4.5 rounded up

I went into the book a little nervous, because though I adore Shane and Ilya and loved the first book with them, I also thought their story was really satisfying as it was told and was worried a sequel might not quite live up to the hype. But thankfully I was proved wrong, and this was an absolutely delight to read and overall immensely satisfying!

It was really great to see an established Ilya and Shane, who really love each other, but who are each struggling in different ways. Ilya's mental health struggles were really well portrayed, and even though some of the miscommunication things drove me a little crazy, I thought they felt believable for the characters and not over done. I will say, I'm really glad I'd read book 5 (featuring Harris/Troy) because there's some overlap here in the timelines--it can be read without that one, but I do think it's better if you've read it!

The smut, as with the last book, continues to be suuuuper hot, and their dynamic just works so well for me! I was also very pleased that the *didn't* come out by making out on the ice, though I did think the way their coming out went down was a little... odd. Fine, but just a strange choice.

Which brings me to my one real gripe with this book which is, sadly, the ending. Honestly, up until the big playoff games between their two teams right after they were outed was really well-paced, and then the last ~10% or so of the book was very much not. It read almost like a bunch of vignettes/scenes with big time skips in between and a really unsatisfying lack of narrative. It was almost like the author just ran out of steam and wanted the book to be over. We know that Shane's Montreal team hasn't taken the news well, but we hardly get any of that content and instead it just sort of glosses through the fact that Shane decides to leave Montreal (after spending the full book going on about he was gonna retire there, this is clearly a big fucking deal for him) and ends up signing for Ottawa with Ilya's team, and even the lead-up to the wedding and just generally anything at all about how they've dealt with the aftermath of being outed is really very sketchy and underdeveloped. I was also REALLY unsatisfied with getting basically no real resolution to the whole J.J. thing--not only does he react poorly to finding out about Shane/Ilya, but he accuses Shane in front of the whole team about throwing the playoff game to Ilya, which frankly to me is borderline unforgivable (that is NOT the behavior of a friend) but at the end he's at the wedding and apparently things are "good" between him and Shane though the reader has seen no evidence that he deserves to still be in Shane's life. And then it ends with Shane at Ottawa with Ilya, which is... sweet, but felt a bit too neat? Maybe because the journey to get there was really short-changed.

TBH, the rushed ending is a REALLY big disappointment for me, because this book is SO good, and is entirely leading up to this last bit, and I think it really needed something more solid. I really debated rounding up or down with this rating, and though I think rounding down is most reflective of how I felt at the end of this book, I enjoyed myself so immensely for the first 90% or so that it doesn't feel quite fair. I just really wish the author had given us the same energy for the last 10% as she did for the first 90%.

This was…absolutely everything I wanted for Shane and Ilya and then some. I was so happy to be back with them, with their adoration for each other still combining with their competitiveness.

Ilya and Shane are among my favorite couples of all time, and it’s because of their love for each other, the fact that they truly like each other, the embracing of what makes each one of them unique, the competition that exists all over, and the utter charm of how much they make each other smile. They can’t help it.

There are growing pains here that feel real and were sad but still so very hopeful. Still so very Shane and Ilya.

Carina does need to offer TWs/CWs tho because depression is featured heavily in this story.

I could not recommend this series more. And I would not say no to another because I am greedy and Ilya and Shane are definitely comfort rereads and desert island keepers.

What an amazing journey Rachel took us one when she gifted us with Shane and Ilya. This couple resonated with me so deeply, and I am so thankful that we got a second book with them. This book was everything I hoped it would be and more. A very satisfying conclusion to what I consider one of the best MM romances ever written. 10/10, will read over and over again.

5 stars - I loved it!

I missed these boys so much!! And I'm going to continue missing them after this book because I always want more Ilya and Shane!!

To say I was excited for this book is a humongous understatement. I have been waiting ever so patiently to finally read a prequel as to the rest of Ilya and Shane's book, one of the best couples that has ever been written, that I know many people love!! And with this book, everyone will love them even more.

