I had anticipated a captivating blend of horror and romance in Colby Wilkens' "If I Stopped Haunting You," but regrettably, it failed to meet my expectations. The characters, Neil and Penelope, lacked the depth necessary to sustain their 'enemies-to-lovers' journey. Their transition from adversaries to romantic partners felt rushed and lacked emotional resonance. Additionally, the intimate scenes lacked passion and intensity, failing to engage the reader.

Penelope's character, in particular, was poorly developed and unlikable. Her actions, including physical assault and manipulation, were unjustifiable, leaving her devoid of redeeming qualities.

The horror elements of the story were uninspiring, failing to evoke any genuine sense of fear or suspense. The haunted castle setting felt clichéd, and the ghosts lacked the necessary impact to instill terror.

Furthermore, the plot suffered from numerous inconsistencies and unresolved narrative threads, resulting in a disjointed and unsatisfying reading experience.

While I appreciate the opportunity to explore the concept of overcoming writer's block in a haunted castle, "If I Stopped Haunting You" ultimately fell short of its potential. It pains me to give a negative review, but this book failed to resonate with me, and I struggled to maintain interest throughout.

Thank you to Netgally and the publishers for allowing me to read this book early. This book was definitely not what i was expecting, i’m a sucker for romance and horror or any type of fantasy creature, so ghosts were right up my alley and although l’m not native i really enjoyed reading about Native characters and the bits of their culture and struggles that shine through in the story, it was very eye opening. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for more of this authors work.

Frankly, I love brain cells reading this. The main characters have zero depth. Penelope is grating AF and incredibly naive and immature. She’s bratty and definitely doesn’t deserve praise for her actions just because she thinks her BIPOC hero is a sellout.

The romantic ~tension~ is there but frankly felt really weird when we’re supposed to also care about some haunted castle escapades. One moment they see a half rotting woman and smell decay and death, the next they want to have sex against the dusty library shelves, it just didn’t flow together.

Also the ghost mystery solving didn’t really end up meaning anything. There was really nothing deeper or tragically mysterious.

The side characters were also suspiciously aloof and just making bets on whether the main characters would fuck. Seems like strange friends. Despite ALL the characters being horror / thriller authors, none of them seemed to excel or have brain cells when confronted with a haunted house. I also don’t have a clue what the author was trying to say about Native American storytelling, representation in publishing, or connection to horror, it never gets discussed.

Oh I LOVED this book! It was such a nice breath of fresh air compared to the heavier books I've been reading this year. I feel like the authors writing got even better around the 60% mark, and I loved the characters. Though I feel we maybe got a *little* too much internal dialogue, I understand the feeling of anxiety, and self doubt the author was trying to portray and really loved Penelope and Neil! Also the descriptive scenery, the building anticipation between Will-They, Won't-They, AND of the GHOSTS? It was so good! The horror aspect nearly outweighs the spice (but just barely!) And I devoured this book in a week! This is a solid debut novel.

🖤 slow burn
👻 enemies to lovers
🖤 he falls fast & harder
👻 a haunted castle in the Scotland setting
🖤 ghosts
👻 writer's retreat
🖤 multiple POV

This book was such a fun enemies to lovers slow burn read. For starters…this cover snagged me and then the description. This cover is so perfect! I started this read almost immediately and took a few days to read it and loved it SO MUCH.

The characters were well done (I absolutely adored Penelope & Neil OF COURSE) and I absolutely loved the setting/backdrop (uhmmm yesss to a Scottish castle 🫶🏼) for this book. This book gave a very cozy romance & ‘soft horror’ feel and vibe (more romance vibe than horror feels I mean to say). These characters are stuck in this ghostly beautiful spooky castle and I’d love to tell you what the mystery is but I’ll let you read for yourself 🤭 to find out…

If you love a good slowburn, enemies to lovers read with fun banter, great main characters, fun side characters and a spooky mystery with some twists then this book definitely needs to go right on your TBR.

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

I love a good thriller and romance, so I thought the horror + romance combo of this book sounded perfect! The opening scene was humorous. The romance side of this novel is strong - enemies to lovers trope, quite fiery and salacious. The supporting characters, Daniela and Laszlo, are fun and relatable. I didn't find the haunting/horror side of things to be as realistic as I'd have liked. Generally, horror has me on the edge of my seat, but I actually found it to be more comical than fear invoking. That said, while I did enjoy the book, it wasn't really what I expected, hence the 3 star review. I'd give it 3.5 if half stars were a thing.

Overall it's a good, fun read. Colby Wilkens is a lovely writer.

