Member Reviews
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for allowing me an e-arc. Publication date : October 15, 2024.
This was a lot of fun to read! The horror elements were truly entertaining. The romance was fun and spicy. I will say it was kind of hard to believe their relationship. But regardless it was spooky and romantic and a wonderful time. I will 100% read from this author again.
I received a free copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press; all opinions expressed are exclusively my own.
This was an interesting read, and mostly enjoyable, but also a little odd. I was left with some very mixed feelings about elements of the story after I was done, but would also gladly give another book by this author a try.
The romance element could use a little more backstory or motivation beyond "one character assaulted another" in the beginning (hitting someone hard enough to leave a scar is a little much to me). There are small points of mentioning that these two characters have a history that I think would have been great much earlier in the book, or if it was clearly stated that the spiritual connection was enhancing their hidden emotions.
All in all, it's a pretty enjoyable romantic story with some really excellent elements, though the conflicting emotions raised by the main characters' relationship did affect my ability to stay in the story.
For sensitive readers, there are supernatural elements, body horror, explicit sex scenes, assault, slurs, and racism.
I was very intrigued and excited for this one, but unfortunately, it missed the mark for me.
I didn’t feel any connection to the characters in a way that I cared for them. Honestly, Penelope is awful. I don’t like her and the way she manipulates and abuses Neil throughout the story without any type of consequences.
This really just took me completely out of the story to the point where I couldn’t find any other aspects enjoyable.
This enemies to lovers features all of my favorite elements to this trope: a misunderstanding, forced proximity, nosy friends, etc. What makes it stand out though is the setting! These enemies are indigenous horror writers stranded in a haunted house with a wrathful spook. I loved the atmosphere created here, which paired so well with the back story of the ghost. It felt Haunting of Hill House-esque with a dash of HEA.
I wanted to love this, but this fell flat for me. The main character was just kind of rude all around.
I did love the setting of the book though. I could picture everything quite perfectly.
I'm a sucker for writer's retreat books.
I do think we need more spooky romance though. You may enjoy this if you like slow burn.
Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for sending me an arc.
Unfortunately this book was not for me. The romance was okay, but honestly just felt too insta love/sex in my opinion. what really solidified this for me was the amount of times the FMC and MMC, constantly spoke on the fact that their feelings towards each other have done a complete 180. This is brought up by both characters often throughout the book. Another issue I had with the book was the mystery element. Not only was it not very interesting but the conclusion to it is honestly very underwhelming. Like you’re telling me all this anger from this ghost is because no one knew her story?Because she didn’t get to live a longer life with her husband? Like what??? I get ghosts being lost looking for loved ones but this was a little too random for me.
If you enjoy spicy scenes and don’t mind an underwhelming mystery and just want to have a silly goofy time, this may be for you. 2.75⭐️
This book completely surprised me. I loved the aspect of both romance and horror and fell in love with the setting of a haunted castle in Scotland. I wished there was more to the investigation into the hauntings at the Scottish castle. I enjoyed the creepy atmosphere and ended up enjoying the paranormal aspect more than the romance but was happy with the how it ended.
I also enjoyed the romance between Neil and Penelope but felt that there was an almost immediate shift from enemies to lovers. I would have liked to see their romance drawn out a little bit but did enjoy that they were trying to help each other become better writers. I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of both the romance and horror genres.
If I Stopped Haunting You comes out October 15th.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to review If I Stopped Haunting You. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
If I Stopped Haunting You is a genre hopping enemies to lovers romance then straight to sensual romance then falls into a ghost ridden horror/paranormal tale. I loved the chemistry between the characters in the beginning, all the sass and attitude was great. When they finally act on all that chemistry, the story takes a back seat to a lust ridden three or four chapters where nothing adds to the story. The ghosts add elements of horror and suspense. The story kind of loses it luster for me about half way through and seems a little disjointed. The ending is just okay and felt a little underwhelming with an expected HEA. My voluntary, unbiased, and non-mandatory review is based upon a review copy from NetGalley.
