World events are scary and depressing, so come on in and join the librarians who are at the Heated Rivalry cottage! When I requested interviews for this NewsBreak, I received the quickest, most enthusiastic response I have ever gotten. One librarian told me that people in her department are “frenzied” over the new show. Yes, that might be the best word to describe how it feels to fall in love with the Game Changers world that features romantically entangled professional hockey players—Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov—who are pitted against each other on the ice. (And yes, there’s a cottage, but I won’t spoil the context.)

The Basics 

Here’s what you need to know: Canadian author Rachel Reid writes the Game Changers romance book series, which began in 2018 with Game Changer. She recently announced the forthcoming publication of the series’ seventh book. The series’ second book, Heated Rivalry, is the focus of a new six-episode TV series of the same name from Canadian company Bell Media’s Crave streaming platform. The series was picked up for U.S. distribution by HBO Max on Nov. 19, 2025, and it aired in various countries from Nov. 28 to Dec. 26, 2025. Since it began, it hasn’t been out of HBO’s daily Top 10, sitting at no. 2 as of this writing. It’s being rolled out in (and reaching top spots in) more and more countries worldwide, and it’s already been renewed for a second season.

You may be wondering what the big deal is. Novels get successful movie or TV adaptations all of the time. Here’s where that “frenzied” remark becomes important, though: We’re living through a true cultural phenomenon that’s centering a steamy, heartwarming romance between two male jocks. Culture has come a long way, but we can all agree that this is not the plot of a typical TV hit. In addition, the show is a balm in an era of second-screen viewing: There are visual and dialogue parallels throughout the six episodes, and if you glance down at your phone at the wrong moment, you might miss a microexpression from lead Connor Storrie or Hudson Williams that explains their character motivation for the rest of the show. (That sounds like hyperbole, but it’s not.) A smart, well-made, small-budget Canadian show is appealing to anyone and everyone, proving that people are hungry for good stories.

Image at right: IMDb

You’ll hear from librarians about why this particular TV/book series is resonating with so many people in the companion NewsBreak, “What Heated Rivalry Means to Librarians.”

At first, when the show began, I thought it was just my algorithm feeding me Heated Rivalry constantly that was making me think it was a pop-culture behemoth, but in reality, it’s been steadily building steam—the show has been featured by GQ, Cosmopolitan, Teen Vogue, Vanity Fair, Architectural Digest, Bon Appétit, CNN, The Tonight Show, and Late Night With Seth Meyers, to name a few of my favorites so far. Episode 5 of Heated Rivalry made history by tying with the highest-rated episode of all time: Breaking Bad’s perfect-10 IMDb rating for its “Ozymandias” episode, according to Forbes. As of this writing, the ratings for the final two Heated Rivalry episodes are both 9.9. Two hockey-focused podcasts, What Chaos! and Empty Netters, have been recapping the show and hosting interviews with cast members, Rachel Reid, and show creator Jacob Tierney. The NHL even made a statement. At this point, Heated Rivalry is solidly mainstream.

Image at right: my Kindle Colorsoft

At the Library

Usually when a book gets an adaptation, libraries might order more copies to meet the increased demand. But the publishing industry wasn’t prepared for how popular the show would become, and it’s been difficult for libraries to get enough copies. Out even published an article about what massive hits the books are on Hoopla Digital. I reached out to Hoopla in early January, and Elizabeth Pucci, marketing product manager, books, shared the following:

Hoopla users are embracing ‘Heated Rivalry’ in a big way. Since the show premiered, audiobook borrows have surged by 474%, and eBook borrows are up 305%, making it the top-circulating eBook and the fifth most popular audiobook on the platform. And it’s not just ‘Heated Rivalry’—other titles in the Game Changers series are also seeing a boost as readers eagerly follow Shane and Ilya’s story.

I contacted OverDrive, but the company was unable to provide a comment by the deadline.

So, what do public librarians think of all this? What are they experiencing in terms of the popularity of the books the show is based on? I reached out to libraries of varying sizes across the U.S. and Canada to get a feel for the phenomenon. 

‘That Hockey Show’  

Cat Dwyer and Sam Correia, community engagement librarians at Duxbury Free Library in Massachusetts, have been having conversations with patrons about the show and the books, but they’ve struggled to provide physical copies. That’s where digital options and read-alike displays come in handy. You’ll see this approach from many libraries. 

