IF I STOPPED HAUNTING YOU is a spicy and entertaining enemies-to-lovers romance with plenty of paranormal touches that are often fun nods to horror classics such as Shirley Jackson's THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE. The enemies-to-lovers trope between the main characters Penelope and Neil also delves into how they have been pitted against one another by traditional publishers as "the competition" in large part because there are still abysmally few Native writers who have managed to successfully break into traditional publishing. Both Neil and Pen are horror writers and indigenous people who have each struggled to tell their authentic stories because the publishing world still seems to want to whitewash their experiences or promote negative stereotypes about their people. Despite the fact that Pen and Neil start out as rivals in the story, they've both secretly admired one another too. Neil has admired Pen for being brave and not letting any publisher coerce her into telling her stories differently from how she wants to write them. Pen admired Neil's earlier work and looked up to him as a role model she could aspire to be like as a writer until she felt he sold out to achieve traditional publishing success. But as they are holed up together for a writing retreat at a haunted castle they slowly begin to understand each other more fully and their attraction begins to transform their animosity into passion of a different kind. As for the ghost story, the hauntings in the castle are introduced in creepy and fun ways such as the feel of cold fingers grazing one's neck, names whispered in one's ear, and the compulsion of Pen to want to open that door in the forbidden and spooky west wing they've been told to stay away from. It lends a bit of mystery to the story as well that made me want to keep reading to figure out how they would resolve whatever was keeping these spirits trapped in the castle. All in all I recommend this book for fans of the enemies-to-lovers trope who also like a bit of spookiness mixed in with their romance. I want to thank both NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me the chance to read this free eARC in exchange for this honest review.

This book was a super cute and horny. Even the ghost being like "in front of my salad" it was great. The enemies/rivals to lovers was on point and the background characters were so fun. Already recommended to a couple friends for when it's released

This book is an enemy’s to lovers trope which can be entertaining.
Two writers that don’t like each other and at a writers retreat in a haunted castle in Scotland.

Hard a hard time really getting into this book. Loved the idea of the book but writing style wasn’t for me.

Suddenly, I'm already looking forward to spooky season! If you're looking for a book that will scare you, this isn't that. But if you want the perfect drizzly day read to pair with a PSL, this enemies-to-lovers romance is the one for you.

This had a good set up, a group of horror writers on a writers retreat set in a haunted castle in Scotland. However, it did not deliver and I didn't find any spooky moments.

For the romance? Well it is sort of enemies to lovers in the way most enemies to lovers tends to be very one sided or born of a misunderstanding and a large dose of body betrayal. I had difficulty with Penelope's character. I didn't find much about her redeeming and found myself just feeling sorry for Neil. Like, I wanted to reach into the book and pull him out and set him free to find real love.

Anyway, this was a miss for me.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

This book does a great job at going into why these main characters of Pen and Neil are "enemies to lovers" and the reason they are enemies is a real one. Its a fascinating situation about a community of Native horror writers and particularly two that are at odds but also drawn to each other. I really enjoyed the main characters of Pen and Neil. I thought there was a lot of character development with Pen being a person that impulsively acts without thinking when she preceives her fellow indigenous horror writer (and previous object of her admiration) as having sold out in his writing. Neil also has this pull toward Pen despite her impulsive behavior and he comes to some realizations about his own writing and interacting in this writing community. It was a refreshing read because they are definitely imperfect people that are working on theselves in this out there ghost story situation. I could not put down for the relationship and character development throughout but there is also a great setting of a haunted Scotland castle. These "at odds" writers find themselves together on a writing retreat in this haunted castle which provides the supernatural backdrop in constrast to their real world issues they brought with them. This is a good read for the main relationship progression and I would call the haunted atmosphere a fun bonus. Definitely recommend.

New to me author, with a ghostly premise! I was super excited for this one, but unfortunately, there were a few things I couldn't get behind, so let's get into it.

BLURB: An enemies to lovers romance with a spooky twist where two feuding writers end up on a writers retreat together at a haunted castle in Scotland

It's been months since horror author Penelope Skinner threw a book at Neil Storm. But he was so infuriating, with his sparkling green eyes and his bestselling horror novels that claimed to break Native stereotypes. And now she’s a publishing pariah and hasn’t been able to write a word since. So when her friend invites her on a too-good-to-be-true writers retreat in a supposedly haunted Scottish castle, she seizes the opportunity. Of course, some things really are too good to be true.

