For anyone diving into the world of Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, the burning question is whether their secret, years-long romance can possibly end well. The passionate story from Rachel Reid‘s Game Changers series has captured countless readers, and now a new TV audience is discovering it on Crave and HBO Max. The good news is that their challenging journey does lead to a happy ending.
The relationship between the two hockey stars begins as a secret fling between rivals and evolves over nearly a decade. Despite the immense pressure to keep their relationship hidden from the public eye, their story concludes with a firmly happy ending, a fact that has become a cornerstone of the series’ popularity.
The Long Game for Love
Heated Rivalry follows Shane and Ilya’s relationship over seven years, starting from their first encounter as rookies. Their story is a classic rivals-to-lovers arc, where on-ice animosity masks a deep and undeniable attraction. For most of the book, they are not a committed couple, and their secret hookups with each other are interspersed with seeing other people.
It is clearly established that once Shane and Ilya finally admit their feelings and decide to be together, they are fully committed. As one fan noted, “Both Rozanov and Hollander hook up with other people… but only when they are not actually a couple. There is no cheating”. Their eventual commitment is absolute, and the book’s ending solidifies that their connection was never just a casual fling.
The Direct Sequel and Bonus Stories
The happy ending in Heated Rivalry is not the end of their story. The couple’s journey continues in a direct sequel, The Long Game. This book picks up after they are in a committed relationship and explores the new challenges they face.
While Shane is more cautious, wanting to protect their careers by slowly introducing their relationship to the world, Ilya is much more impatient. He is described as someone who would “shout his love for his boyfriend from the rooftops and let the whole world know, to hell with the consequences”. This difference in their timelines creates new dynamics for the couple to navigate, but their love remains the constant center of the story.
Author Rachel Reid has also written several short stories that add more depth to their happy ending. One story, My Dinner with Hayden, shows Shane and Ilya a few weeks before the original book’s epilogue, hosting an awkward dinner party with Shane’s best friend and his wife. The domestic scene of them cooking together and navigating their new life as an open couple highlights the everyday happiness they achieve.
Also Read:
From Page to Screen
The story of Shane and Ilya has been adapted into a television series, also titled Heated Rivalry, which premiered on November 28, 2025. The show stars Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander and Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov. The actors’ chemistry was a key focus during casting, with the show’s creator, Jacob Tierney, stating that the show “lives and dies with them”.
The series is set to cover the expansive timeline of the book, showing the two main characters “whose on-ice animosity conceals a passionate, secret romance” over eight years. For fans of the books, the TV adaptation brings the beloved characters and their hard-won happy ending to life. New episodes are released weekly on HBO Max in the U.S. and on Crave in Canada.
Also Read: Heated Rivalry TV Show: The Book Behind the Hit Hockey Romance
