WELL THEN, how am I supposed to move on from this book? *quietly freaks out* I knew it was going to absolutely destroy me. Ah god, this was stunning. Gorgeous and soft and heart-wrenching and complex and sexy and lovely and emotional. 100% magic, from start to finish.

I can't believe Rachel Reid managed to write this *gestures broadly* after "Game Changer". I mean, yes, "Game Changer" was definitely lovely, but it was also so light-hearted and easy in a way? "Heated Rivarly" was the complete opposite of a light-hearted read. It gutted me and then remade me whole. It made me sigh then cry and laugh and cheer and grin, and then cry a bit more.
It was a whack-on-the-head type of read. I was literally drowning in feels for the two days it took me to finish it. I'll probably be drowning in feels until April, when Shane and Ilya's second book comes out. God, this was stunning.
I actually wasn't sure I was going to give it 5 stars until I reached the 50% mark and then all feels broke loose. I really liked the beginning: I loved seeing how Shane and Ilya got into *that* confusing mess of attraction and rivalry in the first place, and I loved seeing all the first times both of them shared. I loved the slow-burn, the sexy, sexy intimate scenes and the hilarious banter. But well, the second half of the book? That was when it really started getting magically good for me. The panic and confusion, the "oh my god, what are these feelings", the "I should end this, but I physically can't stand to be apart from you", the desperate yearning, the delicious and inevitable way these two were finally, finally getting to really know each other, and finally, finally giving into what was happening between them.
Also, it definitely helped that I absolutely adored both Shane and Ilya. Well, that's a half-truth. I loved Shane: he's eager, nice and good and endearingly adorable. Ilya Rozanov though? I absolutely ADORED him. Look at me, cheerfully joining the "I-would-die-for-Ilya" fan squad. He's just so *sighs* sexy. And funny and a bit broken and a bit of a jackass, but also so endearingly soft and shy and tender that UGH. I have an gigantic crush on him. And the best part? Both of them are pretty fantastic individually, but together they were literally MAGIC, intimacy and sexual chemistry galore, all round chef kissing.
Also: there's much more hockey in this one, so that made me quite, quite happy. The ending was so lovely I cried and even though it leaves both Shane and Ilya in a really good place, I'm so glad Rachel Reid decided to revisit them. They deserve the world and I already know that "The Long Game" is going to be epic.