I was literally scouring Netgalley on the daily, waiting for this book to pop up so I can cross my fingers and hopefully get the arc, until I was blessed by the Netgalley gods and got it, to promptly download and read it, I couldn't wait!!! And I wasn't disappointed! I devoured it and couldn't put it down!

This book is primarily following Ilya and Shane in their journey of how they want to come out to the world, the hardships they deal with, how the secrecy is taking a toll on them. This book dives more into mental health, which I really appreciate Rachel Reid commenting on and how it's ok to get help. It continues from Heated Rivalry after we see the couple keeping their relationship a secret, but are very much in love❤

This book is a bit longer than the first one and you should definitely read the rest of the series before this one, especially Heated Rivalry, so you know all the characters and so that the story is more enjoyable for you.

I laughed, I cried, I swooned, I love these characters with all my heart. There's so much passion between them, the love is so evident and I'm just so happy that this book exists and that Shane and Ilya got the HEA they deserve❤

Thank you to NetGalley and Carina Press for the earc in return for an honest review

Did I drop everything to read this when the advanced copy showed up on my Kindle? Yes, yes I did. Did I stay up until 1AM to finish it even though I had an early flight the next day? Also yes. Because while I only read Heated Rivalry about five months ago, Shane and Ilya have been waiting ten years for their happy ending and I couldn't make them wait any longer.

In Heated Rivalry, the predecessor to this book and a necessary read, we saw Shane and Ilya's relationship from the first moment they met until they committed to each other. Now, it's been ten years since that initial meet and the pair are deciding if they can really wait until retirement to reveal their relationship. It's not just that they're in a M/M relationship, it's that the whole hockey world views them as rivals, and seeing them as anything else will be a tough pill to swallow. So what are they to do?

Rachel Reid describes her books as "cute smut about hockey," which is a fairly accurate description that I'm going to adopt. These books are exceptionally steamy--if you're going to leave a one star review and say "too much sex" you've come to the wrong place. Find another book. But they are also "cute," and full of heart, and I'm not going to lie--while I didn't full on cry, parts of this book made me weepy. I think having Shane and Ilya be together for so long and struggling to figure out how to achieve their happiness compounded the emotions, like a home coming. This book gave me all the feels, including sad, happy, and hot and bothered, and I couldn't endorse it more.

This book feels like an ending of the series, but there were also mentions of a young rookie, Luca Daas (I think I got that name right) that gave me hope that there could be a seventh book. While Heated Rivalry is undoubtedly the best of the series and the only required read before this one, all six books in this series are stellar and worth picking up. You'll also see the characters come up time and time again, and little nuggets of information are sprinkled about the books. They also have interwoven timelines, so some of the events in this book you also saw in book five, but from the perspective of other characters, and some of the events in Heated Rivalry you also saw in book one, etc. I am an official Rachel Reid stan and will read anything she writes.

Thanks to Carina for my eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 10/10

If Heated Rivalry was Shane’s book, The Long Game is 100% Ilya’s. Ilya is one of my favorite characters I’ve ever read, and getting to see him in the background of the other books (particularly Role Model) just endeared him to me more. While this is obviously a romance, the couple is already together and has been for a while; the focus of this book is more about Ilya’s personal growth and struggles, and the less-than-romantic realities of living the (closeted) HFN promised at the end of Heated Rivalry. Shane and Ilya have more than earned their HEA, which made this book all the more satisfying. I read this in one sitting and then didn’t want to finish the last chapter because I’m not ready to let these characters go! This is an absolute must-read for fans of the series!

this book hurt in the best way possible.

this was filled with equally light-hearted, tender moments and hard-hitting, painful ones. but that being said, this was such a feel good book, god i had the best time reading it! to think, i didn’t quite believe i could love Shane and Ilya more than i already did, but wow.

my heart was seriously pounding in overdrive the whole time, especially in the last 20% of the book... and did i cry on several occasions? i got choked up a lot, while the ending had me fully bawling. and i don’t cry too often at books, but i seriously couldn’t help it here.

