If I Stopped Haunting You is a very funny "haunting" story with romance in two different dimensions one which takes place centuries ago and the other which takes place in the present. The plot has a wonderful mystery/romance as to why a mysterious woman in white is supposedly haunting this castle. It seems our two main characters are going to find out why, even if it gets them killed!

Penelope Skinner and Neil Storm hate each other. Why? Not sure but both writers, who were at an event together when Penelope suddenly lost her temper, threw a book at Neil and then stomped away. Well imagine not only the uproar in the industry, but Penelope's embarrassment when she realized what she had done. Not that she regretted it! Of course, since then there has been bad blood between them, and thank goodness they haven't run into each other ...until now!

Unbeknownst to the other they both signed up for a writer's retreat at a castle in Scotland. A castle which is notorious for having a haunting by a woman. So much so, not even the caretakers will stay, and God forbid you need something...they rarely come back!

Penelope and Neil begin to see each other in a different light and to understand the pressures each is under. They start to have feelings for each other. But of course, both keep them hidden although the other writers, amusing characters in their own right, can clearly see what's going on.

But there's more than love in the air! There's an angry mystical force in the castle and for some reason she has her eyes set on Penelope and Neil! Why is she picking on them? She seems to dislike them for some reason. Especially Neil whom she continually tortures.

As they discover clues to her possible identity and a horrible snowstorm descends upon the castle, and they discover well, each other, it will take everything Penelope and Neil have to come out of this alive!

If I Stopped Haunting You is an adorable funny/romance/mystery/ghost story which will make you laugh but also give you goosebumps. A very enjoyable read!

Thank you #NetGalley #St.Martin'sPress #ColbyWilkens #If I Stopped Haunting You for the advanced copy.

This was a cute story. However, Penelope kinda bugged me. She didn’t treat Neil well at all. Multiple times she verbally, mentally, and physically attacked him. It was nice to watch their relationship blossom and see Penelope come to terms with her own issues while Neil came to terms with his. Penelope just rubbed me the wrong way. It also wasn’t super scary. The ghost story portion felt a tad bit lacking. It could have been amped up a bit. And the enemies to lovers moved really fast. We went from oh I can’t stand this person to wow they look amazing in a few short chapters.

Due to the controversy surrounding this author and book, I will not be providing feedback or reading the ARC. I do not condone authors who pretend to be indigenous when they are not. I intend on only reading and reviewing books from authors who are authentic.

I wanted to love this one, but unfortunately clunky writing and forced humor took me out of the story one too many times. I made it to the 50% mark before I decided to call it quits. Others may love this one, I personally won’t be continuing on with this series and/or author.

Due to the controversy surrounding this author, I didn't feel comfortable giving any feedback at the time or even continuing the ARC. I am only reviewing here and giving 1 star so that my review percentages don't take a hit.

This one was a wild ride with serious genre mash-up vibes—a spicy enemies-to-lovers romance set in a haunted castle, mixed with real thematic depth about Native representation in publishing. The ghosts and gothic atmosphere were genuinely fun and gave the story a unique flavor. But the romance moved so fast it felt whiplash-y, and Pen’s initial meltdown had me side-eyeing her emotional maturity. Some scenes—especially the steamy ones—felt a bit out of place (like the ghosts forgot they were terrifying, not a mood-setter). I liked its ambition, but it didn’t quite stick the landing for me.

A beautifully written, emotional story that blends love, loss, and the echoes of memory. Colby Wilkens creates an atmospheric, haunting narrative that feels both tender and raw. Poetic, moving, and unforgettable—this one lingers long after the last page

Horror Author Penelope Skinner has made the biggest mistake of her struggling publishing career. At a Book Con, she is so furious with popular horror author Neil Storm's flippant answer during a panel that she literally throws the book at him; now he has the facial scar to prove it. Four months out, her best friend invites her to a once-in-a-lifetime writing retreat in Scotland in a haunted castle to try and get her creative juices flowing and pull her out of her self-imposed exile. If it all seems too good to be true, that's because it is. Her hated fellow author, Neil Storm is also there.  Still furious with him for his flagrant representation of Native culture, Penelope is positive this hidden haunted castle will be the death of her either because of the terrifying ghost lady of the manor, or the fact Neil Storm has become unavoidable. The two horror writers must solve an actual terrifying mystery and end up realizing that the real horror is how attracted to each other they are. 

