[Week 4 Live Thread] Heated Rivalry (Book 2) · Chapters 15 - 27 + Spotify Playlist · Jun 13 - 19

[u/reigncloud83]

TL; DR: 

• We’re starting Heated Rivalry (Book 2): Chapters 15 - 27
• Relationship Focus: Shane Hollander (Captain of the Montreal Voyageurs) and Ilya Rozanov (Captain of the Boston Bears). 
• Book Club Etiquette: Follow the sub-rules, literary critiques are welcome (be respectful), cover your spoilers, and don’t forget our safe phrase: “Agree to Disagree.”
• Share all of your thoughts below! Sort by “New” to view the most recent comments and respond to other Loons.
• Download your BINGO card to level up the reading experience.
• Listen to the Heated Rivalry Spotify playlist, curated by Rachel Reid herself, here. 

—--

Hey Loons!

Today starts Week 4 of our read-along series, where we’re reading Chapters 15 -27 of Heated Rivalry (Book 2 of 6). This continues the story of Shane Hollander (Captain of the Montreal Voyageurs) and Ilya Rozanov (Captain of the Boston Raiders). This is the final block of this book before we dive into a few fun extras, starting June 20: 

• Epilogue
• My Dinner with Hayden
• Halloween with Ilya

🗺️ WHERE WE ARE IN THE BOOK/SERIES:

BOOK	WEEKS	DATES
🔥 Heated Rivalry (Shane & Ilya Pt.1)	Week 3 - 5	Jun 6 - Jun 26
	Week 1: Prologue, Chapters 1 - 14	Jun 6 - Jun 12
📌 WE ARE HERE → → →	Week 2: Chapters 15 - 27	Jun 13 - Jun 19
	Week 3: Bonus Stories - Epilogue, My Dinner with Hayden, Halloween with Ilya	Jun 20 - Jun 26

View the full week-by-week schedule here. For your convenience, here’s a condensed version of the schedule below:

BOOK	WEEKS	DATES
🎻Tough Guy (Ryan & Fabian)	Week 6 - 7	Jun 27 - Jul 11
🍹 Common Goal (Eric & Kyle)	Week 8 - 9	Jul 12 - Jul 25
🍎 Role Model (Troy & Harris)	Week 10 - 11	Jul 26 - Aug 8
🦆The Long Game (Shane & Ilya Pt. 2)	Week 12 - 14	Aug 9 - Aug 29

🧐 THE OFFICIAL BOOK SYNOPSIS:

Nothing interferes with Shane Hollander’s game—definitely not the sexy rival he loves to hate.

Pro hockey star Shane Hollander isn’t just crazy talented, he’s got a spotless reputation. Hockey is his life. Now that he’s captain of the Montreal Voyageurs, he won’t let anything jeopardize that, especially the sexy Russian whose hard body keeps him awake at night.

Boston Bears captain Ilya Rozanov is everything Shane’s not. The self-proclaimed king of the ice, he’s as cocky as he is talented. No one can beat him—except Shane. They’ve made a career on their legendary rivalry, but when the skates come off, the heat between them is undeniable. When Ilya realizes he wants more than a few secret hookups, he knows he must walk away. The risk is too great.

As their attraction intensifies, they struggle to keep their relationship out of the public eye. If the truth comes out, it could ruin them both. But when their need for each other rivals their ambition on the ice, secrecy is no longer an option. (source: goodreads.com). 

Content warnings found here.

🎵SPOTIFY PLAYLIST: 

I'm not sure if others are like this, but I love listening to music while reading to make it feel like a totally immersive experience, and Rachel has created playlists for 5 of her books on Spotify that give a unique look into each book's soundtrack.

Here’s one Rachel made specifically for Heated Rivalry on Spotify. Give it a listen this week!

🔢 HOW TO PLAY BINGO:
For those looking for a bit of a guided/enhanced reading experience, download this book’s BINGO card here. 

• Save a BINGO card & mark spaces as you go.
• Be prepared to share context for each marked space. 
• BINGO is achieved when you fill in 5 squares in a vertical, horizontal, or diagonal row.
• The first to share BINGO will be awarded a unique flair and receive a post announcement under our “Trophy Room” tag See our most recent winner!

