Colby Wilkens' "If I Stopped Haunting You" ambitiously delves into paranormal romance, exploring love, loss, and letting go.

Despite the intriguing premise, "If I Stopped Haunting You" struggles with execution, resulting in an uneven read. The narrative meanders through subplots, and pacing issues detract from the potential emotional impact, leaving some moments feeling rushed or without deeper substance.

Characterization poses a significant challenge, as the protagonist - who is supposed to be seen as sympathetic - lacks the depth needed for their emotional journey to resonate and instead just comes across as bratty, irrational, and entitled. Supporting characters are underdeveloped, making it difficult for readers to invest in the story's conflicts. Dialogue often feels forced and predictable, undermining the novel's emotional potential.

Although the supernatural elements create moments of intrigue, inconsistent worldbuilding diminishes readers' immersion in the story. Despite its flaws, the novel offers enjoyable moments and touching scenes that capture the bittersweet nature of love and loss. Some readers may find "If I Stopped Haunting You" to be an enjoyable read, but ultimately it falls short of delivering a fully realized emotional journey.

The author has lied about being Native, so I won't be reading and supporting her books. You can find more information here: https://tribalallianceagainstfrauds.org/colby-newbold-wilkens

I have chosen to delete my review upon revelations about the author’s behavior in falsely co-opting Native identity to write her book.

found out the day that I finally got around to reading this book that the author has been lying about being indigenous, which is an automatic one star for me. It helps that the writing was also pretty bad and the book itself was a forgiving three star read at best.

Dnf at 13%. Man the premise of this sounded so good and fun but it fell so shirt. The fmc assaulted the mmc like a child and just comedy across as super petulant. The cops should have been called.

The writing was also funky to me and weird. Not sure how to explain it. I did not see myself continuing or enjoying it so dnf it was.

An entertaining rom-com just in time for spooky season perfect for those who want a quick read and like the enemies to lovers plot line.

If I Stopped Haunting You had its fun and spooky moments, but overall, the romance wasn’t for me, and I really wasn’t a fan of how Penelope treated Neil for the first half of the book. The setting was immaculate - I love all things gothic - and the ghost element was something I was able to get behind even though I struggle to believe paranormal activities in certain books. While the romance between Pen and Neil was sweet by the end, it felt forced and rushed to me at the castle. I think Neil should’ve been angrier for physically being assaulted, but instead he’s so smitten to the point that it turns out that he had a tattoo for one of her books inked into his skin even though they had never been friends before their encounters at the castle. I think the conversations surrounding BIPOC authors in a white-centered publishing industry were very important though, and I like those deeper elements being added to romances and other contemporary novels. The author’s March 2025 release sounds super interesting though, so I might have to check it out.

Thanks so much to the publisher for the ARC.

I had high hopes for this title. The description is exciting and something I wanted to read. Penelope Skinner, author, has a problem with her colleague Neil Storm, who seems to have "sold out". When she plays out her anger in a major way, it has consequences to her career. Hoping to revive things at an author's retreat, she ends up in a haunted castle with .. you guessed it... Neil Storm.

I had mixed feelings about this title. I felt drawn to finishing it, yet there were parts that I skimmed over quickly. I did like the main characters in spite of their stereotypical roles. Pen is frustrated, unlikable and laser-focused on what she thinks is right. In contrast, Neil is friendly, successful and is learning about compromises he had to make for success. When they get to Scotland for the retreat, his feelings turn to something romantic when he is with Pen. I thought he was cute, especially since he falls hard and fast.

The accompanying ghost story was creepy and well-done. It was the best part of the story. There is an attempt to connect the ghost story with Pen and Neil, but I thought that had a lot of unrealized potential.

So overall, some hits, some misses with this story.

I don't know that I can in good faith give this the review it deserves. The author seems a bit problematic and at the beginning of the book there's an actual act of physical violence in the name of aggression. So this will be a pass for me

It’s come to my attention that this author has been misidentifying as Cherokee and Choctaw despite not having sufficient claims to those identities. And based on that I will not be reading or reviewing this book.

I so wanted to love this story but to be honest I struggled, Penelope is just too awful and I just wanted Neil to just run!!

Might be for you, just wasn't my thing

Dnf uh.....after 10 mins

Thank you libro.fm for the free audiobook.

