I will not be reading or reviewing this book due to the authors problematic behavior as of late.

Thank you to St. Martins for the opportunity, but unfortunately, cannot in good faith support this author.

A bit of enemy to lovers with some forced proximity, If I Stopped Haunting, You details Penelope Skinner and Neil Storm, enemy writers trapped in a haunted castle in a romance meets horror situation.

Unfortunately, I struggled to remain engaged with this book. While I enjoyed it for the middle 50%, I found the beginning and end challenging to follow.

I felt the writing was a bit stunted and didn’t readily flow. Neither the romance nor the horror felt thoroughly flushed out, and I was neither scared nor felt butterflies. One moment *** spoiler *** (they see a ghost), and next, they want to climb into bed. The sudden context changes were difficult to follow. Additionally, the secondary characters did nothing to add to the story and were not fully developed.

The jump from enemies to loved felt too quick for people with a charged history. They did have some conflict resolution (and self-reflection—I did like that) toward the end, but I was almost at 40% before I felt any investment in the characters. One area I especially had a lot of difficulty with while reading was distinguishing the voices despite the dual point of view. I felt they sounded the same, and I found myself checking whose perspective I was reading each chapter.

The horror moments had a lot of build-up and a mysterious vibe. I enjoyed the mystery-solving elements. However, “the conflict” did not make sense. After so much build-up, I wanted a bit more drama and a neater resolution.

It is worth noting that both main characters are of indigenous heritage, although only one has a tribal card. There is discussion within the book about the lack of native voices in publishing, the depictions of natives in media, and the demands underrepresented writers have to be the perfect version of their minority. I think these were handled with care and brought up many valid points (especially needing to “tone down” work to make it appeal to a broader audience - a gross but likely actual reality). As someone with limited knowledge of the intricacies of tribal identity politics, I felt I could follow this subplot. I then actually went and read more (specifically the sovereignty and identity statement by the Cherokee Nation that a Cherokee identity is political and “is not, and never has been, an ethnic or racial identity.” I was glad for the opportunity to learn something new. This would mean that the character without a card cannot claim a native identity, an important distinction not addressed in the novel.

It is worth noting that the author’s identity was questioned in the media; she has since changed her bio. She has made a statement on her socials for those interested. I am not going to force her to prove her heritage any more than I am going to force her to prove her queerness. Her identity is not why I read this book (I need to make a considerable effort to look into authors before selecting their material). In this case, I didn’t realize this book had native themes when I selected it to read, and I didn’t hear of this discourse until I had nearly finished the book. It should be made clear that this is not written by someone who can legally claim a tribal identity.


I hope her publisher could also outline how they wish to uplift those who politically identify as native in the future because I feel those stories are important. This feels like a good lesson in identity for both me as a reader (needing to actively seek out those stories) and the publishing industry on their lack of knowledge of how to market and edit this book.

After seeing some troubling discourse on this book, I decided to pick it up to come to some of my own conclusions. I won’t speak to the issues this au th or is facing in terms of her fraudulent claims of being Cherokee, but I will say that there is a problematic DV scene very early in the book, and no accountability taken in any of the sections I read afterward. I looked into this further, and most reviewers who have spoken to this say there is no accountability taken… at all. I’m DNFing this, and I won’t be looking into this authors work in the future

Dnf at 2%. Normally, I would push much harder, but honestly there were so many concerning flags in the prologue that I couldn't without pushing myself into a slump.

Admittedly, I am at a delayed start because it's been a hard month. I'm aware of the discussion surrounding the author, and it's concerning, but I wanted to give the book a shot regardless. I have quite a few Native friends, so I understand how difficult it can be to reconnect to your tribe.

However, the first flag popped up on page 1. While I understand that there can be power in showing how harmful stereotypes are, it felt like the narrator bought into those stereotypes. I'm concerned that people who pick this book up because it has a potentially Native author will think these things are okay to repeat. Not all representation is good representation and I didn't read any pride in the FMC's heritage.

The second red flag for me was that I can't see myself turning the corner on either MC. I love when a book gives me MCs that are imperfect, but there needs to be SOMETHING likeable about them. I can't root for a pairing I don't like, which brings me to my third and final flag.

The last straw for me was physical violence between the MCs in the prologue, which was not outlined in the content warnings. I have a strong background in domestic violence support work for a nonprofit and the idea that this book would OPEN with the FMC throwing a book at the MMC's head, let alone hard enough to split it open, is incredibly concerning. That's battery, and to do so in a presentation hall would be a chargeable offense. This is not enemies to lovers, that's abusive behavior. And with the other flags that concerned me, I cannot finish this book. Please consider adding a content warning for this, as it can be incredibly damaging for survivors to be surprised by this content.

