IF I STOPPED HAUNTING YOU is a spooky enemies-to-lovers romcom featuring two Native authors struggling with their next novel, stranded together in a Scottish castle, and a delight of a read. The book starts Neil and Pen off in a rough place (as all good romcoms do), hating each other, and absolutely not thrilled to be tricked into spending time together. But, despite their grudges, Neil and Pen are deeply attracted to each other. Amidst reconciling, and kindling their relationship, they also must solve the mystery of the castle’s ghosts—ghosts the other guests haven’t even seen. I enjoyed this book a lot! The back and forth between their relationship and the ghost work was both hot and intriguing, and the spooky imagery made it feel like the perfect October book!

Thank you to Colby Wilkens, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to a free eaudio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was okay. Not well balanced, and the characters had to work to be likeable, especially Pen.

I don't care what race, gender, ancestry, etc, you are, if you're going to act that immaturely in a public setting where you're supposed to be professional, I'd lose a lot of respect for you too. I certainly wouldn't be giving you money.

That said, I love me a redemption arc, so I don't mind a character who fucks up and needs to grovel. As long as their mistake was something I could forgive, at any rate.

Tone imbalance. I'm not sure you can put horror elements in a rom-com---speaking of the grotesque visage of the ghosts and the scenes that were supposed to be scary. The tones needed are completely different---easy, light, fun vs. tense, dark, spooky. I had a hard time taking the scary parts seriously. Worse, they were kinda funny.

Second, Pen and Neil were in lust from the get-go and I got so sick of hearing how this of hers made him hard, how that of his made her throb, and oh my god how could she possibly feel this way about HIM, was she crazy blah blah blah. God, it went on and on. If you're not going to reconcile and build a relationship properly, fine, then just get in bed and get it over with so we can move on.

I really, really wish this had been more of a ghost story with a romantic element than a romance with a bit of haunting. It just didn't feel like this plot had enough going on. Waaaayyy too reliant on the forced sizzle between the leads taking up words.

Lastly, I'm not sure how ghosts worked in this story. They were able to be physically intimate. Emphasis on physically. There was ghost cum. I'm very serious. Tone imbalance, man.

There was potential here, but needed a better editor and a couple more drafts.

2 stars.

I did not like "If I Stopped Haunting You" by Colby Wilkens. I tried to get over the fact that Pen, the main female character, starts the book by physically assaulting Neil, the main male character, by throwing a book at him in a public setting (a book panel at a convention). Four months pass, and Pen and Neil find themselves in each other's orbits again when they stay in a haunted castle in Scotland for a writer's retreat. Repeatedly, for the next 300+ pages, Pen attempts to justify her actions by gaslighting Neil. She makes *herself* the victim of the situation and blames everyone else for her issues. This did not sit well with me at all. I love books with complicated female main characters. In fact, I frequently and actively seek them out, but there is a fine line between complicated and straight-up toxic. Pen is just toxic, full stop. *Maybe* she could have been redeemable without the assault (which scarred him, by the way!), but the fact that she does not grow at all during the entire novel leads me to believe that's not the case. She's still the same sanctimonious, self-important, angry person she was in the beginning. By the end of the story, the only difference is that Pen has convinced Neil that he wants to be with the person who assaulted him. Representing what it is like to be BIPOC in the publishing industry is important, admirable, and necessary. Indigenous romance stories are few and far between, which is a disgrace. I also appreciate the bi-representation here. We need more diverse books in the romance genre! This is, by far, the best part of the book. Unfortunately, the rest of it is a mess. The haunting aspects were also not all that spooky. The dual audiobook narrations by Curtis Michael Holland and Kyla Garcia were fine, though. Apart from this, it was just a letdown all around. I usually love enemies-to-lovers and forced proximity stories, but this was not my cup of tea. I do not recommend this one.

Thank you to NetGalley, Colby Wilkens, St. Martin's Press, and St. Martin's Griffin for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

This cover tho!

I thought it was a cute lil romcom with a horror aspect. Authors
Penelope and Neil have been “enemies” since a bookcon where Penelope gets in a fight with Neil about his book and ends up throwing a book at his head. Neither of them have been able to write anything since. Their friend Lazlo sets up a writing retreat in a haunted castle in Scotland. Will they make it out alive?

It was decent. I really liked the discourse on BIPOC authors in the publishing industry. Overall the romance and horror aspects were largely forgettable but it was a fun little palette cleanser.

Thanks to netgalley and st martins press for an alc and eARC.

3 ☆
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Let me say, the cover art alone deserves 5 ☆. It's so pretty and beautiful to me! The premise is what caught my attention: "An enemies-to-lovers romance with a spooky twist where two feuding writers end up on a writer's retreat together at a haunted castle in Scotland."

