This book was super hard to get into. I loved the concept of enemies to lovers except this was more enemies to lovers insta-love but let's keep being mean. They kept "trucing" then Pen would turn around and treat Neil like crap again. Also the 3rd person POV was hard to follow.

I thought this was an ok book. It was a struggle for me to want to pick it up. I thought the female main character was a little insufferable at times and I was expecting a more interesting storyline for the ghosts.

Was so excited for this Indigenous mystery but I felt it fall flat. I wasn't a fan of how the second half of the book played out and was a little dissapointed with the character development. The descriptions of the castle and Scotland were well done.

2.5 ⭐️

I found that this book was much more enjoyable as an audiobook, allowing me to get further along than I did with the physical copy. However, I ultimately decided to stop listening after reaching the halfway point.

One of the highlights for me was the blend of genres; I really enjoyed the concept of competing ghost hunters—it was intriguing and fun!

On the other hand, the romance aspect didn’t resonate with me. The initial conflict felt a bit over the top, especially with the scene where she throws a book at him. Their relationship seemed to escalate too quickly for me, and I struggled to connect or feel any real tension between the characters. While I appreciate the creativity of the story, it ultimately wasn’t quite what I was hoping

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for this advanced reader copy. My review is voluntarily my own.

3.5 rounded up. This story had really good bones but I think its weakness in some parts held it back.

The whole setting and vibe had me tearing through past my bedtime, freaked out and desperate for answers as to what the hell was going on in this spooky castle. I think the author did a really good job of building that suspense and tension to keep the reader engaged in the story. I thought the discussion of the MCs shared Native roots and their individual struggles with being BIPOC in publishing and the sacrifices they made in that sphere.

The parts I found to be weak were the romance and the big reveal of the mystery. Spoilers ahead: <spoiler>by the conclusion of the book, I still wasn’t sure what was drawing Pen and Neil together beyond just sexual chemistry. They still seemed to strongly dislike each other until they very suddenly were lovey over each other and I feel like there was a disconnect between those two states. I also felt like the reason for the haunting was kind of a let down. I’m not someone who enjoys scary stories, but I would have much rather that the ghosts were haunting the house because they needed help with a final task, or something along the lines of typical horror, rather than it just be that all the haunting stopped when Pen and Neil found their graves and peaced the story together. For how heart-pounding the plot had been, it just was a bit of a bummer and a let down.</spoiler>

Like I said, I think the bones of this story are good, and I am definitely interested in reading the next book by this author to see how she improves!

POV: dual third person

You can expect: horror author MCs, haunted castle in Scotland, enemies to lovers, opposites attract, forced proximity, snowed in.

Rep: Native American MCs, queer MCs and side characters

Spice: 2/5

CW: assault, some gore

This was an odd one. It was paranormal, enemies to lovers, with talk of racism, a little mystery plus a secluded writers retreat. It was basically everything but the kitchen sink. It felt a little all over the place and I didn’t hate it. But I didn’t love it.

Pen and Neil have had a rivals type relationship since being in the writing world together. It takes a writing retreat with friends for them to realize there is a fine line between rivalry and attraction. They are a cute team and the ghost aspect was kind of fun. The chapters were long but it made sense since this book was kind of all over the place. There were so many themes touched on and to me it felt like too much in places.

While there were definitely things that annoyed me about this book, the bad did not outweigh the good. If I Stopped Haunting You is a quirky, enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity tightrope with a haunted house mystery subplot. It features some of my favourite story elements, in that it is a book with writer protagonists, and has just enough social commentary to keep it from feeling a little too superficial and flippant.
Addressing the good first. For the most part, I did really like the characters, and while the ghost element obviously wasn’t the focus—the romance was—it was present enough for me to be aware of it and not feel like it was just tossed in for the heck of it. I really liked the spotlight Penelope put on the inequality when it came to being a woman in the publishing industry versus being a man, and how Neil’s experiences in regards to the stories he wanted to tell versus what he was allowed to tell due to his race played such a significant role in his character development.
What I got annoyed by was Penelope’s fixation on what she believed was Neil’s responsibility as a popular indigenous author. It wasn’t that I don’t believe it should have been present, as it was used as a tool to display her own racial insecurity. It was the way it was used, at times, felt extremely forced and repetitive. Like the characters would be having a normal conversation and all the sudden Penelope’s dialogue would become a soap box, complete with rehearsed speech. This happened more often than I could count, and really started to bother me as it held up the progression of the plot.
Personally, I was entertained enough to still recommend this to the romance fans looking for something Halloween themed, but not super spooky.

