After the Incident four months ago, Pen has been unable to get inspiration to write, so she agrees to join her friend Laszlo on a writing retreat in Scotland to try and get inspiration. However, when she arrives, her worst enemy Neil is there too after Laszlo said he wouldn’t be. And now Pen has to suffer a week with Neil there and attempt to gain inspiration to write her next book.

Neil has been unable to write since the Incident with Pen in the last four months, being filled with doubt after her words, and now has to spend a week with her in Scotland while trying to gain inspiration for his next book.

And all of this done in a castle that is supposedly haunted. What could go wrong?

This is an okay book. I have mixed feelings. It seemed to start off pretty good, it hooked me, I was enjoying the story, and I did think I would enjoy the romance, but it went downhill for me.

There’s a lot of repetition, especially about the two of them being uninspired and having difficulty writing a new book. The repetition got annoying after a few chapters.

Their animosity towards each other was so strong that when they suddenly seemed to lust after each other and want each other, it felt like whiplash and was too sudden for it be believable or even considered as “love”. It’s more like they needed to get together and just get it out of their system, but I guess we’re calling this love.

I didn’t particularly like any of the characters except for Laszlo. He was more of the comedic side of this story and helped break up the repetition in this book. Pen would say hurtful things at unnecessary times and you know it was just put in there to help us remember that her and Neil were enemies, but it felt unnecessary and made her come off as rather mean. Neil was just okay, rather sad and seemed to really allow Pen and others get under his skin too easily and came off as a coward and I don’t know what he saw in Pen. She was rather mean and he could do better.

There were spooky moments in this book, and to be honest, I was confused about why we were in a haunted castle with these authors who hate each other and they’re trying to write. It seemed two completely different stories being turned into one, or attempted to. I think this could have just been a contemporary romance without the spookiness since that seemed to take away from the main story and I don’t know what the link was aside from them working together.

Overall, an okay book.

The cover is breathtakingly beautiful and it just caught my eye, I knew it would be a great read. But then I got the book and it was just . . . meh. Like I was so hopeful to see the combined genres of horror and romance. I will say that the writing style is great, and the enemies to lovers trope was good, it just wasn’t made in a way that was fulfilling to me.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

So I'll just get right into it, the cheesy title definitely grabbed me initially. As the story progressed, which is clearly a romance based on the cover, I felt no character chemistry. Definitely a slow burn at the least. Then about 2/3 in the spice seemingly came out of nowhere and felt kind of cringey. I think the male main characters name also bothered me.

The other thing that just gave me the ick was after every spicy scene someone said 'thank you'. It just felt out of place and really took me out of the book in the last half of it.

Laszlo, a thriller author rents out a haunted Skinner Castle in the winter in Scotland for a writer's retreat, for a group of horror, thriller and paranormal writers, but most attendants back out in the last minute and there are only 3 other authors who attend. Two, Penelope Skinner and Neil Storm are unicorns, indigenous horror writers. They have history. Once Neil was Pen's hero, until he sold out to his publisher's changes. A few months ago she threw her book at him at Book Con. Both are also experiencing writer's block. Laszlo had planned several different writing exercises to help everyone get their groove back, but when he pairs Pen and Neil to work in the library, they get their first otherworldly experience. As the two try to solve the mystery of the ghosts they let down their walls with each other. All four become trapped in the castle in a snow storm with their car refusing to start. Their lives might be in danger, but only Neil and Pen are even experiencing the spectral visits. Are the ghosts matchmakers or are the two authors having a mutual breakdown?

I found the author's story compelling, even though the characters at times were annoying. I was gifted an Advanced Reader's Copy from NetGalaley.com. this is my unbiased, honest and voluntary review.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for my honest review. Unfortunately, despite multiple attempts, this was a DNF for me. The FMC was just so unlikable and I wasn’t invested in her story or success.

if this book has no haters, i am dead. a romance that starts with one of the love interests throwing something at the other’s head at a work event unprovoked is not a romance I’m on board for.

I couldn’t get into this book at all. And after finding out the author pretended to have a heritage she doesn’t actually have, I won’t be continuing to read it.

I was really excited about this book and while the story itself sounded interesting, it didn't live up to the synopsis.

I didn't feel the chemistry with the characters, but I did enjoy how the book put a lot of focus on Native experiences and the disparage.

If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens is a terrible read. Do not read this. The book starts with the FMC assaulting the love interest, like wtf???? Also, the author is pretending to be indigenous. This book sucks, and so does the author.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I went into this book a bit hesitant after learning about the recent concerns surrounding the author’s background, but I decided to approach it with an open mind and separate the story from its creator. Listening to the audiobook, courtesy of @librofm ALC program, I was happy to discover that both narrators are Indigenous, which added authenticity to the performance. They brought a lot to the table, but even good narration can only do so much.

The story follows four writers on a retreat to a castle in Scotland, where their history and turmoil will be brought up constantly throughout the book. We experience the story through two Indigenous characters: one a widely recognized horror author and another whose lack of tribal connection makes her feel less than an author. Each writer specializes in a different genre—romance, horror, thriller, and mystery—which is a cool idea in theory.

