Loving Literatures

In preparation for the second season of Heated Rivalry, which will hopefully include these characters, my Game Changers hockey romance series continues!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it was really comforting and wholesome to get to know Ryan and Fabian, as they were side characters in The Long Game, who I didn’t know too much about. Yes, I read the series out of order, what can I say, I love Shane and Ilya’s stories, but it was refreshing to read a different HR storyline, a subplot, you can call it? The short scenes with Ilya and Shane though were chef’s kiss.

In the third book of her Game Changers book series, Reid explores the romantic relationship between NHL player, Ryan Price, and indie musician, Fabian Salah. While it seems like a different relationship dynamic, the readers find out these two go way back, as Fabian’s family hosted hockey players growing up. A small teenage crush dissipated as the two went their separate ways, but after Ryan was traded to a Toronto team, their spark is reignited after they run into each other after 13.5 years. I enjoyed reading the domesticity and simplicity of this relationship, Reid does an incredible job at highlighting the pressures both characters face in their respected careers and upbringing. I was very pleased by the amount of talk about mental health, deeply affecting Ryan Price, who was often shushed and told to be a certain way as a hockey professional. It wasn’t until Fabian came back into his life, that he realized hockey was no longer something he loved and that it was slowly killing him, physically through the tough sport, the frequent reliance on painkillers, the push to perform, and constant battle with severe anxiety. It made me feel sorry for Ryan, but he needed the assurance that leaving was the right choice. While Fabian already did not like hockey, he could see past that and see how much hockey was hurting Ryan. Their relationship struggles were raw.

This book was emotional, real, easy to read, and very very spicy. I’m glad to have read it before my reread of TLG so I’m hoping as I continue this series, that things will start to click better for me, ha!