Title: The Christmas Throwaway
Author: R.J. Scott
Publisher: Silver Publishing
Buy Link: Amazon
Genre: Contemporary M/M
Length: Novella (33.5 K Words)
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
**This review contains what could be considered spoilers**
Summary Review: A beautiful “feel good” story about falling in love at Christmas with the man who made all of your dreams come true.
THE BLURB
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?
THE REVIEW
Zach Weston was hiding from the law and everyone else on Christmas Eve by trying to sleep on a park bench in a churchyard where he didn’t think he would be found. He was frozen because the only clothes he had on were jeans and a thin jacket. He had stolen an even thinner blanket from Goodwill to ward off the chill of the winter evening, and was dreaming of a warm bed when he was rudely awakened by a cop who told him to move on. Since he had no address and couldn’t give a satisfactory account of why he was in the churchyard the cop, Ben Hamilton, demanded to know his age. When he found out that Zach was not yet eighteen, had been kicked out of his home and had no money, he decided to take Zach home to his mother’s house to spend the night. Zach had no choice as he could not escape from Ben in his current weakened and frozen state – it was either go to his house or go to jail, but he was very suspicious of this seemingly kind stranger who could be taking him to the no-tell motel. His experience over the last few days had taught him to trust no one and it was with a great deal of reluctance that he went with Ben.
When they arrived at the house Ben’s mother welcomed the stranger who was almost falling down, he was so weak from hunger as well as frozen. She fed him after he was cleaned up and gave him a a change of clothing and his own room, as most of Ben’s siblings had left home. All the while Zach was waiting for the next shoe to drop, but to his amazement their hospitality was genuine. The next morning, Christmas Day, Ben’s extended family arrived to celebrate the holiday and they even managed to put together a few presents for him which were really a ‘care’ package since he didn’t have anything. For a couple of days he kept waiting to be kicked out of paradise but nothing happened, except he continued to be enveloped in the warmth of Ben’s family. His other life was a thing of the past and if he had one major regret it was that his sister Rebecca was not there with him. He only remembered his abusive father when he looked at the wounds on his body from his latest and previous beatings. Could this Christmas miracle turn his life around?
I loved The Christmas Throwaway for many reasons, but mainly because of the care with which the author, R.J. Scott, treated Zach’s and Ben’s romance and their character development. She could have rushed them into a relationship immediately after Zach turned 18 because he was starting to care for Ben and his hormones were on overdrive. Ben was equally smitten and to throw two horny young men together without letting them “go all the way” I thought was cruel and inhuman punishment. 🙂 However, Zach first of all had some physical injuries to heal which were related to the beatings he took from his father, as well as a lot of emotional trauma to overcome. He had been taken out of regular school at 14 and home schooled when his father found out he was gay, so that he would be away from all the ‘bad influences that made him gay.’ When that didn’t work and the terrible beatings didn’t either he was sent away regularly to re-orientation camps run by his father’s ex-army buddies. These places, like similar camps, existed for the sole purpose of changing the behaviour of gays to make them straight.
For four years Zach had been subjected to this form of reparative therapy so he had to regain his sense of self worth. He was so fragile that I felt as if he would break at any time, but the author ensured that his character was treated with love by Ben and his extended family so that he could overcome the years of mental and physical abuse by his own family. That is not to say he was weak, on the contrary as he gained confidence his character growth was extraordinary. As for Ben he was almost like a big brother to Zach initially because he felt he was too old for him at 26, and as a police officer his job was to take care of his physical health and not impose his own sexual feelings on someone he considered too young to know what he wanted. However he soon realized that Zach knew exactly what he wanted.
All of the characters were well drawn, from members of Ben’s extended family to his colleagues at the police station, and I thought that Zach’s father came to a fitting end.
The Christmas Throwaway touched me, not because Zach was homeless at 17 and had been thrown out of his home by his father one week before Christmas, but his character was so vulnerable and innocent that it would take a much harder heart than mine to resist him. However, this book is a dichotomy. It’s so sweet in some parts but quite harsh and realistic in others. Two years after they met the ending was everything I could have hoped for. There is sex but it’s not at the level that some readers are accustomed to, however I would urge you to read Zach’s and Ben’s beautiful story. Definitely recommended.
I loved this book. Who knew ugly Christmas sweaters could be so handy? lol
Hi Luci
I couldn’t believe it either. 🙂 This is a terrific book and I hope that other readers have an opportunity to enjoy it as well.
This sounds so good! I’m definitely going to add it to my list.
You should Cole – I really enjoyed it and the characters. One of the readers recommended that I get it so I acted on his rec. Most of the time that’s how I know about books not offered by the larger publishing houses. 🙂
This sounds like a lot of story in a novella; it must be really well-written. Nice recommendation. Thanks!
