A fun, ghostly romp full of thrills and chills. I truly had so much fun with this one and soared through the pages.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's press for the opportunity to review If I stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens. This was a an odd book. Romcom meets ghost story. Both parts of that equation work surprisingly well, though if I am honest I thought the ghost side resolution could have been a bit more robust. The two are at a writer's retreat in a haunted Scottish Castle. Both are pretty annoyed the other one was there. They hate each other. Pen hates him because she feels like his books are sell outs and make the world harder for other Native American Horror writers. And so she threw a book at him. At a conference. And Neil for his part, wasn't enamored with being hit in the head by a book,. And some of Pen's criticism rang truthful to him. And they are very much attracted to each other. As the forced proximity situation starts to work its magic, the ghosts start coming out of the woodwork. Well two ghosts. The writing was charming. The enemies to lovers trope is well served by Wilkens. The scary stuff was unnerving, but not overly so. Plus it is a romance, so HEA is going to happen. I guess this is Wilkens first romance novel. I look forward to her next one. But in the meantime, read this one.

There are many books that straddle genres, but this one is fantastic at fully embodying more than one. The horror aspects were a proper horror tale of haunting, with all the prickles of suspense and uncertainty that one needs. The romance aspects were a proper enemies-to-lovers romance, with all the heated emotion and dawning lust that would be expected. Though the needs of a romance to have a happy ending did soften the horror, I truly enjoyed balancing these two experiences. I'm also a fan of imperfect characters who can admit their faults to one another, and I enjoyed reading about the separate types of trials these characters faced as Native authors in the publishing world, which leant a lot of reality and soul to this book. Though I didn't love the final resolution of the haunting, I did appreciate that one ending may need to overshadow the other. I think that is what would lead me to deem this romance, over all.

There was a lot to love about this book from the characters themselves to the blending of horror, romance, and comedy. I loved the mix of humour within a creepy castle atmosphere - it was a scene well set and I'm hoping to read more like it in the future.

I did struggle with a few things though that keep me from giving a higher rating. The amount of internal dialogue and debate was difficult for me to push through; I don't think I followed the how/why when it came to the intensity of their feelings both good and bad. While each character was interesting, the shifting of their relationship didn't feel natural and I didn't enjoy being in their heads this much.

I am a sucker for a good spooky setting though, and that part of the story was very well written in my opinion. The ghost felt threatening and the backstory pulled me in, but the progression and resolution fell short. I'm still not really sure what happened with the haunting and ghosts in the end and that left me wanting something more for that part of the storyline.

It was an easy, enjoyable offbeat read and I'm looking forward to finding future works by Colby Wilkins! Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC opportunity to review this title.

Colby Wilkens was able to wrap up in one book a rom com, a haunting, a dialogue of what it is like to be indigenous in the publishing world, romance, tension...ALL OF THE TENSION, and Scotland. And let me tell you, this was one entertaining book. I think this is the only way I am able to ready anything remotely scary, cause in the name of romance, I can handle it.
Rivals to lovers is a trope that I absolutely will eat up, and this does that trope so so much justice. The spookiness was just perfection, the romance was *chef's kiss* and the book itself was just so enjoyable. There is a serious underlining conversation that happens throughout the book and it was refreshing to read and see it in print for all to see.
All in all, this book was the perfect book to have yourself kicking your feet and giggling one moment, and then hiding under your blanket in the next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Colby Wilkens for this ARC if If I Stopped Haunting You. First of all - I LOVE debut novels and this one was top notch, for the most part. Bravo Colby Wilkens.

Overall book plot rating 3.75 stars
Overall spice rating 3 stars

This book sucked me in immediately. It began with a flashback of a Comic-Con type event featuring top indigenous horror authors. We have MFC passionate, Penelope Skinner who has written one novel: a more down to earth, real, version of Native events and then MMC Neil Storm (named King of Horror by fans), her arrogant rival author, who has several published and "white approved" successful Native books. Essentially, Pen finds Neils latest novel racist and tells him so - it escalates and she heaves a book and is black listed in the writers world.

