If All Else Sails

A Sweet Grumpy-Sunshine Rom-Com

De: Emma St. Clair

Narrado por: Andi Arndt, Patrick Zeller

USA TODAY BESTSELLER!

In this grumpy-sunshine romance, school nurse Josie and her brother's best friend—hockey player Wyatt Jacobs—are tricked into spending a summer together that's anything but smooth sailing.

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.

If you're a fan of closed-door romance with sizzling chemistry, laugh-out-loud banter, and relatable characters, this romance with enemies-to-lovers vibes is your perfect escape. Dive into the irresistible story of Wyatt and Josie as they navigate the rocky waters of their past, uncover hidden depths, and discover that sometimes love is found in the most unexpected places. With the delightful grumpy-sunshine dynamic and the swoon-worthy he-falls-first trope, If All Else Sails by USA TODAY bestselling author Emma St. Clair will keep you listening late into the night.

©2025 Emma St. Clair (P)2025 Thomas Nelson

A great book!

I really enjoyed this one. It’s sweet, cute, and has a fun dose of humor. This is a brother’s-best-friend, grumpy-sunshine, hockey rom-com. It’s not action-packed but rather focused on the character and relationship development, which has a smooth and steady build. Both MCs are likable and their relationship is sweet.

Jib was a fun side character, and I really liked the sailing aspect of it. The doubts and internal circling of the FMC stretched a little too long for my taste, but it wasn’t outrageously excessive.

This book is tied in with the Appies series, with both Eli and Van making a short appearance.

For the audiobook, both narrators are great EXCEPT the volume for the male narrator was all over the place, making it impossible to hear in parts and blaring in others.

Content:
There’s no foul language, sex, or violence. The romance is limited to mildly descriptive kisses. There is no mention of faith or God

Trigger warning - an attempted sexual assault on a female character (prior to story but described)

Such a sweet story!

This is one of the most enjoyable stories I’ve listened to lately. I’m a big Emma St. Clair fan, and this may be my favorite stories of hers. There was so much sweet humor, and I loved both characters. Andi Arndt’s narration was fantastic, as always (performance would have been five stars, if it was just her), but I had to keep adjusting the volume with the male narrator. Sometimes he almost whispered, sometimes he bellowed, and the voice didn’t seem right for the character.

Liked the love story and the fact that Wyatt loved Josie for a long time all the while she thought he hated her.

Dislike: the man’s voice narrating the story, the majority of the time he was whispering so low. I had to turn the volume up, the next thing I knew he was screaming at me, had to turn the volume way down, very annoying.

all a book needs is to written by Emma St. Clair !

As I finished the last couple chapters I had a constant smile. loved this book so much!

Cutest romance ever!!!!

I am a die hard Emma St Clair, and this book was instantly added to the list of books I love!! I loved all the funny moments, and the balance of serious and swoon. So dang good!!! Narrators were also so good!! Highly recommend!!

Funny

This was such a cute and funny book! It was hard to not at least smile while listening to it. Funny moments and hilarious lines-good stuff! I liked the references to the Appies since I read that whole series. I enjoyed Andi Arndt’s narration. Patrick Zeller was pretty good too, but I preferred the chapters when Andi was reading.

Set Sail!

Very good read with a some angst riddled misunderstanding, unpredictable twists, and hidden truths finally revealed.

Refreshing.

I loved Josie and Wyatt. Loved Josie and her brother too. I love a romance that isn’t filled with over the top sex. This was absolutely refreshing from what’s out there. I’d love more actual relationships with fully fleshed out characters like this. Often romance books like to get the sex and often leave a sad excuse for a story in its wake.

A happy Appies Fan

I have yet to be disappointed by a book by Emma St. Claire! The story was lovely and it was great getting to see the story of the arguably most-grumpy Appie play out in a beautiful, non-hockey setting.

The female narrator did a fabulous job and thankfully had most of the chapters. The frequent and abrupt volume changes of the male narrator made listening to the chapters read from Wyatt’s perspective challenging. If you find yourself yelling, “Stop yelling!!” at the male narrator frequently during those chapters, just know that he only has about 1/4 of the chapters in the book. Maybe less. That part was frustrating enough that part of me wished I’d read the book instead of listened, but I love the author and female narrator enough that it was still worth it!

Great fun!

Great grumpy hero, adorable school nurse heroine, sailboats, puppies, and crazy pigs… what could go wrong!?😂 Or so right!