Patty I don’t have it in PDF since I bought the Kindle version so I don’t know the actual page count. However it’s 33.5K words which is almost a novel at some publishers. I think you will really like the story and the characters.
This sounds great! I am sure no one will be surprised I am adding it to my TBB list…..and I have a feeling it will be bought quickly! Thanks for the rec I can’t wait to read it 🙂
Elaine
Some day you will have to tell me the size of your TBR and TBB. 🙂
However I do recommend The Christmas Throwaway and you should add it soon because I think you’ll really like it.
Hi Wave! So, I bought this last night, read it and absolutely fell in love with both Zack and Ben. I see that RJ posted here there is a sequel in the works, which pleases me to no end….I really would like to see their relationship evolve and am curious to learn more about Zack’s recovery and how Ben helps him continue to heal. Great characters and a great story!
*psst* the TBB list is at about 150, and the TBR list is at about 70…but I know they are all worth the wait, as most of both lists came from this site 😉
I’m so glad that you enjoyed Ben’s and Zack’s story. I love these guys. If you bought the PDF version could you please tell me how many pages it is? I insert the page coount in my reviews when that information is available and the downside of the Kindle is that there’s no page count.
Your lists are close to mine and I review these books. lol Shame!!! 🙂
Sounds like a lovely story. Great review, Wave! 🙂
Thanks Lily. I really thought the characterizations were well done and it’s a real “feel good” story.
I also enjoyed this one. I liked it enough to buy the other two novels by this author.
Hi JW
You’re ahead of me b/c I haven’t bought any of her other books. Please email me to let me know how you enjoyed them and if they are really good I’ll get them. 🙂 Thank you.
Will do. It may be a while before i get to them w/the holidays, etc, but I will let you know!
I loved this story! There is just something about Zach, and Ben to some extent, that grabs hold and doesn’t let go. Great review, Wave! I hope others try it as well.
Hi Teresa
As I mentioned a few comments earlier, Don, a reader, recommended this book to me and he spoke so highly of it that I had to get it.
These two, especially Zach, grabbed at my heart. 🙂
I’m the last one here but I have not figured out yet what the time difference is.
I agree with Wave. It’s a sweet, heart-warming story, the writing flows without hitches (even if the problem with Zach’s sister seemed, to me, a little forced). It left me with the hope that next Christmas Eve some hunky cop will found me and will take me home with him (sigh).
I must thank Ethan for bringing me here; yes, you guessed well, I’m another victim of him.
Hi Aline
I’m so glad you liked the story. It’s so sweet in some parts but quite harsh and realistic in others.
Inserting the sister is a bit of a distraction but I understand the rationale behind it. She was the catalyst who gave the story the reason for the father’s fate.
I guess I should thank Ethan, yet again. I won’t let him know. 🙂
Wow… thank you so much for this. I am so totally blown away that you enjoyed and rated so highly. I really loved writing Zach and Ben, and I know Don want’s me to revisit them with a sequel. This is now in the pipeline…
Hugs Rj x
Hi R.J.
The praise was well deserved. Your characters Zach and Ben grew on me and I loved them.
Please write me if you ever do write a sequel since I don’t get to Silver Publishing as often as I would like.
Hi Wave, glad you liked the book. Two others that R.J. Scott has written are titled Oracle, which was great, and Moments which was also very good.
Thanks again for pointing me in the direction of The Christmas Throwaway or I might have missed it altogether.
I will definitely pick up the other books by RJ you mention but have no idea when I’ll be able to review them b/c my TBR is huge right now, especially with the addition of all the Christmas and other holiday stories.
I think this sounds wonderful, please count me in for a chance.
Lisa
This is not a “free” book. It’s a review. 🙂
I enjoyed this story immensely. Instantly fell in love with Zach and Ben – and RJ’s writing style in general. I plan on checking out RJ’s other published titles and keeping an eye out for future works (nice to see that a sequel to The Christmas Throwaway is already in the works, I look forward too seeing the growth of these characters and their relationship.)
Need to comment on the gorgeous cover art -big thumbs up to Reese Dante.
Hi Dianne
I agree with you on the cover art – so well done. I’m really looking forward to the sequel to see how Zach grows up and how his relationship with Bern evolves. What I really liked was that another reader pointed me in the direction of this book. 🙂 Don did a great job of persuadinjg me despite my massive TBR. Lol
hello,
I have just read this book and I liked it(although I found it too short); do you know if there is a sequel to it? I can buy books from amazon, but they don’t have the most recent; I have to wait several months.
thank you for your reply,
mona