"If I Stopped Haunting You" by Colby Wilkens was extreme;y a,biotious but fell short. This book blends horror, romance, rivalry and native culture. I also could not stand Penelope - and wanted to save Neil from her.

An absolute delight and stunning debut. Wilkens seamlessly blends romance and horror together giving readers both genuinely steamy and scary moments.

When I read the synopsis of this book, I felt like it had all the components to make me love it, but it didn't quite hit the mark. I love the premise, and I liked one of the side characters (a mutual friend of the FMC and the MMC), but the main characters themselves, and their other friend, were rude and insufferable, and really hard to root for. They bickered over the most ridiculous things, and I couldn't figure out why they ever wanted to hang out with each other. I usually love reading friend to lover romances, but these two didn't give me the feels at all.

All in all, unfortunately, I didn't feel like this book was my cup of tea after all.

2/5 stars.

*** I would like to thank NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Colby Wilkens for the opportunity to read and review If I Stopped Haunting You.

If I Stopped Haunting You was unfortunately not my cup of tea.. It is a debut novel and there is potential there but I can't say this was enjoyable. Pen (the FMC) was absolutely annoying and incredibly childish - truly terrible. The MMC was also not super likeable. I typically LOVE enemies to lovers but these two were not worth the journey. Unfortunately the writing just wasn't strong enough to make up for the characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Griffin for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

I feel bad giving a debut three stars, but the FMC in this book was insufferable. The romance was lackluster, and the writing itself was basic and amateurish at best. Will not be picking up another book by this author.

I really wanted to like this book. The premise sounded like a fun book.

It was not. I hate leaving negative reviews. I’m sorry, but this has to be an honest review.

First, this book has way too much fluff and no point. It’s repetitive. Very slow burn on the character building and building the relationships.

The characters are not great either. Pen is extremely immature, abusive, and down right awful..

I stuck through because of Scotland and haunted castle tours. But all of that got lost.

This book was rough. I did not like it one bit and I’m sorry to the publisher for this review.

{3.25/5}

CW: spice, some horror elements

Read via NetGalley. “If I Stopped Haunting You” releases October 15, 2024.

If you’re a seasoned paranormal horror reader, or one of those people who fear absolutely nothing you read, then this book probably isn’t going to hit enough of the ‘horror’ notes to satisfy your ghostly desires. For those of us who are big scaredy cats, though, it was a fun little ride.

Ever since the Incident (the one where she called super-popular author Neil Storm a sellout and threw a book at his head), Penelope Skinner hasn’t written a single word. In fact, she’s completely retreated from the world, hiding from the vitriol she knows flew her way immediately after the Incident. When she agrees to join a writer’s retreat her best (and only) friend is putting on, it seems like a good chance to jump back into the writing game. The only problem is that Neil Storm is also on this retreat. Oh, and the castle where they’re staying is super haunted. So, you know, everything’s going great.

This was a really fun, really cute read with just the right amount of creepy horror lurking in the background. Told in dual 3rd person POV and switching focuses between our two MCs, we get a wonderfully well-rounded look at why each of them respond to each other the way they do. We don’t get a whole lot of background on either one beyond their big confrontation at the beginning of the book, so at times it can feel like things have been left a little too vague, but it didn’t detract severely from the overall story. Because of some of the information we learn from the dual focus strategy, at times the romance plotline can feel like it’s edging on a miscommunication trope issue, but it never fully crosses over, thankfully. What we’re left with turns out to be a spicy, cute romance that, although it escalates rapidly, doesn’t really feel like an insta-love or a completely unfounded change of heart from enemies to lovers; it flowed well, and it was fun to watch.

The characters are interesting, and they do have very distinct personalities from each other, but every so often I did find myself questioning their motives in investigating the haunting at the castle. It seemed like it went from ‘oh no, the castle feels weird’ to ‘we have to save everyone and fix this for the greater good’ in almost no time flat without any real reasoning. Fortunately and hilariously, this issue was easily overlooked thanks to the delightful number of acknowledgements of the standard horror movie tropes, which I personally found hilarious.

The horror elements themselves fall into what I would consider exactly the right amount of scare. That is to say that I might have stayed up a little later to make sure my heart rate came back down, but I didn’t have to sleep with all the lights on. I don’t typically do supernatural horror; something about it freaks me right out, and I like to sleep on occasion. This was a good balance for me (and my electric bill), and I think it could be a good, low stakes introduction to someone who’s never read that genre to see if they really want to jump into that sort of thing.

In the end, this turned out to be a very fun little brain break between my more involved reads. It was involved enough that I had to pay some attention, interesting enough that I wanted to, and entertaining enough to never get boring. The tension hit just right, and the scare factor was just right to balance out the interpersonal elements. If you’re looking for something a little different, or something engaging but relatively low effort, then this paranormal horror romance might be a good fit for you.

I received this book complimentary from NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

This was an interesting premise. I liked the characters and I was interested in the story but it just didn’t fully hit for me. I felt unattached to the characters despite liking them. It felt like a theory of a book rather than an actual book if that makes sense.

