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By the time Heated Rivalry debuted on HBO Max and Crave Canada on Nov. 28, the gay hockey series was already a phenomenon that The Hollywood Reporter had dubbed “the internet’s favorite show.”
But fans who wanted to read the Rachel Reid novel of the same name that the TV series is based on ran into a problem: the book was sold out everywhere. Bookstores couldn’t even stock copies of the book because it was completely backordered. Pre-orders for the book remained unavailable until the last day or two.
You might assume that the book flew off the shelves due to excitement around the show, but that doesn’t seem to have been the case. Upon talking to booksellers, as well as others familiar with the situation, it seems that Harlequin, an imprint of Harper Collins and the publisher of Reid’s Game Changers series, of which Heated Rivalry is the second installment, didn't print additional copies ahead of the show’s release. Nor did they ship extra stock to bookstores in anticipation of the increased interest that a mainstream adaptation would bring to the book. Harlequin didn’t even make a promotional cover.
One look at Harlequin’s social media posts reveals just how furious people are that they can’t access the books. On Dec. 5th, the publisher’s Instagram page shared a reel alongside the caption, “Readers can’t get enough of Heated Rivalry! Fall in love with the story that started it all!” Comments under the post include sentiments such as: “Can’t get enough? More like can’t get it anywhere,” and “We’re trying bro, print the books.”
Author Rachel Reid did not respond to requests for comment, but when Ella Dawson, the author of But How Are You, Really and host of the Rebel Rebel Ever After podcast, posted on Instagram, “Harlequin we are BEGGING you to print more #HeatedRivalry paperbacks!!,” Reid commented saying, “I’m with you.”
As of Dec. 1, the book was the No. 1 seller in the Amazon Kindle store on Amazon U.S. On Dec. 10, it landed on the New York Times Best Sellers list, even without print copies available.
Romance is the highest grossing fiction genre in the world and is often credited with keeping book publishing afloat, despite often being looked down upon due to sexism towards traditionally feminized forms of media. It’s so popular that many bookstores across the country dedicate themselves exclusively to the genre—from The Ripped Bodice in NYC and LA, to Lovestruck Books in Cambridge, Mass., among many others. Heated Rivalry sits at the intersection of two subgenres that are often written off by mainstream publishers: queer romance (in this case M/M) and sports romance.
Out of Your League sent a detailed list of questions to Harlequin regarding the promotional plan for Heated Rivalry, including asking whether there were plans to print more copies, whether Harlequin printed copies ahead of the TV premiere or sent stock to bookstores to prepare for the increased interest; whether there were plans for a tie-in cover or special edition of the book; or if Harlequin was involved in any upcoming promotional plans or events. The publisher declined to answer specific questions and instead sent a statement.
“What we can share is that we’re so excited for the continued support of Heated Rivalry and the Game Changers series,” said Lianna Cohen, the Senior Manager of Brand Publicity & Influencer Marketing at Harlequin. “As retailers continue to place orders, physical books are being shipped to fulfill orders and supply replenished with reprints to ensure availability. We’re excited to have Heated Rivalry readily available in audiobook and eBook formats in addition to trade paperback.”
How could Harlequin have dropped the ball so badly? Contrast the Heated Rivalry rollout from Harlequin to the promotional rollout for the Amazon Prime series based on another M/M romance novel, Casey McQuiston’s Red, White, and Royal Blue. In addition to a tie-in cover, publisher St. Martin's Griffin organized social media posts and well-advertised events. Harlequin’s socials hardly made a peep about Heated Rivalry, especially in the days and weeks leading up to the show’s premiere.
Perhaps Harlequin didn't anticipate Heated Rivalry becoming a phenomenon. It is a Canadian book by a Canadian author that was set to air on a Canadian network until HBO Max scooped it up at the final hour, which didn’t give Harlequin much time to prepare for additional interest. But that still wouldn’t explain why even Canadian bookstores are largely unable to stock the book, with some exceptions.
