#ifallelsesails #netgalley
**A Delightfully Grumpy-Sunshine Romance with Heart and Humor**

This charming and heartwarming romance delivers everything you could want in an enemies-to-lovers story—humor, heart, and undeniable chemistry.

When Josie is tricked into babysitting her brother's injured (and infuriating) hockey player best friend, Wyatt, she expects nothing but frustration. What she doesn't expect is to slowly peel back the layers of his grumpy exterior and discover the man beneath. From awkward physical therapy sessions to an unexpected sailing adventure filled with tension and tenderness, their journey is both emotional and laugh-out-loud funny.

The dynamic between Josie and Wyatt is electric, filled with witty banter and slow-burning tension that keeps the pages turning. As they navigate tight quarters and shared struggles, the emotional depth of their connection unfolds beautifully, making their eventual romance feel authentic and well-earned.

The backdrop of the Virginia coast and their unconventional mission to scatter Wyatt’s uncle's ashes adds a unique and heartfelt layer to the story, blending humor and healing in a way that feels fresh and engaging.

With its lovable characters, slow-burn romance, and just the right amount of angst, this novel is perfect for fans of grumpy-sunshine pairings and forced proximity tropes. A must-read for anyone who loves a feel-good romance with plenty of heart!

Emma St. Clair does it again! Such a cute and cozy story that can definitely help lighten your mood and brighten your day. Highly recommend this one!!

4.75 cutie patoootie stars! ⭐️

“In this enemies-to-lovers romance, school nurse Josie and her brother's best friend--hockey player Wyatt Jacobs--are tricked into spending a summer together that's anything but smooth sailing.”

The best banter ever!!! I was giggling so much reading this book and I enjoyed every second of it!

These characters and their growth were so sweet. Wyatt is the strong & silent type while Josie is the over thinker and the over analyzer (relatable). The relationship grows profoundly from surface level to deeper throughout the book and this is a closed door romance just FYI and although it does have a HEA I was craving more of these characters!

But overall, a super cute, wonderfully written quick contemporary romance!

Thank you to NetGalley & Thomas Nelson Fiction for this ARC!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I thought this one was so cute! The first half I was confused and felt like it was kind of all over the place. But the second half while on the boat sailing, I was OBSESSED. couldn’t get enough. The tension build-up. It was so sweet how much he loved her and how he waited and waited. Loved the brothers best friend and sports romance aspect all tied into one. Definitely will recommend this closed door romance!

BOOK REVIEW: If All Else Sails by Emma St. Clair

Do you ever open up a new book, read the first chapter, and immediately know you’re going to love it? That’s what happened when I read, “If All Else Sails” by Emma St. Clair!

Josie is gearing up for her traditional sibling vacation with her big brother, Jacob, when she gets detoured to a creepy murder house. Or at least she thinks that’s what it is before she finds herself detained in the back of a police car.

Somehow the next day, Josie finds herself caretaker to her least favorite person in the world, Wyatt Jacobs. She’s not sure what she ever did to make him hate her, but thankfully the feeling is mutual. She wouldn’t want to date a hockey star anyway…. She thinks. Maybe? It’s complicated. Since Wyatt is injured and can’t currently do much for himself, he has to rely on Josie for pretty much everything. Can they manage to get along for the rest of the summer?

I could say much more but I don’t want to give away any spoilers! 🤫

This book was adorable! I loved seeing the development of each character! Josie is someone with a lot of insecurities, who is able to put her trust in a man once again after being hurt so long ago. Wyatt is a grumpy hockey super star who has to learn to rely on the one person who holds the power to break him.

Fun tropes:
⛵️ Sunshine meets Grumpy
⛵️ Forced Proximity
⛵️ Enemies to Lovers
⛵️ One bed
⛵️ He’s her brother’s best friend

I loved that this book is closed door romance! There is a ton of romance involved but it’s all completely appropriate for your teenagers to read! There’s also no crass language or swearing used. ❤️

Excuse me while I go binge read everything by Emma St. Clair!

I rate this book as 5 stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for my honest unbiased opinion.

#emmastclair #ifallelsesails #romance #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #booksta #readersofinstagram #readersofig #readersofinsta #readersgonnaread #arc #arcreader

This story is sweet. Classic: boy likes best friend’s sister, sister thinks best friend’s brother hates her. It’s clear that they feel something, whether it’s hate or love.

Fun, simple, with some more serious threads. Right up my alley.