If I Stopped Haunting You
By Colby Wilkens
This is an arc book I received in exchange for my honest review. Thank you, NetGalley, and the publisher.
I saw this was advertised as a paranormal and horror, and boy, was I eager to get this. I don't read a lot of romance, but almost every story has some romance. This was to have steamy scenes, which is OK in some books. So, I went into the book with that knowledge.
Now, what I read was totally different. Anyone that follows me knows I give many 4s and 5 stars because I enjoy a wide array of subjects and styles. But this is one of the few negative reviews I have made.
Two writers that hate each other act like children until about halfway into the book when they realize that they now find each other very attractive and they let nature take it's course. Then that's all they want to do.
Not one character was likable. The plot was so overused. I saw no real horror. There is more horror in children's stories. Steamy scenes? Pathetic! Laughable.
I gave it 2 stars for the ghost that had to endure the stupidity of the characters!
I hate writing negative reviews. I am glad I don't have to write them often.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for allowing me an e-arc. Publication date : October 15, 2024.

This was a lot of fun to read! The horror elements were truly entertaining. The romance was fun and spicy. I will say it was kind of hard to believe their relationship. But regardless it was spooky and romantic and a wonderful time. I will 100% read from this author again.

I received a free copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press; all opinions expressed are exclusively my own.

This was an interesting read, and mostly enjoyable, but also a little odd. I was left with some very mixed feelings about elements of the story after I was done, but would also gladly give another book by this author a try.

The romance element could use a little more backstory or motivation beyond "one character assaulted another" in the beginning (hitting someone hard enough to leave a scar is a little much to me). There are small points of mentioning that these two characters have a history that I think would have been great much earlier in the book, or if it was clearly stated that the spiritual connection was enhancing their hidden emotions.

All in all, it's a pretty enjoyable romantic story with some really excellent elements, though the conflicting emotions raised by the main characters' relationship did affect my ability to stay in the story.

For sensitive readers, there are supernatural elements, body horror, explicit sex scenes, assault, slurs, and racism.

I was very intrigued and excited for this one, but unfortunately, it missed the mark for me.

I didn’t feel any connection to the characters in a way that I cared for them. Honestly, Penelope is awful. I don’t like her and the way she manipulates and abuses Neil throughout the story without any type of consequences.

This really just took me completely out of the story to the point where I couldn’t find any other aspects enjoyable.

This enemies to lovers features all of my favorite elements to this trope: a misunderstanding, forced proximity, nosy friends, etc. What makes it stand out though is the setting! These enemies are indigenous horror writers stranded in a haunted house with a wrathful spook. I loved the atmosphere created here, which paired so well with the back story of the ghost. It felt Haunting of Hill House-esque with a dash of HEA.

I wanted to love this, but this fell flat for me. The main character was just kind of rude all around.

I did love the setting of the book though. I could picture everything quite perfectly.
I'm a sucker for writer's retreat books.
I do think we need more spooky romance though. You may enjoy this if you like slow burn.

Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for sending me an arc.

Unfortunately this book was not for me. The romance was okay, but honestly just felt too insta love/sex in my opinion. what really solidified this for me was the amount of times the FMC and MMC, constantly spoke on the fact that their feelings towards each other have done a complete 180. This is brought up by both characters often throughout the book. Another issue I had with the book was the mystery element. Not only was it not very interesting but the conclusion to it is honestly very underwhelming. Like you’re telling me all this anger from this ghost is because no one knew her story?Because she didn’t get to live a longer life with her husband? Like what??? I get ghosts being lost looking for loved ones but this was a little too random for me.

If you enjoy spicy scenes and don’t mind an underwhelming mystery and just want to have a silly goofy time, this may be for you. 2.75⭐️

This book completely surprised me. I loved the aspect of both romance and horror and fell in love with the setting of a haunted castle in Scotland. I wished there was more to the investigation into the hauntings at the Scottish castle. I enjoyed the creepy atmosphere and ended up enjoying the paranormal aspect more than the romance but was happy with the how it ended.

I also enjoyed the romance between Neil and Penelope but felt that there was an almost immediate shift from enemies to lovers. I would have liked to see their romance drawn out a little bit but did enjoy that they were trying to help each other become better writers. I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of both the romance and horror genres.

If I Stopped Haunting You comes out October 15th.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to review If I Stopped Haunting You. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

If I Stopped Haunting You is a genre hopping enemies to lovers romance then straight to sensual romance then falls into a ghost ridden horror/paranormal tale. I loved the chemistry between the characters in the beginning, all the sass and attitude was great. When they finally act on all that chemistry, the story takes a back seat to a lust ridden three or four chapters where nothing adds to the story. The ghosts add elements of horror and suspense. The story kind of loses it luster for me about half way through and seems a little disjointed. The ending is just okay and felt a little underwhelming with an expected HEA. My voluntary, unbiased, and non-mandatory review is based upon a review copy from NetGalley.

While I liked this book overall, and adored some of the descriptions (She inhaled the fragrance of the ruins. It smelled of earth and dampness, a strange, musky scent lingering around her…..), the ending seemed a bit…..rushed. If you’re looking for a light ‘enemies to more than friends’ romance, and aren’t one to over-examine everything, then this may be the book for you.

This was such a fun read and perfect for spooky season! 👻
It features enemies to lovers rival authors who find themselves on a writing retreat in a haunted Scottish castle - what more could you want in a book!?!

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to try this book or not, but I went ahead and requested it. I wanted this to have a little bit of a paranormal vibe, and while it was paranormal, it was actually a little bit of a horror vibe. That’s quite ok with me. On to this book. At first, I will admit that Pen and Neil annoyed the heck out of me. They had a continuous relationship, but there didn’t really seem to be a good reason why. Once they finally got out of each other’s way, I really enjoyed the heck out of this book. It is well-written and a little creepy, in a good way, and I do like the author’s writing. I’d definitely pick up another book by this author. Try it if you like a contemporary romance with a dash of horror. Recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.