i do i wish i could go into detail of all my lil favourite moments bcos there were so many interactions that i know will have y’all squealing like an idiot... because i may have also been squealing like an idiot. but everyone should be totally surprised by this wonderful book and the all-consuming love of Ilya and Shane.

the intimate moments. the inside jokes. the taunting and teasing, even when they were thousands of miles apart. it was so damn perfect, i was grinning the whole time. gah, seriously wish i could fangirl over the different moments that had me in a chokehold, but i want everyone to experience this just how i did. i think everyone is gonna be so happy with this book! Rachel Reid truly knocked it out of the park here.

any conflict that arose was handled and executed amazingly, in my opinion. it felt necessary, you know? it wasn’t useless stuff to stir up drama and heighten the angst. it was raw and stemmed from the underlying themes that ran through the book. the conflicts made sense. and in turn, they were that much more gut-wrenching bcos it all felt so real.

can’t thank NetGalley and Carina Press enough for providing me with an arc of this wonderfully fantastic book! truly a masterpiece and i couldn’t be any happier with the conclusion of Ilya and Shane’s story!

CW: depression, homophobic comments (mostly challenged)

It took me exactly an hour after I was approved for this arc before I started reading it even though it was almost ten in the night. There was no way I was gonna sleep without knowing more of Ilya and Shane’s story. So that’s exactly what I did - stayed up late night to finish it in one go.

I have to say, I didn’t expect to cry so much while reading this but I did. I used to be a very frequent crier while reading romance novels but in the past couple of years, I’ve become way too cynical and nothing makes me cry anymore (except ofcourse wangxian fanfics on ao3 but they are an exception). But this book - wow did I just sob and sob at so many moments. Not to say this was a painful read. It was just such a beautiful love story of two people who were forced to be apart for long periods of time due to circumstances and them trying to handle that loneliness was heartbreaking. While Heated Rivalry was all about hot and sexy (and this one doesn’t compromise on that), this was more about love and the emotions associated with it. I love this whole series but this probably has the best writing because the author handled so many sensitive things with care and I adore her for it.

I remember the author mentioning once that while Heated Rivalry was more Shane’s book, this is more Ilya’s book and I think that is a perfect description. While in the first one, we get to see Shane come to terms with his sexuality and the person he wants to be with, this book is mostly Ilya trying to find his path in life, navigating the joys and sorrows, trying to do things for himself and figuring out how to get his HEA.

I was so impressed by Ilya this time, and I didn’t think that was possible because he is already my favorite character in this world. His personality is so out there that no one would think he is lonely, depressed and unhappy even with his hockey because he isn’t on a winning team anymore. It really really broke my heart when he felt insecure that Shane might leave him for a more uncomplicated relationship. But he has always been a fighter and I was so glad to see him take the initiative to get help, figure out what he needed to do and believe in his love.

Shane on the other hand felt like he has become more uptight, being all about self control and discipline. His whole “performance diet” was a running gag throughout the story and I found it hilarious. I also wanted to shake him sometimes because he wouldn’t try to understand Ilya’s pov but then he was always a bit clueless, so I knew he would get there, even if he needed some nudges.

I was also pretty surprised by how the various side characters played out. It was nice to see all the familiar hockey players and their reactions to Ilya and Shane’s relationship. There were ofcourse some assholes and some supporters and I was glad it was more on the positive side. I was actually sad to see what happened in the aftermath but I think the ultimate consequence was just perfect.

What more can I say about this book which was my most anticipated romance release of this year. I have loved Ilya and Shane’s characters for years now and it was a joy reading more of their story and seeing them find happiness and togetherness in the best way possible. It was the perfect book and I’m ecstatic, but also sad at the prospect that we might not get to see them anymore. I don’t know if there are more books in this series but I hope there are, and even if it’s a new couple, I hope we’ll get to see more of this amazing couple’s snippets alongwith the many accomplishments that I can’t wait for them to achieve. Even if I never get to know what happens next in their story, I’m just happy I got to meet them and I will always come back for more rereads whenever I need some joy.

