r/GameChangersBooks

I read Game Changer and am reading Heated Rivalry right now, but am wondering if Tough Guy, Role Model, and Common Goal are worth reading? I’m sure they are amazing based on Rachel’s Writing I have read, but I’m not sure if I’ll be as into those ones as the other 3.

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I don't do a lot of fussy stuff because I prefer a minimal, less cluttered feed. Not a bunch of links and suggestions.

I like our little cozy queer MM romance loving corner of Reddit.

Any thoughts or suggestions are welcomed!

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So I’m also a big musical theater fan, and in musicals, the protagonists always have an I Want song early in the first act. Examples: Hamiltons “My Shot,” Book of Mormon’s “You and Me (But Mostly Me)”, Jenna’s “What Baking Can Do,” Mama Rose’s “Some People,” Tevye’s “If I Were A Rich Man.”

So in the GC universe what would the I Want songs be?

Ilya - something like “I Want to Get Out Mama.” Song before he leaves Russia. Sings about wishing to be finally free in the US.

Shane - “Best Hockey Player in the World.” When HR starts I don’t think Shane really knows what he wants other than to be the best hockey player.

Ryan - “Dear Anne.” Totally a song about Anne of Green Gables

Fabian - “Does He Remember Me?” After seeing Ryan again.

Scott - “Empty Apartment.” Song about how he wants to bring someone back to his penthouse.

Kip - idk. Maybe something about his student loans? Like “80k in debt.”

Eric - “I’m 40.” Something about how he’s getting older and wants a real connection.

Kyle - definitely how he wants someone artsy and not a “dumb jock.” Like “I Want an Artist.”

Troy - “Will I Ever Deserve Someone.” Song about how he’s just not likable enough to be with anyone

Harris - “Like my algorithm” Something about being a social media manager.

What do y’all think?

I have read and re-read all of Rachel Reid's books, and I am looking for romance books with similar characteristics :

- same level of spice, with mutual respect and care between the characters. Only consensual content.

- interest in the psychology and mental health of the characters.

- equalitarian / balanced relationship between the love interests.

- sweet and heartwarming love !

Love interests can be MM / FF / FM / other. The story does not have to be related to hockey or sports.

Themes I want to avoid:

- If it is a FM relationship, I would like to avoid gender stereotypes as far as possible

- I am in my mid-thirties, so age appropriate characters and no young adult novels

- not interested in fantasy or science fiction

I am new to the romance genre and have only read Rachel Reid's books. I looked on the Romance subreddit but was overwhelmed by all the options.

Thank you so much for your recommendations !

I came to the books after watching the show, having never read any type of romance books before. I’ve been loving them! Started out with HR then GC and TLG. Re-read HR & TLG. Then read Role Model which I loved! Now I decided to re-read again from the beginning and read all the books. Finished GC again and am nearly done with HR. Of the less popular books, which is your favorite? I’m loving the books I’ve read as much as I loved the show and actually prefer now to reread the books rather than reheat the shows. It’s like my daily self care, self comfort time.

[Part 3 of my headcanon on Heated Rivalry]

I love Ilya as a character because of his multi-layered nature. Rachel Reid has an incredible ability to create a deep, profound character portrait without directly explaining everything. When we read between the lines, a vulnerable and beautifully complex human being emerges. Here are three dimensions from Heated Rivalry where I felt his quiet depth.

1 The Order of His Desires (Chapter 3)
“He didn’t want to live with his father, or depend on anyone anymore. He wanted to be rich and famous and loved and have a huge garage full of sports cars. He wanted the weight of his family, and his country, lifted. He wanted to be himself.”

When I first read this, I was deeply moved to find the words "wanted to be loved" tucked quietly inside his grand dreams—and listed third. Money and fame would certainly give him the power to escape the suffocating weight of his family and country. But to truly reclaim himself, I came to realize that what he truly needed was simply unconditional love, much like the love of a mother.
Ilya puts up a shield of bravado and defiance; he is highly cautious and doesn't easily let people into his heart. Yet, this single line beautifully exposes the fragile contrast between his sharp exterior and his tender heart.

2 The Danger as a Defense Mechanism (Chapter 6)
“Ilya had always been this way. He loved sex, and he loved it more when it was dangerous——When it was with someone he knew he shouldn’t be with... Ilya couldn’t resist a bad idea.”