I don’t think I need to hear the full name Neil Storm ever again. The amount of times the name comes up drove me nuts. The story was okay, it picked up towards the end but overall it was a pretty flat read.

ARC audiobook provided in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the dual narration on this book! It helped bring the two main characters (male and female) to life and I always knew exactly who was speaking. The story takes place in Scotland at a writers retreat. This is definitely an enemies to lovers romance with the backdrop of a haunted castle to set the scene. I really loved the characters love story but really could’ve done without the whole haunting storyline. If you’re a fan of romantic comedies with just a touch of horror, check this book out!

DNF @ 2%, after the prologue. No rating.

It was clear pretty quickly this book wasn't for me. I'm not a fan of victim mentality, which this character seems to steep herself in. I also don't find assault amusing. I am always taking a chance on enemies-to-lovers, because it's one of my least favorite tropes. The danger is always that if the author can't walk the fine line of making me believe they can grow to love each other, or even like each other, the book is a failure. I may have tried to keep reading, but a quick perusal of the reviews made it clear I wouldn't end up enjoying this one.

ARC from Netgalley.

Pen and Neil have had it out for each other for as long as they can remember, and it all comes to a head when they are sitting on a panel of Native authors and Pen throws her book at Neil in a fury. From there, Pen is disgraced and Neil can’t help but take her words to heart, making it impossible for him to write. So when their friend Lazlo invites them (albeit separately and unknowingly) to a writing retreat at a potentially haunted castle in Scotland, they both see it as an opportunity to get back in the writing game. But tensions and passions flare as Pen and Neil are stuck in the creepy castle, searching for answers.

A quick read that I was never fully immersed in. There was a lot going on, but I didn’t feel that all of the ends tied together - leaving me wondering about some of the plot points. Overall, fun but not my favorite.

I was sold by enemies to lovers at a haunted castle in Scotland - however once I saw reviews calling out the fmc for throwing a book at the mmc in the prologue and other behavior I realized this one wouldn’t be for me. Thank you to the publisher for the free ebook to review.

What happens when two feuding authors end up on the same writers retreat at a haunted Scottish castle? Witty banter, amateur paranormal investigations (aka: some Scooby-Doo level hijinks), personal breakthroughs, oh and plenty of sex.

Authors Penelope Skinner and Neil Simon share a history of animosity but find themselves drawn to each other and the weird goings-on in the haunted castle in Scotland where they find themselves snowed in. Their fellow authors staying in the castle aren't experiencing any of the hauntings so Penelope and Neil take it upon themselves to save them all from the things that go bump in the night. These enemies turned lovers aren't sure whether to be more shocked by their scorching chemistry or the fact that ghosts are real!

There was plenty to like in this book. It was fast paced and kept me guessing and I enjoyed the leads coming to terms with their own self-doubt and their relationship with each other. I feel like the final reveal didn't really hold up to all the build up of the haunting. While I was satisfied with where the characters ended up at the end of the novel, I wasn't disappointed I'd reached the end.

DNF

Right off the back, Pen throws a book at Neil's head out of jealousy because he was more successful than her. I'm pretty sure they didn't even write the same genre, but because they were both Indigenous authors they are some how competing in her mind. She's caught on camera berating him and gets canceled, but she also convinces herself that it's his fault. As soon as they meet again, she still blames him for her own screw ups. And even though I only got so far, you could see Neil starting to doubt his own success and own talent because of Pen's gaslighting. She has clearly learned nothing from the experience and its just insufferable to follow her POV.

Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin for providing this ARC to me!

