New Heated Rivalry Release Officially Out Now Ahead Of Season 2 Premiere

Published Oct 13, 2026, 12:57 PM EDT

Dani Kessel Odom (they/them) is an autistic lead writer and TV critic who covers sci-fi shows like Doctor Who and Pluribus, fantasy shows like The Magicians and Percy Jackson, and horror of all kinds. They also cover Marvel and DC TV shows and movies, with a robust knowledge of comic books. Their TV reviews can be found on Rotten Tomatoes.

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In university, they majored in English Writing with a minor in psychology. They have always had a passion for analyzing TV and movies, even taking filmography and scriptwriting classes in university. They also studied and participated in onstage and onscreen acting extensively from the ages of 7 to 18.

Aside from working at Screen Rant, Dani has worked as a freelance editor and writer over the past decade, often in a ghostwriting capacity.

Heated Rivalry brings a whole new wave of heat in a new release that fans won't want to miss.

Rachel Reid's Game Changers book series has been a BookTok favorite for quite some time, so its adaptation was inevitable. However, it went better than anyone could've expected. Because the US distributor, HBO Max, only gained the rights to the Heated Rivalry TV show nine days before its release, it had little time to advertise. Despite this, The CRAVE TV show took the world by storm when it was released. The "gay hockey show," as it affectionately became known, broke the record for HBO Max's most-watched acquired scripted series and tied with Breaking Bad for the highest-rated TV episode of all time, though it no longer holds the latter title. Luckily, the TV show will return for Heated Rivalry season 2, increasing the episode count from six in the first season to twelve in the second, though audiences will have to wait until next year for the season 2 premiere.

On CBS Morning, creator Jacob Tierney updated fans, saying Heated Rivalry would be in late spring 2027, which is less than half a year away. In the meantime, Little, Brown and Company has officially released a new Heated Rivalry book titled I'll Believe In Anything: The Making of Heated Rivalry by Jacob Tierney in partnership with producer Brendan Brady and Accent Aigu Entertainment. The book also has a foreword by Rachel Reid, who has been immensely supportive of the TV adaptation.

The book features Heated Rivalry season 1's annotated scripts, including scenes that were ultimately deleted. Readers can enjoy exclusive behind-the-scenes content. Just as a teaser, Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie nearly filmed full-frontal nudity, and the coming-out scene nearly looked different.

What’s more, I’ll Believe in Anything offers a peek behind the curtain at how Tierney and the rest of the creative team used Rachel Reid’s book to bring this beloved hockey romance to life. So often, book adaptations fail because they don’t understand what makes the original story so compelling in the first place. That wasn’t the case here, though. The intentional nods to the book go beyond Ilya and Shane's basic love story. They’re in every part of the creative process.

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I’ll Believe Anything came at the perfect time. The release of Unrivaled by Rachel Reid, the third book centered on Ilya and Shane, has been pushed to June 1, 2027, because the author’s worsening Parkinson’s disease is making it harder to physically write (via Variety). The second season of the TV show is currently in production, and we’re getting morsels of information. The book can satisfy our appetites while we wait for more Ilya and Shane. Plus, the release comes ahead of the 2026 holiday season. With full-color photographs and new content, I'll Believe in Anything: The Making of Heated Rivalry makes a great gift for the Heated Rivalry fan in your life.