to the retreat and the worst line was when they agreed that since the castle is in Scotland the ghost is white and so none of their Native American knowledge on spirits would apply. It felt like a cop-out to what could have been a really cool way to discuss tribal cultures and beliefs about the spirit world.

The novel is aiming to be both a horror and smut book and while there are great chapters demonstrating both, the two genres aren't mixed super well. Once Pen and Neil start hooking up the book takes on the predictable pattern of scare, sex, scare, sex. The transition is so immediate that I wondered if the characters had a horror kink, as most of the time the couple wouldn't even run away from the spooky occurrence and just start finger banging against the wall.

Speaking of story, the mystery ghost plotline really falls short of making sense. Pen and Neil are drawn to the forbidden rooms unlike the others on the retreat, but there is seemingly no reason for it. Pen convinces herself that the ghost of the castle is drawing her to these areas because she wants her help but the final ghostly resolution ends up having nothing to do with the human's efforts. Pen and Neil are convinced that the only way to save everyone from death (even though the ghost has made no physical threats towards any of them) is to unravel the mystery of who the ghost is and what her life story was. This she-ghost has a portrait painting of herself in the castle and is referred to as both "the lady in black" and "the lady in white". I thought that must have just been a typo but near the end Pen has a conversation with the groundskeeper asking if "the lady in black" is also "the lady in white" to which the answer is yes and my remaining question is "but why though?".

My final qualm is the unlikability of our main characters. Pen throws a book at Neil's head during an author's discussion board, she breaks all the rules of the castle and even ditches Neil during their investigations because she wants to be the "hero", and as the writing retreat group is about to leave the castle Pen rushes back to steal a journal and letters so that she can use the story for her own future novel. Neil on the other hand is a giant simp who has to be the overly loving and super forgiving partner in order for his and Pen's relationship to even make sense since she is constantly questioning and sabotaging it.

Penelope has had a rough time making it as an indigenous writer. So when she ends up staying in a haunted castle in Scotland with bestselling author Neil and their author friends Penelope is not amused. Things are eerie from the get go, and when Penelope and then Neil start seeing and hearing things the ghost stories seem to be true. While trying to figure out the mysteries of the castle Penelope and Neil hash out their past and begin to see each other in a new light. Can they solve who is haunting the castle and get an idea for a new story to boot?

I liked the premise of the characters being stuck in a haunted castle in Scotland during a writing retreat, but the actual characters I didn’t find very likable and that made it hard for me to connect and root for them. Nevertheless it was an entertaining read.

Unfortunately this book didn't work for me at all. Parts of it actually made me uncomfortable and the relationship was very toxic. Pen was self centered and not at all likable. I had also really been looking forward to the haunting aspects of the story and they really weren't spooky at all.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.

"An enemies to lovers romance with a spooky twist where two feuding writers end up on a writers retreat together at a haunted castle in Scotland
It's been months since horror author Penelope Skinner threw a book at Neil Storm. But he was so infuriating, with his sparkling green eyes and his bestselling horror novels that claimed to break Native stereotypes. And now she’s a publishing pariah and hasn’t been able to write a word since. So when her friend invites her on a too-good-to-be-true writers retreat in a supposedly haunted Scottish castle, she seizes the opportunity. Of course, some things really are too good to be true.
Neil wants nothing less than to be trapped in a castle with the frustratingly adorable woman who threw a book at him. She drew blood! Worse still, she unleashed a serious case of self-doubt! Neil is terrified to write another bestselling “book without a soul,” as Pen called it. All Neil wants is to find inspiration, while completely avoiding her.
But as the retreat begins, Pen and Neil are stunned to find themselves trapped in a real-life ghost story. Even more horrifying, they’re stuck together and a truly shocking (extremely hot) almost-kiss has left them rethinking their feelings, and… maybe they shouldn’t have been enemies at all? But if they can’t stop the ghosts pursuing them, they may never have the chance to find out.
Full of spooky chills and even more sexy thrills, If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens is the funny, fast-paced romp romance readers have been waiting for!"


Although this was not one of my favorites of the year I did find this story overall enjoyable. I love the enemy to lovers aspect and the spookiness of a haunted castle. I think the horror aspect could have been a little more fleshed out. If you want a quick read that has a little spooky and a little spice give this one a chance.

I loved the description and the enemies to lovers concept. I’m just not sure this delivered. My main issue is that I just didn’t feel the chemistry between the main characters. The FMC goes from a deeply personal humiliating, career ending, assault of another person to then making out with them. I could not get behind it. The whole plot was also predictable and so slow. I was excited for this fall read, but maybe pass. I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving a free copy.

This atmospheric horror romcom makes me wish I could run off to Scotland for a writing retreat in a castle! I might pick a slightly less haunted castle, though, because the ghost at Castle Skinner is truly frightening.

This is a genuine enemies-to-lovers romance. Pen does indeed hate Neil at the beginning of the book, and the story starts off with a startling act of violence. But as the story progresses, it becomes clear that the two writers harbor complicated feelings towards each other, and their romance is sweet, steamy, and entirely believable.

It was a cute, predictable romance. There were times the plot felt unnecessarily overcomplicated. I was looking for a cute haunted castle story and this fell a little flat of that.

Honestly, I didn't like the way this book started and I was pushing through (made it to just over 50%) because it's an ARC and I appreciate the representation of Native characters. Unfortunately, I have not been able to convince myself to pick this back up in a week and a half, so I'm just going to call it a day.

Essentially, this book started off negatively for me because I don't really understand how I'm meant to cheer on a character who got so upset at a work event that she threw a book at another panelist. And then she continues to make herself a victim instead of actually taking ownership of her bad behavior and I just really couldn't quite get past that. Plus, it was boring to be set in a haunted castle.

The castle was kind of the best part of this book?

Okay, so I did like Neil, for the most part, though I thought he fell for Pen very quickly. So quickly that I wondered if the ghosts in the castle were actually influencing their feelings. But Pen herself is not particularly pleasant. She seems to blame everyone else, particularly Neil, for her own problems. And who throws a book at a colleague, particularly in a public venue? Also, how does a book give someone a scar? Was it a giant paper cut?

There were some other things that I thought weakened the story. I kept forgetting how Delila was connected to everyone, and could have probably used some more introduction to all the characters and their relationships to each other before they got dumped in the castle. And the ghost story part was aggressively fine, but the way it ended just doesn't make any sense to me. I never understood what they wanted.

I will say that the depiction of the struggles indigenous authors face felt authentic, so there's that.

I love the romance/horror pairing here! More books like this, please! Just creepy enough for me. Perfect for spooky season or any time of year. All the rep is A+++++

I honestly thought that I would be absolutely in love with this book but sadly that wasn’t the case. I do love the title of the book that’s for sure. The reason I didn’t really love this was the fact that I didn’t fall in love with either of the characters .