"An enemies to lovers romance with a spooky twist where two feuding writers end up on a writers retreat together at a haunted castle in Scotland"

She assaulted him and the dialogue was clunky. Not for me

Due to the recent controversy surrounding Ms. Wilkens, I don't feel comfortable posting my review of "If I Stopped Haunting You" to my social media sites. It's essential to me to support Native authors, but I will not support someone lying about their identity and trying to capitalize on that lie.

Additionally, I had some issues with the novel itself. While there were aspects I enjoyed, the FMC assaults the MMC at the beginning of the book—and we're just supposed to be okay with that? She complains about getting cancelled after this and basically spends a good portion of the book making the MMC feel terrible about the state of HER career.

Given the recent feedback on this author questioning her native american history, I will not be giving feedback on this title.

Thank you to Colby Wilkens, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an arc of If I Stopped Haunting You.

This book was hard to pin down. It was a romance, but a romance about horror authors... so it had some horror/haunting elements to it too. I really wanted to like this book. I liked that it had Native American rep, but thought it was bizarre that a main conflict of the book was storylines that strayed from the culture - especially since the reader wouldn't have known the book was about Native American writers. In fact, there were so few references to culture outside from the author stating it outright, that this portion of the plot could have been removed entirely and it wouldn't have made that big of a difference.

The romance in the book also went from zero to sixty in a matter of pages. I'm all for this most of the time, but usually there is better tension. Here the characters were shy and pretty much ignored each other until they didn't.

I will say - the mystery Penelope and Neil solved together was fun! I think this book would have been better if the author focused mostly on the mystery or mostly on the romance. The bouncing around between topics gave me a bit of whiplash.

This book was just ok for me. 2.5/5 stars

This was a DNF for me. I really liked the Native American representation, but I just couldn't get into the story.

Was in the middle of this book when all of the information came out regarding this author lying about having Native descent. I do not wish to associate with that kind of behavior- for that reason. DNF

extremely disheartening to see this, i’m not upset with the publisher or anyone who brought her books into this space, but this is so sad to see on what’s supposed to be a safe space

I will not be reviewing any other books by this author. Thank you for the opportunity though, and I hope we can work together in the future.

I really liked the cover and blurb of If I Stopped Haunting You and was excited to read this story. However, after certain things came to light about Colby Wilkens (for instance check out the Tribal Alliance Against Frauds and the New York Post articles), I cannot in good conscience support this author. The beginning of this book also gave me bad vibes and the heroine Penelope assaulted the hero Neil and that scene was not ok and not a good start to a romance. All of the above made me not want to continue this story.

3.5 Stars

This was a a unique take on paranormal in romance! We have two feuding authors who are stuck in a haunted estate in Scotland for a writing retreat. Not only does this forced proximity force them to admit (and give into) their feelings, but also allows them to help solve a centuries old mystery.

One thing I really appreciated was that outside of the romance, a secondary plot line was about why the couple had tension. Both are indigenous authors and have conflicting opinions on what that should mean in the publishing world, but what was perfect was how it enhanced their tension and didn't detract from it.

The ghost story and gothic setting were fun. I wished that certain parts moved quicker, or that the resolution to the ghost story felt more fleshed out (harhar) but it was a fun read for October!

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free eARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review*

Due to the recent issues with the author I will not be reading or giving my review on this book. Thank you for the ARC.

I was quite disappointed with this book. When reading the description I thought it would be interesting, exciting and unlike what I usually read. It was not.

The main characters are not very exciting. I did not really connect with them. Also, I kept questioning why two other characters were included in the book when they almost never appeared. They see nothing, they hear nothing and their time is very limited in the book. The mystery, the haunting and fitting all the puzzle pieces together are left to only two characters.

It took such a long time for the pieces of the story about the woman who haunted the castle to come together that it became too easy to forget parts of what information was already discovered. While the book is supposed to have some scary parts, the reader has to wait a very long time to really get any intense moments.

I know the story is not supposed to be extreme horror, still I really feel it lacks evoking any sense of scariness which I was expecting to be here. I simply would not recommend this book.

I would give this a 3.5. I initially liked the premise of the book because I do enjoy a good enemies-to-lovers, but I didn't feel like Pen's hatred toward Neil was valid. I get that she was jealous of him and that she felt he sold out, but maybe she could have talked to him about it if they had been somewhat friends before. I also didn't like Lazlo that much, or Dani, for that matter. I was looking for a spooky read for the season, but this one was more of a cozy mystery. Nothing nefarious. I knew going into it that it wasn't going to be gory, but I felt let down by the overall mystery part.

