Kirjahaku

From cowboys to clergy, barrooms to classrooms, lovers to sex buddies, O'Reilly's Variety Pack has a little bit of everything for everyone: * Will spends a drunken night celebrating his recent divorce only to wake the next morning to a stranger who claims to be his new lover. * Just rescued from his own sin of homosexuality, Randal is called to minister to gay men but finds temptation difficult to resist. * On a trip to Italy, Karl meets the man of his dreams ... and Michelangelo's. * School teacher Patrick Chapel stays late after the students are gone to indulge in fantasies he harbors about the sexy janitor. * Another birthday seems doomed to be spent alone, until Bobby meets two traveling salesmen looking for a threesome to pass their evening. * The handsome loner at Frank's Place isn't Danny's type, but it doesn't take long before Danny changes his mind. * Derrick doesn't believe in love at first sight until he falls for Cooper. He also doesn't believe in ghosts...until he finds himself haunting his lover, unable to cross to the other side. Join in the action with Al, Larry, Doug, Antonio, Ray, and a host of others who romp through the pages of Terry O'Reilly's Variety Pack in search of erotic encounters, one night stands, and lasting love between men.

The host of CBC Radio's Under the Influence, Terry O'Reilly, uncovers the surprising power of screwing upThe Incredible Hulk was originally supposed to be grey, but a printing glitch led to the superhero's iconic green colour. NHL hall-of-famer Serge Savard's hockey career nearly ended prematurely, not because of an injury, but because of an oversight. And the invention of a beloved treat, the Popsicle, began with a simple mistake.In his fascinating and meticulously researched new book, Terry O'Reilly recounts how some of the biggest breakthroughs and best-loved products originated with a mistake. Some people's "mistakes" led to dramatic life changes--losing their jobs, their companies and often their credibility--only for them to discover new opportunities on the other shore. Other people's mistakes seemed minor, almost insignificant--and yet they unexpectedly resulted in a famous brand, a legendary band or a groundbreaking work of art. And in a few instances, a mistake actually saved lives. The fear of failing often holds us back. My Best Mistake will change the way you think about screwing up. It will encourage you to accept mistakes and embrace the obstacles that may arise from these errors, leading you to unexpected breakthroughs and silver linings of your own.

New from the bestselling author and host of CBC Radio's Under the Influence In Terry's bestselling book, My Best Mistake, he uncovers the surprising power of screwing up. Now, he turns his incredible eye to the mavericks who go "against the grain" in their work to see what makes them tick and to explore what lessons we can learn from them. People who chose to ignore conventional wisdom, found or invented a better way, questioned the status quo at great sacrifice and pushed for change against all odds. Some were drummed out of their careers for it but in the end were proven right (Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis). Some were celebrated but had to fight every inch of the way (Norman Lear). Some re-invented their industry but preferred to stay an outsider (Tom Laughlin--aka Billy Jack). Some confounded their competitors with ingenious strategies (NHL coach Roger Neilson). One even saved millions of people around the world, but was humiliated, demoted, and dismissed for her entire career (Dr. Katalin Karik --co-creator of the COVID vaccine). All persistent visionaries, each covered in battle scars.

Adam Davis isn't gay He can't be -- he's a super star NFL quarterback and gay men don't survive in the NFL. But along comes Brendan Fletcher, an outstanding, Super Bowl-winning linebacker who awakens something in Adam, something Adam hadn't known was there. And now it's wakened, the quarterback will never be the same. Despite the threat to their careers and their personal safety, Adam and Brendan find themselves irresistibly drawn to each other, starting something that grows from gratification of mutual needs to something more. Can these men of strength and power on the gridiron overcome the homophobia of their profession? Can they make what they have found stand for something more important than the fame and fortune of playing NFL football or even becoming Super Bowl champions?

Before the advent of the Internet, men looking to make sexual contact with other men would cruise rest stops, shopping malls, and parks. There they often left messages on the walls of restrooms hoping to meet someone of like interest. Alan Daniels, a young Vietnam veteran, has recently been questioning his sexuality. He takes a chance and writes a note in the john of his local municipal park. Handsome, sensual Tom Clarkson, a college student going to school mainly to avoid the draft, is intrigued by a new message he finds in the park bathroom. Is Tom destined to spend another night indulging in meaningless sex, or could the note lead to something more? Only one way to find out ...

