Heated Rivalry (Game Changers #2) by Rachel Reid

“Ilya couldn’t believe what he had been reduced to. He was…infatuated. It was disgusting.”

As someone who is unfortunately chronically online, it was impossible for me not to miss the hype around the Crave Canada adaptation of this book. I was also a big M/M reader back in the day so when I saw all the hoopla I decided I needed to add this to the tbr early in the new year. I had to be ready to watch the tv show when it aired in Ireland after all, which is actually today, Saturday, 10 January.

This book did not disappoint. I enjoyed everything about it. I adored both characters, their banter, their ‘rivalry’, how the relationship developed, and the level of heat between them! Hell, even the hockey was fun, it helped that there was very little of it though. 😀

This book was also funny as fuck, and I can’t wait to see that humour translated onto screen. Ilya was proper hilarious, and I kind of loved that he didn’t give a shit, and just said what he said. Sure some of it was likely him having to constantly translate (and I appreciated how that being difficult for him when he was tired or emotional was actually mentioned a few time throughout the book) but I feel like a lot of it was just Ilya!

“What? I want to know about your family! All I know is your mother is Japanese or something. Probably where you get your looks.”

“Half of them, yes.”

“And your dad is… boring? Is that where you get your boring from?”

Shane shook his head, but he was smiling a bit. “My dad is not boring.”

When it wasn’t being funny, this book was absolutely scorching! I mean goodness, gracious me! *fanning myself emoji* These two had chemistry that was quite frankly off the charts, but for me personally it never felt like smut just for smuts sake. I think the very long timeline helped with that. I believe in the show that timeline is much shorter, which I think will make sense in that context, but the longer one worked well in the book, otherwise it would just seem like all they did was have sexy time!! Which they did. But over a ten year period. 😀

Someone online talked about Heated Rivalry being like Schitt’s Creek in terms of the general acceptance of the characters sexuality (gay and bi), and I totally agree with that assessment to a certain degree. In Schitt’s Creek homophobia is almost a nonentity, but in Heated Rivalry the reader is aware that homophobia is a problem, within the NHL in particular. However, it’s not a focal point of the whole story, and the boys seem more concerned about how they will be seen by everyone given the much discussed rivalry they’ve had throughout their entire hockey career!

Because of this, we see both characters just have to grapple with the feelings they have caught for one and other. Sure, Shane takes a while to come to the realisation that he is gay, and there was genuine fear for Ilya when he was back in Russia, but there was no inner turmoil about being attracted to each other. Even when they were supposed to hate each other, they just kind of accepted they were sexually attracted to each other, and therefore there was no cruelty directed at each other because of that. It was just all so sweet and lovely. As well as super smutty!

All in all I had a great time!

“I’m coming to the cottage.”

And I’ll see you there on the 10th January Ilya! 😀

Synopsis:

Nothing interferes with pro hockey star Shane Hollander’s game. 

Now that he’s captain of the Montreal Voyageurs, he won’t let anything jeopardize that—definitely not the sexy rival he loves to hate. 

Boston Bears captain Ilya Rozanov is everything Shane’s not. The self-proclaimed king of the ice, he’s as cocky as he is talented. No one can beat him—except Shane. Publicly, they’re enemies. Privately, they can’t stop touching each other. 

The smart thing to do? Walk away, once a few secret hookups turn into a struggle to keep their relationship out of the press. The truth could ruin them both. But for Shane and Ilya, secrecy is soon no longer an option…