What do you think?
Rate this book
Sookie Stackhouse #8.5
Gift Wrap
"Gift Wrap" takes place before "Dead And Gone" Sookie Stackhouse 9
Sookie is spending this Christmas on her own. But when when she finds a naked man on her property and an unexpected guest pays a visit, it just might be a Christmas that is unforgettable.
Sookie is spending this Christmas on her own. But when when she finds a naked man on her property and an unexpected guest pays a visit, it just might be a Christmas that is unforgettable.
1 pages, Audiobook
First published October 6, 2009
About the author
Charlaine Harris
285 books35.9k followersCharlaine Harris has been a published novelist for over thirty-five years. A native of the Mississippi Delta, she grew up in the middle of a cotton field. Charlaine lives in Texas now, and all of her children and grandchildren are within easy driving distance.
Though her early output consisted largely of ghost stories, by the time she hit college (Rhodes, in Memphis) Charlaine was writing poetry and plays. After holding down some low-level jobs, her husband Hal gave her the opportunity to stay home and write. The resulting two stand-alones were published by Houghton Mifflin. After a child-producing sabbatical, Charlaine latched on to the trend of series, and soon had her own traditional mystery books about a Georgia librarian, Aurora Teagarden. Her first Teagarden, Real Murders, garnered an Agatha nomination.
Soon Charlaine was looking for another challenge, and the result was the much darker Lily Bard series. The books, set in Shakespeare, Arkansas, feature a heroine who has survived a terrible attack and is learning to live with its consequences.
When Charlaine began to realize that neither of those series was ever going to set the literary world on fire, she regrouped and decided to write the book she’d always wanted to write. Not a traditional mystery, nor yet pure science fiction or romance, Dead Until Dark broke genre boundaries to appeal to a wide audience of people who simply enjoy a good adventure. Each subsequent book about Sookie Stackhouse, telepathic Louisiana barmaid and friend to vampires, werewolves, and various other odd creatures, was very successful in many languages.
The Harper Connelly books were written concurrently with the Sookie novels.
Following the end of Sookie's recorded adventures, Charlaine wrote the "Midnight, Texas" books, which have become a television series, also. The Aurora Teagarden books have been adapted by Hallmark Movie & Mystery.
Charlaine is a member of many professional organizations, an Episcopalian, and currently the lucky houseparent to two rescue dogs. She lives on a cliff overlooking the Brazos River.
Though her early output consisted largely of ghost stories, by the time she hit college (Rhodes, in Memphis) Charlaine was writing poetry and plays. After holding down some low-level jobs, her husband Hal gave her the opportunity to stay home and write. The resulting two stand-alones were published by Houghton Mifflin. After a child-producing sabbatical, Charlaine latched on to the trend of series, and soon had her own traditional mystery books about a Georgia librarian, Aurora Teagarden. Her first Teagarden, Real Murders, garnered an Agatha nomination.
Soon Charlaine was looking for another challenge, and the result was the much darker Lily Bard series. The books, set in Shakespeare, Arkansas, feature a heroine who has survived a terrible attack and is learning to live with its consequences.
When Charlaine began to realize that neither of those series was ever going to set the literary world on fire, she regrouped and decided to write the book she’d always wanted to write. Not a traditional mystery, nor yet pure science fiction or romance, Dead Until Dark broke genre boundaries to appeal to a wide audience of people who simply enjoy a good adventure. Each subsequent book about Sookie Stackhouse, telepathic Louisiana barmaid and friend to vampires, werewolves, and various other odd creatures, was very successful in many languages.
The Harper Connelly books were written concurrently with the Sookie novels.
Following the end of Sookie's recorded adventures, Charlaine wrote the "Midnight, Texas" books, which have become a television series, also. The Aurora Teagarden books have been adapted by Hallmark Movie & Mystery.
Charlaine is a member of many professional organizations, an Episcopalian, and currently the lucky houseparent to two rescue dogs. She lives on a cliff overlooking the Brazos River.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
March 7, 2021
Super cute and amusing Christmas short story. I wasn't expecting the surprise ending, but it was delightful.
