Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of "If I Stopped Haunting You" by Colby Wilkens in exchange for an honest review.

Penelope Skinner is facing the end of her brief writing career. After an ill-advised public altercation with fellow Indigenous American horror writer Neil Storm (during which she threw a book at his head), her writing inspiration has completely dried up and she's certain that no publisher will want anything to do with her. So when her friend Lazlo suggests a writing retreat in Scotland, she figures she has nothing left to lose and signs up.

Meanwhile, Neil is also struggling to write. The altercation did more than leave a permanent scar on his face; it ruined his writing inspiration too. When Lazlo also invites him to Scotland, he attends for the same reasons. Despite the unpleasant possibility of spending a week in a secluded castle with their respective nemeses, Neil and Penelope both decide to attend.

Everything goes to hell pretty much immediately. The castle Lazlo rented is reputed to be haunted and they receive numerous and specific warnings from the groundskeeper about which spots to stay away from. The creepy ghost-related activities start immediately, but curiously. only Penelope and Neil experience them. Then a snow storm hits, their vehicle won't start, and Lazlo keeps suggesting writing activities that nobody seems to want to do.

What follows is an attempt by Penelope and Neil to unravel the mystery of the ghosts haunting the castle, while fighting and learning to communicate through their antagonism. They manage to do both, of course, and end up together in the end.

It's a messy read, honestly. The prologue takes place during the book-throwing altercation and unfortunately, it sets the tone for most of the book. Part of Penelope's problem with Neil (apart from raging jealousy) is that she feels he's a sellout, pandering to white audiences and promoting harmful stereotypes. It's very unfortunate then, that the the author indulges in the harmful stereotype of a woman throwing things in anger.

Then, once they are forced into proximity in Scotland, Penelope constantly puts him down. No matter what he does, or how often he softens a little toward her, she absolutely cannot and will not give up her anger. She is SO petty. Both aloud and in her thoughts, she will not give him a break. For example, at breakfast early on, he's doing nothing but drinking a cup of coffee and she judges him for drinking it black. "So, Neil Storm liked his coffee black. It didn't surprise Pen in the least. He seemed like the kind of man to prefer the bitter stuff as a necessity to begin his mornings. He wasn't the kind of person to relish things." It's so wildly petty and unfair and not even all that accurate, but she will not give it a rest.

UNTIL she realizes that she's hot for him. Then she's suddenly nasty AND resisting her newfound pants feelings. He finally manages to make a gesture that gets through to her and then suddenly their reconciliation proceeds at light speed. They go from mortal enemies to jumping bones in three days. No lingering trust issues, resentment, or hurt feelings. That said, when they do finally communicate, what they have to say for themselves actually makes a lot of sense;. It just doesn't align with the timeline and the nature of their relationship beforehand. It doesn't feel real.

There are so many unrealistic aspects to this story. At one point, Neil experiences a serious head injury and then falls down a flight of stairs, knocking him completely unconscious. He then wakes up and follows Penelope, who has gone off to do something potentially foolish. He experiences ANOTHER head injury and insists that he's fine. That's just not how head injuries work; this isn't an episode of Scooby Doo where he'll be fine after the stars circling his head disappear. (To be fair, Penelope does insist that he get checked out a a hospital.)

The rest of the story isn't appealing either. The ghost stuff can get creepy at times, but the haunting mystery is very disappointing. The explanation is overly simplistic, as is the resolution. There are a few breadcrumbs that have no resolution at all, leaving the reader wondering what was the point of including them. The side characters have no real function, apart from providing the mechanism to get Neil and Penelope into a Scottish castle together; if they completely disappeared after the the 20% mark, nothing about the story would change.

All in all, it was a disappointing read. That said, there may still be readers who enjoy it. Recommended for readers who just want a ghost story in a Scottish castle and don't mind historical or medical inaccuracies.

I really hate to DNF an ARC but the FMC is horrible. Assaulting the MMC and then gaslighting him.
This heroine is not prickly she’s abusive.

