A delightful debut!

When Pen and her writing nemesis Neil accidentally end up on a writing retreat, they think spending time together is the worst thing that could happen. What they don't know is the Scottish castle they're staying at is haunted!

I just loved the genre blend of horror and romance in this and found the way the scary elements pushed the characters into each other's arms to be really fun. The conversation around BIPOC authors in publishing was a really great addition and added depth to the story and characters.

Can't wait to read more from this author.

I was so excited to start this book after seeing the cover and reading the premise. It sounded adorable and had some fun Haunted Mansion vibes. Unfortunately, I didn't love the story as much as I'd hoped. I didn't really like Pen, the FMC, and the way she treats Neil, especially in the first chapters of the book. The way she verbally and physically assaulted him went too far. Plus, their relationship went too quickly from total hatred to love with a rather abrupt transition. It didn't make sense to me. And how does the relationship continue when it begins with violence? That being said, they do have some pretty sexy scenes, and their chemistry is strong. Whether they are bickering with each other or loving on each other, you can tell there are strong feelings between them.

Going to a haunted Scottish castle on a writing retreat sounds amazing, and it's a wonderful backdrop for the story. I think it's my favorite part of the novel, and the author definitely created a vivid setting. And the secondary characters were fun and had some great banter. I like the scenes with all of them together and some of the writing tasks they do together. The fun and funny scens mixed in with some scarier scenes plus the romance made for an entertaining and well-oaced read.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for providing me with a copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Thank you to the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for the opportunity to read this novel. Pub. Date: Oct 15, 2024.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 stars
🌶️🌶️🌶️ 3/5 chilly peppers

If I Stopped Haunting You
Author: Colby Wilkens
Source: NetGalley
Pub Date: Oct 15, 2024


"If I Stopped Haunting You" by Colby Wilkens is a five-star masterpiece that seamlessly blends enemies-to-lovers romance with the allure of a haunted house in Scotland. Wilkens delivers a gripping narrative filled with unforgettable characters, steamy tension, and the mysterious charm of a Scottish castle that will leave readers on the edge of their seats. Penelope Skinner and Neil Storm's fiery chemistry leaps off the pages as they navigate through a ghostly retreat, facing not only their own demons but also the chilling spirits haunting the castle's halls. Wilkens' witty prose and fast-paced storytelling make this book impossible to put down. A must-read for anyone craving a unique and thrilling romance experience!

I enjoyed this book. I thought the characters and the narrative structure were very interesting. I would recommend this book to those interested in this genre. I would be interested in reading more from this author.

I am thoroughly impressed by the emotional depth and originality this book brings to the table. The author manages to weave a narrative that is both haunting and deeply touching, exploring themes of loss, redemption, and the complexities of human connections. The characters in this novel are crafted with care and authenticity. Their emotional journeys are poignant and reflective, resonating with me on a personal level. The way they navigate their relationships, both with the living and the spectral, adds a rich layer to the overall story and keeps the intrigue high.

Pen and Neil are competing authors in the small bubble of Native American voices in the horror genre and with that comes A LOT of animosity that slowly turns to understanding and...maybe love?

It took me about 20% into this book to really get hooked by the story and characters. Pen is an angry female author who is stuck trying to write her second book and has a career damaging run in with her male author nemesis Neil at a Book Con. On a writing retreat to a haunted castle in Scotland they start to discover that they have more in common than they originally thought and the slow burn romance begins.

They fall into a mystery of the lady in black that calls to Pen when she enters the castle for their retreat. Weird things start to happen, ghostly figures, doors opening on their own, creepy figures on the terrifying cellar, you name it this castle has it.

This books covers the struggle of Native voices in white dominated spheres, internal struggles with identity, enemy to lovers romance, and a compelling ghost story.

