What to read next
9 Books Like Heated Rivalry
What I liked most about Heated Rivalry was watching two men who knew exactly how to get a reaction out of each other struggle to say something honest. Their rivalry made the flirting easy and the vulnerability harder. These books put that tension in different places: an old friendship, a shared locker room, or a team where being yourself can affect the career you’ve worked for.
Read my review of Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid.
Follow Shane and Ilya through the Game Changers series
The full shortlist
Why each book belongs here
Him starts with a friendship that fell apart. Egotistical Puckboy stays with professional hockey rivals, and Season’s Change looks at the intimacy of sharing a team and an apartment. The last three picks move into baseball, soccer, and another hockey romance by Rachel Reid.
1
Him
- Similar because
- Jamie Canning and Ryan Wesley have been friends since hockey camp. They meet again as college players after Wes spent years avoiding Jamie, and a summer back at camp gives both of them room to ask what changed. Like Shane and Ilya, they have a history that makes a casual encounter difficult to leave behind.
- Different because
- The strongest pull here is the old friendship. Jamie is trying to understand why someone he trusted disappeared from his life and what it means that he wants him back. The summer they spend coaching gives that question a more concentrated setting than the years of pro hockey in Heated Rivalry.
2
Egotistical Puckboy
- Similar because
- Ezra Palaszczuk and Anton Hayes are professional hockey rivals whose arguments follow them off the ice. They keep gravitating back to each other, and Anton has to weigh that against how carefully he’s managed his public image.
- Different because
- Ezra is already out, which changes what each player stands to lose. The book leans harder into swagger, sniping, and the pleasure of two people getting on each other’s nerves. Reid lets Shane and Ilya’s guardedness build over a much longer stretch of time.
3
Season's Change
- Similar because
- Veteran Olly Järvinen needs a fresh start. Rookie Benji Bryzinski is thrilled to be in the league, and the two wind up as teammates and roommates. The same work that keeps them together gives them reasons to be careful about what they reveal.
- Different because
- Nary lets attraction develop in the everyday routines of a season. Olly’s reluctance to trust and Benji’s uncertainty about what he feels get more room than public sparring. They have to learn to live and play together long before they can say what they want from each other.
4
Iced Out
- Similar because
- Oakley Reed and Quinton de Haas have been at odds since high school. At Leighton University, they have to share a team, and their attraction complicates a rivalry they already bring to the rink. When hookups seem to coincide with wins, both have a reason to keep testing the theory.
- Different because
- The stakes are those of college teammates trying to win together. Their superstition gives the recurring encounters a different excuse from the secrecy Shane and Ilya need to maintain as professional rivals.
5
Game Misconduct
- Similar because
- Michael Sato and Daniel Garcia are professional hockey players used to fighting on the ice. A private attraction complicates the role they’ve learned to play in public. Both books ask how much of a relationship can grow around the behavior their sport rewards.
- Different because
- Baran goes further into hockey’s fighting culture and the damage it does. Substance use and depression give the book a harsher texture, and Mike and Danny’s antagonism has a more physical edge than Shane and Ilya’s rivalry.
6
Face Offs & Cheap Shots
- Similar because
- Christopher Jacobs and TJ Beckett want the same college captaincy. When the choice goes to a team vote, a series of off-ice challenges gives them new reasons to provoke and spend time with each other. The contest makes it hard for either to admit how much he enjoys the other’s attention.
- Different because
- They already share a team, and their teammates are part of the joke. The story gets its energy from dares and one-upmanship on a Vermont campus. Its lighter tone gives the romance a different rhythm from Shane and Ilya’s years of private meetings.
7
The Prospects
- Similar because
- Gene Ionescu is an openly trans player in minor-league baseball. When his former teammate and rival Luis Estrada joins the Beavers, the two have to find a way to play together. Their ambition matters as much as the uneasy sense that they understand each other better than they want to admit.
- Different because
- Hoffman writes from Gene’s point of view and puts acceptance and belonging at the center of a baseball season. Gene’s identity is already public. The question is how far he can go in the sport and what it would mean to be wanted on his own terms.
8
Cleat Cute
- Similar because
- Grace Henderson is an established player returning from injury. Phoebe Matthews has admired her for years and now has a chance at her spot. Both take their careers seriously, which makes it hard to separate the attraction from what they each want on the field.
- Different because
- This sapphic romance follows both women through professional soccer and a national-team selection. Much of the humor comes from seeing how differently they understand the same flirtation. They also have to learn how to play together, something Shane and Ilya’s rivalry rarely asks of them.
9
Time to Shine
- Similar because
- Landon Stackhouse is a quiet backup goalie called up to Calgary. Casey Hicks, a winger who hates being alone, offers him a place to stay. Reid again lets the private moments tell you what a player has trouble showing at the rink.
- Different because
- This is a standalone outside Game Changers. Landon and Casey’s friendship grows through sharing a house and spending the holidays together. The tension comes from the uncertainty of Landon’s place on the team and what the two can ask of each other.
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