All 6 Books in Rachel Reid’s ‘Heated Rivalry’ Universe, Ranked
You aren’t alone if you can’t get enough Heated Rivalry content and decided to pick up Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series as a result. The first season of the TV show follows the years-long secret relationship of hockey players Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie), which also plays out in Reid’s book of the same name. They aren’t the only couple in the Reid’s gay hockey romance universe, which includes four other pairs. Game Changer‘s Scott and Kip, who are played by François Arnaud and Robbie G.K. in Season 1, are one of them.
Swooon has been locked into the Game Changers universe even before it made its way to the screen, so we’ve had a good amount of time to obsess over Tough Guy’s Fabian and Ryan, Common Goal‘s Eric and Kyle, and Role Model‘s Troy and Harris alongside the two aforementioned couples. So, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to rank all six Game Changers books, free of spoilers. Besides The Long Game, which is a direct sequel to Heated Rivalry, Reid’s books are standalones that you can read in any order, so you can use Swooon’s ranking to determine which to read first if you so choose.
Game Changers fans, tell us in the comments at the end of the page if you agree with our order — and if you haven’t read all of the books yet, let us know which one you’re most excited about.
Game Changer
Rachel Reid
We feel bad putting the first book of the series in last place, but it simply is the weakest compared to the others in terms of plot and characters. Scott and Kip, while just as endearing as the other couples, have a romance that’s paced far too quickly. We just simply weren’t fans of the insta-love situation going on. It all starts when New York Admirals captain Scott meets grad student Kip at the smoothie shop he works at, and they begin a secret romance shortly thereafter. Scott doesn’t want his sexuality to come out, knowing it will affect his career and public image. Kip is fully committed to Scott, and he starts to struggle with hiding their relationship from his loved ones.
It’s not that we need a slow burn with drawn-out angst in every romance we consume, but we struggled to believe that they really loved each other after only a couple of months. Honestly, some of our favorite Scott and Kip moments actually come from the other books they make cameos in, including Common Goal. They are the OG game changers, which we have to give them props for, but the rushed pace and flimsy third-act conflict give it a lower ranking in our book.
Common Goal
Rachel Reid
When an age-gap romance is done right, we’re all for it — and we’re all for Common Goal. Eric Bennett, the 41-year-old goalie of the New York Admirals, is on the verge of retirement. Facing another life shift with a divorce from his wife, he wants to start exploring his bisexuality by dating men for the first time. Enter graduate student and bartender Kyle Swift, who has a traumatic history with older men but knows exactly who he is. After crossing paths at the Kingfisher bar and instantly connecting, Eric and Kyle wind up with a friends-with-benefits arrangement, leading to the steamiest scenes in the Game Changers universe. (Eric and Kyle are even more adventurous than Shane and Ilya, which is saying something.)
Spice aside, Common Goal is a fun exploration of the theme that it’s never too late to figure out who you are. Kyle and Eric’s relationship feels a bit rushed at points — they don’t have many deep conversations on the page — but they’re fleshed out enough that we could still believe in them. We didn’t get the ick from their dynamic at any point, either, which we can’t say for every age-gap romance we’ve ever read. The main conflict — Eric believes that he’s too old for Kyle, despite the fact that they’re pretty much each other’s perfect match in every way — wasn’t too strong. We still had fun with it regardless. And as always, we fell in love with the characters, even if the main couple felt a little flat at times. Many of the Game Changers characters we know and love have strong showings here, including Ilya, Scott, and Kip. We’ll give Common Goal bonus points for that!
Tough Guy
Rachel Reid
We love you, Ryan and Fabian, but your book isn’t our absolute favorite. Tough Guy is another opposites-attract romance to the extreme, though it stands apart from others in that it’s also a kind-of second chance romance. It’s not all the way there, though, because Ryan and Fabian kept their feelings for each other secret as teenagers, when Ryan lived with Fabian’s family for a year. Since then, Ryan Price has become one of the most intimidating players in the NHL, but he struggles with anxiety and deep insecurity. When he’s traded to Toronto, he reunites with larger-than-life Fabian Salah, an up-and-coming musician. The confident Fabian acts as Ryan’s guide to the city’s gay scene, bringing joy back into Ryan’s life that he never thought he’d have.
