If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens. Pub Date: October 15, 2024. Rating: 2 stars. I love a good themed novel and I was excited to read this one, but honestly it was a drag. From the synopsis, I thought this would be a good blend of some ghostly/horror vibes with romance, but this one failed to deliver on either. The romance felt rushed, was not really believable and at times cringy too. The female main character was awful and unlikeable. I wanted more spooky with romance elements, but found myself rolling my eyes more. Thanks to #netgalley and #stmartinspress for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

I unfortunately was not a fan of this book, it was a struggle to finish. I did not like the main characters and their interactions. I was expecting a fun spooky romance and this did not deliver

This was so not it!
I love enemies to lovers type books but this one felt super forced and weird. I did not feel the connection between the characters at all.
It felt super weird reading this book and I just can’t figure out why it gave me bad vibes.

I’m beyond disappointed. The author not only has been outed as lying about her identity and heritage but includes domestic violence on the page in a contemporary romance. I wanted to love this and was so excited for it, but I can’t support this and was disappointed by the book.

I was really excited for this book - it sounded like a fun adventure! But due to recent controversies around the author's identity, I'm going to be moving this over to my DNF pile.

This is a tough review for me to write. I do not enjoy writing negative reviews. In my opinion, you may find this story enjoyable if you walk in blind, ie. do not read the synopsis. If I had zero expectations based on that, then I may have found this more enjoyable. I am usually quite good at picking out books to read that I know I will enjoy, but this one left me disappointed,
I opened the pages expecting an enemies-to-lovers and barely got that. There was animosity for barely a couple of chapters, with very little tension between the main characters before they are ready to jump each other. I prefer a much slower burn when it comes to this trope. The intimate chapters were barely even that. In fact, two of the scenes were practically the same. Most of the time it felt awkward and forced.
The characters were very different and I could hardly stand the FMC; Pen had nearly no redeeming qualities. Neil’s point of view was a breath of fresh air after reading one’s of Pen’s.
The reader was promised a spooky/horror vibe and if that’s what you’re looking for, then this is, unfortunately, not the book to pick up for that. For me, there was not a single spine-tingling moment. I felt that there was a lack of build-up.
For me though, the most disappointing aspect was the climax and resolution to the mysterious happenings in the haunted mansion. It was such a let down for me and I was left wanting much more to the story - and the epilogue was completely unnecessary.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for a digital arc of the book. The opinons expressed are honest and my own.

Horror meets romance in this haunted tale.

✨Book Review: IF I STOPPED HAUNTING YOU by Colby Wilkens ✨

👻 Book Synopsis: Two Indigenous horror authors with a public feud are tricked by a mutual friend into attending the same writers’ retreat. What at first is vicious quickly turns into instant attraction. All with a backdrop of an angry ghost in a decrepit Scottish castle.

👻 My Take: Snowed in at a haunted mansion, once they got over their hate for each other, Pen and Neil basically fall into InstaLust. I could kinda see how this transition could be believable, but mostly had to suspend my disbelief. It was a lot very fast. No slow burn romance here. The story was also a bit jumpy vacillating between spicy romance scenes and the ghost story in a way that felt disjointed, or maybe that’s just because the InstaLust was sooo instant. Still, there was decent character backstory and the ghost storyline is well paced, so an ok read and great for spooky season.

Read IF I STOPPED HAUNTING YOU for
🥊 Enemies to lovers
❄️ Forced proximity (snowed in)
🏰 Haunted Scottish castle
✌️ DualPOV
🥵 Steam and spice
👻 Ghosts!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5 stars)

😘 Thanks to St Martins Griffin and NetGalley for the digital advance reader copy and to Goodreads for the print copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Because of the information released about the author I will not be reviwing this book or requesting any further books by this author

Even before the unfortunate recent developments with this author, this book didn't really feel authentic.

DNF at 20%

I was excited about this story because it felt like a great choice for October reading but unfortunately it just didn’t grasp me. I found myself feeling obligated to read it, rather than excited to. I decided to put it on pause to read something else, but now, due to controversy with the author, I feel it’s best to not return to this one at all.

This is a no from me. This audacity to not acknowledge abuse (throwing a book at someone??) and the fact that the author pretended to be native. This book should be taken off of shelves.

DNF @ 20%. This book had a lot of issues and felt like a chore to get through. That's to say nothing of the issues surrounding the author currently. Not something I'll be recommending, not interested in reading more from this author in the future

DNF at 19%

I was so excited for this book; but I just couldn’t get into it. The characters were awful people and and the writing felt very immature.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Colby Wilkens for an early review copy. These are my honest thoughts.

DNF at 24%

I was provided an advance copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a book that I went into, very excited to read. Unfortunately it turns out that this isn't actually a romance by a Native author, featuring Native characters in a haunted house. Up to the point that I read to, it's a story of two rival authors that increasingly become violent and abusive to each other by an author whose identity has been called into question and book deal for the sequel has since been pulled.

This book was genuinely not good, and as much as I was rooting for it, I disliked it and would not have recommended it, even before drama with the author began to arise.

Thank goodness for great side characters! As for the rest...it fell a bit short. It felt more like a YA novel trying to be spicy. At times I found myself skimming through chunks just to finish it.

This book had a lot of issues. I felt like I was missing a backstory of why the FMC would feel so negatively toward the MMC. She was so unlikable, unreasonable, and honestly, abusive. He was one note and had no backbone. I didn't care for the ghost story, which also felt incomplete, or the Scottish castle setting, which seemed out of left field with the Native author story line, which is also controversial (see below). I would not read further from this author, but I did finish this book since I received it from NetGalley and felt obligated to review it. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin.

After reading the book, I did a Google search on the author and found out that she has allegedly faked her Native heritage. If you are going to market yourself as a Native writer, this seems like something you should be able to prove in the year of 2024. Her next book has been pulled from publication. Further digging revealed she also was verbally abusive to fellow authors. She has taken no responsibility for any of these actions, much like her main character in the novel. This is not an author I would consider supporting.

A romance between lovers and enemies in a haunted castle? I thought this sounded fantastic.
I felt irritated by everyone's immaturity and behavior, so I think I might need a vacation from modern romances or something. I am aware that it is meant to be both humorous and eerie, but Penelope was really terrible.
At first, I thought I was starting to get into the chemistry, but their entire castle adventure felt choppy and strange.

I liked this for what it was, but am very disappointed to find out about the author faking Native identity. My original review has been redacted for this reason.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.
I really wanted to like this book. The cover is great, and the synopsis had me hoping for an adult Scooby-Doo feel with a bigger spookyfactor and more romance. Unfortunately I felt it needed more depth in plot, characters and romance. The romance went from enemies to lovers in the blink of an eye and ended up jarring. The plot took a backseat to the romance and the romance to sex. I wanted more ghosts and a deeper story.

While I did enjoy the book, I cannot in good faith review a book with the allegations currently surrounding the author.