This book is one of my most anticipated reads for 2022 and this sample only made me all the more excited to read the full book! I love these characters and can’t wait to see how their story continues!

oh no, i can already tell this book is gonna break my heart :(( the long shot picks up at a really good place, and the characters are atill amzingly strong, the dynamic is still there and i’m so excited to see where the story goes!!

The first 3 chapters to The Long Game are perfection! Cannot wait for the full book!

I am also really excited for the Season's Change! These books have gotten me so excited!

Oh man, I'm so excited for Rachel Reids sixth installment of the Game Changer series. I loved all her books but Shane and Ilya have been my favourite characters by far. The preview with the first three chapters of The Long Game already made me so happy - I can't believe we get a whole second book about these two.

the first three chapters of the long game have me so hyped for it's release. Reid does a great job of staying true to Ilya and Shane from the first book. i loved seeing them interact with others, along with the discussions of their futures.

Okay, Where do I start with These two (TWO !!) amazing books?!
First off, The Long Game is my most anticipated read since Heated Rovalry, the prequel, came out. I absolute CANNOT wait for it and I loved the glimpses into Ilya's and Shane's relationship growth we got here. Rachel Reid is one of my favorite authors and I can tell from those three way too short chapters that she nailed their HEA. Now, if only I had more details ...sigh. ;-)

Which leads me nicely to the second excerpt, Season's Change by Cait Nary: I never expected to be able to say this, BUT: I Loved it and immediately went and bought the whole book and devoured it (and went to work VERY tired...) and what can I say.... Cait Nary is amazing and will be an autobuy from now on. Her character insight, the great dialogue, the story, the believable character development, the side characters, it all just fit!! I loved that she took her time with her characters before finally dragging them to bed, and it made so much sense in the story line.
It made me laugh. It made me cry. I loved it. Buy it. Thank you. (Now I just need to find something as good. Thanks for one hell of a challenge... )

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 :)

Starting with The Long Game, I couldn't read it fast enough. Shane and Ilya are two of my favorite charters ever and I have been patiently (but not really) waiting for their sequel ever since Rachel announced it was coming. These first 3 chapters brought me back to their world and story instantly and was so sad when the sample ended. I can't wait for the full book to see how Shane and Ilya get to what I know will be their happy ending. Every time I think of (and read again) Shane and Ilya's first book (Heated Rivalry) I get butterflies in my stomach because of how much I love each of them as characters and how against all odds they were the others "person." April needs to get here quicker!

I also really enjoyed the sample of Season's Change. From the first few pages I was roped into Benji and Olly's world and wasn't ready to leave. After finishing the sample I immediately pre-purchased the book because I have to know how it ends for these two new roommates! Can't wait to see what they get up to and to see how Olly progresses as a character!

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.

The Long Game by Rachel Reid - 5/5 stars for the first 3 chapters
The first three chapters are absolute perfection! I haven't read any of the other books by Rachel Reid so Ilya and Shane are unfamiliar to me. It didn't matter because the characterizations for Ilya and Shane were really well done from the start of Chapter 1 so there is no need to have any background knowledge about them. I'm 100% picking up Heated Rivalry to read while I wait for The Long Game to be released!

Season's Change by Cait Nary
This was marketed as being a grump/sunshine type romance. Although Olly is definitely grumpy, I didn't get super sunshine vibes from Benji.

Rachel Reid's Game Changers are my go series. I love the characters and how they navigate the hockey world and their personal relationships with love and humor. I can not wait to read the long awaited sequel to Shane and Ilya's story - they deserve all the happy ever afters! On Rachel Reid's recommendation I picked up Season's Change and loved it. Total slow burn, earned every emotion, ticked all the boxes! Such a good read and can't wait to read Cait Nary's next book!

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.

Although a short sample, I can already tell how fantastic The Long Game will be. I can’t wait to see Shane and Ilya’s relationship: the good and bad. We also got to see a sneak peek of their new friendship with Ryan and Fabian. Really loving it so far. I cannot wait for the release!

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

Both samplers just made me want more of those books and I can’t wait to read the whole thing! It feels great seeing Shane and Ilya again and the chemistry works right away.

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!