While I liked this book overall, and adored some of the descriptions (She inhaled the fragrance of the ruins. It smelled of earth and dampness, a strange, musky scent lingering around her…..), the ending seemed a bit…..rushed. If you’re looking for a light ‘enemies to more than friends’ romance, and aren’t one to over-examine everything, then this may be the book for you.
This was such a fun read and perfect for spooky season! 👻
It features enemies to lovers rival authors who find themselves on a writing retreat in a haunted Scottish castle - what more could you want in a book!?!
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to try this book or not, but I went ahead and requested it. I wanted this to have a little bit of a paranormal vibe, and while it was paranormal, it was actually a little bit of a horror vibe. That’s quite ok with me. On to this book. At first, I will admit that Pen and Neil annoyed the heck out of me. They had a continuous relationship, but there didn’t really seem to be a good reason why. Once they finally got out of each other’s way, I really enjoyed the heck out of this book. It is well-written and a little creepy, in a good way, and I do like the author’s writing. I’d definitely pick up another book by this author. Try it if you like a contemporary romance with a dash of horror. Recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.
This book is everything I could've asked for! I enjoyed the romance and paranormal/thriller combo so much! The banter between Pen and Neil is top tier. I can't wait to read more and suggest this book to others!
I would give this book 3.5 stars because the start to 2/3 of the book is worth a 3 star rating while the remainder of the book really saves it.
At first, I really wanted to like it, but it felt like it was lacking a good hook to keep me focus so I had to set daily reading goals to make sure I finished it.
While it has some spice, which was very well described and felt, the horror and spooky aspect fell short, especially with the title of the book. It was a bit misleading.
The relationship between Pen and Neil felt a bit rushed and lacking, which effected the book, IMO.
I would recommended it but I would also give the warning that it might be a hit or miss.
A big thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.
The animosity between Neil and Pen was so convincing that when their relationship began to evolve into love, it was difficult to adjust my perception. I loved the enemies-to-lovers trope, the ghosts, and the Scottish castle setting. Overall, I enjoyed the storyline, but found Pen a bit over the top and the love story hard to believe.
Thank you to NetGalley, Colby Wilkens and the St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Well-written book featuring Native American characters, which I feel like I haven’t seen a lot & enjoyed. Literary enemies to lovers is a well-liked trope. My main quibble is that the storyline behind the ghost felt a bit underwhelming.
Although it may not sound like it, this is actually a compliment. For me, the hatred between Neil Storm and Pen Skinner was so believable that it was difficult for me to buy into a romance between the two of them. There were some downright childish arguments between them. The instant shift to sexual tension was definitely perplexing for me. But perhaps being locked in a haunted Scottish castle does it for some people…The paranormal aspect is a bit of a slow burn, but it does pull you in and make you very curious how it all plays out. As an avid mystery reader, that is what kept me flipping pages.
Yay for my first NetGalley read!! It’s so cool to read a book before its publication. Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher ♥️
Ok, so this was slightly cute but mostly confusing. I am actually obsessed with the premise and the fact that we started off strong with Pen chucking a book at Storm. Here’s my thing.. yes! I get the concept of her frustration with Storm, but we get such a vague explanation as to how he whitewashed his works. WHAT on Earth constituted that extremely serious assault? It was hard to follow this plot point because I want to know more specifics about what he wrote and why it made Pen so enraged. It was hard to truly tap into Pen’s anger and feel where she’s coming from because her description was so vague and regurgitated almost verbatim several times in the novel.
Also…why does Pen chalk all of her behavior up to jealousy later in the book when she’s also adamant about her original reasons for being angry? I’d love to see this more deeply explored because like I said, it’s a cool and unique plot point that’s very relevant but it falls flat and doesn’t lead us to meaningful conclusions.
The castle writer’s retreat was, again, a pretty cool premise. Like Laszlo is equal parts menace and genius. I like him and Daniela in theory, but their presence felt awkward and limited. Neither of them actually had personalities, sporadic descriptions are all we really got. There were inklings that they had a romantic connection, but that fell flat. And how did neither of them see ghosts ?