DNF at 37%

I found Penelope to pretty insufferable and Neil’s sudden intense attraction to her to be beyond belief. This was not for me at all. Thank you NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. I will not be posting any reviews of this book or any book from this publisher on social media platforms in solidarity with readers for accountability

Enemies to lovers. Forced proximity. Slow burn. 🌶️🌶️/5

Good read. I liked the incorporation of there being two native main characters, one being more outwardly native looking and one not. It was a cute and easy to digest read.

Penelope and Neil were well developed characters but I with the other supporting characters had more time to work out their personalities. I wish there was more of a “ah hah” moment at the end with the ghosties but still was good! Very long slow burn but worth it when you do get to it. It had me giggling and kicking my feet lol


⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

DNF at 20%

I really wanted to like this one. I was so excited when I first saw and heard about it. But it was just not for me. The characters were flat and unlikable. The whole "enemies" part wasn't fully described before they both started having feelings for each other? One page they are hating each other and the next they each start to feel something for each other. Felt like choppy insta love.
Hopefully the final copy is a lot smoother. The two stars is because I'd like to hope it'll improve.

*I received a free ARC from Netgalley. In no way does this shape my opinion*

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I am a sucker for the enemies-to-lovers trope. So naturally my interest was piqued by the plot synopsis! I found If I Stopped Haunting You to be an exciting and fun read. I truly felt like I was being transported to an eerie Scottish Castle while reading. The plot has a perfect combination of horror, humor, and mystery, with characters that are both enjoyable and relatable. This would be such a fun read for the spooky season.

I greatly enjoyed this book! It was a unique twist for a hate-to-love trope. I appreciated the way the author handled representation of native Americans and those who pass as white and their struggle with identity. There was a lot packed into this book! And that is all before the ghosts! I’m not usually one for horror and this was borderline for me. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for future books from this author. Thank you for the advanced reader copy.

I really wanted to love this book. When I first read the description I was excited. However, I was just not a fan. I could not get into the story and I felt like it was two much stuffed in one short book. Overall the book was not bad and I recommend you give it a try if you want a cute little read . Unfortunately, just wasn’t for me .


Thank you NetGalley , the publishers and Colby Wilkins for this Arc and the opportunity to read it ❤️

📣 an enemies to lovers featuring horror writers who face their worst nightmares at a Scottish castle

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

Is it spooky season yet? No? Okay well this book about horrible ghosts was still fun to read in beautiful, blue & green, birds-singing April.

In If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens, horror writers Pen & Neil have a pretty volatile past behind them. At a panel they were speaking on featuring Native American writers, Pen got so upset that she launched a book at Neil’s head. She’s basically exiled herself ever since.

Now, they’ve been Parent Trapped by their mutual friend to both be at a writer’s retreat he’s set up at a Scottish castle. Adding to the current tension between Pen and Neil—their past, their views on being Native & writing books featuring Native characters in a publishing world predominantly run by white people, etc—is the actual haunting going on at this castle (not the Casper friendly ghost kind).

Things that won me over in this romance are their genuine convos & how Pen comes to epiphanies about Neil & has to reconceptualize the assumptions she made about his writing decisions. Prickly Pen emerges as a real hero by the book’s end, & honestly, Neil does too.

What didn’t work for me as much is the book-throwing incident (violence like that just bothers me when it’s between leads), & as a result, I started the book with a bit of a sour feeling.

But if you’re looking for romance meets scares meets pointed convos about Native American writers encountering reductive, stifling, & harmful white expectations for their Native characters & more, check this one out.

4 ⭐️, out 10/15.

Please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.

[ID: Jess is wearing a purple & white striped dress with green & blue flowers on it & an aqua cardigan & holds the ebook in a yard.]

1 🌕🌑🌑🌑🌑

DNFing at 30%

Admittedly I’ve had this ARC for a bit and forgot what the synopsis was by the time I started it. The title is a little misleading (partly my fault for forgetting (I was expecting a paranormal romcom with a ghost)) The female MC is INCREDIBLY unlikeable and borderline abusive which is NOT what I look for in a romance. The writing style wasn’t a hit with me, and I’m just overall disappointed.

