If you have a pulse and keep tabs on general pop culture, then you likely have heard of Heated Rivalry. If you’re a pop culture enthusiast, then there’s a very good chance you’ve not only watched Heated Rivalry, but you’ve rewatched the show multiple times by now. (On social media, rewatches of the series are affectionately known as “Reheated Rivalry” or simply just “Reheated.”)
For those unfamiliar with the Canadian series, Heated Rivalry was created, written and directed by Montreal native Jacob Tierney, the multi-hyphenate who helped develop, write, and direct the beloved Canadian sitcom Letterkenny.
Tierney adapted Heated Rivalry from the Game Changers romance book series written by Halifax native Rachel Reid. The book series chronicles several gay/queer men’s professional hockey players and their romantic entanglements. These often-steamy romantic entanglements take place as these athletes navigate playing a sport that has historically not been welcoming to LGBTQ+ players.
The Success of Heated Rivalry
While Heated Rivalry was created for Crave, a Canadian streaming service, the show was picked up by other platforms for distribution. In the United States, the show is available for streaming on HBO Max.
The main story of the six-episode season centers on Shane Hollander (played by Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (played by Connor Storrie). The Canadian Hollander and the Russian Rozanov were drafted into the fictional Major League Hockey (MLH) in the same year, as picks one and two, and went to rival teams.
Despite Hollander and Rozanov being pitted against one another, a lustful relationship blooms. Over the course of about a decade, lust turns into love, but they remain closeted.
Heated Rivalry wasn’t heavily promoted by HBO Max when it premiered in November 2025. However, thanks to fans of the Game Changers book series and a word-of-mouth campaign, the show became a massive hit.
As a result, it’s turned Williams and Storrie into overnight sensations. They presented an award at the Golden Globes, they’ve appeared on late night talk shows, and Storrie was announced as the Feb. 28 host of Saturday Night Live. On top of that, Williams and Storrie even were tapped to carry the Olympic torch for the upcoming Winter Games in Italy.
The Heated Rivalry Takeover in Metro Detroit
In a time when there’s a severe lack of monoculture, Heated Rivalry certainly has a unique hold. For example, it’s led to countless themed events all over the United States and beyond.
In metro Detroit alone, Sidetrack Bookshop in Royal Oak recently hosted a Heated Rivalry event that offered attendees the chance to get tattoos based on the show. Quizzo Trivia is hosting a Heated Rivalry-themed night at Barkside Detroit on Feb. 10. As if that weren’t enough, party promoter company Club 90s is hosting “Heated Rivalrave,” a dance party featuring the show’s very popular soundtrack, at The Fillmore Detroit on Feb. 13.
Even with these events in mind, those feeling the Heated Rivalry fever the most might be metro Detroit’s romance bookstores. Among those bookstores are Ferndale’s Love & Other Books, Canton’s Mon Coeur, Shelby Township’s Til Death Books, and Birmingham’s Read My Lips. (Read My Lips’ first location is in Marquette and boasts being Michigan’s first romance bookshop.)
I spoke with the owners of these bookstores about the impact of Heated Rivalry, the incredibly passionate romance book community, and much more.
The following interviews were conducted separately and have been edited for length and clarity.
What kind of impact has Heated Rivalry had on your store? Has there been an increase in customers?
Erin Cambron, owner of Love & Other Books: “I think there has been a group of new people that have come in, or even a group of people who are coming in for a romance book when they wouldn’t have normally read romance. They’ll read lit-fic or mystery-thrillers or something like that. And this is their first foray into romance.”
Alli Bezruczko, owner of Til Death Books: “I’ve been getting calls, people coming in. Everybody’s looking for [these books]. To see the excitement people get when they see we have them is always a good time. As soon as it started airing, we started getting requests, the same as everyone else. We couldn’t get our hands on it, so that was a little oopsie with the printing of the book and everything. The interest has just been insane, and it’s continued.”
Carolyn Haering, owner of Mon Coeur: “There’s obviously going to be an uptick in the store when something kind of blows up in this nature. We have a really large LGBTQ romance section, so before the show came out, people were asking for it, and we were stocking it. I would say the uptick is more people curious about MM (male/male) or LGBTQ romance. Yes, there’s been an uptick in people coming in, but I think it’s more of people who have been here before, and then kind of venturing over into LGBTQ books.”
Kayleigh Murphy, bookseller at Love & Other Books: “We had a couple of LGBTQ customers come in that didn’t realize how much gay romance there actually is. They would come in for ‘Heated Rivalry,’ and then, they realized there’s queer fantasy and other queer romance stories. I’ve had people that are normally in here for fiction realize that there’s now a new option for them. So, I think that’s interesting.”
Are you surprised by the massive success of Heated Rivalry?
