I had to DNF the audiobook as the male narrators audio is very badly recorded. The quality of the sound is way lower than the female, so when the chapters change to female narration of blew up my ears.

The male narrations over acting is not very engaging either. It’s annoying and hard to focus on the actual story.

I would highly recommend adjusting st least the audio levels for the actual release as many audio listeners are very precious on audio quality when purchasing an audiobook.

I would have to read this one physically to be able to judge the story. But the audio recording from male chapters makes it very difficult to listen to and focus on the story.

Okay, let me start by saying Josie and Wyatt were sweet together. Her discovery of him, his true self, was done well. The one thing that got under my skin was her inability to communicate at all. It was frustrating, to say the least. And boy, does she hold an old grudge. Things could have moved faster and better if Josie opened up more. I did like how the story flowed in terms of the boat trip, and Jacob was a blast as well.

The narration was done well by both male and female voices.

#netgalley #IfAllElseSails

When Josie's brother sends her to a random address for their annual Super Summer Sibling Extravaganza, he is nowhere to be found. Instead, she ends up at a run-down cottage on the Northern Neck of Virginia occupied by a hockey player she knows and loathes. When this jerk gets her almost arrested for trespassing Josie is ready to ruin his day. This hockey player also happens to be her brother's best friend. When Josie gets stuck into spending a summer helping a grumpy hockey player through his physical therapy things are going to get messy.

With tropes like forced proximity and sexy banter, I thought for sure this was a book I would enjoy but it just wasn't. It felt like the couple was a little too on the surface and I just got bored. I just couldn't finish it unfortunately.

Read this book! I just needed to say that for the people who only skim reviews, hoping that will be their one takeaway. I devoured this book and found myself laughing out loud more times than I can count. If All Else Sails by Emma St. Clair is one of the funniest romances I’ve read in a long time. She absolutely nailed the banter!! This book was read by dual narrators who did an amazing job of capturing the tone and emotions within the story. The chemistry between the two MCs was honestly everything. This one is a clean romance, so there is very very little spice, but the slow burn is soooo satisfying!! This book also nails the tropes. Forced Proximity, check. Grumpy X Sunshine, check check. Enemies to Lovers, check. Only One Bed (my fav) BIG CHECK! Do yourself a favor, read the description of this book, add it to your TBR, preorder it, do whatever you need to do to remember this book on August 5th!!

Thank you to NetGalley , Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Fiction Audio for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

A very cute and easy read that I really enjoyed. Great for the summer. I really liked the characters and the story as a whole but in my opinion the FMC and MMC were never really enemies. So I guess I expected something else. Still really good.

Oh how good this book was!! I have read a lot of hockey romances but this one was such a fresh feel to it. A school nurse and a hockey player that is injured? Yes please! I loved their banter and the ride of them getting through his injury. Ugh truly so good!

Thank you NetGalley, Thomas Nelson, and Zondervan Fiction Audio for this advanced listening copy in exchange for an honest review.

2.5⭐️ Josie is tricked into spending a summer with Wyatt, where she takes care of him while he’s recovering from an injury. Wyatt is Josie’s brother’s best friend, and sports agent. They also happen to be “enemies”, in the loosest of terms.

I’m so sad to say I didn’t really like this book. I was very bored throughout it. I felt like the pacing was weird. The first 25% felt so slow, I’m pretty sure it was the first day she was with him. The opening scene caught my attention with the police detaining her for the wrong reasons and her brother sending her there without telling Wyatt she was coming. I don’t like the way it’s told to be an enemies to lovers. I didn’t really think they were enemies. It more just felt like she was the dudes friends sister. Like a normal awkward relationship between two people. The whole, sworn not to date her. She said he was her enemy, but it wasn’t even for a valid reason, she also didn’t even really hate him or anything. It was more of a miscommunication, or a wrongful judgment. She assumed he was a player from one encounter in her kitchen when she witnessed Wyatt and a girl that Jacob brought one. But the scene was clearly nothing. I don’t understand how the night never got brought up after all those years. Not even with her own brother. I also found it hard to believe that Jacob and Wyatt were best friends, especially since Wyatt didn’t even know about how Jacob almost died. Another thing I didn’t like was how bored I was. Nothing wowed me. It was all fine. But nothing stood out. I was waiting for something notable to happen, and it never did. I absolutely hated the splinter scene. It felt too long and too tedious. Like the chapter felt so long and I couldn’t believe she had more splinters to pull out of this man, and even more that she did after the chapter ended.

