What To Read After Heated Rivalry
Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid has had me in its grips for 5+ years now, and I am finally seeing some mutuals spiraling as well, so in the interest of spreading the love, here are some of my recs for what to read next:
Other books by Rachel Reid! Kind of an obvious answer, but she writes a broad range of stories and tones and I enjoyed Role Model, The Long Game, and Time to Shine most of her other works.
Sticking to m/m hockey, Avi Baran's Penalty Box series is awesome. He brings the enemies to lovers vibe, the friends to lovers, the hockey player/hockey player, and balances the romance and the sport so well. He also has extras on his website, like AUs of his stories, short stories in the universe, follow-up novellas, etc.
The Superstition Hockey series by Superstition_hockey! It's on AO3 but its original fiction and its fabulous. I read the whole series + extras at least twice per year, it's amazing, I cannot recommend it enough.
Unrivaled by Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James also delivers on that rivals to lovers, do I want to punch you or kiss you vibe and it's very, very satisfying. There's others in the series but that's my favorite.
Sarina Bowen also has awesome m/m hockey romances. Him and Us (written with Elle Kennedy) are wonderful, The Understatement of the Year is fabulous, and I'm Your Guy was also a fun read. For non-hockey but that enemies-to-lovers, gay-awakening type story, Top Secret is also great. And if you're willing to dip your tie into m/f romance, The Year We Fell Down is super well done: two hockey players, the aftermath of injury, friends-to-lovers, exploration of adjusting to disability.
Speaking of f/m college-set hockey romances, Elle Kennedy's Off-Campus series is great. The balance of athletics and romance is on point, and if you like it there are two spin-off series also focused on hockey romances.
Branching out from hockey into baseball, KD Casey's Unwritten Rules series is great. M/m stories, great characters, great writing, and the romance and the athletics are worked balanced really well.
Swinging into football, if you're open to m/f stories, Kristen Callihan's Game On series is super fun.
This post is also a question: what did I miss? What are your recs? Please help me, I am spiraling, I am Consumed, I have been chasing the Heated Rivalry high since 2019, halp.
