Loving Literatures

I LOVED this book. My book club was reading this book, around the same time I started watching the show, and I was hooked by the show, so I knew I needed to read the book. Though it can be read as a standalone, I decided to read Game Changers (Book #1) first to get a sense of who Ilya Rozanov is as a person among other hockey players. My friend told me this was the closest book-film adaptation that she had seen in a while, and she was ABSOLUTELY right. It felt like reading the show script; it was incredible.

What I liked about this book was the depth of Ilya and Shane’s internal conflict (you see some in the show, but Reid deepens it in her book), along with a forbidden/secret romance. It made me feel for them that they suppressed their emotions for so long. My heart! The yearning, wanting to say “I’m in love with you,” but being scared of ruining what they had in their agreement and potentially sacrificing everything they had in the world of hockey?!

Once they had passed that moment, it was heartwarming to see what Ilya and Shane did, especially after they confessed their love for each other, especially during their time at the cottage. Reading about them as a normal, happy couple, free from life’s stresses, was so refreshing. The book was very spicy; it felt less spicy than Book 1. It’s usually not something I read, but I don’t think it took away from the book’s plot at all. You can see after every encounter how much deeper they were falling in love with each other. My heart is full.

I am really looking forward to starting The Long Game (Book 6). Yes, I may read it out of order now to read more about Ilya and Shane, and then hopefully Season 2 of HR will come out soon. Now for a re-watch of Season 1!