Even with the whole sailing thing. The title has sailing in it and so does the book cover, yet they didn’t actually step foot on a boat until 55% through. And even then, they barely talked about sailing in the beginning of the book. Which felt so weird for a book titled as it is. I was also so excited for all the sailing and the potentially see two people stuck on a sail boat together, especially if they “hated” each other, but that never happened.

Another downer for this book was the male narrator. SO SORRY TO HIM. But he was all over the place. There were random times when he’d be yelling and over exaggerating words and sentences. It came out of no where and made me wonder how the sentence actually read on the page. He made that entire tickle scene so weird. He was so loud and attempting to laugh. I couldn’t bear it.

Next, Josie felt so immature. Which did remind me of a previous book I read from the author. I get that the books are clean romance. But this is an adult woman who can’t say the word dick or penis, when actually having a conversation that brought it up. Maybe I’m just not meant for books like this. Even her encounter with one of Jacob’s teammates that turned her off to men. That encounter was crazy and I can’t believe that happened to her, however, she only revealed this to Wyatt 84% through the book. Where she even was still under the impression that this encounter was not the reason why she avoided men and dating. Even though it so clearly was the soul reason. I felt like that conversation should have maybe been revealed to the reader. She only vaguely started mentioning it well into the book. I remember a previous book by the author where a similar plot was added. Where it just felt like it was added randomly and didn’t have enough build up, if that makes sense. Back to the immaturity though, I feel like you can have a clean romance, where you still talk about attraction, and how a person feels when another person is around. I’m majorly thinking these types of books are not for me. So this might be a personal issue.

It’s hard to me to even think of things I liked about the book, mostly because I wasn’t in love with scenes, they were mostly just fine. I felt like they were cute, but then they’d drag on. Even a trope I love, like the one bed trope, it just didn’t hit for me because that trope is inherently based on the sexual tension that arises from the characters having to share a bed, but I didn’t feel any of that tension.

I didn’t like the rush of an ending. Josie started to have questions about their relationship that should have come up around 80%, not 99%. She had all these worries and concerns that were just gone the second Wyatt said he wanted to marry her. It felt too rushed. Especially for a book that seemed to drag on at so many points. I also felt like the characters didn’t grow or change much from the beginning. I felt really unattached to them. I couldn’t understand how they could love each other when they barely talked about that kind of stuff. I just didn’t feel their connection.

I wish I could have loved it, because the premise and the backstory behind the book was so adorable. This one was just not for me, but I could see other people liking it.

3.5 stars ⭐️ A cute light-hearted summer read full of tension and banter. The author says she wants to “package joy into words” and she did just that! I think this one would have been better as a book versus audio due to the male narrator, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Thanks to Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Fiction Audio for a copy of this audiobook.

"If All Else Sails" is such a cutie! Adventure, brother's best friend, dual POV and lots of growth from both characters! The ending felt a bit rushed but aside from that it's a great little escape!

The narrators were great and really brought the story to life! thank you so much to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for this ALC!

Love sets sail of in “If all else sails”. The story line was adorable and continued to have new things pop up that I wasn’t expecting. This was not a book on which I knew what would happen before I actually finished it. I found it hard to follow the male narrator but overall, definitely worth the read. Feel good, happy story!

This is a book that would be better read with your eyeballs vs listening to the audiobooks. The male narrator just sounded so angry the whole book and really pulled you out of the book.

If you could get passed this was still a good summer read.

3 stars(probably would been higher if I read in a different format)

This was such a fun, easy read! I love all of Emma St. Clair's books and this was one no different. Wyatt (a former Appies hockey player) gets hurt and isn't able to play hockey for awhile. He hasn't been taking care of himself, so his friend/agent Jacob sends his sister Josie, who is a school nurse, to help him. She thinks she is going on a siblings trip with her brother, but when she arrives at the address he gives her, her brother is nowhere to be found. Wyatt is a grump and has no interest in having anyone help him recover from his injury, including Josie. After a few days though, they strike up a deal that she will go on a sailing trip with him if he works on his recovery. I loved the slow burn and the banter between them. This is a closed door, no spice romance that I really enjoyed.

I thought the narrators did a great job voicing the characters. Every once in awhile though, the male narrators voice would get really quiet, then all of a sudden really loud.

