Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I had high hopes for this book. I really loved the overall theme, spooky setting, mystery, and romance. Initially felt like a romantic version of Scooby Doo. Where this book frustrated me is the relationship between the two main characters. It felt really lusty and not like they had much of a genuine connection. The pacing of their relationship felt a bit off. It was hard to go from the main character’s inner dialogue to their intimate scenes.

2.5 stars

DNF @45%

I really wanted to like this one - I'm so disappointed that it was a miss. Creepy mansion, ghosts, and romance sounded like a perfect cocktail, but this really didn't have any of that? And when it did, it was really lackluster.

The romance was just not it - there was an assault from the FMC (Penelope) early on over why she thinks her books aren't selling and it never really gets resolved? At least not to the point where I stopped.

The mansion and ghosts were just meh. I think the author just didn't know how to construct a spooky setting without being too scary and taking away from the (romance?) but, I think most readers are capable of setting aside the two and enjoying a combined genre.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free arc in exchange for an honest review. I'm sad that this was a miss.

Four writers go on a writing retreat in a haunted castle in Scotland. Two of the writers aren’t too keen on each other after an incident involving a book flying through the air. Perhaps they will even find more than just ghosts and their voices by the end of their stay…

This book was pretty fun read. I enjoyed following the different perspectives of Penelope and Neil as they navigated the haunted castle while also trying to defeat their writers block. Their banter was fun and it was nice to each of them develop as the book went on, overcoming their block and feelings and finding confidence in their writing and what they want to do with it.

The ghosts in the story were pretty intriguing themselves. I enjoyed learning their story alongside Penelope and Neil.

If you enjoy and fun, quick spooky read with some spice mixed in, I recommend reading this!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the chance to read an arc!

I had high hopes for "If I Stopped Haunting You" by Colby Wilkens, but unfortunately, it fell way short of my expectations. This book promised an intriguing blend of horror and romance, but it failed to deliver on both fronts.

First off, let's talk about the characters. Neil and Penelope are supposed to be the driving force behind this supposed "enemies-to-lovers" story, but their development felt rushed and forced. Instead of building up tension and chemistry between them, they jump straight from enemies to hooking up without any real emotional depth. And all those sex scenes – they were about as steamy as a cold shower.

And don't even get me started on Penelope. She's downright awful. Not only does she physically assault Neil by throwing a book at his head (seriously, who does that?), but she's also manipulative and delusional. Her behavior is inexcusable, and I couldn't find any redeeming qualities in her character.

As for the horror elements, they were more yawn-inducing than spine-tingling. The supposed haunted castle setting felt like a cliché, and the ghosts themselves lacked any real scare factor. I was hoping for something unique and terrifying, but all I got was a snooze-fest.

And let's not even talk about the plot holes and inconsistencies. It felt like the author couldn't decide which direction to take the story, resulting in a messy and disjointed narrative.

I really hate to give negative reviews, but this book was definitely not for me and I was struggling with finishing it.

Enemies to lovers spicy romance at a haunted Scottish castle??? Sign me up.

I absolutely devoured this book. Literally couldn't put it down and read it in one sitting (accidentally stayed up until 3am, whoops).

I think the author does a great job giving us a spicy romance while also brining heart pounding horror. My biggest complaint overall is that the resolution to the haunting is pretty meh, but the romance was sweet (albeit a bit fast) so that made up for it.

The story had a bit of a slow start for me. It took a few chapters before I really got into it. I will also say that all of the characters definitely have flaws that get frustrating/repetitive. I've seen some reviews mention that the relationship was toxic but I disagree with that. I think that they have flaws and react in very human ways. Both of the MCs learn how to face their pasts and grow from their mistakes. Also great BIPOC and queer representation.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC of this book.

The story could have been so good but there were so many holes. I didn’t understand the MCs dislike of one another. The ghost mystery made very little sense. The romance story and spicy scenes felt forced. All in all, the story felt rushed and not fleshed out. Only reason I didn’t df is because I kept hoping for more and for it to make sense.

