Katie the Book Reporter

I Read Heated Rivalry, the Steamy Gay Hockey Romance That’s About to Take Over Our TV Screens

November 27, 2025

Not for the first time, the TikTok editors got me – this time it was with Heated Rivalry, the spicy gay hockey romance that’s been everywhere on my FYP in the lead up to the TV adaptation’s release this Friday, Nov. 28.

Based on the book by Rachel Reid, Heated Rivalry follows professional hockey players Shane Hollander of Canada and Ilya Rozanov of Russia as they embark on a yearslong affair that blossoms into love. The story opens when the top NHL prospects first meet as teens and it follows them through the next decade as their careers skyrocket and the NHL builds up the rival narrative between them.

“We were supposed to stand alone at the top, but we will always be there together. We will keep climbing until no one else can reach us, but it will always be together.”

The book was adapted by Jacob Tierney, known for helming Shoresy and Letterkenny (he plays Glen in the show!), and stars Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander and Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov. Heated Rivalry is a Canadian production and is being released through Crave in Canada and HBO Max in the United States.

The chemistry in the show’s trailer goes crazy, but it wasn’t until I saw that HBO Max had picked up U.S. distribution – and I would actually get a chance to watch it beyond TikTok clips – that I knew I had to read the source material to know what everyone was raving about online.

And boy am I glad that I did!
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A New Chapter in My Hometown

July 22, 2025

Every time I visit my hometown, I keep an eye out for little changes: a new carwash down the highway, which business has moved into my favorite old bakery‘s spot, what color a neighbor’s house is painted now.

When I visit lately I get to see a more personal change up close – a bookstore has opened in the retail spot that used to be my mom’s.

About a decade ago, my mom ran Welcome Home and Garden in an old blue house on Lee Lane in Covington, Louisiana. The shop had warm wooden floors, a white picket fence, a stained glass window of a dragonfly above the front door and a sealed double-sided brick fireplace. It felt like the best interior design magazine come to life. Creamy, glorious smelling blocks of hand soap from France; vibrant pillows; gorgeous John Robshaw bedding; pretty tableware and cute gifts. My mom has always had great taste, and it was exciting seeing that come to life in such a big, shareable way.

The shop felt dreamy, and made me dream about what life would look like as an adult — what would my future home be like? What things would I fill it with?

Now, a new kind of dreaming is happening in the shop. One built around characters, plot lines and the doors to new worlds that only reading can open.
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What’s All the Fuss About? A Review of Done and Dusted by Lyla Sage

July 11, 2025

You know when a book is really popular, but you read it and you just can’t understand why people rave about it? That was my experience with Done and Dusted by Lyla Sage, the first book in the Rebel Blue Ranch series.

I listened to the audiobook of Done and Dusted, narrated by Stella Hunter and Aaron Shedlock, in a single day. It was a quick, easy listen, clocking in at just about 7 hours. I waited over 6 months for my hold on the audiobook to become available at my local library because of the high demand.

I thought I’d love it — a brother’s-best-friend trope relationship, a Western setting and horseback riding elements? Sign me up. I’d seen this book all over Instagram and TikTok, but after finishing it I don’t understand where the hype is coming from.

My main complaints: show v. tell, underdeveloped characters/character relationships and not a strong enough sense of place given the importance of the setting to the story. Sometimes books can be too long, but in this case I think Done and Dusted was too short to deliver on its premise well.
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The Graham Effect by Elle Kennedy: Review

February 19, 2025

Book 1 in the Campus Diaries series

I didn’t even make it a year before I re-listened to this audiobook. If you like sports romances (especially hockey), hot collegians or a supportive and hysterical group of friends/supporting cast, then you need to give The Graham Effect by Elle Kennedy a listen!

The audiobook is dual POV with dual narrators and the run time is about 14 hours. The narrators are CJ Bloom and Teddy Hamilton.

The Graham Effect is the first book in the Campus Diaries series, the third round of books set in Kennedy’s larger Briar University universe. The book follows Gigi Graham (daughter of Garrett and Hannah, the first couple featured in Kennedy’s Off-Campus series) and Luke Ryder. Gigi and Ryder are both superstar collegiate hockey players, but they first met years earlier when they butted heads at a hockey camp.

Ryder and his best friends, Shane and Beckett, are forced to transfer to Briar University when their university suddenly goes under. Tensions are high as the Eastwood and Briar men’s hockey teams, historically fierce rivals, have to merge. While navigating the merger, Ryder also sets his sights on landing a spot as an assistant coach for a prestigious summer hockey camp – hosted by Gigi’s dad, retired NHL legend Garrett Graham. When Ryder makes a bad impression on Garrett, he turns to Gigi for help. They strike a deal – she’ll talk him up to her dad if he’ll do private training sessions with her to improve her odds of making the women’s Olympic team.
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Happy publication week to Earl Crush by Alexandra Vasti! Full review of Regency romance.

January 23, 2025

Happy publication week to Earl Crush! Lydia Hope-Wallace and Arthur Baird, the Earl of Strathronnach – you have my heart!

“I am built for you, Lydia-Hope Wallace. My body and my heart were formed for the loving of you.” – From the unsent papers of Arthur Baird

“Today is the twenty-second of November in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and eighteen. Yesterday in front of several witnesses, I vowed to love you reverently, discreetly, advisedly, and soberly. And this morning, for you alone, I vow this: I will love you indiscreetly and unadvisedly, fearlessly and without reservation, with all my body and all my heart, today and tomorrow and until the end of time.” – From the papers of the Countess of Strathrannoach, left upon her husband’s pillow

Alexandra Vasti’s second entry into her Belvoir’s universe is romantic, sexy, adventurous and funny, with great balance between character moments and plot. The first book, Ne’er Duke Well, was only enjoyable for me, but Earl Crush hit it out of the park.

The book isn’t hurting for action; Lydia first meets Arthur when she appears on his doorstep to propose a marriage of convenience, after what she thinks is a yearslong correspondence with him about political ideas. It turns out it was Arthur’s brother sending the letters; the younger Baird was masquerading as Arthur as part of a larger plot. From there endless twists and turns unfold – a carriage run off the road by a herd of zebras! Hijinks! Spies! An assassination plot! A fake marriage as investigative cover! With plenty of sexy moments in between.
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