The romance and paranormal mystery was enjoyable but I didn’t see a lot of character growth. I couldn’t really connect to the story.

I ended up DNFing this book around 30%. I felt frustrated with the FMC while reading it and could not get myself to pick it back up. I did enjoy some of the friendships being highlighted, but some of them felt a little random maybe they would have made a bit more sense if I had continued reading.

Overall, this book had an interesting premise and it had some shining moments and seemed like it was a beautiful setting, however, it was not the book for me.

3.5 stars

What I liked about the book:
1. I loved the fact that both MCs were indigenous and there was actual girth to their heritages. Instead of coming across as something to check the diversity checkbox, the author actually mentioned certain things throughout the story and made their indigenousness part of their personalities. The hardships for BIPOC authors were explored, including how their small community of writers were essentially pitted against one other to get a “top indigenous” writer.

2. I love any story that takes me to a Scottish castle. It’s an instant love item from me!

3. I loved the mystery Neil and Penelope were solving through the story. While it was an easy one to solve, it was fun nonetheless.

4. I liked the pacing of the book a lot. I felt the flow of their writers’ retreat, their enemies-to-lovers relationship, and the mystery itself worked together really well and without being overwhelming.

What I wasn’t a fan of:
1. I definitely felt like there was a lot of assaulting (literally) enemies stuff at the forefront, but it was gotten over pretty quickly once they were in the castle. Perhaps this was the author exploring the fact that they had feelings for each other without knowing for a while and so once they started to working together it was instant, but it felt a little too quick for me.

2. I really wasn’t a fan of Penelope. I felt she was very selfish. Right when I thought she had come around and had actual character growth, she did the most selfish thing yet at the very end of the book, and I was dissatisfied with this for her character growth.

3. I found it rather odd that Penelope and Neil didn't let the other two characters in the story (their friends) in on the mystery. Not only did these character feel like background characters and a means to and end to get these two together in Scotland and nothing more, but then they were totally kept out of the loop when weird stuff was going on. It was odd to me.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Colby Wilkens for the opportunity to read this book. The thoughts and opinions expressed above are honest and my own.

I received an advanced copy of If I Stopped Haunting You from Netgalley and the publisher and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Romantic comedy and horror are not genres that I usually gravitate toward. Put them together, however, and I was intrigued. How would the author make a romantic comedy scary/creepy enough without taking it too far or making it cheesy? Unfortunately, If I Stopped Haunting You was not the meld I hoped it would be. I got a third of the way through before I had to stop.

The prologue initially threw me for a loop. Having read the summary, I knew what was going to happen, but I could not fully grasp why Penelope reacted the way she did. Her explanation made sense (kind of? Maybe? Not really, though?), but her reaction felt over the top and was just a way to ensure the reader knew they were enemies. Throughout the entire third I read, this reason was drilled into my head as to why Penelope hated Neil. And I mean drilled. She mentioned it to anyone and everyone who asked and thought about it on every other page.

On that note, everything was very repetitive. Whole sentences would repeat just a couple of pages after I first read them, making for a very circular reading style that left me unsatisfied. Even though I had read five pages, I didn't feel like I was accomplishing anything. The plot hadn't moved, the romance hadn't progressed (more on that later), and the reason for the repetition was that the character was still thinking about the same thing five pages later. It was bland, and maybe that's not the right word, but I don't know how else to explain it.

I can get behind morally grey characters (there's a point here, I promise). However, they still need to have some redeeming qualities, and I would like them to have a reason for why they act the way they do. (This is why dark romance is not my thing. Most of those guys are jerks for the sake of being a jerk, and I immediately get the "ick.") Penelope's only reason, in essence, is that she is jealous of Neil's success, and I cannot get behind that. She treats him like garbage and believes she is justified because he wrote Native characters in a way she didn't like. I am calling her morally grey because she makes some not-so-great choices and, in the bits I read, felt absolutely no remorse for her actions and even went so far as convincing Neil he was in the wrong (even though he explained that the way he wrote those characters was not how he wanted to write them. The publisher made him change it.) She felt like a bully, and I did not enjoy her as a character.