If I Stopped Haunting You did not quite hit the way I wanted it to but it was still a solid debut. To start I liked the writing I really flew through the story. The romance was also enjoyable. I do feel like it went from hate to lust pretty quickly but I did like that the main characters didn’t get together until about the halfway point. I do wish we had more background for why they are “enemies”. It felt very one sided with Penelope hating him and Neil hating her because she was mean to him. At times it seemed like they knew each other more personally than just being Native authors in the same genre. I would’ve loved if we had a few flashbacks of them having interactions. How did they both become good friends with Lazlo? Did they go to school together? Meet at another writing retreat? There’s a line where Penelope says she would recognize his handwriting anywhere which really made me feel like I was missing background information. The ghost story was fun but the way it wrapped up was kind of weird. Also I wanted more with the side characters either involved with the ghosts or just more interactions in general. Overall I enjoyed the book but there were times where I felt like I was missing things which was a bit frustrating some times. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for her next book.

Wow! Really loved this one. It’s hit humor and heart along with a creepy-adjacent plot that worked so well. I enjoyed the romance immensely. Will be looking for more from Wilkens.

2.5 stars
A not very well-done enemies-to-lovers paranormal romance. The female protagonist's reason for hating Neil was implausible, as was her behavior. To be honest, I didn't find Neil very believable either. But Penelope was downright unlikeable, so the relationship didn't work for me, although I guess she did finally engage in some introspection and improve somewhat. I think the ghost parts were my favorite!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free e-ARC of this book.

I have conflicting feeling about this book. On one hand, it's a mystery novel and on the other it's romance. It felt like two different books to me. The first half felt romance and the second was more mystery. The plot felt rushed and the characters were just so unlikable to me.

There were some redeeming qualities for the book. The amount of spice felt appropriate, and I enjoyed the setting.


Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and St. Martin's Press for a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

I loved this book! The romance, the ghost, the Indigenous peoples representation (which there is not nearly enough of)! Can’t recommend highly enough!

Thank you so much to NetGalley & the publisher St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read this ARC!

I absolutely adored this book. It was just the right amount of creepy to where I was genuinely spooked, but also had the right amount of character development and heart to it. I loved getting to know our two main characters Neil and Penelope, they felt so real to me. I totally believed their rivalry from the beginning and the way that they got to know each other over the course of the book made my heart so full. The writing is amazing, so atmospheric. I could literally picture everything that was happening so vividly. Additionally, the romance didn’t seem forced to me. I think that the characters had a genuine connection, and it didn’t come out of left field. I genuinely wanted them to be together. The romance also was really perfectly balanced with the spooky mystery that was propelling the plot forward. I don’t think that any of the romantic elements were misplaced or anything.

Overall I’m so glad I got the chance to read this one, and I can’t wait to read more from this author!

This book was definitely not for me, I was expecting something completely different, I went by the title and the cover and thought one of them was a ghost and well neither was, then Pen was so petty and her jealousy was off putting, and I couldn’t understand what Neil even liked her, I need to stop reading enemies to lovers because I just don’t like them.

What a fun little spooky thriller romance!! I love a good enemies to lovers vibe. I loved this read. Would absolutely recommend to anyone!!

This book was so cute, and just the slight spooky vibes I needed going into this Fall. This is the second Colby Wilkens book I have read. I loved how the characters developed their relationship and even their own personalities throughout the story. I will definetly be looking out for more books by this author in the future. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this one! A spooky love story that oscillates between mysterious hauntings, steamy romance, and a sharp commentary on representation in the publishing industry as a Native author. I loved the way this played with the enemies to lovers trope and the evolution of the characters. The haunted castle parts of the book added a great edge to the story as well which was fun and made the story all the more enjoyable. Neil and Penelope had such a great chemistry to them and I was rooting for them the entire time, especially as their romance and experience rippled out into so many other ways to carry themselves in the world in a new way. It made for a very rewarding story arc. This was truly a story about the power of being seen and known by others, and what can happen when that's not the case. Really enjoyed this one and highly recommend!

**Many thanks to the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Man, this sounded so cute and I just struggled to trudge through this one. It does not normally take me a week to get through a romance, but this was not it.

From the start, Pen makes a questionable decision that led her to being "canceled," a decision which, if I add my two cents here, could have been avoided if she just talked to the guy in private. Then she repeatedly brings up the incident and why she is upset, even after Neil apologizes and says why his book is written like this. He even gave her the original, unedited manuscript!! And still she was like "you're privileged and make us all look bad." Plus, just some of the ways Pen treated him....I don't know why he idolized her so much.

