This book had me on my toes! I felt like I was on a roller-coaster. It was fast, slow and back to frightening fast. The banter between the main two characters was addicting. The characters were all so interesting. I could picture being their friends. The story line was so good I couldn't put the book down. I really enjoy the way the author wrapped everything up and left no questions unanswered.

I really wanted to like this book based on the blurb and the cover art. But I can’t. I couldn’t even fully read it. I kept skipping. No one is likable. And that’s my biggest issue. The writer has some good potential but this one just doesn’t hit the marks.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin. ~I was given this book and made no commitments to leave my opinions, favorable or otherwise~

This book was super cute! I loved the characters and their connections with each other. Very unique and will be reading more from this author!

How can you not enjoy an intimate writer's retreat at a haunted castle in Scotland? Penelope and Neil are two writers that had a very public fight 4 months prior. Pen has Native American blood but is not a recognized member of a tribe because there is not enough of, or the correct kind of, documentation. She also favors her non-Indian parentage. Neil is a documented tribal member. The fight was a result of Pen accusing Neil of selling out to his publishers and writing a white-washed version of his stories.
Pen now has writer's block and has been 'canceled' by a large portion of Neil's fans. She is invited to a writer's retreat by her best friend who assures her that Neil will not be there. So of course, he is. We get to experience the anger, frustration and awkwardness between Pen and Neil as well as Danielle's amusement about the whole situation. There are ominous warnings about the ghosts and certain areas of the castle that are strictly off limits. Another, so of course, they go there. Pen and Neil are sensitive to the spirits whereas Danielle and Laslo are oblivious. Danger and mystery occur as Pen and Neil resolve their differences and work together to help the ghosts move on.

Thank you for the digital ARC!

Colby Wilkens' debut is romantic and thrilling with one of the most fully realized enemies-to-lovers relationships I've read in a while. Both protagonists are complex and flawed, which makes the push and pull of their dynamic absolutely delicious, coupled with truly chilling moments of horror and suspense.

Thank you to Netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

I want to preface this review with saying I hate giving 1 star reviews. Normally if a book is not my cup of tea I will give it three stars at least, and if I see large issues will lower to two stars. I have only ever given a one star review once before because I only give those if a book has issues so deep I feel as though the book itself lacked in many fundamental qualities to the point it is unenjoyable and borderline (if not) toxic.

When I requested this ARC I was drawn in by the premise, art, and tropes. I was very excited to see how the romance and horror would be written together into a fluid story especially when it was based on enemies to lovers with Native rep. Unfortunately, this book missed in all accounts. If nothing else, this author has great potential to write fantastic stories and I would love to see what she produces in the future, but this book was very much a miss.

I will start with the characters as they were the basis of my issues (if you know me, you know I can enjoy any book if the characters are good enough). Our main female lead is Pen, an emerging Native horror author who struggles greatly with her career because she is staying true to herself and her culture. Unfortunately, she loses her cool within the first chapter out of jealousy and anger at the male lead as he has “made it” in the publishing industry by bending his morals to the white man. I would have LOVED to see more examples of how exactly Pen was struggling due to wanting to write these stories, but we never really got that. All we ever got throughout the book was her complaining about it and screaming at Neil (the male lead) that he was undeserving of his accomplishments because he bent instead of staying strong. There was VERY little showing and everything was told to us.

But that leads me to my next issue with Pen: she is incredibly toxic, manipulative, and abusive. In the first chapter when her jealousy spikes, she is unable to stay professional as she literally throws a book at Neil physically hurting him and leaving a scar. Throughout this book she hits him and hurts him physically to the point she jokes it off as “I swear I’m not a physically violent person.” Additionally, Pen to me goes against her own beliefs by constantly berating Neil to the point he doesn’t even believe in his own writing. When he tried to explain his side-no one would publish the stories he wanted to write and he NEEDED to publish something to have a career-she cuts him off and won’t listen to him. In fact, this communication point NEVER happens. It’s the friend who ends up telling Pen this because for some reason she is more willing to listen to mutual friends than the love interest.

In fact, my next issue with the book pertained to any character that wasn’t Pen or Neil. If you removed the side characters, this book would be nearly the exact same. These “friends” were awful friends. They would only occasionally pop in and rather than offer genuine support, they constantly made uncomfortable jokes/bets on the two main characters having sex. I would like to take this outside of the context of characters in a book. If you had an academic “enemy” who you supposedly hated and had ruined your entire professional career, would your close friends really be pushing you to have sex with that person? I understand that in fictional worlds that can be a thing, but there was nothing in this book that showed how these friends were truly friends. I’m not exaggerating when I say nearly every single interaction with these side characters was some sort of bet or joke on their part about sex…I feel there was a lot of lost potential.

Outside of these details, the characters felt extremely underdeveloped. I wanted to know more about every character (except the ghosts) by the end of the book. I hardly understood half of their personalities. Part of this struggle came from how wishy-washy they were about things. For example, Pen was constantly jumping from angry to sad to frustrated to turned on within three paragraphs. It was like reading whiplash. I hope this book will be going through major edits before it comes out.