Thank you to NetGalley an St. Martin's Press for giving me the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not a horror reader. By that, I mean this was the first horror novel I've ever read (in my memory) and as a book addict, that's saying a lot. So, you can imagine how grateful I am that this wasn't actually that scary. There are a good number of horror elements, but this wasn't what I expected. To be clear, it's a medium-paced, enemies-to-lovers romance set in haunted castle because the MCs are paranormal fiction author on a writing retreat.

I wasn't very impressed by the horror aspect of thing coz it resembled books I read in middle school, so I'm not gonna linger on that. A sub-plot that really stuck with me was that on the representation of indigenous people. The MCs Penelope and Neil are native writers who struggle to make their voices heard, combatting stereotypes and publishing their works. This is actually the origin of the rivalry between them as the reader learns later in the story. As a South-Asian, I often find that there is misrepresentation of my culture in the west, and so the views in this book strongly resonated with me.

As for the characters in themselves, I think they could really be worked upon. They didn't have much of a personality that I could talk about. And here's the prime reason I am skeptical of the enemies-to-loves trope. The MCs wither have no reason to hate each other, or suddenly overcome their hatred for no reason. In this book, it's the latter. I'm not a fan of smut, and with this one it felt like the sexual tension became a whole subplot to make up for lack of personality. There was so much that could've been done with the native subplot or just building upon the MCs instead of making a mixed bag of tropes and genres.

PS- I love the cover and the title <3

Mein Leseerlebnis

Das Buch enthält eine Liebesgeschichte, die sich frisch und außergewöhnlich anfühlte. Romances, in denen die beiden Hauptcharaktere Autor:innen sind, zwischen denen es vor kurzem öffentlich zu einem heftigen Streit gekommen ist und mit einem Spukschloss als Ort des Geschehens, findet man nicht allzu oft.

Beim Lesen konnte ich mich gut auf den Schreibstil einlassen und habe die Fantasie der Autorin bewundert. Darüber hinaus hat in dem Liebesroman für mich leider nicht alles gepasst.

So fand ich die Hauptcharaktere zwar interessant, konnte sie mir aber leider nicht als echte Personen vorstellen. Das hat dazu geführt, dass ich zu ihnen keine gute emotionale Verbindung aufnehmen konnte. Darunter hat mein Leseerlebnis etwas gelitten.

Pens Verhalten zu Beginn des romance Buches fand ich übrigens ziemlich ,überzogen und etwas verwirrend. Hätte sich ihr gegenüber jemand so verhalten, wäre das in ihren Augen wahrscheinlich unverzeihlich gewesen (was ich ähnlich bewerten würde). Die Hauptcharaktere wirkten aufgrund ihres Verhaltens teils etwas jünger, als sie es wirklich waren. Das war nicht ideal für mich.

Darüber hinaus waren die Gruselmomente nicht mein Fall. Um genauer zu sein, fand ich sie nicht so wirklich spannend. Szenen damit haben mir wenig gegeben.

Ich habe den ememies to lovers - Roman bis ungefähr zur Hälfte gelesen und dann abgebrochen. Da ich emotional nicht bei der Sache war, hat das Weiterlesen keinen Sinn gemacht. Ich kann mit allerdings gut vorstellen, dass der Liebesroman für andere Leser:innen besser sein könnte, da er insgesamt viel zu bieten hat.

Keine Bewertung, da abgebrochen.

Für wen?

Wer frische, spannende Liebesromane mit besonderen Elementen mag, für den könnte “If I stopped haunting you” ein schöne Sache sein.

I really enjoyed the romance/horror combo, and the spice was perfectly spicy. Wilkens covers some pretty heavy and important topics around Native representation in literature, what it means to be a de-facto spokesperson for a whole culture, what makes someone "Native" enough, and more. I enjoyed watching the characters come to terms with their past and find understanding together.

I wanted to love this but it fell flat for me. It just felt like the pacing was off at times. It was unique and had an engaging plot line.

"If I Stopped Haunting You" by Colby Wilkens is a delightful blend of romance and paranormal mystery. The dynamic between Neil and Penelope, two writers with a shared heritage in horror, is electric from the start, and their tension-filled encounter sets the stage for a captivating story. As they navigate the haunted castle in Scotland, their shared ability to see apparitions creates a unique bond, leading them to team up to solve the mysteries lurking within. Wilkens expertly weaves together elements of romance and the supernatural, keeping readers on the edge of their seats while also tugging at their heartstrings. Perfect for fans of both genres, this quick read is sure to leave readers enchanted and wanting more.

Enemies to lovers meets Gothic mystery. A great crossover title for fans of "Do Your Worst" by Rosie Danan.

