Ilya and Shane have returned!! The sampler gives us the briefest look back into their lives, but already it’s filled to the brim with their usual hearty banter & competitive spirit, and lovely interactions with their family and friends. We also catch a few glimpses here and there into the overarching conflict and emotions hidden beneath the surface of each character as they continue to hide their relationship from the public. While the underlying sense of unease is guaranteed to leave me on the edge of my seat—imagine full-out nervous nail-biting energy—it’s nearly impossible for me to put into words just how eager I am to embark on the full adventure! No matter what happens at the end of the day, I know Rachel Reid did her best to deliver on a well-deserved HEA for these two, and I absolutely cannot wait to see for myself how they navigate this next stage of their life together.

Cait Nary is a first-time author for me, but boy, what a way to get me intrigued! Olly and Benji have a relationship that I’m curious to witness each step of its development, and to be completely honest, I’ve already purchased the book to read very soon! I think there must be some kind of special magic to hockey M/M and these authors, because these short snippets alone had me walking away a very happy camper :)

Amazing! These stories have me on the edge of my seat! I want to read more and can't wait for the whole book.

I don’t think I will survive until April! This short sample of The Long Game was such a wonderful introduction into where Ilya and Shane are now in their lives. It’s immediately clear Ilya is more ready for people to know about their relationship, while Shane is quite cautious, which is understandable! Seeing them navigate their careers and relationship in this next stage of their lives will be really fascinating but I do hope the conflict between them isn’t too immense, I just want them to be happy. They undoubtedly treasure each other so much and I’m especially excited to get more insight into Ilya and his life, I love him! This really might be my most anticipated release of this year.

Ilya and Shane are back and Rachel Reid hasn't lost their magic! It can be risky to check back in with the characters you love, will you still love them, or even recognise them? Fortunately for The Long Game the answer is yes on both counts. It was easy to fall right back into Ilya & Shane's story while really nice to see that their world hasn't stagnated, the characters and relationships have grown, but the new challenges they face feel just as real. It was really exciting to get more into Ilya's brain in these early chapters, behind the humorous quips and devil may care attitude is a man with a big heart and I'm looking forward to seeing more of it.

Season's Change looks really promising from the early chapters, the characters are easy to root for and it's clear right away that there's much more beneath the surface than they let the rest of the world see.. I'm looking forward to seeing their story take shape.

As for the Long Game, I literally breathed a sigh of relief to have this sampler in my hands. Ilya and Shane's voices are so distinct I felt like I was meeting old friends again. And the conflict is becoming quite clear too. My boy Shane better come through! I love that so far this focuses more on Ilya. As for Season's Change, this is a new to me author but so far I like it and have in fact purchased the full book which is out now - I would rate it a 3.5, in that it moves a little slowly and I would like to see how Benji's character develop because in this preview at least I'm not sure where he stands. So that balances out between a 5 for Reid and a 3.5 for Nary to around a 4,

The three chapter sampler was beautiful. Drummed up anticipation. I am excited to see what the conflict will be and how they deal with it.

I cant wait for the airplane scene from Ilya's POV and how Shane deals with it

You guys know how much I love them. Very excited, can't wait

I've never been more excited to read a sampler in my life!
In German, we have this word "schnappatmung" which kinda translates to "gasping out loud" and let me tell you that that has been me ever since Rachel Reid said she was going to return to Shane and Ilya for a second time.
This sampler was already everything!! It gives you a pretty good picture of what's been going on for Shane and Ilya since we last saw them and I loved how we jumped right back into the things that I love about the Game Changer series - the tension, the banter, the laugh-out-loud moments that are followed by the anxiety of coming out when you're in love with your supposed nemesis. I cannot WAIT to finally get my hands on The Long Game. I mean, 10 years is one hell of a time to keep a relationship secret and I'm itching to find out how it all blows up (and ends with a HEA, of course!). Also, can I just say how much I missed Shane and Ilya's dynamic? No one does it like them, honestly.

As for Cait Nary, I was super intrigued by the first few chapters of Season's Change! Olly and Benji's relationship promises to be a good one judging from the way they both came across in this sampler. I'm looking forward to getting to know these charactrs more and especially Olly because his struggle definitely made me feel for him already! Let me just say I'm so so grateful that I already have the ARC because I know I'm going to devour it after this intriguing teaser.