February 21, 2017
Gift Wrap is a short story in the Sookie Stackhouse series by popular American author, Charlaine Harris. Alone on Christmas Eve and feeling sorry for herself, Sookie takes a walk in the woods behind her house, checking if there is any sign of what caused the noise that briefly woke her in the night. A naked, injured and definitely gorgeous man is not what she expected to find, but unable to ignore someone in need, Sookie takes him back to her house. The remainder of her evening is also quite unexpected, though hardly unwelcome. And the surprise guest who shares her Christmas Dinner is perhaps the most unexpected of all, but one who ensures that Sookie’s Christmas is indeed a happy one. A sweet and funny dose of Sookie.
June 26, 2014
I'm confused. I either like the story or am repulsed. Ugh.
February 26, 2021
16February2021
Read as part of the collection A Touch of Dead.
Read as part of the collection A Touch of Dead.
November 6, 2021
Final Rating: 2.5 Stars
January 8, 2015
I read this as part of the Wolfsbane and Mistletoe anthology.
I really enjoyed this novella, it was nice to revisit Sookie after taking such a long break from the series.
I really enjoyed this novella, it was nice to revisit Sookie after taking such a long break from the series.
August 16, 2021
Why? I could have lived my entire life without this story.
Read
October 17, 2023Gift Wrap
Sookie is alone on Christmas Eve. All her family and friends have other plans. She hears a noise in the woods and finds a naked man who says his name is Preston. By using her telepathy she can tell he’s a were. He says that his pack and the Monroe pack were given the green light by Jason to meet there as neutral territory. Sookie can’t believe he’d agree to having two fighting packs so close to her house. So, she takes him home, gets him cleans up, and tries to tend to his wounds. Only they’ve healed already. This makes her suspicious and she asks if he really is a were. After feeding him there’s a knock on the door. It’s the other leader of the Monroe pack. Preston says he refused a female from the other pack and he was offered up as punishment. Sookie hids him out in the vampire hidey hole. The other leader demands to search the house even after he has the back checked out. Sookie told him there was a man there that made a call, but he got picked up. The were searches the house but can’t find anything but seems to know he’s been had. He tells her if he finds out she’s lied he’ll be back. After this Nial shows up and Sookie is pleased by this and they spend Christmas together. Even though Nial doesn’t understand Christmas, he understands how important it is to humans. In the woods, Preston (who really is a fairy) meets up with the other pack leader and we find out Nial hired them because he knows Sookie was lone, likes to protect people, and hadn’t had sex in a while. Oh, I left out the most important part after the pack leader leaves, Preston kisses Sookie and they end up having sex. The next day she finds a note thanking for *EVERYTHING*. But part of the deal with Nial is that he’ll never see her again.
My Thoughts
Wow! I wish Nial was my grandfather.@ I mean talk about a Christmas present! But I think just for me personally Nial would have had to have him stick around A LOT longer than just a night. IJS. I did love tho that Nial also came through with a ton of presents AND he realized what the holiday meant to Sookie. I’m a bit like Nial in that way. I always try to get my family presents even though Chrstmas isn’t one of our holidays.
Rating: 5 I kind feel like this one was a cheat for October. Atleast the last one was about a vampire, but I guess it being a supernatural series will just have to be adequate enough.
July 22, 2018
It's Christmas eve and Sookie is all alone, when she decides to go out in her woods to investigate a 'ruckus' that woke her earlier. She finds a beat up Preston Pardloe, and takes him back to her home to treat his wounds and protect him from being attracted again. After protecting him, he seduces her all night long. He's gone when she wakes in the morning. Her behavior and all that happened the night before only becomes clear at the end of the story after a visit from her great-grandfather Niall Brigant. Okay read, I just can't warm up to Sookie.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 28, 2024
I would argue people unfamiliar with the series would find some concepts in this short story hard to understand.
I was able to listen to a sookie book for two hours before I dived into this one and it really helped get to know the character, setting and context of the story. However this short story was in a werewolf anthology and some readers wouldn’t know it was part of a wider universe.
