I really wanted to like this book to get into the haunting romance bookish stories. She kind of came across as somewhat rude and just annoyed me.

Ghosts, haunted Scottish castle, and spicy romance. I loved this book! The characters and the story were just perfect!

The setting is absolutely perfect. Scotland is one of my favorite places to visit. There is the feeling of romanticizing the beauty of the highlands but also the eerily quiet and knowledge of the sinister history and potential for paranormal activity.

Such good character building for both Penelope and Neil. Did I want to punch them a few times for being ridiculous and somewhat clueless? Yes. But hey that’s how we are in real life too.

The ending is cute and sums up well. I loved that it ended with the play off of Daniela’s book.

The part that could’ve been executed better was the wrap up of the ghost story and why the ghosts were lingering. The reason for the ghosts not having moved on didn’t live up to the anticipation from the haunting events. There wasn’t enough resolution for me to feel closure.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️💫 (2.5/5)
This book is an enemies to lovers, haunted mystery romance that has a unique storyline.  I really tried to like the main characters, but Penelope was just off. She has a short fuse and comes across as self-centered and even abusive at times.
I did enjoy the haunted mystery component of this book. This combination is not something I have read before. It did add a unique twist to the book.
Overall, this book was a little challenging to complete. It was the haunted mystery that kept me going vs the romantic comedy.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

I have mixed feelings about this book. This was sent to me & I was initially excited to read it because of the premise. I'm seeing a lot of haunted places/ghosts as a trend in new releases lately and this seemed like a fun take on that.

I did enjoy the plot and the spooky castle setting. Plus its Scotland, what's not to love? I thought that part of the book was fun and kept things interesting.

What I did not enjoy was the "romance" between Penelope and Neill. Penelope was just an awful person. I could not like her, even a tiny bit. She was just so horrid to Neill for no other reason than jealously. I don't believe these two fell in love and watching her be abusive and mean towards him was not a good time for me.

Overall, this was an okay read. Her next book seems like it would be better.

"I thought this was really well written and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future. I think it will find readers at our library, so we will definitely be purchasing for the collection.

A fun read for cozy/horror/ romance fans! The mixture of mystery and romance had me wanting more! I do think the romance was rushed in some parts and I would’ve liked it to develop as slowly as the mystery of the castle but it was still cute and heart warming altogether. Loved Pen and Neil as characters! Loved that he was a fan of her books!

I so badly wanted to love this one as it has all the pieces of a perfect novel for me. However, like many reviewers, I found the tension between the two leads to be lacking. Penelope was also very vexing and I spent most of the novel rooting against her romance with Neil because of her behavior. Unfortunately this was a miss for me.

I love enemies to lover trope, but I feel like this one was lacking some of the buildup that comes with this trope. In the very beginning we understand that why Penelope and Neil are rivals. The forced proximity of the writing retreat provided a great opportunity for their relationship. However, it lacked the buildup and the banter. Sadly, I wasn't invested in Pen and Niel's character individuals or as a couple.

An enemies to lovers romance about two feuding writers who are tricked into attending a writers retreat together in Scotland, but the castle they are staying might be haunted?

oh noooo y'all this one was a doozy...
Goshhhh, first off - this one sounded so interesting and I loved the representation it was bringing to the table, but unfortunately this is where my kind words end. Within the first 15% the tension between the two is completely killed. Can we stop writing enemies to lovers that isn't that at all? So that set this off in the wrong direction early. Next on the docket is the "spooky" castle sitch...it was giving lackluster, it was giving...I gotta skim 70% of this novel. Not to mention the characters (esp Pen) weren't flushed out & were toxic - I'm talkin' zeerrrroooo character development here. Okay, I'll stop being mean noowww byeeeee

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin for this arc!

After Penelope Skinner has a very public meltdown with rival writer Neil Storm, ending with her throwing a book at him, she goes into a spiral. Her friend Lazlo pulls her out of it by inviting her to a writing retreat at a haunted Scottish castle with their friend Daniela. Upon arrival at the retreat, Penelope learns Lazlo also invited his friend Neil. Neil and Penelope learn how to work together as they try to solve the mystery of the castle which includes ghosts.

The parts I enjoyed most were the ghost scenes as they were genuinely creepy.

The plot sounded promising but fell flat in some areas. Penelope was insufferable at times it redeemed herself. Over a decent read to change it up!

When I saw the cover for If I Stopped Haunting You, I immediately wanted to read it. The cover’s illustration was terrific. Then I read the blurb, and my interest was caught even more. There is nothing like an enemies-to-lovers, forced romantic romance with a dash of horror and supernatural to curl up on the couch and read. But now that I have read it, I am a little disappointed.