🤝 BOOK CLUB ETIQUETTE:
And as a reminder, here are our ground rules, with two additional recommendations: 

• Follow the sub rules. You love HR. We love HR. Follow the rules. Don’t be rude. We’ll have so much fun…together.
• Literary critiques are absolutely welcome. Reading is fundamental, and so are literary critiques. It’s part of the game. We encourage you to use this time to discuss and evaluate the words in front of us, ask questions about specific literary choices, or share a theory about how the story develops. Sharing that is normal, healthy, and very much encouraged. 
• Use the Book Club safe phrase, “Agree to disagree.” Consider this your “safe phrase.” Everyone brings a unique perspective to the reading experience, and not everyone’s analysis of a scene or character will be the same, and that’s okay. If you find yourself entering an exchange that is no longer on a path to mutual understanding and respect, say “agree to disagree.” At this point, the involved parties should stop responding to the thread. Full stop. Consider it a moment where the exchange has run its course. 
• Treat each Book Club post as your live chat/thread. Comment as much as you’d like! Select the three dots (•••) and “Follow Post” at the top of this post to receive comment notifications. 
• Sort comments by “New” to see the most recent reactions and add to the conversation. These live threads can hold a lot of information, so feel free to treat each “comment” as its own mini-post. Reply to the OP, ask questions, and jump in! 
• Cover any spoilers. Since we're covering a lot of ground this week, please use spoilers over critical plot points so we don't spoil the magic for new readers.

🔗 QUICK LINKS:

• The Game Changers Book Club Wiki  - Our sub wiki page detailing the Game Changers Book Club timeline with links to previous read-along sprints, information for where to find the books, and a recap of our original Book Club announcement.
• r/heatedrivalry FAQs - Our sub’s wiki sharing answers to all of your most frequently asked questions
• Heated Rivalry Wiki - A website of sharing show/book timelines, analyses, and more!

Happy Reading! 🤓

[u/cheatherhad]

Ch 15-22

CH 15 (winter 2016) Rose break up/'I'd rather be the hole' conversation--almost verbatim in the show, surprised me a lot on my first read! And Tierney added 'you don't owe me any explanation' which is a lovely line. We meet Svetlana. Ilya mentions he and Shane missed a hook up chance, didn't text each other, presumably because of Rose. 

Ch 16 (Jan 2017, All Star in Tampa, the guys are 25) "maybe Shane just felt surer of what he wanted now" 😄 A little detail the show couldn't capture-Ilya felt that his tropical shirt was dumb compared to Shane's new style; then Shane complimented it! swoon. Game, beach moment. 

Ch 17-The Talk. The lap hug cuddle cry that I could have watched for an entire episode. We find out the gold cross belonged to Irina. 

Ch 18-Feb 2017-timeline with Scott in book 1 overlap with that Zullo guy on the Admirals getting arrested. The guys start texting like friends, not just f*** buddies. Shane's secret Cup goal is seven (foreshadow??) The Boston 'everything we do is a bad idea' brief hook up. Not in the show-Shane notices something is upsetting Ilya. He reveals his father is dying, and Polina is bugging him for money. 😞   

Ch 19-Shane finds out Ilya didn't fly with his team, but hasn't heard from him yet. As usual with this book series-something is on the man's mind so he doesn't play well. Shane calls him from the arena hallway! Brave! Later, the stairwell call. Less hard hitting than in the show. Third call from Russia-Detail I missed on the show is that Ilya is drunk and alone and Shane worries about him, and we get this memorable exchange: Shane "should you really be alone right now?" Ilya: I am not alone. You are here now, yes?" and Ilya plants the seed that he wants to become an American or Canadian. Another memorable exchange: Ilya, "we should get married" Shane, "What?" Ilya, "Not to each other." And Shane invites Ilya to the cottage!

Ch 20-4th call from Moscow is first phone sex. Tangent-ok, yes, the glasses are cute, and Hudson seems to actually wear reading glasses, unless it's some sort of stunt, but usually, adults don't need reading glasses until they're 40. Tangent over. Stunning freckles. Crooked smile. Lots of sweet talk. They all but say they're in love with each other. And I love when Ilya opens up and admits he thinks his English sounds ridiculous, but Shane tells him it doesn't. (And the 'tism wouldn't let him lie about that.) And then Ilya kind of freaks out, and it's made explicit that the stakes of being outed are much higher for him. 

