{"id":921389,"date":"2026-10-05T10:44:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T10:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/921389\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T10:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T10:44:09","slug":"heated-rivalry-author-rachel-reid-teases-new-book-unrivaled-season-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/921389\/","title":{"rendered":"Heated Rivalry Author Rachel Reid Teases New Book Unrivaled, Season 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tHeated Rivalry<\/a> author Rachel Reid<\/a> has been hitting the road on a book tour for the deluxe edition of the hockey romance novel. She\u2019s a bit stressed about it, but not for the reason you might think. <\/p>\n

\n\tFilming on season two of Heated Rivalry \u2014 the Jacob Tierney<\/a>-created show adapted from Reid\u2019s Game Changers series \u2014 is underway. And while the author\u2019s been to set, she\u2019s trying not to spill any spoilers. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cGoing on tour right now is risky because there are a lot of things I can\u2019t talk about,\u201d Reid tells The Hollywood Reporter backstage at her book event in Los Angeles. \u201cIt\u2019s just been really fun so far, and I think people are happy to talk about the things that they already know about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn some ways, things have changed considerably for Reid over the last year after the television adaptation of her 2019 novel, Heated Rivalry, became a cultural phenomena. Prior to the show, Reid\u2019s fictional hockey universe already had legions of fans \u2014 it\u2019s one of the things that drew Tierney to the novels in the first place \u2014 and the attention on her work has only multiplied in the near-year since the show premiered. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe book and series focus on the complicated romance of Canadian hockey prodigy Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams<\/a>) and Russian phenom Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie<\/a>), who are the fierce on-ice rivals and the league\u2019s best players. They\u2019re the only two characters in Reid\u2019s fictional hockey universe to get two books<\/a>: Her 2022 novel The Long Game serves as a sequel to Heated Rivalry.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile season two of the show, based mainly on The Long Game, looms closer, so does the next chapter in the Game Changers series, Unrivaled. The upcoming book, set to be published in June 2027, continues Shane and Ilya\u2019s story. Reid can\u2019t say to much about that either.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m sure people have very burning questions they\u2019d like to ask, but obviously I can\u2019t talk about it,\u201d she says. \u201cBut this time next year, we\u2019ll have all those answers.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\t***<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s been a crazy year, obviously. How are you feeling right now?<\/p>\n

\n\tI think right now I\u2019m feeling quite excited about a lot of things because there\u2019s so many things on the horizon. Season one coming out \u2014 even just knowing that there was going to be a show and then it getting announced \u2014 all of that was exciting and wild and unpredictable. But the fact that I get to do it again is really cool. Filming\u2019s happening right now, and so I can have that to enjoy right now. But then [there\u2019s] looking forward to season two being released and also my new book being released next year as well. Right now, there\u2019s just a lot to look forward to, and I feel more comfortable with everything now too. Especially [because] I actually know the people making the show now, so it\u2019s starting to feel a little more normal.<\/p>\n

\n\tLike this is your new baseline?<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah. I mean, it still feels unbelievable every day, but also I think I\u2019m starting to accept it as normal.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile you were writing again for Unrivaled, was there a supporting character that you found a new way in for or a new appreciation this time around?<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019ve been writing maybe a little more of Scott Hunter into this book than I have into other Ilya and Shane books. He\u2019s more of an important side character, so that\u2019s definitely one.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhere do you think that came from?<\/p>\n

\n\tI just really like the way he interacts [with them], with Ilya especially. I think that dynamic\u2019s very fun. I left him in The Long Game as maybe having this burgeoning friendship [with Shane and Ilya], and I wanted to play with that. That\u2019s one character for sure. I tried to do a little more with Yuna, as well. And, honestly, all of the women. Like Rose and Svetlana, I like to try to include a little more of them into the story. I think a lot of the side characters that are popular.<\/p>\n

\n\tWith so many more eyes on the books these days, did anything open up a new point of view for you at all?<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah. It\u2019s been challenging writing the book knowing how big the expectations are, so a lot of this year has been me trying to not focus too much on that. But I am interested in other people\u2019s opinions on what I write. I wouldn\u2019t say I made any huge decisions based on what fans are saying, but I try to consider it while I\u2019m writing.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen into the show starting to air did you kind of realize that something was happening?<\/p>\n

\n\tHonestly, when the trailer dropped because people watched it so much. I did a bookstore event, I think it was the day after the trailer dropped, and we played the trailer at the event. Everybody in the audience knew every word of the trailer. I told everyone at the show that, and I was like, \u201cI think this might be a hit.\u201d I\u2019ve never seen people memorize a trailer like this in one day. Definitely that, and when HBO picked it up too, just before it aired, that was a good sign. But I think by episode three it was like, \u201cOK, this is really hitting.\u201d Which was only the second week because the first two came out the first week. It was fast.<\/p>\n

