This wasn't for me. I only made it to 17%. I found Penelope obnoxious and rude, and I didn't find myself engaged or rooting for her. I feel like this will be a 3-4 stars for the target audience. The writing itself is well-done.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

DNF @ 37%

The premise of this book had so much potential. Enemies-to-lovers romance that takes place in a Scottish castle? That’s haunted? And two characters that are struggling with writers’ block? Sign me up.

But this book failed to deliver, mainly because of the narrator, Pen, who’s just plain mean to Neil with very little reason as to why. I get that his book outsold hers by a landslide which sucks, yes, but that’s also the publishing industry for you. It definitely didn’t warrant a book being thrown at his head. And then when they’re thrown together at the writers’ retreat, that “hatred” of course immediately turns into sexual attraction/lust, and I just couldn’t buy into it.

A disappointment because I was actually excited for this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

I genuinely liked the premise of this book-I mean who doesn’t love a good spooky romance between two writers- and this was a very cute enemies to lovers read!

Pen and Neil’s energy and air for figuring out a mystery kept the story going for me and I’m excited to see what’s next with If I Dig You!!

Did not finish. The characters did not seem to have any compatibility and the whole thing felt forced

I expected a fluffy romp from this book, and got that, but more! The romance was great fun to watch develop, but I really love genre-blending, and the book delivered on that! The mystery was intriguing, and the horror was spooky without taking over the whole vibe. Particular salutes to the author for working in some social commentary about the publishing business' attitude toward stories and characters that aren't cishet white folks. Overall, this book was a delight and I would recommend to anyone who enjoys something light but a little different!

What a delightful marriage of genres!

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. So glad that I gave it a chance. It was by turns funny, romantic, and poignant.

I somehow always struggle to accurately describe the central relationship in romances without saying something incredibly boring and uninformative like ‘I thought they were good together’ or ‘They had good chemistry’, both of which are true in this case. But I think what I liked best about Neil and Pen is that they help each other find and recognize their strengths. Neil helps Pen see the strength she already possesses, and Pen helps Neil find the strength to stand for what he believes in.

While Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting of Hill House gets named dropped in the book, the storyline actually more closely resembles another of his works, The Haunting of Bly Manor. Not to the extent that this work feels derivative - more like a nice little nod to the series, with shades of Henry James showing through.

The scope of this book is fairly ambitious. It’s an enemies-to-lovers romance. It’s a gothic horror. It’s a statement about the very narrow sliver of the publishing industry allotted to Native authors. I feel like it accomplishes all of these things reasonably well, but I would have appreciated a little more time being spent on Georgina and Archie’s story, as well as a slower transition from enemies to lovers for Neil and Pen.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced reader copy of this book, provided in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

This was ultimately a DNF for me. The characters were hard to connect to. The personalities felt juvenile and overall whiny. The way the FMC used physical violence toward the MMC at the start really tainted the rest of the book for me. The violence was unnecessary and the same public embarrassment/conflict could have been portrayed differently with the same impact.

*Arc given in exchange for a free and honest review. Thanks to Netgalley*


In the spirit of crossing fandoms, I was promised a spooky enemies to lovers, but by the end, I knew this was not the book I was seeking. Honestly, there is a vibe there, that they were not strictly enemies to lovers, but more like an unrequited, unspoken crush, to friends, to enemies, etc etc.

Granted, April is a slow reading moth for me, but it took me all month to read this. I did not particularly care for the main characters, and I could not stand the two side characters. At times I was cheering for the ghost to start doing her ghost thing and pull someone into a crack in the floor.

Are people really like this, do they treat their friends this way?

One star for the spice, that was ok and one star for addressing the issue of the mainstream publishing world white washing issues to make them more palatable for the non-Bipoc gaze.

Slower start but the story picked up in the 20% mark. I enjoyed the characters, although I found the repetitive mention of their full names a little annoying. The plot was interesting. Overall 3 stars.

True enemies to lovers and slow burn that had me giggling and rooting for this couple to work through their issues. At the beginning of the book Pen Skinner throws a book at Neil Storm during a book convention and calls him a sellout. She causes both of them some serious heartburn in their careers and also some writers block.
She agrees to go on a writers retreat to a haunted castle in Scotland, but guess who shows up!?
There’s a love story embedded in this love story, one that Pen and Neil begin to realize as their stay in the castle gets creepier and creepier.
I wasn’t a fan of the story being in 3rd person, it’s just a personal preference of mine, so I struggled at some points trying to remember if I was reading about Pen or Neil.
I loved how the setting was such a big part of the story.

I was expecting a bit more horror from the description. Four authors get together in a haunted castle in Scotland for a writing retreat. Many strange things happen from the beginning and you get a sense that there’s more to this haunted castle than meets the eye. Overall it was a good read I enjoyed the bickering between the two main characters. Lots of spicy scenes for those that enjoy it.

A read that sadly wasn’t my favorite but I am sure it will be up the alley for many readers.
It was hard for me to be immersed into the story due to the lack of connection and understanding of the characters.

This was fun and spooky! A group of writers (two of whom do NOT get along) go to a haunted castle for a writers’ retreat. Things go awry when the two enemies start seeing and hearing things inside the castle & they become closer! There is Native American rep in here and I loved all the discussion about being brave with your writing! This will be a perfect fall read. Thanks to @netgalley for the ARC!

