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All Wrapped Up

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All Wrapped Up

By: C F White
Narrated by: Piers Ryman
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About this listen

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
Contemporary Literature & Fiction Romance Winter Christmas Heartfelt Feel-Good Celebrity
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Listener received this title free

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.

Fabulously Charming & Captivating➞Story & Listen🎧

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Listener received this title free

Rick, an actor, is down on his luck and ends up with a “performance” he never expected to have his life at such a low point. There he meets Jayden, a starting actor with the most positive outlook imaginable.

It is a perfect age gap, positive, negative personality story. They face a situation that forces them to work together. This is a great Christmas story.

The narration by Piers Ryman fit these characters perfectly.

Great Christmas Story

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Listener received this title free

I can't believe I very nearly didn't pick this book up.
What a joy. Elf themed puns galore. And what turns out to be the most glorious age gap romance. For me, the 'mystery' behind what had tanked Rick's career was tenuous at best, and the woman's reaction was completely OTT, but by that point, I didn't care, I was 100% behind the relationship between Rick and Jaden.
I listen to the audio. The narrator did a brilliant job. It's my first listen by them but I'll definitely check out more.

* age gap
* actors
* grumpyxsunshine

Age gap Christmas romance with plenty of puns

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Listener received this title free

Audiobook - excellent narration and great enthusiasm at the right moments.
Story - not a light-hearted Christmas story at all, but all the more satisfying the HEA because of it. Both Rick and Jayden struggled with abandonment issues, although from extremely different backgrounds. Their well-intentioned communication gaps at the start felt very realistic. I don't think I've ever read so many elf puns and dirty Santa jokes, but they added a good balance of humour in between the darker topics.

excellent

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Listener received this title free

Just whoa 😳! What a great read from CF White, Dream A Little Dream is quite a chilling read, where the MC's idyllic image of his family shatters, revealing a horrifying truth lurking beneath the surface.

Aaron, a university student struggles, as he grapples with the devastating implications of his parents' actions, for his own identity. This is the theme of the story throughout, just how innocent is Aaron? From the beginning of the story, it's obvious that he is a badly troubled young man, and has you wondering what he's really capable of. His back story really did make me feel for him, he's young, beautiful, but so scarred mentally, always wondering, 'what if ?'

I really liked Kenny for Aaron, even though he has his own problems. I felt that they were good for each other. Aaron 'acts out' throughout the story, but deep down he's hurting badly. Kenny recognises this, and though the feelings they have for one another are strong, they aren't resolved in this book. I can't wait to read the next book in the series, to see how things develop between them.

Great story, excellent narration x

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