Heated Rivalry and The Long Game are like a balm for whatever ails you...a steamy hot sexy balm that makes you laugh out loud and feel all the feelings, especially about the last time you had an 11 year relationship with anything - of quality or otherwise. Rachel Reid has done us a service by sharing Shane and Ilya's intense and deeply affecting journey of being brave, persevering and going the distance for love, for which we should all be grateful for. I know I am.

And if there would be a Book 3 I would grab my tambourine, because more love is always something to celebrate, and I can read anything about Shane and Ilya forever.

This is a love story.

And it's for people who believe in it; that it exists in the world, and that we all deserve it, and that we can at least find comfort in reading about it until it becomes our story too.

The Long Game is to Game Changers as the Avengers: Endgame is to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Reid has crafted a series of delightful books, each showcasing a different M/M couple whose worlds touch, overlap and occasionally collide, in ways both subtle and obvious.

Like Avengers: Endgame of the MCU, this culmination will pack the biggest feels if you're familiar with the stories and wider cast of characters leading up to it.

The Long Game assembles the prepared threads gossamer and adamantine with a masterful hand in a near perfect weave.

On-ice rivals Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov have been hiding their relationship for a decade. Secrecy breeds isolation, especially for Ilya, orphaned, practically exiled from his homeland and suffering from depression. Shane, nescient of Ilya's discontent, plans to keep their relationship a secret until retirement.

Ried's characters, from the primaries to the passing, are accutely rendered. The dialogue is often clever and humorous and, at turns, refreshingly straightforward without being simple.

Ilya is especially deftly crafted and immensely likable. He is the lynchpin, the Black Window.

This is a series I will enjoy rereading many times.

Perfect ending to an incredible series! Perfection! I knew I needed more Shane and Ilya (mostly Ilya, he owns my heart) and when this last book was announced, I was overly excited and nervous. This is almost 500 pages long, and you don't feel it at all. The story is so captivating that you blink, and it's over. In that blink, though, you get through such an emotional journey, one you won't ever forget. I can't stop thinking about it, and I already miss them. So.freaking.much!

I will say absolutely nothing about the story. Enjoy it without knowing anything more than the blurb. Get suckerpunched in the heart just like me. Fun times. Honestly, it WAS fun. This book made me laugh a lot, between me clutching my heart and sobbing. The usual.

So, the men, the lovers, the cuties!!!

Ilya's growth and just his entire being make him one of my favourite characters to have ever been written. I genuinely love him. His terrible jokes, the way he jokingly insults other people, how he makes fun of Shane for the little things that also makes him love that man with all his heart. And Shane, a man who has a dream, who is scared he can't have it all and doesn't know how much he's willing to risk. He loves Ilya so freaking much. He adores him. It's right there, you feel it through the pages, every word, there's so much love and care, and maybe he doesn't always know how to show it fully, but you can't deny Shane would start a revolution for Ilya. Shane and Ilya against the world!

Their story spans a decade; years of hooking up, no strings attached, no complications, but we know that, the strings? They appeared. The complications? So many. It's infatuation. It's love. It was inevitable. It took them long enough to be where they are! And took me a lot of strength to watch them experience everything they did. The love story of the century. Rivals to rivals with benefits to friends with benefits to lovers to being the most important people for each other. I'm an emotional mess. My feelings are in turmoil. I love them deeply. DEEPLY!

The little details made the story even better, and it was already perfect. So it was perfect plus! I will reread the hell out of this again and highlight everything. I'm usually too immerse in the story to mark my favourite parts, and there were many, so I just need to go back and experience it again, with my heart in my hands, crying a bit, or a lot. Smiling like a fool in love. Because that's what I am.

I almost want to write a second review but full of spoilers and maybe I'll do just that. Later. After my reread. I just need to scream my love and list every single perfect thing about this book. First of all, my beloved (pretend I wrote it in russian), Ilya Rozanov. I have so much love for him, it's wild. If this is how being in real love feels, woah. It's overwhelming and scary. Yes, my list would mainly include everything about him, followed by Shane and how in love he is, him with his boring outfits Ilya makes fun of but is not so secretly very fond of. God, I love them, and I miss them, and my heart is full, and wtf do I do now. Sigh.