The main storyline of If I Stopped Haunting You centers on Penelope (Pen) Skinner, Neil Storm, and the events at the writer’s retreat in Scotland. While I did find parts of the storyline engaging, I could not get invested in it for the most part.

The main characters and their relationship made me “meh” about the book. Pen did a number on Neil emotionally. She was just plain nasty to him for 85% of the book. Pen also blamed Neil for being blacklisted in the publishing community when it was her actions (throwing a book at Neil’s head and injuring him) that caused the blacklist. Because of that, I couldn’t wrap my head around her change of feelings for him. It was lightning quick and seemed almost forced.

I did like Neil and felt awful for him. He was suffering from a significant case of writer’s block, which was brought on by Pen’s actions at the conference. So, as with Pen, I didn’t quite agree, or like that, his feelings went straight to lust when he saw her. Again, it seemed forced.

I did like the paranormal angle. If the author had stayed more focused on the story of who the ghost was and why she was haunting the castle, I would have been more invested in the book. But I didn’t like that certain elements were left unfinished, like how the ghost was related to Pen.

The romance angle was a huge part of the book. I felt that the romance between Pen and Neil was forced and unrealistic. They went from hating each other to banging like bunnies within two chapters. In between, Pen kept up her gaslighting and abusive nature towards Neil. It all left a terrible taste in my mouth. Now, saying that there were some pretty hot and explicit sex scenes. I also did get a giggle over Pen busting in on Daniela while she was sexting with her girlfriend over Facetime.

Other elements were enjoyable, but they could not quite overcome what I didn’t like in this book. The author did a great job of showing how nondiverse the publishing industry was. She also created some memorable secondary characters I wished had more page time in the book.

The end of If I Stopped Haunting You was anticlimactic. I was expecting the author to end on a happy, right-now note. Instead, she fast-forwards a year later, and things are still happy for Pen and Neil.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin, NetGalley, and Colby Wilkens for allowing me to read and review this Arc of If I Stopped Haunting You. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

I really enjoyed this book. The banter between the characters is lots of fun and I loved the mix of romance and ghost story.
I know some have complained that the characters went from enemies to lovers too quickly, but as I read the book, it became obvious to me that there was more to it.
Can't wait to see more from this author.

I ended up not liking this one as much as I thought I would. Pen and Neil were hard to like. The romance felt rushed and I couldn't buy into it but the smut was good. There were parts that left me confused and the secondary characters had no depth. They were hardly there. The mystery also felt secondary to pen and Neil's bickering then immediate attraction/lust for each other. It was also very repetitive.

Penelope Skinner despises Neil Storm for writing sanitized indigenous characters to meet the demands of his publishing house in lieu of supporting authentic voices from their community. When they find themselves snowed-in during a writer's retreat in a haunted Scottish castle, the two discover a lust that pulls them together even as they are haunted by the castle ghosts that no one else can see.

I really don't know what to say about this mash-up of a book. The contrast of the gory ghosts and the heavy petting didn't really work for me. I kept expecting for there to be some type of possession happening to explain why the characters kept making out during inopportune times, but that didn't manifest. I was mostly confused by the character choices and the inclusion of Laszlo and Daniella who didn't add anything to the plot. As always, your mileage may vary.

Famous horror authors Penelope Skinner and Neil Storm are not happy to find themselves stuck together at a writing retreat. Both are already struggling with writer’s block, and the last thing they need is to be snowed into a creepy Scottish castle, with no wifi, and no escape from each other. But when spooky things start happening that only Penelope and Neil can see, they must set their rivalry aside to solve the ghostly mystery lurking in the forbidden areas of the castle. What they find there, between each other, and between the haunted crypts and secret passageways, neither of them are expecting.

“'Nothing turns me on more than solving mysteries and stopping ghosts.'”

While I was initially interested in the paranormal aspects of this story, I can’t say it lived up to the premise. I mistakenly thought the characters being horror authors would make for a fun, meta, or even parodic take on ghost stories, and allow for interesting trope subversions since horror stories are literally their job. Nope. Even more frustratingly, the characters often acknowledge how stupid they’re being, a soft of, “ha ha only idiots would go down into a creepy castle cellar, what is this, a cheap scary movie?” before immediately going down into a creepy castle cellar like they’re in a cheap scary movie. Acknowledgement of the trope is not trope subversion. And this happens a million times. I do think my disappointment here is mostly a matter of taste/misplaced expectations, though I wish I hadn’t been teased with the promise of horror so many times. Some scenes genuinely do have horror genre type descriptions. The ghosts and gore and “scary” moments were my favorite parts. At best, I would call this book horror lite, a ghost flavored LaCroix.

"As a horror author, Pen of all people knew not to creep toward the noise, but she couldn’t help it. Curiosity had won her over."

"Why he kept running toward things in this castle instead of away, he’d never understand. It probably had something to do with the writerly urge to know, to experience things in order to write about them. Whatever it was, it was foolish."