I am very much looking forward to The Long Game, so I jumped at the chance to read this preview. I’m happy to say it didn’t disappoint! Carina was very smart to include the first few chapters of Season’s Change as they are in the same vein. I ended up buying Season’s Change. While Cait Nary is not yet up to Rachel Reid’s level, her writing holds a lot of promise. I enjoyed Season’s Change and look forward to reading more from Ms. Nary in the future.

I'm so excited for The Long Game so of course I had to download this sampler! I enjoyed the introduction to both stories and I can't wait to read both of these!

Was already very thrilled to read both of these titles, but these advances somehow managed to double my excitement up. Specifically The Long Game, since Heated Rivalry has been one of my favorite books for almost two years. Can't wait to be able to read them completely soon.

I received both of these books as ARCs, so my reviews will be available under both of those titles. This was really fun to read, and I enjoyed both books very much!

I’ve already given my feedback on here for Season’s Change by Cait Nary (4 stars) so I’ll focus on The Long Game by Rachel Reid.

Heated Rivalry is my favorite book of all time. Full stop. I have read it 15 times. I made most of my Internet personality into screaming at people about how great Heated Rivalry is. It is impossible to love Shane and Ilya more than I do.

Or so I thought. Then I read the teaser, and I think this book will make me love them even more.

I can’t wait to make my entire Internet personality into screaming about how great Heated Rivalry AND The Long Game are.

The long Game
this was just a small sample of the first chapters of the second part in the story of Shane and Ilya. And the truth is that this book begins in a very promising way, now we will see them a little more mature and facing a secret relationship that is not so easy to maintain.
Season's change
I had not read a book by this author, but I liked the relationship between Olly and Benji, it will be very fun to have the whole story, the first chapters surprised me a lot, because I liked it more than I thought,

The Long Game by Rachel Reid

It is no exaggeration when I say this is my most anticipated read of 2022. Shane and Ilya have never strayed far for my thoughts since I first read Heated Rivalry in 2019 - nor the 4 times I’ve reread it since then.

The first three chapters of this much awaited sequel are packed with all the humor and character I expect from Reid and the Game Changers series, as especially Shane and Ilya.

I can’t wait for the full book.

Season’s Change by Cait Nary

There is very little I enjoy more than a good mm hockey romance, throw in veteran x rookie and opposites attract AND forced proximity and I. Am. Sold.

This first taste of Nary’s writing had a bit of everything I enjoy.

Opening with Olly’s POV, it was easy to get invested in his drive and passion for hockey, and to root for his success in his new team.

Benji’s fresh and wide-eyed wonder and desire to prove himself is so infectious and heartfelt.

I can easily see myself falling for these two and their story, and can’t wait to see how their relationship develops.

This was a great sampler. I've subsequently read Season's Change and thoroughly enjoyed it and am super excited for when The Long Game is actually released.
Thanks for the preview!

Loved the sampler from both of these books!

I'm so excited for The Long Game, it's my most anticipated novel of 2022. Already in these three chapters, there's so much angst and plenty of foreshadowing for the remainder of the novel. I can already see the differences Ilya and Shane have in outing their relationship to the world. This book is going to hurt and I'm SO ready for it!

Season's Change has me so intrigued ! From just these three chapters, I feel like this is the type of book that you want to read in one sitting because you can't help yourself. I'm already so invested in Olly and Benji! I'm very excited to continue reading this book, now that I have a full arc of it!

I cannot wait for these books to come out! They were brilliant by releasing this teaser-- everyone is going to want to snap them up in April! This teaser is for two stories. For The Long Game, this looks like it's going to be a sweet romance. I couldn't peel my eyes from the page, and look forward to seeing Shane's growth hopefully into being more comfortable as a hockey-playing gay man (who I hope as a wonderful, much-deserved HEA)! As for Seasons Change, there also looks like some room for serious character growth, namely Olly seeking mental help (which I enjoy seeing in books- it needs to be talked about more). I'm also excited to get to know Benji better! All in all I really enjoyed this sampler and hope to read more soon! It really leaves you wanting more.

The first couple chapters of this book are epic and I absolutely cannot wait to read the rest of the book!

I went into these short samplers very familiar with one author and unfamiliar with the other and now I’m even more excited for The Long Game and i will be reading anything Cait Nary comes out with.

I adored this sampler so much. I can't wait to read the full books, especially The long game. 5 glowing stars