Such a cute book with deeper topics handled with great care. I giggled, kicked my feet, and rooted for Wyatt and Josie from page one. 5/5!

If All Else Sails is such a quick and fun read. I loved everything from the setting to the plot. The storyline kept me interested. Both main characters were likable. I liked how their story evolved. The ending was absolutely perfect. The only reason I rated it t 4⭐️ instead of 5 is because I wanted more romance. This is my first read by Emma St. Claire and I look forward to reading more. I listened to the audiobook and both of the narrators did a great job. 💗

I would like to thank Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Fiction Audio and NetGalley for giving me an ALC (which did not sway my opinions or review).

🎧📖

This was so cute! I thought I was going to enjoy this one going in, but I loved it even more!

I started with a mix of audio and physical for this one, and while I loved the female narrator, the male narrator was a bit dramatic for my taste, so I switched to just my kindle around halfway and thoroughly enjoyed it!

I loved Josie and Wyatt, they were both such wonderful characters, and while they both had things to work through, I loved watching them open up and truly get to know each other past what they thought they already knew.
Wyatt’s foot-in-mouth disease, the “murder cottage”, “zombie pigs”, sailing trip, Appies cameo of Wyatt’s friends, there were so many funny moments and depth as well. The perfect combo for me. I even loved Josie’s brother by the end.

I definitely recommend this one!

✨Dual POV
✨Forced Proximity
✨Sailing Trip
✨He Falls First
✨Only One Bed
✨Grumpy/Sunshine
✨School Nurse
✨Injured Hockey Player
✨Low Spice
✨Enemies?-to-Lovers
✨Brother’s Best Friend

“𝘐’𝘮 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶,” 𝘞𝘺𝘢𝘵𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯. “𝘈𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥. 𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩.” “𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩?” 𝘐 𝘢𝘴𝘬, 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴,” 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴, “𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘦.”

Thank you so much to Uplit Reads & TNZ Fiction for the advanced copies!

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction and Zondervan Fiction Audio for the ALC.

I very much enjoyed this trip on the seas with "If All Else Sails' by Emma St. Clair.

Part slow burn, part enemies/friends to lovers, this delivers on all fronts. You get a journey on the seas, complete with a rescue dog, some tension, a sports injury, with a side of caretaking. I enjoyed Josie's reluctance to Wyatt and his determination to win her over. I love a 'he falls first and harder' story and Wyatt was the full package.

I enjoyed this dual POV and narration- the audiobook is fantastic. It kept me interested and eager to complete the journey with Josie and Wyatt.

This was a sweet, slow romance that tugs on your heartstrings and keeps you engaged and will sweep you into the fall season.

Review posted on Goodreads on 9/4/25- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7888571403

I really enjoyed this one!

Josie is a school nurse on summer break, Wyatt is an injured hockey player. Josie’s brother (who is also Wyatt’s agent & best friend) tricks her into helping Wyatt with his recovery. There’s only one problem: Josie thinks Wyatt hates her due to a miscommunication years ago so she’s reluctant to agree to the deal.

•forced proximity
•cute animal sidekick
•banter
•grumpy x sunshine
•slow burn
•boat trip setting
•one bed

(If you’re looking for spice, you won’t get any here just FYI)

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Sweet romance that went deeper than I expected. The reason for the MMC’s sailing trip caught me off guard and explained his grumpiness in a deeper way. His bond with his mother was sweet & believable. The FMC was sassy, strong and adorable. A+ book for me. Would’ve been 5 stars, but the narrator for the MMC didn’t work for me. He was stiff and sounded much older than the character was supposed to be.

If All Else Sails
By: Emma St. Clair

- enemies to lovers
- pro hockey player + nurse
- brother’s best friend
- she cares for him during injury
- he falls first
- cute pup sidekick
- sailing adventure

Wyatt is a pro hockey player out with an injury. Josie is a school nurse whose brother, Jacob, is Wyatt’s best friend and manager. Jacob lures Josie to a small cabin somewhere and when she arrives, begs her to care for Wyatt & his injury so that he can get back on the ice. What starts as a tense nurse + patient situation develops into a friendship, sailing adventure & so much more!

This book was so great! I loved Wyatt’s secret love for Josie & how she softened towards him throughout the book. Such a sweet story full of funny, heartfelt, and swoon-worthy moments!!

