Synopsis

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.

(via Amazon)

Review

This is my first book from Emma St. Clair I have read, and the second book in one month that centers on sailing. That was not on purpose, it is just funny how things work out. I will say, I was able to follow along with the boat lingo a lot easier in this book, probably due to Josie being a bit of a goober about it. Anyways, this book is a dual-POV contemporary romance that follows Josie and Wyatt on their enemies-to-lovers/brothers best friend love story. Personally, I did find myself a bit disappointed in how the differing POVs were written. Instead of it being an even split, the majority of the book is through Josie’s eyes, with only a few chapters being Wyatt’s perspective. I do not know if Emma wrote it that way because we are led to believe Wyatt fell first for Josie, or what but I wanted more of Wyatt’s inner thoughts for sure.

The majority of the book takes place in Wyatt’s cabin in Virginia, before both characters go on their sailing trip down along the eastern US coast, to Georgia. Being somebody who has only gone so far east as Louisiana, I have craved driving up along the eastern coastline myself, so getting to experience that in a sailboat, was definitely a treat. Wyatt’s quaint and slightly dilapidated cabin along the lake, brought me back to my grandparent’s house, and some of my husband’s family that also have docks. I enjoyed the isolated nature of the cabin, as well as the forced proximity of the cramped lounges of the boat itself. The characters do get off and dock from time to time, but we do not get too much else as far as scenery is concerned.

Josie is the younger sister of Wyatt’s friend/agent. She was initially heading to the cottage due to her brother lying about their semi-yearly sibling trip. Alas, he had ulterior motives for Josie and Wyatt. Understandably, Josie is upset at being manipulated but she decides to stay back, helping take care of Wyatt as he is still dealing with his foot injury. Being a school nurse, her personality is taking care of people, a very strong caretaking and motherly instinct for sure. Her wariness of Wyatt due to her presumed negative past interactions with him, and a traumatic event involving one of her brother’s ex-jock friends, is constantly sparring with her overwhelming desire and need to dote and nurture him. As she begins lowering her walls, she begins to realize the misunderstandings she has carried with her all these years, may be less rooted in reality than she originally believed. As she begins facing her true feelings for Wyatt, she in turn begins stressing over how they could make their relationship work. After all, how could a school nurse and professional hockey player pan out? She has the biggest character development in this book, particularly once she realizes how wrong she had labeled her previous interactions with Wyatt.

Wyatt is the grumpy rich and famous hockey player, as well as the main male romantic lead in this book. As he was also a victim of the lies told by Josie’s brother, he is not expecting Josie to show up at his doorstep. This surprise led to a series of hilarious events involving some police officers and a hot patrol car. In the beginning of the book, I was questioning how Wyatt truly felt for Josie as his walls were much higher and thicker than hers. He was also still processing the death of his uncle, which made his bleak manner all the more understandable. As he gets used to Josie being in his cabin, he begins to take better care of himself and his property. Eventually he feels comfortable enough around Josie that he invites her on the boat trip he was supposed to have taken with his uncle, but now he plans on scattering his ashes along the route. Surprisingly, he was more open and honest with his emotions than Josie was. As it appears to be, his rough exterior he puts out in the world is in part due to some of his own family issues he has been hiding, even before his uncle’s death. He begins to show incredible patience with Josie as he gives her plenty of space to figure out her own feelings towards him. He is a classic example of a respectful jock character who is a sucker for the one who holds his heart.

Josie and Wyatt’s relationship was slow burn, stoked by forced close proximity to each other for weeks spanning the book. While I can understand their assumptions, I was getting a tad annoyed by all the inner monologues of questioning every little detail and expression in their past. You are both adults, why can we ever not just have an honest sit-down conversation from the beginning to clear this all up sooner rather than later? I will say, the tension between these two was tangible, leading up to some swoon worthy kisses and a quite understandable conclusion to the book for them.

All in all, I feel as though ‘If All Else Sails’ is another great mid-tiered romance. If you enjoy grumpy jocks with bubbly nurses, with some misunderstood history, I recommend this book to you. Being in the throes of Winter, it was good to read a book set within the humidity and activities of summer.