Moving into the relationships between characters, this was not an enemies to lovers. I’d barely describe it as rivals to lovers. I hope they stop marketing it as such. Pen claims to hate Neil, and Neil has always had an interest in Pen (how I’m not exactly sure as I thought they had barely interacted prior to this book). And the enemies is not the kind of enemies that composes this trope. It feels more like Pen thinks of Neil as that incredibly frustrating coworker that you have to deal with over an enemy. Beyond my frustration with this marketing trope and poor execution, don’t read this if you want romance. At no point did their relationship feel romantic, it just felt awkward and sexually charged. They had little to no emotional development, heavily lacked communication, and didn’t really resolve their initial issues. They just kept touching because plot is convenient and supposedly fell for each other because of it.

I don’t have much to say about the horror plot because it wasn’t very intriguing. It was incredibly predictable (which isn’t a bad thing in my opinion). But the level of telling, not showing made it difficult for me to enjoy the horror or fall into it.

This review probably came across as an attack on the book, and for that, I apologize. My intentions are to point out critical weaknesses and flaws within the novel which will hopefully be resolved in the next one by this author. I would love to see a well written romance (or horror!) by her with good Native rep.

This THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE x BEACH READ—but make it Indigenous premise?!?! It could have been written exclusively in wingdings and I still would have gobbled it up! Very excited to see what Colby Wilkens does next.

DNF @ 35% - 1.5 stars rounded up

I tired to get past the teenage-esque-ness of both main characters but it still felt so juvenile. Why is it that romance books these days are focused on late 20s/early 30 year old who act like they're still in high school and don't have any emotional intelligence?

I loved the premise, a secluded haunted house in Scotland? Sign me up! But the writing of the book fell flat for me, and I didn't get spooky vibes at all. The only "spooky" thing that happened was dull and underwhelming. I didn't care enough for the characters to invest in finishing the book either. I read a few of the reviews for this to see if anyone else is in my boat but it looks like I'm very much an outlier.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC! 

3.75/5 ⭐️ 
Release Date: 15 Oct 2024 

📖: enemies to lovers, dual POV, paranormal, snowed in

“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.”

Penelope and Neil are rival Native horror authors with a contentious relationship. They’re opposites in how they’ve approached writing and their careers. Penelope is very passionate and outspoken about her beliefs. She seems to hold on to her anger and has preconceived notions about Neil. 

Neil struggles with his fame and what he’s done to reach it. He made his novels more palatable for white readers. In doing so, he diminished his thoughts and ideals, making it more difficult for other authors to share their stories without those constraints. 

I enjoyed that both characters were forced to reconcile. By getting snowed in, they were able to reveal more about themselves and the reasoning behind their decisions. The paranormal aspect enhances each character’s development, and I was as eager to solve the mystery as Pen and Neil. It's definitely a good option to add to your spooky TBR!

I enjoyed the general plot and ideas for this book. A spooky romance, set in a haunted castle in Scotland, what's not to love. The idea also felt different from the other books I've been reading recently which had me excited. The beginning of the book I thought was really strong and set up the book well.

Overall, I found myself wanting more, more spooky ghosts, more romance, and more of Pen and Neil getting to know each other on a personal level. The romance felt a little too insta-love for me and I would have loved a more gradual progression of their romance as they learned about seeing each other more than just authors competing for the same space.

This is a horror romance fusion book where both the FMC and MMC are Native American horror authors who hate each other. They both end up at a writer's retreat in a haunted castle in Scotland and as people say there is a fine line between love and hate. I enjoyed this book. I thought the romance was sweet and both characters were likable. At no fault of this book, it has taught me that horror books are not necessarily for me, even though I wouldn't classify this book as super horror-y. But other than being creeped out for the majority of it (which I think might have been the point), it was a very good read.

Thankful to the Author's page. That's as far as I read in this book. Thank you for stating what it included!!!

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I liked this book but didn't love it. I felt the characters weren't loveable but they were fun. Ghost plotline was intriguing but had some loose ends.

I’ve recently started dabbling in romance books that are alternate genres, for example murder mystery romance, dark fantasy romance and now drumroll… paranormal / horror / spooky romance!

If I stopped Haunting you follows a small group of authors who embark on a writing retreat in the middle of no where Scotland. They have an entire castle to themselves for inspiration, imagine picturesque country side, burial grounds and ancient architecture and artwork.

Only that’s not all. Two of the authors are sworn enemies, after a big blow out at a review panel they can’t stand each other. On top of that they have to decipher whether the old wives tales about the castle being haunted are actually fictional, or whether they are now thrown into a hauntingly spooky situation.

I had a lot of fun reading this! I loved the unique angle on the topic of indigenous authors and the obstacles they have to go through within the publishing industry. The romance was full of steamy tension and the paranormal aspect of the haunted castle was perfection. All the pieces came together to make one wonderful read!

Absolutely recommend this book if you have appreciation for the aforementioned genres and tropes.

Thank you to St Martin’s Press, Colby Wilkins and NetGalley for the EARC!