Fast forward - Pen hasn't written a single book and is in desperate need of inspiration. Two fellow authors and friends of Pen invite her to a writers retreat in a, you guessed it, haunted house. Spooooooooky. She accepts even though these two authors are also friends with Neil, her arch nemesis; however, he is definitely not coming, right?

Wrong. Apprarently the King of Horror is having a bit of writers block too and decided last minute to attend the retreat. They arrive at this haunted house which the author was SO VIVID in describing.. quite frightening. Well done. Four writers having a retreat in a haunted house trying to write the next best selling horror novel - what could go wrong?

It's quickly determined that this is not a drill - paintings that have moving eyes, cold rooms, rotting smells, creepy cellars, truth or dare, and a lot of whiskey. Neil and Pen are the only ones who are being targeted by these unfinished business ghostys and well, it brings them together to come up with a plan to find out what happened to them - maybe telling their story will put them back on the bestseller list? I don't know - you will have to read it and find out. ;)

Here is what I didn't like.

1.) The author includes "queer" in this description and I disagree. The "queer" scenerio was almost forced just so it could have that in the description IMO. I mentioned there are four authors, two men, two women.. it's thrown around that the two men have kissed and the two women did a little or oral.. in the past. There wasn't any orgys (sadly) the two main characters are a male and female duo. It wasn't necessary.

2.) The "build up" ending was lack-luster at best. Quite frankly, it could have been so much better, so much more thought out and this book would have been a 5 star read for me. Can we get an ending redo? No, I'm kidding.

Overall... As far as debut novels go, this is one of the best I've had the pleasure of reading.

Rival writers find themselves on the same writers retreat in Scotland, both being too stubborn to leave they find themselves in a spooky castle for a week. This spooky enemies to lovers is a fun read with a lovers plot and a spooky sub plot.

!!!!!!!!!POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What I enjoyed:
-Spooky vibes: this was a romance I never knew I needed, the spooky sub plot kept me reading when the romance was a bit predictable
-Enemies to lovers: I am a sucker for the trope what can I say
-Diversity of characters
-Real world issues digested: the problems BIPOC writers experience while trying to write their truths
-Witty Banter: the amount of highlighting I did of just pure comedy gold between the characters is unbelievable.
-Backstory Connections: Pen is on a journey to rediscover herself as is the ghost of the story

Where did it fall flat?
- Enemies to lovers: WOAH NELLIE! The development of this enemies to lovers happened very fast and left little to entice a reader to read on as it was predictable where it was going, the way it was met to be slowed by the internal conflict of the characters was more so an annoyance than anything
-Ghost stories: The backstories of the haunted backstory fell flat on it's face I was really hoping for a more tragic story the ghost had tormented people for centuries and it seemingly was not a good enough reason in my eyes

All in all I think as a writers first book it has good bones, I enjoyed the writing and the bones of the story, but it felt as though we were missing the meat of the story it had good build ups to everything and felt as though it plateaued in the end.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!


There were a few things about this book that I really liked and felt had so much potential. The most obvious was the FMC's struggle as a half native woman. As a biracial person myself, I am all too familiar with not feeling like you fit in on either side of things. I was so excited to see this represented in a book! I also thought the general plot sounded interesting: writers retreat at a haunted castle with enemies to lovers.

It fell short in basically every area. The chemistry between the main characters was non-existent and the interactions between all the characters felt very shallow. The stuff with the ghost was also not spooky, it was cheesy.

At best it was okay.

Spooky and sexy!
Penelope Skinner and Neil Storm are rival native authors. After quite a public tiff they both find themselves on a writing retreat in Scotland. The castle, rumored to be haunted, has no issue with scaring Pen and Neil, especially when they're together.

I had no idea how much I would love the creepy horror haunted castle with a rival turned romance. It wasn't just a silly spooky castle, but full on, skin chilling shadows, noises, and ghosts.

I loved Pen and Neils relationship and how it progressed into something more😏 🥵
They had real depth as characters and I really enjoyed that.

Overall I'm giving it 4.5 stars rounded up, thank you to netgalley for providing me an arc to honestly review.