Haering: “Once I saw HBO grabbed it, I was like, ‘Oh, this is gonna blow up bigger than I think anybody is really prepared for.’ And it was true, because Harlequin Romance wasn’t prepared for how many people wanted the books. It was supposed to be a small, six-episode series on a Canadian station. It wasn’t supposed to be anything. Before it was picked up by HBO, my friends and I were trying to figure out how to watch it. We were like, ‘Should we drive to Windsor to watch it?’ After the whole thing was released, we planned on spending a weekend in Windsor to binge it.”
Bezruczko: “If you’ve been an avid romance reader, hockey has been a huge thing for a while. There’s a lot of hockey romance books. I was just talking to some people the other day about what is it about hockey, you know? And, in my own opinion, hockey is a very masculine sport. These are tough guys, he’s gonna protect you, and he’ll fight for you. But that’s just on the outside. On the inside, these guys are sweet, and they’re going to make sure that you’re fully taken care of. Who doesn’t want that? Who doesn’t want to see the soft side of that rough exterior?”
Murphy: “I guess what shocked me the most was that I watched the show, and I loved it. I thought it was great, and my friends thought it was great. But a lot of the stuff we watch, I think, ‘Oh, the excitement will be gone in two months.’ Or something else, like ‘Bridgerton’ will come back, and then the last show we watched will be gone.
But then, you have people, like my grandma, she’s watched this. My mom watched this. My sister has watched it now. She texted me last night and said, ‘I went to the cottage again.’ It’s literally become a comfort show for people. I think it’s also the actors, too. You watch these interviews with them, and they’re just so lovely, and they’re fun people who don’t take themselves too seriously. It’s just nice. It’s nice to see a love story where that’s all there is.”
Cambron: “Book lovers always want to see screen adaptations of their favorite books, and the fact that they took the time to really be true to the books was like a little love letter to the readers. We want to see the exact words from the author spoken in real life on the screen. I just love that they did that.”
Odom: “Personally, I was not aware of the show until people started coming in and asking [for the book]. Then, I pulled up the show and was like, ‘Oh, my God! We need to get on this!’ We’ve got a lot of stickers and bookmarks. I’m thinking about getting some hockey jerseys in here.”
Fans of the romance genre are understandably a passionate community. What’s something that people get wrong about it?
Cambron: “I mean, there’s a lot [laughs]. People are coming into the store and finally reading romance and being like, ‘Oh, this is more than just smut and Fabio covers.’ And those Fabio covers are awesome; I’m reading one right now. But I think romance has been thought of, for the longest time, for women who stay at home and don’t have a thought in their brain. This is what their pastime and hobby is.
But romance has been so much more than that for so long, and part of that is, like, the f—ing patriarchy. And sorry Harper Collins [parent company of Harlequin Romance] – you’re going to get sh-t for this – but when the show came out and people were wanting the books, Harper Collins did not have their sh-t together and printed enough. It felt like, ‘Oh, we don’t need to print these, because they’re not important.’ Romance has been portrayed for ages as a silly little pastime for women when it’s so much more than that.”
Odom: “People have that idea that romance books are only the Fabio covers, but there really is such a huge range. We stock everything from closed-door Christian/Amish romance all the way to the spiciest, craziest, wildest things you may never even heard of yet. For instance, monster romance. Have you heard of monster romance yet? [Laughs] It’s wild! Yes, it’s funny to me. It’s not my cup of tea, but I find it fascinating! And nobody is going to judge anybody for it.
We want people coming in here to feel comfortable asking for something left of center or something very specific. Like, maybe somebody wants a really dark romance where they’re getting stalked. The possibilities are endless! That’s how I like to hit home with people; you can find something for you.”
Haering: “I think a lot of people think that there’s no substance in these books. [They think] it’s just straight smut, smut, smut, and more smut. And sure, there are some books that are like that. But at the end of the day, there’s a lot of plot, and there’s a lot of substance.
I think people think that romance readers aren’t cerebral people. I have judges, lawyers, doctors coming in here who love the escapism of it all. No one’s gonna be making fun of you for reading a Brandon Sanderson book, but they’re gonna say something about reading an Ana Huang book … People think that because a book has a salacious cover, it’s not worth your time. Like, ‘Oh, I should be actually expanding my horizons and reading a self-help book or something.’ But where’s the fun in that?”
Bezruczko: “I come from working in a mental health profession. It’s funny, because when I told people that I was going to be leaving that job and opening a romance bookstore, all of the men were like, ‘Oh, are you going to have [books] with a shirtless guy on a horse with a sword in the air [on the cover]?’ Sure, there may be some of those, but there are so many different types of romance books these days and so many amazing authors. I think that’s what people get wrong; they underestimate the stories, and they underestimate the level writing that is out there.”
Murphy: “I was sitting with my dad, and he was like, ‘You know, Kayleigh, it would be great if you actually read smart books. Imagine if you read smart books, instead of just those books you’re reading.’ I was like, ‘Would you like to read one? Then, you can talk to me about that.’
