I really wanted to like this book because the premise of the plot seemed right up my alley. Haunted house/castle rom-com rivals to lovers??? Yes! After finding out the controversy surrounding the author, it did leave a bad taste while reading the book. But ultimately, the book alone just missed the mark for me on its own. The romance did not feel paced very well and I just didn't understand the attraction between the characters when they still "hated" each other. The haunted castle plot was pretty much what bumped this up from a 1 star to a 2 star for me. I really wish this book was executed better overall and didn't have the aura of controversy around it.

I wanted to love this - I just couldn't get into the writing style. I think the characters were well drawn and I liked the build up but I felt like the last half just fell really flat for me and it was hard to keep my interest. I did finish but there was a fair bit of skimming.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Okay. So. I liked some parts of this, but if I'm being completely honest here, If I Stopped Haunting You was just an okay book. One thing I liked about this was that the main characters go to a writing retreat in Scotland. Another thing was that they are in a haunted castle, because I just think that's completely awesome. Especially if they are authors writing in the horror, mystery, thriller, or true crime genres.

Then there's the things I didn't like. Let's start with the characters. I just didn't like the Pen for most of this book. Okay, I lied. I didn't like her for the entire book. The way things started off between her and Neil rubbed me the wrong way. Sure, they could be seen as enemies to lovers, but they jumped into romance rather quickly in my eyes. It felt too convenient for me, and I feel like they needed to squash their problems before they did anything romantically.

It could just be me.

On top of that, we don't actually get much haunting. The few bits of pieces here and there were good, but I really wanted more. I feel like if we got more mystery than romance, I would've rated this much higher. As for the romance, it could be pretty steamy at times, but the random interuptions were annoying to deal with.

In the end, it was okay and easy to listen to. Real rating: 2.5

Didn't really enjoy this as much as I wanted to. It was a bit odd. I should have written a review when I read it in Sept 2024 and saved it elsewhere while I was boycotting SMP.

This book fell flat for me.unfortunately. I found the FMC highly annoying and immature and I just couldn't get into the MMC. The storyline held so much promise but was highly predictable.

Though this intrigued me at first it did not keep my attention. Will set it down for now and try again in the future. Still open to trying other books by the author.

I thought this would have more to do with the paranormal (other than being in a haunted house), but I guess that's on me. It's a lot of spice, which is fine, but not what I expected going in.

I really wanted to like this because the premise seemed so fun. But as hard as I tried, I really struggled to get through the book. I found the characters to be unlikable and that really hurt my ability to invest it he story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Company for this Advanced Readers Copy of If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens!

If I Stopped Haunting You doesn't really belong under Horror or much of Paranormal other than theyre in a haunted castle and throw a shoe through a ghost.
But it's a lot of sex, sex toys, extra spice while on a retreat in a haunted castle. Its just.... different.

Maybe not where I would be wanting to get spicy but hey, to each their own.

I wasn't aware of the drama surrounding this author until I came to post my review. With that said, had I known I probably would not have read this book.
Other reviews post links to articles detailing her claims of being Native that can't be proven. I do appreciate that she will no longer be publishing novels involving Native American main characters for the time being.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Griffin for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A decent quick romcom perfect in time for spooky season. Nothing groundbreaking in the story, and sometimes the story felt a bit disjointed, but not a terrible way to spend an afternoon.

I enjoyed the book and the overall premise (I love all things spooky), but after careful consideration on top of the author's place in the representation, I cannot give this book more than 3 stars.

I didn't really like Pen for the way she treats Neil, especially earlier on in the book. The way she verbally and physically assaulted him went a little too far for me, but later their relationship was better if not too quick. Their chemistry got stronger over time, but what really threw me off was how it started, and it was hard to believe their relationship could realistically blossom as it did in the plot. The premise and setting are fun enough on their own, I just don't think the book as a whole lived up to my expectations.

I did not end up finishing this book. the writing felt a bit disjointed and i could not really get into the story. thank you for the opportunity!

