3.5⭐. This book was an exciting paranormal romance set in Scotland. I'm no writer, but I want to visit a haunted castle in Scotland now and help bring peace to a couple of ghosts. At first, I wasn't sure how I felt about Pen. I wasn't a fan of her problematic behaviors at first, yet at the same time she is just human. I love a good growth story and of course, an enemies to lovers trope. Neil and Pen's growth in the literary world was endearing and I loved seeing how they each navigated as BIPOC authors and the struggles they endured. Although it's hot as hell in July, this cute and spooky book is making me wish for fall and Halloween!

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC copy!

Title: If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens
Genre: Romance/Cozy Horror
Pub Date: October 15, 2024

Enemies to Lovers
Haunted House Horror
Native Representation
Dual POV

I'm sorry to say this one wasn't for me. The book literally began with the FMC assaulting the MMC (threw a book at his head and made him bleed) because she didn't like something he said 🚩 The FMC continues to blame her inability to write on him well after the event.

The house they're staying at being haunted was mildly amusing, but it didn't make the toxic relationship between MCs palatable. I tried because the idea seemed like it would make for a cute and cozy fantasy, but ultimately I couldn't get into it.

Penelope’s public meltdown at BookCon marked a thrilling start to her journey which took her to a haunted castle in Scotland. The clash with best-selling author Neil Storm, accused of selling out Native people with stereotypical portrayals, led to her self-imposed writing exile plagued by guilt.

I found Penelope’s character development challenging. Despite her evident passion for the Native cause, her volatile and judgmental attitudes towards Neil often left me frustrated. Her tendency to hurl accusations before fleeing the scene struck me as counterproductive, hindering her progress as a character.

On the other hand, Neil’s patient and reserved demeanor, though initially uninteresting, offered a stark contrast to Penelope’s fiery temper. His admiration for her work and dedication to the Native cause hint at depths waiting to be explored. I found myself eagerly awaiting his development, yearning for him to assert himself in the face of Penelope’s confrontations.

The realistic portrayal of Native horror writers and their struggles within the industry was a commendable aspect of the story. However, the rapid transition from enemies to lovers between Penelope and Neil felt rushed. Years of animosity diffusing within a day seemed improbable, although the entertaining banter and sexual tension between them were captivating.

The supernatural elements, including spooky encounters and the presence of ghosts, provided an added layer of intrigue. Certain scenes sent shivers down my spine, but the resolution of the ghost story left me wanting more. The lack of explanation of the ghost’s connection to Penelope felt like a missed opportunity and could have added depth to the plot.

If you are looking for a quick read with supernatural elements and spicy romance, give this book a try.

Thank you to Ms. Wilkens for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.

I really wanted to like this book especially since I am a lover of both romance and thriller/horror but, sadly, this fell so flat on both genres. There are some authors who can do the genre hybrid really well but, in this case, the romance was "meh" and the thriller wasn't all that thrilling. I find that some authors just need to stick to one genre and really get that honed to them jump into other ones. I kept wanting more sizzle between the two of them (not necessarily explicit scenes... just more connection) and I just never got it. And the horror side of things was so lackluster.

Penelope, in general, was so annoying. I know I don't always have to love a FMC but she was not likable in the slightest and her playing the victim was thrown in our face so much that it was hard to not cringe after awhile.

I will say that the writing wasn't poor but the plot was predictable (too predictable) and not well thought out enough for me to give this a higher rating.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

dnf @ 71%

I wanted to keep going off principle, but the more I thought about returning to this book, the more I dreaded it.

There's so much to like from the concept of this enemies to lovers, horror-romance mashup about two Native authors, but here's my gripe about this recent uptick in genre blends: there's not enough of either, and the inception of them feels like a desperate attempt to grasp the waning attention spans of the TikTok generation. In If I Stopped Haunting You, there wasn't enough emotional character development to sell the romance--where it was already lacking, because Penelope and Neil went from all-out hate to lust within, like, 100 pages--and the horror was thrown in like the flavor of a La Croix, a whisper of something you won't catch unless you're really searching for it. Don't get me started one scene in particular, where Penelope and Neil supposedly see this grotesque, skin-rotted ghost and aren't rattled enough by it to prevent them from having sex by the end of the chapter.