Thank you to Netgalley, Thomas Nelson Fiction and Zondervan Fiction Audio for the ALC!

Wyatt is an injured NHL player who ironically broke his foot in a game of disc golf and has hunkered down in a remote cabin he inherited from his uncle. He’s jacked with a jawline sharper than glass, but he’s also really grumpy after pining for his best friend’s sister for a decade and doing jack about it because on top of having a bum leg, he’s riddled with foot-in-mouth disease. Josie is an elementary school nurse whose brother bribes her into chaperoning Wyatt’s recovery. She hates tall athletes because of a cryptic ‘who hurt you’ backstory that remains veiled for most of the book, but she doesn’t have to worry about falling for Wyatt because he like, totally hates her. They sail down the Intracoastal Waterway, which I never heard of until this book, and tension aboard runs high as Josie can’t stop lusting after Wyatt’s muscled quads while Wyatt keeps trying to declare himself. The slow burn crawls at a snail’s pace, but it finally pays off with a knee-buckling kiss that has Josie spiraling and Wyatt telling her she looks constipated. If you’re looking for spice, you’ll be left wanting, but the PG entertainment abounds between Josie’s sweaty arrest, pigs crashing parties, and a mangy dog in a tutu. My gut reaction was 3.5-stars, but I’ll round up to 4 for the elusive brother’s clandestine matchmaking efforts and Wyatt keeping his dead uncle’s ashes in a cool whip container. We all grieve differently I guess.

I loved this story very much. The banter was great the side characters really contributed to the plot and I enjoyed the narrators very much. This was funny and heartwarming and I recommend listening to it if you’re looking for a fun and cozy romance story.

I’m DNFing this audiobook at 73% because I CANNOT listen to the male narrator for a second longer. I feel like he’s either yelling at me, or mumbling so quietly I have to turn my volume super high… which is obviously a bad idea when he yells again the next line 🙄

The storyline is sweet, and the characters are lovable. I’ll probably pick it back up in actual book form just to finish the story ❤️

✨Brother’s Best Friend
✨Hockey Romance
✨Grumpy/Sunshine
✨Forced Proximity
✨Cinnamon Roll MMC

This story was super cute! A perfect summer romance where he falls first set half in a forced proximity hockey recovery/nurse relationship and half on a summer sailing trip.

You would like this book if you are looking for a light, low commitment contemporary romance with summer vibes.

Overall I felt like there wasn’t anything new in this book that I haven’t seen so that led me to be a little bored during some parts. Also this was possibly the slowest burn I have read in awhile. They do not admit their feelings until the very end and you hardly get to bask in their relationship with each other.

I enjoyed the audio production and female narrator but I felt like the male narrator parts threw me off a bit. He went from yelling to murmuring quite often.

If All Else Sails is author Emma St. Clair’s first book released by a major publisher. It’s a standalone book but is connected to the independently published Appies hockey romantic comedy series by Emma St. Clair and Jenny Proctor. All of the Appies books are free of profanity and sex scenes, with the romance limited to kissing.

Wyatt Jacobs was introduced in earlier Appies books as a member of the Appies minor-league hockey team, but he was promoted to an NHL team in Boston. Wyatt comes from a wealthy family who own a chain of successful restaurants in the Richmond, Virginia area. Wyatt became close friends with Jacob during college and often went to his home during school breaks. He was attracted to Jacob’s younger sister, Josie, but was told that she was off-limits.

Fast forward a few years and Wyatt is living at his late uncle’s remote cottage in coastal Virginia, recovering from a foot injury. He’s mourning his beloved Uncle Tom and trying to figure out how to renovate this dilapidated structure that he’s inherited. He’s mad at the world and refusing to go to physical therapy for his foot. Whan a young woman unexpectedly appears at his cottage, he calls the police to report a trespasser. He definitely wants to avoid nosy reporters. He’s shocked to learn that the lady is his agent and friend Jacob’s sister, Josie, who he’s had a crush on for years.