This passage made me realize that Ilya might carry a subconscious fear of attachment. I used to wonder about his contradictory behavior during moments of intimacy — the demanding nature of his preferences contrasted with his incredibly gentle touch and how he prioritizes his partner's needs. This could perhaps be interpreted as a form of "testing behavior" (testing the partner's boundaries).
He might be terrified of building a deep, genuine connection only to be betrayed in the end. By choosing "bad ideas" and dangerous situations, any failure in the relationship is blamed on the circumstance, not on him. I’m sure it allows him to satisfy his desires without risking the ultimate pain of seeking love and being rejected.

3 Hockey as a "Double Escape" and the Hidden Terror (Chapters 1 & 19)
“Since he was twelve years old, 2009 had always been the year he was expected to burst on to the world stage.”
“S: Hockey has always been everything to me. For as long as I can remember. / I: It has been for me as well. But…more as like… an escape.”

Given what we know about Russia's state-sponsored elite sports system, it is highly possible that he was scouted at a young age and his family invested heavily in his career. This context leads me to read between the lines that when he turned professional, he felt less like a son and more like an investment to his family — a system he felt trapped in. I can almost hear his father constantly drilling into him, "I spent money on you, so it's your duty to make it back and pay me."
I suspect his mother’s passing happened right before he entered the sports academy.
Within that dysfunctional family, Ilya and his mother likely shared a special, loving bond. Her loss may have sealed the family’s collapse and deeply impacted his emotional development.
When Ilya hesitatingly chooses the word "escape" in Chapter 19 — searching for the right English term — I believe it carries a powerful double meaning. First, hockey was a childhood escape from a tragic family environment. Second, it was his ticket out of his homeland. He knew that by delivering world-class results, he could independently find a new life.

He was molded to be the "pride of the nation," yet he secretly craved freedom. He lived under a permanent "double risk": if the state discovered either his desire for freedom or his true identity, he could face severe consequences.
When Ilya finally connects with Shane from the heart, it is the beautiful realization of his vow: to be loved and to be himself. Knowing the immense pressure he had to carry makes his journey so precious.

Ilya is a real, breathing human being trying to survive his own depths. I would love to hear how everyone else perceives these nuances in his journey.

Note: if you're not a fan of Taylor Swift please don't comment that. I am a Swiftie and this is like my national holiday.

But we know what Rachel's choice for Hollanov's wedding was and I totally don't really agree with it. I think "Diamonds" was an odd song to pick, although it kind of emphasized how on-the-fly it was. But in honor of the Swelce swedding, which first dance songs do you think fit each couple?

My choices:

Skip - "Walking on Sunshine." Fun, uptempo, could picture the whole Kingfishers crew having a grand old time with this one. But since Scott is a dinosaur, "At Last" is also a classic, dino wedding song.

Hollanov - Taylor Swift's Daylight. I 100% die on this hill. If not that, then "Lover" just because it will be funny and gross. Oh also Stephen Sanchez’s Pool.

Ryan/Fabian - The National's "Think You Can Wait." This is so their song.

Troy/Harris - "We Found Love" - Rihanna. 100% fits their story

Eric/Kyle - Lana del Rey's "Life is Beautiful." Or “Beautiful.” For whatever reason I feel like both of them would love Lana del Rey

Edit: stop downvoting me! Wtf. This is the mildest post ever. Why are people so offended by this?

I’m currently on chapter 25 of tough guy and omg it was going so well and bro😥

The title says it all. I know Shane doesn't physically appear in the book, but I want to know if he's mentioned there by name, or at least vaguely as 'captain of the Montreal team' or 'Ilya Rozanov's rival,' or anything like that. I tried to find information about this online and came across conflicting results.

Sorry if anything was unclear, English is not my first language and I used Google Translate.

For those that have read The Long Game, I've just seen this video of an interview with Rachel, giving us the exact date of a certain anniversary that's coming up. JULY 10TH ❤️🌈 🏒🥰

https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSCC3T1uh/

A bunch of disappointed women must have got some closure from Hayden's Fanmail video 🤣🤣. It just struck me as I read the book.....

Hi everyone, thank you so much for the amazing comments on my previous post! I'm so happy to share more of my thoughts.
Just a quick heads-up: English is not my mother tongue, and I'm currently stuck on the first page of Chapter 10 because I’ve been so busy! However, I’ve been constantly "Audibling" Chapters 10 through the Epilogue on loop, and these are my personal interpretations based on what I’ve been able to catch so far. I'd love to share my perspective with you!

