If I Stopped Haunting You is “an enemies-to lovers romance with a spooky twist” that follows rival writers Neil and Penelope are snowed in a haunted castle in Scotland.

If I Stopped Haunting You fell short for me in a few areas. The plot of the spooky, haunted castle felt like an episode of a children’s show. At no point did I feel ‘spooked’, nor did the haunting story intrigue me. Enemies-to-lovers? Neil and Penelope are introduced to us as rival writers. This rivalry was one sided and did not provide a healthy backdrop for their love story. Ultimately, I did not connect with Neil or Pen as characters.

Although ‘If I Stopped Haunting You’ had some hard hitting discussions and dialogue surrounding publishing, the remainder of the book did not carry its weight to provide a well rounded book.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy of Most Wonderful in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

Romance and scary okay, sounds good, but it wasn't. Sorry, but I did not enjoy this book at all.

Perhaps someone else would, but it just wasn't for me.

Can't recommend.

This was not my favorite. The main character was not great and she was jealous and threw things. The horror was okay but not super scary & the spice was not my favorite.

[2,5/5] 'If I Stopped Haunting You' sets up a fun premise with two writers on a retreat in a haunted house, but the romance between the main characters doesn't quite hit the mark. Connecting with Penelope and her actions was tough, which took away from the overall enjoyment. It had potential, but it fell short for me.

I knew this book was slightly outside my comfort zone but I love reading different genres and trying to stretch past my typical range. Unfortunately, this just didn’t resonate with me. It sounded great, a haunted castle in Scotland - mystery, intrigue, a bit of romance… but I just didn’t find any chemistry between any of the characters and a lot of the story felt shallow and artificial. I liked the setting and Georgina’s story was interesting but even the conclusion of that felt a bit rushed. Overall, I just wanted a bit more build up of the characters and the story.

I had such high hopes for this book because of the description, but unfortunately I really didn’t enjoy this book. Pen’s character felt extremely toxic and like she was gaslighting Neil at every turn. The way she’s delusional enough to think he’s the reason for her cancelled career and it’s not maybe because she *assaulted* him in public is just crazy. I found the side characters super annoying too and honestly just couldn’t wait to leave this world behind.

If I Stopped Haunting You seemed to be a book with an identity crisis. In the beginning, it reminded me of the 2023 movie American Fiction from a Native American perspective. Pen and Neil are both Native American writers with Pen accusing Neil of selling out and writing what sells rather than being true to himself. An altercation at a convention is the final straw in their rocky relationship.

Next we find Pen and Neil unknowingly signed up for a writers retreat at a castle. This portion of the story allowed us to get to know each of them better and it began to feel like a forced proximity romance... until the haunted storyline started. The spooky aspects were well done and great detail on the castle, ghost, and atmosphere. There were interesting points as part of the writing workshop activities and some horror more than paranormal.

Each aspect was written well, but the book didn't seem to know what it wanted to be.
I'm interested in what the final edited version will be and if there will be a more specific focus.

Thanks for the opportunity to read and provide feedback on this ARC!

This is a tough one for me. The premise of gothic horror and romance sounded intriguing-but in reality it fell a little flat for me. I found myself not overly invested in the story, and it never really delivered on the punch I was expecting (maybe my own expectations were too high?) the idea of a haunted castle authors retreat was fun, but again fell flat.

The romance was rushed, and purely lust. I needed more! The enemies were literally that for 3 days?? This had such potential!!

The good about this book was the native and queer rep! Also the discussion around what BIPOC authors face in the world of publishing.


Thank you NetGalley & St Martin’s Press for this eArc!

This book wasn't....bad....but it had a lot of things that annoyed me. First, the good: I loved the idea of mixing a spooky book with a romance book. Loved the setting and the suspense.

However, this book is RUSHED. It takes place over like 3 days. The romance is too fast, there's barely any character development, the enemies are only enemies for five seconds before they become lovers, and the ghost story fizzled out at the end. I wanted to like this one more but it just fell flat. It was well written, but really needed some fleshing out and a different plot twist at the end.

"If I Stopped Haunting You" sounded like a cute romance with spooky vibes, but it didn't turn out to be quite what I expected.

Neil and Penelope's enemies-to-lovers trope didn't feel realistic. They went from hating each other to falling into bed together and being suddenly supportive of each other, including their past reasons for hatred of each other. I couldn't find qualities in Penelope to admin. She was very childish and whoa is me the whole time. I couldn't see the redemption arc at all.

As a horror reader, I hoped for scary hauntings but it felt very scooby-doo scary. The castle scene setting was very trope-y and the spooks were almost comical. I'm sure cozy romance readers will find it adorable, but it was too pat for me.

