Let me begin by saying that it is extremely rare for me to not finish a book--I'll at least skim to the end to find out what happened because it eats away at me if I don't. This one, however, now becomes one of only two books ever that I remember just giving up on. I loved the blurb and was looking forward to reading the book, but it didn't take long for me to realize that this one would be a struggle for me. I found the writing style to be chaotic; there is too much going on, it's repetitive, and it's difficult to follow in places. And the characters: blech. I couldn't root for them because I felt no connection and quite frankly, just didn't like them. A more apt title for how I feel about this book: If I Stopped Reading You (I Wouldn't Regret It).

I don't believe my review would benefit the author at this time as I am not in a place to review it.

3.75 Stars
I would love to talk about this book as I don’t see many romance books by Indigenous authors. Die to the current SMP boycott I’m going to withhold my entire review for now. I will say that I’m very excited to see what this author does next!

I don’t usually reach for a spooky vibes story but let me tell you this enemies-to-lovers trope had me breezing through the pages! The story is fast-paced, and the FMC Pen is relatable (it’s giving act now think later, but low key too harsh).

The writing could have been tighter at times, there was a lot going on at times, and there was some repetition at times. Overall, I would recommend as a spooky steamy cozy fall read!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! Hope my honest review helps some :)

There are so many things to love about his book but it just didn't land for me.

Attributes I loved:
1) Enemies to lovers - never misses
2) Scotland - so magical, my favourite country in the world (internally screams just thinking about it)
3) Spooky vibes - perfect for those fall, chilling reads

I think where this book got me, and this is not due to the quality of the book or writing in any way (I thought the writing and layout of the plot was really well done), is that it is about writers writing books. I know that sounds super strange but I have just found after reading a few books with similar traits that reading about MC's who are authors, writers, bookstore owners or anything like that just don't grab my attention like they used to (I know it weird).

So I don't blame any of my dislike of the book to the quality of the work or the author themself - its definetly a me problem. I actually think this book was really good overall and even though it wasnt for me, its going to be one of the biggest releases of this fall. It is the perfect spooky vibes and Scotland is the perfect setting with all of its haunting lore and paranormal tales.

I loved the Scottish castle setting of this story and really got swept away by the atmosphere. However, I found the enemies to lovers timeline too fast to be believable, and I wanted a lot more from the ghost/spooky elements. Overall the story was enjoyable, but fell a bit flat at a few points.

A retreat for authors suffering from writer’s block is hosted at a Scottish castle with paranormal activity. Rival authors Penelope and Neil find themselves trapped together at this retreat, and their enemies to lovers relationship and hilarious banter were such a pleasure to read. This book had me hooked from the start, and I couldn’t put it down! Highly recommend this book for your next paranormal romance.

I really really wanted to love this book.
The synopsis is everything I love in books, and the tropes are 10/10

I just felt like there was a lot going on. And I didn't really enjoy the way the fmc treated the mmc. I think there is a fine line between love and hate, and this relationship ended on the hate side...in my head

Holly's family farm is struggling financially, and she is the only one who can fix it, in her mind. She is willing to do nearly anything to help keep her farm running, except allow Conor Grimm and his film crew to investigate a ghost in her fields, which she does not believe is there. But she does know if she allows Conor to investigate the farm he will find out the truth that she is hiding.

Rival authors, Penelope and Neil, find themselves at the same writing retreat in Scotland not long after a disastrous panel showcasing both of their work. Will they be able to overcome their differences in order to address the real problem: how to get out of their writing slumps? Maybe the haunted retreat will get the creative juices flowing…

The real question is how am I supposed to root for Penelope after the absolute shit show of a panel? She is the most self-centered and immature FMC I’ve read in a while. She belittles and attacks Neil in a public setting and then blames him for the consequences of her own actions. She has a victim complex for the entire novel as if we weren’t there for prologue. Babe, you did this to yourself.

This novel was marketed as an enemies-to-lovers, and maybe it is? They’re definitely enemies, but Neil’s mistake was writing a book Penelope didn’t like. Penelope’s mistake was assault. Even though she doesn’t regret her actions, Neil forgives her and they fall in love (lust?) faster than you can snap your fingers. Their chemistry was lackluster, they had the same conversations over and over, and all of their flirting felt forced.

That was not a writing retreat. That was a glorified parent trap situation. The transition from colleges to rivals to enemies to lovers didn’t feel organic, and the side characters were barely present. I get it, three side characters, but the book only has five people trapped in a castle (not including ghosts). There should’ve been more friend interactions, and the novel probably could’ve gotten away with it if the MCs were tolerable.

The haunted castle was not scary, and I know this wasn’t a horror novel, but I think I’ve seen Scooby Doo episodes that were scarier than this. It was great in theory and lacked in execution.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the chance to read and review this ARC.

3/5 Stars!
Good stuff overall. Lots of repetition in spots.
I was looking for something a little different to read and this one landed for perusal. I really like the concept of a bit of romance and some ghost story vibes. The opening scene is quite memorable between the two leading characters. But what I found interesting as the story continued to develop is that the female lead character was really kind of a jerk and I did not connect with her as much as I wanted to. The way she handled things was immature and the lack of communication between her and Neil made me like her less and less. And they fell in love kind of out of nowhere? I thought that was really weird.

Overall, I did like the story as it is entertaining and different. With some tweaks, I think this could’ve been a 4-5 star read. Maybe the other two supporting characters could have more valuable input into the story. They really did not impact the book other than some comic relief. Not memorable characters.

