NEED TO KNOW
Rachel Reid said that she sometimes wished that her hit novel, Heated Rivalry, was the first book in her Game Changers series
“I think I knew that Heated Rivalry would probably be more popular,” the bestselling author said during a book event on Sept. 29 in New York
Reid’s hit sports romance novel was the basis for the Crave TV series of the same name
Rachel Reid is reflecting on how her Game Changers series could have been different.
On Sept. 29, the author attended a launch event and panel for the deluxe hardcover edition of her hit book, Heated Rivalry at the Town Hall in New York City, where she shared that the success of her Game Changers books has brought up some thoughts about the series’ order.
Reid debuted her interconnected sports romance series in 2018 with Game Changer, but it was the series’ second installment, Heated Rivalry, that blew up worldwide. The book follows the relationship between rival players Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, and was the inspiration for the hit Crave TV series of the same name.
“Before Game Changer came out, I said, ‘I’m excited about my first book, but I’m really excited about this,'” the author recalled to panel moderator Ira Madison II. “I think I knew that Heated Rivalry would probably be more popular. Sometimes I wish that that was the first book, just to come out of the gates with it, but I think the way the series ended up working, it works pretty well the way it is.”
Rachel Reid in 2026
Credit: Mathew Tsang/Getty
But Reid always knew that there was “more story to tell” when it came to Shane and Ilya’s relationship. The couple is also the focus of 2022’s The Long Game, as well as the upcoming novel Unrivaled, out on June 1, 2027.
“I started writing more books in the series where Ilya just started showing up. I liked having him as this kind of Nick Fury showing up,” Reid said. “Then after a couple more books, I thought I really would like to go back to Shane and Ilya and continue their story. I was really grateful to get that chance, because it’s very weird to pitch your publisher on a sequel to book two in book six of a series. It’s a mess, I know that.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
The author also spoke about how her writing process has changed since the TV series was released.
“Before, it felt like I was just alone writing them and nobody cared. I didn’t feel any outside pressure at all, and I didn’t have a lot of things to think about,” she said. “It was just really, ‘maybe somebody will read this someday.’ But this one feels very different.”
Rachel Reid in 2026
Credit: Mathew Tsang/WireImage
But the author remains a big fan of the TV show and its reach, she said during an appearance on Good Morning America on Sept. 30.
Need your next page-turner? See which books our editors can’t put down with our People Who Read newsletter — plus get PEOPLE News.
“For one thing, it was immensely satisfying because I knew how good the show was,” Reid said. “I didn’t know how people would feel about it. So it felt amazing, knowing how hard everybody worked on it, what a great job everybody did and then for it to get the love and the rave reviews that it did. It felt great. I was really, really excited to see it.”
The second season of Heated Rivalry will be released in spring 2027 — and Reid is excited for fans to see certain scenes that didn’t make it into the book.
“Shane coming out to his team was actually not something that was on the page in the books because it just wasn’t something that I felt was necessary to the story when I wrote it,” Reid says.
“Obviously, if I knew it was going to become something so big in the series, I might have included it! But I’m really excited for that scene to be in the show because I think it is really important. So that’s something viewers can look forward to. And there’s lots of stuff that will be a little different from the books that I think people will like.”
Read the original article on People