Okay quick update: I originally had written that I was not going to read Common Goal, but after meeting the Heated Rivalry crew, and Brendan Brady (the co-writer/producer) told me that it was his favorite of the series I decided I had to give it another shot. I also didn’t know that this book contained Scott and Kip’s wedding, which I was curious to read. So I’ve added it to my ranking below at #4.
Hi everyone,
Happy February! Happy Black History Month! Happy Full Moon in Leo!
I’m making good on my one and only promise I made to myself this year: to read more fiction. In January, I read five fiction books—all from Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series.
Thanks to Heated Rivalry, I’ve fallen deep into its cinematic universe, and I genuinely think what Rachel has built is pretty incredible. I’m not sure why I never thought to read more romance books (considering how much I love love), but I definitely never imagined I’d want to read an entire romance series about gay hockey players. I don’t even care about hockey—but these books are compelling, fun, and very sexy. I also really admire how Rachel uses the series to explore important topics like mental health (especially anxiety and depression), sexual assault, and homophobia within the hockey world.
The six books build off one another, each focusing on a different gay hockey player from a different team. Heated Rivalry, the TV show, is actually based on two books: Game Changer (book #1) and Heated Rivalry (book #2). Season two will be based on The Long Game (the sequel to Heated Rivalry and book #6) and, I suspect, Role Model (book #5), which features characters who overlap with The Long Game. And yes, I’ve already preordered the 7th book in the series, Unrivaled, which comes out in September.
These books were incredibly easy reads—I finished most of them within 24–48 hours. I didn’t read them in order, and you definitely don’t have to, though I imagine the experience is slightly better if you do. Anyway, here are my favorites, ranked from most to least favorite.
P.S. If you have any romance novel suggestions, send my way!
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#1 As the sequel to Heated Rivalry, I actually thought this book was better written and more enjoyable overall—largely because we finally get to experience Shane Hollander and Ilya Rosanov as an actual couple after ten years together. That said, it’s still very much an emotional rollercoaster. As they navigate keeping their committed relationship a secret from most of the world, we begin to see Ilya struggling with his mental health, and it often feels like they’re being forced to choose between hockey and love. These characters are clearly the author’s favorites. There’s a lot of sex, of course, and Rachel writes some of the best scenes for them—they’re playful, intimate, and never feel repetitive. Many familiar characters from previous books also pop in and out. I won’t include any spoilers, but it will be really interesting to see how this is adapted for Season 2, and whether the season will cover the entire book, especially since the cast is signed on for three seasons.
#2 I think Troy Barrett and Harris Dover, the main characters of book #4, are the best in the series aside from Shane and Ilya. It will be so fun to see them in season two (fingers crossed). This book is a friends-to-lovers story between hockey player Troy Barrett, who gets traded to one of the worst teams in the league after Troy falls out with his former teammate/best friend, who was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women. Troy, who is rather grumpy and awkward throughout the book, and he begrudgingly becomes friends with Harris, the team's social media manager, who shows him it’s okay to be himself, and they ultimately fall in love, which prompts Troy to come out to the world.
#3 This book, from which the hit show is based, centers on two elite hockey players, Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, who are the best in the league and have been portrayed by the media and fans as bitter rivals since their rookie season. They are complete opposites in every way— Shane is super disciplined and earnest, whereas Ilya is charismatic, confident, and a bit of a showman. Off the ice, they struggle to contain their physical and emotional connection over eight years, worried about what their love affair could mean for their careers. The “enemies” to lovers arc in this story is addicting. If you’ve watched the show but haven’t read the book, I highly recommend it. What makes the show so great is that it doesn’t stray too far from the source material, but when it does, it enhances the story. So much is happening for these characters internally, so you get to read all their thoughts, and it just adds to your understanding of what is happening in the show.
#4 Okay I’ll never rely on other people’s opinions again. I enjoyed this book way more than I thought I would. Common Goal features Eric Bennett (one of Scott Hunter’s New York Admirals teammates), who is starting a new life as a divorcee and planning his impending retirement from professional hockey. Now that he’s single, he decides to explore something about himself that he’s always known deep down—he’s bisexual. Naturally, he develops a crush on Scott’s fiancée’s friend Kyle, who is also a bartender at the local watering hole they frequent, Kingfisher. Eric and Kyle’s hang-up is their age gap: Eric is 40 and Kyle is 25. Kyle offers to help Eric explore his sexuality with a little friends with benefits agreement, but quickly they realize that there’s something much deeper there but they keep denying their feelings because of said age gap. I have to give it to Rachel for the sex scenes in this book because she is good at what she does and she just never lets the intimacy feel stale or monotonous in any of the books (except maybe Game Changer). I don’t think we’ll really see these two in season 2 of the show but I enjoyed their journey—it was just a shame that the book ended just as they were finally getting into a relationship.
#5 I admire the way Rachel Reid weaves important topics into her books, like mental health. The main character of this story, Ryan Price, is a hockey player who seems to get traded every season. He’s finally landed on the Toronto Guardians team, and while he’s generally viewed by everyone as a tough guy, internally, he is really struggling with anxiety. He’s in therapy and on medication, but every day seems to be a serious struggle for him. The beginning of this book is a bit hard to get through because he’s just so hard on himself, but it really picks up once he bumps into Fabian, a childhood friend, who is his complete opposite. Since Ryan is new to the city, Fabian invites him to hang out, and they spend more time together until they finally reveal they’ve had crushes on each other since they were kids.
What I'm looking forward to in February: I'm going to be moving my newsletter to a different platform. No, not Substack! Many people have asked me over the years if I'd consider moving my newsletter there, and I've intentionally avoided it, and I feel like, as I watch it morph into another social media platform, I feel pretty justified in that decision. I do think what they've built is very cool, but it doesn't feel right for me. But I believe I've finally found the right home to help me streamline my process for building and growing this newsletter, so stay tuned!
Sneak peek into the next newsletters: Tomorrow's newsletter will be about ending my working relationship with the best therapist I've ever had. And I'm behind on booking a guest for the pod so stay tuned :)
