A new chapter of Shane and Ilya’s swoon-worthy romance is officially on the way!
If you’re like us, chances are you have become obsessed with all things Heated Rivalry and the Game Changers book series, thanks to the critically acclaimed TV adaptation.
The show, created by Jacob Tierney and based on Rachel Reid’s novel of the same name, follows Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie), two elite professional hockey players who embark on a passionate, secret romance while maintaining a fierce rivalry on the ice.
Since its November premiere, the series has become a viral sensation and garnered critical acclaim, with viewers praising its faithfulness to the source material, bold sex scenes and the intoxicating chemistry between Williams and Storrie (both on and off screen).
While the show is officially returning for a second season, the wait for new episodes has already begun to take a toll on fans worldwide (including us).
Fortunately, the ongoing Heated Rivalry hiatus might not be as unbearable as we may think.
Over the weekend, online sleuths found a listing on Barnes & Noble’s website for a new book in Reid’s Game Changers series.
Titled Unrivaled, the seventh and final book will continue to explore Shane and Ilya’s decade-spanning love story, following the heartwarming conclusion of The Long Game.
The official synopsis reads: “Everyone’s favourite hockey players are back! Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander continue the romance that began with viral sensation Heated Rivalry—now streaming on Crave in Canada and on HBO Max in the US—in the highly anticipated final book in New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series.
“A line has been drawn—and the hockey world is divided. For the first time in their professional hockey careers, Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander have nothing to hide. For more than a decade, they kept their love a secret, but now they’re out, married, and even playing on the same team. The support is incredible. Most of the time.
“They’ve gotten a lot of love from fans who are thrilled for them. But some people in the hockey world are still reeling from their relationship reveal, and the backlash—led by popular hockey podcast Top Shelf and the #TakeBackHockey movement—is getting louder. Ilya and Shane are finally able to stand together in the light, the way they’d always wanted. And now they might be facing their biggest challenge yet.”
In addition to the synopsis, the Barnes & Noble listing revealed that Unrivaled will drop on 29 September.
As of this writing, Reid has not shared an official statement on the upcoming release.
As you can imagine, Heated Rivalry fans have celebrated the exciting new development on social media.
One person wrote: “BEST NEWS EVER. They saw all my requests and now, finally. Please, Shane and Ilya must beat Montreal (Shane’s ex-team) and finish them. I AM SO SO HAPPPYYYYYYYY THANK YOU SO MUCH..BEST DAY EVER.”
Another fan echoed similar sentiments, tweeting: “EVERYTHING IS GOING ACCORDING TO PLAN THAT’S LITERALLY WHAT THE FANS WANT TO SEE.”
A third Heated Rivalry enthusiast added: “WE ARE GETTING THE MARRIED HOLLANOV SEQUEL!!!! OMG. A third Hollanov book in the year 2026?! I prayed for days like these.”
The exciting news comes a couple of weeks after Reid shared her hopes for a Broadway adaptation of Heated Rivalry.
“I hope so, because I still hold the stage rights to that. It was the thing that when I signed the contract, I was like, ‘Yeah, that’ll never happen.’ But now I’m like, ‘Maybe,'” she said in a recent interview with Variety.
“We’re talking about all sorts of things right now. I was saying to Hudson a couple of weeks ago that it feels like we could do literally anything. It just seems like we have too much power, and we also have the power to destroy ourselves very easily.”
For more Heated Rivalry content, including some of Storrie and Williams’ 2026 Golden Globes interviews, click here.
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