Hello from the depths of my book hangover. Yep. Puffy eyes and all. For the last week, I’ve lived in this world and I did not want to leave it. Ms. Reid, what controlled substance did you put in this story?

The Game Changer series contains six books, all of which are MM hockey romances. Rachel posted on her website that she’s been working on a seventh and final book. She pushed it to 2025 because she’s been struggling with writing about a younger character after recently publishing a stand-alone about a young character. Rachel, I’m here to tell you that as much as I would welcome more Ilya content (I would literally read a 20 book series), take your time, friend. The Long Game is such a poetic temporary ending to this story. Or, hell, maybe a real end. Bottom line, we support you.

Okay, let’s break down the structure. Books one through five focus on a different couple. Throughout, we meet side-characters, who are brought back from book to book, either continuing on as a side-character or becoming the main character for that story. These people are incredibly fully formed, easy to picture, and remember. I do not understand how Rachel did this so well. Sorcery, maybe. It’s all I can come up with.

The through point theme is the challenge of not conforming to the close-minded, toxic environment in professional sports. Each book is mainly about the MMC coming out as either gay or bisexual, but SA, mental health, and gender transitions are also addressed. The varying culture of each team plays a big part in how these issues are handled during the stories. Although there isn’t a resolution by the end of the series, we do see glimpses of how some of the characters are making change. And that’s totally fine with me because all we’re looking for in this world is hope, right? Hope that change can happen. Also, that’s not the point of these stories because at their core, they are romance. Amazing, wonderful romances, where two boys fall in love despite the odds, which everyone here knows is my absolute favorite.

So what are they about? Well, I’m going to mean and not tell you. What I’m going to do instead is give you some quick highlights for each one. And, yes, I made a bulleted list because I fucking love a bulleted list.

• Game Changer (Scott and Kip)
  • Famous person/normal person
  • Class difference
  • Asks the question, what defines a relationship?
  • Damaging effects of being closeted
  • Damaging effects of being WITH a closeted person as an out person
  • Pressure of being the first out player in the league
• Heated Rivalry (Ilya and Shane)
  • Rivals to lovers
  • Sexuality discovery
  • Russian culture vs. American/Canadian culture
  • Incredible depiction of time movement and how time changes a person/relationship
  • Family
  • Suicide and mental health
• Tough Guy (Ryan and Fabian)
  • Second chance
  • Friends to lovers
  • Dealing with extreme anxiety disorder
  • Feminine presenting male
  • Stereotyping preferences in a partner
  • Fitting in and identity
  • Taking back control
• Common Goal (Eric and Kyle)
  • Age-gap
  • Coming out as bisexual after being straight passing
  • Divorce
  • Retirement
  • Overcoming a terrible past and family life
  • …uh…edging…😏
  • Embracing and going for your dreams
• Role Model (Troy and Harris)
  • Grumpy/sunshine
  • Workplace romance
  • Overcoming breakup after two years of a secret relationship
  • SA awareness and activism
  • Toxic parent/supportive family
• The Long Game (Ilya and Shane sequel)
  • What happens after they fall in love?
  • Long-distance
  • Secrets vs. communication
  • Sacrifice imbalance
  • Russian terms of endearment
  • Mental health
  • Absolute perfection ending that will leave you weeping – or maybe just me

Speeeeeaaaakkking of Ilya (okay we weren’t, but now I’m going to), fuck me, man. This character. He’s huge, Russian, cocky, sarcastic, parties like a rockstar, and has a cinnamon roll center. Characters like this are proof that we all deserve nice things and that beautiful geniuses like Rachel Reid are kind enough to give them to us. Rachel uses him (lol) as a device for opening up other characters. He seems to always be there when a character needs to be honest with themselves about their struggle or needs a reality check. Ilya is extremely observant and insightful. He’s like the wise old sage in a young, smart ass body (insert suggestive come back here).

We get to see Ilya grow over 11 years, throughout the course of these books. He deals with so much from his family, losing his mother, dealing with the pressures of being one of the top hockey players, letting himself love and be loved, struggling with worth, and acceptance of his mental health challenges. We get to see him slowly drop the mask and come into his own as a kind, supportive, warm individual.

God, I could go on and on about this series, but I just want you to read it. And let me know if you do! If you want to check out Rachel Reid’s website, click here. Other than the Game Changer series, she’s also written a stand-alone novel, Time to Shine, which I’m excited to check out. I also can’t wait until these books are available in physical form. Any time I fall in love with a book, even if I’ve read it on my Kindle, I save the physical copy version to my wish list to buy at a later date (because I. Am. A. Book. Dragon.). I’m definitely going to be re-reading this series in the future. In the meantime, hope everyone is well! 🙂