And pleeeease if I have to read more about how "wet" or "soaked" she is, I might combust. I seriously wondered how this woman stayed hydrated. Just some of the wording in this book felt icky and I found myself uncomfortable, and I skimmed over the "spicy" scenes because I couldn't handle it. Those could have been omitted completely and we would have lost nothing from the story. Then there is also the addition of....uh.....ghost splooge toward the end of the book....it would have cost nothing to not make that comment.

I struggled with the romantic development of this. I can see what the author is trying to get at with Indigenous writers, making space in the marketplace, and staying true to yourself. I am not Indigenous and acknowledge that I am reading this from a very white perspective, BUT. Penelope just came off very self righteous (I am right, and you all are wrong), and she definitely came at Neil from all the wrong angles. There are so many instances that could have been handled better, but she just threw herself out there and expected him to cater to her.

The only part I found myself interested in was the ghost story. Which, honestly, felt a little disjointed from everything else. In the end it was all just....a story she would be willing to tell? As much as I was invested in why the castle was "haunted" and how to "fix it," I was a wee bit underwhelmed by the ending of it. The ghosts had no direct impact on the plot or the character development of Pen or Neil, it just felt thrown in on the background.

Anyway, I was feeling pretty meh about this book after I finished it, but I get more frustrated the more I think about it. What bugged me the most was the way sexual language/context was used, but also - Pen just isn't a good character really worth rooting for. I am sure someone out there will enjoy this book, but it was way different than what I was expecting and I kept hoping for it to get better. I had a hard time connecting with the characters and staying engaged with the story, but even the romantic ghost story of the ages could not redeem the rest of this novel.

Content warnings: gaslighting, assault, loss of a loved one, sexual content, foul language, death, blood, injury/injury detail, grief, racism, alcohol use, pregnancy

<<Thank you Netgalley for an advance copy of this book, all opinions are my own.>>

This was a fun little read to get me in the mood for fall/halloween. I loved the mixture of paranormal and romance, it’s such an underrated subgenre of romance. Some of my all time favourite tropes were in this story, enemies to lovers between Penelope and Neil and forced proximity. It was a cute little read and I can’t wait to recommend this to friends for spooky season.

Like a lot of other reviewers, I so badly wanted to like this book! But unfortunately…it just didn’t work for me right off the bat and, from other reviews I’ve seen, it likely was not going to improve if I pushed forward. I found Pen to be a distant POV character and struggled to connect with her voice. I also did not appreciate the display of physical abuse in the prologue between the two characters who I’m supposed to believe have a romantic future together.

This book wasn't what I expected. There were many different themes going on but at the same time they felt to fall flat. At times, the book tried tackle very real issues of challenges Native Americans and BIPOC people go through but felt awkwardly woven into elements of a haunted Scotland castle and horny authors. Enemies-to-lovers is one of my favorite tropes but it didn't feel fully fleshed out in this story. Skinner and Storm's dynamic just didn't sit right with me.

enemies to lovers my beloved! a trope i adore paired with a super fun setting. two enemy writers stuck in a haunted scottish castle in the middle of nowhere on a writing retreat (and also to solve a ghost mystery) was so much fun to read. i liked neil and penelope as characters outside of the romance, which sometimes i have a harder time with in romance stories. i found the plot stretched out a little too long, and some points were drawn out or repetitive, but overall this one was a fun read!

I am an absolute sucker for an author-focused book with characters who are writers and/or navigating the publishing industry. I also love a gothic backdrop and romance so I really admire that the author endeavored to combine so many genres / themes. Great backdrop, great workplace tension, and a hot romance! My only complaint on that front is that since there’s so many focuses that it didn’t feel like it did any one of them perfectly.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for this ARC!

Pen and Neil have been rivals for years. They end up at a Writers Retreat together in a haunted castle in Scotland. This book has some comedy, some spooky ghost scenes and some 🔥🔥🔥. I would definitely recommend this book!

I absolutely loved this story! From the beginning you can feel the tension they have as rival authors and just know that when they become lovers it was going to be 🔥🔥 and it did not disappoint! I thought it was funny that a group of horror, paranormal, and thriller authors went to a haunted castle in gorgeous Scotland for a writers retreat and couldn’t believe spooky ish was actually happening. I wouldn’t classify this as a slow burn but a medium burn as things get spicy fairly quickly. I felt like this was a fun and light paranormal romcom story and I absolutely loved the queer and indigenous representation!