Thanks #NetGalley for this digital ARC! I really enjoyed reading this, and I know many others will too *cough* hockey romance fans *cough*

i’m just a giggly mess over here! i will read anything that Emma St. Clair writes! I loved this one! The forced proximity, best friends brother, and enemies to lovers tropes were all done to perfection! Emma is a master of humor and writing! i couldn’t stop reading and i didn’t want it to end! this one deserves all the stars!
⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️
clean!

Thank you so much NetGalley and St Martins Press for this gifted copy. Emma St Clair is a favorite author of mine and I loved this book so much! Grumpy/sunshine is a favorite trope along with brothers best friend? My heart was so happy

Josie, a school nurse, is tricked by her sports agent brother to "babysit" his client and best friend, Wyatt, a hockey player. Wyatt is injured and not doing well. Josie's only interaction with Wyatt in the past have been awkward and painful encounters. Although she is made at her brother, he offers her summer pay that blows her tutoring out of the water, and she decides to give it a try. Josie and Wyatt both end up in the ER, and have to figure out how to survive their summer together. In addition, Wyatt is grieving the loss of his uncle, whose cabin he is living in, and grieving the loss of a sailing trip they had planned to take together. Can Josie help Wyatt heal? Can she learn to sail so that Wyatt can take the trip he needs? I loved this one!

I'm suuuuch a sucker for a grumpy x sunshine/enemies to lovers trope and this was no different! The witty banter, the sparks, the misunderstood male main character with a heart of gold, the CHEMISTRY between the two main characters... ugh, I loved it all! It was a fantastic option for a clean, wholesome, high quality romance. This would be the perfect little summery read! Highly recommend!

A big thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for the complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

A cozy(ish) romance for fans of love stories with a professional athlete whose grumpiness hides mushy insides, best friend’s sister trope, main characters with some baggage to process, and road trips (but on a boat).

Read the content warnings.

Read if you like:
Contemporary romance
Sports romance (NHL player)
Dual POV
School nurse x pro hockey player
Forced proximity
Brother’s best friend
Romance with tingle but no spice

I read an ARC via NetGalley. Publishes 7/3/25.

If All Else Sails is a cute and lighthearted romcom starring Josie and Wyatt, the hockey superstar (also the brother's best friend). Josie travels to an unknown location to meet her brother for their annual summer trip, only to discover a brooding, injured Wyatt at arrival. Josie then discovers that her brother tricked her to go and help Wyatt recover from his injury.

I really enjoyed the writing and the storyline. The relationship really took time to grow and felt realistic. The tension was great towards the end but I just wished we had a bit more action. I felt like we got a lot of inner dialogues to explain their thoughts and feelings but they were very rarely acting on it. Overall enjoyed the story and the characters! I had a great time.

3,75 ⭐
0 🌶️

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you Netgalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for an ARC of this book 🫶🏽

3/5 stars
I recieved a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. That being said, I'd like to thank Netgalley for offering me this ARC 🫶

I really enjoyed this book, it had an easy and fast pace that made me finish it in a few days. I appreciated that every chapter had a name and that we're given both povs. It helped me to get into the story and its characters. The setting was perfect for summer and the sailing parts were amazing. But there were things I didn't like. For instance, I couldn't fall in love with the male main character, Wyatt. I'm not a fan of the misscommunication trope and I felt didn't help at all. He didn't express himself as much as I'd like to. That mix was not too much of my liking. Also, I would've preferred if the author talked a little bit more about the character's mental states. Despite all of that, I would 100% recommend this book to everyone as a summer romance.

First of all, thank you NetGalley, Thomas Nelson Fiction for this ARC. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Omg. How I LOVED this book. I knew i was gonna really enjoy it with all the -best friend's brother, enemies to lovers (kind of), forced proximity trope-. For me it was a slow burn soft romance book, i loved the characters and the whole misunderstood guy who Josie thought hated her and turns out it's completely the opposite (had me giggling)! I absolutely loved the scene on the boat in the middle of caos and rain 10/10💘

5 well deserved ⭐️

This book wasn’t completely what I expected based off the cover & description but in my opinion it was much better!!

Josie is a down to earth elementary school nurse who is tricked into spending her summer with her supposed nemesis by her match making brother who also happens to be his best friend.

Wyatt is a grumpy hockey star who is recovering from an injury & the loss of his beloved uncle who taught him many things one of them being how to sail. Josie ends up helping him recover & accompanying him on his sailing trip/ farewell to his uncle.

Josie struggles to connect with others as she tends to keep them at arms length for fear of getting hurt, while Wyatt has only ever wanted her but has spent years saying all the wrong things & thus building her defenses against him.