1. The Smoke of Uncontrollable Anxiety
I feel like whenever Ilya smokes, it might be a sign that he is facing an anxiety he cannot control.
Think back to when they first met at age 18 (at the Rookie Tournament/Draft Combine). He was in America for the first time, smoking a cigarette. Beneath whatever hope he had, I sense there was a profound, suffocating fear. Reading between the lines, it feels to me that Ilya is a hockey elite raised and funded by the state. The crushing helplessness of being bound to his family and Russia, combined with his struggle to redeem himself, feels so heavy. I imagine he had to be incredibly careful to hide his true self.

2. Why Shane? The "Golden Boy" as an Ideal Self
Ilya was smitten by Shane's freckles at first sight, but I believe his attraction went much deeper. In Shane—the "Golden Boy" of Canada—it seems Ilya saw the life he could have had.
Shane has everything:
He is genuinely loved by his parents.
He plays hockey purely out of joy.
He is blessed with great friends.
He perfectly navigates both English and French.
Most of all, he takes his fundamental freedom and rights for granted, without a single doubt.
I feel that Ilya looked at Shane and desperately, truly wanted to be a part of Shane's world. Even though Ilya worked so hard in Boston, he knew he couldn't "take it all" the way Shane did. Yet, he never became bitter. He kept fighting to carve out his own place with his own hands. To me, Ilya has been starved for love, fiercely struggling to achieve the silent vow he made at 18: "to be loved."

3. The Shadow of the State
In the story, both Ilya and Shane are well aware of Russia's strict anti-homosexuality laws. Ilya explains that he can’t accept being gay because of the legal punishment, and Shane realizes the terrifying consequences Ilya would face if they were caught.
However, I personally feel that the law is only part of the reason. To me, the deeper root of his fear lies in his identity: Ilya is terrified because he is the "pride and prestige of the state" that raised him. He carries the weight of an entire nation's expectations on his shoulders, which is what makes his secret with Shane feel infinitely more dangerous and tragic.

Lastly, I want to express my deepest gratitude to Ms. Reid for creating this masterpiece. Thank you for introducing Ilya to his better half, Shane, and for sharing the beautiful journey of how they become indispensable to one another. I am also incredibly grateful that I can read and understand English, even if just a little—otherwise, I would have never known this magnificent world!
Again, these are just my personal thoughts, and I would love to hear how you all interpret these scenes! How do you view Ilya's smoking habit and his complex longing for Shane's world?

I’m not saying that there won’t be significant backlash to their marriage and them playing on the same team, but really, what can a podcast do? Whats the percentage of the hockey fans that even listen to podcasts?

I actually laughed on my reheat/re-reads of HR and TLG on two scenes. First, in HR, when Rose texted Shane while he and Ilya are at the cottage and Shane tells Ilya that he's gay and he only slept with Rose a couple of times but wouldn't provide details (even though you know Ilya is dying to find out!)

Then in TLG, Shane presses Ilya asking him how many men he's slept with and Ilya invades the question which pisses Shane off.

Seriously, both men expected an answer on the question of the other man's sexual experience but wouldn't provide the same details when asked themselves.

Personally, i feel a satisfaction that neither got the answers they were looking for since they themselves wouldn't be forthcoming with the question the other posed in the first place.

Any decent PR person working for the team would have absolutely worked wonders with the optics of the situation.

Montreal is one of the most LGBTQ+ friendly cities in Canada, if not the entire world. I somehow find it really, really hard to believe that they would have let a gay player of Asian descent like Shane (who by all accounts is either the best or one of the best in the entire league) go away after one (1!) bad game. Not only is that absolutely terrible optics (think of the goodwill their PR team could have generated with making Shane a mascot of diversity within the team), they also let go of another huge opportunity: if Shane married Ilya and they still played in opposing teams, that would have been, by far, one of the most exciting and buzziest headlines among hockey, and general sports, fans, creating far more hype and buzz than anything else could. Husbands playing in opposite teams would have been the story of the fucking century.

Yeah I know that Shane would have left anyways to move closer to Ilya and join Ottawa, but Montreal themselves being the one to pull the plug was a weird narrative choice.