The premise really got me excited to pick up the book and I was very happy to be able to request on NetGalley and get approved for the audiobook. However, it felt short of my expectations.

1. The audiobook is half of the reason this didn't work for me. The female narrator was great, but the male narrator was not the right fit - they did not match well, but more than that, it truly felt like roller coaster of unstable emotions, with him screaming at me, only to whisper the next second It was really difficult to understand him. While I appreciate the grumpiness he portrayed, the volume variations and the overall roughness didn't work for this title imo.

2.1. The plot was the other half. The pacing was off from the get go - scenes are drawn out way too much and often. It felt like we would spend pages and pages on a few minutes and then a few sentences on weeks, it made no sense and difficult to get through. The plot moving in such a scattering way was also all over the place in terms of the events. Some scenes felt so random (splinters scene). If those long scenes were meant to build tension between the main characters, they didn't work. I felt absolutely nothing - I never bought their attraction/romance. It's a slow burn, which I love, but the scenes that were trying to build tension felt non-sensical and pointless and didn't further the story at all and the pacing felt either way too slow or way too rushed. This REALLY hurt the romance. It was just a nothing salad, honestly. I'm not even sure why there was a dog side story, it was all so pointless and brought nothing to the table.

2.2. For a book that references boating both in the title and the cover, this left a lot to be desired. The sailing trip started only halfway through, and I think the book would have benefited to have the first 50% trimmed down to 20% and have the sailing stuff start then. It's the whole point of the story!

All in all, the idea was interesting and the writing is actually pretty good, but the plot and lack of emotional depth left me deeply unsatisfied. I would not recommend the audiobook.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC. It is a sweet romance about a famous hockey player who is the client and best friend of the protagonista’s brother. Josie has felt that Wyatt has disliked her. As an elementary school nurse she had a free summer and her brother tricked her into looking after Wyatt. A foot injury had left him despondent and he was not following through with physical therapy. Josie and Wyatt took a leisurely sail down the ICW and romance bloomed.

I was given an ARC of the book and audiobook.
The narration was done by Andi Arndt &Patrick Zeller. I'm always a fan of Andi. Patrick did great too even though he sounded older.

The story about a school nurse and injured hockey player should be right up my alley since I am a nurse and I ove hockey.... however. the story was very mid.

Sure, Wyatt was sweet and awkward at times, but I don't get why he liked Josie other than instant attraction. Josie was just not for me. I couldn't relate to her at all, not even on the nurse thing.
Hockey wasn't really mentioned at all, which was kind of a bummer since hockey romances are my favorite.
There was some tension at the beginning but it quickly fizzled away once they got on the sai boat. You'd think that being together in such a small space would increase the tension, but it did not. This is a super clean, hallmark-y romance with like one kiss 90% through. I don't mind those kind of stories, but I'd like for them to be believable. There was just zero chemistry here between these characters.

This was a miss for me, but it wasn't a bad book so it gets 3 stars.

Super cute! I love Josie & Wyatt! The narrators were absolutely perfect!

Description
When Josie's brother sends her to a random address for their (sometimes) annual Super Summer Sibling Extravaganza, she finds neither siblings nor extravaganzas. Instead, ends up at a run-down cottage on the Northern Neck of Virginia occupied by a hockey player she knows and loathes.
A hockey player who isn't just one of her sports agent brother's clients. He's also his best friend. And Josie's sworn enemy.
Oh--and her brother wants Josie to help Wyatt recover from his injury.
Dragging grumpy hockey players to physical therapy is a far cry from bandaging skinned knees, but for the price her brother offers to pay, Josie is willing to try.
Even if it means sharing what she dubs the quaint little murder cottage with Wyatt.
Begrudgingly, Josie starts to see a little more of the man behind the grumpy exterior. And when she finds out he was supposed to sail the Intracoastal Waterway south to Savannah scattering his uncle's ashes, Josie surprises even herself by offering to be Wyatt's first mate.
Smooth sailing is nowhere to be found, and Josie begins to wonder if they'll be able to make it home without killing--or kissing?--each other.
And yet, the longer they share cramped quarters and canned food, the more of Wyatt's layers she peels back until Josie realizes she misunderstood him, their shared history, and perhaps herself as well.

Thanks to NetGalley & Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Fiction Audio for the ALC of this book!

