Game Changers series, Rachel Reid

Je vous ai parlé il y a pas longtemps de ma nouvelle grande passion devenue obsession : Heated Rivalry. J'ai acheté et lu les 6 tomes en moins d'un mois, mais dans le désordre (voir ma photo), ce qui est un peu chaotique mais rien de gênant. Je vous poste donc mes avis dans l'ordre des tomes.

New York Admirals captain Scott Hunter takes his pregame rituals very seriously. When a particular smoothie precedes Scott's breaking his on-ice slump, he’s desperate to recreate the magic…and to get to know the sexy, funny guy behind the counter.

Kip Grady knew there was more to Scott’s frequent visits than blended fruit, but he never let himself imagine being invited back to Scott’s penthouse. Or kissed with reckless abandon—and more. What goes on between them is hot, incredible and frequent…but also only on Scott’s terms and always behind his closed apartment doors.

Scott needs Kip in his life, but with playoff season approaching, the spotlight on him is suddenly brighter than ever. He can’t afford to do anything that might derail his career or the public’s image of what a hockey captain should be. Kip is ready to go all in with Scott—but how much longer will he have to remain a secret?

Ce roman a été adapté dans l'épisode 3 de la série TV et j'avais donc envie de le lire après les tomes sur Shane et Ilya. C’était très mignon, Scott est beaucoup plus doux que dans l’adaptation et n’a rien à voir avec l’acteur. Beaucoup de scènes hot encore sont longues et pas utiles, qui contrastent avec l'atmosphère douce des deux personnages qui sont tout timides. Il y a certaines parties, scènes et dialogues, qui ressemblent beaucoup à ce qui se passe dans Heated Rivalry le livre et la série TV.

Game Changer

Nothing interferes with pro hockey star Shane Hollander’s game.

Now that he’s captain of the Montreal Voyageurs, he won’t let anything jeopardize that—definitely not the sexy rival he loves to hate.

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. Publicly, they’re enemies. Privately, they can’t stop touching each other.

The smart thing to do? Walk away, once a few secret hookups turn into a struggle to keep their relationship out of the press. The truth could ruin them both. But for Shane and Ilya, secrecy is soon no longer an option…

L’adaptation est très fidèle, il y a seulement quelques inversions de chronologie et quelques détails et scènes hot qui manquent, sauf la toute fin. J'étais un peu surprise que les traits d'humour et les dialogues iconiques sont directement tirés du roman, il n'y a quasi rien d'inventé.
La romance est très graphique mais très mignonne, le style est direct, il n'y a pas de fioritures. J’avais les scènes sous les yeux et l’accent d’Ilya dans les oreilles en lisant, j'ai passé un excellent moment de lecture à me replonger dans cette belle histoire.

Heated Rivalry

Pro hockey star Ryan Price may be an enforcer, but off the ice he struggles with anxiety. Recently traded to Toronto, he’s determined to make a fresh start in the city’s dynamic LGBTQ+ Village. The last thing he expects to find in his new neighborhood is a blast from his past in the fabulous form of Fabian Salah.

Aspiring musician Fabian loathes hockey. But that doesn’t stop him from being attracted to a certain burly ginger-bearded defenseman. He hasn’t forgotten the kiss they almost shared back in high school, and the chemistry between them has only intensified.

Fabian is more than happy to be Ryan’s guide to the gay scene in Toronto. Between dance clubs and art exhibits—and the most amazing sex—Ryan’s feeling something he hasn’t experienced in a long time: joy. But playing the role of the heavy on the ice has taken its toll on his body and mind, and a future with Fabian may mean hanging up his skates for good.

L'histoire est toujours aussi mignonne, je suis toujours surprise de voir ces athlètes balèzes être aussi timides dans leurs vies privées. Je n'ai malheureusement pas accroché aux personnages cette fois-ci, et je trouve aussi que c'est le tome le moins relié à l'univers de la saga, avec beaucoup moins de hockey que j'attendais. Ryan est très complexé et anxieux, j'avais de la peine pour lui.

Tough Guy

Veteran goaltender Eric Bennett has faced down some of the toughest shooters on the ice, but nothing prepared him for his latest challenge—life after hockey. It’s time to make some big changes, starting with finally dating men for the first time.

Graduate student Kyle Swift moved to New York nursing a broken heart. He’d sworn to find someone his own age to crush on (for once). Until he meets a gorgeous, distinguished silver fox hockey player. Despite their intense physical attraction, Kyle has no intention of getting emotionally involved. He’ll teach Eric a few tricks, have some mutually consensual fun, then walk away.