There is definitely a grumpy/ sunshine vibe as well as my personal favorite enemies to lovers trope. I also loved this book as Emma St. Clair kept it completely closed door & to me this speaks volumes about the love story being able to stand on its own. Loved this! Thank you NetGalley & Thomas Nelson Fiction for the ARC :)

If All Else Sails by Emma St. Clair is a delightful enemies-to-lovers romance that swept me off my feet. The story follows school nurse Josie, who, expecting a summer trip with her brother, instead finds herself caring for his best friend, grumpy hockey player Wyatt, at a quaint—albeit rundown—cottage. Their forced proximity leads to a sailing adventure down the East Coast, filled with witty banter, heartfelt moments, and personal growth. St. Clair masterfully peels back the layers of her characters, revealing vulnerabilities and building a slow-burn romance that feels both authentic and deeply satisfying. The vivid descriptions of their journey and the evolving dynamics between Josie and Wyatt kept me hooked from start to finish. It’s a perfect summer read!

What a delightful and lighthearted story! Main characters Josie and Wyatt had my vote from the beginning and I’ve never read a story with a plot like this one. Very fun. Great beach read.

📖 If All Else Sails – Emma St. Clair
⛵ Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for the early copy!

Enemies. A rundown cottage. A sailing adventure neither of them planned for. If All Else Sails is a delightful, slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance with forced proximity, undeniable chemistry, and a grumpy hockey player hiding more depth than anyone—especially Josie—expects. Emma St. Clair delivers another charming, laugh-out-loud romance with heart, humor, and plenty of swoon-worthy moments.

⛵ THE STORY:
Josie thought she was heading to a fun-filled Super Summer Sibling Extravaganza. Instead, she finds herself trapped in a "quaint little murder cottage" with Wyatt Jacobs—hockey player, her brother’s best friend, and her sworn enemy. Even worse? Her brother wants her to help Wyatt recover from an injury.

Wrangling grumpy athletes isn’t exactly in Josie’s wheelhouse as a school nurse, but the payout is too good to refuse. And while she’s determined to keep things strictly professional, the more time she spends with Wyatt, the more she starts to see the man underneath the broody exterior.

When Josie learns that Wyatt was supposed to sail the Intracoastal Waterway to Savannah, scattering his uncle’s ashes along the way, she makes an impulsive decision: she’ll be his first mate. But as they share tight quarters, canned food, and more than a few mishaps, their mutual irritation starts to shift into something else entirely.

The question is: Will they make it back without killing—or kissing—each other?

🔥 TROPES:
✔ Enemies to Lovers – Josie and Wyatt have a history, and it’s deliciously antagonistic.
✔ Forced Proximity – A secluded cottage AND a boat? Nowhere to hide from those growing feelings.
✔ Grumpy x Sunshine – Wyatt is the ultimate broody, injured hockey player; Josie is pure chaotic energy.
✔ Brother’s Best Friend – Josie’s brother definitely didn’t intend for this to happen.
✔ Slow Burn – The tension builds beautifully, making every moment count.

✨ WHAT I LOVED:
⛵ A Unique Setting – A sailing adventure down the coast? Yes, please! The close quarters and unpredictable environment only heighten the tension.
😂 Sharp, Witty Banter – Josie and Wyatt’s verbal sparring is top-tier and absolutely entertaining.
🏒 Layers Upon Layers – Wyatt isn’t just a grumpy hockey player; he’s dealing with loss, expectations, and uncertainty about his future. Watching Josie unravel his walls is so satisfying.
💖 Heartfelt Growth – Josie comes into her own in unexpected ways, making this not just a romance but also a journey of self-discovery.

💙 FINAL THOUGHTS:
Emma St. Clair has crafted another heartfelt, hilarious, and deeply romantic story that will have you grinning, swooning, and maybe even tearing up a little. If All Else Sails is perfect for fans of forced proximity hijinks, slow-burn romance, and grumpy/sunshine perfection.

Thank you for giving me this arc!
This story was super fun to read! You had me from the words hokey romance, and then to go on to be. The brothers best friend trope! Emma st.clair the chokehold you have on me! This book was a super wholesome and cute slow burn romance which I adored! It’s just the kind of book I love to pick up after a stressful day and get absorbed in. And ofc this wouldn’t be my review without mentioning the cover art! The cover art is super cute with beautiful colours and character art which I hope never dies out.

What a sweet no-spice romance! This grumpy sunshine story features an injured hockey player and an elementary school nurse, and the dialogue is hysterical. Their interactions, their friends involvement, and the adventure their relationship takes makes for a quick sweet beach read.