Oh I was so excited for this one! A ghosty haunted house love story?! Sign me up! But oh my goodness from jump Pen is mean as a snake. And dare I say abusive? It was honestly a horrible scene and if written about a man doing this to a woman it wouldn't have been well received. But I kept going, because sometime the good thing is right over the hill. But it never got better. Unlikable characters and awkward dialogue lasted throughout. Unfortunately, this novel isn't for me.

I received an advanced copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you to NetGalley, Colby Wilkens, and St Martin's Press.

“No one could have predicted this in a million years. They were enemies”. LMAO

Rival horror authors Penelope and Neil end up on a writing retreat at a haunted mansion in Scotland and despite not really believing in ghosts before arriving get more than they bargained for, with the ghosts and each other. This was such a cute and spooky read. I thought it was going to be completely cozy but there were some actually creepy parts! I loved the incorporation of their families and traditions and connections to their indigenous heritage. In addition to the struggles as a person of color, specifically as an ingenious person in the writing and publishing world.

I will say their friends are the least nosy, most minding their own business people ever. I also was wanting more from the ghost’s story, the solution was a little lackluster.

Had one of my favorite micro tropes of the guy covering her mouth when they’re trying to hide AND a Darcy hand flex! I loved the ending and epilogue, I would love to read “Fight You”. Thank you so much to Colby Wilkens, St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the E-ARC.

Tropes: Dual POV, enemies to lovers, rival writers, forced proximity, Scottish retreat, solving a mystery together, indigenous couple

Favorite quotes (possible spoilers):

Pen scanned the open room. Before she knew it, she was spinning toward Storm, pulled to him like a magnet. She was startled to find his eyes already on her.

He’d always had a knack for finding books in people’s homes. Neil was the kind of person at parties who wandered bookshelves, judging people on their selections, thumbing through collections…He was always more at home among stories than people.

“Believe that you’re enough. You don’t need to be enrolled, you don’t need to look Native to be Native. You’re Native, and so long as you know, that’s enough. There will always be someone who says otherwise, but they’re buying into a system created by colonizers. You’re enough, Penelope Skinner.”

And where her mind was normally filled with noise, the only thoughts flitting about were of him.

“Are you looking?” she called. Neil nodded, intent on her curves. “Yup.” “Are you sure about that?” He met her blank stare. “I’m looking at you. You didn’t really specify.”

I was a little disappointed with this book. I thought it was a great concept with a lot of potential that didn't quite get itself together to be a great book. I didn't really believe the relationship between Neil and Penelope, I really didn't care for Penelope at all. The writing seemed disorganized and I didn't connect with any elements of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.

Boy, I wanted to love this one - spooky cozy romance but make it Indigenous? But almost immediately, I couldn't abide by the main character, Pen. She is abusive - full stop - exhibiting anger issues bubbling up out of nowhere, to the point where she throws a book at and literally scars her love interest. And it's depicted as a cute obstacle (part of a meet cute, even!) to be overcome rather than something that needs to be examined and worked on in therapy.

I read dark romance; I'm fine with characters doing awful things if it's understood that these things are awful, but in a book being marketed as a "cozy spooky romance"? Nah. This was not for me.

I was so excited to start this one and get wrapped into the world of a writer's retreat with two rival authors! However, it was hard for me to get past the way the FMC reacted in the beginning of the book. I had hoped that once these two characters got to Scotland to begin their journey it would pick up but it felt like a lot of rushed interactions, pointless side characters, and a storyline lacking in details. The idea for this book sounded wonderful! Unfortunately, it fell flat for me. Thank you, NetGalley for letting me read this early!

I was excited to read this one, but ultimately I didn't love it. I think the plot had a lot of potential but the characters just weren't developed enough for it to completely come together. The main characters definitely had some depth but there were two side characters who kind of just felt there. The side characters were there at the plot set up and for the end wrap up but throughout the story they were fairly absent even though all the characters were supposedly trapped in this castle together. Overall, I had an enjoyable time reading this but it wasn't one of my favorite books of all time. I can totally see this being a fun read during October to break up the rest of the horror/spooky reads though!

This book is… something. The main character is super abusive and narcissistic. She’s very self absorbed and blames the male character for everything. She got canceled because she assaulted him and then she somehow twists it into it being his fault…. Idk. I don’t like the vibes. I was really hopefully for this one but would recommend skipping it

This book had me on my toes! I felt like I was on a roller-coaster. It was fast, slow and back to frightening fast. The banter between the main two characters was addicting. The characters were all so interesting. I could picture being their friends. The story line was so good I couldn't put the book down. I really enjoy the way the author wrapped everything up and left no questions unanswered.

