Thanks so much to Colby Wilkens and St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin for the eARC of this title. I love a good fall/halloween setting in a book. It's my favorite time of the year so extra star for that one. I found this one a but hard to get though just not my favorite book at all. I did like the Dual POV though!

They say don't judge a book by it's cover... This book had such a great cover though! Unfortunately, the old cliché is true though. Penelope is such a toxic heroine, how could anyone root for her?! The horror wasn't there and where was even the romance beyond physical attraction? Neil is literally just a prop in this book. Not to mention how immature both characters were throughout this novel. The trope of being stuck with your mortal enemy is overdone, but so are a lot of romantic tropes. Unfortunately this did nothing to defy it's clichés or provide compelling characters and romance. It's a no for me.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

This book. This book has my whole heart. I absolutely adored this! From the incredible characters, to the plot, to falling in love with everything so quickly- I couldn’t put this down. I highly recommend this! It really just sucks you in and makes you never want to leave. In my opinion, those are the best books and I couldn't get enough.

2.5 ⭐️ 2.5 🌶️

Read As An Arc

👻 Haunted Castle In Scotland
👻 Native MCs
👻 Real Angsty Ghosts
👻 Rival Authors
👻 Unsolved Mystery
👻 Enemies To Lovers


I need to start off by saying the representation was great with queer and BIPOC! However, this book fell flat and toxic for me unfortunately with its saving grace being the spooky elements, as much as I was so desperately wanting this to be a 5 star arc just based off the blurb alone and hitting the right elements: romance, Scotland, spooky, ghosts and haunted.. I just could not.

For rivals, I think the romance between them came on a little too strong and fast; I think I needed more angst and banter with a slow tension forming before we get real spicy. — The spicy scenes were spicy but also so weird… something felt off about it whether it was language or forced, I don’t know, but man lol jeez.

Okay, also… Penelope, our FMC… ASSAULTS Neil multiple times!!! Justifies her reasons auto why she did it, gaslights him to the point where I think his character gets chipped away at.. and then she gets everything in the end??? How does this make any sense?? The toxicity is real with the one.. and yet they become lovers and involved LMAO!

I loved the spooky and ghosts elements in this book! Colby does a great backstory and description about the castle! These moments saved the book and allowed me to continue reading without DNF’ing it (medal please) gave it these stars along with the diversity and representation.

Overall, Colby… I am so sorry! I hate negative reviews and giving them but please alter this to be better! If you want something different and completely off your script, this is your book!!!


* Thank you to NetGalley for the arc!

I really had high hopes for this one, but it was cringe all the way through. The writing is stilted and repetitive, telling readers what's happening rather than showing. The main characters don't really seem to grow, not are they compatible as a couple even with development. This seemed like the perfect spooky season rom-com, but it felt like too many tropes (books about writers, forced proximity, enemies to lovers) were chosen without consideration as to how those tropes would bring the characters closer together. The one redeeming quality is the setting, which does lend to the genre and mood. I was also eager to read a bi4bi romance from Native perspectives, but the messy characters distracted from that underlying message.

The grand gesture in this story should have been an emergency MRI and a restraining order.

It’s just a no from me - and I am beyond bummed. DNF at 30%. The premise sounded like a cute spooky season rom-com, but I do not find the characters redeemable or even minutely compatible after even just the first chapter; where our main lady violently chucks a book at our main man’s head during a panel at a book convention and draws blood. After this, there appears to be no growth (on her part). No ownership of the awful actions (again, on her part). And after such an opening act of violence that she seems to repeatedly defend? These two people should not be together. I cannot and will not root for them.

“Sliding her left foot behind her, she turned and chucked her book at the cocky bastard. She watched gleefully as it smacked into the side of his temple, and he flew out of his chair, yelling obscenities. There was a twinge of guilt in her gut as she watched blood trickle down the side of his face, but Pen stamped it down as people rushed forward to help the Prince of Horror and she was dragged backward out of the room by convention security. Alone. She was alone.”

Umm duh? You have a horrible temper, violent tendencies, a dangerous sense of self-righteousness and absolutely not a leg to stand on. Who would stay?