In a heated moment of her own making, author Penelope "Pen" Skinner throws a book at rival author Neil Storm hard enough to draw blood. Months later, thanks to an annoying friend, Pen finds herself at a writers retreat in a Scottish castle featuring said friend, another forgettable writer, and—oho!—Neil Storm himself. As the two rage at each other, ghosts appear, emotions intensify, and it's suddenly the perfect time to realize they're meant for each other.

If I Stopped Haunting You is smooth. The text is polished, showcased by the characters continually firing off carefully crafted speeches on identity, love, and, of course, writing and the publishing industry. They utter jokes and crack pithy comments in the face of danger, and it all certainly feels readable. Perhaps best of all, the horror blends into the romance adequately enough that the extreme elements from either genre aren't in too much contention with each other.

However, it all just never clicks together. I'm a fan of complicated—even unlikable—characters, but Pen's initial assault on Neil is so surprisingly crass that it ruins her story. She becomes a villain before you even get the chance to know her, and she has to spend the rest of the book trying to build her credibility back. It's an impossible mission, not helped by Neil never really holding her accountable. Instead, he succumbs to lust the first night he's stuck in the castle. He has writer's block, seemingly his only personality trait—so what else is he supposed to do? To be fair, the other two characters with them are irritating enough to be nonstarter love-interest options. So again I ask: what choice does he have (aside from not attending the retreat with his attacker in the first place)?

There's a whole ghost storyline, but I stopped caring fifty pages ago.

Woman assaults man. Woman and man get trapped in a haunted castle. Woman and man flirt while a painting oozes in the background. It's a tale as old as time.

1.5/5 Stars. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC of If I stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens.

This is my first book by this author and I feel like this book was LONG. I had no idea what I was expecting and honestly I kept putting this book down to read something else in between. It just didn't click with me and wish this was an audiobook instead. I'm pretty sure it's also because I couldn't connect with the characters or get into the plot. I tried several times and just couldn't do it. I also hate to admit that I didn't finish it. I had really high hopes and wanted to like it so much, but it didn't work out.

This was a very interesting story. I didn't think I would like it at first but it turned out to be a really cute story. I'm kind of sad the backlash about the author might prevent the other books from coming out.

I can't say that I was a fan this book. I understand that this novel could be considered erotic, which might shock some readers going in blind. But my real issue was with the question of realism. What do you mean by realism in a fantasy novel, you might ask? Simple, I have a hard time believing that the characters would be right in the middle of something absolutely terrifying only to turn around and say, "Wow, we were nearly killed by a supernatural entity. Let's get it on." I'm pretty sure most people would react differently than immediately going at each other as soon as the killer ghost disappeared. I would think that at the very least, they would want to take a second and deal with what had just happened. And it would have been just as entertaining to see how they dealt with it as any racy sex scenes.

This was a bit of a let down for me. I was excited to read this based on the description, but I just couldn't get into it.

2.5 stars, it honestly was "just okay"

So, I will start by saying that I know nothing about the author, so any of the controversy surrounding her "authenticity" as a representative of Native American authors is only what I've managed to pick up from Reddit. I did not know any of this when I requested the book, so when I learned about the controversy, I decided to go into it with an open mind.

She addresses some of the challenges of being an author when you're in a marginalized group, and I appreciated that about it. While I don't know if she legitimately comes from Indigenous people, it seems that for her family, it's been a source of pride, so who am I to discount that. I feel that she tried to address this issue in a realistic way.

As for the story itself--sadly, it was not that great. I didn't really like the main character, even if some of her questionable behavior was because of the struggles she experienced as an indigenous writer--she wasn't very likable. Neil was also a bit oblivious and while he wasn't offensive in any way, he didn't exactly worm his way into my heart. As for their two friends, I wasn't a fan of either, even if Lazlo supposedly saw that they were destined to be together. Daniela was particularly annoying as well. I think I was just expecting more from this book--at the very least, I was hoping for likable characters. In the end, they sort of grew on me, at least Penelope and Neil, but I'm not sure I would continue with the story even if the author decided to write more.

There were some good moments, though. I loved the scenery and the atmosphere of the spooky castle, and I liked the housekeeper as well. But overall, the story was just not my cup of tea.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really wanted to like this book, because the premise was incredible, but it just fell short of the mark. I also read about this author pretending to be a person of colour