Now to the review. Penelope was a very unlikable character who throughout the book played the victim role, gaslighted the male character, Neil, and not to mention assaulted the man at the very beginning of the book. While her feelings were very valid, the way she handled it was poor. Despite this, they (Penelope and Neil) end up being the love interests, which gives us the enemies-to-lovers trope. Good for the spooky season.

The audiobook was good. I loved that it was a dual narration. The narrators did a good job. They were easy to listen to and follow along with.
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Thank you, Netgellay, and Dreamscape Media for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Read If I Stopped Haunting You if you like:
🪶 Indigenous Stories
📚 Authors
😡 Enemies to Lovers
👻 Ghost Stories
🏚️ Haunted Houses

This book is an enemies to lovers meets forced proximity story with a sprinkle of haunted house vibes mixed in!

Pen and Neil are enemies in the writing scene as Pen has stayed true to her indigenous culture in her writing which hasn’t gotten her far, while Neil has bent to the whim of his publisher and white washed his books to make them more palatable and has become a best seller. So when they are put on a panel together and it heats up when Pen can’t help but share her opinions they both have ramifications from that day and the publicity of their public battle.

Then when their mutual convinces them to go on a writers retreat and they are now stuck in forced proximity in a haunted house, what truly could go wrong?!

Overall, for me the pacing was a bit slow and wanted more spooky vibes with the haunted house and ghosts, but what I think was done best was the discourse around minorities and expectations to white wash for public consumption as this was so well done!

Thanks so much to the Dreamscape and SMP for my ARC and ALC in exchange for my honest feedback!

I absolutely loved the confluence of a creepy haunted Scottish castle and a blossoming romance. There was some fun (but yet scary) ghost stuff but also some fun spice! This is a great book to read leading up to Halloween, especially if you really love being creeped out but also need a little romance in your life sometimes. Tropes featured include will they or won’t they and enemies to lovers. The narration for the audiobook was on point and added to the story, if audiobooks are your thing!

Cute and spooky- just in time for the Halloween season. Two enemy horror writers- Neil and Pen- find themselves at a writing retreat together in Scotland. Neither wanting to be near the other but enjoying being submerged in a haunted castle place but also unable to write anything.

Forced proximity
Enemies to lovers

So the argument that this book is centered on was weak. Pen’s anger with Neil is weak. The insta-attraction didn’t bother me, the continued bickering did. And it was really hard to like Penelope. I guess the biggest problem with this novel was the believability factors of the main events. Would this have happened in real time? And can someone be successful, be in a relationship and carry on like this?
It was not horrible but it wasn’t great.
I did listen to it also as an audiobook and thought the narrators, Curtis Michael Holland and Kyla Garcia were good. They were a good fit together.
Thanks Dreamscape Media and St. Martins Press via NetGalley.

This book was so fun! I loved the aspect of the ghosts and the castle. 🏰 👻 I’m also a big fan of enemies to lovers. It was cool seeing them slowly unravel the story of the ghosts haunting them while also falling for each other. The spice was great and there were a lot of funny moments. The narration was great and also the cover is to die for. 😍

I have been looking forward to "If I Stopped Haunting You" since it was announced. It had such an intriguing premise - I love when romance books deviate from the standard - and I loved the thought of getting to read from yet another Indigenous voice. Not only is the author white/Choctaw-Cherokee, but both main characters are also Native AND queer.

The book is delightfully absurd - its a writers retreat gone wrong featuring romance and amazing *against a wall* spicy scenes. The ghosts are main characters in their own right. I loved being able to follow these characters as they tried to sort out the mystery of the castle. I don't read a lot of mysteries or thrillers so I couldn't guess anything that was about to happen. It kept me on the edge of my seat. I didn't really anticipate such a heavy mystery element, but I really did enjoy it.

The relationship between the two main characters was also great because you really see their relationship grow from disdain and animosity into something deeper and more meaningful. The spicy scenes were also SPICING and I loved it.

I listened to the audiobook and I particularly loved Kyla Garcia's narration for Penelope. It was fantastic. The audiobook was great in general, but she was the shining star.

I can't wait for more from Colby Wilkins.

The narration for the audiobook was excellent, unfortunately the rest of the book fell flat for me.

I was never particularly invested in either the romance or the ghosts. The rivalry/enemies aspect really made me believe they disliked each other, but the jump into being in love was a little unbelievable for me.

I didn’t dislike the premise or writing style, just felt everything was a little underwhelming. I will likely give the other another chance as the next book looks good!

Thank you to Dreamscape Audio and NetGalley for sending me an audio-ARC of If I Stopped Haunting You in exchange for review.

1.5 stars

This was not for me….. I was very excited by the romance/horror aspect of the synopsis as well as the setting being in Scotland as I have an upcoming trip there.