Oh wait - apparently by the end of this story, the guy with an obvious brain injury from the book chucked at his head will stay. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Gender-reversed this plot would NEVER fly. And that’s a final nail in its coffin for me.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an advanced electronic copy in exchange for an honest review. 🫣

First I'd like to thank NetGalley for an ARC of this book, I liked the banter and romance but I was left confused several times reading this story. I did enjoy that it was dual POV but the FMC was a bit annoying which made the overall book hard to enjoy.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

If I Stopped Haunting You has all the spooky season vibes tied up in a romance. Penelope and Neil have been writing rivals for years, but a writing retreat in an abandoned castle shakes things up as these enemies-to-lovers find themselves in a real-life ghost story. This has all the tropes—forced proximity, enemies to lovers, and it may not be a trope but I love a story about writers. I will say this one didn’t totally work for me. The writing is a little repetitive, some of the sexual language felt just awkward (more so when the characters were talking about being turned on than the actual steamier parts), and I didn’t fully get the chemistry of these two leads. I wanted more from their development too. I will say an early review I read of this talked about how in the prologue Penelope throws a book at Neil, knocking him down and cutting him, so I went into this a little wary with that—so truly, this book just might not have been for me or I read it at the wrong time. I did like the haunted setting, the ghost storyline made of a unique read. And I loved it being in Scotland and just the vibe that gave to the story. Its storyline is perfect for cozy spooky season, and it has good bones, even though it didn’t fully work for me.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and I was overjoyed to receive the chance to read an ARC of it.

This book could not have been more perfect if it tried. Colby Wilkens knocked it out of the park with this debut novel! It was spooky, horny, laugh out loud funny, and also just deeply beautiful.

What is not to love when a book contains rival authors, enemies to lovers, a haunted castle writing retreat in Scotland, and GHOSTS?!

Also, as a bi/pan person myself, I was thrilled to read a bi4bi romance and loved the intersection of Native perspectives, as well.

I already preordered this book (from a queer bookstore!) and am dying to read her sophomore novel next year! I am officially a Colby stan for life, and I had the absolute joy to hear her speak on a panel and meet her at Romance Con in Milwaukee just days after finishing this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the advance reading copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
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Light spoiler: This book will make you wonder if a ghost has ever watched you get finger banged. 👻

The premise of this book was initially interesting to me, but I struggled to relate with the main character; it felt like she may have been intentionally seeking out the worst in Neil. I also don't feel like you could really call this enemies to lovers, more like heated rivals to lovers, I feel like the term enemies to lovers gets thrown around too often. The cover is really cute but I had a hard time staying connected with the story. I hope this book is able to reach it's appropriate audience.

Thank you to Colby Wilkens, St. Martins' Griffin, and NetGalley for providing this free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I love all things spooky, steamy, and Scottish. It's basically everyone's dream to go to a haunted castle in Scotland with your swoon-worthy enemy (book-related injuries aside). However, there was more life within the ghosts than our two main characters. What was a great premise fell a bit flat for me.

Indigenous-centric love stories are not particularly common in the book world (at least not that I have seen in my experience), so I was interested in having the chance to learn more about a culture I am not super familiar with. However, the lack of growth and development from either main character was so distracting, it was hard to focus on anything else.

I had high hopes for this book, but was unfortunately left wanting more.

I found the FMC very dark and angry in this book and that did not appeal to me. I liked the premise of the story and hoped it would get better, but I found it a bit confusing at times. The setting and ghost story were appealing and the spice was enjoyable. I wish the enemies to lovers trope was more pronounced, but overall this book could be okay for someone, it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Thank you to St Martin's Press for the opportunity to review this novel.

A spooky writters retreat with banter. The tension between these two was heavy, it gave enemies to lovers. I loved the supernatural bit giving us the spook with romance. I did quite enjoy reading this.

👻 A writing retreat gone spookily wrong👻

When rival writers Penelope Skinner and Neil Storm find themselves stuck together at a haunted writers' retreat in Scotland, sparks fly—both romantically and paranormally.😱 Horror writer Penelope Skinner has been in a creative rut, and Neil is nursing his doubts. They find themselves facing more than just their creative blocks. Expect ghost encounters, lots of banter, and some undeniable tension. This was perfect for spooky season read!

This book was okay. I had really high hopes for this book for spooky season but it fell flat for me. The FMC was so annoying. There is definitely an audience out there for this book, but it isn’t me.

⭐️⭐️From St. Martin’s Press: It's been months since horror author Penelope Skinner threw a book at Neil Storm. But he was so infuriating, with his sparkling green eyes and his bestselling horror novels that claimed to break Native stereotypes. And now she’s a publishing pariah and hasn’t been able to write a word since. So when her friend invites her on a too-good-to-be-true writers retreat in a supposedly haunted Scottish castle, she seizes the opportunity.

Neil wants nothing less than to be trapped in a castle with the frustratingly adorable woman who threw a book at him. She drew blood! Worse still, she unleashed a serious case of self-doubt! Neil is terrified to write another bestselling “book without a soul,” as Pen called it. All Neil wants is to find inspiration, while completely avoiding her.