Neil wants nothing less than to be trapped in a castle with the frustratingly adorable woman who threw a book at him. She drew blood! Worse still, she unleashed a serious case of self-doubt! Neil is terrified to write another bestselling “book without a soul,” as Pen called it. All Neil wants is to find inspiration, while completely avoiding her.

But as the retreat begins, Pen and Neil are stunned to find themselves trapped in a real-life ghost story. Even more horrifying, they’re stuck together and a truly shocking (extremely hot) almost-kiss has left them rethinking their feelings, and… maybe they shouldn’t have been enemies at all? But if they can’t stop the ghosts pursuing them, they may never have the chance to find out.

Full of spooky chills and even more sexy thrills, If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens is the funny, fast-paced romp romance readers have been waiting for!


So this book, had really great potential, with everything I love. A romance with a cozy paranormal vibe. However, maybe the issue was that I don't LOVE the enemies for lovers trope. Besides that, I didn't really love the heroine. Her motives, and rationale that causes the "enemies to lovers", felt like it could have been fixed with some adult conversation. Honestly, this ruined the overall vibe for me.

If I Stopped Haunting You is a beautiful mix of horror and romance - and while that doesn’t seem like a combination that would work, it just DOES. I was so gripped by this book that I finished it in less than a day because I quite literally refused to put it down. I was on edge with the haunted parts, simultaneously pulling away from my kindle (as if that distance would save me from the ghosts they were encountering) and bringing my face closer to the screen so I didn’t miss anything. The storyline and character development? 5/5. There was literally nothing about this book that didn’t please me. Colby? Take a fucking bow. This book was amazing. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

I loved the premise of this story. Two enemies stuck in a haunted castle who realize they actually like each other. Enemies to lovers and forced proximity are two of my favorite tropes so I was excited for this ARC. I think I set my expectations a little too high so that could be why I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I didn't really connect with the characters and found myself not invested in their relationship. I would've liked to see more tension and buildup in the relationship.

Overall, I give this book 2.5 stars. I think I would've enjoyed it more if the romance was more of a slow burn and the characters were more developed. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

I *adore* the trope of enemies to lovers and was excited for this book. Unfortunately, the main female character literally, actually commits a horrible act of physical assault on the main male character (as in, he's bleeding from the assault and scared for his safety). And there is no accountability, nothing happens to her, the assault is glossed over and she portrays herself as the victim because she ends up depressed. I don't know *how* the author thinks we're supposed to root for the FMC or how the author thinks that the FMC is justified in committing assault? Maybe the author thinks it's fine because it's the FMC assaulting the MMC? Either way, this book crossed a bright red line and the "romance" between the two main characters does not work.

(3.5 stars)

Thank you to St Martin’s Press & Colby Wilkens for the opportunity to read the e-arc of If I Stopped Haunting You in exchange for an honest review.

Overall I did enjoy this book. I really loved the premise as it was one that was unique to me, however it felt slightly repetitive throughout. I am a true enemies to lovers - lover so that is all the redemption I need to make this a 3.5 star.

Thank you again for the opportunity to read, I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more from this author.

If I Stopped Haunting You is a romance set in a haunted house in Scotland, somehow managing to be both spicy and scary, often within just a few pages. After a dramatic argument between Penelope and Neil during a public panel for Indigenous authors that ended with a book thrown at Neil’s head and the apparent end of Penelope’s writing career, both hope to never see the other again. When they are both invited to the same writing retreat (in an allegedly haunted castle) unaware that the other will be attending, Penelope and Neil are thrown together once again and must put the past behind them to save both of their careers and maybe even their lives- dun dun dunnn.

This is one of the best transitions from enemies to lovers I have ever read. I loved getting both Neil and Penelope’s perspectives throughout the story, and the change in their feelings feels very realistic and natural. Both of the characters felt very real to me, although I wish we had gotten to see some more of their history together aside from The Incident.
The blending of romance and horror was unlike anything I have read before and I hope to see more of it published. While there were some tense/scary moments, overall this book feels much more “contemporary romance” than “haunted house horror.” I would have liked to linger on the scary parts in the same way we did the romantic ones.

