Review: If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens

If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided both a print and audio ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed the narrators.  The dual narration worked really well here, as the book alternated between Pen and Neil's points of view and I thought both narrators did a great job telling their story and capturing the emotions as they move from enemies to writing partners to something more,

This was a fun enemies to lovers, romcom with a paranormal twist.  Pen and Neil are both horror writers.  Neil is well known, but Penelope takes issue with some of the stereotypes he uses in his books.  When they are on a panel together she loses her temper and calls him out and throws a book at his head sending both of their careers into a tailspin.  Fast forward to Scotland several months later, when their mutual friend invites them both to a writing retreat to mend fences and get everyone out out their writing funk.  The four friends are to spend a week in a haunted castle in remote Scotland to get some inspiration for their books.  The forces proximity in the spooky setting make Neil and Pen face some truths about each other and their writing in a long overdue conversation.  Once that is out of the way they realize there is more to the castle and the stories the locals tell about it.  Not only do they begin exploring the castle for ghosts and mysterious entities, they also start exploring their feelings for each other leading to a fun and steamy time.

This was a really fun book.  The banter between the characters was funny but balanced out with some very real conversations about the publishing industry as a BIPOC writer.  The characters had good chemistry and once things heat up between them things have a nice amount of spice.  The plot was engaging, and while I didn't find it scary it was spooky.  The author did keep me guessing as to whether or not the castle was truly haunted or if it was a hoax until the end, I was pleasantly surprised by the resolution.

Overall this was a really fun read and I look forward to reading more from the author in the future.

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