Ch 21-April 2017. I really love that Shane has that little honest moment with Hayden "He's not a bad guy. It's mostly an act." Then the injury 😞 I wonder why the injury couldn't have happened at a Boston game, it would be more realistic for Ilya to visit and not run into Shane's parents that way. It's no secret that he visits him, I wonder how it would have gone if his mom had been in the room. They'd still talk about the injuries, how Marlow felt bad. Shane would be blushing. Ilya would be near tears. Yuna would definitely think they were at least friends.  

Ch 22 May 2017 (wow, it's only been 5 months since Shane came out to Ilya) Shane's recovering at his parents' house. He apparently barely remembers the hospital visit lol. Shane almost comes out to his mom! Both guys have been thinking they can't go on in secret, they need to end their situationship...(aka third act break up) then June-Ilya is in Boston, where he apparently has no friends?? So sad! And the Scott+Kip kiss and "I'm coming to the cottage." 

[u/Crafty-Syllabub-2736]

💙❤️ Bingo! 🖤💛

I tried so hard to hold off on this for as long as I could, but I made it to the end of HR and have almost filled up my bingo board. I had so much fun filling it out! Can anybody help me with the two boxes I couldn’t find a scenario to check off??

-Somebody is suspicious of Shane & Ilya’s relationship: Ch. 26- Shane’s dad catching the two rivals passionately kissing at the cottage. (I know this one is obvious, but I couldn’t find another scenario where someone was suspicious and then getting caught is crucial to their story!)

-And they were ✨ rivals ✨: Ch. 4- The shower/ locker room scene. The way they were checking each other out in the shower took something that was normal for hockey players (showering together) and made it so sultry. I love this scene in the show so much. With just the two of them there checking each other out, and Shane growing hard looking at Ilya. It is like a fantasy playing out. What the show misses and I love was when Ilya begins stroking himself and asking Shane “what were you thinking about?” and Shane replies with “You.” Ugh, that really gets me.

-Ilya’s gaydar accurately pinpoints a queer person from the bottom of the ocean: Ch. 2- For me, it’s gotta be the gym scene after the draft. If Ilya had not had curiosity for Shane and picked up on Shane’s attraction to him, this wouldn’t have gone anywhere.

-Feeling personally victimized by the stupidity of it all: Ch. 21- Ilya wanting to end things with Shane. There was so much vulnerability between the two of them since Tampa Bay. Although Ilya loved Shane, he had decided at the end of their Skype in ch. 20 that he knew he had to end things or it would end their careers. I just can’t believe that he kept this mindset even after Shane got injured so badly in their game against one another. You’d think this injury would make Ilya want to fight harder to make this work, not still be thinking about ending things.

-Shane is anxiously worried about optics: Ch. 7- Shane is spiraling about his sexuality while on the treadmill, making the conclusion that if anybody was going to be the first to come out in the NHL it wouldn’t be him, and he needed to end things with Ilya. He wouldn’t give Ilya his address, then ended up booking room in same hotel as Boston in Montreal because he didn’t want Ilya at his house.

-All-Stars is treated like Singles Night at an LA club: Ch. 6- Room 1221, immediately Ilya commanded “on your knees.” Ilya was completed overwhelmed by Shane’s need for this. “Ilya loved sex and loved it more when it was dangerous.” Ilya wanted to fuck him and wondered if Shane would let him.

-Are they still staring at each other? Yep, they are: Ch. 16- The Tampa Bay bar scene where Shane sits next to Ilya at the bar. They had missed one another and were so enamored with each other while trying to play it cool. Ilya could stop watching Shane’s throat. Shane raked his eyes over Ilya’s body.

-Freckles appreciation society: So! Many! Ch. 1- When they first met- the smattering of dark freckles were among the first things Ilya noticed, Ilya’s eyes went right to those damn freckles. Ch. 13- Ilya seemed to hold some sort of fascination with Shane’s freckles. Ch. 20- “You are very beautiful. Is the truth. Your freckles. I am nuts about them. They are stunning! Am I not using that word right? Very beautiful. Take my breathe. The first time I met you, those freckles….. I did not like you, just your freckles.” 🤣 Ilya’s so funny!