Genre gripes aside...Penelope was also not a very likable character--the victim complex is STRONG with this one--and the side characters (whose names I don't even remember) were thrown in as set pieces, not as actual characters.

I wanted to like this SO BAD. Truly. But the annoyance I felt reading it only built, and built...

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a unique concept and I really liked it! Who knew I needed horror romance in my life? 😂

This book was a mess. It tried to be too many things at once. It tried to SAY too many things at once without saying anything. I felt like it was maybe originally a YA novel or perhaps a "new adult novel?"? Except the publishers told the author that sex cells so let's make them almost in their 30s and have sex a lot.

I was almost finished with the book, and it felt like I had ordered "Beach Read" from Shein. Even though I didn't like this book, I am willing to give her second book a try? It's basically lesbian Indiana Jones.

I was given an advanced reader copy by Netgalley. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher. I am not being paid for this honest review

Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read this Arc!

This book is both horror and romance. I don’t really like to be scared so like why would I read this book?? I don’t usually read horror so to me it was a bit creepy at certain parts, but it wasn’t super scary overall. I’d say this book is mild horror, so win for a scaredy cat like me! The romance was good, but I did feel like their switch from enemies to lovers was a little fast and their hating each other wasn’t built up enough for me. But Neil?? I loved him 😭🤍
Overall this book was good, I’d recommend it when it comes out ☺️

I really tried with this book, I picked it up and put it down a few times before I was able to finish it.

Paranormal romance, enemies to lovers, fiery chemistry, horror, cozy vibes.

I wanted to love it, I wanted to love the characters but I didn't. The book follows the two main characters at a writers retreat in a haunted Scottish castle, navigating through it. Loved the side characters, I had a hard time getting into the relationship between Penelope and Neil, their relationship fell flat for me.. I wish it was a bit faster paced, a little less repetitive. I will try and reread in the future to see if my opinion changes!

This book had very good detail and a good style of writing. I love the characters and unique names and nicknames. The book is also the perfect size for new readers. Even though the book was super good I personally don't like the genre mix but I know there are people that for sure will. Its just a personal opinion because i love horror and romance but it is just not a good enough mix for me. You did write the horror side of the story very well though. I don't think I've been scared reading a book before but that was changed after reading this. Great book!

Thank you!

DNF at 83 pages, I just couldn’t connect with the main character and I found out that paranormal romances are not my cup of tea! I might pick it up again in the future and I think it’d be a great book for a different reader, much love!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this advanced copy. The book's premise—mixing horror, romance, and humor—sounded like a fun departure from the usual, especially given its high early ratings on Goodreads.

I truly wanted to give this a better review to support the author, especially as she weaves her Native American and queer identity into the story. The queer representation was handled with a light touch through side characters and humor, while the Native American perspective, highlighting challenges faced by BIPOC authors, was integrated into the main romantic plot.

However, I found the book lacking in several areas. While the writing itself wasn't poor, which saved it from a 2-star rating, the romantic and "horror" plots were too predictable and unengaging. The "enemies to lovers" romance lacked real tension, and the sex scenes, despite detailed descriptions, felt empty and uninspired. The ghostly plot was overly exaggerated, lacking subtlety and believability, even within a fantastical context.

Overall: 3/5
Characters: 3.5/5
Plotline: 3/5
Writing: 3.5/5
Tropes: F/M Romance; Rivals to Lovers; Forced Proximity; Paranormal Romance

Themes: 4/5
Romance: 3.5/5
Spice Factor: 1.5
Enjoyment Factor: 3/5

Review: This was fine as a romance, I enjoyed the topics of inclusivity especially when it comes to the Indigenous population and think that this could spark important topics within the publishing world, but with that placed in a paranormal romance it was almost too many things for a short book. The ghost mystery didn't super make sense by the end. The characters were good, and I liked their dimensionality throughout the story. I wish the romance had more time to develop since there were so many plotlines going on it was hard to focus on their romance.