\n\tJacob has often said that from the beginning he wanted to take the books seriously. I assume as the author, that\u2019s what you want, right?<\/p>\n

\n\tHe told me that right away when we first talked about it, that he wanted to take it seriously and he wanted to make it for adults. He didn\u2019t want to shy away from the sex scenes, and he wanted to make sure that they were important part of the story, all of it. That meant a lot to me as the author. But also as a fan of romance as a genre, which doesn\u2019t get a ton of respect outside of the romance world, it meant a lot.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow has your relationship with social media changed during all of this?<\/p>\n

\n\tI would say the most difficult part to get used to was I can\u2019t just post a little flippant joke or really say anything without thinking, \u201cDo I want this to go viral as a headline on a bunch of outlets or social media accounts?\u201d Even on this tour, every event I do, there\u2019s quotes being pulled from it and turned into headlines. It\u2019s just something to think about. I do have a very dry sense of humor that leans a little dark sometimes, or a little mean. Sometimes I want to make a joke, but then I\u2019m like, I don\u2019t know that people will get this as a joke. Or even if they do, when it turns into headline format, it doesn\u2019t look like a joke anymore.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s has to be a little frustrating then, particularly when you\u2019re saying something in context.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe out-of-context thing is the thing to be the most wary of and just know that it will happen. Just be careful. I\u2019ve definitely learned that lesson many times this year, and I\u2019m trying to get better. It\u2019s just amplified. I went from having, I think it was something like 7,000 followers. Maybe it was a little more than that. I can\u2019t actually remember. But now it\u2019s, I don\u2019t know, over 400,000, which is a lot for an author. There\u2019s a huge difference between saying something that 7,000 people are going to see [versus] 400,000, so [it\u2019s] something to keep in mind.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou have been posting through the editing process. I saw your Instagram story the other day about putting three fingers in a mouth. (Laughs).<\/p>\n

\n\tThat was just a line I came to in one of the scenes. I was like, wait, that\u2019s terrible. I\u2019m going to make it two, so when you see that, it\u2019s two now.<\/p>\n

\n\tThere was a thought about three.<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, originally it was three. I was like, that\u2019s too many. Taking it out.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat made you want to come back to Shane and Ilya?<\/p>\n

\n\tI always did, but I didn\u2019t want to do it in a cash-grabby kind of way. I wanted to make sure there was an actual story to tell. I originally thought the only way to continue the story would be short stories. I just didn\u2019t think there was a full novel there, but this actually ended up being the longest book I\u2019ve written yet. There was definitely story there. Part of the desire was knowing that the show was about to start filming because it just made me start thinking about them a lot. I was reading Jacob\u2019s scripts. It got them back into my head a lot, which got them talking in my head. I started writing early last year, I just started playing around with a few scenes to see how they worked. Before, I was trying to write this Luca Haas book that I had to abandon because Ilya and Shane kept taking it over. I was like, all right, obviously, I want to write about them again, so I\u2019m going to do it.<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m still holding out hope for the Luca book.<\/p>\n

\n\tI am too. I really hope that a really good idea comes to me. I\u2019m sure it will because Luca\u2019s very fun to write to.<\/p>\n

\n\tOne of the most interesting things from the show\u2019s popularity has been so many people coming to the books and showing such love for these characters, like Luca, who truthfully isn\u2019t in the book much.<\/p>\n

\n\tNo, barely in there.<\/p>\n

\n\tThey become such favorites and beloved. Has that been rewarding for you? What has that been like?<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the last few weeks, it\u2019s been a real increase in people demanding a Luca book and just generally wanting to know more about Luca. Probably part of that is the casting of Edvin Ryding, who has a massive fan base. That has to be a contributing factor because there\u2019s not a ton of him in the books. But I always wrote that character as like, \u201cHey, would you guys like a book about this guy?\u201d I know I was doing that, so it\u2019s definitely my fault. But I think it\u2019s neat. There\u2019s other characters too. People really love Wyatt Hayes. There\u2019s been interest in a book about him or the coach [of Ottawa] \u2014 these happily married characters that they want me to break them up. To me, there\u2019s some characters that I think maybe have a book of them and some who are just enjoyable side characters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Heated Rivalry author Rachel Reid has been hitting the road on a book tour for the deluxe edition…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":921390,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[353,49,48,140291,75,140293,140290,140296,144947],"class_list":["post-921389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-books","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-connor-storrie","tag-entertainment","tag-heated-rivalry","tag-hudson-williams","tag-jacob-tierney","tag-rachel-reid"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=921389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/921390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=921389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=921389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=921389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}