Book comparisons

Heated Rivalry vs The Long Game: which should you read first?

The first book asks whether two rivals can admit what they want. The second asks what they are willing to change to keep it. That is the useful difference in Heated Rivalry vs The Long Game, not which has the better cover or the loudest fan base.

Both are adult hockey romances by Rachel Reid. Heated Rivalry suits readers who want the rush of a secret relationship. The Long Game suits those who want to stay with a couple after the first big promise. Below, we compare the pace, emotional stakes, reading order, and practical reasons to choose each.

Heated Rivalry and The Long Game at a glance

Read Heated Rivalry for the spark

Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov are rival hockey stars. Shane guards his image and career. Ilya wears his confidence more openly. The public sees two men who compete on the ice; their private bond is another matter.

In the novel, Shane plays for the Montreal Voyageurs and Ilya for the Boston Bears. Their teams give them a clear reason to clash. Yet the appeal is less about the score of a game than the gap between what they show the world and what they feel.

Heated Rivalry lets attraction arrive before trust. That is part of the tension. A private meeting can feel like a step forward without changing anything about the next public encounter. Shane and Ilya have to learn what those meetings mean to each other.

Choose Heated Rivalry if you like a bond that has no safe name yet. It is the stronger entry point because you get the reasons behind the habits, fears, and jokes that return later. Starting with The Long Game would give you the result before you see how they get there.

Read The Long Game for what comes after

The Long Game begins from a different place. Shane and Ilya know they love each other. Their problem is how much of that love they can live in public.

Shane and Ilya have kept their relationship secret for ten years. Shane fears that coming out could ruin his hockey career. Ilya puts their love ahead of his hockey ambitions and wants a life they can share openly. That gap strains the relationship: Shane sees secrecy as protection, while Ilya feels more alone.

This gives The Long Game a heavier mood. A secret that once made a meeting feel thrilling can become a limit on daily life. Loving someone does not remove that strain. Nor does it mean both people bear the same cost.

Choose The Long Game when you want a couple to face hard questions after years of love. Its strength is not a second round of will-they-or-won't-they. It is the space it gives to what staying together asks of Shane and Ilya.

Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander: whose story changes most?

For the wider view of the relationship, The Long Game has the edge. It asks what Ilya needs beyond brief time with Shane, and what Shane must see beyond his own fear. The conflict is not proof that their love was false. It shows that love and a workable shared life are not the same thing.

Ilya's depression matters to that story. So do loneliness, grief, and the strain of keeping the relationship secret. His need for support is not solved by one romantic promise. Ilya goes to therapy for his depression. Those scenes give The Long Game room to explore his mental health beyond the question of whether the couple will stay together.

Shane can be harder to warm to here. His fear is real, but it can keep him from seeing how alone Ilya feels. If you loved his careful nature in Heated Rivalry, seeing its limits in The Long Game may be painful. It can also make him more interesting.

Readers do not agree on how well this works. A discussion of The Long Game includes praise for Ilya's mental-health arc and frustration with Shane's choices. Those are personal reactions, not a consensus. They help explain why a sequel that feels richer to one reader may feel more tiring to another.

Pacing: the rush or the long stay?

Heated Rivalry draws energy from separation and return. Shane and Ilya cannot simply build a public routine, so time together has a charge. If you like stories where small signs of trust feel large, that structure has a strong pull.

The Long Game spends more time with what the bond does to each man. It is willing to sit with a worry, a disagreement, or a need that cannot be fixed at once. For some readers, that is the point of a sequel. For others, it can feel as though the same obstacle has lasted too long.

Our advice is to choose by what you want from romance. Do you want to watch two people fall, or watch them learn how to stay? Heated Rivalry is the better fit for the first mood. The Long Game earns its place through the second.

For more choices built around that first change from conflict to care, browse our enemies-to-lovers gay romance list. If you want a very different kind of love story, our Song of Achilles review explains the appeal and cost of a tragic ending.

Adult content and heavier themes

Both novels contain explicit sexual content. Neither is a closed-door romance. This comparison does not describe those scenes, but the distinction matters if you prefer closeness to stay off the page.

The Long Game also gives more space to depression and grief, including the loss of Ilya's mother to suicide. That may make it a harder read at certain times. A hopeful romance can still contain painful material.

