Heated Rivalry

I’m gonna let you know right away, if you don’t like books with spice this is definitely not the book for you. Because twelve pages into the story we’re already going into it.

It’s the prologue of the book and Shane and Ilya secretly meet up after they’ve played a match against each other and just go straight down to well – fucking. Afterward, Shane struggles with his emotions and his eternal war between finally ending things with Rozanov and simultaneously not getting enough. And yeah. That about sums up the prologue.

We then jump eight years back to their first meeting. It’s the World Junior Hockey Championship in Canada. Both Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander are upcoming stars in the hockey field and are curious to finally meet and see each other play. Instantly both boys can’t deny that the other is handsome. Shane who wants to make some small talk, thinks that Ilya comes across as quite the asshole and soon leaves.

They face off in the championship finale and Shane (aka Canada) loses to Ilya (aka Russia). Shane beats himself up about it but can’t stop thinking about the smirks Ilya had given him throughout the game.

Six months later both talents are being drafted for the NHL. Shane for the Montreal Voyageurs and Ilya for the Boston Bears. The teams just so happen to be archrivals, linking Shane’s and Ilya’s futures together. Trying to burn off the day’s adrenaline, both boys end up in the hotel gym at midnight and the tension between them starts rising. Shane who never felt like this for another man flees before they can kiss. But not being able to shake his train of thoughts he ends up in the shower jerking off to thoughts about Ilya Rozanov.

Another year later Rozanov and Hollander star in a campaign for the hockey equipment company CCM. Once again the tension starts rising. In the shower after the shoot both men can’t take their eyes off each other. Shane though won’t start anything because he’s afraid someone might walk in on them. We then get to the first quote of the book, that made me squeak: when Ilya asks what would happen if he knocked at Shane’s hotel room. “I might open the door.” Rozanov smiled. “I might knock.” – okay I’m squeaking again. This is just too good.

And what do you think? OF COURSE HE COMES KNOCKING! (Happy squeaking and jumping at this point is highly encouraged on my part). And though Shane is nervous as hell he gives in to temptation and for the first time in his life makes out with a man. Well, actually more than making out. He goes down on Rozanov. And yes, I know this scene is controversial between fans because some of you get very loud about how he “can’t be that great at his first BJ” – but come on, give our man a break. We all – as well as Ilya – know that this is not the best, but that doesn’t make it any less hot or enjoyable. And honestly none of us would want to hear that it’s mid the first time we do it. So, props to Ilya for encouraging Shane on his journey.

Ilya obviously returns the favor, and we learn that he has past experiences with men. In fact, he secretly had a fling with his coach’s son. So, our boy Ilya loves to play with fire. Which makes this whole thing even more of a fun ride. It’s great to have those two polar opposites. It creates more tension and perfect balance. Because if both were afraid, this would probably only be a one-time thing and if both were like “fuck it” the book would be over very soon.

Obviously, both can’t keep their hands off each other at this point and they start an on and off fling. To be fair – this book actually has some story and isn’t just smut. For starters – and that should come as a no brainer – we have the struggle of being gay or bi hockey players and the seemingly taboo to date men in the NHL. Duh. On top of that we have Shane who struggles with figuring out his own sexuality. And to give us even more plot Ilya, who has a complicated family history and can’t openly be bi or gay because that’s illegal in Russia (and he still has Russian citizenship so he can visit his family).

The book is split into three parts, and we now go into the second one. Though to be fair this part is mainly to show us more of our protagonists and let them grow as characters. To sum it up: we discover that Ilya has a tense relationship with his family. His father and his brother basically just use him for money and don’t care about his success. Ilya’s father also suffers from Alzheimer which they’re keeping a secret. Meanwhile Shane struggles to figure out his sexuality and is conflicted because though he won’t admit it he starts to develop feelings for Ilya. Which is proven by the second quote that left me smiling at my book like a pony on crack: “He realized, when he was back in his room, that they hadn’t even kissed. He also realized, with horror, that he regretted that.” I mean come on. How is this not the definition of cuteness wrapped in a romance novel?

We can now move on to the final – and biggest part of the book. To my huge relief (honestly the suspense was killing me) we jump back to the timeline of our prologue. Obviously, we get tons and tons of amazing spicy scenes, but I feel like that’s a given. But what is most important, if you got it right like me and are full-on Team Hollanov by now – we start the journey of them becoming a couple (Imagine party music, me wearing sunglasses and full-on dancing on the dance floor like idk Bruno Mars style? That should give you a feeling of how happy I am about this).

Chapter thirteen was a tease though, which was mean. I was so fucking excited about their first sleepover and them finally using their first names. But Shane just had to panic and leave. My heart. I had to pick it up off the floor. I mean how could I not be devastated? Ilya was so excited that Shane agreed to stay. He made him food and (happy, but heartbreaking sob injected) even had Shane’s favorite Ginger Ale in the fridge, because he observed that he liked it. And then Shane got cold feet. My poor Ilya.

