Heated Rivalry (Deluxe Limited Edition)

Say hello to the latest and greatest addition to my personalities. I fell head over heels in love not only with these Characters but also with their story. It's been a while since I was this obsessed with something, really. Me and my childhood best friend started talking regularly again thanks to Shane and Ilya (even though half of our conversations are just random quotes from the series) and I literally can not stop thinking about these books. When you catch me with a bright smile on my face these days then yeah.. yeah I'm thinking of Ilya.

I did watch the show (twice) before I read it and I am obsessed. Shane and Ilya are so cute together they have me hooked. I did expect the book to go a bit deeper into the characters emotions but it did actually stay surprisingly identical to the show. I feel like that is a missed oppurtunity but I'm just not used to reading this genre. Still, I loved every page.

If you are a fan of the trope 'Plot What Plot', this book is for you. For me there was not a lot of plot in the book and rather just them being horny for each other, but well I still liked their chemistry. After all, they are the perfect match for each other and instead of just accepting it, they both choose to ignore their feelings and just say that there are no strings attached. And that goes well - until it doesn't and the feelings grow too intense to just keep ignoring them for longer.

Pro hockey star Shane Hollander isn’t just incredibly talented, he also has a flawless reputation. Hockey is everything to him, and now that he’s the captain of the Montreal Voyageurs, he refuses to risk it all for anything. Especially not for the irresistibly attractive Russian who keeps him up at night. As their chemistry grows stronger, they try to keep their relationship hidden from the public eye. If the truth were to come out, it could destroy both of their careers. But as their desire for each other begins to rival their drive on the ice, keeping secrets may no longer be possible. I had already seen a lot of clips from the TV series on TikTok before reading the book, so I went into it knowing most of what would happen but that didn’t bother me at all. This was a fun read, full of hockey and light on depth even tho this book does show Shane and Ilya´s internal struggle with their coming out and that’s perfectly fine. The book really understood what it was trying to do. Ilya stood out to me as the more compelling character; he felt more layered and had a quiet kindness and passion that made him especially interesting. I wasn’t fully connected to the characters at first, but that changed in the second half, when their emotions became more intertwined with their actions. Once that happened, I really started to enjoy the story.

I'll admit I just read this because I didn't want to feel left out and my heart felt strangely empty after watching the tv adaption. So this was a great way to dive deeper into the story and to get more insight - but the writing style was quite simple and not all too remarkable. One thing that really caught me though was Reid's ability to portray depth in characters. All in all it was a nice book for in between with high emotional stakes, but maybe I should have read it before watching the series. Would still recommend, just for Shane and Ilya because they are one of the best couples ever.