The Christmas Throwaway

By: RJ Scott

Narrated by: Sean Crisden

Length: 3 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

Christmas is a time for giving - what do you do when no one gives a damn? For Zachary Weston Christmas means sleeping on a churchyard bench in the freezing snow with nothing better in his future. Thrown out of his home for being gay, he is left without money or, it seems, anywhere to go. Until a stranger shows him that some people do give a lot more than a damn. Ben Hamilton is a rookie cop in his small home town. He finds a young throwaway, fresh from the city, sleeping on a bench in the churchyard on a snowy Christmas Eve. Can he be the one to give Zachary his own Christmas miracle?

©2010, 2012 RJ Scott (P)2014 RJ Scott

Great Holiday Read to Warm the Heart

Audiobook Review September 2019:
Well, 5 years ago I had plans to re-read this one the following Christmas but unfortunately I did not, nor have I since. Good or bad I just have too many new holiday tales to devour every year so my faves get left behind. I didn't exactly do the Re-Read Christmas in July Edition that I had planned but I did decide to enjoy a few in September while I was enjoying a plethora of audiobooks. So The Christmas Throwaway was a definite re-visit in audio version this year and guess what? I enjoyed it even more now than I did then. This is definitely one of those stories that helps restore faith in human nature. Once again, Sean Crisden lends his voice to RJ Scott's words making them a perfect duo for bringing romance to life.

Original ebook review December 2014:
You can't ask for a better Christmas story than this. Strangers doing the right thing for a change. Letting yourself open your home to the stranger and your heart long enough to learn the true nature of said stranger. I can't imagine a better story to add to your holiday collection. Truth be told, I know that this one I'll be rereading next Christmas, if not before.

A new favorite

I loved it. I stayed up way too late because I had to know what happened. thank goodness for Christmas miracles.

A Delightful Heart Warming Tale

If you could sum up The Christmas Throwaway in three words, what would they be?

Inspirational, Touching, and Heart-melting

What other book might you compare The Christmas Throwaway to and why?

I have yet to read or hear of another story such as this, which actually what makes it stand on it's own, and it does it very well indeed.

Which scene was your favorite?

I have actually several favourite scenes, yet they all have to do with the the conversations between Zack and Ben. Those were so honest, raw, filled with genuine love and care... I could not have written them any better.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Just one act of kindness, can change lives...

Any additional comments?

There were a few paragraphs and phrases that were not in the book, yet were on the script used to make this audible book. I think it may be the version that the author intended to publish. However the additional paragraphs and phrases did not alter the story in any way whatsoever.

A Sweet Turn of Events...

This is a sweet story about a boy tossed out and down on his luck and his journey to self-discovery and his determination to change the course he is on. Zach meets Ben, Ben begins to feel that tingle within but withholds until Zach is ready for unconditional love. This is their journey to happiness and it is a sweet, horrific, loving, detestable, accepting story that everyone can gain something from. RJ Scott's style and Sean Crisden's narration was a delight...a must read/listen

as good as the ebook

The story is always 4 or 5 stars, because if I wouldn't like the story as ebook, I wouldn't listen to the audiobook.

The performance from the narrator is also very important for me. I can't listen to a lot, because my English as a non-native-speaker isn't so perfect to follow a whole story over hours, when the narrator speaks too fast or too sloppy. Normally I have to SEE the person, who is talking to me in English. It took me a little bit, to come into the narrator, but at the end, it worked. I only have to take a few breaks between. I'm just not yet finish with the book, but I listen enough to give a review.

PLEASE READ MY RATING SYSTEM!!!

To my ratings:

5* - very very good
it's like an A+

4* - very good and will be often re-listening
it's like an A

3* - it's more then a one-time-listening.
it's like a B

Aww I loved this!

Although there is off page violence, the book is super sweet and spans a couple years. I thought the chemistry was awesome and the patience displayed was so cool! Fabolous narration!!

enjoyed it

📖 Story comment: Sweet holiday story, good pace, likeable characters.
The story spans a couple of years - I really liked the way Ben's character was written, with understanding and patience for Zach and allowed him time to grow up.

What i'd call an easy listen - uncomplicated plot so it's good to have playing while doing something else. Easily goes on my annual holiday listen list.