I was invited to read this book by the publisher, and initially was excited based on the plot description, but it did not really jive with me. I liked the setting and the overall idea of the book, but the execution of the plotline felt - chaotic to me. I wasn't a fan of the main character, Pen, and how she interacted with her "love interest". I don't know, if someone was that up and down with me, I would check out pretty early. Now, I did enjoy the "horror" element of the book. I just wish the characters would have been more likeable.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to love this novel. The premise was a solid setup for something wonderful, and I was excited to dive in. The book starts in the book community with an open act of hate between the two main characters, Penelope and Neil.

From this point, Wilkins does a good job at the slow-burn enemies to lovers by continuously building the tension between the characters. Penelope comes off as selfish and angry, whereas Neil is a misunderstood pushover. I didn’t love either of the characters, but Neil was more enjoyable than Penelope. Regardless, I enjoyed how things developed between them.

I wasn’t really into the excerpts from Penelope’s book; they didn’t add to the story and just felt like filler. Yes, there is a tiny link between her book and Neil’s tattoo, but not enough to where it needs to be more than referenced during a conversation between characters.

The biggest disappointment of this novel was the horror aspect. It felt like a missed opportunity. The ending lost the book a fourth star. The big reveal the entire story built up to wasn’t much of a reveal at all. The reason for the haunting didn’t make sense. The scenes were crafted well in the moments of horror; the backstory was the issue. It felt like the story behind the ghosts was a second thought. Like, I’ll make all the creepy stuff happen, make the reader feel spooked, and then I’ll just come up with something when I get to the end. The first 3/4ths of the book painted a tragedy (and I was hooked), but the reader is left with a haunting from a societal norm of the time period.

If you read this, read it for the romance, not the horror.

Meh. This just kind of underwhelmed me. I appreciated the discussion on BIPOC representation in the publishing industry, and how Neil had to dumb down his original manuscripts to appease his publishers instead of writing truly Native stories. But the romance went from enemies to lovers a little quick for me. Like within 24 hours quick. And the ghost hunt in the castle part overtook the last half of the story. It had some scary descriptions, but then they would look at each other and start making out or jumping on each other, so it never felt that frightening. When they ultimately discovered the reason for the hauntings, it was boring and not that tragic. The two side characters were funny, but they were pretty flat, and mostly just popped up when it was awkward or inconvenient to Pen & Neil. And Pen was just not that likable. Add in that her last name, Skinner, was the same as the ghosts in the castle, but there was never any answer to whether or not she was related to them. It was just an example of a random loose end that the author could have done something cool with, but just left undone. I feel like this had a good idea behind it, but wasn’t executed that well.

An enemy-to-lovers romance set in a haunted castle in Scotland sounded truly delightful. Pen and Neil are two indigenous writers who get stuck in a paranormal investigation while on a writing retreat. The biggest issue I had with this book was flow: Pen and Neil are minding their own business and then there's a graphic sexual description, they're investigating a ghost and then before you know it someone has their pants down. They're discussing writing and then one of them drops "fuck the colonizers." There's so little transition between thoughts, actions, and events in the book it really affected my buy-in into the story.

This was an interesting read & concept.
Rival writers who have to spend time together at a writers retreat in a Scottish castle.

I loved the spooky aspects of this story & the hauntings.

Although I didn't really connect with the arguments and rivals between the characters, the arguments just didn't seem as developed as they should be especially from 2 writers.