If I Stopped Haunting You 📝 by Colby Wilkens

⭐️ ARC review ⭐️ with net galley

A haunted castle? Check. A really hot MMC with a feisty rival FMC? Check. Diving into Indigenous issues while still being a seriously hot rom com? Absolutely check.

This book really scratched the itch of a romance with some seriously great sub plots. The writing was a touch repetitive for my liking, but all in all this read should definitely be making its way into your TBR.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5

I wish I had read this in the fall because it is the perfect read for the spooky season! It's a fun, spicy read with the enemies to lovers trope. The only thing I didn't care for was the author's writing style when it came to the characters, who were a little shallow and flat. They could've used a bit more development.

A cozy read that is good to read for spooky season ! I enjoyed this book but wasn’t overall wowed by this! Interested to see how the next authors book is!

If I Stopped Haunting You, by Colby Wilkens, is a spooky mystery/ love story set in a dilapidated Scottish castle during a big snowstorm. What could go wrong? Will love prevail over time? This was a fun quick read! Thanks, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with the ARC ebook I read and reviewed. All opinions are my own.

First, I absolutely love the title of this book. "If I Stopped Haunting You" balances the spooky vibes of a Scottish castle with steamy tension between Neil and Pen.

What really hit home for me as a person who’s Asian and Scottish was Pen's struggle with her identity. Feeling like you don't fully belong to either culture is well-captured here. Beyond the mystery of the haunting and the will they/won’t they, I also enjoyed Neil and Pen's battle to stay true to their voices in publishing.

Overall, "If I Stopped Haunting You" is a spooky, steamy read that'll keep you turning pages late into the night!

I wanted to love this one, but I just could not get invested. It's not for me. if you're looking for a really quick, spicy, spooky read then this is the book for u.

Unfortunately, the first scene did nothing to endear me to these characters. Without giving the reader an opportunity to get fired up and relate to the protagonist’s anger, it only made the protagonist seem immature. I continued to give it a shot, but I ultimately couldn’t get into the story.

If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens is a thriller rom-com set at a castle in Scotland. I would give this book a 3/5 on the spicy scale. It has some really great spice scenes throughout the book. I was really excited about the concept of a romance with a horror backdrop, however this book didn't fully meet my expectations. I felt like the author had to continually remind us of the enemies to lovers trope even though it was obvious. All spooky scenes were immediately followed by smut which didn't seem appropriate at the time. It might just be me but if I end up in a haunted castle and start seeing ghosts I'm not doing the dirty two seconds later. Overall, there was just a lot trying to happen in this book and I feel like everything was done 65% of the way. The ghost story felt very forced and at times didn't make any sense. It seemed like there were connections trying to be made that never ended up connecting to anything. I would have liked to have had the other characters more involved in the ghost plot as well.

3.5 stars rounded up ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an unbiased review.
This book gave me conflicting feelings. I really enjoyed the first half of it, I enjoyed learning about Pen and Neil’s rivalry/enmity and exploring their feelings about each other and being forced into proximity. I also really enjoyed the mix of romance and horror in this book, this mix is definitely something I am going to look for in books I read in the future.

That being said, I found the characters to be a little bit shallow and I didn’t see a ton of growth from them other than surface level changes. I also enjoyed the discussion about Native authors and the challenges that they face in a Eurocentric writing sphere, however sometimes the writing of these discussions felt a bit clunky and unnaturally written compared to the rest of the dialogue.

All in all, I did enjoy this book and would recommend it to anyone who wants an intriguing mix of romance, mystery, and horror.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for ARC copy.

Enemies to lovers in a haunted castle why not? Neil Storm and Penelope Skinner are definitely enemies or rather struggling authors trying to find a place for themselves and holding it against each other. Half of the book is them going back and forth not wanting to deal with each other and then ghosts appear. Only Neil and Penelope can see these ghost and find themselves trying to solve the ghost past while trying to keep their hands off each other. Definitely an interesting read and concept of romance and mystery together. Very descriptive writing throughout the book giving that spooky castle feel as well as spice.

I love stories of enemies to lovers when they are in the same field. I love the concept of both of the writers being in love and how they work through that as their realtionship forms.