Publish date: October 15th

In If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens, horror author Penelope Skinner finds herself in a creative rut after a heated altercation with bestselling author Neil Storm. Despite her frustrations, Penelope reluctantly agrees to join a writers retreat at a haunted Scottish castle, hoping to reignite her inspiration. Unbeknownst to her, Neil is also attending the retreat, eager to escape his own doubts and avoid Penelope's company. However, as the retreat progresses, the two authors find themselves embroiled in a real-life ghost story, forced to confront their feelings and the unresolved tension between them. As they navigate the supernatural occurrences and undeniable chemistry, Penelope and Neil must decide if they can put aside their differences and embrace the possibility of a romance.

This book delivers a delightful blend of romance and paranormal intrigue that kept me captivated from start to finish. Colby Wilkens skillfully weaves together a compelling story with well-developed characters, including Penelope and Neil, whose dynamic and witty banter adds depth to the narrative. The setting of the haunted Scottish castle provides a suitably atmospheric backdrop for them unfolding romance, enhancing the overall sense of mystery and suspense. While the plot may follow some familiar tropes of the genre, Wilkens injected enough originality and twists to keep me engaged until the satisfying conclusion.

I highly recommend If I Stopped Haunting You to fans of romance and paranormal fiction. It's a captivating read that offers a perfect blend of suspense, romance, and supernatural intrigue. Overall, this book is a delightful and entertaining novel that will appeal to a wide range of readers. Colby Wilkens has crafted a compelling story with memorable characters and an engaging plot that keeps you hooked until the very end.

I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Colby Wilkens and St. Martin's Press for providing me with the opportunity to read If I Stopped Haunting You and share my thoughts.

I was so excited about the premise of this book but it just didn’t hit the mark for me. The MCs were extremely unlikable and hard to root for. The romance didn’t leave me swooning and the horror element was not as exciting as I imagined.

Spooky meets sexy in this contemporary, paranormal romance

3.5 ⭐

I liked this book but really wanted to like it more! While it took a little while to finish, this was still a very fun read but missed the mark on being a truly great novel. There were so many elements of this book that pulled me in and had me in a choke hold, largely due to the author's engaging writing style, but was taken out of the story by uneven pacing and some abrupt transitions between events.

Although there were some challenges with immersion, I absolutely love that the book follows Pen and Neil, two indigenous authors who unintentionally end up on a writing retreat together at a haunted castle and thrown into a paranormal investigation. – I appreciated the discussion of BIPOC representation in the publishing industry, and even though I am not a horror fan by any stretch of the imagination, the creepiness level of the hauntings in this book felt a good fit with the romance. I will say I was a bit disappointed and confused by the end reveal though since it felt like it could have been more.

The banter between the two MCs was really enjoyable but I found Pen’s animosity towards Neil excessive at times, so it was hard to fully embrace her as the female main character. By the end, I understood her more. Still, there were several moments where her actions seemed incredibly petty, making her less relatable and diminishing the reader’s ability to empathize or connect with Pen and Neil's rivalry. — I will say the spice and chemistry between the two characters was great though! The burn and sexual tension felt good between them, but I did find the enemies to lovers romance evolved a bit too quickly to be believable. If there were breadcrumbs in the beginning to establish there might be something more between Pen and Neil this would definitely help the reader invest in their romance.

Overall, I enjoyed my time reading and adore the premise of this story, especially with the genre blend, but a few things just felt out of place.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Loved:
- The prologue!
- The cover!
- Daniela uses Neil and Penelope as inspiration for her own book.

Liked:
- It was so nice to read something that had Native American characters and LGBTQIA+ characters. I especially appreciated the inclusion of the adversity that minorities face in the publishing industry
- The comedy
- Release date is close to Halloween

Disliked:
- Instant romance — I genuinely think it was unnecessary and felt the book would've been more substantial without it. The sex scenes felt forced as if the author thought they HAD to be there (though the implied ghost sex was humorous).
- Could've been shorter -- At 320 pages, the book dragged on by the middle. A good multitude of scenes could've been cut but weren't seemingly in the name of romance.
- Why the heck wouldn't Neil let Penelope do anything by herself???
- The ghost element -- good in theory but not in execution. The ghost plotline felt rushed and didn't make sense at the end. A handful of loose ends were tied together to form a semblance of a complete ending.

“I have spent the last several years treating you like a nuisance instead of the incredibly brilliant and attractive woman that you are because part of me thought you could never feel anything you animosity toward me.” 💜🗝️

Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐️ (rounded to 4)
Review: Horror is my favorite genre, and I’ve been indulging in romance lately, so when I saw the synopsis for this one, I thought YES. There is a strong representation of Indigenous culture, mild ghostly horror, & intense love scenes. The romance unraveled a bit too fast for my liking, but it was super entertaining. It’s a cute little love story that could be completed in a day!

Thank you, NetGalley for sending me an e-ARC 👻

This was fun! I liked the concept and thought it was super original. I chose it for the cover mainly but stayed for the fun energy & romance! Will recommend