As for the romance and horror aspects of the story, I didn't see much of them. Penelope and Neil were obviously attracted to each other, and that's fine, but I'm glad I never saw them together because unless Penelope does some self-reflection, they shouldn't be together. The horror was more of a background thing in the first third. It had all the clichés you could ask for, but it didn't feel scary. I was expecting something a little more.

All in all, If I Stopped Haunting You was not the book for me. While the premise was interesting, the execution could have been better.

A book about a physically and emotionally abusive FMC is not for me. DNF. I won't be posting any reviews about this book.

I had a really hard time connecting with the characters, especially the female lead, as well as the mystery. The lead was so angry and the reasons given, especially for the rivalry felt unrealistic and unreasonable. The mystery was disjointed and felt like an afterthought. I was really disappointed.

I read If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens before the controversy surrounding the author's identity came to light. The story itself was interesting--two Native authors, who both write horror, have different ideas of how Native identities should be portrayed in the books they write. Their disagreement came to a head at a convention, and they've been enemies ever since. But now they're both on the same writer's retreat at a haunted Scottish castle, and the forced proximity forces them to confront their issues head on, while trying to appease the resident ghosties and make it out alive. I could have done without the ghostly, ahem, emissions descriptions, but other than that, it was an oddly enjoyable story.

However, the controversy around whether or not the author is actually an "own voices" Native author has soured me on the story. I don't know enough about her claims to know whether the accusations have merit, but the rest of the interconnected romances have been pulled from publication, which feels serious. Given that, I'm not sure I can recommend this book to readers. Instead, I would encourage them to seek out and support authors who don't obfuscate their heritage.

This was such a good book that I read it in one day! This is the first I have read from this author and I will be looking for more. I would definitely recommend this book.

Because of the information that has come out about this author fabricating her identity as a Native person, I will not be reading this book.

I had high expectations but sadly I did not enjoy it. I have also heard what this author has done and I can not support those actions.

This wasn't for me. I really wanted to love it but it wasn't grabbing my attention, there were parts that I liked but it was lacking character development.

Thank you for this arc!

A Missed Opportunity

I really wanted to like this book. The premise of the book as indicated by the blurb description was an “enemies to lovers” romance. The context was of two native American/first peoples writers who had a serious falling out, but who were now brought together in a writers' retreat. The setting was a haunted Scottish castle.

The book begins with a heated argument between Pen Skinner and Neil Storm that ended with Pen throwing a book and hitting Neil in the head. What follows is a seemingly endless description of the inner angst the two main characters have. Ultimately both parties are lured into the writers' retreat by mutual friends: Laszlo and Daniela.

The problem with the book is that I never liked any of the characters. There was no real rationale given for why Laszlo and Daniela surreptitiously lured both parties to the retreat without disclosing who all was coming. On top of that there was no real banter between Pen and Neil that shaped a slow and meaningful journey toward reconciliation. Instead there was an immediate jump toward the desire for more intimacy between the two main characters without giving the reader any understanding of why they would so quickly jump from enemies to potential lovers.

On top of that the 'ghost story' really plays no significant factor until the second half of the book. When things shift to solving the mystery of the ghosts, the story works better. Unfortunately by that time, I really did not care much for the fate of any of the four workshop attendees. As a result, I really cannot recommend this book.

I thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book with my promise for a free and fair review.

I can not, in good faith review or promote this book, due to the information that has come to light about the author, as well as the questionable content in the book that directly ties back to this. I truly hope that authors will not follow Wilken’s example of exploiting and misrepresenting marginalized groups.

Update Nov 12 2024 It seems the author was actually not actually Native American, and had been pretending so I don't feel comfortable keeping my previous rating.