Eric is more than happy to learn anything Kyle brings to the table. And Kyle never expected their friends-with-benefits arrangement to leave him wanting more. Happily-ever-after might be staring them in the face, but it won’t happen if they're too stubborn to come clean about their feelings.

Everything they want is within reach… They just have to be brave enough to grab it.

C'est une suite de Game Changer, j'étais contente de retrouver les personnages et les voir évoluer, même les secondaires. On a toujours un contraste entre la romance mignonne et les scènes très hot. Kyle est vraiment chou et Eric est assez libéré psychologiquement, c'est davantage le fait que son partenaire soit beaucoup plus jeune qui le perturbe. Je constate que les tropes de cette saga sont des classiques de la romance hétéro ou MM, et qu’il n’y a que Shane et Ilya qui souffrent de leur relation secrète, car pour les autres tout semble relativement facile et sans vraiment de conséquences terribles.

Common Goal

The hits just keep coming for Troy Barrett. Traded to the worst team in the league would be bad enough, but coming on the heels of a messy breakup and a recent scandal… Troy just wants to play hockey and be left alone. He definitely doesn’t want to “work on his online presence" with the team’s peppy social media manager.

Harris Drover can tell standoffish Troy isn’t happy about the trade, but Harris doesn’t give up on people easily. Even when he’s developing a crush he’s sure is one-sided. And when he sees Troy’s smile finally crack through his grumpy exterior… That’s a man Harris couldn’t turn his back on if he wanted to.

Suddenly, Troy’s move to the new team feels like an opportunity—for Troy to embrace his true self, and for both men to explore their growing attraction. But being together behind closed doors is one thing, and for Troy, being in a public relationship with Harris will mean facing off with his fears, once and for all.

Ce tome se passe chronologiquement en parallèle de The Long Game et j’étais contente de voir beaucoup Ilya et de le voir d'un point de vue extérieur. Ce dernier est quand même présent comme dans tous les tomes, en confident et gardien des secrets, alors que lui-même n'a personne à qui se confier, je trouve ça tellement triste.. J’aurais aussi aimé voir davantage Chiron. L’histoire reste très mignonne et l’évolution de Troy est assez facile au final. Harris est un rayon de soleil.

Role Model

To the world they are rivals, but to each other they are everything.

Ten years.

That’s how long Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov have been seeing each other. How long they’ve been keeping their relationship a secret. From friends, from family…from the league. If Shane wants to stay at the top of his game, what he and Ilya share has to remain secret. He loves Ilya, but what if going public ruins everything?

Ilya is sick of secrets. Shane has gotten so good at hiding his feelings, sometimes Ilya questions if they even exist. The closeness, the intimacy, even the risk that would come with being open about their relationship…Ilya wants it all.

It’s time for them to decide what’s most important—hockey or love.

It’s time to make a call.

J'ai eu beaucoup d’émotion durant tout le livre, l'atmosphère est plus lourde, les protagonistes sont plus âgés et expérimentés et sont fatigués de se cacher, ce que je peux comprendre. Le personnage d'Ilya est particulièrement creusé dans ce volet, je crois que c'est le préféré de l'autrice. En tout cas, j’ai pleuré pour sa détresse.
J'avais encore les acteurs en tête au début, mais comme ce sont des scènes que je n'ai pas visionné, cela s'est estompé au fur et à mesure de ma lecture, même si l'accent d'Ilya est resté.
Il y a beaucoup de scènes hot, il y aurait pu en avoir moins surtout vers le milieu. J'étais très satisfaite de la conclusion, même si on sait maintenant qu’il y aura un troisième livre sur ce couple.

The Long Game

On n'oublie pas le prochain tome, Unrivaled, sur Ilya et Shane, qui sort le 1er juin 2027 en VO! (précommande Amazon.fr)

A line has been drawn—and the hockey world is divided.

For the first time in their professional hockey careers, Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander have nothing to hide. For more than a decade, they kept their love a secret, but now they’re out, married, and even playing on the same team. The support is incredible.

Most of the time.

They’ve gotten a lot of love from fans who are thrilled for them. But some people in the hockey world are still reeling from their relationship reveal, and the backlash—led by popular hockey podcast Top Shelf and the #TakeBackHockey movement—is getting louder.

Ilya and Shane are finally able to stand together in the light, the way they’d always wanted. And now they might be facing their biggest challenge yet.