Dwyer says, “We’ve had plenty of questions about ‘that hockey show’ and, with it, the book, from our patrons. It’s always exciting when a book gets a media tie-in that’s as well-received as this has been, and especially something with themes of acceptance, competition, and love.” They haven’t heard any patrons say something negative about it; patrons mostly wonder what the book is about or ask why it’s not available at the library.

“Heated Rivalry was such an unexpected success. Because this seems to be the resounding response, libraries in our network have been completely blindsided by the demand. With shipping and processing taking anywhere from two weeks to a month, it’s been nuts! We’ve combatted this by reminding our patrons that the book is available, both as an ebook and audio, on Libby and Hoopla,” Dwyer shares.   

Correia expands on the acquisition of the physical books: “I remember watching the first episodes when they came out in November and going to check our catalog for the books, only to find that there wasn’t a single library in our network (at the time) who owned any copies. Now, six weeks later, we have 12 copies of Heated Rivalry in our network with more on the way.” They’ve observed that the local bookstores they follow sell out of the books very quickly whenever they restock. “Other than encouraging people to download” the digital versions, Correia says, “we’ve also been doing some Heated Rivalry read-alike posts on social media, along with some book displays: Books to Read in Between Watching the Olympic Games or to Bring With You to the Cottage and Sports Romance Books to Read While You’re Waiting on Hold for the Heated Rivalry Book.”

Photos courtesy of Duxbury Free Library 

‘Spike in Circulation’

Jacob Sefton, a part-time reference associate at Fargo Public Library in North Dakota, notes that the library has always had plenty of sports romances available, so he knew there was an interest in them prior to the show. “In August, one of the other reference associates put together a list of sports romances after the engagement news of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. That has also bolstered the desire to read sports romances,” he explains. 

Collection development and tech services manager Jenilee Kanenwisher chimes in, “We have seen a lot of holds on the physical book but we’ve had a hard time getting copies on the shelf because they are on back order from our supplier. We’ve also had more than 40 ebook and 40 e-audiobook checkouts in the last month, which is a really great spike in circulation.”

Sefton says he’s also seen that his local bookstore is having a hard time keeping copies in stock: “There were not enough printed for the onslaught of demand and thus the publisher is making up for lost time and sales and now trying to get more copies printed as quickly as possible.”

Sefton offers thanks to Megan and Erin in the adult services department who put together the list of read-alikes the library posted on Facebook. “It was collected and put out on social media because we know there is a wait time to check out the Game Changers books here at Fargo Public Library, and if people are interested in sport romances, we wanted to make sure people knew we had other authors writing in this romance subgenre.” He describes another way to get read-alikes: “We also have a library service called May We Suggest where we take an inventory of your interests and a librarian will curate a list of books that might appeal to you from your answers. It is a further-in-depth list which offers short synopses of the authors and titles rather than just a list of books from the same genre/subgenre.”

‘Still at the Cottage?’  

Martha Hansen, assistant director and head of adult services at Woodstock Public Library in Illinois, says, “We have the books in print and as ebooks and digital audiobooks. There’s a fair demand for both (print and digital), but the digital checkouts are outpacing the print copies since there is no waiting for our patrons to get them digitally.” Hansen notes that the library did add digital copies to meet demand. In addition to social posts, “we’ve put a book display up in the library (Still at the Cottage?) stocked with similarly themed MM [male-male] romance books to help patrons find other books they may enjoy while they wait for Season 2. The display has prompted some fun discussions between patrons and staff.”

As for why libraries should embrace the series, Hansen says, “I think most libraries are continually trying to find ways to connect with patrons, and certainly joining in on the excitement on a phenomenon such as Heated Rivalry is a great way to do so. In the recent past with the first season of Bridgerton or the summer of Barbenheimer, there was a similar buzz.”

She has a read-alike recommendation for NewsBreaks readers: “The Sea Ain’t Mine Alone by C. L. Beaumont. Set in the 1970s surfing competitions of California and Hawaii, the main characters are two men who have both experienced personal trauma and difficulties and are drawn together in a beautiful slow-burn romance.”

Photos courtesy of Woodstock Public Library 

‘Put Our Money Where Our Mouth Is’ 

Jessica Hilburn, executive director at Benson Memorial Library in Pennsylvania, is also experiencing more interest in digital. She’s “seeing requests and holds on Libby for the ebooks and audiobooks, so we’ll respond to those by getting some copies there. We don’t have any of the physical copies and it looks like the vast majority of demand for these titles is the electronic versions and I’m happy to give the people what they want!”

