Gay Love Through the Female Gaze

As someone currently writing an MM (male/male romantic pairing) hockey romance set in an American university, Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid had been recommended to me by a lot of people - fellow authors, fans of the books and fans of the new HBO adaptation.

Past experiences had taught me that when something is overhyped, it can never live up to expectations. However, I wanted to approach reading the book with an open mind - and hopefully learn more about hockey as a sport in the process.

Heated Rivalry follows the secret, years-long romantic relationship between Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, two elite professional hockey players who play for fierce rival teams. As of writing this article, I have only read the book and listened to the audiobook. I haven't watched the HBO adaptation or continued further into the series, and I don't intend to pretend otherwise. My criticism is therefore limited to the experience of Heated Rivalry itself and, specifically, what I found lacking in the novel.

Quickly, it became apparent that I was not the intended target audience for this book. Despite the praise and hype surrounding it, I found myself bored throughout the reading experience.

As a sports romance, the world of hockey was shockingly underdeveloped. As a matter of fact, it was practically non-existent on the page. As a novice to the game, I had zero understanding of what was going on. Aside from the terminology, the author did very little to immerse the reader into the world of this sport.

For a hockey romance, there was shockingly little hockey. The rivalry between Shane and Ilya is largely conveyed through exposition, and I never felt like I got to experience their careers or competition firsthand. I was repeatedly told they were the best players in the league, but rarely shown why.

It was clear that Reid's interest lay in writing the romance. The problem was, the romance was one of the weakest aspects of the book.

This is an area that struck a personal chord and not in a good way. As a gay writer, I can honestly say that I don't feel this book was written for a gay or bisexual audience. If I'm being honest, I feel this book was - intentionally or unintentionally - written for a heterosexual female audience who delight in the erotic fantasy of two masculine and testosterone-filled men obsessed with each other.

I don't feel represented, nor do I think the purpose of this book was to explore homosexuality in a very masculine and sporting environment. Instead, the book prioritises an erotic fantasy that lacks emotional depth.

With all due respect to the passionate fanbase, I struggled with how repetitive the story became. The romance felt almost entirely driven by lust and angst, and by the end, I felt more familiar with the characters' bedroom antics than their actual personalities.

The writing was very simplistic. Written in third person, there were no detailed descriptions to captivate the reader or immerse them into the characters' perspectives. There was very little description of settings, atmosphere or even character appearances. At times, the book felt more like a screenplay than a novel, with minimal scene-building and very little sense of place.

The most detail provided was during the sex scenes - which, in this book, there were many. The scenes themselves became very repetitive. There was no nuance with intimacy that felt situational or emotional; it was always intense and driven by hateful lust, which loses its spontaneity when it happens several times in very quick succession.

It got to the point where I sped the audiobook up to 2.5x speed just to finish the book.

There's a common thread in the bookish community that male authors cannot write female characters. I completely disagree with this blanket statement, especially as I have received praise for writing compelling and complex female roles across prose, stage and screen since I started writing in 2013.

Although I think that criticism can be raised when it comes to Reid's depiction of men and moreover, men in gay relationships. Internal and external conflicts with sexuality and masculinity were common tropes in this book and I feel Shane and Ilya were familiar stereotypes of their respective characters - from Shane being closeted and Bambi-like exploration of his sexuality to Ilya’s blatant flirtation mixed with aggression and unresolved trauma. Neither character arc stood out or read as particularly unique for this genre. Difficult or uncomfortable subjects around masculinity, bisexuality and homosexuality were skimmed over repeatedly; instead, the smut scenes took centre stage each and every time.

That isn't an accusation that women shouldn't write, read or enjoy MM romance. They obviously can, and clearly do. The problem I found was that this book doesn't deserve the hype it's received.

It has a seemingly deep story that was written and portrayed in a very shallow and superficial way. Yet the response to the book across TikTok and Instagram has been overwhelmingly positive, and I genuinely can't understand why.

I know some people have suggested that the writing improves later in the series or that I should give the adaptation a chance, but I think it's safe to say this book series simply isn't for me.

However, it has influenced how I'll be writing the Dawson Wolves series - specifically, what not to do. And if you're interested in seeing what I do want to do with a hockey romance, Break the Ice is now available for preorder.