Content/trigger warnings: difficult family dynamics, hinting at/brief retelling of sexual trauma

Thank you to NetGalley & the author for access to this ARC in return for my honest review!

I always find myself loving her books and this was no exception. I read it in one day because I just could not put it down and I loved the characters and the world building a lot

If All Else Sails by Emma St. Clair
⭐️⭐️ 1/2 (2.5 stars)

Thank you to NetGalley, author Emma St. Clair, and publishers Thomas Nelson Fiction and Zondervan Fiction Audio for the ALC. This is my honest review.

Sunshine Josie gets conned by her brother into caring for his best friend, hockey star Wyatt, who also happens to be his biggest client. Wyatt is down on his luck after the loss of his uncle and a foot injury. When Josie arrives at the “murder cottage” where Wyatt has been holed up, things quickly go from bad to horrible. Still, when Josie agrees to stay, the two begin to see one another in a new light.

First off, the narration was mixed for me. The female narrator was great, but the male voice just didn’t fit the way I pictured Wyatt, which made all of his POV chapters hard to connect with.

As for the story itself, this is a classic he obviously loves her but she misinterprets everything trope. I (personally) find this frustrating—when characters are written as smart and intuitive yet fail to recognize the most obvious signs of love, it requires a suspension of disbelief that pulls me out of the story. I understood Wyatt being a grump and socially awkward, but the miscommunication dragged too long for me.

The plot was interesting but not what I expected from the title and cover, and unfortunately, I just didn’t feel the attraction between the leads. The writing itself is strong, with plenty of vivid figurative language, but the characters never quite came alive for me.

Tropes included:
• Brother’s best friend
• Grumpy/sunshine
• Caretaking
• He falls first
• Miscommunication

Overall, this one fell flat for me despite some really great parts. Still, I think the right audience will adore this cute story.

Super cute enemies to lovers romance. He's such a grump - i found him extremely annoying and entitled at first.
She is a nurse helping him heal from an injury.

Told in both his and her POVs.
I listened to the audiobook which had male/female narrators for each part.

It's cozy, sweet, funny and a feel good romance.

Thank you again to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Fiction Audio for this audiobook in exchange for my honest review!

ARC Review

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spicy: 🚫🌶️

-Dual POV
-Forced Proximity
-Brother’s Best Friend
-Enemies to Lovers
-Grumpy x Sunshine
-Slow Burn
-Found Family

This book was such a cozy clean romance! I really enjoyed the audiobook! This book had me laughing at all their unfortunate situations.

Who does love a Grumpy x Sunshine romcom!
Both of them were meant for each other, and they balanced each other out.

This is a cute grumpy x sunshine, forced proximity romance — but not really enemies-to-lovers.

Josie, a school nurse, gets tricked into taking care of her brother’s best friend, Wyatt, after his surgery. Wyatt is recovering from an injury, grieving his uncle’s death, and definitely not looking for company. Josie, on the other hand, has always believed Wyatt disliked her after a past conversation — so every interaction since has felt a little argumentative. With a deal struck, Josie moves in to care for him and quickly realizes things aren’t exactly what she thought.

This turned out to be such a sweet romance that leaves you with all the good feelings. It mixes multiple tropes really well — from dislike to friendship, friendship to crush, and crush to relationship. Wyatt is basically all green flags, and it was refreshing to watch a healthy, positive relationship build and stay strong.

🎧 Audiobook Thoughts:
The story is told in dual narration by Andi Arndt and Patrick Zeller. While I usually enjoy having both POVs read by different voices, Patrick’s performance was a bit much for me. He added so much expression — lots of volume changes, from very loud to very soft — that I found myself adjusting the volume constantly. It pulled me out of the story more than I wanted. That said, I’m still glad it was dual narration, because I always prefer a male POV read by a male voice and female POV by a female voice. Just be prepared: Patrick brings a lot of energy, so keep that volume button handy.

Thank you Netgalley and Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Fiction Audio for this advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

I voluntarily listened to and reviewed an advanced copy of this audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

School nurse Josie thinks she’s going to be spending the summer with her brother, enjoying their mostly annual Summer Sibling Extravaganza. Instead, she finds herself being offered the task of watching one of her brother’s hockey clients as he recovers from an injury.