Penelope and Neil. Indigenous writers. Enemies. Spending time in a haunted castle. Could it get any better? It can!! Two people who through a series of mishaps are set to be rivals. Mostly Penelope has been pushing this. Neil would like to get along. They are set up to do a writing seminar in a haunted castle. Ghosts figure heavily in this story. Creepy ghosts? Yes, but I liked them. Sometimes the living can learn from the dead. Sometimes the living can help the dead. I really enjoyed this,
If you want to be scared, but not a lot, this is a great book. Oh and if someone keeps giving you s journal to read...read it!!
Thank you, Colby Will end for a good story and NetGalley for the opportunity to read it.

Unfortunately didn't vibe with this one. I find that when I go into romance like this within the first 50 pages I’m either completely invested in the love story or I'm a cynic analyzing every move & word the characters make. It might have to do with the author's writing, it something doesn't make sense or I spot a little plot hole or just actions from the character that cause me not to like them. Maybe it's the books, maybe it my mood, research is inconclusive... Hate to say with this one I did not like Pen at all. I thought the beginning had promise but the more in depth her 'reason' for hating Neil got the less sense it made to me. It felt like her reasons we only got the surface level of & no real examples and I couldn't connect or sympathize with it. I love a good enemies to lovers but again it felt built on nothing. I did start to like the book about 170 pages in when we were finally in a haunted castle, although a bit of a cliché I loved the setting so much. The concept of a paranormal contemporary romance like this is what initially drew me to the book. The spooky element really stuck with me and I did really enjoy those parts. I felt like the ending was very anticlimactic. I was so confused with the random prank at the end & the ghost sex was more odd than it was funny. As another reviewer wrote 'the rules of the world were very unclear', the characters were flat, and overall wasn't a fan of this read.

I have been provided with a review copy of this title from NetGalley for an impartial review. This book was just so easy to get lost in. I completely got lost in the story and I just loved getting to see these new characters come together. I just absolutely love this story and I just didn’t want to put it down. I can’t wait to see what’s next from this author.

I got this book for a review from NetGalley.

I wanted to love this book but honestly it was just hard to get into and wasn’t exactly what I expected. The opening was a little wild with Pen assaulting Neil in the beginning and then I felt like throughout the book she was just a big jerk. This is supposed to be enemies to lovers but I feel like it happened too quickly? Should have been more of a slow burn in my opinion. The amount of lust in the book was alright but it happened at such odd times. I did end up DNFing the book, Was not for me.

Haunted house + enemies to lovers = perfection! Indigenous authors Neil and Penelope have a bit of a history... that includes Pen throwing a book at Neil during a book panel! Months later, they are both struggling to put words on the page, so they go to Scotland for a writer's retreat. Little did they know that they woul dbe together - and in a haunted house!

The story definitely has its scary moments, but I love what we find out about the ghosts' stories! Super sexy... the banter between Pen and Neil is so fun, and the spice is really hot.

Very entertaining, I loved this!

This was one of my anticipated reads because of the amazing cartoon cover and plot but alas, I have been let down once again. Though the story promised a woeful tale of horror mixed with romance, it astounds me to realise that it succeeded with absolutely nothing.

I think we as a community need to either a) ban the phrase "enemies to lovers" because obviously it doesn't mean the same as it once did or b) ban the phrase "enemies to lovers". Seriously at this point, my relationship with this trope is "lovers to enemies" right now and no no, there will be no development arc here. I stand firmly with the fact that this trope needs to be eradicated immediately.

Because really...where was the enemies to lovers? We need to stop over relying on this stupid phrase to market books because whatever that was happening in this book, that was NOT enemies to lovers. In fact, there was nothing at all!

The plot? The horror? Yeah the only horror that existed was me feeling horrified was me realising that this book was not it for me