The ghost story was extremely confusing to me and didn’t thrill me at all because I was too busy getting the facts straight. Georgina and Archie seemed like they had unfinished business but it was unclear what it was. Yes, they had a sad ending, but the book made it seem like she died before he came back from the war or right when he got back but they actually were together 3 more years until she died? And why was she storming around the castle out for blood trying to find Archie when Archie was also a ghost in the castle? This could benefit from being a “kill your darlings” situation where Georgina dies sooner so she actually has unfinished business and is out for revenge because of how everything unfolded. It doesn’t make sense that she periodically turns into an evil, murderous creature who has black liquid coming out of her pores and at the end she’s like: “lol all better thx for reading my diaries <3” and is a lovestruck little 21 year old ghost.
Storm & Pen’s connection is physical at best. To be frank, Pen doesn’t really deserve a second chance, what she did still has no concrete reasoning behind it and her “apologies” were all over the place. She claimed to care so much about Indigenous communities but it sadly seemed disingenuous because she didn’t give much reasoning, she seemed more jealous than anything. Storm was a decently written character (a lot of details about him were glossed over or left out completely) and of course I’m in love with him because I’m deranged and i have a thing for fictional men, especially fictional male writers. Ultimately, I’m glad Storm realized he needs to be true to himself by the end of the book. But Pen was a mess and not in like “she’s supposed to be a mess” type way. I usually support women’s rights and wrongs but YIKES.
And what was with the prank at the end? It was a weird thing for 30 year olds to pull and it confused me as a reader. Laszlo & Daniela didn’t deserve that! It was Pen & Storm’s choice not to warn them about the ghosts!!!
Overall, I hate being critical of books. Writing is terrifying and vulnerable, I know firsthand. But this story had so much potential! Like so much!! The premise/plot is pure gold in my opinion, but I don’t think the story was executed in a way that would elicit that response from readers.
With revision, this story could be a bestseller. 2/5 ⭐️s.
DNF
I wanted to love this book. I thought the cover was super cute, and the story seemed like a cute goth/Mary Shelly esque enemies to lovers story. Unfortunately, the characters and writing just fell flat for me. I enjoyed the male MC, but the girl seemed insuferable. I'm hoping to come back to it one day, but for now, this is a DNF.
(Love the cover though)
If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens is a romance story with a spooky twist. It's about two feuding horror authors who end up together at a writers retreat at a haunted castle in Scotland. Pen and Neil are both in writing slumps after a very public incident between the two of them and at the same retreat they end up not being able to avoid each other as they had been doing for the past half a year. They quickly find themselves stuck in what feels like a real-life ghost story as they experience strange activity at the castle while trying to get back into writing and be near each other without feuding.
I love reading books about books/authors/bookshops and so when I saw this I was immediately interested. Overall this was a fun read. It's an enemies-to-lovers romance with a paranormal haunted castle plot line. It gets pretty spicy and also pretty spooky (at one point I had to stop reading because it was late at night and I was getting the heebie jeebies!). Fans of horror and romance will likely enjoy this book. I recommend reading during spooky season!
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for granting me an ARC of the eBook. If I Stopped Haunting You is expected to be published on October 15, 2024.
Penelope and Neil are two writers. Penelope very publicly insulted Neil’s books was effectively “canceled.” Suffering from writers block, she is convinced to go to a writers retreat, which ends up being in a haunted castle. Neil also shows up and the two are stuck in this castle together.
I thought the premise sounded pretty solid and was excited to give this paranormal romance a try! But it fell flat for me. The plot did not keep me engaged. The ghost’s storyline was just okay. I think this would be a fun read if you were specifically looking for a Halloween-vibe book!
Check it out if you like
✨ paranormal romance
✨ Native American MCs
✨ enemies to lovers
✨ forced proximity
Pub date is 10/15/24!