Romance television series “Heated Rivalry” is based on the “Game Changers” novel series by Rachel Reid. It follows two rival professional hockey players, Canadian Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Russian Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie).

The 6-episode series starts with rookie Shane Hollander introducing himself to rookie Ilya Rozanov outside of the training rink. You can immediately feel the tension between the two of them, especially after Russia beats Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship.

Six months after the loss, Shane and Ilya meet again at the Hockey draft. In the first episode, the acting and the intimacy that both actors brought felt so real.

Watching the series, I was flustered because the flirting that they both had was very intense.

Being an openly gay or bisexual athlete during 2008 was not accepted. So watching all the emotions that Shane was going through during the series was eye-opening. You see this awkward 18-year-old boy trying to figure out his sexuality while also trying to become a star athlete. In Russia, if you are gay or bisexual, you will go to jail or worse, be put to death.

Ilya is worried about being the perfect hockey player to please his overbearing dad and money-sucking brother. Throughout the series, you see how Ilya handles his feelings. Instead of being scared, he brushes off everything with sarcasm.

Heated Rivalry shows how the two handle balancing a secret relationship and keeping their fans happy with their rivalry in the span of 10 years.

I definitely recommend watching this series. Even though the series has a lot of sexual scenes, the love story is so deep and vulnerable you cannot help but gravitate towards it.