Oh my gosh, I loved everything about this story! Haunted Castle - Check. Creepy - Check. Enemies to lovers - Check…I’m a fan of both horror and romance stories and this book delivered on both. Colby Wilkes has set a precedence that I’m not sure anyone else can match. The setting and story line were superb. Pen and Neil’s chemistry was out of this world. There was just enough creep factor that had me wanting more, along with the spiciness. Absolutely fantastic read, I will 100% be purchasing a physical copy of this book.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback

do you guys remember those old classic covers of the babysitters club well this book is needs one of those because it’s the energy it gives off, cozy a little spooky i’m depressed i’m reading this in spring and not in the fall under a orange blanket. This book you just gotta go off the vibes and how the haunted romance is so so refreshing.

I wanted to enjoy this book because it has so many great elements but I found that as I continued to read I was only getting more and more frustrated. I loved the native and queer rep! It was integral to the storyline but also didn't rely on those things being their only character traits. Lots of good discussion about the discrimination BIPOC authors face in the publishing world. If you like enemies to lovers, forced proximity, slow burns, and anything a little spooky I'd say it's worth giving this book a read, but keep the expectations low. I thought the opening was dramatic and brought me into the story. Whether you agree with the FMC's actions or not it was a good opening hook. However, I feel like all of the issues between the main couple could have been solved if they were willing to have a real conversation but it took so long for that to happen. If I'm being honest though some moments had me blushing and gigging which is really all I ask from a romance novel. I felt like this was one of those books that was too long and too short at the same time. There were so many elements to the story and I didn't feel they each had enough time for me to care about them. This book had a spooky vibe but was not very scary. Definitely didn't have me on the edge of my seat. The "mystery" they were trying to solve was entirely predictable and honestly was frustrating how it dragged on. It was so obvious and yet the characters took forever to figure it out. Finally, I thought a lot of the writing was repetitive and not in a thematic, thought-provoking way.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this book before publication.

I will admit that this book took me a bit to get into. I was interested in the relationship between Skinner and Storm, and their two somewhat sidekicks. Having Cameron as a surname means I’ve done extensive research on my ancestors and Scotland in general (and yes, I have read and watched Outlander). So the idea of the characters going to Scotland to have a writer’s retreat in a haunted castle really piqued my interest. There is Native American in my ancestry, but I don’t know enough about it to claim to be part Native American, but the fact that the author is and so are the main characters was another pro to warrant requesting this book.

If you’re expecting a book about Scotland or seeing the sights through the character’s eyes, this is not it. This is a forced proximity, enemies-to-lovers haunted romance. The main characters, while working through their negative history together, are also coming to terms with what it means to be Native in the publishing industry. I feel that this is something many people can relate to, especially people of marginalized groups. The pacing of the novel once they’re in the castle is great, really building up the suspense and horror. The romance is hot, funny, and feels so realistic (yes, it is a little spicy, but it does not dip into erotica territory). Wilkens writes the characters as if she was one of them, as though this is an experience she had. Since the main characters are all writers, their perspectives are written using beautiful diction that flows as if they are writing their story as it happens.

This can easily be made into a movie that I would love to go see in theaters. If this doesn’t become a bestseller, I will be woefully surprised. I look forward to more stories from Wilkens, especially if she continues with Native American characters. I can’t wait to add this beautiful book to my bookshelf!

This book was just not for me. I love a good paranormal romance, but this just missed the mark. Thank you, NetGalley, for providing a copy of this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was incredibly disappointing. Not only was the female main character Penelope very unlikable but she also physically assaulted the male main character by throwing a book at his head. I couldn’t really get over how awful she was and it made the book almost impossible to read. The horror elements were boring and did not have me on edge at any point, I do regret the choice to finish this one as I found this main character to be one of the most insufferable ones I’ve ever read

I went in super excited for this one....and it turned out to be a massive NO for me. The only reason I finished it was because it was a Netgalley arc...if not I'd have never ever kept going. The FMC had zero redeeming qualities (although I didn't care about any of the characters really), the plot was definitely hole-y and the spooky parts weren't at all. Not that I was expecting this to be incredibly scare but that just didn't help a book that I was already not liking. It IS labeled under horror so I expected to be somewhat but nope. the whole book was a no for me.

I was so excited to pick this book up and was thoroughly let down. I did not really connect with the characters or root for their relationship, which is kind of the point of a romance novel. The bigger issue to me was how awful the FMC was. I don’t understand how some of her behaviors are meant to be romantic. Throwing a book at someone’s head is not romantic, it is toxic and concerning. This book just did not give me anything to root for.

I was so excited to get a romance with a bit of haunting in it. But the FMC was horrible. The other characters weren’t much better. I had higher expectations than what it offered. I saw so much potential.

This one had so much potential with its uniqueness. A romcom but make it spooky and add in indigenous representation?! Yes please.

However, I just can’t enjoy a book when I hate the main character. Right off the bat the female; Pen comes off as mean and extremely aggressive. Unfortunately none of the side characters are much better. There’s so much anger and angst that flows into awkward dialogues. Overall, I pushed through this because of how unique it was, but it wasn’t for me