David Bennett is a widower. He had a wonderful relationship with his wife, but now she's gone. He decides he's done with relationships -- he has no sex drive and no interest in life in general. Andy Barnes is a homeless man who often stands at the end of an exit ramp begging for help. For some unfathomable reason, David is always tempted to pick him up on his way home. One wretched night in December, fate intervenes and David finds himself bringing the man home and into his life. Much to his surprise, he begins to fall in love with this down and out young man. As love returns, David realizes he does have a reason to go on with life after all. Over the next few years, the two face life as a partnered gay couple with humor and courage. Each year brings with it happiness, tragedy, joy, and sorrow; the stuff life is made of. Along the way, the love the two share for each other helps them to overcome all obstacles and face all challenges.

Lee Masters, a handsome young cowboy, is fired from his cattle drive when his sexual orientation is discovered. Frustrated and angry, he rides to a mountain lake where he meets a Dakota native named Tatanka, who is also exiled from his tribe for refusing to adhere to tribal custom for braves who prefer men to women. They strike up a friendship, which readily turns to love. Their family is completed when a young Indian, Sleeps With Dogs, insists they take him with them on their search for a home. Their quest to find acceptance in either the white man's world or the native population is a difficult journey. Can two men who love each other find a place in the harsh reality of the western wilderness, or will they always be walking in two worlds?

When David Bennett and Andy Barnes meet, they fall in love and create a family, which is completed with the adoption of Brad Sturgis, orphaned after the death of his parents. David, Andy, and Brad embrace the joys and challenges of being a gay family. From horse shows, family celebrations, a wedding on the beach to bedside vigils, football games to identity crises, David and Andy face life together with steadfast love punctuated with passionate physical expression.

Brad Sturgis, adopted son of Andy Barnes and David Bennett, is all grown up and ready to face life with his boyfriend, Hank Reynolds. However, he soon discovers life away from the Bennett-Barnes household proves much trickier than it seemed when he was growing up. Brad finds many things in Hank's work as a horse trainer competing for the man's attention and affection. The time-consuming nature of the equine show world and the constant demands of the clients Hank coaches -- their interest in him sometimes goes beyond that of trainer/rider -- test the strength of the bond between the two men. Will Brad learn to face such challenges with courage and good humor as his adoptive parents did before him? Will the next generation prove to be as tough and as tender, as solid and as steadfast as the one before?

Jonathon Carver, a young Puritan school teacher, meets handsome Nathaniel Morgan, master cooper. He comes to recognize the longings he's had all his life as desire for the love of another man, and Nathaniel provides that love. Their love must be carefully guarded, as they live in Colonial America during a time of the call to Awakening of the Puritan spirit. Knowing the penalty for their love is dire, they strive to keep their affair secret. Desperate for a way to resolve their situation, they devise a bold plan which could free them to be together. But can their love for one another overcome the structure of the society in which they live? Or will they be destined to forego fulfillment of their desire and go their separate ways?

Sequel to Awakening Robert, handsome half-breed apprentice cooper, travels to the Ohio Country with Nathaniel Morgan. Robert has loved Nathaniel since being apprenticed to him many years before. Robert's love is unreturned, as Nathaniel's heart belongs to another who has been left behind. Robert is unwillingly sent as an interpreter with the British Army to inform the settlers and the Shawnee that King George will honor the Indians' claim to the land. Captured by the Shawnee, Robert comes to be loved by an Indian brave. Robert returns his love but only up to a point, as he is still held captive by his love for another man. Can he let his love for Nathaniel go and give himself completely to Red Horse? Or will he forever live his life with a divided heart?

What do you do when your boyfriend begins acting strangely, and at the same time, you meet someone his total opposite? Do you start having second thoughts? Jesse Jamison must confront those very questions. After two years of living with his lover Dennis "Denny" Christopoulos, a charming flight attendant, the man starts taking on extra flights, making excuses for not coming home, and receiving private phone calls. During this time, Jesse also meets Nick Warden, a new neighbor. He immediately sees the contrasts between the two men and finds Nick attractive on so many levels. Meanwhile, Denny has growing reservations about his relationship with Jesse, especially once a new man comes into his own life. Yet Denny isn't ready to give up the good thing he has going with Jesse since he isn't sure about the new man's intentions, or his own feelings. Nick also struggles with his growing love for Jesse. While he would like nothing more than to claim Jesse for himself, his integrity prevents him from playing the home-wrecker. His hesitation to step in, however, nearly causes his undoing and a missed opportunity at love. Each man has his own second thoughts. But who will act on them, and what will be the consequences?

Son of an Indian brave and a white captive, Soaring Hawk is raised in the native customs. As he grows into manhood, he discovers his desire for the love of men. Knowing the fate of those of 'two spirits' within his tribe, he leaves the Indian village, disguises his heritage, and enters the white man's world as Samuel Hawkins. He soon discovers life is difficult for a man who prefers men. While he finds companionship, and forms bonds with many of the men he meets, he is unable to find a relationship which satisfies his deepest need. He also discovers much of what is in the world outside his village conflicts with the values of his native upbringing. He embarks on an odyssey which takes him across the continent and into the arms and beds of many lovers. As he travels, he comes to realize love has many forms. But the one he seeks most continually eludes him. Where will his odyssey lead him? Will he ever come to the end of his search for Soaring Hawk?