She believes, “We often talk about how we are not the same old, same old libraries anymore. Staying up on current interests is one way we can put our money where our mouth is. Plus, it’s just plain fun to offer stories that people connect with and be part of something larger than ourselves that makes people happy!”

‘More Millennial Women in the Library’

Rose Dionne, archivist and reference librarian at McArthur Library in Maine, thinks the phenomenon may have had an unexpected effect: “Our library system has 29 people waiting for two copies of Heated Rivalry, so there is a huge amount of popularity for a book that came out years ago. Anecdotally, I feel like I have seen more Millennial women in the library than we do on average, and I think that is just because Heated Rivalry reminded a lot of people that books can be fun, they don’t have to be stuffy.”

She notes that the series was harder than usual to acquire: “We had to buy copies from a small bookshop, not one of our traditional vendors, because the novels were sold out everywhere else. That was also why we made a video about how to find the ebook and audiobooks. I had been lamenting to another librarian that it would be a long wait, and she told me that the ebook was available immediately.”

Of the show, she says, “I love seeing the traditional romance plot, pacing, and tropes so well-translated to screen. I don’t think a movie gives you enough time to sit with the feelings and the yearning that we see in Heated Rivalry. I also think this will introduce a lot of people to romance as a genre, which has been so maligned. There aren’t any shows like Heated Rivalry, but there are plenty of other enemies-to-lovers gay sport romances.”

‘A Whole Other Way of Seeing Romance’  

Samantha Mills, Dunbar branch head at Vancouver Public Library in British Columbia, Canada, has noticed that ebook demand has increased at the library, and romance is typically popular in ebook format anyway. “The holds lists at Vancouver Public Library have definitely exploded for these Rachel Reid titles in tune with the release of the show—hundreds of holds on just a few copies. We also only had the ebooks in the collection until recently, which is pretty usual for midlist romance novels, but we’re in the process now of collecting the physical books as well, in the Game Changers series and other works by the same author.”

Mills shares Vancouver Public Library’s philosophy: It’s “committed to highlighting and uplifting diverse voices and perspectives through our collections, programs, and displays. For me personally, because of who I am and the communities I’m connected to, it’s really important to me to ensure that queer and trans voices are part of that commitment. So I also saw this as an opportunity to encourage library patrons to explore the wealth of very diverse romance books we have on our shelves and either discover that we have something that represents them and their experience—or, maybe, to try out a book that introduces them to a whole other way of seeing romance and relationships and storytelling, from a perspective that they might not have read before.” Mills say the library often jumps on social media trends to “adapt them for our social channels to bring awareness to library programs, events, and items within our collections,” resulting in content such as the library’s read-alikes post. 

‘Capture the Fire!’

Jamie Watson, collection development manager at Baltimore County Public Library in Maryland, says the interest in the books was immediate. “The show debuted on Nov. 28 and when I came to work that Monday, we had requests to purchase the entire series in our Cloud Library ebook service, in both ebook and e-audiobook. Every week since then, I’ve had to buy more as the holds continue to grow—it’s not slowing down anytime soon.” She notes, “The physical books seem to be back-ordered everywhere (we ordered more in mid-December and they haven’t arrived yet) but ebooks can arrive within 10 minutes and satisfy customers very quickly.” Watson remembers a similar demand for the Bridgerton series.

The library’s Hockey Romance virtual book display, created by Joey Schenning in collection development, was designed “to try to show folks other good reads. A few of them are getting holds—and if you didn’t know Hockey Romance was a sub-genre, you surely do now,” Watson says. 

Baltimore County Public Library scheduled a program called Let’s Chat: Heated Rivalry. “Perry Hall branch librarian Lauren Flores is hosting,” Watson shares. Here’s the pitch: “Join us for a spirited discussion of Rachel Reid’s beloved hockey romance, Heated Rivalry, and its TV adaptation. Whether you’re team book or team screen, this is your chance to dive deep into Shane and Ilya’s story with fellow fans. We’ll explore how the series translates from page to screen, debate casting choices, discuss our favorite scenes, and share what we loved (or didn’t) about both versions. Light refreshments will be served as we celebrate this groundbreaking LGBTQ+ sports romance. This program is for adults ages 18 and up only. Content includes mature themes and discussions appropriate for adult audiences. Attendees are encouraged to read the book and watch the series beforehand, but spoilers will flow freely!”