If I Stopped Haunting You reminded me of a cozy mystery with hauntings and sexy times. There are plenty of entertaining parts for a well-rounded good story.

Oof yall this is a tough one. The characters are trash, our main character is just the worst! She is so cruel. I was invested in the story and thought the premise was so good, but I just couldn't enjoy it because of her.

If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens
Thank you @netgalley for this ARC, here is my honest review!
⭐️⭐️🌶️🌶️
My thoughts: I tried my hardest to enjoy this one, It was everywhere, so much was going on at once. They’re enemies basically forced to stay in a haunted castle as a writing retreat. Both have their own struggles with writing and their feelings towards one another. Of course their feelings change drastically and they also have to survive their stay at the haunted castle.. This wasn’t my cup of tea but I did like the horror aspects. They weren’t super entertaining but it was enough to keep me curious about the ghosts backstory. I feel like this plot would make a good comedic movie. I very much kept imagining Scary Movie 😂 Do I recommend this? No, maybe.. probably not.

I really don't like giving books a one-star review, especially for an author's first book, and even more especially when I have written exactly zero books myself. However, this book just wasn't for me.

The main character was insufferable. Full stop. Creating an entire personality out of hating a fellow-author, even if the underlying points were valid, doesn't leave much room for growth. As a corollary, if someone belittles you to the point of a complex, you are not going to become romantically involved with them. Needless to say, the chemistry was not believable, and thus the HEA felt forced.

As for plot? A solid idea that enjoyed the ability to have unexplained phenomena push the narrative. I am okay with ghosts dropping the right book, or pointing to the right window. That suspension of disbelief is part of the fun. However, the plot line fell short and finished quickly in a spew of exposition. (This is a personal pet peeve of mine, so others' mileage may vary.)

Other review are mixed, so I will acknowledge that some of this personal preference. Overall though? This could use some polishing of the character arcs and plot progression before it can be great.

I really wanted to get into this but it was not working for me. The main character was honestly abrasive and I really didn't care about what would happen to her. I don't like reviewing without finishing, but this was just so hard to get through I had to DNF. This book had such an interesting concept, I just wish it was executed better.

This was a different type of read for me so I wasn’t sure what to expect. It follows a MMC and FMC who are at odds because she thinks he sold out natives when he published a book catering to stereotypes so she throws a book at him at an event. Flash forward to when they end up on the same writing retreat and are snowed in at a creepy castle. I’m not sure how I feel about the creepy aspects of it. On the one hand I really enjoyed the suspense. But I also sort of expected more? I’m not sure if it was supposed to be scary or not. Beyond that I thought the romance was really well done. And I enjoyed seeing each of their struggles with their own identities and how that impacts their writing in different ways.

Unique plot, execution not so much

If I stopped haunting you, it’s about rival writers who ended up on the same writers retreat since they have the same friends. I would not promote this as enemies to lovers because they are not enemies just rivals and they had a disagreement on the same genre that they write about. They both believe the downfall of their writing..

They end up in a Scottish castle that is haunted and basically they both solve the reason why they are being haunted because these ghosts ended up kind of targeting them and they feared their lives teamed up to figure it out.

When I was reading this, I wasn’t necessarily very invested in anything. Was already falling for her because he was re-watching the video nonstop of their disagreement that was broadcasted. so he was already liking her. It just took her liking him back. I do see why they would have some kind of a chemistry, but it was it. You could definitely tell that he liked her, but it was very lusty from her side. I will admit that when the smut scenes came up. It did kind of catch me offguard. They were very lusty in this castle and just trying to get it on whenever they could, even though they are being haunted by ghost.

I think this was a very chill book to read. It’s not one for harsh criticisms honestly because I don’t think that it needs to be harshly criticized. It’s just read it if you want a quick fun time because it’s not complex and it is not scary. I’m very sensitive to Ghost Stories and I was very hesitant on picking this one up, but this was not scary in the slightest bit and I’m not sure if the author intended it for it to be because then that’s pretty lackluster cause there’s not a big component to it.

But I still enjoyed reading it. It was very chill. It was very quick. It was fun. I love the concept and I think it was still kind of cute.


Thank you to NetGalley for the Arc in exchange for an honest review

A light and haunting romance.
I loved the haunted Scottish castle setting. A tense forced proximity of these two characters, they both had to learn to dig a little deeper into themselves, acknowledge their own baggage to move forward. I love ghost stories and Scottish castles so it was right up my alley. I thought the ghost story was a little light in some areas, it was a bit more romance than ghostly. All in all a good storyline and dialogue that kept me engaged from beginning to end. This is a stand alone story. I received this book for free and voluntarily reviewed.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this ARC

I’ll be honest, I couldn’t finish it. I tried to keep going, but I couldn’t focus or follow along with the book. I tried, but it was just way too slow for me. The description pulled me in, and the cover, but trying to read the book wasn’t hitting. I wish I could have finished. I skimmed through the rest of the book after reading up to 50%, but it was dragging for me, and I couldn’t pull through. I'm sure this book is for someone else, but it's not me, unfortunately. I love a good enemies-to-lovers trope, but from the beginning, the main female character was a mess and honestly annoying to listen to. I apologize if this seems too harsh, but everyone has different tastes.

Thanks so much to netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I felt like the main character, Penelope, was just awful. I have a hard time rooting for someone who is so bad. I also felt like the horror wasn't really there either.

This book was just bad and I couldn't finish it.