This was a cute rom com. Josie's brother sends her to his best friends house to help him recuperate. He is a grump but she stays and helps him. He has always had a crush on her. When he gets better he convinces her to sail to Georgia with him. The sailing part was fun as they got to know each other better and had some fun adventures.

This cozy romance between a brother’s best friend and a sister who’s accidentally a nurse had its sweet moments, especially the slow-burn tension and banter toward the end. While the story was enjoyable, it was misleadingly marketed as enemies-to-lovers—he was clearly into her from the start, and they were never truly adversaries. The plot felt unnecessarily long, with frequent shifts in setting and side characters that made it hard to follow. Neither main character showed much growth, and the brother’s matchmaking felt like a weak plot device. Still, the chemistry was there, and fans of gentle, low-conflict romance might enjoy it.

Merci à Netgalley pour m'avoir fourni un arc de ce livre.
J'avais très envie de découvrir cette romance qui me semblait très prometteuse. J'aime beaucoup les brother's best friend et j'avais beaucoup d'espoir. J'ai beaucoup aimé le début mais j'ai peu à peu perdu un peu d'intérêt pour ce qui se passait. Peut-être parce que le slowburn était vraiment trop slowburn à mon goût (mais normalement j'aime ça). Après, ça n'a pas aidé que je l'écoute sur un très long lapse de temps, j'en ai bien conscience.
En ce qui concerne l'audio en lui-même, je l'ai trouvé ok. J'ai surtout eu un problème avec le narrateur masculin dont je trouvais la manière de parler agaçante.

Thank you Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for an ARC of this audiobook.

4 out of 5 stars. What a cute rom com book! I like my romantic comedy books heavy on the comedy and this one delivers! The enemies-to-lovers plays out well between Josie and Wyatt and both characters are likable from the of the novel. I also appreciated the dual POVs/narration as it added more to story and helped the reader really sympathize with each party.

I recommend this fun read. And what Canadian doesn’t like a nice story where the main male character is a professional hockey player?

4.5⭐️

I received the ALC and the ARC and read them as a tandem.

I was sold just from it being enemies to lovers. This book was so fun and I really enjoyed it! Josie and Wyatt's character progression was **chefs kiss**. Definitely great for a quick summer read!

Both narrators were wonderful and did an amazing job at bringing life to these characters.

as someone that loves to sail, I saw this cover and the title and needed to read it asap. This was a light, fun read with some of my favorite tropes—forced proximity and brother’s best friend. I absolutely loved the sailing aspect.Josie and Wyatt navigated both the waters and their growing feelings for each other. Their underlying miscommunication/lack of communication drove me nut but I was able to push through.

A really great listen. The narrators did a great job with the voices and I thoroughly enjoyed the story. The mix of humour and dialogue made for a great listen and I was totally hooked. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me access to this audio book.

This was a wonderful frenemies to lovers book! Josie is a school nurse who loves her brother… but not so much his best friend. Years of misunderstandings and tension and rampant dislike have led to some of the funniest moments in the story, but also help lead to some truths with both Josie and Wyatt as she continues to help him get through an injury and the resulting struggles it brings..
I always love watching enemies turn into “you know this person is pretty great” to lovers. It’s always such an emotional moment when they finally give in and realize that after everything - this person is all they need and I want to squeal with joy everytime!

The narrator for the ALC was okay. There were times I was frustrated with Wyatt’s voice because I felt it didn’t fit the character, but over 4/5 stars because I enjoyed the story!

This is such a cute book and I loved listening and reading it. It was funny, sweet and heartwarming and I needed all of that right now.

Wyatt is Josie's brothers best friend, and she gets tricked into taking care of him as he recovers from a sports injury. Josie is a cheery, sunshining type of person, who seems never to let things get to her. Wyatt is the opposite of Josie, grumpy and not at all happy with his situation. Their differences and the time they spent together made for some great laugh out loud moments in the story. Josie and Wyatt are joined with a great case of characters, who perfectly fit their personality and into the story naturally.

The tension between Josie and Wyatt is great and gets better toward the end of the book. My only problem with the book, and I wouldnt really call it a problem honestly, but it did throw me off a bit. If All Else Sails is advertised as a enemy to lovers troupe, however both characters have known each other for awhile, and both had secret feeling for the other. The couple did not feel like enemies at all.