And though I’m heartbroken I get it. Well in a sense. I personally never had the struggle of coming out. And frankly I think it’s super sad that we’re living in the 21^st century and people still have to justify who they love. Or need to be afraid to openly admit that. It makes me angry and sad at the same time, that not everyone is in the fortunate situation that they have unlimited support by friends and family that coming out wouldn’t even be necessary. So, if this is something you struggled with or are still going through, from the bottom of my heart: I’m sorry. And though I probably don’t know you personally my love and support goes out to you. Please feel hugged. And I hope that the future will only hold greatness and the love and sunshine you deserve. You are worthy of it – no matter what other people say!

 Okay. But let’s go back to our hockey players. Shane – who still thinks that his attraction for Ilya might be a temporary thing – starts dating the famous actress, Rose Landry. I love that through this development we got to see that Ilya has developed feelings as well and is jealous. Brilliant move Miss Reid.

Another thing that I really enjoyed about this book is how the women are portrayed. Rose puts two and two together after her and Shane’s – let’s call it lacking – sexual encounters. And instead of being mad or outright confronting him, she takes her time to sit down with Shane and helps him talk about his feelings. She is the first person that he admits to being gay. And I just love how women take the role of positive supporters instead of being portrayed as jealous and angry “rivals”. Naturally they end their relationship but stay close friends.

We then jump to the all star game in Florida where Ilya and Shane for the first time ever, will be playing on the same team. Ilya thinks Shane is still dating Rose and can’t hide his relief when Shane tells him they weren’t compatible (smirk from my side, those who read the book will know why).

The Florida game also marks a very important part of the story: Shane admitting to Ilya that he’s gay and telling him that he wants more with Ilya than just a fling. And though at this point it still feels like an impossible thing to achieve for the two, this admittance marks an important change in their relationship: they start having real conversations with each other and not just texting to organize another meet-up.

I’ll sum up a bit here. Ilya and Shane talk more. Sadly, Ilya’s father dies and he flies back to Russia to organize everything. Shane helps him through this tough time and Ilya (though in Russian, so only we readers know it) tells Shane that he loves him over the phone. After he’s come back, they play a match against each other in which Shane gets body-slammed so hard that he ends up in the hospital. Ilya is worried sick about him and hugely relieved to see he is okay when he visits him the next day. Shane now has to step out for the rest of the season.

Okay fellow readers. Here comes a very important moment. We’re reading about the Stanley Cup finale and how the New York Team wins. Both Ilya and Shane are watching from home. Now, I’ll ask you to get up from wherever you’re sitting. I’m waiting. Are you up? Please, I’m not kidding. Okay, standing? Good. Now, please put your hands together and start clapping. We’re now creating a standing ovation for the book’s hero: Scott. Fucking. Hunter. The hockey player that comes out as gay, by dragging his boyfriend to the ice and kissing him passionately on live camera. Scott, the hero that you are! Not only is this important because he’s the first player to come out, but also because it finally gives Ilya and Shane the courage to try to become more.

Jesus, my heart. Really this book filled it up so much.

The next chapters are Ilya visiting Shane in his cottage for the summer. That obviously means we get a lot of spice (I’d love to give a shout-out to the Hayden-calling-in scene. I smirked so much whilst also enjoying every single second of the spice we got.). And throughout this visit they finally say the three magic words: I love you. And I’m honest, I’ve read my fair share of romance novels but never in my life did they bring me to tears when that happened. But this time – my heart was exploding and I was so happy for them that I did tear up.

The cottage section also leads to one of the funnier scenes: Shane’s parents discovering that he’s dating Ilya. Not gonna go into detail here. But the support and humor with which this was handled was very beautifully done.

Shane and Ilya also come up with a plan – which they call the long game (nice reference Rachel Reid) – to be closer together and publicly come out as a couple. Part of this plan is the launch of a shared foundation in honor of Ilya’s mother – who committed suicide when he was a kid. The book ends with said launch, Ilya transferring to Ottawa (to be closer to Shane) and Shane coming out to his team and his best friend Hayden, though not telling them who he is dating. Well Hayden figures it out. But that’s that. And this is where we end. The sad news: they are not publicly dating. The good news: we get a second book that’ll tackle that subject plus a freshly announced third book by the end of 2026. So yeah. More of our new favorite romance couple. I’d call that goals (get the hockey reference?).

I don’t need to give a long text about how I feel about this book. I think this is pretty obvious. A romance that I enjoyed very much and that I’m very happy about having a series adaptation. Never have I ever freaked out so much about a fictional couple and screamed at my book: “My Shayla(s)” – in the most unhinged TikTok way possible. So yeah. Definitely 5 out of 5 stars and very much looking forward to book two.