Recommended: eh...
for sex scenes and some ghost plot, but not for compelling action or ghost plot resolution that is satisfying or feels in any way like it mattered, for weak enemies to lovers premise

Thoughts:
Boy do I wish I wasn't so irritated with this book. It made me angry and annoyed pretty regularly. There's a lot to cover....

Starting with the (few) things I did like, I enjoyed seeing two indigenous authors and the fact that it was part of the identity and story for both of them, but didn't 100% define them. They had other traits and desires and goals in life, while also being in touch with their heritage and family roots. I also liked that it was set in Scotland, although ultimately that wasn't seen much and didn't really matter as any remote place would have done.

That's it, I think. ON TO THE RANT!

The enemies to lovers premise is weak tea. It's the sort of thing where you get into it and go "THAT'S THE REASON?" Pfft. I think I just need to stop reading anything that says E2L because hey, I usually hate it.

Second up, is it me or is most of this story sex? I'm pretty sure it was. I remember sex and a few ghostly things happening, but we'll start with the sex. It's frequent. If you're here for that, you're in for a treat. I read the audiobook because my digital copy was unavailable, and HO-LY SHIT. I had to skip a solid 20-30 minute chunk that was just multiple chapters of them having sex that I was surely not going to listen to (not for me, thanks). And that was just one scene. Honestly by the midway point I ended up having to skip sections multiple times, so who knows what I missed in those scenes if anything. They did seem to sneak small plot stepping stones in the midst of the fornication so 🤷‍♀️

Also, they did sex things in the middle of also being like "I genuinely feel at risk of death here." So it was kind of a danger bang, but also so insane for them to be like "I fear death, but he / she is pretty hot so I guess I'll ignore the whole death thing for now." I get that it can make people stupid, but my god. Also used the phrase "finger banged" which I just really hated.

Speaking of things I hated, why the fuck was Daniela even there? Talk about a useless character. I'm pretty sure she was just there to be someone to hate and to make it not be an awkward threesome of characters. But also, four people is the writing retreat? That seems weirdly small to me even so. Anyway, Daniela. Pretty sure she could have been 100% removed and the story would not matter at all except to be slightly less annoying. Who even was she to the others?

Ghost stuff: meh. I was hopeful that hauntings would mitigate the constant sex-having but they in fact seemed to make them both hornier. The ghost plot was not very exciting and in the end I just felt like there was no reason for it to have affected them specifically so it didn't make much sense. The payoff was very weak, unless I missed something during the parts I skipped of sex, and it almost felt like someone going on a murder spree, eating a snack, and then going "ah sorry about that, I was just a bit hangry." 😵

And finally, the end. I never liked either of the main characters. I didn't especially dislike them I guess, but never cared about them or their feelings or success and so on. But the most egregious issue that made me loathe Penelope ("Pen", gag) is that she never even bothered to get a read on how people received her actions and stories before just spiraling for literal years into assuming she's a hated piece of shit. All of this was over nothing.

Overall, this annoyed me because everything felt pointless and there was too much sex with not enough ghosts and none of it mattered. Oy.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC. This is my honest review which is probably pretty clear.

"If I Stopped Haunting You" by Colby Wilkens is a uniquely engaging blend of supernatural elements and heartfelt romance. The witty banter between the characters brings a refreshing humor to the story, balancing the more emotional themes of loss and connection. Wilkens crafts an imaginative narrative that explores the complexities of love across different realms, making it both fun and poignant. The character development is strong, drawing readers into their struggles and triumphs. Overall, this novel is a charming and whimsical journey that leaves you contemplating the ties that bind us, even beyond the grave.

Extremely disappointed to read about possible fraudulent behavior by this author.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

DNF. The heroine was very unlikable. Then the author was outed as falsely Indigenous.
0 stars if I could.

I’m disappointed to see the allegations regarding the author claiming to be of indigenous descent while in fact having no genealogical or American Indian ancestral tie to the indigenous tribe as found by the tribal alliance. I cannot support an author who uses Native American stories for profit while falsely claiming she is of that heritage.

I also had major issues with the actual story involving the FMC using physical violence against the MMC for the sake of creating an enemies to lovers storyline. My favorite part of the book was the representation but again, I’m disappointed to now know it doesn’t come from an indigenous perspective. I appreciate the gifted copy from NetGalley and St Martins Griffin