Do not choose The Long Game solely because it is a sequel to a book you found fun. Choose it because you want more of these people, including the parts of their lives that are not fun. That is a fairer expectation than asking it to repeat the first book's mood.

Do you need the other Game Changers books?

Where the pair fits in Rachel Reid's Game Changers series

Heated Rivalry first came out in 2019. The Long Game followed in 2022. Both were published by Carina Press. The gap between them is part of why the sequel feels like a return to old friends rather than the next chapter of a short book.

For Shane and Ilya's love story, the essential order is Heated Rivalry, then The Long Game. The series numbers can look confusing because other couples have books between them. They do not turn The Long Game into a fresh starting point.

Reading the full series gives you more of the background for friends, teammates, and events around the pair. That can make the later book feel fuller, but it also means more time to read. If you are only testing whether Reid's writing suits you, begin with Heated Rivalry and decide from there.

The author's book catalog is the place to check the wider series. Keep bonus stories until after the book they accompany, since even a short extra can reveal where a relationship ends up.

Coming from the television show?

Hudson Williams plays Shane Hollander on screen, and Connor Storrie plays Ilya Rozanov. Creator Jacob Tierney adapted Rachel Reid's books. The actors may shape how you picture Shane and Ilya, but the prose gives you their thoughts in a way the screen cannot.

The show is an adaptation, not a reason to treat the novels as the same book. Even when a major event is familiar, a book can give more room to a character's thoughts and to the time between events.

If you know Shane and Ilya on screen, Heated Rivalry remains the soundest first book. It gives you the novel's version of their bond before The Long Game builds on it. You may recognize a scene and still find that the route to it feels different.

Avoid using show details as a guide to every name in the books. The Montreal Voyageurs is the novel's team name. Adaptations can change names, combine material, or shift the order of events.

Buying, borrowing, and choosing an edition

As of October 19, 2026, Harlequin lists both ebooks at US $9.99 each. The US trade paperbacks are $18.99 each: ISBN 9781335534637 for Heated Rivalry and ISBN 9781335534644 for The Long Game. Prices can change; tax and delivery may add to the total.

Check which edition the price is for. Print, ebook, and audio versions do not cost the same. A special hardback may cost more for its cover or finish. That does not mean the main story has changed.

Both books come in several forms. The author pages above link to places to buy them. You can also check your library for print, ebook, or audio copies. Each branch has its own stock. Buying one format does not mean you get the others too.

If you are unsure about the writing, a sample is more useful than buying a matching set at once. Start with Heated Rivalry in the format you most enjoy. There is little value in paying more for an edition you will not want to read.

The verdict for Shane and Ilya readers

Heated Rivalry wins as a starting point and as the cleaner choice for the thrill of falling in love. The Long Game wins for spending more time with the cost of secrecy and the work of a shared future.

Neither replaces the other. The sequel draws meaning from the first book, and the first gains another layer once you know what follows. Read Heated Rivalry first; choose The Long Game next if you want the relationship to grow beyond its first promise.

Quick answers before you start

Is The Long Game a sequel to Heated Rivalry?

Yes. Both follow Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov. The Long Game is book six in Rachel Reid's Game Changers series, but it is the second main novel about this couple.

Can I skip Heated Rivalry?

You can, but we would not start there. The Long Game builds on the bond formed in Heated Rivalry. Read them in order to see why the later fights hurt and why the trust matters.

Is The Long Game sadder?

It is heavier in its treatment of depression, grief, and being alone. That does not make it a bleak book, but it asks you to spend more time with the strain of the relationship. Heated Rivalry puts more of its energy into attraction and first trust.

Do you need to be a hockey fan?

No. A hockey fan may enjoy the setting, but the main stakes are easy to follow without knowing the rules. Shane and Ilya start on rival teams, not the same team. Their hockey careers shape when they can meet and what they fear losing. The game gives this romance novel its pressure; the relationship gives it its heart.

Which romance novel gives Ilya more room?

The Long Game. Ilya's story moves beyond his bold public image to his private need for care. Shane Hollander has to face the gap between loving Ilya and making space for him. Readers who love Ilya for his humor may find the quieter scenes just as telling. That shift is the clearest reason to continue after Heated Rivalry.

Are these two books about real hockey players?

No. Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov are made-up people. The books use pro hockey as a setting for their romance, not as an account of a real player's private life.