ANYWAY!

We also meet some of the characters from previous books, getting sneak peaks of how they're doing now. I love cameos and crossovers. I love seeing characters being happy and enjoying life.

So, in short, this book broke me. I'm a mess. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

Sincerely,

Me, a fool in love.

In The Long Game, fan favorites Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov are back for another emotional, sizzling, whirlwind of a story that will somehow leave readers impossibly more in love with them. It's everything readers could ask for in a sequel for these two: chemistry, heart, and conflict that all comes together beautifully and leaves them stronger than ever.

The Long Game is one of my highly-anticipated books for the year. I remember when I finished Heated Rivalry, it just felt like their story wasn't done and there was more to come. And I would always look for any moments where Ilya and Shane showed up. I remember reading the previous book in this series, Role Model, and we got many Ilya scenes ... and I knew there was more to their story that needed to be told.

And here we are with The Long Game.

It's simple, I loved it and I cried a couple of times. I knew this was going to be more emotional based off the preview. It felt so solemn and I knew it wasn't going to be an easy road for them. It's been just about a decade of them dating in secret and we see how much it has taken a toll on both of them. And ugh, my heart ... These two have soooo much love for each other and you want nothing more than for them to finally get to that point where they can love each other openly.

We see another side of Ilya that absolutely broke me. I wanted to reach into the pages and just hold onto him for dear life. His personal story is a huge focus in this especially as he struggles balancing everything and managing his mental health.

I could probably go on and on about their story, but absolutely don't want to spoil anything. I am sooo happy we got more time with Ilya and Shane as well as seeing some of our favorites throughout the series. There's going to be laughs, some tears will be shed, the SWEETEST moments ever, and the steamiest scenes. I couldn't have imagined a more perfect ending for my favorite couple in this series.

The Long Game by Rachel Reid the highly anticipated and long awaited sequel to the second book in the Game Changers series, Heated Rivalry.

Ten years, Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander have been keeping their relationship a secret, but Ilya is more than ready to put an end to their hiding. Ilya is drowning under the lies , the secrets, and the loneliness of hiding their relationship. Chaotic schedules, constant travel and lack of communication between the two puts a strain on their relationship, and in the end they will have to decide what's most important to them.

I'm not going to go into much detail because personally, I would be devastated if someone spoiled this book for me. Ilya Rozanov continues to be one of my favorite characters. He is so sarcastic and quick that it hides how deeply he feels loneliness and struggles. His journey in this book is an emotional rollercoaster, and he deals with his mental health and we really get to know his character on a deeper level. Shane Hollander loves Ilya Rozanov so fiercely and needs him desperately that you can feel it coming off the pages. He's just trying to balance his professional and person life and he goes through a shift that is painful to watch but so necessary if he is going to keep his relationship afloat.


The Long Game is packed with explosive intimate scenes, sweet domesticated moments, dealing with mental health, communication, and most of all so much love. There is honestly not one thing I would change about these two character's journeys, I laughed, I cried [more than once] and I swooned! Rachel Reid went above and beyond all the expectations I had for this bookand I am completely satisfied with the ending for Ilya and Shane.

The Long Game is one of the best sequels, no, one of the best romances, period, that I've ever read. Heated Rivalry ended with a HFN and Reid 100% sticks the landing on the HEA in this followup novel. Ilya shines as usual, but he gets a lot of very believable character development that I didn't coming, and yet it made me even more attached to his character and his arc. I also loved seeing the parts where The Long Game overlapped with Troy's in Role Model.

Heated Rivalry is currently Reid's most popular book. I have enjoyed every book in the Game Changers series but like many Reid's fans, Shane and Ilya have a special place on my favorite couples list. And while I love sequels, they're often disappointing. The Long Game isn't one of the disappointing ones. Reid totally, totally nails it. 110% would recommend.