Goodreads Giveaway Win

 If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens 

This was not what I was expecting, but I was enthralled. I was expecting a cozy mystery or Scooby Doo style but this was more paranormal and a bit scarier than anticipated. Some parts were a bit repetitive, but I was enjoying the enemies to lovers so much that the repetitiveness didn't bother me; it just was noticeable. Pen is so relatable. While I am not Native and can never understand her experiences in that regard, her need to prove herself and her feelings of not being enough are eminently relatable. I am her and she is me. I liked that Neil was just as multidimensional and realistic. I especially liked that he was not some muscle hunk, that he is described as having a bit of a belly, which would be perfectly normal for an author, someone with a sedentary job. While I classified them as enemies to lovers, it was more a lack of communication and fear of rejection than true enemies. Watching them learn how to open up to each other, in the middle of dealing with literal ghosts, was adorable; like kicking my feet and giggling. I liked that we got a flash forward after the week was over; the 15 months in the future was really sweet. As for the ghost story: it was creepy enough to keep me on edge, but not so scary that I had to sleep with the lights on (I am NOT a horror fan). I liked that Pen and Neil both saw examples of the ghost independently before seeing her together and that her mystery brought them together. That the ghost only wanted to talk to Pen was weird, but it worked. And that they were able to understand her story and put an end to the haunting was nice. I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be reading more from this author!