Four months ago Penelope Skinner threw a book at her fellow author Neil Storm's head during a panel at a book festival. She was totally justified in her actions as he is a bestselling horror author who is a sell out when it comes to writing authentic Indigenous Fiction. Her actions left her place vulnerable in publishing and she hasn't been able to write since.

Lucky for her, her friend invites her on a writing retreat at a castle in picturesque Scotland. Of course it is too good to be true, she is now forced to interact with Neil. Neil has also been struggling with his writing since Penelope filled his with self doubt but calling his writing soulless.

The writing retreat quickly turns into their worst nightmares, not only are they stuck with each other they end up dealing with real ghosts who seem to only be haunting them. They even find themselves in a situation where they almost kiss and it leaves them both rethinking everything they knew about each other and their feelings.

I love that were are finally starting to get more indigenous authors and stories in the romance genre. This has a nice balance of romance and paranormal elements. I also loved seeing so much discussion about indigenous identity and representation. It was a fun story and the chemistry was there but some of the ghost storyline didn't fully sell me. Overall it was a great debut from the author.

I just want to.
Start off by saying that I was so looking forward to this book.The cover, the name, the synopsis... Everything drew me in and I really thought I was going to love it.
However, that was not the case! I hate to say it, but this was a snooze fest. I can't tell you how many times I fell asleep while trying to read this book. It honestly took me so long to just finish it because I didn't want to dnf it, and at the end of it I wish I just would have because it felt like a waste of my time.

The idea to mix horror with a rom-com in my opinion was a great idea. However, this was just not executed well. The romance was boring and toxic to be quite
frank (the fmc literally assaults the mmc at the beginning of the book and then when she's canceled she gaslights him and tries to make him out to be the problem when she's really just awful). Also, the horror elements just were not exciting and had a very unsatisfying ending to it all. At about 70% through I was actually pretty interested, but then the ending just kind of ruined it for me and it just felt like it took forever to read that last twenty percent of the book.

On top of all of this, it recently came out that the author colby wilkins has been lying about being a bipoc author. She's been claiming to have Native American heritage, and all of this has been debunked. So she's been lying this whole time to help promote herself and her book. I found this out after I finished the book, but with that being said, I will not continue to support this author.

Thank you to NETGALLEY and the publisher for an E-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

An enemies to lovers romance with a spooky twist where two feuding writers Penelope Skinner and a Neil Storm end up on a writers retreat together at a haunted castle in Scotland. I enjoyed seeing the twists and turns they went through. This is a new Author to me and seems to be their debut book. I received a copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I will not be reviewing this book due to the author's recent controversy and the fact that the FMC assaults the MMC.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the E-ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC of If I Stopped Haunting You, in exchange for an honest review.

"In 'If I Ever Stopped Haunting You', Colby Wilkens brings together two Indigenous writers at a haunted Scottish castle for a writers' retreat. The enemies-to-lovers dynamic between Pen our FMC and Neil our MMC adds tension to the story, although the romantic moments felt somewhat forced. The spooky atmosphere and gradual buildup of haunting in the castle were genuinely eerie and captivating. While the execution fell slightly short of expectations, the book offers valuable insights into the challenges faced by Indigenous authors in the writing world.
Additionally, the secondary characters, Laszlo and Daniela, added depth to the narrative.

Overall, 'If I Ever Stopped Haunting You' is a promising read that combines elements of romance, horror, and social commentary."
This was a 3.75 Stars read for me!

This was quite simply not the romance book that it promised. I was super uncomfortable reading this one and then a ton came out about the author PRETENDING to be native. What on earth?

But the romance was so weird. Like I was immediately put off when one of them threw something at the other unprovoked during a work event. A work event. The dialogue is also so juvenile and weird which made me so uncomfortable in a romance book. Just no.

I had really high hopes for this book based on the blurb. While I thought the story was fine, it just didn't live up to the expectations I had for it.