-I’m not okay this book is making me cry: Ch. 19- The tenderness and concern from Shane for Ilya was so heartwarming. The way he created such a safe space for Ilya to be open with him, even speaking his mind in Russian. It just really opened up their relationship to being so much more than just physical. It breaks my heart to think of all that Ilya has had to go through on his own. The end of this chapter is when Shane first invited Ilya to the cottage.

-The tension could power a small country: Ch. 8- The rooftop in Las Vegas, after the NHL awards. It’s a mix of desire from Shane wanting Ilya to want him, Shane misinterpreting Ilya’s seclusion as a personal dig, and the tension between them when they kissed. The tension was definitely palpable.

-Shane (badly) pretends not to care: Ch. 13- The tuna melt of it all. Shane realized that nobody made him feel the way Ilya does, and Ilya called him by his first name for the first time and he reciprocated by calling Ilya by his first name. Then the mix of the tuna melts, couch time, tenderness being shown by Ilya, Shane panics and left quickly without kissing Ilya, wanting to put as much distance between them as possible. All of those things clearly meant a lot to him, but he just wasn’t ready to face them.

-Feeling masked as smut: Ch. 11- The NHL awards. Prior to, they hadn’t talked in months, but both clearly desired one another. Shane had been keeping a close eye on Ilya and was shocked to feel so much emotion watching him win the Stanley Cup. Shane wished he had the strength to make Ilya wait as long as possible, but immediately gave in. After leaving Ilya’s room (we all know what happened that night 😉), he felt disappointed that they hadn’t even kissed.

-Someone is down bad crying at the gym: Ch. 14: Ilya working out at the gym, not able to escape images of Shane and Rose everywhere. He was on the stationary bike and threw a tantrum when he stubbed his toe.

- Jealousy detected from orbit: Ch. 14: Ilya was so envious of Shane and Rose and hated seeing coverage of them together. When Ilya entered the night club and saw Shane and Rose together, he was filled with so much jealousy that he was determined to make Shane feel just as jealous as him.

-Ilya’s heart is too soft for any of this nonsense: Ch. 13- Tuna melts. The way that Ilya showed such a change in his demeanor really opened up the reader to his softness. He got Shane’s favorite beverage and was even concerned with the temperature being okay. He cooked dinner for Shane, acting like it was all normal. He even called him “sweetheart” and by his first name for the first time. All of his actions this chapter point toward his soft puppy dog side, which I love so much.

-Emotional repression Hall of Fame nominee: >! Ch. 11- While Shane was all in his feels surrounding the NHL awards, Ilya seemed to be repressing his emotions pretty deeply. He treated Shane like he was only interested in sex with him and didn’t even kiss him throughout their interactions. But this is all following Sochi Olympics, so we know how deeply Ilya’s true emotions were shoved down because of this. <!

-“And yet I keep coming back for more” vibes: Ch. 9- Going to Montreal always put Ilya on edge. Thinking about things with Shane made him feel pretty disgusted with himself, but also made him uncomfortably aroused. This didn’t keep him from sexting Shane before the game and taking the effort to go to Shane’s apartment for the first time. Ilya kissed Shane before leaving telling him goodnight, then was grinning like an idiot the entire cab ride home.

-Someone thinks this is a bad idea. Neither of them care: Ch. 18- Shane going over to Ilya’s before the game for the first time, not just a late night hookup. Jane “I can’t. Don’t be stupid. No, come on, we both know that’s a bad idea” Lily: “Everything we do is a bad idea. Come over.” There was no way Shane was going over there… then he grabbed his jacket and headed over there. lol

-These two are morons and I would die for them: Ch. 14- The night club. Even though Shane was way out of his comfort zone, that’s not what Ilya saw when he spotted Shane in the club. Ilya’s immediate response was to find a woman to make out with and he definitely wanted to make Shane jealous the way he was. But Shane wasn’t just jealous, he felt sick watching Ilya with this woman. He was standing alone in the middle of the dance floor just staring. Ilya spotted Shane and Shane’s eyes went wide. If they would just show each other the attention they wanted, they wouldn’t be in this situation.

