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2.89 AVERAGE
2.89 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What a cute read! I wasn’t expecting the background of the protagonists when I started reading this book, which was a nice surprise. The perspective of Native American authors is not one I’ve read from before and I am so glad that this book brought it to my attention. While this may be a fun romance book, it does bring up several issues that native authors have to deal with. It was an interesting angle to explore and I really enjoyed it!
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This insta-lust was not it. Came for the ghost, didn’t get what I wanted. Stayed for the romance… should have filed for divorce sooner.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was going to rate this book a little bit higher but after learning the author lied about their heritage to tell a “Native American story”, I have to knock it down.
Some other complaints I have is the amount of physical pain and accidents the MMC goes through and everyone just keeps going on with the story. Even joking about how much sex they are having dispute this man clearly needing medical attention. (Seriously how many blows to the head or being knocked down or having things thrown at you can one person take?!?)
I feel like this story could’ve been so much more. It seemed to wrestle with whether it wanted to be steamy smut in a castle (no judgement for that) or a ghost story. Unfortunately leaning into tropes like enemies to lovers were they are having dirty sex out in the open after like a day (never mind that the FMC physical assaulted the MMC with a book) and creepy moments that never went anywhere or made little sense.
Some other complaints I have is the amount of physical pain and accidents the MMC goes through and everyone just keeps going on with the story. Even joking about how much sex they are having dispute this man clearly needing medical attention. (Seriously how many blows to the head or being knocked down or having things thrown at you can one person take?!?)
I feel like this story could’ve been so much more. It seemed to wrestle with whether it wanted to be steamy smut in a castle (no judgement for that) or a ghost story. Unfortunately leaning into tropes like enemies to lovers were they are having dirty sex out in the open after like a day (never mind that the FMC physical assaulted the MMC with a book) and creepy moments that never went anywhere or made little sense.
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this book as an ARC, but now I see that this week (October 2024) the Tribal Association Against Fraud announced the results of an investigation finding that the author is not actually Native. Native identity is a core part of this book, and if this report is true, this story is not Wilkens' to tell. I don't know very much about the situation, but this blogger has an explainer: https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2024/10/tribal-alliance-against-frauds-says-colby-wilkens-is-not-indigenous/
Original:
I LOVED THIS. Am I rating too many books with 5 ⭐ right now? Maybe, but If I Stopped Haunting You was the perfect amount of spooky and sexy for me. I'm a scaredy cat so I was worried that I wouldn't be able to sleep if I read too late, so I was actually glad that the sex scenes and resolution made me feel less scared. OH ALSO I totally missed at first that this was a Jenifer Prince cover. So cool!
Penelope and Neil are rivals in the Native + horror author space. Neil sold out, and Penelope is a one hit wonder who threw a book at his face during a book convention. So now they are both struggling with doubt and unable to write, and their mutual friend has tricked them into a writer's retreat at a haunted castle. But the castle turns out to actually be haunted, and only Penelope and Neil are seeing (or smelling) the ghost. So as they talk through their issues and admit to their feelings and then do ~more~, they also feel drawn to the forbidden door in the forbidden west wing of the castle where they are sure they'll find the reason for the creepy ghost lady still haunting the place.
To Penelope, Neil is a popular Native American author who claims to be "taking back" the harmful stereotypes of Native communities, but is actually perpetuating the harm and making it harder for other Native authors like her to get published. He's super popular, but he's writing for the white gaze. Penelope, on the other hand, is trying to write her truth and struggles because she's mixed race, fair-skinned, and doesn't have the documentation to become a member of her tribe. She has a lot going on. So when Penelope calls him out for this publicly (and then gets cancelled), Neil freezes because he knows that he isn't writing what he wants to write. These aren't things that can get solved in an HEA, but I appreciate that Wilkens wrote about this tension. Just as a POC (but not Indigenous or Native), this felt worthy. And I'm glad that Penelope and Neil were able to have complicated feelings about this.