Overall though a fun, charming and mysterious tale. The ending adds a true Christmas spirit and a feeling of warmth. Even though the gift is a bit mature and questionable
I was able to listen to a sookie book for two hours before I dived into this one and it really helped get to know the character, setting and context of the story. However this short story was in a werewolf anthology and some readers wouldn’t know it was part of a wider universe.
Overall though a fun, charming and mysterious tale. The ending adds a true Christmas spirit and a feeling of warmth. Even though the gift is a bit mature and questionable
February 5, 2024
No puedo determinar si me gustó o no el "regalo" que le hace su bisabuelo, es decir le ordena a Preston a tener sexo con su bisnieta (Sookie). Me dió un poco de cringe cuando se revela que todo es planeado.
Y me pregunto: ¿lo molieron a palos de verdad para que sea más realista todo?
¿Y por qué carajos el bisabuelo sabía si Sookie cogía o no?
Lo que sí sé que no me gustó, fue que le echara la culpa a Jason, que es un idiota egoísta de mierda, pero en esto es inocente.
Y me pregunto: ¿lo molieron a palos de verdad para que sea más realista todo?
¿Y por qué carajos el bisabuelo sabía si Sookie cogía o no?
Lo que sí sé que no me gustó, fue que le echara la culpa a Jason, que es un idiota egoísta de mierda, pero en esto es inocente.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 6, 2018
I liked this quite a lot. Nice holiday quick listen. Has Sookie sad during the holidays with no one to spend it with. She's trying to bolster her spirits. I like her willingness to help when she could easily ignore the signs of someone in need. She cares. She's strong. I like her.
I can recommend this series, author and novella.
I can recommend this series, author and novella.
April 28, 2024
Nothing wonderful, nothing awful… just kind of a meh addition to the Sookie novels.
It does further highlight the “differences” in the morals of fairies in her universe. I like that they don’t have the same standards of behavior and morality that we do. It keeps the fairies otherworldly, instead of just being humans with pointy ears or whatever the physical differences could be.
It does further highlight the “differences” in the morals of fairies in her universe. I like that they don’t have the same standards of behavior and morality that we do. It keeps the fairies otherworldly, instead of just being humans with pointy ears or whatever the physical differences could be.
November 19, 2018
Just the thought of a great-grandfather finding somebody for his great-granddaughter to have sex with on Christmas Eve because "YAY CHRISTMAS" no, ew, ugh, I can't even with this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 23, 2019
Kind of a weird little story. Sookie is spending Christmas by herself and her great grandfather gives her a strange gift. Weird.
Read
April 17, 2020I haven't read any of Charlaine Harris' work in awhile since she finished the Sookie Stackhouse series. This was a nice throwback.
October 5, 2020
This one was... weird. I didn't like what her great grandfather did for her in its entirety. It seemed a bit, pimp-ish. But dinner with her was a nice touch to end with.
March 10, 2022
Why Sookie, why?
U don’t have to take care of all the humans you find hurt🤦🏼♀️
Like, why would you?
And you Niall, you selfish bastard🙅🏼♀️
U don’t have to take care of all the humans you find hurt🤦🏼♀️
Like, why would you?
And you Niall, you selfish bastard🙅🏼♀️
December 15, 2022
Grandpa left Sookie a nice present to keep her company during the holidays. 4 stars.
April 19, 2023
Sexy and cute!
August 11, 2023
Fun little Sookie tidbit. About 40 minutes. Well done.
August 13, 2023
Sadly, this just made Sookie seem pathetic.
September 20, 2023
2.5
Somehow, I’ve already read this?
Love when your great-grandfather plots to get you laid
Somehow, I’ve already read this?
Love when your great-grandfather plots to get you laid
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 15, 2024
Sookie’s grandfather is so creepy!
February 20, 2024
Adoré esta historia corta🤭. Me encantó saber que Sookie disfrutó algo así antes de los hechos del noveno libro. Sólo por esto, adoro a Niall.
March 23, 2024
A good short story featuring Sookie at Christmas time.
This is the fifth story from “A touch of dead”
This is the fifth story from “A touch of dead”
March 25, 2024
I... don't know how to feel about this one. As others have said, it seems a bit out of character for sookie and a little creepy too. Definitely would have been better without the 'twist' at the end.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews