All Wrapped Up

De: C F White

Narrado por: Piers Ryman

Struggling actor Rick Thornton is on a downward spiral. Once a celebrated stage and screen star, scandal and heartbreak caused the roles to dry up. Persuaded by his agent to take a temp job as Santa at the local mall to get himself back in the game, he's hit rock bottom.

Budding actor Jayden Collins is fighting to fund his drama school education. With no family to turn to, he’s left alone in his university digs over the Christmas holidays. But he’s landed the best temp job ever—playing the elf at the local mall’s grotto, spreading joy and gifts to the children. Especially as he’ll be starring opposite the Rick Thornton.

But Rick is a cynical, bitter shell of his former self, drowning his sorrows in alcohol and Jayden soon learns the truth behind the saying: never meet your heroes. As complaints stack up, threatening to close the grotto, Jayden and Rick must join forces to keep it open. Along the way, they uncover more about each other than meets the eye.

Beneath the glittering wonderland of festivities in London, Jayden and Rick are drawn together by more than just necessity. In each other’s company, they find solace, understanding, and an unexpected spark of romance, giving them both a newfound hope for the future.

But when Christmas is all wrapped up, will Santa still need his playful little elf?

All Wrapped Up is an Age Gap, Grumpy/Sunshine, Found Family steamy standalone MM holiday romance featuring a washed-up actor spiralling out of control and a care-experienced happy-go-lucky drama student desperate to change his fate.

©2024 C F White (P)2024 C F White

Wonderful Christmas Story!

This is a spicy, punny treasure of a story about a washed- up actor that is forced to take a Santa gig to keep his agent. Along the way, he met a tantalizing elf that helped him to relearn the joy of Christmas! CF White is a treasure, and this book is a treat for any time of year!

I adored Jayden and Rick!

Their story, despite both their heavy and quite difficult backgrounds is super sweet and joyful, and it put me right into the festive mood. Yes, they both have their issues holding them back for a bit, but in the end, they both want to grab the other with both hands and never let go.
I love C F White’s writing, she’s one of my one-click authors.
Piers Ryman’s performance is outstanding (as usual). For me, he is the Rick Thornton of audiobooks!

This is the first book I’ve read from C.F. White and it surley won’t be the last.

⭐️ 4,5/5
🌶️ 3/5 (moderate steam)

All Wrapped Up is an age-gap festive romance between struggling actor Rick Thornton and drama student Jayden Collins, who land a gig playing Santa and his Elf at a local mall.

The writing in this book is genuinely excellent — such a breath of fresh air after DNFing two books in a row due to bad writing. White has crafted a really well made novel that pulls on your heartstrings!

Jayden and Rick have a grumpy/sunshine dynamic that I really enjoyed. Rick is bitter, drinking his sorrows away, while Jayden is very cheerful and witty. There are so many elf and santa jokes in this book that I found hilarious and even laughed out loud a couple of times!

”I am just a bit Santa-mental”

The spicy scenes were really well written. I enjoyed how important consent was to Rick. It wasn’t just sex, they made love, and it was so nice seeing how cared for Jayden felt.

Rick’s character growth was really satisfying to see and so sweet too see how much he cares for Jayden. Rick’s parents were so sweet as well.

I haven’t really watched any hallmark christmas movies but I feel like this book was really giving me those vibes in the best way possible! It was very cozy and heartwarming and a perfect read during christmas time.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did an amazing job! I really enjoyed him having an authentic (at least to me) yorkshire and english accents. His narration elevated these characters even further and it was just a great audiobook experience!

Thank you GRR for giving me the audiobook to review!

(very minor spoiler but i was kicking my legs when we found out that Jayden had no money but still bought Rick coffee)

A fun and spicy narration that brings holiday joy

Audio. Holiday standalone. Age gap. Coworkers. Grumpy/sunshine. Hurt/comfort. Dual POV.

Wrongfully disgraced actor Rick takes on a job as a mall santa never expecting the charming, younger man playing his elf would be so hard to resist. Jayden dreams of acting and is still trying to overcome his rough childhood and poor circumstances, so coaxing a grumpy (and sexy) Santa into spreading holiday cheer is no hardship, but falling for Rick may bring a broken heart instead of happiness for the holidays.

An entertaining holiday story that starts out pretty dreary and depressing but slowly promises glimpses of hope, joy, happiness and love. Jayden was a wonderfully positive character given his hard background and really brings Rick to see all the luck he has had and to appreciate them. There are funny elf puns, references to Wham’s Last Christmas song, and two men that find lust and love during a holiday that could have left them lonely but instead brings them a chance at something special.

Amazing narration that covered different accents, emotional expressions and passionate moments well, really loved this audio. 4.5 rounded up

"Does Santa land on the roof because he likes it on top?"

This is the first book I've read or listened to by C F White. The narrator, Piers Ryman, also was new to me and I must say he did a fantastic job with the book.

I had no clue what to expect. This book was so emotional and had me on edge throughout. I thought it was going to be a cute little fluffy Christmas story, boy was I wrong. The cover for the book was so playful, I made a few assumptions. I must say I was pleasantly surprised with the story that I listened to. And no, I didn't read the book blurb I'm just not a book blurb kind of person. I saw that flirty Christmas cover and thought, "I want to read and/or listen to that".

Age gap 15+ years, a career in the dumps, a college student just barely getting by, hurt/comfort, so much hurt with little comfort, a cruel self-centered ex, opposites attract, found family

Enjoyable listen

This was an enjoyable listen. Santa and an Elf meet at a gig and it goes from there! I really enjoyed the epilogue were revenge was served cold!

Grumpy Santa and Elf Puns!

This was adorably fun on audible! Piers Ryman's accents are glorious and the way he brought across the elf jokes was perfection. It was a happy and lively listen even if we were dealing with grumpy Santa Rick! Jayden's young exuberance balance that all out. I enjoyed that we as listener's know how they pretty immediately feel about each other, but we have to wait for them both to admit it out loud! A lot of sweet with just the right about of spice here!

I loved it!

I enjoyed this story when I read it with my eyes but Piers Ryman took it to a whole new level with his excellent audio performance. Two lonely characters find love at Christmas. This is a great story for any time of year. ❤️

Cute holiday story with some backstory

I appreciated that this wasn’t all fluff and holiday cheer. There were some serious topics covered, I just wish that there had been a little more time spent on the growth through these serious topics. A lot of them felt swept under the rug with a simple apology (like Rick and the trash bag?) but otherwise it was a good holiday read

Fabulously Charming & Captivating➞Story & Listen🎧

I immensely enjoyed this wonderful story, and I am not sure how, but it is my first book by C.F. White, and she is now on my radar, so it won’t be my last. I adored the two lead characters, Rick Thornton, a down-on-his luck out of work actor, and a bona fide grump, through and through, and then we have Jayden Collins, a college student barely getting by and making ends meet, but full of cheer and sunshine, younger and his complete opposite, or so you would think. Rick needs a job just to keep himself busy and to stop wallowing in his grief and bitterness over what he lost, basically top billing and his acting career. The best his agent could find was a gig playing mall Santa Claus and meeting with kids, probably his hardest acting gig since he needs to act jolly, when he is anything but. Jayden enjoyed being an elf and greeting the children, and as a theater major, it thrilled him to meet and be working with Rick Thornton, except he turned out to be a disappointment at first. Rick finds there is something about Jayden that brings out the good in him, and despite their age difference, with Rick being much older, they really clicked. There is a nice depth to these characters, and I enjoyed watching them get to know each other and learning more about them, their pasts, which I found intriguing, especially Jayden and what made them into the people they were. There is never a dull moment in this book, and I loved how it all played out, with the perfect balance of drama, angst, heartwarming moments, heartfelt emotions and a slow burn, but so worth the wait romance. C.F. White, thank you for this fabulously captivating story, the emotional rollercoaster ride and yay to a found family.

🎧📚🎧 Piers Ryman did a fabulous job bringing these characters to life, giving each their own distinct sound, making it easy to follow along and tell who was who. He was spot-on with his portrayal of the characters, embodied their personalities completely and was believable in each role. Setting the ideal tone for the story, he conveys all his characters’ emotions in his performance, has you feel each one. Ryman is a versatile voice artist and a captivating storyteller whose performance keeps you hooked the entire time.