Author of Heated Rivalry, Rachel Reid, has announced a 7th book in the Game Changers book series, titled Unrivaled, set to release on September 29, 2026.
Unrivaled will be a sequel to The Long Game, which followed after Heated Rivalry in the ever popular duo of Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, digging further into their relationship. Unrivaled will now let readers and fans find out what happens following the end of The Long Game, which ended with some massive changes in the lives of the two star hockey players and their relationship.
Rumors of the new book circulated over the weekend after Barnes & Noble posted listings available for preorder for the upcoming book – despite having no cover reveal at the time, the listings were detailed enough and considered legitimate because of it being Barnes & Noble.
Reid shared the news officially today on her Instagram, saying "It's really, really surreal to be sitting here writing the next Ilya and Shane book while watching jokes about Ilya and Shane happen live on my television from Hollywood at the Golden Globes."
Heated Rivalry has not slowed down since it's episode 1 and 2 release on November 28, 2025, with stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie having just presented at the 83rd Golden Globes last night, with a fun bit they shared on stage.
Dozens of videos circulated on social media sharing Storrie and Williams with well known actors coming up to them giving them praise for their roles in the gay hockey drama, including The Bear's Ayo Edebiri. (Because the show was produced by Bell Media, a Canadian company, Heated Rivalry was not eligible to be nominated for any Golden Globe Awards categories.)
Williams and Storrie previously shared they had signed contracts for three seasons of the series, with Season 2 already being greenlit. Heated Rivalry was originally produced by Crave in Canada, while premiering on HBO Max in the US, and the show is still getting more international streaming releases, having just premiered in the UK over the weekend through Sky.
With Williams and Storrie making other welcomed career movies, like their romantic fantasy audio for Quinn, called Ember & Ice, we only see the hype for both of them and the series to continue building – especially now with Reid having announced Unrivaled!
Jessie Wade is Associate Director of Editorial Programming at IGN. You can find her playing cozy games on her Switch or watching the latest fantasy and drama shows, as well as getting lost in way too many fantasy romance books.