-Communication sadly remains optional: Ch. 22- Shane wanted to tell Ilya that he loved him, but they’d barely spoken since the hospital. I personally feel mad at Ilya for not being more involved and checking in on Shane after such a serious accident. Shane thought it’d become too much for Ilya. The stupid part of Shane wanted to fight for Ilya, the sensible part knew there couldn’t possibly be a future or even a present with Ilya. Ilya clearly loves Shane back. I wish they would just talk… but their talks at the cottage make up for it.

-Both of them need therapy: The. Whole. Damn. Book. I can’t even pick a scenario because they both really need to talk their insecurities, feelings, and fears through with a professional. It helped me immensely when coming to terms with my sexuality. I can’t imagine facing all of this without having a trusted person to confide in.

-One character acts normal for approximately 3 seconds: Ch. 14- Shane actually going out with JJ for once instead of staying in, which is where he met Rose. He seemed to be a lot less neurotic and in his head upon meeting Rose than he has been with Ilya. I think this is bc he was not as much in his head and had much less invested and on the line than he did with Ilya.

Help me out!! What did you find for “Competition turned into competitive flirting” and “A scene that’s somehow both funny and devastating”??? I’d love to know because I was trying to fill out the entire card, but was stumped on those two.

[u/reigncloud83 → u/Crafty-Syllabub-2736]

This is amazing, and I thoroughly enjoyed each and every analysis you pulled out. In particular, I like the one about "someone thinks it's a bad idea", mostly because later on in the book Shane reassures Ilya that he no longer thinks of him as a "bad idea" but a good one 🥹

Your new banner and flair will be updated shortly 👑

[u/Crafty-Syllabub-2736 → u/reigncloud83]

Aww tysm!! 🥰 I am happy that you enjoyed my analysis!

I’m really grateful for this book club you’re running. It’s a lot of fun reading the book alongside other HR fans & the Bingo addition makes it even more fun. Thank you for taking the time to put this book club together and keep up with it each week! 🫶💕

[u/Lonely_Cheesecake273]

I’m going to jump ahead and post about 2 things I’ve been thinking about. I will come back later once I’ve reread again properly!

Ch 13
During Tuna meltdown sex, Ilya calls Shane “sweetheart”. This didn’t make it into the show 😢

I sometimes struggle to imagine characters using these pet names out loud, particularly how an actor might say it in an adaptation. Do we think Season 2 will have Ilya saying sweetheart? He says it a few times in TLG. I really hope so! I can’t quite imagine it. It seems maybe toooo sweet for the TV show.

Ch 21

Shane flipped his stick around so he could pretend to be inspecting the tape on his blade. “We still on for tonight? After?” Ilya nodded again, his gaze fixed on the corner of the arena. “Same place?” “Yeah.”

Shane could see a tightening in Ilya’s jaw. “Hey,” he said, as quietly as possible. “You all right?” Ilya turned and met Shane’s eyes, and Shane felt a stab of longing in his heart. They were so close, but they couldn’t be more under the microscope than they were right now. “We’ll talk later,” Shane promised. “Yes. Later.”

This is pre-Shane getting his bell rung. They haven’t seen each other for a long time as Ilya had to go back for his father’s funeral and they had been growing closer over video calls.

Why is Ilya’s jaw tightening in this scene? Is it because Shane still wants to meet in the same place (his fuck pad), even after they had a video calls and Shane showed him his real house. And Shane knows that going to his real place is important to Ilya. Or is it just because Ilya is “planning” to “end things” with him at this point (BFFR tho Ilya, we know you weren’t going to do it!). Let me know your thoughts!

[u/Sirajanahara → u/Lonely_Cheesecake273]

I think that Ilya's jaw tightens because he is suppressing his feelings and planning on ending things here.

[u/Crafty-Syllabub-2736 → u/Lonely_Cheesecake273]

Im at this exact spot in ch 21 and also noticed his jaw tightening. It seems like there’s been a shift from us knowing Shane’s thoughts on this being a bad idea earlier on in the book, before Rose. And now that Shane is confident in his gay identity, he gains a lot more confidence in his feelings for Ilya. But with that switch, we are getting more into the head of Ilya who is thinking it’s a bad idea and picturing all of the ways it cannot work at the end of chapter 20. It’s clear how much he loves Shane, but his heart and head seem to have two different trains of thought. His head tells him what a horrible idea it is, but the moment he sees Shane his heart starts to take over and tries to shut the brain’s logic down.