Colby Wilkens If I Stopped Haunting You is adorable. Fast-paced and spooky, it's a great book to snag during Fall for a little hurt/comfort joy. Neil Storm is the perfect guy you to love to hate. He's smart and secretly a sweetheart despite his moniker Prince of Horror. Penelope is brilliant and principled.  Fans of the enemies-to-lovers trope are fed well with this one. 

If I Stopped Haunting You is available from St. Martin's Press.

Due to the controversy surrounding this author, I didn't feel comfortable giving any feedback at the time or even continuing the ARC. I waited it out for some time to see whether the accusations would clear up but that has not happened and it's been close to a year at this point, so I am deciding to review it only on Netgalley and give it a 1 star. Claiming indigenous status is not right but I want to believe that this author simply believed what she was told by family members and didn't create a whole fake persona.

“If I Stopped Haunting You” feels like someone bottled heartbreak, sarcasm, longing, and shoved it in your face with a sticky note that says deal with it. Colby Williams delivers beautifully tortured vibes, the kind where you want to scream “get over them!!” while also clutching your chest because, oof, relatable. It’s moody and dramatic in a quietly unhinged way, like if a Radiohead song wrote a love letter at 2 a.m. then ghosted you. I laughed, I hurt, I considered texting my ex for science… 10/10 emotional damage, would haunt again.

I was unable to finish the book at the time I downloaded. Since then I have attempted to read it again and still couldn't manage. Well-written, but not for me.

Always here for a soookt season read but this one was not my favorite.

The romance was super flat for me, it just felt kind of flat but also all over the place. I did like the more series topics of him being Native and stereotypes, etc.

Definitely makes me want to take a. Trip to Scotland!

If I Stopped Haunting You is a beautifully emotional and haunting story about love, loss, and healing. Colby Wilkens’ writing is raw and heartfelt, capturing the complexity of grief and the power of connection in unexpected ways. The characters felt deeply real, and their journey pulled me in from the very first page. This book is both a heartbreaking and hopeful read that lingers long after the last chapter. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC—I highly recommend this to anyone who appreciates emotionally charged contemporary fiction.

When I started this one I thought it would be right up my alley! I just didn't like the FMC Penelope or how she treated Neil. I then read that there is some controversy surrounding the author and it made me not want to continue reading. This is quite the bummer as the premise of this story sounded right up my alley since I love paranormal/ scary/ and dark comedy.

This just didn’t work for me. The writing felt forced, the characters were flat, and the whole thing was awkward to read. I’m fine with fluff in romance, but this was… boring. The horror didn’t horror either. 👻

Also, as an Indigenous woman, some of the dialogue felt weird from the start. Finding out the author was pretending to be Indigenous made that make a lot more sense. It felt uncomfortable.

Not something I’d recommend.

i had some high hopes for this book, seeing how the premise was enemies to lovers/horror/romance, but every aspect fell flat.
ghosts? not scary. spice? felt forced and rushed and just made super uncomfortable in a way. the “haunted house” felt like a cliche, and i definitely felt like Pen was abusive towards the MC and was kinda gaslighting him??? don’t love that. enemies to lovers is one thing, but i can’t stand too much bullying/hatred. it just felt disjointed and there were tons of plot holes and inconsistencies that didn’t make sense.

I couldn't fully connect with this for some reason. While I really enjoyed the premise of the novel and both our main characters, the relationship itself fell a bit flat for me and not fully fleshed out

Two rival authors end up at the same haunted castle for a retreat. There was angsty banter and tension as Pen and Neil each try to find their writing groove back. I wanted to really like this, a romance with added haunted elements, but I found that I couldn’t connect with the characters and the plot didn’t hold my interest. It took a while to get through this, unfortunately.

I've really fallen into the horror, romcom genre lately and this was the perfect addition. Between the haunted castle elements, and the enemies to lovers dynamic, this book really was so much fun to read.

I was really interested in the premise of the book but it fell flat for me. The writing was good but the plot and characters struggled. The FMC was insufferable and the MMC had no backbone. It took one day to forgive her and have sex with her after she screamed at him in public and threw a book at him? That’s insane. She never even apologized. Their love story felt forced. And far too fast. The only reason I continued the book was for the ghost story and that let me down. It was very unsatisfying and left a lot still unanswered. Overall the whole book let me down but I’ll give it 2 stars because there was potential in the writing.