I want MORE!!! I love a good haunted story and romance??? LAWWDD I ate it up. I didn’t want this book to end, and i didn’t reread some cute parts because why not??

i think this was a fun and quick read. I loved the spahic rep in this book and found it to be fun and quick read. I think i would call this more of cozy mystery set in a parnomal world. It def was paced a cozy mystety and i overall enoyed it. I struggeld a bit with the writing style and wish the world was flesehd out more but it was a fun read!! i would def read by this author in the future.

I had high hopes for this book but it was not for me. There is also controversy with the author that rubbed me the wrong way.

First, let's discuss the characters. Neil and Penelope are supposed to be the heart of this "enemies-to-lovers" story, but their development feels rushed and forced. Rather than building up any real tension or chemistry, they jump straight from being enemies to hooking up with no emotional depth behind it. And as for the sex scenes – they were about as exciting as a lukewarm cup of coffee.

Now, Penelope? She's honestly unbearable. Not only does she physically attack Neil by throwing a book at his head (who does that?), but she's also manipulative and delusional. Her behavior is completely unredeemable, and I couldn’t find a single likable trait in her.

As for the horror elements, they were more sleep-inducing than spine-chilling. The haunted castle setting felt like a tired cliché, and the ghosts had zero impact. I was hoping for something eerie and original, but instead, I got a complete snooze-fest.

And don't even get me started on the plot holes and inconsistencies. It honestly felt like the author couldn’t decide which direction to take the story, leading to a jumbled, disjointed narrative.

First thank you to netgalley and St Martins for the E-Arc of this book.

I want to start by saying I was sure I'd love this book, given ghosts, enemies to lovers , and fun setting in a haunted castle. I usually enjoy getting to read stories about diverse cultures and books by new/debut authors. However, I really struggled with this book and ultimately DNF'd it about 30% of the way through. I don't enjoy providing negative reviews but this is a book I could not get into and the characters were annoying to me too much to continue reading. Missed opportunity for a ghostly romance novel.

I liked the premise of this book but at times felt like the execution just wasn’t there. I liked Neil but Penelope wasn’t all that interesting to me. Romance and ghosts could have been great but this was just off to me. Thank you St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book in exchange for my honest opinion

Starting a romance book with a literal physical assault between the two love interests is...a choice. And not necessarily a good one, to be quite honest.

Penelope Skinner is NOT a fan of Neil Storm. He ruined her writing career and now she is stuck in a castle with him for a writer's retreat! When they discover that they are stuck together, they will have to battle each other & their own self doubts to find their way forward. Can they do it?

This was a fabulous debut for this author! This was a quick/fun read with a characters I was excited to read about. I can't wait to read the next book Colby puts out!

It's no secret that this author is problematic in terms of making claims to be of Native heritage without actually being of Native heritage (with no apology that I have seen); finding that out after I started reading made continuing with this book a bit of a no-go for me.

I will say though, that I find it a problem and discomforting based on the first section that her characters are okay with unprovoked violence.

I was sure I'd love this book, given ghosts, enemies to lovers plot, and fun setting. Sadly, it fell short of my expectations. The plot was pretty garbled, although there were spots where it moved smoothly. The speed of the enemies to lovers shift was too fast and quite abrupt.

I have never read a book by this author before and this book sounded interesting.
We got romance and some ghost story vibes.
Giving it a 2.5 stars I guess.
This book was not exactly what I thought it was gonna be but it was bad either, I guess I will go with it being ok. I don't feel like I wasted my time reading it but it's def not a book that I will say someone really needs to read. I guess I have mixed feelings.
This book starts off strong, with the two main characters and I thought they worked together but the longer I read the story I kinda got bad vibes from the girl, she was a jerk and did some things that I was not a fan of. I mean I guess there might be a history between the two but I think maybe a better backstory for us to get that info might help a little bit but no matter what I am not a fan of her.
The times that they picked for the hot and spicey scenes were a bit odd, at first I thought maybe it was lust or something from the ghosts making this happen but idk. It was all kinda strange.
I like the haunted house theme but it was not very haunted as I think a horror book should be. In my opinion, there was no true horror in this book. I gave more like Nancy Drew or The Babysitter's Club haunted castle-type vibes. I guess you could say I wanted more horror in my horror book. lol
So I would call it more mystery thriller than horror.

I am glad to have read this book but I am not sure if I will be reading anything else that this author writes. Sorry to say.
I read this book fast, not because I couldn't put it down it was because I was looking for more in it and I just didn't get it but then went to read faster because I wanted to get to the end and be done with this one. :,(

I really wanted to love this book. The premise immediately caught my eye, but ultimately, it fell a little short for me. I enjoyed the enemies-to-lovers element and the spooky vibes of the setting; however, I was not the biggest fan of Penelope, which made it hard for me to really get into the story.

As much as I wanted to enjoy this title, I let the controversy surrounding this book and author cloud my enjoyment.
It will sit at 3 stars as a neutral rating on the book and author.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the early copy of If I Stopped Haunting You! The haunted castle setting was atmospheric, and the enemies-to-lovers premise had potential, but the characters didn’t quite click for me. Penelope’s impulsiveness and Neil’s overplayed self-doubt made it hard to fully invest in their romance. That said, the banter and spooky vibes were fun, and I can see this appealing to readers who enjoy lighthearted paranormal romance. While it wasn’t a perfect fit for me, it’s worth checking out if the premise intrigues you!

I was really so excited for this one... but once the information came out about the author's claim to Native heritage (and the lack of accountability or apology), I have no interest in this one anymore.
I can't even think about the idea of this book without thinking of the controversy. Unfortunately, this is a no go for me.

as much as I wanted to read this and like it, I let other peoples view cloud my own judgement on this.
It's no secret that this author is problematic but I also am not comfortable giving it 1 star because of that.

It will sit at 3 stars as a neutral rating on the book and author.

I will say though, that I find it a problem and discomforting that her characters are okay with unprovoked violence.

This book was honestly very hard to get into. It took me a while to pick it up again, mainly because I was sort of turned off by Penelope, the female main character, quite quickly. I didn't really feel like she was someone I could root for, mainly because even when she recognized she was in the wrong, she still didn't seem to take true accountability for her actions, and was ultimately rewarded for them. For example, a huge thing that sort of starts the book off is that she throws a book at the head of Neil, the male main character--though I'm not even sure he should be called that, because even though this book was a dual perspective, it felt like he was a supporting character meant to be her punching bag and then human sex toy--and then goes off the grid because she thinks everyone hates her. Flash forward, she realizes people support her, and she's happy. She admits that tearing him down made her feel good, and then still they end up happily ever after, which I can't really get behind. I don't know if I'd say she's grown even after all of her realizations. And the thing is, I can enjoy books with selfish protagonists, protagonists who aren't necessarily good people. The reason I couldn't get behind this one is because she was written with the intent of a hero, which is reiterated in the book several times. The author and this book can't acknowledge Penelope's flaws and moral shortcomings without making it seem like everyone else is in the wrong if they don't love her anyway. Plus, this book should have been a novella or just had very different pacing. I'm not asking for a slow burn, but in the first four chapters the two main characters were feening to kiss each other. It just felt like there wasn't any real tension or stakes.

This book was in my opinion poorly written and didn’t keep me invested at all, which was very devastating because I was so excited when I was able to read this and was immediately disappointed.

I loved this book! It was such a great read and put me right into the Halloween mood. I cannot stop recommending it to my friends