Rachel Reid Provides Update on Next Heated Rivalry Novel
Author Rachel Reid has revealed she is "very happy" with the draft of her upcoming novel Unrivaled, the next installment in her popular Game Changers series. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Reid confirmed she has been secretly working on the book for about a year, continuing her efforts right up until its official announcement in January.
"I've been writing it for about a year now. I was working on it secretly right up until January, when it was announced. I like it. I'm very happy with it," Reid stated about the forthcoming novel. She added that she plans to take the "next few months to just really focus on that and nothing else to make it as good as it can possibly be before it goes to my editor."
Television Adaptation Takes More Serious Direction
Meanwhile, show creator Jacob Tierney has outlined a more "serious" direction for the second season of the television adaptation. The series, which premiered in the US in November 2025, quickly became a cultural phenomenon and one of HBO Max's most-watched new releases. It landed in the UK in January and saw audience growth of over 100 percent after the final episode aired.
Tierney described the source material for season two, Reid's novel The Long Game, as "an emotionally sophisticated book that takes this couple seriously." He explained the new season would focus on the realities of "making a relationship a success" rather than the more adolescent themes of the first season.
"It's different," Tierney said about the second season, set for release next year. "And the challenge of it, from an adaptation point of view, is that you are in much more serious territory. There is still lots of flirting and lots of sex but this kind of danger, this kind of hotel-room-adolescent-sex stuff is largely gone."
Plot Details and Character Development
Heated Rivalry, originally published in 2019, follows rival hockey players Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov whose years-long on-ice competition runs alongside their secret relationship. The story continues in The Long Game, set ten years into the couple's relationship as they navigate life together alongside the demands of professional hockey.
Reid shared that Unrivaled will explore the fallout of the central couple's relationship becoming public after years of secrecy. "This is really where the world's gonna judge them," she explained. "There's gonna be people that are extremely excited and supportive of it – some of it in maybe a parasocial way, which isn't at all based on reality. And there will also be the other side: just blatantly homophobic and bigoted and terrible."
The author added that the novel will examine the pressures of balancing a shared personal and professional life, describing the ending as "a complicated happy ending" despite some resolution.
Production Details and Release Schedule
The television adaptation stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie as Shane and Ilya, with Jacob Tierney serving as creator and showrunner. The show also incorporates portions of Reid's 2018 novel Game Changer, which follows American hockey player Scott Hunter's relationship with barista Kip Grady, played by François Arnaud and Robbie GK respectively.
Tierney confirmed the second season would incorporate elements from Reid's novel Role Model, bringing in new characters Troy Barrett and Harris Drover. "Obviously parts of Role Model are going to be in. But Ilya and Shane are the heartbeat of this series," he emphasized.
Reid announced in February that the novel's original September 2026 release had been pushed to June 2027 due to her worsening symptoms of Parkinson's Disease. Despite this delay, the author remains committed to delivering a quality product.
"I feel like more than any other book I've written, this one needs to be really good. I hope I'm giving people what they want out of this," Reid said. "I hope what I want is what other people want. I still am making decisions about the plot with some things."
Growing Attention and Cultural Impact
Reid, along with Tierney, appeared at BookCon 2026 in New York where she discussed the scale of attention she has received following the success of the television adaptation. "I have a little bit of regret deciding to write a book at the same time, but I am excited," she told USA Today. "I'm in a place where the whole world seems to care about what happens next to these characters or has thoughts about them."
The series has clearly resonated with audiences, combining sports drama with relationship storytelling in a way that has captured significant public interest. As both the literary and television versions continue to develop, fans can expect deeper character exploration and more mature themes in the upcoming installments.