If All Else Sails is a stand-alone, closed-door romance. If you are familiar with the author’s Appies, there are a couple quick cameos that pop up but you don’t need to have read that series before reading this book.

This one has a little bit of everything so there really isn’t any one main trope - grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, brother’s friend, and more. It is definitely a slowburn but the MCs do build up their friendship to more throughout the story. There is some tension due to some prior miscommunication but nothing over the top angsty.

The audio for If All Else Sails is very well done. Andi Ardnt always does such an exceptional job. Patrick Zeller captured Wyatt’s grumpiness just right.

This book has all the sweet, beach read feels. If you're looking for one last romance to round out your summer reading list, If All Else Sails may be a great fit for you.

If All Else Sails
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
By Emma St Clair

What do you do when you realise that the man who has hated you since you were a teenager, confesses to loving you this entire time?

Josie finds herself being tricked into becoming Wyatt's personal carer after he suffers an injury that stops him from playing professional ice hockey and sends him spiralling. After reluctantly agreeing, she quickly starts to learn that Wyatt isn't the horrible man she remembers, and instead she learns that he had his reasons for always being so grumpy.

⛵️ Broody AF grumpy | sarcastic sunshine
🩷 Brother's best friend
⛵️ Injured ice hockey player MMC
🩷 School Nurse FMC
⛵️Foot-in-mouth disease MMC
🩷 Murder cottage by the water
⛵️ Ugly stray dog with cute outfits
🩷 'I'll take care of you, always' vibes
⛵️ Sailing for the soul
🩷 Learning to love the broken pieces
⛵️ RomCom

This book is going to live rent free in my heart for a long while 🥹 Emma St Clair has the best way of writing romance. It's so raw, vibrant, thrilling, and full of all the emotions surrounding love — heartache, yearning, longing and vulnerability.

🎧 Other than the story being amazing, the audiobook was also a huge hit! I loved the narrators and loved the quality. The narrators did an excellent job at acting out mannerisms, humour and emotions. This is highly recommend to anyone who loves romcom audiobooks. Bravo 👏

4.5 ⭐️ I loved this one so much!! It’s hands down one of the most fun, feel-good summer storylines I’ve read in a while. And I can totally see myself picking this back up for a reread next year.

Josie went to a creepy, rundown cottage, under the impression that her brother would be meeting her there for a sibling extravaganza, which turned out to be a complete lie. She was actually tricked into doing a wellness check of sorts on her brother’s best friend/client, Wyatt, who happened to be an injured hockey player.

Wyatt thought Josie was some random paparazzi snooping around and immediately called the cops to have her detained. He quickly realized he had gotten it all wrong, but by the time he reached her, it was too late. She had already passed out from heat exhaustion.

Fast forward to a heated negotiation between siblings, and since money talks, Josie ended up accepting a deal with her brother. She agreed to spend the summer looking after Wyatt, making sure he sticks to his recovery plan and actually goes to PT. Wyatt has been a little (or rather a lot) depressed, avoiding the help he needs, so a little push might do him some good. And plus, the money Josie is getting for her services from her brother for doing him a solid doesn’t hurt either, especially since she’s on a school nurse salary and usually has to tutor over the summer to make an income.

This book is sooo cute and really well paced. Wyatt is literally a big grumpy teddy bear, I loved him so much! The banter was super cute, and the characters were so much fun. They weren’t too pushy, but you could definitely tell they were really into each other. I died inside when he demanded she scratch his back 🤭. Just right after she kicked him where the sun don’t shine.

He clearly needs help but will straight up refuse it left and right. That changes when Josie agrees to go sailing with him only if he goes to PT. (I swear this girl is like a master negotiator.)
*Lite spoiler: during their sailing trip, they end up at a hotel with ONE BED. 🤭

What To Expect:
• Summer Rom Com ⛵️
• Bestfriend’s sister
- Injured Hockey Player x School Nurse
• Grumpy x Sunshine
• Enemies to Lovers
• Slow burn
• One bed

Thank you to Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Fiction Audio and NetGalley for a gifted audiobook of this title. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley, Emma St. Clair, and Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Audio for a copy of this audiobook!