… I think it’s a great way to have discussion with people. My dad is the biggest Boomer ever. But we’ve been able to have constructive comments and conversations about queer people now because of this book and show. We never could have had these conversations before without one of us getting annoyed and walking away.”
What’s your favorite thing about being part of the romance community?
Bezruczko: “It’s just a different level of book lover. I think there’s this openness and less judgmental aspect of the romance community. For a long time, some people were like, ‘Oh, I read romance, but I can’t tell people.’ People made you feel like it was something you should be embarrassed about. I have a whole store of romance [books] of varying genres. There really is almost something for most people.
When people are in my store shopping and don’t even know the other customers, they can just open up these communications and conversations about so many things. And there’s no judgement; people just feel more comfortable and will give each other recommendations. That always puts a smile on my face. Everyone just wants to help everyone else find something that makes them happy.”
Haering: “People are really wanting community back, and somebody has to do it. Somebody has to be like, ‘Hey, come hang out here.’ I have a customer who lives in Manhattan, and she flies here quarterly to come hang out in the store and come chat. I have girls that live in Ohio that drive up to come hang out and chat and will be here all day. I have so many different regulars that just pop in to see what I’m up to. Friendships are forming, people are meeting other people. I just really think that’s really special.”
Murphy: “When you’re in the this community, you automatically have something to talk to with somebody. You automatically have a lovely group of people behind you … We have people coming in who are new to the area that live around here, and they come in specifically looking for community and asking if we have a book club. And I’m like, ‘Of course, we do, and we offer all these different ones!’ Then, you meet so many different people that you wouldn’t normally have met. It’s always so positive.”
Cambron: “Book people are the best people; that’s just simply what it is. The one thing that always sticks out to me was the day after the [2024] election. A handful of people came in, and we all just started hugging and crying. They just came in and said, ‘I needed a safe place to be in.’ If Love & Other Books did not exist at that time, I don’t know where they would have gone for that.
And that’s not saying that there aren’t tons of other beautiful businesses in the area that would hold space for those people. But that people thought of Love & Other Books as a safe space, that will forever be cemented in my mind.”
Which romance book/series would you like to see get adapted into a film/series? What could be the next Heated Rivalry?
Haering: “Oh, it’s coming out [on Amazon Prime]; it’s Elle Kennedy’s ‘The Deal.’ She has a hockey series that’s already in production, and that’s going to be a big deal. Another being adapted by Amazon is Rebecca Yaros’ ‘Fourth Wing,’ which is fantasy. It has the same show runner, I believe, as ‘Breaking Bad,’ and Michael B. Jordan is behind it.
‘Alchemised’ is also picked up; that’s a dark fantasy. It’s a tragic romance. This is not something that really ends in a happy ending, where everyone’s holding hands and skipping off. It will break your heart, and you will be on the floor for five to seven business days disassociating, but it’s phenomenal.”
Bezruczko: “I am a huge Jennifer Hartmann fan, and ‘Still Beating’ is one of my favorite books. That’s supposed to be being made into a movie, so, I’m anxiously awaiting to hear a little more about that. Another hockey book I know will probably never be adapted is ‘Pucking Around’ by Emily Rath. It’s part of such an amazing series, but it’s not complete yet. They take you on such a fun journey, and I think her representation of the LGBTQ community is amazing.”
Cambron: “I would forever love to see the Skyland Series by Kennedy Ryan: ‘Before I Let Go,’ ‘This Could Be Us,’ and ‘Can’t Get Enough.’ These books are about three black women who are connected by friendship, but they really become like family to each other. They’re just beautiful.”
Murphy: “Mine is ‘Alchemy of Secrets’ by Stephanie Garber. It’s like ‘National Treasure’ meets ‘Supernatural,’ and it’s set in LA, but it embraces old Hollywood glamor. I read it in one sitting.”
Odom: “The really exciting thing for me is that I just found out within the past six months that my two favorite books are being adapted. The first is ‘The Love Hypothesis’ by Ali Hazelwood, which I credit for getting me back into reading again, when I was postpartum with my daughter. It hits home for me, because [Hazelwood] likes to write about female characters that are based in STEM.
The second one is ‘The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue’ by V.E. Schwab. That book, I think about it once a week. It is so good! When I found out they’re turning it into a movie, I almost wanted to cry. The general gist of the book is that it’s about a girl in the late 1700s in a village in France, and she’s getting married off, as people did back then. But she doesn’t want to, and she runs off into the woods and screams, ‘I don’t want to marry him!’ And then, the devil appears, and she makes a deal with the devil not to marry this man. But, in turn, she has to live forever, but with every single person she meets, she’s forgotten about as soon as they stop looking at her.
So, she lives forever, but she’s never remembered. It’s so, so good! Oh, my God; you have to read it!”
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