That's crazy.
She, in a fit of anger, threw her book at his head and hit his temple.

What is attractive about having that as our MC? Someone incapable of controlling their anger?

Can you imagine if a man had gone through what she did and then threw a book at a woman's head and it hit her?
People would be up in arms about that.

Why are we allowing the abuse of men to be dismissed?

I love a good enemies to lovers/workplace romance by itself and then add in thrill and mystery and a haunted Scottish castle and I will not move from *this spot* until the book is complete. This tale has all of the elements of a great paranormal romance. It was simple in it’s execution and I appreciated the “less is more” approach the author took with limiting characters and outside distractions. The author’s choices in that arena lent so nicely to the setting and plot points. I would absolutely recommend this binge-able and seasonally appropriate story to anyone looking for a great way to fill a rainy afternoon indoors.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fun read! I never would have thought to put romance and a haunted castle in the same book, but it works here! Two rival authors end up at the same writing retreat at a haunted castle in Scotland. Pen and Neil bond over the fact that they're the only ones who can see the ghost and eventually realize that their hatred is pointless. At one point Pen pretty much says IDGAF about the ghost in the room watching us, I want to get it on 😂 I laughed so hard! Great read! Perfect for spooky season!

I didn’t get to finish this book, I got a new Amazon prime account and my kindle deleted everything associated with my previous account including all of my downloads and I only just figured out why it wasn’t appearing whenI tried re-sending to my kindle multiple times. Now I’ve finally found the source of my problem and changed/updated the kindle email and can now download books again. I just missed the cutoff for the archive date which sucks. It really messed up my reviews for all of the books I’d requested over the past few months, I apologize. I liked what I was able to read so that’s what I’m rating.

As a YA book this is okay it's something I could see my high school students reading but not necessarily my cup of tea. The characters were pretty childish for books I tend to gravitate for the maturity level just wasn't there. I wish it was more spooky with characters who behaved more mature.

Not for me but could be for someone else.

2.5 stars rounded up. This was book was a case of cute, seasonally appropriate concept, meh execution for me. I ended up skimming most of it because I just never found anything to really pull me in. There were a few funny parts though and I can see why the story as a whole would appeal to others.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

Rating: 4/5
I received an eARC for my honest opinion.

This was such a cute spooky thriller mixed with romcom. In this book you will meet Penelope and Neil along with their friends. Penelope is invited to a writing retreat in Scotland, and they will be staying in a haunted house. Penelope is so excited to be going on this retreat because she has not been able to write a book that she has liked in what she feels like forever, ever since she threw a book at an author, she thought she looked up too, and if she could just get him out of her mind and work on a book she knows it will be great. However, once she gets to the retreat, she finds out that her friend has invited Neil Storm, the man that she threw a book at. Now she has to figure out how to get him off her mind and write a book or maybe die from the ghost in the castle.

I really enjoyed this romcom a lot, and I found it perfect for the fall time. I loved that it wasn’t just a romcom, but you will also find mystery, suspense, a lot of banter and enemies to lover’s romance. It is written in dual POV, which I loved because I got to see each of the main characters’ thoughts and what they really wanted. I found the slow burn between the characters to have been done perfectly and didn’t feel as though it would never happen or that it was rushed. I thought the author did a great job with the pace of the book and adding the right amount of mystery and suspense to keep you hooked on the haunting that is going on. The plot was a little bit everywhere but for me it worked with different elements that the author was doing. I found the mystery of the haunted castle or mansion was revealed at a perfect pace and it really helped to allow the characters to come together working on a goal and building up feelings that they had both hidden away.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes romcoms, mystery and suspense.

I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin Press for the opportunity to review this book.

Generally? Meh.

The trigger warnings at the beginning threw me a bit and I think there was another way to use the idea of selling out to White culture and an Indigenous person than using a slur constantly in the first chapter of the book.

The characters were undeveloped and antagonistic.

The writing was jumpy. I'm glad I'm not the only person who didn't enjoy this book.

DNF @ 7%

In the prologue, I didn't really like how the two protagonists were speaking to one another. I felt myself literally cringing a bit as I was reading. And then the FMC throws a book at the MMC's head and makes him bleed.

I tried to push through a bit, and got a little further, but I don't really like how either of the main characters interact with other people, so I'm putting this one down.