If All Else Sails
by Emma St. Clair
Narrated by Andi Arndt; Patrick Zeller
Publisher: Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Fiction Audio

I honestly requested this thinking it was part of another series, but I was so pleasantly surprised by this heartwarming story. It’s a slow burn, but with a great payoff. After reading this I went back for her other books and loved them as well.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was such a cute romcom. The hidden feelings that went on for years. Oy! One moment that led to years of wanting. She thought he hated her for years, when in reality it was the complete opposite 😏

But everything changes when her brother tricks her to take care of Mr grumpy while he’s injured and they take a trip together. All else is history

Tropes:
✨brother’s best friend
✨hockey player
✨childhood friends
✨grumpy x sunshine

If All Else Sails was my first Emma St. Clair book and it won't be my last. I enjoyed the cadence of her story telling. Her writing is clean and sharp with enough whimsy to feel like a cozy blanket is being wrapped around you with each paragraph.

Josie is charming and realistic and Wyatt is delightfully grumpy and way too good to be true. But isn't that the best kind of heart throb there is? It was not difficult to be swept into their story and want to keep sailing with them even in the storm. Oh and there is a dog that will make your heart swoon even more!

The book manages to keep this budding romance that we know is a forever love alive while also filling out their stories with some steep family hurdles and obstacles and realizations. Real life happenings and yearnings and strivings. Josie thinking her life as a school nurse and saving for a house while completely not thinking about a love life only for us to learn later that she is also dealing with trauma around that. Wyatt trying to heal from an injury while grieving and waiting, so very patiently waiting for Josie to see through his grumpiness and join him in the love he has held for her for years.

Get yourself some boat shoes and let the breeze blow through your hair while Josie and Wyatt and Jib sail through the gaps to become the family they are meant to be.
sincerely, sm for BB

I really hope this book catches the end of summer readers. It’s a wonderful storyline and the characters are very likable.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with a copy of this audiobook for an honest review!

I have been on a roll with hockey romances lately, and this one hit it out of the park for me. I love the grumpy cinnamon roll vibes. Josie and Wyatt were too cute together, and I was cheering for them from the start.

This read like a quick, sweet, low-spice romance, and I loved every second of it. Both characters had some misunderstandings, but I really appreciated that the whole "brothers best friend" trope wasn't overdone. I usually can't handle that well when the characters are adults.

It felt like the perfect end-of-summer vibes, and the narrators did a fantastic job.

I will be picking up more books from this author as soon as possible!

Injured and depressed, hockey star Wyatt disappeared from the earth to a reclusive cabin to grieve alone. He wasn’t expecting his best friend and manager to send his sister Josie to take care of him. A sister he’s been pinning for since the first time they met.

If only Wyatt stopped saying the wrong things to her every single time he tried to interact, maybe this wasn’t a complete disaster. If only Josie wasn’t there for the money. But she didn’t care for him, and Wyatt didn’t want her there on those terms. But they don’t really have other options and will have to learn to survive the summer together.

Like Wyatt and Josie, this book and I started with the wrong foot. Firstly, I want to address the fact that this is not an enemies to lovers. The hero is obsessed with the heroine and wants her from the beginning. He's in love. He fell first and fell hard. He’s been waiting for her for over two years. How dare the publisher promote those feelings as hate?

I actually loved those tropes more than enemies to lovers. I’m just angry and frustrated because everything right now is marketed as an enemies to lovers. But this was the less enemies to lovers book I’ve read marketed as such.

But that’s not why this wasn’t a great start. I had so many problems with the book. The hero and the heroine were injured several times (they each had two injuries in the first 30%), it was so over the top I wanted to scream because I don’t do well with rom-coms. On top of that, we had a case of ‘I’m not like other girls’, the heroine was all the time being like: ‘all women throw themselves at Wyatt, but I need more. They only want the body, but I need connection.’ I always feel so insulted when such comments are added in a story. I always end up disliking the character and the author, for thinking that putting all the women down is the way to make their heroines shine.

If that wasn’t enough, the sailing part doesn’t happen until 60%. Since the cover and the blurb mention the sailing (and the title), I was expecting it to happen sooner and to be more prevalent in the story.

Lastly, I was listening to the audiobook and struggled to listen to Wyatt’s narrator, especially at the beginning. I don’t think he was a bad narrator, I liked his voice and his accent was easy for me to understand. But, at the beginning, he sounded so angry (because Wyatt was angry) all the time. I don’t mind the narrator almost shouting from time to time, but it was mostly him almost shouting, and then he would almost whisper. And it was awful because I didn’t know how to adjust the volume. It was way too loud when he was almost shouting, but then I wouldn’t catch what he was saying when he was almost whispering. I think it got better once Wyatt wasn’t angry, because it didn't bother me that much in the second half. But maybe it helped that it was mainly Josie’s POV and I loved the female narrator. I’m pretty sure that was the reason why I fangirled so much in the second half.

