Not to state the obvious (I'm rambling) but I've been thinking about what makes the rivalry in Heated Rivalry so compelling. I love my fair share of rivals to lovers stories, but I've never been this drawn to the rivalry between Shane and Ilya. Their rivalry is compelling from the start, and the taboo-ness of it all sets the perfect stage for romance.
The thing about rivals to lovers stories is that the rivalry should sit at the core of the romance. To call someone a rival, they need to be your equal. Whether they are your equal now or someone you aspire to eventually beat; rivalries reach their peak and become really compelling when the characters are evenly matched. Every meeting is always a toss up of who wins - and as the reader, you're compelled to root for them both. Sure, one might win out more because personality preferences, but in the end, a well-written rivalry is one where both characters are fleshed out.
I think this is why, to me, Heated Rivalry absolutely hooks you in from the start. There is no build-up to the rivalry - you are immediately thrown into the thick of things. At barely 19, Shane and Ilya are some of the best players in the MLH, even as rookies. They are evenly matched in different skills that make them deadly in their own ways. Shane is a playmaker, fast, and efficient in his playing. While Ilya is presented as a menace on ice who gets under your skin and slips past defences and goalies in his sleep. There is no arc where one is lagging behind the other, no struggle of Shane or Ilya wishing they will work hard to fix some deficiency in order to keep up with the other. They are evenly matched and by all means should get along like fire and water.
The beauty of Heated Rivalry being a queer romance is that it also removes the barrier present in the inherent gender dichotomy in M/F romances. It allows the reader to truly root for both characters as equals in their respective gender roles. There is no need for readers to do the awkward mental dance of justifying why the female lead could possibly stand toe to toe with her male counterpart in a physical sport. No need to wonder if the female lead has to work twice as hard as her male counterpart. The female lead in rivalry stories will often struggle more than her male counterpart part to reach the same point in the rivalry. Heated Rivalry offers an escapism from the reality of a straight romance that is easily tapped into by female readers. When we read about Shane and Ilya, we see two equally matched individuals as they are. Theoretically, this gives us space to explore other issues in the story like race, sexuality, and gender performance without an overly complicated intersectional approach and it's fascinating.
(Yes, we should definitely have conversations about how M/F rival romances are presented and written but this is not the post for that.)
The last thing that makes Shane and Ilya's rivalry so compelling is the taboo-ness of it. Their rivals to lovers story is also a forbidden love story. It's one thing to fuck a fellow player in the opposing team, its another thing to fuck your counterpart who is also the Captain and centre of the team your own team has had a lifelong rivalry with. Oh, and the media has pitted you against each other since day 1. Also, the sport you play is wildly homophobic and hypermasculine.
Shane and Ilya are like Romeo and Juliet - they are meant to be star-crossed lovers. They are meant to hate each other and everyone believes they do. But the thing is, they've never once hated each other. The pressure of winning at the league and international level makes their rivalry intense, but their rivalry has never been built on personal hatred. They both recognise that playing each other makes them better players and that the other person is the only person who can keep up with them on the ice. In private, they are likewise the only people to know the other's sexuality in secret and the personal pressures they face.
This is also what makes Shane and Ilya's romance so compelling. You want them to be together, even through a frankly horrible long af situationship, because they are perfect for the other person. You hope that they overcome the inherent tragedy of a star-crossed lovers story. You're filled with the knowledge that even when things go to shit, you're confident that in a fight between them against the world, they will come out the victors. They will save each other and themselves.
