Fedora Chen
Just wow. The Long Game by Rachel Reid is the sixth and last in her Game Changers m/m hockey series. That said, it stands alone beautifully. I read it without having read the rest of the series (they’re on my TBR, I promise!) and loved it completely. Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov have been rivals since they met more than a decade ago, and that led the way to a heated attraction and then to a secret relationship. Rachel Reid’s writing is terrific—I loved her characters and their friendships and connections. Ilya and Shane feel very well-drawn, and they have a lot going on, much as people tend to. I feel they and the other characters have been written with warmth and affection, and that made me enjoy the read all the more. The Long Game has been a long time coming for these two—they have spent years hiding their real selves from the world, and struggle to determine how to navigate revealing themselves. They find hard truths about those closest to them and are reminded what is truly important. I absolutely loved The Long Game and plan to reread it soon, perhaps after catching up with the prior books in the series!