🎧 Narrator comment: Sean Crisden is among my favorite narrators. His rhythm, changes in pitch and intonation, the cadence of voice in narration all work to bring the story to life. Each character had his own voice and I felt all the emotion of the story.

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📌 Where does it fall on my personal scale? 7
• 1 not my thing • 2 didn't like the narration • 3 didn't keep my attention • 4 was good, but once was enough • 5 enjoyed it • 6 will listen again if i'm in the mood for the narrator • 7 goes on the "re-listen" list [4⭐] • 8 kept me up past bed-time [4.5⭐] • 9 recommended to family/friends [4.75⭐] • 10 own it in multiple formats [5⭐] • 11 keep a copy with me at all times [5⭐]
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This Is A Real Life For Some People

Imagine you are a teen and kicked out to live or die on your own. Sad, but it happens, especially if the child is gay. I had a very soft spot for Zach in this story who had to endure pain from an abusive father then kicked out. Zach is one of the lucky ones: he was found by a kindhearted policeman while asleep on a bench in a church lot and taken in by a loving family for Christmas. The narrator does a very good job with this story. He doesn't overly dramatize nor play down the emotions. His voice, deep and comforting, is very soothing so we know things will turn out positively but I still cried and got very emotional to everything in this storyline. Well, done!

Super Sweet Holiday story - expert narration!

Zach’s father beats him and tries to “convert” him when he finds out he’s gay. He goes so far as to home school him to keep “evil influences” from him. On the eve of Zach’s 18th birthday, when his father intends to force him to enlist in the military, Zach runs away. He doesn’t have much money, doesn’t get very far, but he does end up in the right place at the right time.
Ben is a young, new cop, doing his job, rousting a vagrant on a park bench on Christmas Eve. Zach is scared and cold and unlikely to make it overnight without help, but Ben’s town is small and doesn’t offer much in terms of runaway support. So he offers Zach a place at his mom’s house for the night.
Well, one thing leads to another and Zach’s story gets told. Everyone falls in love with Zach and eventually all of Ben’s friends and family are enlisted to help Zach out and to encourage Zach to stay and begin a new life.
Zach doesn’t know what to do. His sister is still in his father’s clutches. Zach doesn’t feel right accepting all this charity, but now that he’s 18 he does has some choice in the matter of his life plan and he doesn’t want to go home.
Zach accepts the help, eventually retrieves his sister, and starts life over with the help of Ben and his family.
Ben, who is 6 years older than Zach, keeps his hands to himself for as long as he possibly can. But between his own attraction and Zach’s, by the time Zach is 19 the two have succumbed and begin a relationship that exceeds friendship.
**
This is a very packed short story. It doesn’t feel inadequate or rushed. Sure, it would have been nice to struggle along with Zach as he grows. Maybe the tension between he and Ben could have been stretched a bit more. But, overall, it fits nicely into its 73 pages.
Zach has a horrible life and by comparison Ben is living in a dream world. The hurdles the couple face are fairly small and the bulk of this story is really about Zach finding his own way out of a bad past into a bright future.
I loved that the author does give us a final scene between Zach and Ben that is quite satisfying!
I really enjoyed this little holiday book and give it 4.5 of 5 stars

Audio:
Sean Crisden is a favorite narrator of mine, and he does a nice job with this as well. There are no over-the-top voices but everyone is nicely differentiated. Sean’s voice allows you to sink into the story, know who is who without reading along, and his “emoting” is always appropriate.
I give the narration 4.5 of 5 stars as well.

Overall:

4 stars – I really liked it

Holliday Healing

Not going to post spoilers Although It made me so angry in parts. Read it first on Kindle but listening to it is even better I came up with what I would've said in parts. To bad there isn't a way to overlap slightly what their thoughts as they're saying something more cleaned up. I wish that I could help kids like Zack in real life. but I'm just as damaged as a abuser myself. I can give advice. Help that way Just wish there were more people in the world like Ben and his family who took both Zack and his Sister in. In the right way. Too often there are ones who are or were worse than their home to begin with. RJ want more from Zack and Ben Like in your Montana and Texas Series' A truly wonder Story bordering on C Dickens'!!!!