While there were a lot of things I enjoyed about this book, I found it very difficult to get a mental picture of how the scenes were set and found myself going back and rereading often to try to understand what was happening. For example, after Pen and Neil sleep together for the first time, they take a shower and the chapter ends with Neil washing Pen’s hair. The next chapter starts with Penelope commenting on his hair washing technique in a way that led me to believe they were still in the shower, until it mentions her shirt riding up. A few paragraphs later, we find out that Penelope is apparently sitting on the edge of the bed. While this may seem like a small thing, moments like this slowed down my reading considerably and added a lot of confusion.

I have a few other small nitpicks. I didn’t feel that the excerpts from their books added much to the story. I also felt that the haunting resolution came about a little too easily.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and I would read another book by this author. I’d recommend this book to fans of Lana Harper’s Witches of Thistle Grove series and The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I read this book via NetGalley. The premise of the story was interesting. It is a nice mixture of romance, mystery, and thriller. Neil and Penelope are relatable and I enjoyed watching them come to terms with their writing blocks and their growing interest in each other. Daniella and Lazlo were interesting characters in their own way. I loved the haunted castle portion of the story. I would recommend this book. Update: It has been a month since I reviewed this book. I can't get it out of my mind. The story and characters were definitely engaging.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Penelope decides to attend a retreat to help her with her next book. While their, she sees another author who she does not like, she finds that they are spending more time together than apart. An ok read.

First thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC copy.

Reading the summary of this one I was so excited to jump into it.

Enemies to lovers, yes please!

Covering a timely and important topic such as native biases, stereotypes, and racism, amazing!

I was so disappointed when this story was then bogged down right away with one of the main characters assaulting the other. In a crowded room, with witnesses, leaving him bleeding and as we find out later scared. Does she face consequences, nope just walks away and goes home to be depressed and unable to write.

I’m sorry, what now?

This story would have been so good without the assault and some other light abuse later on. It was off putting to be honest and really over shadows what was otherwise a decent story with a good message.

Let’s not normalize abuse in relationships, even written ones.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

I was so excited to read this book as I haven't ventured into the mystery/paranormal with romance territory. Main trope is enemies to lovers.

The book opens with the tension between the two main characters (both are writers) and they somehow find themselves on the same writing retreat.

I don’t know if I connected with either character and it seemed a little heavy on lust without substantial relationship-building.

It’s a quick, fun, easy read but I wish the characters were more connected.

Ebook/Mystery Romance: I really enjoyed the first half of the book with the two writers confrontation and then winding up on a writer's retreat together. The book is written as duel narrator's POV in third person, which I readable. The author does third person narrative very well so it's more like the chapters are just listed as the characters. (Yes, I hate duel narrators and I can't wait for this schick to be over). But I did like the scenes of writers block because the author told how it feels through character.
When the book gets into the woo-woo haunted house stuff, I wasn't to crazy about that and I wanted to go back to the retreat writing exercises...and I picked this book from Netgalley because of the supernatural aspect.

I thought the author had some really interesting plot points and bigger social conversations. The ghosts were also a fun addition. It wasn’t my favorite thing I’ve ever read, but I still will be picking up other books by this author.

This book was kind of middle ground for me.

This book is about Penelope Skinner and Niel Storm to rivals in Native horror genre authors. At a convention Penelope gets angry and throws a book at Niel's head....(seriously! Who does that?)

Months later when both have writers block they go on a writing retreat to a haunted Scottish castle! Is the castle really haunted or just creepy AF? Will they continue to hate each other or become friends or maybe more?

The atmosphere was a lot of fun. The Gothic creepy castle in the middle of nowhere vibe was hot very well. Good descriptions that made it very spooky.

The characters though felt not well developed. Penelope had anger management issues and seems shallow! I don't feel anything about her except annoyance. Niel doesn't feel like he had a personality really! This makes it hard to believe their love story. Also the sex scenes felt... rushed and clinical!

I enjoyed the Ghost story part of the book though. The intrigue and trying to figure out the mystery was fun.... that being said the ending was anticlimactic and I couldn't understand why the ghost card enough to become scary and hurt people.... kind felt like there was no reason than to progress the plot!