To me, the horror was basically non existent. Just people seeing ghosts but nothing eerie or thrilling about it in my opinion.
And for the romance… enemies to lovers is my favorite trope but I think these are just enemies who are hate-banging. They’re so mean and violent with eachother (especially Penelope). The main characters have no charisma while actively hating eachother is how it comes across… but then secretly have internal monologues about being interested. My favorite quote is “How could they go from hate to this so soon… it seemed impossible.” Because that sums it up perfectly.

The plot just wasn’t giving enough for me, Penelope talks about quitting writing and moving in with her mother multiple times as if that’s an appealing option. It’s just cringe. I can see the idea of where this may have been wanting to go but personally with the lack of plot, unlikable immature main characters, awkward and frequent sex scenes, I was just pushing myself to finish and have it be done with.

I do like that the chapters switch POV and we get different narrators for each character. They did a good job and honestly I would have either DNF’d or taken ages to finish if it weren’t for them.

Thank you for sending this to me! Nothing personal this book just wasn’t for me, if you want a smutty light read this may be right up your alley!

I didn't love this but I didn't dislike it. I wanted to finish it but didn't feel fully invested in the turn out. It seemed like the author wanted a reason for the characters to have conflict but it ended up making the FMC really unlikable for the sake of making the MMC the unsung/misunderstood hero. I did like the rom-com-in a horror setting idea, though. That was pretty original. I also liked that the author focused her characters on indigenous people.

The narrator for Laslow was awful.

If we ignore the FMC committing assault, and the fact that none of these characters seem to actually like each other, the plot of this haunted love story is pretty good. A quick read, or rather listen. Dual narration, they sounded good and did the other voices pretty well.

Loved the story in a story. Loved the behind-the-scenes of writers, particularly the troubles Indigenous writers face. It was informative without being too much. I could do a haunted castle in Scotland. It was a great read, perfect for a winter weekend!

I haven’t read a paranormal romance before so I wasn’t sure what I was getting into but this was so much fun! I cannot remember another book I’ve read that had Indigenous People representation so that was pretty neat. I also like that Pen & Neil were unlikeable characters in the beginning, it felt very realistic.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley and LIbro FM for providing the ALC of this book as well.

It's October so it's now officially spooky season. If you're looking for a book that is both sexy and spooky, I highly recommend this book. This book has a little bit of everything. Romance, mystery, horror, and even a little bit of sci fi! Colby Wilkens is a genius writer and I can't believe that this is her first novel. If I didn't know this fact, I would've assumed she had been writing books for years!

I was also able to listen to the audiobook thanks to Libro FM and NetGalley, and I loved how Kyla Garcia and Curtis Michael Holland brought Neil and Penelope (Pen) to life. They were the perfect duo to narrate the audiobook!

I highly recommend this spooky and sexy novel this Fall!


Many thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book.

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Thank you @netgalley and @dreamscape_media for the ALC & ARC! This book is out 10/18!

𝑩𝑶𝑶𝑲 𝑰𝑵 𝑬𝑴𝑶𝑱𝑰𝑺:
👻📖✍️🏰🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🤬👩🏻‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏻🌶️

👍🏻𝑳𝑰𝑲𝑬𝑫 / 💗𝑳𝑶𝑽𝑬𝑫: 💗

𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑫 𝑰𝑭 𝒀𝑶𝑼 𝑳𝑰𝑲𝑬:
♡ haunted castles
♡ rivals (almost enemies) to lovers
♡ open door spice
♡ funny banter

𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑻𝑯𝑶𝑼𝑮𝑯𝑻𝑺:
I really liked this one! The audio was really good and the storyline was even better.

The paranormal aspect was honestly kind of creepy!! I was scared for our MCs and kept wondering what was going to happen 😱

The tension and banter between Penelope and Neil was intense (and hilarious). While I could see where Penelope was coming from with hating Neil, I was actually on his side. I was proud of his character development and sticking up for what he thought was right by the end. We also see Penelope come to realize her anger is misplaced and finally beat that writer’s block!!

Overall, such a good story 😌

Did not/could not finish! This book starts with our female lead throwing a tantrum and hurling her book at a fellow writer during a conference panel, making him BLEED, and she makes herself into the victim! She whines and complains aboutbthe consequences of her own actions and losing her publisher.

THEN when they are put into a forced proximity situation she doesn't apologize and continues to blame him for making her mad because he wrote a book she found to be a bad representation of native Americans (they are both native btw). She uses her status as a woman in publishing and a native ameeican to claim she is essentially too oppressed to take accountability for her physically assaulting him. If the genders were reversed, no publisher would even dream of publishing this. She is entirely insufferably written. I live a good bitch, she is just a whiny, poorly written brat.