While I loved the idea of a writers retreat, some romance, and ghosts(!!!) the execution was a huge miss for me.

My biggest issues are with the romance and characters. Penelope was awful. I get frustration and anger, but she assaults Neil, in front of an audience, and then blames HIM for her career stalling? She is so immature, and there's no growth throughout. Neil isn't much better, he's just clueless and then Penelope gaslights him throughout most of the book. Neither have any growth as people, and their romance is totally based on lust. I have nothing against that, lust may be a great way to start, but I need something deeper to develop if you're going to call it romance. I also need some accountability for terrible behavior, if you're going from enemies to lovers, but this book doesn't do that either.

Since the romance was a miss, I kept hoping the haunting would be amazing and save the book. Unfortunately, again, it was a miss for me. It wasn't scary or even spooky, and I'm still not sure why they had to solve the mystery behind the hauntings...usually there are consequences that drive the action, but here there weren't, so it feels a little lackluster.

While I can't really recommend the book, I can say that these are my opinions and if the book sounds like something you would enjoy, give it a shot.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC, I'm sharing my thoughts freely.

Romance? Horror? Two of my favorite genres in one? Yes, please!

So it should be little surprise that I enjoyed If I Stopped Haunting You. But still, I’ve read books that, on paper, should have been perfect picks for me that missed the mark regardless. I think Colby Wilkens did an excellent job at balancing the horror and romance elements. It really goes back and forth between the two focuses pretty evenly. Every time it switched and I thought to myself how I wanted more of whichever aspect, it would return within a few chapters.

I did, however, feel If I Stopped Haunting You failed to stick the landing. No spoilers, of course, but I just felt a little letdown.

Still had a great time reading this one though! Its October release date is perfect, naturally. Solid debut for Wilkens overall.

DNF @ 27% — I was so excited for this one (enemies to lovers romance? Horror? Haunted castle in Scotland? Vintage looking cartoon cover? Sign me up for all of the above!) but the characters were so immature that I could not keep going. Pen is a struggling writer not willing to take any personal responsibility for her current struggles (throwing a book at another author on your panel will do that to you) and the attraction between them just felt… weird. It was giving bickering siblings energy.

I wasn’t buying into any of the elements of this book that I was excited about and in 2024 we aren’t wasting our time!

Bummed to be leaving this review, I had high hopes.

I wanted to LOVE this book but when I finished it there just felt like, there was something missing. It had all the makings for an epic enemies to lovers gothic romance with a side of rom com but just barely missed the mark. I did enjoy reading the first 75% of the book but felt very confused about what the mystery they solved even was? Was it a mystery or did we know the plot the whole time.

I loved the rivals-to-lovers dynamic in this book. It was believable and I loved all the characters. Penelope and Neil were in the wrong, and I was glad they talked things through. It took her a while to get there, but Pen did admit that her reaction was wrong, and Neil had his own internal problems to get through.

I don't read a lot of horror, so the paranormal aspect of this book fell a little flat for me. There was just something about it that kept me from fully loving it. It wasn't believable. Just something about how it all played out didn't work for me. Ghosts are a hard sell for me already, and the haunting left me confused and with more questions than answers.

But I was here more for the romance, so in the end, I enjoyed reading it and I loved the writing overall. The side characters didn't get much page time so I don't have any strong opinions about them. Laszlo and Daniela kind of suck as friends, and ended up being a little irrelevant to the plot. It makes me feel like there should have been more characters since it also seems like Daniela and Laszlo also barely interacted with each other. With only two of the four characters seemingly having any conversations it made the cast of characters feel "empty".

I will certainly be reading more from this author, I like her writing style.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the arc!

ok. so penelope was a bit of a bitch throughout the book. she had good reasons but overall i didn’t like how she treated neil. throwing a book at him and then acting like he ruined her career? when it was her actions that caused it???

otherwise from her consistently guilt tripping him and making him feel bad, i’d say it was a solid book. some good horror vibes while not being too scary as well as some pretty good romance scenes.

i would describe this as a cosy romance horror book.

I REALLY wanted to like this book but honestly i think most if not every character is insufferable. I’m also not rocking with the casual abuse home girl felt was NECESSARY a lot of the time. Overall i would probably read more by this author but this particular book was not for me

I really liked the storyline for this book. Two authors who despise each other and careers are at the breaking point inadvertently end up at a haunted castle, for a writing retreat, because of a meddling friend. There is a lot of angst and at some point unjustified anger from the FMC. I really like Neil but felt he was unjustly treated by the FMC at several points. Overall this was a good read and I’d probably read it again.