Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid

Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid

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Blurb:

Nothing interferes with Shane Hollander’s game—definitely not the sexy rival he loves to hate.

Pro hockey star Shane Hollander isn’t just crazy talented, he’s got a spotless reputation. Hockey is his life. Now that he’s captain of the Montreal Voyageurs, he won’t let anything jeopardize that, especially the sexy Russian whose hard body keeps him awake at night.

Boston Bears captain Ilya Rozanov is everything Shane’s not. The self-proclaimed king of the ice, he’s as cocky as he is talented. No one can beat him—except Shane. They’ve made a career on their legendary rivalry, but when the skates come off, the heat between them is undeniable. When Ilya realizes he wants more than a few secret hookups, he knows he must walk away. The risk is too great.

As their attraction intensifies, they struggle to keep their relationship out of the public eye. If the truth comes out, it could ruin them both. But when their need for each other rivals their ambition on the ice, secrecy is no longer an option…


One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!

Review:

There is so much to love about this book. There’s a lot of hockey in it, for starters. It’s also an enemies-to-lovers romance and I love me some enemies-to-lovers romance. It’s so much fun to see a negative kind of passion exchanged for something beautiful. I love to watch that transformation happening.

Heated Rivalry also takes some pains to address issues happening in Russia, issues that affect the LGBTQ+ community. I appreciate that, personally. Reid doesn’t sensationalize what’s happening there, but she also doesn’t pretend it’s not an issue for her Russian hero. As LGBTQ+ people, we need to keep our eyes open to the fact that our community is much larger than the Western world and our family faces issues elsewhere that may no longer be quite so visible for those of us in the West.

I thoroughly enjoyed the hockey in this book, the competitive spirit displayed and the love of the game.

What I liked less about the book was the romance aspect, or the lack thereof. I couldn’t quite tell what it was that either Shane nor Ilya liked about each other. For maybe 75% of the book, they were convenient for each other. They used each other for sex when they happened to be in the same place. There wasn’t much of an emotional connection between them. Then all of a sudden, there’s this mushy stuff that seems to come from out of nowhere, some fluffy stuff, an embarrassing moment on a lake, and then it’s over. The term “shoehorn” comes to mind.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying enemies-with-benefits can’t go on to become something else. I’m just saying that in this case, it all happens very abruptly, and I couldn’t quite figure out why. It was very much I hate you I hate you I hate you hey move in with me.

My other big complaint was that the book covered a long time frame, and a lot of it felt like it was written in flashbacks. It probably wasn’t intended to come off that way, but I think for the first quarter of the book I found myself thinking, are they going to get on with things or what? 

I did enjoy Heated Rivalry. I never thought I’d cheer for Montreal (I’m a Bruins fan) but Reid had a beautiful way of building her world. I was able to get passionate about the teams, passionate about Shane, and even to like Ilya a little bit. Those two issues were the reason I gave Heated Rivalry the rating I did, but I still liked the book. I’d recommend it to people who thoroughly enjoy the “sports” part of sports romance.