Watson explains, “Programs usually need a lot more turnaround time than this, but Lauren wants to capture the fire!”

‘We’re the Only Library With a Copy’

Emily Bishop, library clerk at Parma Public Library in New York, “stumbled across Heated Rivalry. After I picked up the book, I found out it was being turned into a TV show and immediately saw this would have big pop-culture potential. So, it was a total coincidence that we even ended up able to get the book before it sold out everywhere. The only unfortunate aspect is the flip side, where we realize, ‘Oh, we’re the only library with a copy,’ and the line to get it is so long! Hopefully, other branches will be able to get a copy soon.”

Grace Engelbrecht, library director, adds, “It was neat for us to have the first and only copies of the series in our library. A second copy of Heated Rivalry just got added to our library system from another library, but the holds for people waiting far outpace that! People are definitely interested in the series in conjunction with the success of the show.” 

Parma Public Library’s TikTok, such as the two videos so far on Game Changers, “gets a lot of engagement,” Bishop notes. “Our library TikTok has been a really fun and exciting place to be able to hop into a lot of pop-culture conversations and be like, ‘Hey, the library knows about this! We want to talk about this too!’ Once we saw that Heated Rivalry was really gaining a lot of traction in the BookTok/general audience world, we were very excited to be part of that conversation as it’s one we had already been having internally as fans of the book and the rest of the series.” Sometimes library visitors will mention something they saw on the library TikTok, which is how Bishop knows that “by joining in this conversation online, it translates to more people being excited to come to the library, excited to talk about what they’re reading, and creating this cycle of spreading info about what we offer and encouraging new patrons to pop in and see what all the hubbub is about!” 

‘Spicy, Queer Sports Romances’

Sarah Weaver, collection development librarian at Halifax Public Libraries in Nova Scotia, Canada, saw the popularity rise with the release of the episodes, although the library did have the book series in its collection already. “Demand for the books skyrocketed as soon as the Crave series debuted. The episodes were released weekly, so everyone was reading the books while they waited for the next episode. Now that the entire first season is available, fans of the TV series are ready to read all of the books.” The Heated Rivalry book has the longest waitlist, she says, and the print, ebook, and e-audiobook copies are all very popular. The library had to buy more digital copies. “We’re keeping a close eye on demand and buying additional copies regularly,” Weaver says.

She continues, “With Heated Rivalry, we created a read-alike list with other books featuring ‘spicy, queer sports romances filled with sizzling chemistry.’ This reading list was shared on our social media platforms and our e-newsletter. We know that our community is loving the series and will be eager to find other, similar stories once they finish the series.”

‘Suddenly Getting Very Specific Questions’  

Eric Grob, adult services librarian at The Seattle Public Library in Washington, says, “There are almost 1,000 requests for the ebook of Heated Rivalry right now. That’s an incredible amount that we usually see with new, in-demand books, not a romance published several years ago.”

Robin Rousu, assistant managing librarian for outreach and mobile services, adds, “To maintain reasonable wait times for our patrons, our Collections team closely monitors demand and purchases more licenses and copies as needed. When we noticed the spike in demand for the Game Changers series, we added the first three e-audiobooks to our ‘Always Available’ collection, and there are currently 900 licenses checked out for the first title! As we do with all high-demand books, we have been buying additional copies of the ebooks using our standard holds-to-copies ratio. Now that the print copies are more easily available, our collections staff just placed an order to add copies of all the titles in print as well.” 

Rousu read the series several years ago, so when the holds list started growing, she “decided to write a post for our blog to help patrons find other books while they wait and explore this part of our collection. There was a secondary purpose to the post—to provide some support for the library staff who may not be familiar with the books or show and were suddenly getting very specific questions about queer hockey romance. We are fortunate to have an active blog where we can post these kinds of articles that serve both patrons and staff and also promote our book lists.” 

Grob believes, “Our job as public librarians is to both champion the books that people want to read and guide them to new ones based on their interests. Viewers looking for that powerful rush of endorphins they received from this show, and its celebration of queer love and joy, can find so much more of it within the pages of romance books. And librarians are ready to help connect you with those books!”