So if it’s not horror, how’s the romance? The romantic leads, and let’s be honest, the only characters in this whole book, were a bit grating. Penelope and Neil, despite being advertised as enemies to lovers, are falling into each other’s arms before they even reach the castle. Neil actually did grow on me by the end, but it was rough to get past the fact that their rivalry was fueled by Penelope physically assaulting Neil, publicly, bad enough to leave a scar on his face forever. This was not as cute as the story kept trying to convince me it was. Neither was their incessant flirting, which for the most of the book had me bewilderedly asking, is now the time? You guys JUST saw a rotting corpse. But again, this is probably a me problem, because I’m guessing the target audience for this book would prefer them to make out instead of running terrified out of the castle.Seeing something legitimately scary and then deciding it was an appropriate time to hook up felt so goofy and clunky, I was nearly expecting a Cabin in the Woods situation with pheromones being pumped through the vents lol.

Over all, the writing retreat group- Penelope, Neil, and two of their (I’m being generous when I say this) friends- came across like a lobotomized Scooby-Doo gang. Touting their experience with horror and then making the dumbest possible decisions was tiring to read. Penelope and Neil refuse to alert their friends to the fact that ghosts are not only real but able to physically harm them because they teased Penelope for getting scared the first night in the castle. This was a flimsy excuse to cut them from the majority of the novel (funnily enough, there is an opportune moment where one of the friend’s knowledge could help them, but instead of having them in the scene, Neil just paraphrases a conversation they had. Do they think to ask the friend for more information? No.) Their friends only pop out of thin air to make “ooooh are Penelope and Neil in love?” jokes and conveniently push the romance along by forcing them to together, only to poof back out of existence. When someone gets very obviously concussed and loses consciousness, they are left alone to sleep it off on the couch (!!!). I don’t think it ever crosses anyone's mind to prepare for anything, whether with weapons or appropriate snow clothes or even a half baked idea of what to do. Some of this is played for comedy, but the comedy as a whole had me so close to ending it all. Some of the peak jokes were about cheese, Star Wars, coffee being as dark as their soul, and there was an actual, honest to god “they’re right behind me, aren’t they?” moment. Again, this may boil down to personal comedic taste.

Even though I didn’t enjoy this as much as I wanted, I can definitely see other readers loving it. If I Stopped Haunting You is a poppy, easy to read romance that is well written, perfect for those who love the tropes including: he falls first AND he falls harder, forced proximity, HEA, and grumpy/sunshine.

"They would fall together and rise together, a tide and a moon connected by some invisible string of fate, whether or not they liked it."

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for an arc!

3.75
First off I want to say that I did enjoy this though I wish I enjoyed it more. I think there was so much to be added. The main characters needed more time on the page when they were developing their lustfulness. I honestly hated the two friends and wish they either had more time with more personality or weren't there at all. That being said the atmosphere and how the author wrote it was beautiful. I loved their descriptions of the castle itself and the senses of everything in it. A haunted house romance was a very cool idea and I think people will enjoy this.

I think this was an ok read but had a lot of room for improvement.

If I Stopped Haunting You follows Penelope Skinner and Neil Storm. After conflict at a book panel ends with Penelope throwing a book at Neil's head, the two writers don't meet again until a writing retreat at a haunted castle in Scotland.

The premise had so much I was excited about. Enemies to lovers, a haunted castle and the forced proximity of being stuck together at the writing retreat. Sadly I think the execution could have used some work. My first issue was how dramatic and emotionally volatile Penelope was. I understand this may not have been Wilkens intention, yet that's how it read for me. For example, in one part of the book Neil almost kisses her and she was ready to pack up her stuff, go home and give up writing. Also she was always blaming Neil and hating on him essentially when they barely had ever talked before the book panel. I felt like Neil pined longer for Penelope and was always trying to comply with her or bend for her which ticked me off. Penelope did get better as the book went on but it was hard to be as invested in her.

Sometimes the writing wasn't outright bad just clunky. In the beginning P & N going from their first names to last names a lot just really took me out of the story. It was just written like that with no explanation like maybe she called him by his last name to create more distance or something idk. Also the two other friends in the retreat were totally unnecessary to the story. I felt like they added nothing and the moments with mentions of their past with P & N felt very out of pocket and almost like for shock or inclusion value vs doing anything. Also we need to use some varying forms of dialogue for expressing that a female character is horny. There is only so much a reader can take of reading what was going on in-between Penelope's legs.

Towards the end I did enjoy the story more and was immersed. This was an alright read but I think with some more edits and tighter storytelling it could be improved.

I DNF’d ~ 10% in. I REALLY tried with this one but there was nothing drawing me in. It was bone dry which is so disappointing for me because I thought the premise was AMAZING