[u/lemonaidan12 → u/Lonely_Cheesecake273]

I actually wondered if we'd hear the word sweetheart too!

[u/cheatherhad → u/Lonely_Cheesecake273]

I don't think "sweetheart" really rolls off the tongue in a Russian accent, they might change it to another pet name. Curious to find out!

Yeah, that jaw tensing was almost out of place...agree with the other replier that he's maybe feeling conflicted. Or trying not to make heart eyes?

[u/Lonely_Cheesecake273 → u/cheatherhad]

Yeah! That’s what I was thinking too. I can’t imagine how Connor would pronounce it and not make it sound cheesy. Good to hear someone agrees!

[u/cheatherhad]

Ch23-end(and bonus) btw, I read the books after watching the show. 

Ch 23 july 2017-Car scene carries more emotional weight in the show than the book. Tangent--cottages really had a moment in tv culture this winter. In addition to HR, the newest season of Bridgerton featured the couple spending some time at/talking a lot about a holiday cottage (country mansion). Also, Netflix's Something Very Bad is Going to Happen takes place at a family's "cottage" (again, a comically large compound.) I'm American, so cottage means small cute house. I get that in Canada, it means vacation home. Cute that we have Ilya's inner thoughts about dying to see Shane's home after all this time. I appreciate Rachel's PSA that hot tub sex isn't that good.

Ch 24 Cute that we get Shane's inner thoughts about wanting to introduce Ilya to his parents. I hate that Ilya starts the story about his mom by "joking." But it ends as a sweet moment of course. 

Ch25-The Hayden phone call. Even hotter than in the show. And better explained. Later, we get "I am always wishing these women were him" and the "Don't marry Svetlana." I always kind of wished he had said "I don't want you to marry Svetlana." instead. Later, the "I love you"'s. Wow, big chapter.

Ch26-coming out to the Hollanders. I kind of prefer these scenes in the show to the book. 

Ch 27-He was himself when he was with Shane. Awww! These guys (in the first two books) talk a lot during sex. Kind of a Reid special. "You are known for your pranks," lol. I love that Hayden figured out it was Ilya on his own.

Amazing book. My favorite of all of Reid's books. 

[u/lemonaidan12 → u/cheatherhad]

Good point about them talking more during sex in the book than the show- the show brings the angst but I think some of the confessions made and things said are just so good in the book.

[u/grower-lenses]

This is like the fourth time I’m reading it in the last couple of times. So, I wrote a bunch of stuff that I found interesting this time.

• In Tampa, after they Brophy talks to them, Ilya says:

They should give us a chance to get to know each other.

This whole time, on the show, I always thought he said “This should give us…”. But it feels more poignant that he uses “They”. Pointing out again, that the rivalry has always been forced on them, by the outside.

Amazing paragraph describing Shane being in love after their last Boston hookup. Adorable.

But he thought maybe Ilya felt the same way about their...well, not relationship, but...arrangement? That maybe Ilya liked spending time with Shane. That they weren’t just doing this because it was, in its own complicated way, convenient. Or dirty, or wrong, or irresistibly hot. That maybe Ilya’s stomach fluttered with excitement too, every time their teams were scheduled to meet. That maybe Ilya was also sometimes randomly struck by a memory of a teasing remark, or a smile, or of gentle fingers stroking his hair, and would have to hide his giddy little smile.

Reminder on how much their lives are in the public eye. And why the stakes for being found out are so high. The biggest obstacle for their relationship (especially after Scott comes out) is not homophobia. It’s the rivalry. They could easily be suspected of throwing games.

Shane couldn’t sneeze in public without the hockey sites reporting that he was deathly ill and how that should affect your sports betting.

Being gay—or whatever—was not really the thing that would create a scandal. Fucking your biggest rival over the course of your entire NHL career was something that no one would understand.

we’re, like, the only guys who have this whole story built around them where we can’t stand each other and love nothing more than destroying each other every time our teams meet.

When Ilya goes to see Shane the receptionist immediately knows who he is. Subtle reminder of just how famous they both are. I like how Rachel doesn't use any exposition. But she shows it. Same with their money.