If you are looking for a sweet funny romace, with a touch of adventure, I highly recommend If All Else Sails.

Loved this story so much. The audio narration was really well done. I really enjoyed that it was a sweet closed door romance. I don’t mind on page scenes but it is nice to read a romance that still has all of the tension and banter without intimate scenes. The narrator’s really brought the main characters to life for me.

I was fortunate enough to receive both an ARC and an ALC for this book. Huge thank you to the Author, Publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in both formats.

This book has been out for almost 2 weeks now but I unfortunately couldn’t get to it any sooner :/

This is the story of Wyatt, the pathetically lovesick fool, who never says the right thing and is now injured and not taking care of himself and Josie, his best friend and agents sister, the elementary school nurse send to make sure he’s okay. After a rocky meeting Josie does not like Wyatt, now years later, and a lot of forced proximity they take a trip together.

This story is quite cute, it has all of the ingredients for a perfect book. I think a lot of people will truly love this book. Wyatt is a perfect book boyfriend, I love the way he does not ever say the right thing. He’s so charming.

I do think that this book, while it is good, just didn’t end up standing out amongst a lot of similar books I have read. I know as someone who’s read a lot of books that it will happen more often for me. However this book is charming and sweet and I definitely recommend.

I always love Emma St. Clair’s books. I love the lighthearted sweet stories she writes, and this was so good too! The way the main characters have a past that includes miscommunication is perfect, the way she slowly cozies up to him, the way he softens to her. 😭 It’s so good. I absolutely love it.

The fact that it’s connected to the Appies is even better. Read this book if you need some joy in your life!!

Also, the audiobook was FANTASTIC. The emotion and action in the male narrator’s voice was great, and the depth made it easy to listen to. The family narration was great, and I loved the other character voices.

If you’re craving a summer romance that hits all the right notes, If All Else Sails is just what you need!

When school nurse Josie ends up at a rundown cottage with her brother’s best friend and sworn enemy, hockey player Wyatt Jacobs, she’s in for a wild ride. Tasked with helping him recover from an injury, Josie discovers their summer is anything but smooth sailing. As they navigate cramped quarters on land and water, she peels back the layers of Wyatt’s grumpy facade, leading to a hilarious journey where love might just bloom amidst the chaos. Will they make it through the summer without either killing or, even better, kissing each other?

I really enjoyed this story! Josie and Wyatt are fantastic characters, and their dynamic is filled with sharp wit and delightful banter. From their awkward reunion to the final moments, I found myself grinning and laughing. The serious themes woven into the plot are handled with grace, adding depth to their relationship without detracting from the fun.

However, while the story shines, the audiobook experience was a bit of a mixed bag. The dual narration by Andi Arndt and Patrick Zellner had its moments, but I felt that some of Zellner’s intensity didn’t quite match with grumpy but secret softie Wyatt’s character. Arndt, as always, delivered a great performance, capturing Josie’s uncertainties beautifully.

Overall, If All Else Sails is a sweet, engaging story that will warm your heart. This sweet romance is absolutely worth reading.

Humorous, swoony, real. I enjoyed this! The audiobook was well done, especially with the dual POV. It was a perfect romance to binge in the summertime.

If All Else Sails by Emma St. Clair

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5

This book is the epitome of a grumpy x sunshine couple! ☀️ Wyatt fully embodies the grouchy recluse living in seclusion who only perks up when a certain sunshine girl, Josie, is around. All the tropes exist in this one! He falls first, only one bed, grumpy/sunshine, he’s a hockey player, forced proximity, brother’s best friend … this book has it all!

I don’t have any complaints necessarily, more just some observations. The actual sailing trip doesn’t start until over halfway through the novel, which was a little disappointing. I was excited to read about that and felt like I was waiting, waiting, waiting for it to start. I think it could have taken up just a smidge more of the overall book and started a bit sooner.

I also didn’t fully feel the chemistry between Wyatt and Josie until the very end. It felt like their feelings just appeared and weren’t this gradual build of banter and chemistry. It was almost like we were working off past information and history that we, as readers, didn’t have much access to. From Josie’s perspective, Wyatt’s feelings really come out of nowhere, which is how I felt as well, even while having his perspective to go off of. They got there in the end, though!

