Author Rachel Reid says she’s tuning out ‘Heated Rivalry’ mania as she writes next book

By Canadian Press on January 15, 2026.

“Heated Rivalry” author Rachel Reid is trying to tune out the noise as she finishes writing a third instalment in the love story that served as the basis for the hit television show.

“Unrivaled” will be the seventh book in the “Game Changers” series and the third to follow characters Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, rival hockey players who fall in love.

It’s set to be published in September, but the Halifax writer says she has yet to finish it.

She tried to get as much done as possible before the Crave TV series debuted in November, but says she didn’t quite make it.

When she writes now, she says she pretends the show doesn’t exist because she doesn’t want it to affect the story.

Response to the show has been rabid, with stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie becoming overnight Hollywood sensations, appearing on late night talk shows and presenting at the Golden Globes.

Readers were first introduced to Shane and Ilya’s relationship in “Heated Rivalry,” the second book in the series, in which the pair must deal with their own fears about being in a same-sex relationship as professional hockey players.

That book serves as the basis for Season 1 of the Crave series, which was also carried by HBO Max and aired its finale on Boxing Day.

Shane and Ilya are once again the focus in the sixth book, “The Long Game,” in which they face external pressure from the league.

That’s where Reid had planned to conclude their story, but she says last year at about this time, she started to think more about the characters and thought there could be more there to tell — possibly because the “Heated Rivalry” TV series was in development.

When “Unrivaled” picks up, the couple has publicly announced that they are together and must grapple with the world’s reaction.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2026.

Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press