Heated Rivalry author gives update on upcoming Ilya and Shane novel Unrivaled: "I rewrite a lot"

Following the majorly successful adaptation, author of the Game Changers series, Rachel Reid, has shared an update on the upcoming sequel to the Heated Rivalry novel titled Unrivalled.

In a discussion with Entertainment Weekly, Reid stated that she "was working on it secretly right up until January, when it was announced," two days after the release of the hit TV series.

As the title suggests, the story revolves around two rival hockey players, Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, who are forced to hate each other due to playing for opposing teams. However, they fall in love and are forced to learn how to navigate their feeling with their jobs and other challenges they are faced with.

As much speculation has been shared online regarding the next book instalment, Reid has shared how she feels about releasing another novel, saying: "I like it. I’m very happy with it. I’m giving myself some time in the next few months to just really focus on that and nothing else to make it as good as it can possibly be before it goes to my editor, because it’s really important.”

The Game Changers collection is a seven book-long LGBTQ+ series, with each instalment focusing on a professional hockey player finding love and navigating their way through high-stakes situations and the often homophobic culture of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Following the success of the books and the Heated Rivalry series, Reid shared the pressure she’s been feeling to satisfy readers with the sequel: “I feel like more than any other book I’ve written, this one needs to be really good.

"I hope I’m giving people what they want out of this. I hope what I want is what other people want. I still am making decisions about the plot with some things. I rewrite a lot. There’s parts of the book I’ve rewritten and changed so many times. But hopefully I’ve made the right decisions and, generally, it’s going well.”

Unrivalled will be a direct continuation of the latest Game Changers instalment, The Long Game, the sixth book in the series, which has also been adapted for the screen through the Crave Canada show.

This succession will pick up from Shane and Ilya’s wedding, their progress to playing for the same team and the realities of love being entwined with work. Now having their relationship in the open for the first time, they must navigate acceptance but also public scrutiny.

Reid shared her inspiration and insight for the novel: “[Unrivalled] is really where the world’s gonna judge them, right? ‘Cause now they’re on the same team, it’s in people’s faces, they have to decide how they feel about this.

"And they’re gonna be loud about it. I think it’s two sides. There’s gonna be people that are extremely excited and supportive of it – some of it in maybe a parasocial way, which isn’t at all based on reality. And there will also be the other side: just blatantly homophobic and bigoted and terrible.”

She continued: “Even though they had their happy ending, it’s a complicated happy ending, and there’s still a lot of things that they’re gonna have to deal with. That’s why I decided to write the book – because I felt like there’s still more story to tell.”

Fans of the franchise have a lot to look forward to as creator of the show, Jacob Tierney, teased the season 2 at BookCon stating that the show is taking on “much more serious territory. There’s still lots of flirting, and there’s lots of sex, but it’s this kind of danger".

Heated Rivalry is expected to return to HBO Max sometime in April 2027. Unrivalled is set to release on 1 June 2027.

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