"If I Stopped Haunting You" did not live up to my high expectations. This novel promised a fascinating combination of horror and romance, but it failed to deliver on both counts. This relationship made me really uncomfortable because the main character is a borderline aggressive, self-centered gaslighter. The big reveal for the haunting was lackluster.

It’s half way to Halloween and you need to have this book on your radar for spooky season! 👻🧡

If I Stopped Haunting You is the perfect addition to your October TBR.

- A haunted Scottish castle
- Creepy happenings
- A decades old mystery
- A spicy rivals-to-lovers romance

IISHY is out on 10/15 so be prepared for the ultimate horror romance.

The premise and setting and deeply flawed characters stole my heart. If you are going in for a book of perfectly nice never did anything wrong not at all injured people interacting, this is probably not it.
I think if you like flawed characters and are interested in reading about how they react in this situation you'll enjoy it. I love a deeply wounded character and I think the depth of these characters make it more enjoyable and less predictable. I read a lot of books and I like to be surprised, I like to be curious and this scratched that itch.
Gorgeous haunted setting. Interesting story. Would definitely recommend.

Advertised as an enemies to lovers romance with a spooky twist. With promises of spooky chills and even more sexy thrills. Two feuding writers end up on a writers retreat together at a haunted castle in Scotland. Months after horror author Penelope Skinner threw a book at Neil Storm, a bestselling author of horror novels that claimed to break Native stereotypes. Penelope Skinner is now a publishing pariah and hasn't been able to write a word since. When a close friend invites her on a writers retreat in a haunted Scottish castle, she jumps at the opportunity. Unfortunately, Penelope unleashed some serious self-doubt in Neil and he’s now terrified to write another bestselling "book without a soul," as Pen called it. Neil seeks to find inspiration, whilst completely avoiding the infuriating Penelope Skinner.
As the retreat begins, Pen and Neil find themselves trapped in a real-life ghost story and an attraction neither expected.

I was originally drawn in by the cute cover, the idea of a romantic horror, with enemies to lovers. I will say the horror scenes were well written, and gave the perfect amount of hair raising creepiness. Unfortunately I felt the characters fell a little flat. I never felt a connection with any of the characters. There was too much repetition at times, and the dialogue felt a little stilted. This book took me far too long to finish, and I really had to push myself to get through it. The reading block was real. In conclusion, this book sadly just wasn’t for me.

Thank you @Netgalley and @StMartinsPress for the opportunity to preview this title in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was so taken by this cover, title, and blurb and was so excited to get my hands on this book. Unfortunately, it was not what I expected. I expected an enemies-to-lovers trope, I expected some spicy moments, I expected spooky moments however not one was delivered. Penelope Skinner and Neil Storm are supposed to be enemies, however that is only shown in the prologue. In the prologue they have a little debate and Pen throws a book at Neil, and then Pen is basically canceled from the writers world. In Chapter 1, Pen's best friend Laszlo convinces Pen to go on a writer's retreat at a haunted castle in Scotland, and also she finds out Neil is going too. By Chapter 2, Neil and Pen are already reconsidering their actions, and having sexual thoughts about each other. There's no build up. If one does not read the prologue, one would have no idea they're supposed to be enemies. The next few chapters are pretty much the same, lots of thoughts about one another and how attracted they are. There is also quite a bit of repetition throughout the book. I was looking forward to the "extremely hot almost-kiss", thinking maybe that could've been redemption, however it wasn't until halfway through the book that I realize what the reference was to. It was not hot, but instead unnoticeable, as were most of the "steamy" moments in this book. And the spook wasn't there either..
I wish I could have something good to say about this book, however even the FMC was unlikable. She was very aggressive and just mean to Neil throughout the book. I'm sorry, but I didn't like it. It just didn't do it for me.
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

I was hoping for more of a spooky vibe, but the story was just okay. Pen and Neil are realistic enough characters, and I get the whole enemies to lovers line. However, I found the steamy scenes to be too over-the-top and unrealistic. Although they could have resolved their differences and become something more, the affair seemed to be more proximity than romance. As for the haunting, I enjoyed the manner of the haunting, and the castle had enough secret passages to make this exciting and scary. But, for story foundation, I did not see any reason for Georgina to be haunting the castle. And her history was not a comeback story for Pen as far as I was concerned unless embellished. Although I generally liked the story, I skipped the erotica sections and was a little disappointed at the end.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the ARC!

My opinions are my own.

Penelope (Pen) Skinner and Neil Storm (Storm) are two young, hot indigenous authors who dislike each other vehemently, or do they?

Pen feels Storm is a sell-out whose work plays into stereotypes about native people. At a book event for BIPOC authors, frustrated with the way he is worshipped by the public and has sold his soul (in her opinion) to do so, she throws her book at Storm, and from there, both their lives take a turn.

The locale for the book is a haunted Scottish castle where Pen and Storm end up with two other authors for a writers' retreat that is anything but that. What ensues is a haunted house mystery that was somewhat reminiscent of Scooby Doo in the best ways mixed with an enemies-to-lovers trope. The other two writers on the retreat, Lazlo and Daniela are the perfect counterbalance to Pen and Storm's emo vibes.

I found the book entertaining and particularly enjoyed the last 1/3rd of the book's focus on the other love story, from the 1800s of the ghosts occupying the castle. It kept the story between Storm and Pen that much more engaging.

Wilkens did a great job including characters of color and also integrating queer romance in the story.