But as the retreat begins, Pen and Neil are stunned to find themselves trapped in a real-life ghost story. Even more horrifying, they’re stuck together and a truly shocking (extremely hot) almost-kiss has left them rethinking their feelings, and… maybe they shouldn’t have been enemies at all? But if they can’t stop the ghosts pursuing them, they may never have the chance to find out.
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My review: I like a little paranormal and I LOVE romance. This book didn't do a ton for me though. The MC Penelope was really not a great person. I wanted to see her point of view about Neil, but she was so blame and jealousy driven. And there is the small part about her literally throwing things at him and drawing blood. She's not a 5 year old for goodness sakes. It was hard for me to root for her and u destined why Neil was interested in her.
Neil seemed nice enough and was more forgiving but the “slow build up” was too slow and lacked realism for me. Also, who flies across the ocean for a retreat without asking any questions of the friend that planned it?
I appreciate the representation and banter. But overall, 1.5 stars rounded to 2.

⭐️⭐️Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for my review.

3 stars for If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens. This particular novel, my first by Colby Wilkens, is marketed as a spooky enemies-to-lovers paranormal novel that takes place during a retreat in a "haunted" Scotland castle. Nemesis authors Penelope (Pen) and Neil find themselves entagled in what's to be a real-life ghost adventure. I was hoping for a fast-paced Ghost Hunters meets Ghost Adventures type experience, but sadly the book fell flat for me. I found it difficult to stay focused on the plot; the characters were just, eh! I have no doubt that there is an audience for this particular story; this one just wasn't a story-line for me. Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited for this book as an avid romance reader who enjoys a touch of the paranormal in my stories. Better yet, I was excited by the horror promised in the book as a way to dip my toes into something new.

I want to acknowledge that all reading is subjective and that writers put an incredible amount of effort into their art. Unfortunately, this one was not for me. The writing felt disjointed and didn't flow well. The plot is written in fits and starts, and the inner dialogue between is repetitive. We got much less character development than was needed to really connect with the characters. Penelope is self-righteous in a way that's difficult to like, literally assaulting another author?! Then she feels vicitimized? Neil is probably the most developed and lovable character.

We get very little context for the side characters, just random and somewhat shocking details about their history with the MC's with no further mention which feels bizarre. I also found it odd that there's only the 4 characters in this castle writing retreat and they somehow find this out before even arriving? I think the small pool of characters makes this story even harder to get depth from and hard to execute. And they're all upset that it's haunted even though that was the whole point?

Altogether, this book just didn't meet its potential due to lacking characters and a plot that doesn't flow or make sense. Sorry to say it's a miss for me.

If I stopped Haunting You is a paranormal romance that drawls very exact lines between the paranormal and romance, I think this is perfect for romance readers who normally don't read paranormal or horror books, but may be interested in the genres. It has all the makings of a typical romance novel. You have two writers who hate each other stuck on a writing retreat and as you would expect, the hate quickly turns into spicy angst and tension. What I really enjoyed about this enemies to lovers vibe was it's believability. I feel like in our day and age there is somethin very relatable about having a friendship break up or even romantic break up over social and political issues. I think our female main character spoke up about a harsh truth about the publishing world and their indigenous identity, and it was not well received. No shockers there. However, once our male character is able to actually take this criticism as something valid and constructive and less as a personal attack, you find that they are actually both on the same page about it. Of course a haunted castle is the perfect back drop to work out their issues as they both don't have much time to bicker and fight when being haunted by ghost and whatever is going bump in the night. I think that the romance began to feel a little goofy as more paranormal themes were introduced into the story because it doesn't seem very realistic to be worried about your love life or a make out session when you are being attacked by a haunted house. I always go into romance novels expecting a little bit of silliness or cheesiness so it didn't bother me that much, but I think this story would have worked better if it wasn't enemies to lovers. If this had been about an established couple who were on the rocks, the romantic elements would have felt less bizarre. If I was staying in a haunted house, I of course would be seeking the comfort of my husband or long-term partner, but definitely not my bookshelf enemy who I ruined my career over. Still, If I stopped Haunting you was a solid read and fun spooky time. I think the social commentary was excellent and a great take away for the reader.

I can't resist a book about writers going on a writer's retreat, so I was super excited to crack into this one.

There is so much good stuff in this book. Firstly, I loved the Native American representation. It felt real and modern. And it touched on an issue seldom addressed in literature: what it means to be Native American—specifically, the difficulties of being a Native writer. There is some really good social commentary regarding that. Also, I loved that the characters are all sexually fluid in a way that feels natural and unforced. And the writing felt compelling and well-paced.

Having said that, I do have mixed feelings about this book, to the point where I can't remember the last time I read a book that I felt this conflicted about. Let me start by saying that I'm not usually a fan of the enemies-to-lovers trope, because it tends to promote and normalize toxic behavior. And this book turned out to be a prime example of what I hate about the trope. The female main character, Penelope, is too violent and hateful to be a likable character. She's snarky, antagonistic, and flat-out mean. Yet everyone loves her, including her gorgeous, successful rival, whom she physically disfigured at the beginning of the book. Rewarding such bad behavior is so ugh and cringey.

Despite the problems that niggled at me throughout, there was still so much about this book that I loved.