I really wanted to like this book based on the blurb and the cover art. But I can’t. I couldn’t even fully read it. I kept skipping. No one is likable. And that’s my biggest issue. The writer has some good potential but this one just doesn’t hit the marks.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin. ~I was given this book and made no commitments to leave my opinions, favorable or otherwise~

This book was super cute! I loved the characters and their connections with each other. Very unique and will be reading more from this author!

How can you not enjoy an intimate writer's retreat at a haunted castle in Scotland? Penelope and Neil are two writers that had a very public fight 4 months prior. Pen has Native American blood but is not a recognized member of a tribe because there is not enough of, or the correct kind of, documentation. She also favors her non-Indian parentage. Neil is a documented tribal member. The fight was a result of Pen accusing Neil of selling out to his publishers and writing a white-washed version of his stories.
Pen now has writer's block and has been 'canceled' by a large portion of Neil's fans. She is invited to a writer's retreat by her best friend who assures her that Neil will not be there. So of course, he is. We get to experience the anger, frustration and awkwardness between Pen and Neil as well as Danielle's amusement about the whole situation. There are ominous warnings about the ghosts and certain areas of the castle that are strictly off limits. Another, so of course, they go there. Pen and Neil are sensitive to the spirits whereas Danielle and Laslo are oblivious. Danger and mystery occur as Pen and Neil resolve their differences and work together to help the ghosts move on.

Thank you for the digital ARC!

Colby Wilkens' debut is romantic and thrilling with one of the most fully realized enemies-to-lovers relationships I've read in a while. Both protagonists are complex and flawed, which makes the push and pull of their dynamic absolutely delicious, coupled with truly chilling moments of horror and suspense.

Thank you to Netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

I want to preface this review with saying I hate giving 1 star reviews. Normally if a book is not my cup of tea I will give it three stars at least, and if I see large issues will lower to two stars. I have only ever given a one star review once before because I only give those if a book has issues so deep I feel as though the book itself lacked in many fundamental qualities to the point it is unenjoyable and borderline (if not) toxic.

When I requested this ARC I was drawn in by the premise, art, and tropes. I was very excited to see how the romance and horror would be written together into a fluid story especially when it was based on enemies to lovers with Native rep. Unfortunately, this book missed in all accounts. If nothing else, this author has great potential to write fantastic stories and I would love to see what she produces in the future, but this book was very much a miss.

I will start with the characters as they were the basis of my issues (if you know me, you know I can enjoy any book if the characters are good enough). Our main female lead is Pen, an emerging Native horror author who struggles greatly with her career because she is staying true to herself and her culture. Unfortunately, she loses her cool within the first chapter out of jealousy and anger at the male lead as he has “made it” in the publishing industry by bending his morals to the white man. I would have LOVED to see more examples of how exactly Pen was struggling due to wanting to write these stories, but we never really got that. All we ever got throughout the book was her complaining about it and screaming at Neil (the male lead) that he was undeserving of his accomplishments because he bent instead of staying strong. There was VERY little showing and everything was told to us.

But that leads me to my next issue with Pen: she is incredibly toxic, manipulative, and abusive. In the first chapter when her jealousy spikes, she is unable to stay professional as she literally throws a book at Neil physically hurting him and leaving a scar. Throughout this book she hits him and hurts him physically to the point she jokes it off as “I swear I’m not a physically violent person.” Additionally, Pen to me goes against her own beliefs by constantly berating Neil to the point he doesn’t even believe in his own writing. When he tried to explain his side-no one would publish the stories he wanted to write and he NEEDED to publish something to have a career-she cuts him off and won’t listen to him. In fact, this communication point NEVER happens. It’s the friend who ends up telling Pen this because for some reason she is more willing to listen to mutual friends than the love interest.

In fact, my next issue with the book pertained to any character that wasn’t Pen or Neil. If you removed the side characters, this book would be nearly the exact same. These “friends” were awful friends. They would only occasionally pop in and rather than offer genuine support, they constantly made uncomfortable jokes/bets on the two main characters having sex. I would like to take this outside of the context of characters in a book. If you had an academic “enemy” who you supposedly hated and had ruined your entire professional career, would your close friends really be pushing you to have sex with that person? I understand that in fictional worlds that can be a thing, but there was nothing in this book that showed how these friends were truly friends. I’m not exaggerating when I say nearly every single interaction with these side characters was some sort of bet or joke on their part about sex…I feel there was a lot of lost potential.

