Intro for November 28, 2025

Dear Gossips,   

If you haven’t already noticed, your timeline is about to be taken over. Social media has been horny about this for weeks. BookTok has been horny about this for a year, maybe longer. So get ready for your feed to be flooded with scenes of two hot men exchanging charged looks before attacking each other with their mouths and tongues. Obviously I’m talking about Heated Rivalry – the first two episodes are now available on Crave in Canada and HBO Max. 

For the uninitiated, Heated Rivalry is the second book in Rachel Reid’s Game Changer book series about two elite hockey players, one from Canada, the other from Russia, who f-ck their way to love. The book is dirty in the best way. And what often happens when smutty books get adapted for viewing is that they dial it way down. I mean, in general, as we’ve been talking about for too long, there’s just so much less good sex on screen. But I am here to tell you – and moan at you, ha – that Heated Rivalry delivers. Heated Rivalry is here to bring back desire, unapologetically. And not in a cheesy way, not in a badly acted way. 

When I was watching Heated Rivalry, I believed. I believed every finger graze, every intense stare, every kiss, every grope, every blowjob. Yes, there is fellatio flying all over the place on this show, NOBODY F-CKING COMPLAIN. The actors, Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, understand the assignment. The showrunner, Jacob Tierney, commits to his vision. The network, Crave*, is not here to cockblock. The result is the horniest new television series we’ve had in a long, long, loooong time. And maybe ever in Canada. 

Which is important too. This book was written by a Canadian author, adapted by a Canadian actor/writer/producer/director, featuring an overwhelmingly Canadian cast, produced by and airing on a Canadian streamer, and it’s being marketed to women and the 2SLGBTQ+ community, a largely underserved audience. 

Seriously, it’s SO good. Everyone I know at work who’s seen it is so jacked about it. The cast came through the building this week for interviews and other promo, I moderated the premiere event on Tuesday night – Hudson and Connor are delightful, they’re game, they’re so attractive in person it’s stupid, and sweet and sincere… and I’m not sure they’re ready for what’s coming, because, well, they will all be coming, LOL. 

Heated Rivalry is blowing up. May your holiday cheer be queer!

 

Yours in gossip, 

Lainey 

*(Full disclosure, Crave is owned by Bell Media and I am an employee of Bell Media but anyone who has ever known me or who’s been reading this site for as long as it’s around should know that books and shows like Heated Rivalry are my whole sh-t. I am a thirsty ass horny bitch desperate for this kind of content, and I’d be writing about it even if I wasn’t professionally affiliated.)