Heated Rivalry: 2 (Game Changers)

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Ahora leeré los demás de la serie para llegar al sexto que es la continuación de está maravillosa historia.

it’s hard to accurately put into words exactly how i feel for these two, but just know i loved them. This book you totally get the connection, the feelings, the history and I just want to keep relistening over and over. The start of an epic enemies-to-lovers hockey romance from USA TODAY bestselling author Rachel Reid --book two in her fan-favorite Game Changers series. As the story progressed, as they grew as characters and their relationship developed, that underlining attraction grew with them but more importantly so did that respect.

I was scared to do this audiobook because of the horrible experience I had with book one in the series. We see Ilya getting hate comments about him being Russian, but miraculously this series is just going to pretend everyone is just FINE with a biracial character being the star center and winning NHL awards with no comments from fans on rival teams? They had a deep respect for each other as players and people and it really showed throughout the story. We’re supposed to believe their feelings are growing for each other as they do nothing but hook up throughout six years (and counting).

I mean, I knew what would happen because I was rereading it but I still felt the “oh god what will happen” and “are they going to” tension. This is anywhere from a 1-star to 3-stars for me, so I guess I’ll just go mid-way with this at 2-stars. Honestly, I don’t think so because I’ve always been about that emotional and romantic connection anyway, so everything that bothered me now would have most likely bothered me before. The way he was obsessed with Shane’s freckles -and Shane, in general- since the beginning and kept fooling himself saying he was only into the forbidden aspect of it. I know there's a follow up book, but honestly, this story was concluded well enough that I don't feel the need to read what happens next.

I don’t think we need to see racism thrown at Shane, but at least try to address race in hockey and what that means for players like Shane? It’s not quite enemies-to-lovers, it’s not a traditional slow burn, it spans almost a decade, and it doesn’t have a definitive happy ending. We meet Shane and Ilya in their current messed up situation and then it jumps back in time to them being teenage rookies and just meeting.

I think one of the more shocking things about this book is finding out that the Shane Hollander all the characters mention in the other books is…not white? Reid also gives us a stark reminder of the fact that love is not love in all parts of the world, even still today. Overall, I still don't really see the hype around this book and I think that's actually part of problem.I like how Ilya’s family issues was handled, kudos for not letting that drag out throughout the story. Reid's depiction of their immediate physical combustion contrasted with a satisfying emotional slow-burn is masterful.