Actors Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie's steamy sex scenes in Heated Rivalry made such an incredible, indelible impression that Rachel Reid āthe author who created their characters ā confessed she had to stop watching to complete her next sequel.
"I watched it as it came out," Reid said of the popular Crave/HBO Max streaming series. "Then I just said, 'OK, I can't watch it again until this book is done because I just need to focus on what I'm doing.'"
Reid talked about her Game Changer book series that was adapted for the hit television program during the September 29 stop on her Heated Rivalry Deluxe Edition tour in New York City, according to E! News.
To bring Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov's love story back to life, Reid revealed she had to separate herself from the TV series while writing the upcoming seventh and final book in the series, Unrivaled.
"It was not easy because I wanted to watch the show," said Reid. "I love everything about the show. I love everything they did with the characters, but I just needed to stay focused on my version."
Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander and Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov on Heated Rivalry season 1. HBO Max/Crave Canada
The convincing, ahem, performances by the actors which has generated an unhealthy amount of speculation about their sexuality and some wild fan fiction, also had its impact on the author, she said: "It's very difficult to write sex scenes when you're thinking about [Connor and Hudson]. It's very weird."
Reid last explored Shane and Ilya's love story in her sixth novel of the Game Changers series, The Long Game ā which is in large part the basis for the storyline for season 2 ā back in 2022.
But time was not the only outside pressure on the 46-year-old bestselling author.
"It was challenging writing Unrivaled for a lot of reasons," she said. "But I think the biggest was just the increased expectations. Suddenly, within a few months, instead of having a small-ish loyal fan base who really cared about these characters, it felt like the whole world was waiting to see what happened next to them."
The writer added that although the show's producers showed her rough edits of their first episodes before they premiered in November 2025, and she didn't have any issues, that was before her diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. As Out reported in February, Reid disclosed her symptoms had worsened and that slowed down her progress. Unrivaled was originally due to be published this week but its release has been pushed back to June 1, 2027.
So, to complete her sequel while focusing on managing her condition, Reid said avoiding the show was for the best. Still, she said she wished she could join the worldwide obsession with Shane and Ilya's romance, which has evolved on the screen in ways she did not foresee.
"It's a big change," she explained. "At the same time, people have fallen in love with this slightly different version of the characters on the show." Reid credited producer Jacob Tierney and the people working with him to produce the series for brining in a wider audience.
"There're so many more people who have some ownership of these characters and are responsible for these characters, which I think is really beautiful," she added. "It's really exciting to have other people to talk to about these characters, whose job it is to tell their story. It's not just me."