O.B. Benson knows that, as a gay baseball player, his only chance to keep from being shut out of the Major Leagues is to stay as far from the public eye as possible. His low profile is threatened when the team manager insists O.B. take part in a TV interview to help boost lagging fan support. Avery Turner, TV reporter, is handsome, fit, and definitely pushes O.B.'s libido into high gear. He's also out -- something O.B.'s situation doesn't allow. And Avery believes in monogamous commitment -- something O.B. cannot identify with. But when Avery delivers a curveball to the catcher, O.B. doesn't know how to handle it. When O.B.'s interview is aired, he's forced to evaluate his life of meaningless one night stands. Can O.B. and Avery work out their differences and build a winning team, or will O.B. strike out?

Raised in an orphanage after being found abandoned on the London docks as a newborn baby, without a known last name nor date of birth, Theodore has but one friend, Seth, a fellow orphan. Destiny takes Theodore away from Seth and back to the sea when he comes of age and is found an apprenticeship on a vessel in the English merchant navy. Thor, as he becomes known aboard ship, soon falls for Miguel, the handsome boatswain. However, his life is turned upside down when their ship is raided. Miguel is torn from his life and Thor is taken hostage and forced into the life of a pirate aboard The Dragon. Both attracted to and repulsed by the evil Captain Wyvern, Thor finds the large dragon tattoo -- the symbol of the rank of the ship's captain -- taking hold of him and binding him to the man. Fate intervenes once more and Thor is elected captain of The Dragon when Wyvern is killed during a raid. Dismayed by Wyvern's ruthlessness, Thor is determined to show humanity to those vessels his crew plunders now that he is in charge. But despite his growing wealth, power, and reputation, Thor is restless and unfulfilled. He feels his life is not yet complete and somehow reaches beyond the decks of the pirate ship he now captains. A raid on a Dutch merchant ship brings yet another twist to Thor's life when someone from his past is found on board. Thor now has to face hard choices, the most difficult of which involves deciding if he can leave the sea and make a new life on land with his rediscovered love. But with a price on his head and a large tattoo of a dragon on his body, can Thor escape his past life of a pirate?

Ernie Boudine -- early thirties, still lives at home with mom -- has never had sex, hasn't even been kissed. In his mind the only guys who get in on the action are the muscled-up bodybuilders he worships on his computer. But Ernie knows to attract such a god He'll need to transform his current blob of soft muscles covered with an ample layer of fat into body beautiful. Personal trainer Butch Noonan discovers his boyfriend has been cheating on him. Troy is the last straw. Butch decides he's done dating bodybuilders with their self-centered and egotistical attitudes. Butch longs for a relationship with someone who believes in romance, togetherness, and fidelity. Joining a gym, Ernie feels like a kid in a candy store. So many beautiful men working out, so much hard muscle to ogle. Ernie is disappointed when Butch is assigned as his personal trainer. Despite the man's name, the other trainers have bigger and buffer bodies. Soon, however, Ernie begins to appreciate Butch's sexy, compact body and what's more, the man genuinely seems to care for and about Ernie. Much to both men's surprise, a tentative relationship begins to blossom, but then into the gym strolls Butch's former college roommate. Bill is a serious bodybuilder and Ernie is immediately captivated by the man's huge muscles and confident swagger. Can Butch stand idly by and watch Ernie make the same mistakes he has? Or will Ernie wise up in time and realize true relationships are about more than muscle?

College student Ted Davis is desperate for money. Without a source of income he'll be forced to quit school and return home to his homophobic stepfather who cut him off when he was caught fooling around with his best friend. While working as a waiter, Ted meets suave, handsome Trace Morrison, who offers Ted a job as an escort. Ted is reluctant at first, as he doesn't believe himself to be gay. However, when Trace seduces him, Ted realizes his stepfather's assessment of him was correct. Ted quickly discovers that working as an escort is not as glamorous or satisfying as it appears on the surface. He becomes disillusioned with his life as a rent boy and seeks to find a way out of his situation -- to escape the world of shallow, impersonal sex to find a relationship that has real depth and meaning. Will Ted be trapped in this life of sex for hire until he's too old to attract the attention of the parade of rich and needy clients that rent his body to fulfill their fantasies? Or will his own fantasies of a real, loving and monogamous relationship be realized when someone from Ted's past re-enters the picture?