Just a minor complaint with the audiobook. The male narrator’s reading varied pretty significantly in volume, tone, and inflection. I found that at certain times he was shouting and other times whispering even though I hadn’t adjusted the volume. I feel like I missed a few things in his chapters due to not being able to make out what the narrator was saying. The female narrator was fantastic and really embodied Josie!

This is a great summer/vacation read! I had a lot of fun learning about sailing alongside Josie, Wyatt, and especially Jib—the dog with the best fashion sense on the ICW!

Thank you to Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Fiction Audio, Emma St. Clair, and NetGalley for the ALC! All opinions are my own.

⛵️If All Else Sails by Emma St Clair⛵️

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Audiobook 🎧

This book managed to have every single one of my favourite tropes 🥰

A very cute and very romcom book which I love! Josie was funny, relatable and I liked her inner monologue. Wyatt is a softie who has a habit of saying the wrong thing the wrong way.

Narrators were fabulous, especially Andy Ardnt. Dual narration is always more immersive than a singular narrator. The male narrators volume was sometimes a little weird but that may just be from the pre-release edition I have.

I was interested to see where some of Josie’s backstory (mainly her dislike for athletes) and how that would play out. Though I think it was well done it missed the mark for me.

Though I didn’t know this was a clean book (no sex scenes) going into it, I found it was still good as it was and it didn’t leave it feeling more YA than Adult. Great for anyone wanting a clean adult romcom 🩷

🩵 Tropes 🩵
Brothers best friend
Who did this to you?
One Bed
Comfort after Nightmares
Ice Hockey Romance
Hate to Love
Forced Proximity
Hurt x Comfort
Slow Burn

🩵 OUT NOW 🩵

I would like to thank NetGalley for this free copy of If All Else Sails audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own 🩷

Elementary school nurse Josie doesn't like athletes, especially the ones her brother Jacob manages. Double especially her brother's best friend and first client, hockey star Oscar the Grouch (okay his name is really Wyatt but he's still a capital-G Grouch). When Jacob tricks/bribes Josie into spending her summer break babysitting Wyatt in a run-down river shack after he sustains (of all the things) an off-season disc golf injury, the pair overcome years of insecurity and misunderstanding to navigate their way down the Intracoastal Waterway to Savannah and each other.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters are fairly realistic. Josie actually has character traits beyond her trauma and insecurities which some authors can't seem to accomplish. For a grumpy character, Wyatt never comes across as being unreasonable solely for the sake of the being grouchy; he's just a lovesick introverted mastiff puppy. This is probably one of the better he's-been-in-love-with-her-for-years plots I've read.

I wish the setting mattered more or that we explored the Virginia setting a bit more considering more than half the book was set not on the water (as the title and cover imply) but just in Kilmarnock. Richmond ended up mattering more than anything specific to the Northern Neck. It just felt like this could have been any town and any sailing course.

As always with a book about one-sided resentment Romance, there's a lot of refusal to communicate. It's not as obnoxious as it could be, so I won't harp on it but if you hate that kind of thing, you won't be happy here.

Overall, this is a pretty great sports romance without explicit content and probably the first book I'd put on a list if a parent asked for recommendations for teen-appropriate hockey Romance.


The audiobook has no issues beyond one or two mispronounced Kilmarnocks near the beginning before the narrators got used to saying the town name.

Adored this as per usual with this author! Such a fun story and I enjoyed every minute. The characters had heart and I loved seeing how they grew together. Will definitely recommend this to friends!

A sweet, summer read!

I would say this leans more YA than adult but I still enjoyed the story a lot! Wyatt was the perfect grumpy, protective male lead!

*Thank you to Thomas Nelson Fiction & NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my honest review.*

I couldn’t put this book down! I loved it from start to finish. I even stayed up just to finish it. We have grumpy/sunshine, Brother’s best friend/sister, sailing, miscommunication (done well), and an adorable dressed up dog. If you are a fan of the Aggie series, you’ll get some fun cameos. Narrators were perfect.

I received an arc from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.