This was a strong debut! I enjoyed the romance and the jump scares, and I laughed when Neil asked, "wait, if we have sex in the haunted castle, won't we be the first to die?" (paraphrase). I had a lot of fun, and I think it's perfect that this book will come out during Halloween season.
To be clear, this is a horror romance. I don't read a lot of pure horror because I start seeing things in the shadows, so I need the lighter elements. This is an Enemies to Lovers, Forced Proximity romance that takes place in a haunted castle and has a ghost mystery.
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC. I will definitely be preordering this book.
Original:
I LOVED THIS. Am I rating too many books with 5 ⭐ right now? Maybe, but If I Stopped Haunting You was the perfect amount of spooky and sexy for me. I'm a scaredy cat so I was worried that I wouldn't be able to sleep if I read too late, so I was actually glad that the sex scenes and resolution made me feel less scared. OH ALSO I totally missed at first that this was a Jenifer Prince cover. So cool!
Penelope and Neil are rivals in the Native + horror author space. Neil sold out, and Penelope is a one hit wonder who threw a book at his face during a book convention. So now they are both struggling with doubt and unable to write, and their mutual friend has tricked them into a writer's retreat at a haunted castle. But the castle turns out to actually be haunted, and only Penelope and Neil are seeing (or smelling) the ghost. So as they talk through their issues and admit to their feelings and then do ~more~, they also feel drawn to the forbidden door in the forbidden west wing of the castle where they are sure they'll find the reason for the creepy ghost lady still haunting the place.
To Penelope, Neil is a popular Native American author who claims to be "taking back" the harmful stereotypes of Native communities, but is actually perpetuating the harm and making it harder for other Native authors like her to get published. He's super popular, but he's writing for the white gaze. Penelope, on the other hand, is trying to write her truth and struggles because she's mixed race, fair-skinned, and doesn't have the documentation to become a member of her tribe. She has a lot going on. So when Penelope calls him out for this publicly (and then gets cancelled), Neil freezes because he knows that he isn't writing what he wants to write. These aren't things that can get solved in an HEA, but I appreciate that Wilkens wrote about this tension. Just as a POC (but not Indigenous or Native), this felt worthy. And I'm glad that Penelope and Neil were able to have complicated feelings about this.
This was a strong debut! I enjoyed the romance and the jump scares, and I laughed when Neil asked, "wait, if we have sex in the haunted castle, won't we be the first to die?" (paraphrase). I had a lot of fun, and I think it's perfect that this book will come out during Halloween season.
To be clear, this is a horror romance. I don't read a lot of pure horror because I start seeing things in the shadows, so I need the lighter elements. This is an Enemies to Lovers, Forced Proximity romance that takes place in a haunted castle and has a ghost mystery.
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC. I will definitely be preordering this book.
I really enjoyed this book! It was great to watch both main characters grow and learn from each other.
The ending made my heart melt and I LOVE no 3rd act break up. I'm excited to read more from Colby Wilkens.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press & NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review of content.
The ending made my heart melt and I LOVE no 3rd act break up. I'm excited to read more from Colby Wilkens.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press & NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review of content.
The fact that it took them less than 24 hours to go from hatred to boning is what bothered me the most romance plot wise. Overall, I have read worse books, but I’ve also read better
This is a perfectly serviceable romance with some light (think Scooby Doo level light) horror elements. I thought the premise of two rival authors getting stuck doing Ghost Adventures-level schtick was a fun idea but I quickly got frustrated by the insta-lust. We can't call it insta-love because these two just want to bone REAL bad. Overall, a perfectly fine book just not my favorite in execution.
EDIT: how could I forget. The FMC says the MMC's kiss tastes like snow. What does that even mean??
I received this as an ARC from NetGalley.
EDIT: how could I forget. The FMC says the MMC's kiss tastes like snow. What does that even mean??
I received this as an ARC from NetGalley.