“Heated Rivalry” is a sports romance story about two professional hockey players whose intense on-ice rivalry hides a long-running secret love affair.

Basic concept

• “Heated Rivalry” follows Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, star players on rival teams, who are marketed by their league as bitter enemies while secretly becoming lovers over many years.

• It is a queer romance that focuses less on hockey action and more on their emotional and physical relationship, including the pressure of staying closeted in a very public, macho sports world.

Book and TV show

• The story began as a novel in Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series, which centers on LGBTQ+ relationships in professional hockey.

• It has been adapted into a Canadian television series created by Jacob Tierney for Crave and HBO Max, keeping the core premise of rival players whose public feud masks their private romance.