Outside of these details, the characters felt extremely underdeveloped. I wanted to know more about every character (except the ghosts) by the end of the book. I hardly understood half of their personalities. Part of this struggle came from how wishy-washy they were about things. For example, Pen was constantly jumping from angry to sad to frustrated to turned on within three paragraphs. It was like reading whiplash. I hope this book will be going through major edits before it comes out.

Moving into the relationships between characters, this was not an enemies to lovers. I’d barely describe it as rivals to lovers. I hope they stop marketing it as such. Pen claims to hate Neil, and Neil has always had an interest in Pen (how I’m not exactly sure as I thought they had barely interacted prior to this book). And the enemies is not the kind of enemies that composes this trope. It feels more like Pen thinks of Neil as that incredibly frustrating coworker that you have to deal with over an enemy. Beyond my frustration with this marketing trope and poor execution, don’t read this if you want romance. At no point did their relationship feel romantic, it just felt awkward and sexually charged. They had little to no emotional development, heavily lacked communication, and didn’t really resolve their initial issues. They just kept touching because plot is convenient and supposedly fell for each other because of it.

I don’t have much to say about the horror plot because it wasn’t very intriguing. It was incredibly predictable (which isn’t a bad thing in my opinion). But the level of telling, not showing made it difficult for me to enjoy the horror or fall into it.

This review probably came across as an attack on the book, and for that, I apologize. My intentions are to point out critical weaknesses and flaws within the novel which will hopefully be resolved in the next one by this author. I would love to see a well written romance (or horror!) by her with good Native rep.

This THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE x BEACH READ—but make it Indigenous premise?!?! It could have been written exclusively in wingdings and I still would have gobbled it up! Very excited to see what Colby Wilkens does next.

DNF @ 35% - 1.5 stars rounded up

I tired to get past the teenage-esque-ness of both main characters but it still felt so juvenile. Why is it that romance books these days are focused on late 20s/early 30 year old who act like they're still in high school and don't have any emotional intelligence?

I loved the premise, a secluded haunted house in Scotland? Sign me up! But the writing of the book fell flat for me, and I didn't get spooky vibes at all. The only "spooky" thing that happened was dull and underwhelming. I didn't care enough for the characters to invest in finishing the book either. I read a few of the reviews for this to see if anyone else is in my boat but it looks like I'm very much an outlier.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC! 

3.75/5 ⭐️ 
Release Date: 15 Oct 2024 

📖: enemies to lovers, dual POV, paranormal, snowed in

“An enemies to lovers romance with a spooky twist where two feuding writers end up on a writers retreat together at a haunted castle in Scotland.”

Penelope and Neil are rival Native horror authors with a contentious relationship. They’re opposites in how they’ve approached writing and their careers. Penelope is very passionate and outspoken about her beliefs. She seems to hold on to her anger and has preconceived notions about Neil. 

Neil struggles with his fame and what he’s done to reach it. He made his novels more palatable for white readers. In doing so, he diminished his thoughts and ideals, making it more difficult for other authors to share their stories without those constraints. 

I enjoyed that both characters were forced to reconcile. By getting snowed in, they were able to reveal more about themselves and the reasoning behind their decisions. The paranormal aspect enhances each character’s development, and I was as eager to solve the mystery as Pen and Neil. It's definitely a good option to add to your spooky TBR!

I enjoyed the general plot and ideas for this book. A spooky romance, set in a haunted castle in Scotland, what's not to love. The idea also felt different from the other books I've been reading recently which had me excited. The beginning of the book I thought was really strong and set up the book well.

Overall, I found myself wanting more, more spooky ghosts, more romance, and more of Pen and Neil getting to know each other on a personal level. The romance felt a little too insta-love for me and I would have loved a more gradual progression of their romance as they learned about seeing each other more than just authors competing for the same space.

This is a horror romance fusion book where both the FMC and MMC are Native American horror authors who hate each other. They both end up at a writer's retreat in a haunted castle in Scotland and as people say there is a fine line between love and hate. I enjoyed this book. I thought the romance was sweet and both characters were likable. At no fault of this book, it has taught me that horror books are not necessarily for me, even though I wouldn't classify this book as super horror-y. But other than being creeped out for the majority of it (which I think might have been the point), it was a very good read.

Thankful to the Author's page. That's as far as I read in this book. Thank you for stating what it included!!!

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I liked this book but didn't love it. I felt the characters weren't loveable but they were fun. Ghost plotline was intriguing but had some loose ends.