When I read Heated Rivalry, I was extremely tempted to jump straight to The Long Game, but I read the rest of the Game Changers series in order, and this book by far is better than all the other books, and well worth the wait.

Following the events of Heated Rivalry, Shane and Ilya agree to keep their relationship secret, while Ilya relocated to Ottawa so he and Shane can spend more time together. However, the pressures of keeping their relationship a secret as well as all the time spent apart from each other begin to affect both of them. Ilya is openly struggling with loneliness and depression whenever Shane isn’t around, a consequence of everything he had to give up when he uprooted himself from Boston. Although it seems that Shane is coping with it better than Ilya, the stress is also affecting him in a less overt manner as he becomes more entrenched in his neurotic tendencies and insecurity, that the full extent of Ilya’s sacrifices becomes a blindspot for him. A lot of reviewers seem to be very unforgiving to Shane for that, but as a person who recognizes that I have the same kind of tendencies myself, I relate to it, and though I don’t excuse Shane for it, he did not neglect Ilya’s needs out of malice, and immediately rectifies his mistakes once he realizes. I found myself crying so much, because their pain felt so real and relatable, but despite it all, the overall tone of the story isn’t dark or painful. They are still very in love and the spark between them remains very alive.

I felt like Ilya’s story arc was very well resolved through the novel, especially as he goes to therapy and gathers friends and allies in Ottawa. However, I was upset that they could not make their relationship public on their own terms. Ilya ends up having an easier time dealing with the consequences, but Shane had a harder time with the fallout. While they do achieve an ideal ending where they get married and no longer have to play on different teams, I felt that getting there was rushed. I would have liked to see Shane get a satisfying resolution about all the hate he faced from Montreal for being publicly outed.