If All Else Sails

In this enemies-to-lovers romance, school nurse Josie agrees to help her brother’s best friend, hockey player Wyatt, recover from his knee injury . . . oh, and sail down the intercoastal waterway. What could go wrong?

When elementary school nurse Josie arrives to meet her brother for their not-quite-annual summer trip, instead of finding Jacob, she discovers she has been duped. Jacob can’t take off work for a trip and instead is calling in a huge favor from Josie: helping his best friend recover from surgery. Wyatt is the perpetual grump, a famous hockey player Josie has never particularly liked, and a terrible patient. His foot is in bad shape, but nowhere near as bad as his surly attitude.

Begrudgingly, Josie agrees to stay for a week that becomes two. But when she finds out that Wyatt’s injury ruined his plans to sail down the east coast on the Intracoastal Waterway, Josie surprises them both by agreeing to be his second set of hands.

Smooth sailing is nowhere to be found, and Wyatt is one cranky captain. With one disaster after another slowing their progress, Josie questions if they’ll even 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 and perhaps herself as well.

My Review:

My first Emma St. Clair book and it definitely won’t be my last. I’ve heard her name bandied about on social media but clearly I wasn’t taking all the banter seriously enough. Now I’m on a mission to read her entire backlist! Because this author knows how write a rom/com. Pacing perfection and the comedy beats are brilliantly executed. I howled with laughter so many times. (The meet-cute was beyond hysterical!) But there’s also a lot of heart and solid ‘real life’ stuff too and that anchors the story, making it both believable and relatable.

So, enemies to more, with sparks flying and electrical undercurrents sizzling from the very beginning. Love the snappy inner dialogue of our heroine and the more contemplative (though occasionally agitated) thoughts of our hero. Wyatt and Josie are made for each other, they just don’t know it…yet.

And what fun to go along on that journey of discovery with them. He’s a tad (understatement) cranky to her cheery (mostly) glass half full outlook. Of course they clash. And they have a back story – not a romantic one – but they’ve known each other for years courtesy of Josie’s brother who is also Wyatt’s best friend. So, lots of favourite romantic tropes here that made me absolutely giddy with bibliophile delight.

‘If All Else Sails’ is destined to be a blockbuster summer read (it releases on August 5, 2025.) Definitely a rom/com to look forward to with great anticipation.

I really enjoyed listening to the audio edition courtesy of Thomas Nelson, Zondervan Fiction Audio and Net Galley. This one is a dual narration which was highly entertaining. Andi Arndt and Patrick Zeller portrayed Josie and Wyatt’s personalties to perfection. Increased by ‘reading’ pleasure and really brought the whole story to life for me.

20 thoughts on “If All Else Sails”

  1. I saw this on NetGalley & was curious since I haven’t read any of Emma St. Clair’s books either. Although I have heard of her. Cover is cute & the colors caught my eye. Thanks for the glowing recommendation & have a great weekend, Kav!

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  2. IF ALL ELSE SAILS sounds like the perfect book to settle down for a wonderful read with. I do so love the stories of enemies to more. It’s kind of like hubby and me who sure didn’t take a liking to the first go round. 🙂 I’m also do a bit of laughter in my life. Can’t wait for the opportunity to read this one and to also explore a new to me to author too. Thank you for your review and for bringing this book/author to our attention.

    2clowns at arkansas dot net

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  7. This sounds like a fun book–great for a summer read! Thanks for the lovely review, Kav! It’s going on my wish list.

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