Used to be that if you saw steam coming off a hockey rink, it meant a Zamboni had just cruised by. But lately it’s more likely because a sports romance book is getting someone hot and bothered rinkside.

Unrivaled, the latest book in Rachel Reid’s viral hockey romance series, was just announced and is set to publish this fall. The book is the seventh in the series that is most famous these days for inspiring the viral sexy sports show Heated Rivalry. Unrivaled will be released on September 29th, and looks to be a Barnes & Noble exclusive for the moment, with only a fancy special edition available.

No doubt this is going to be popular—you can’t open a newspaper, scroll social media, or DM pro athletes without running into something about the HBO series.

Reid began publishing the Game Changer books, all about romance between hockey players, in 2018. Unrivaled will be the conclusion of a trilogy about the romance between rivals-turned-lovers Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov. According to the book’s description, Ilya and Shane are “out, married, and even playing on the same team,” and “they’ve gotten a lot of love from fans who are thrilled for them. But some people in the hockey world are still reeling from their relationship reveal.” This includes a lot of negative backlash, initially sparked by a famous hockey podcast—these bro podcasters have gotten so bad they’re even coming for our fictional hot jocks.

The HBO show that has surely appeared in at least one of your group chats was inspired by the second book in the series, Heated Rivalry, which has currently skated to number three on the Times Best Sellers list. Just when I thought I was the only person in America who hadn’t dipped my toes into the hot ice, I read about last nights Golden Globes—seems like a lot of the celebs in the audience hadn’t seen it either?

James Folta

James Folta

James Folta is a writer and the managing editor of Points in Case. He co-writes the weekly Newsletter of Humorous Writing. More at www.jamesfolta.com or at jfolta[at]lithub[dot]com.