Note: If half stars were allowed, I’d give it 3.5.
This was a fun enemies-to-lovers story, and I really enjoyed the witty banter and the sailing adventure setting. However, I struggled with the inclusion of faith—it felt more central than I personally prefer in a romance. I also lean toward spicier reads, and this one was very clean, which left me wanting more intensity. Still, the chemistry and slow-burn dynamic kept me turning pages, even if it wasn’t quite the style of romance I usually reach for.

The dual narration worked really well—both narrators brought distinct voices and personalities to Josie and Wyatt. It made the banter more engaging and helped the story feel more dynamic, even during the slower

If All Else Sails is an enemies-to-lovers romance that delivers on all the banter, tension, and slow-burn swoon you could want. Josie thinks she’s headed to her brother’s annual “Super Summer Sibling Extravaganza” but instead ends up stuck in a rundown 'm*rder' cottage with Wyatt Jacobs—her brother's best friend and star hockey client, and the guy she absolutely cannot stand. To make things worse? Her brother ropes her into helping Wyatt recover from his foot injury. Cue the sparks (and the sass).

A couple of my favorite parts are: their meeting and that Wyatt called the police, and Princess Jib-Jabberwocky (aka Jib) with all her puppy outfits. What I loved most is how funny and real Josie is—her inner commentary is hilarious—and watching her slowly realize that Wyatt is more than just a grumpy hockey player was so satisfying. And once they end up sailing together down the coast? What starts as a journey of healing turns into something much more.

If you love forced proximity, grumpy/sunshine vibes, and that perfect mix of laughter and longing, If All Else Sails is definitely worth the read.

I loved the female narrator. The male narrator sounded a little too gruff for me at the beginning. It got better as his character became less grumpy. All in all, I really enjoyed the audiobook. I received a copy from the publisher Thomas Nelson Fiction via NetGalley. All opinions in this review are my own.

I chose If All Else Sails by Emma St. Clair for my final summer read and it was so delightful! Just the feel good, summery romance that I was looking to read. The book was narrated by Andi Arndt and Patrick Zeller. I read this as a multi-format read. I literally read my paperback sometimes, my kindle in the middle of the night, and my audiobook when I was in the car or making breakfast! I love having that flexibility!
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The story is a grump sunshine trope and also a he falls first trope (I really like that second one). Wyatt is the best friend of Josie’s older brother. He is a very successful, good-looking, professional hockey player. Josie is an elementary school nurse with a huge dislike of male athletes. They are tricked into spending the summer together when her brother, the players sport’s agent, sends Josie to help him recover from an injury under false pretenses.
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I loved the female narrator. The male narrator did not work for me because I felt his interpretation of the grumpy Wyatt came off as angry and I can’t tolerate angry men. Fortunately for me, the female narrates the bigger portion of this book and I could easily read the print version of the male parts.
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I would easily recommend this book to anyone looking for a feel good romance, a great summer beach read, an airplane book, or a vacation book. In her author’s note, Emma St. Clare writes, “That is one of my mail goals in writing the books I write: to package joy into words and hand it off like a happy little baton to you.” Joy is exactly what a felt when reading this book!
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Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for the ARC and ALC that I received in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was my first Emma St. Clair book and I am now eager to read more! Josie and Wyatt’s banter was everything I hoped for. It’s heartfelt, funny, and surprisingly emotional in all the best ways. I loved the sailing aspect as I grew up in a small coastal town - made me very nostalgic. Add in family ties, forced proximity, and a touch of healing, and you’ve got the perfect summer romance. Although I didn't get to this before the published date, I am glad I got to experience this story. Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for the opportunity to listen to this ARC - opinions are my own!

Emma St. Clair’s If All Else Sails is proof that sometimes the best stories are built on the classics: grumpy-sunshine banter, your brother’s maddeningly off-limits best friend, and just enough forced proximity to make sparks inevitable.

It’s not pretending to be anything other than what it is—a breezy, adorable romance that knows its strengths and doubles down. The banter? Sparkling enough that I actually laughed out loud a couple of times (rare, since most book “witty dialogue” usually reads like a knock-off sitcom). The romance? Sweet, slow-burn-y, and low-drama enough to feel like the literary equivalent of sipping a fruity cocktail by the pool.

This isn’t a book that’s going to emotionally gut-punch you or win the Pulitzer, but that’s the point. It’s comfort food romance: light, fun, and perfect for a holiday when you want to grin like an idiot without straining your brain.