Penelope Skinner and Neil Storm are writing rivals. It hadn't been the same for either of them after Penelope threw a book at Neil at Book Con. So when they both realize they are going to the same writing retreat in haunted castle Scotland, well, neither of them are happy about it. But as the retreat begins, they both find themselves in a real life horror story.

I love, love my romcoms and contemporary romance. I haven't really read anything that is this genre-romance with a dash of horror-so I found it unique. That was what initially got me interested. When I started reading, it definitely gave spooky vibes that I didn't want to read it at night (but maybe that's just because I get easily spooked). On to our main characters, Penelope and Neil weren't shy showing their hatred for each other, but underneath all that hatred, was also a lot of sexual tension and misunderstandings. Once they called a truce, communicated, and had worked together, their indifferences turned to understanding and something more.

> Enemies to lovers
> Forced Proximity
> Spooky vibes
> Steamy sexual tensions

This book seems unfinished.

There was clunky and awkward dialogue throughout.
Character A would ask Character B “what?” multiple times only for Character B to respond with “nothing” way too much.
The mystery/gothic element a the heart of this supposedly spooky story didn’t feel like it hit the mark for me.
I feel like some readers will love this, but I found it didn’t work for me.

I think I got through about 60% before finally DNFing this one. I was really rooting for the couple and I thought the setting of an actually haunted castle was intriguing and really caught my interest. However, I just didn't really care for the pacing -- like there was a lot of lead up of them being rivals (which was definitely compelling) but then they just got together? I was confused and then just fully uninvested.

I really wanted to love this book. I’m a huge romance reader and the premise of this novel sounded amazing. There were things I liked, but overall, I was really disappointed. The pacing, in particular, was really, really weak. Nothing happened for the first half of the book. I’m all for a slow burn, but…. This was more like a tepid bath than a slow burn. Nothing happened with the romance. Nothing happened with the ghosts. There was no tension in the friend group. Nothing.
Also, pen kind of sucks. She’s way too hard on Neil for no actual reason.

This was a decent romance book. Though promoted as a 'horror-romance', this book is more romance than horror. Even at that, the horror elements of this book are poorly done. The characters were decent, the romance alright making it a good one-time read for a romance reader wanting to read something a bit different.

I DNF'd this book! I just could not get into the writing style of the author.
It seems so cringe and cheesy for me and I could not continue or enjoy the book at all.

Thank you so much for allowing me to read the advanced copy of this book. It was a fun combination of steamy romance, thriller, and horror. It had all the needed pieces to be a cozy and compelling favorite. A wildly dramatic set up for an enemies to lovers plot, a cast of unique and quirky characters, a haunted castle in Scotland, and an underlying POV/criticism for how indigenous people’s stories are white washed.

The BUT coming is- the story is very clunky. There is beautiful writing and really thoughtful perceptions shared, but it was almost still in an outline format. Like there was a goal of everything that needed to happen in a given chapter or scene, but the emotional and/or action transitions were sometimes missing. It kept pulling me from the story.

An example that comes to mind is when Pen and Neil track down the “tap-tap” and end up going to Daniela’s room and interrupt her spicy video call. There were sex toys of all over her bed, she reveals her and Penelope’s previous interlude to Neil, and then kicks them out of the room, The scene immediately transitions to Pen thinking about how she’s drawn to the West Wing. The reader is left totally hanging. That was a weird and funny scene to have landed in and whether or not Pen and Neil are even fazed by it is not addressed. It was like the record skipped and I missed part of the story. That happens a lot in this book. I’m holding this review back from other sites until publication to see if anything is smoothed/fleshed out, I’ll definitely raise my rating if so, because all the goods are here,


Another note- Penelope assaulted Neil at the book convention and whether Neil had secret shame about the choices he made or not- it wasn’t cool. Her obstinance to fully recognize how out of line she was and her crappy apology felt super toxic. I did get emotionally invested though- silver lining!