As I was saying, I didn’t love the beginning but I slowly became invested in the story. Suddenly, I was smiling along with the characters, giggling and enjoying every single second of the audiobook. It was such a sweet and heartwarming story! I loved them together 🥰🥰

That being said, the heroine was quite frustrating because she kept misunderstanding the hero and she didn’t let him explain and talk about his feelings. I don’t fancy grumpy heroes, but once Wyatt felt better, he tried to communicate with her and Josie refused every single time!

Overall, If All Else Sails is not an enemies to lovers. Wyatt (H) fails first and has liked the heroine for years. She thinks he hates her because Wyatt keeps messing up due to being nervous around her. Once we get over the first 40%, where we have too many injuries, the hero is too grumpy and everything feels silly, the book becomes quite charming. I especially enjoyed the slow burn and seeing Wyatt with his friends, as well as meeting Josie’s brother. Despite all my problems with it, I ended up caring for them and enjoying their story.

🎧Read as an audiobook

Rating: 2.5 stars rounded up because I have a positive memory of it but the beginning was frustrating

Audiobook: 3 stars (mostly due to the changes in volume of the male narrator, the female narrator deserved better, I loved listened to her)

I kindly received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a fun, clean romance novel. Josie, a school nurse, thinks she is meeting her brother at a surprise location for their annual Super Summer Sibling Extravaganza. However, her brother has tricked her. He is a sports agent and has sent Josie to look after his friend and client, Wyatt, a professional hockey player. Josie and Wyatt did not know this set up, and her brother has to do a lot of convincing to get Josie to stay and help Wyatt through an injury recovery and really an attitude recovery. Josie and Wyatt never liked each other so this was not an arrangement either of them would have agreed to. Their forced togetherness in a small cabin, and then on a sailing adventure helps them see each other in a different light.

I appreciate receiving this eARC audio version from NetGalley, the author and the publisher for my honest opinion. I would recommend reading this novel vs. the audio version for two reasons. When you are listening to the audio version, it can often be difficult to tell what a character is thinking vs. what they are saying out load. With this story being primarily set with two characters most of the time, there was a lot of ideas swirling in their heads. Second, Wyatt was described as a grump several times in the book, and the narrator for him was ultra-grumpy. It just made it harder for me to like him. I think reading would allow a little different perspective on his character.

Thank you @uplitreads @tnzfiction @kikimojo for my free copy and @netgalley @thomasnelson for the free alc 💖.

✨What it is about:
Josie gets sent to a remote cottage expecting a sibling trip, but finds herself stuck with Wyatt, her brother’s grumpy hockey player friend. As they recover, sail, and clash, sparks fly…and maybe something more. ✨

💭My thoughts:
This was an all-around sweet romance that I really enjoyed. Josie gets tricked into taking care of Wyatt over the summer while he recovers from an injury. They’ve never gotten along, but as a “paid favor” for her brother, she agrees to help, and ends up getting to know Wyatt in unexpected ways. Meanwhile, Wyatt is forced to confront the feelings he’s had for Josie for a very long time.
Despite the title, there isn’t much actual sailing in the story, but the sailing that does happen is meaningful and deeply emotional, tied to a motive that really touched me. It’s a romance with heart and depth, and I found it truly heartwarming. Also, the fashionable dog! I loved that little detail!(You have to read it to know all about it!) 😂
🎧 The audiobook is 11 hours and 3 minutes long, narrated by Andi Arndt and Patrick Zeller. Both narrators did a great job bringing Josie and Wyatt to life. The dual narration added a nice balance, and the emotional moments really hit. Definitely worth a listen if you enjoy audiobooks.

4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read if you like:
⛵️Enemies to lovers
⛵️School nurse MFC x Hockey Player MMC
⛵️Grumpy x sunshine
⛵️Forced proximity
⛵️Slow burn
⛵️Brother’s best friend
⛵️Closed door romance

⚠️CW: Sexual assault, death, grief, injury detail.

If All Else Sails completely sucked me in from the very beginning! The opening scene where the cops have to come and get her off his property had me laughing out loud. I knew right away this was going to be a fun ride.

This is such a cute hockey romance that hits all the right tropes—he falls first, enemies to lovers, and brother’s best friend (which I can never resist). The banter was great, the chemistry was even better, and I couldn’t put it down. If you're into sporty romances with humor and heart, this one's for you.

Thank you Netgalley for my ARC
#IfAllElseSails #NetGalley.

CUTENESS OVERLOAD!