Horror and romance don't seem like genres that could comfortably coexist, but Colby Wilkens makes it work. The story follows a group of four horror authors, two of whom might as well not even be in the story, as they go to a Scottish castle reputed to be haunted for a writer's retreat. Penelope and Neil have a contentious relationship (read: repressed longing/lust, and also she threw a book at him at a convention) discover that the haunting is real, and then they have to balance breaking through their writer's block, fixing the ghost problem, and wanting to screw for the rest of the book. I'm being flippant, but I also read it in two sittings, so this is a fun time.

The romance definitely outweighs the horror here, and that's okay. There are elements, like the other two writers, that feel lost or extraneous for most of the book, which isn't great, and I don't feel like Pen and Neil's Native identities were as strictly necessary as they're billed as. But as a racial and ethnic minority myself, I still love that that piece was there, because there's nothing like actually seeing yourself represented on the page, especially in a book that isn't about racial trauma.

All in all, this is a nice, cozy read. The balance isn't always right, but if you just want an escape, this is a very good bet.

I didn’t enjoy this book. The characters were too trope-y to be real, their love wasn’t believable and the mystery wasn’t much of a mystery. It felt like a side plot with little planning.

I feel like the author wanted to write a romance but needed to add more meat to the story, so it was set against a mystery. The problem is that the plot gets tangled up in the mystery. None of it is plausible and the motivations for the ghosts and the mystery are not surprising. I felt almost no empathy for the ghosts because they didn’t seem like real people.

While this was an enemies to lovers, it was ruined by the silly reason Pen hated Neil. She acts like a completely immature lunatic, permanently scars him and he can’t stop looking at her boobs?

She can’t stand him and is afraid of her feelings but also gets wet anytime he’s in her vicinity. It wasn’t sexy and I kind of hated both of them. The supporting characters weren’t much more lifelike or likeable.

I didn’t hate this. I just felt the plot was subpar and the romance left a lot to be desired. Maybe if the author had concentrated more on the romance (or more on the mystery) it wouldn’t have felt like both were half done. It was short but it still felt overwritten, especially near the end. It got needlessly complicated with weird pseudo-cliffhangers. I couldn’t quite understand what was happening.

It started out pretty well but when the author dug in, at the appropriate time, there wasn’t anything there to dig up. I didn’t feel anything.

I wouldn’t recommend this, which is a shame because a spooky romance about writers set in a Scottish castle should have been exactly what I love. 2.5* rounded up.

Thank you to St Martins Press for the ARC, all opinions are my own.

DNF fairly quickly in to this one. Right out of the gate is a huge altercation with the FMC throwing a book at the MMC. Now I'm expected to believe they're falling madly, deeply in lust? Characters are just too flat and one track minded for me. The blurb seemed really interesting and I love love the cover art.

Four authors go on a writer’s retreat to a remote reputedly haunted castle in the Scottish Highlands in the middle of winter. What could possibly go wrong?
The majority of this small group of authors is indigenous and I would have liked to have had more information about that aspect of their lives. The book touches on their limited opportunities and how they sometimes have to make compromises in order to advance their careers, but the majority of the story is about the haunted castle and the growing attraction between Penelope and Neil. Penelope is reluctant to get involved with Neil, but if you ask me, you’ve found yourself a winner if he’s willing to take on a ghost on your behalf. A super creepy setting, plenty of heat between the two main characters, a story of ill-fated lovers, and an enemies to lovers story that drives the whole plot adds up to a very entertaining read. If you like ghost stories and sizzling romance then this one’s for you. 4 stars

I just didn’t vibe with this book - I was hopeful for a great spooky season book with romance, but it just didn’t deliver for me.

DNF. I’m sorry, but I cannot root for a heroine who physically assaulted her love interest right out of the gate.

She was also immediately insufferable outside of this incident.

But yeah, I get enemies to lovers, but I can’t reconcile her throwing a book and making him bleed with an eventual romance in a contemporary setting (I mention setting because it’s not like a fantasy world where they started out on opposite sides of a war, faction, etc.)