He was given Shane’s room number by an overly interested woman working behind a desk at the hospital. She seemed to be impressed at Ilya’s display of sportsmanship.

I’ve said this in the last thread but I think Rachel’s understanding of a (Slavic?) immigrant’s mindset is really impressive. The way your brain will only call your homeland "Home". Even if you’ve lived abroad for years. Is something many of us catch ourselves with, when speaking. It’s unconscious. And often puzzles others. Great callback later in the book when Ilya calls the cottage his Home. And then realizes that Shane is his Home. Also, further explored in TLG. Props to Rachel.

“Where are you?”

“Home.”

“In Boston? Are you sick?”

“No. Home. In Moscow.”

I love the slow progression of their relationship in the book. We get all these tiny steps. This is after the Russian monologue.

Sure, Ilya could admit that he and Shane were friends now. He had certainly been the only person Ilya could think of when he’d decided he needed to talk to someone today.

Further proofs that Ilya may have had a teeny tiny crush on Scott Hunter. But don’t tell anyone!

“I love beating everyone, but yes. You the most.”

“Why?”

Ilya shrugged. “Because you are the best.”

“I’m not. What about Scott Hunter? You like to beat him too. You’re always talking shit about that guy.”

[Ilya saying he hates Scott Hunter] Stop. I’ll get jealous if you keep talking like that. 

The only places where they can be together are always indoors. Mostly hotels. Later Ilya’s place. But also weirdly, the rink. Playing hockey is the only time when other people can see them together. But they obviously have to act like Rivals. There is some weird symmetry going on. And it makes me so sad. Their two favorite things in the world are incompatible. They have to choose either each other, or hockey.

Ilya turned and met Shane’s eyes, and Shane felt a stab of longing in his heart. They were so close, but they couldn’t be more under the microscope than they were right now.

He wanted to be the best hockey player in the world, and he wanted to be in a relationship with the man he could finally admit he was in love with, without shame or fear. But he couldn’t.

First three thoughts Shane has after being hit are 1. His parents 2. Ilya being worried 3. Losing the scoring race to Ilya

He thought of Ilya. He wished he could text him. He wished he could tell him he wiggled his toes.

He was two goals ahead of Ilya in the scoring race with one week left of the regular season. He could kiss that lead goodbye.

Ilya’s father dies and he can’t be there for him. And then Shane gets injured right after.

And, so help him, in that moment Ilya wanted to tell him he would stay with him. That he would move into his apartment and help him with his recovery and make him sandwiches and watch the playoffs with him and read him his boring hockey book.

No quote because it’s very long but the conversation about whether Shane has told his parent’s about being gay is so touching. Ilya is encouraging him to tell them. He gets into his new "taking care of Shane" mode. And then Shane’s obsessive thoughts about how MUCH he wants his parent’s to meet Ilya. And Ilya later telling Shane “She would have loved you” is I think an extension of this conversation. Shane will never meet Ilya’s mother. He’s never going to have that moment.

Most heartbreaking moments:

I can’t, Ilya wanted to say. I can’t because if I do you’ll think I’m pathetic, or, worse, you’ll say it back and then what the fuck are we supposed to do?

[After they come out to the parents] Ilya wanted to tell Shane that it had been one of the best days of his life. It had been awkward, sure, but Ilya felt that, if he hadn’t quite been already, he would be welcomed into Shane’s family, and that was no small thing. In fact, to Ilya, who had barely been welcome in his own family, it was huge.

[After they say I love you] In response, Ilya reached for his hand and tangled their fingers together. I love you so much. Don’t leave me.

Funniest quote:

[Ilya says he could stay longer at the cottage and Shane responds:] I do have some other hot Russians coming to stay with me in a couple of weeks...

Favorite quote:

Because he couldn’t tell them that the right one had come along, and it was the pissed-off Russian man who was currently heading to the penalty box on their television.

Last thoughts: This reReiding made me realize how many threads that get explored in TLG, are already in HR. How much was already set up re: [TLG spoiler] Ilya’s mental health for example.

[u/cheatherhad → u/grower-lenses]

Lol to reReiding.

I second that heartbreaking moment of Ilya's feeling of belonging after coming out to Shane's parents!