Tough Guy offers a different dynamic than any other book in the Game Changers series, providing a point of view that isn’t often seen in the romance genre with Ryan. It’s a big swing from Reid that mostly pays off — we say “mostly” because Ryan and Fabian’s chemistry just isn’t quite as strong as other couples in the author’s universe. That’s mostly due to the fact that their connection felt a little fast, and we would’ve appreciated some more exploration of their joint backstory. Further, Fabian could’ve used a little more depth in particular, but his unapologetic personality is strong enough to make him plenty likable. Overall, Tough Guy isn’t quite as hot or as intense as its companions in the series, but it’s by far the sweetest.
Heated Rivalry
Rachel Reid
The book that got us into the Game Changers series in the first place deserves a high spot on our list. Heated Rivalry follows Shane and Ilya’s eight-year-long situationship, which is sparked by a hookup during their rookie season. As time goes on, they struggle to admit their feelings to themselves, slowly coming to terms with who they are and what they want. Admittedly, it took us a second to get invested in Shane and Ilya’s romance. We’re fans of spice, and of course, we eventually understood the point of them, but it starts off with so many sex scenes in a row that we were a little overwhelmed. Once we reached the latter half of the book, when their emotional connection grows stronger, we couldn’t put it down.
Shane and Ilya are so lovable, individually and together, with Shane’s disciplined, anxious personality placed next to Ilya’s flashy one (though we all know he has hidden insecurities). Both of them struggle on their own, but they help each other grow in such a satisfying way, bringing out the best in each other. Though at some points, you’ll probably find yourself wanting to shake both Shane and Ilya and tell them to just communicate, please and thank you. (The same can be said for The Long Game.) But it’s all about the slow burn, and their frustrating moments make the payoff even sweeter. In Heated Rivalry, Reid puts her mastery of balancing both angst and joy on display, and it’s impossible not to believe in and root for Shane and Ilya’s relationship throughout.
Role Model
Rachel Reid
Reid knows how to write couples that you can’t help but fall in love with, and Role Model delivers our favorite one aside from Shane and Ilya. On one hand, we have Troy, who used to be best friends with the league’s biggest bully, Dallas Kent. We discover that he used his poor behavior as a sort of shield: He’s closeted and struggling with that. Once he’s traded to the Ottawa Centaurs and his secret boyfriend breaks up with him, Troy’s at rock bottom — until he meets his new team’s social media manager. Harris Drover is the exact opposite of Troy — bubbly, out and proud, and friends with everyone — and as he gets to know the grumpy hockey player, he discovers that there’s more to Troy than meets the eye.
Role Model is one of the best opposites-attract romances we’ve read in recent memory. Though Troy is a complicated character at the start, his redemption arc is masterfully done as he actively makes the steps to be a better person, inspired by Harris and his new teammates. The book deals with heavier issues compared to some others in the series, as Troy grapples with Dallas being accused of sexual assault. Still, it offers plenty of cute moments as Troy and Harris explore their attraction to each other. It’s not quite as spicy as some other Game Changers books, but we loved Troy’s character development and his fun dynamic with Harris so much that we didn’t mind.
The Long Game
Rachel Reid
Shane and Ilya’s sequel is Reid’s magnum opus. Heated Rivalry is what drew us into the Game Changers universe, but it serves as more of a building block for The Long Game in our eyes. It’s an endlessly satisfying conclusion to — if Reid doesn’t write another book about them, that is — Shane and Ilya’s journey. Somehow, Reid makes the angst even more intense than it is in Heated Rivalry, despite the fact that Shane and Ilya have committed to being together. The sequel picks up a decade after Shane and Ilya’s first encounter, and they’re still keeping their relationship a secret. Ilya is ready to come out, but Shane isn’t, and Ilya starts to question Shane’s feelings for him as they struggle to steal moments together.
The book deepens our understanding of both characters tremendously, while also adding more compelling characters to the mix once Ilya joins the Ottawa Centaurs. Without delving too far into spoiler territory, Reid handles the topic of mental health through Ilya with such care, and she further solidifies him as our favorite character of hers. The Long Game‘s lows hit hard, but so do the highs. We cried sad and happy tears. Oh, and in regard to spice, Shane and Ilya have still got it. The spicy scenes, even if less frequent, are even better than Heated Rivalry because of their deeper connection.