A sweet romance with southern charm and a bit of coastal influence. A hockey player and an elementary school nurse thrust upon each other. Then some sailing and a dog… you get a recipe for a cute and funny romance story.

This story was seriously so cute! I adored every minute of the main character’s journey. Our heroines anxiety is relatable and gives a touch of ‘humanity’ to the story.

Audio was great. Narrators were perfect. Andi Arndt is one of my fave female narrators.

This was my first Emma St Clair book, and it won’t be my last

Thank you to NetGalley, Ms St Clair, Thomas Nelson, and Zondervan Fiction Audio

My first book by this author and it was a fun read! I requested this as I love Andi Arndt and she delivered with this audio, the male narrator was also good but Andi is just unmatched. I was pleasantly surprised by this one as I don’t usually read closed door romances, but to be honest I didn’t miss it! I felt the plot and the character development held my interest enough. I loved the scenes on the boat, and Wyatt teaching Josie how to sail. A great summer romance!!

This was a cute, easy listen. I really enjoyed that the storyline wasn’t overrun with sex/intimacy. It was much more focused on the emotional connection and the building of their relationship, which made for a lot more substance, and drew me into the storyline. I will be seeking other titles from this author!

It's the first book I'm reading from this author, even though she's been on my radar for the longest time. The miscommunication was kinda silly but overall I enjoyed myself and had a good time.

For all the sweet romance lovers, this needs to be on your tbrs!

If you’re looking at just the start and ending of this one, it’s an enemies to lovers romcom. But it’s not so straightforward! A good chunk of the book is enemies to friends, as Josie and Wyatt learn to trust each other and themselves. I appreciated the realistic jump from friends to more.

Once the trust is established, they get close and personal real fast since they’re on a sailboat for weeks together! The forced proximity played out really well here and I really liked this part of the book, when they both opened up and we got to dive deeper into their characters.

If All Else Sails also has some funny lol moments. Josie’s brother Jacob was one of my favorite characters, for his meddling and his whole “sorry, not sorry” vibe! 🤣

This book is also a tiny bit of a sports romance! More of a side story, but Wyatt is a hockey player, and Josie does some funny overthinking and research (she has a google doc with questions 😂) on being a hockey player girlfriend. WAG pants had me cracking up.

And I almost forgot the star of the book - sweet puppy Jib!! I died at all the cute outfits Josie bought her. 😂❤️

School nurse Josie drives to the Northern Neck of Virginia to go on a trip with her brother, but when she arrives at a run-down cottage, she discovers her brother has set her up to spend the summer with his grumpy best friend, a man she loathes. Hockey player Wyatt Jacobs recently suffered an injury and has been avoiding his doctors appointments, but when Josie, whom he has always had feelings for, shows up to take care of him, he finally starts putting in effort to get better. Josie eventually agrees to go with Wyatt on a sailing trip to scatter his recently deceased uncle’s ashes, and the more time she spends with Wyatt in close quarters, the more she realizes she may have misjudged him from the beginning.⛵️

After reading a few of Emma St. Clair’s indie published books, I was so excited to read her very first traditionally published book, and I really enjoyed it! This isn’t exactly an enemies to lovers tale (as it’s marketed) because Wyatt has always loved Josie but that’s okay because he falls first and “it’s always been you” are some of my favorite romance tropes. I really loved their banter and how they balanced each other well, and I especially loved how much Wyatt pined and yearned for Josie. Plus, I enjoyed the cameos of Appies hockey players from Emma’s other books. I can’t wait to see what Emma St. Clair writes next!🩷

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A big thank you to Thomas Nelson for sending me a copy of this book! All thoughts and opinions are my own.📘

SUPER CUTE! I really enjoyed the audiobook of If All Else Sails. I genuinely laughed out loud and swooned alongside the characters as they tackle all the tropes — brother’s best friend, secret mutual pining, forced proximity, grumpy-sunshine, and some more forced proximity on a sailboat!!! The story is balanced by a layered history between the leads, with some long-term “he falls first” pining. I appreciate the way their history subtly comes into play in their current grudging-friendship-turned-romance, rightfully bringing some deep topics to light. The conversations between Josie and Wyatt that ensue are among my favorite heart-deep moments in the story. The lighter aspects of the story, though, include an adventurous sailing trip, a scene-stealing canine, meddling family members, and more than one honesty-inducing sick bed scene.

This is my very first Emma St. Clair romcom, and it won’t be my last! The dual audiobook narrators made it an enjoyable experience. The leading man who voiced Wyatt, especially, brought out his grumpy side in a laughable way.

Thank you to Thomas Nelson for the audio review copy. This is my honest review.