Bookish Buys: If All Else Sails by Emma St. Clair
Bookish Buys
Inspired by If All Else Sails by Emma St. Clair
Wearing a breezy blue sundress with brown sandals, an anchor bracelet glinting at your wrist, and knowing there’s a yellow bikini (just like that adorable dog on the cover!) waiting underneath for an impromptu swim? That’s not just summer style—it’s Josie energy straight from If All Else Sails by Emma St. Clair. It’s the outfit that says: “I might have been tricked into sharing a rundown cottage with my sworn enemy, but I’m going to do it on my terms.”
The blue sundress is the perfect blend of casual and capable—ideal for dragging a grumpy hockey player to physical therapy or yelling at him across the deck of a sailboat. Brown sandals? Sturdy enough for the Northern Neck’s rocky paths but cute enough to remind Wyatt you’re more than his best friend’s bossy sister. That anchor bracelet is your nod to your surprise turn as first mate—because while you didn’t sign up to sail the Intracoastal Waterway, you’re damn well going to look good doing it.
And let’s not forget the yellow bikini and the life preserver-inspired inner tube. Whether you’re diving in to cool off after another tense fight (or near-kiss), or just floating lazily, refusing to rise to Wyatt’s bait, it’s the part of your outfit that says you’re willing to take risks—even if it means seeing what’s under his surly exterior.
This whole look isn’t just about style. It’s about attitude. It says you’re the woman who won’t back down from an argument, who will risk the messy honesty of close quarters, and who might even be brave enough to admit when she was wrong. It’s perfect for anyone who’s ready to embrace the adventure—even if it means navigating choppy emotional waters along the way.
Because like Josie, you’re not just trying to survive an unexpected summer with your sworn enemy. You’re learning to understand him. To understand yourself. And maybe—even if you’ll never admit it out loud—to see that smooth sailing is overrated when real connection is on the line.
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Bookish Buys: If All Else Sails by Emma St. Clair
About If All Else Sails by Emma St. Clair:
In this enemies-to-lovers 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.
