DNF at 50%
Overall it wasn’t bad, but I had a hard time staying engaged.

The tropes were on point: enemies to lovers in a haunted Scottish castle?! Sign me up! The haunting piece of the story was my favourite part. But I found I had a hard time connecting with the characters and investing in the story and the romance between them.

I would be willing to try something from this author again though.

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

Thank you Net Galley and publishers for letting me read an arc of this book in return for an honest review.

I thought I would enjoy this book more but I really didn't. It had some enjoyable moments, but the characters fell through. Both of the main characters were really annoying. Pen was abusive and whiny the whole book, and Neil was cowardly and irksome. If the book left out the whole "enemies to lovers" relationship trope and just made it into a ghost story about a haunted castle that some writers visited then it would have been better. It dragged and I couldn't get into it. I didn't like any of the characters and was happy to just finish the book. I've read worse and I've read better so overall it wasn't horrible. It just wasn't for me.

I really enjoyed this book. I was just hoping for a little more spooky. I would definitely recommend it especially for spooky season.
I really hope there will be a second book. I kinda want more of the story.

I really wanted to like this book but dnf at 30%. The premise sounded so good! An author enemies to lovers book that takes place at a writing retreat in a haunted Scotland castle! Sign me up!! But what I didn’t expect was a political Native American “f*ck the white colonizers” theme. I’m all for reading about injustices and think their voices absolutely should be heard. But, all I wanted from this book was a fun E2L haunted house romance story and was taken aback by the underlying theme. I also didn’t like the FMC much and how she didn’t take responsibility for her actions when they ultimately harmed someone else.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I really enjoyed it when I had started. However, with the allegations come to light, I cannot give this a rating I would have initially.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. And honestly, this book is awful. Its trope is supposed to be enemies to lovers, but falls short as those books don't usually start with deliberate assault. She literally assaults him in the prologue. Draws blood. And her anger issues and need to blame others for her problems only gets worse. I tried, but I could not get past that- a romance starting with the alleged heroine deliberately harming the hero? No thank you. Sorry, but I just plain hated this one and do not recommend it. AT ALL.

I have really struggled with this book.

The opening sequence left me uneasy and I made it 30% into the book and its not getting better. I am not a fan of the main characters and I feel like the conflict is unsubstantiated. If she had such a huge problem with out he writes Native Americans, why is she so attracted to him? She literally assaulted him in public then he lightly feels her up in a graveyard.

Just really not into this dynamic. I could maybe push though and see if it gets better but I also find it strange that possibly the author has lied about her indigenous heritage. I am not sure that is substantiated but I just don't particularly want to keep reading.

Genuinely painfully romantic and I loved every second of it. Couldn't recommend this more and can't wait for the next book from this author.

I had to DNF this as soon as the FMC was THROWING a huge object at the MMC.

I don't stand for that in my life and I couldn't move past that moment in the book.

I did read this book and was very appreciative of being sent a physical copy. The cover art is beautiful and the summary of this book led me to believe this would be a unique halloween-type story. While there were some moments I did enjoy, they weren't as common as the moments I sat back and hummed in confusion to myself. There seemed to be a lot of unnecessary physical violence towards the main love interest, and despite the article recently released and drama surrounding the authors cultural alliances, I could not really see the reason being indigenous was thrown into this book on top of every other element it was already trying to carry and it ended up feeling a bit muddy. I would be willing to try some other this authors other stories however!

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy.

This was a disappointing blend of horror and romance. There's now unfortunate rumors about this author. I ended up feeling more frustrated than satisfied with this book and the rumors have just soured the experience.

After learning the author was dishonest about having Native heritage, I will not be reviewing this book.

DNF @ 20%

The book starts off with the FMC throwing a book at the MMC because she felt threatened by him. She drew blood! Then stormed away and continued to blame him. Her toxicity continued through the next few scenes and when the MMC POV started to consider Pen in a sexual way, I completely lost it. The characters didn’t feel like real people with any real beliefs or morals, to be so easily distracted by two supposedly terrible people. I couldn’t take another minute of the cringy flirting and objectifying.

Oh and then to learn the claims of the authors’ Indigenous heritage are false, is just inexcusable.

Upon discovering the author was dishonest about her Native heritage, I will not be reviewing this book.

Upon learning about the author’s dishonesty regarding her heritage I do not feel comfortable reviewing this on any of my socials or giving this a good review at all. All I have to say is shame on her.

Upon discovering the author was dishonest about her heritage and posed as an Indigenous person, I will not leave a full review any longer. Before I found that information, the book was still incredibly problematic.

Before the news of Colby broke, I was in the middle of this book. I decided to finish it to see how it went, but it didn't improve in the second half. News of her aside, I was really excited about this book. The premise was fun, I was stoked on two Indigenous leads, and it had the makings for a great book.

Unfortunately, I hated Penelope. She was mean and vindictive and she had abusive behaviour. She was violent towards the MMC, Neil, and she never really atoned for her behaviour. Instead, she blamed HIM for the suffering of her career after she attacked him on a writers panel. She was angry at him for writing a portrayal of Indigenous people that she didn't agree with, but I'm left questioning her authority on the matter. Also as a white Native, she really doesn't face the same barriers as Neil (a brown man) at all, and doesn't ever acknowledge that.

Neil was an okay character. He was better than Penelope for sure, and I'm not sure I would have forgiven her.

The aspect of the ghosts/haunting weren't that interesting and how it resolved was a little bit boring and simplistic.

Romance was pretty medium and the sex scenes were just ok. I'm not sure I bought their chemistry. I did really like the ending with Daniela writing a book about them and how the scene played out in the epilogue. That was cute.

I will not be reviewing this book as there are allegations of the author falsely claiming indigenous heritage. Not cool at all.

Edit: it is NOT okay to pretend to be indigenous to sell a story. What the hell.

I was really excited to try If I Stopped Haunting You, but the story unfortunately fell flat for me. It had a lot of potential but the romance didn’t work in my opinion.

I received an ARC from the publisher but will not be reviewing this title since it was pulled from publication until further notice.