I do love that there was great representation in this book that was just a fun haunted romcom

This was as fun read and I'm glad I got to try it out.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A solid debut! I feel really confident in this author and future releases because most of the issues I had with this book seem to be just an author finding their footing. The plot could be a little rushed, and some elements could do with more development. But overall, as a person who typically struggles to enjoy romance, not only did I speed through this book, but I really rooted for the main characters. Their dynamic was really fun, and I loved the horror subplot.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I will preface this review saying that I do have a habit of going into romance novels with quite a cynical attitude as I find I never end up liking most of them. However, this one was genuinely an anticipated release of mine, which just makes this all the more disappointing. I wanted to like this story so bad, but it just felt a little too underdeveloped to get invested. The horror plot was resolved so quickly in a way that really made no sense, the characters' relationship was well developed, but individually I was left feeling like they were very two dimensional. The emotional pacing of this book was very erratic, in some scenes the two love interests could go from being teary, to angry, to flirting in such a small time frame it felt difficult to keep up with them. I did really enjoy the horror subplot, with some scenes genuinely giving me chills, but the rest of the book left much to be desired for me,

Unfortunately, I had to DNF. The overall premise drew me in but the execution fell flat. The characters had nothing to hook me in and make me interested in their story. The writing felt very disjointed.

This one just wasn't for me, unfortunately - the tension felt off, and the "scary" elements just didn't spook me. I loved the concept, but the execution just felt flat to me.

A writer's workshop in a haunted castle in Scotland turns into something else for two of the participants. Extremely well written with authentic characters and thrilling scenes. A pleasure to read.

"If I Stopped Haunting You" is an enjoyable read with a spooky atmosphere and engaging banter between the main characters. While the exploration of Native authors' challenges is well done, the rivalry and romance aspects could have been more developed. The haunting elements are intriguing, making it a solid but slightly flawed read, earning 3 stars.

It’s was an enjoyable book. I really liked the plot and the whole spooky element. And liked the banter between the fmc and mmc. Would definitely be something I would be reading again during the fall and spooky season.

Ooof I wanted to love this one because it seemed right up my alley, but there were quite a few things that outweighed what I liked, one of them being the very 'Look At the Camera' talking points, At first I enjoyed the main character, thinking I could see where her arc was going to go (i.e. how she would change), but then the end was very pandering, trying to excuse all of her (very troubling) flaws and paint her as a hero instead, so it was okay that she threw a literal object at someone's head and made them bleed, on a stage, in public, because they 'deserved' it?! And because of that, the romance didn't work for me either. Poor Neil existed so Pen could give her talking points.

Very bummed by this one--I love genre-blending, and really thought I'd love this one!

Still very grateful to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

Native authors Pen & Neil have been literary rivals for months after an explosive confrontation at a book event pitted them against each other, but when they both (coincidentally?) end up at a remote Scottish castle for a writing retreat will the tension— and hauntings— bring them together or push them further apart?

This was so much fun! I’ve followed Colby’s path to publication since she was querying, and it was great to finally read her debut. The message around Native authors and representation in literary spaces felt timely and well thought out, and I enjoyed the close proximity of the setting. The side characters were hilarious, and I’d love to see more of them in the future. I love a dual-POV and this did it very well, I loved Neil’s perspective especially!

A few comments— the rivalry at the beginning could’ve been fleshed out a little more, as it felt a tad “tell” instead of “show” - if there would’ve been an interaction outside of the conference in the prologue to build some tension between them, that would’ve helped. It also felt like they made the switch to attraction pretty immediately, and as someone who loves a healthy build up, I would’ve loved a longer period of animosity between them. With that in mind, I wasn’t super invested in the romance. However, the haunting I was definitely interested in! It was done really well and genuinely scared me a little bit at parts. Would love to see the author try her hand at horror!!

Finally, I am BEGGING American authors who are writing books set in the UK to please please please have at least a base level knowledge of local slang. There is absolutely no way, at all, that a Scottish woman would be called Fanny as that is a very common colloquial term for *female private parts*. VERY common, as in fanny is used in the place of more medical, “proper” terms 95% of the time. Honestly, I’m surprised poor Fanny made it through the brutality of Scottish secondary school teasing with a name like that. The bullying would be, quite literally, unending. Justice for Fanny, poor lass needs a new name!