However, the book struggled to balance the romance, mystery, and horror elements. Instead of blending, it felt like no genre got a chance to shine. The romance felt underwhelming, with forced chemistry between the main characters, while the two other friends felt like they were just along for the ride.

When the ghostly horror aspects finally arrived, there were a few intriguing moments, but the suspense fizzled out quickly. And the mystery aspect? It felt more like a side note than a driving force. Penelope, the main character, also often breaks into intense "soap box" moments, especially when addressing the love interest, Storm. These moments became very repetitive and detracted from the story.

Ultimately, I finished it, and I didn’t hate it, but I felt like it needed more focus. It tried to be too many things at once—romance, lit with a message, and a mystery ghost story. I wish it had settled on one and let it shine.

This was unfortunately not for me. The concept was great but the execution was awkward and unrefined.

I'm grateful to have had a chance to read it though!

I really cannot recommend this book to anyone. The main characters are unlikable. Nothing even remotely interesting happens until about 65% of the way in. I wanted to like the spooky vibes of the haunted castle, but the story felt very disjointed and the spicy scenes were lacking.

After reading other reviews I have also discovered that this author was pretending to be indigenous; will not be reading anything else of theirs.

was not able to get into this book at the time it was due to be reviewed and was not able to finish reading. i am grateful to have been given the opportunity to read this book early and have heard nothing but good things about this author.

This book fell flat after having a great concept. The FMC was immature and the MMC was lacking and they appeared to have no real chemistry. The storyline held so much promise and was right up my alley but ultimately left me disappointed.

I am no stranger to a good ghost story which is why I was so drawn into this book. The cover art was done so well! I think the premise of this book was a nice idea but I am nottt a fan of insta love even if it comes from an enemies to lovers view it happening so quickly without a deep dive into why her feelings switched up was confusing to me. Overall a good book but would have benefitted from a little more fleshing out of ideas and such.

I tried and I simply couldn’t keep going. The characters fell flat and the awkwardness of reading a non-native person writing about the struggles of native writers was just too awkward for me. Then, when I did some more digging the information I found out about the author told me I wasn’t wrong for feeling “weird.”

To be honest, I wanted to love this more than I actually did. This was like part rom-com, part-horror, and part rivals to lover’s romance. I loved the rom-com and the rivals to lovers’ aspect; the horror didn’t really come across horror to me, it was more mystery/thriller which was kind of meh for me as I’ve been trying to get out of my reading comfort zone and try horror, so I thought this would have been a perfect way for me to ease into it by combining other themes I like. Sadly, just disappointed on that aspect. I didn’t really understand the reasoning behind the FMC being rivals with the MMC, it seemed super trivial and childish but once they got together, I was happy about that. They were so cute together. There were a few moments of eerie creepiness that I loved, and I wished that the whole ghost mystery had been fleshed out more, maybe a tie-in with the FMC actually being related and that’s why she could see the ghosts…that would have been awesome. Overall, I wasn’t too impressed with it but I did like it enough.

Actual rating 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

This book was a pleasant surprise.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, as it was a quick read and a good time.

I will be leaving a 3 star review for this as I do not wish to rate and review the book after discovering that the author does not have any ties to the Indigenous community.

Thank you.

This book opens with the female main character verbally and physically abusing the male main character in a very public venue, leaving him with a facial scar. Then, when she gets canceled because of it, she blames it on the MMC. It's absolutely absurd. And then we come to find out she was hating him in the first place because he once called her Penny, in a dedication (instead of Penelope or Pen). I understand being particular about your name, as folks have the right to be, but for so many hate to stem from such a small one time thing is ridiculous.

So, bad start to the book. But I started to enjoy other pieces of the book, like the strong Native American themes, and the FMC being very open about her Native heritage, even though she wasn't registered with a tribe. So I'm thinking, okay, valid emotions. What a great point about identity and heritage. The idea of not being "Native enough" or "[insert culture/race/ethnicity here] enough."

But then I start getting really aggravated with the book. These mortal enemies are in close proximity for less than 24 hours when they start feeling different emotions for each other. The MMC has obviously had feelings for the FMC for a while, even if he wants to deny it, but the FMC actively hates the MMC, so her emotions just aren't making sense or aligning with her perspective at all.

They're in a haunted house with some terrifying things happening, which is something I was excited about for this book - the mix of horror and romance. But they keep wanting to get freaky while horrifying things are actively happening, which makes no sense. And I don't know what it was about this book, but the s*x scenes made me uncomfortable. They were exciting and tension-building like so many of the romance books I love. These felt *creepy*, and not in a haunted house sort of way. I did find the horror to be pretty scary at points, though it did fall flat at some points, as well.

As I'm finishing the book, I start looking into the author and realize there's cases against her pretending to be Indigenous, when she's not. So there's some alignment with the "not being Native enough" storyline, but as I read into it, it seems that the ancestor she's claiming is her great-great-great grandfather, or whatever, would've have only been one when the next ancestor was born, which makes it impossible that it's her relative. It's all just too much, and it's so disappointing to think you're supporting BIPOC authors, to only find out your supporting white folks appropriating cultures to make money. This entire book is marketed as being Native American, and the storyline reflects that, but the author herself does not.

I was really disappointed to know I was here supporting just another white person using the identity of others for fame.