Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series consists of interconnected standalone novels exploring the lives and relationships of queer professional hockey players. Published between 2019 and 2022, the books examine themes of identity, acceptance, and love within the hypermasculine world of the NHL. The series gained popularity after the Canadian network Crave and HBO Max released a six-episode television adaptation that follows the first two novels.

The first book in the series, Game Changer, introduces the fictional New York Admirals team and establishes the universe. Its protagonists, Kip Brady and Scott Hunter, the star of the Admirals, begin a secret relationship while trying to balance Scott’s stardom with his gay identity. At the novel’s conclusion, Scott announces their relationship after winning the Stanley Cup. The second novel, Heated Rivalry, introduces superstar rivals Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov and their secret, decade-long enemies-to-lovers affair. Because the events in the series occur along the same timeline, Scott’s decision to come out directly impacts Shane and Ilya, as Scott begins the process of changing the cultural of the NHL and its attitude toward queer relationships. The third novel in the series, Tough Guy, explores the relationship of Ryan Price and Fabian Salah, who are featured in The Long Game and provide Shane and Ilya insight into their own relationship. Similarly, the fourth novel, Common Goal, details Eric Bennett’s exploration of his own bisexuality after Scott’s decision to come out, while the fifth novel, Role Model, tells Troy Barrett’s story about his relationship with social media manager Harris Drover.

Unconventionally for the series, the sixth book, The Long Game, is a direct sequel, picking up three years after the events of Heated Rivalry. At the same time, it touches on each of the characters from previous novels, including Scott, Ryan, Eric, and Troy, updating readers on their relationships while inviting them to read their stories in the rest of the series. The Long Game subverts typical romance genre conventions by moving beyond the initial courtship phase. Instead of focusing on the “will they or won’t they” tension of a developing relationship, the novel explores the emotional labor required to sustain a long-term, secret partnership. It examines the strain of hiding a profound connection from teammates, family, and the public, shifting the central conflict from the beginning of love to the complex, demanding work of its preservation under immense professional and personal pressure.