Josie is an elementary school nurse in Virginia who is struggling both financially and socially. Her parents sold her childhood home and are travelling the country in their RV. Her older brother, Jacob, is a successful sports agent with famous clients, and a string of affairs. Josie experienced two traumatic events in her youth and is emotionally stunted. She doesn’t date and specifically avoids athletic men. When Jacob invites her to their (sometimes) annual Super Summer Sibling Extravaganza, she is thrilled to be able to reconnect with him. A previous extravaganza was a tropical cruise complete with norovirus, so she’s happy that they will be meeting in coastal Virginia instead. When she arrives at the rundown cottage that looks like a place where a murder has occurred, she’s arrested and put in a police car without air conditioning. When she gets ahold of Jacob, he informs her that he can’t come but he needs her to take care of his buddy, Wyatt, for a few weeks. Josie agrees to stay with Wyatt for four weeks to oversee his recovery after Jacob offers to pay her an exorbitant amount of money, more than she could make from summer school.

Wyatt and Josie get off to a rough start because Wyatt doesn’t want anyone helping him. However Josie’s nursing skills and experience with childish behavior help her figure out how to motivate Wyatt to follow his doctor’s orders and attend physical therapy. When she learns about the history of the cottage and Wyatt’s plans to scatter his uncle’s ashes on a sailing trip to Savannah, Josie offers to accompany him if he will get onboard with the recovery process. She researches sailing, and slowly a friendship forms.

As they sail the Intracoastal Waterway south to Savannah, Georgia, they have many interesting adventures. Josie learns more about Wyatt and discovers that she misunderstood their past encounters. She realizes that he’s not the enemy that she thought he was, and she falls for him. Josie has to work through her past traumas in order for their relationship to deepen.

If All Else Sails is partial romance and partial character development with lots of humor. Both Wyatt and Josie are well-developed, likable people who readers will root for. The scenes are described so vividly that it’s like watching a movie. The reader can absolutely sense Jacob’s matchmaking while both Wyatt and Josie are oblivious. While there are references to a sensitive topic, it’s a realistic scenario for many young women and is explained with care and sensitivity. I really enjoyed this book so much that now I want to go on a sailing drip on the Intracoastal Waterway!

The audiobook is narrated by Andi Arndt and Patrick Zeller, with approximately 2/3 of the chapters being from Josie’s point of view. Andi Arndt, the female narrator, did a superb job performing the chapters from Josie’s POV, voicing all the characters in those chapters. I disliked Patrick Zeller’s narration of the chapters from Wyatt’s POV. In addition to him being too dramatic, his volume levels fluctuated too much within a paragraph. He mumbled when he was narrating Wyatt’s internal thoughts and shouted when he was voicing Wyatt’s words/speech. I was constantly adjusting the volume so I could either hear the mumbling or quickly turning it down because he was yelling. I have never experienced this before in any other audiobook. I sincerely hope that the audiobook company can re-engineer Mr. Zeller’s chapters so that they can be enjoyed by listeners.

I received an Advance Review Copy (ARC) e-book from NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Publishers and the ARC audiobook from NetGalley and Zondervan Fiction Audio for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I really enjoyed the story and plot of this book. Wyatt and Josie were a fun couple to hang out with and i loved the setting and the trip they took on the sail boat!! I didn't really love the male narrator for the audiobook. When sped up the narration was a bit slurred and mumbly. However the story was good enough to push through with the audio but i would probably recommend to people to just eyeball read it for the best experience! Again, that's just my personal preference though!

I’m a big fan of Emma’s novels. This one hit differently. In a good way. I truly enjoyed it and it was exactly what I needed to suck me in and distract me.

I didn’t read the burb and went into it without knowing anything. I enjoyed the two perspectives. It’s interesting how a shared experience can be so different for different characters.

I loved the humorous beginning. I loved the moments of introspection and growth for the characters. I loved the longing and the easiness of the relationship as they became friends and then more. I loved that it made me laugh.

While I’ve seen some criticism of this being marketed as enemies to lovers, I think I can agree it wasn’t the usual enemies to lovers, however Josie thought they were enemies and their past had “evidence” that they weren’t friendly. This definitely had elements of grumpy guy, optimistic sunny girl, brother’s best friend, and he falls first. I also love the close proximity trope and it definitely had this.

I loved joining these two on an adventure as they learned more about themselves and each other. I loved the humorous moments, as well as the deeper ones. Definitely a book I couldn’t stop listening to.

3.25 ⭐️

This was cute and fluffy but it felt like it was lacking any depth. I didn’t feel invested in the characters until right before the end, and I didn’t really feel compelled to root for them. I wish the trip had happened a little earlier on, because that was when things starting to get more interesting.