Screenshot from Amazon.ca
screenshot from indiebookstores.ca
A launch event for the TV series was held at Hopeless Romantic Bookshop in Toronto on Nov. 26th. In addition to Reid, series stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie (who play Shane and Ilya, respectively) were in attendance. The event sold out with an estimated 300-350 people in attendance. According to Shelly Zevlever, the manager of Hopeless Romantic Books, the store collaborated with the show’s production team after Reid suggested it as a venue. Zevlever tells Out of Your League that they ordered 260 copies ahead of the event and received them all, and that all of its copies of the book sold out approximately two days before the launch. Realms and Roses, a new romance bookstore in Nova Scotia, is advertising an event with Reid on Jan. 18th, and says it'll have copies of the book available for pickup on that date.
But as McQuiston’s RWRB showed, there is a massive audience for M/M romance, especially among women. Despite not being the most popular sport in the U.S., hockey is the largest sports subgenre of romance fiction, and has experienced a huge surge in recent years thanks in part to BookTok. As of today, all 10 of the Best Selling sports romance books on Amazon are hockey related. Seven of them are from Reid’s Game Changers series, but The Washington Post found the same statistic back in 2023. In fact, the subgenre is so popular it has had real world repercussions, causing wives of pro hockey players to speak out against the parasocial relationships some fans have developed with their husbands.
“The sport itself inherently has so much tension and inherently has so much high risk and drama that when you put that in a romance environment, it really does elevate things,” Laynie-Rose Rizer, the events manager at East City Bookshop in Washington, told the Post in 2023. There’s also the overwhelming whiteness of the sport, which likely contributes to its popularity—both in terms of publishers acquiring the stories and readers gravitating towards them.
“The romance genre—as with publishing more broadly—has faced some struggles when it comes to diversity of authors, of main characters,” Rachel Kurzius, a reporter at The Washington Post, said last year on NPR Weekend Edition. “And hockey is a broadly white sport, and I think that for some people, that could be some of the appeal.”
Regardless of why, it's clear that Harlequin either missed or ignored clear signs that it had a smash hit on its hands. The Game Changers series, which has six books in total, seems to have been underestimated by Harlequin from the beginning. It was acquired and originally published under their Carina Press imprint, which is digital-first. Heated Rivalry was originally released in March 2019. Then, the entire series was re-released in print in November 2024, when the books got all new covers.
“Is it unconscious bias because they don’t expect a queer M/M book-turned-TV show to be successful?” wonders Jess Lee, a book influencer and consultant. “That’s hard to imagine because the books have a huge following so they should’ve known it would skyrocket once HBO picked it up. I hope it wasn’t a conscious choice, but unfortunately with the state of publishing centering cis, het, white stories, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
It’s not just readers that suffer due to Harlequin’s mismanagement of the Heated Rivalry books. Reid misses out on royalties, and booksellers miss out on commissions. Katherine Morgan, the owner of Grand Gesture Books in Portland, Ore., says she’s losing hundreds of dollars a day in sales due to not having copies of Heated Rivalry, which is especially painful during the holiday season when many small businesses make the bulk of their money. Morgan says she hopes to finally have the books in stock sometime in the next two weeks.
“It's clear there's a huge market for TV adaptations of romance,” says Lily Barrett, co-owner of Read My Lips Boston, a diverse romance popup. “Fans especially love when, like Heated Rivalry, the adaptation becomes a love letter to everything they cherished about the book. Facts are, Harlequin missed out on a big, BIG chance to support this widely loved queer hockey romance.”
The saga illustrates the hurdles that queer romance faces for recognition, even among publishers who should presumably want to see it thrive. Heated Rivalry deserved better from Harlequin, but hopefully the series can pave the way for more great queer storytelling, and help content gatekeepers finally understand the powerful audience they have in the queer community.
And while you’re waiting to finally get your hands on a copy of Heated Rivalry, why not check out a sapphic hockey romance? It is PWHL season, after all. Kate Cochrane has two that I love—Wake Up, Nat and Darcy and Yours For the Season, a holiday romance.
This newsletter was edited by Louis Bien.