This was interesting in that I am not used to short story collections being considered proper entries in a series, so I somewhat kept expecting these different cases to converge in some way, LOL.

I thought this was a fine collection of short stories, but it seems designed mainly to showcase Hercule Poirot's utter genius, and I felt like, for the most part, I wasn't really given enough time to try to solve the mystery myself.

A funny aside, it was very clear to me that Suchet was doing Fraser's Hastings with his narration. Which makes sense - the two have been working together for years in the capacity of Poirot and Hastings, respectively, by the time this audiobook was recorded. Still, it was certainly interesting to listen to.

Side note - I am fairly certain that from the Veiled Lady onward, the narrator changed, or else something happened in the direction of the audiobook, because from that short story onward, Poirot became unrecognizable - he lost all accent, and began to sound just like Hastings, which in turn made for a confusing listening experience.

Have I owned this book for a few years now? Yes. Did it take the new Crave series flooding my feed for me to actually pick this up? Also yes. But it's not my fault! I read Game Changer first, which seems to be the wrong decision based on all the info I've gathered, and I can hardly be blamed for Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie being so effing charming in their interviews, can I? Regardless, I'm here now!

And I definitely think that Heated Rivalry is leagues ahead of Game Changer. I think Rachel Reid does a lot of what bugged me about Game Changer in a much better and more satisfactory way in Heated Rivalry.

First, I thought both of the characters were interesting. We have good boy Shane Hollander, who is sweet, innocent, and humble, despite being a hockey prodigy. You'd think he'd be kind of vanilla, but we're talking here about a boy so deep in the closet he doesn't even think to himself the possibility he's gay for a concerningly long time despite the fact he manages to get into a rivals with benefits arrangement at the age of nineteen, is practically feral for those sexual encounters and has never really managed to scrunch up even a 1/10 of that physical intrest in a woman. So, you know. Perhaps there were some signs. Yet, he doesn't panic at being with a man. The problem isn't necessarily that he is gay, but who is being gay with. Overall, he's adorable. I do think he fell very quickly, even if he didn't necessarily know it. For me, the fact he never really wanted -- or managed to enjoy -- sexual encounters with anyone but Ilya spoke volumes.

Then we have bad boy Ilya Rozanov, who talks a lot of smack but also gets shit done. This dude is funny. Condescending and snarky, but honestly, he's got the chops to back it up. I absolutely loved the guy. He might be the one who takes longer to fall -- at least inasmuch as it pertains to him acknowledging that he doesn't want to continue with hookups and fleeting relations in between encounters with Shane -- but dare I say he falls harder? Probably because sex is less of a big deal for him. But because of that, when he does finally acknowledge that anything else is not really working for him anymore, it's all the more impactful. Either way, even with him being the more sexually free and secure of the two, he is so fucking tender with Shane from the get-go. There is something really endearing about the way he makes sure Shane is okay and good with everything they're doing throughout, and that he never takes it lightly, even if it's supposedly "simple" and "doesn't mean anything." Like, there is an inherent affection there that is at odds with what he says, and it's revealing.

I think this book worked where the first didn't (quite as well), even though both have a very healthy dose of smut, because the sex here served several purposes. First of all, these two start out in-lust with each other, not in love. Their physical relationship starts when they're teenagers and--you know what--I buy it. I buy horney teenagers succumbing to physical desire, making "bad" or "risky" choices. And then, when they're not teenagers anymore, they're in too fucking deep. Second of all, I buy that it's these specific people. Like, if it were a random dude they just met, maybe it would feel off. But you're talking about the only other person that's on your level; the person you were probably infinitely curious about because they're always mentioned in the same sentence as you are. It's the one person you're likely to keep a very close eye on and the one person who understands exactly where you're at. I'd be obsessed with that person--good or bad--if I were in their place as well. And, if we're honest, yes, this physical relationship is risky, but so long as it's just sex, it's also the safest option. Mutually assured destruction and all that jazz. And third, the sex scenes have an actual narrative function. We actually learn so much about the characters and their relationship through them. We learn how they communicate, we learn their dynamics, and how they move with and against each other, physically and emotionally. And through the physical intimacy, we get to see their emotional intimacy grow throughout the years, so that when they're finally able to confess their feelings to themselves, it makes absolute sense.

I also found the book's structure effective. Despite the fact we're covering a period of YEARS, it's actually surprisingly dense, with the first part especially being snapshots of those years, but only inasmuch as they relate to Ilya and Shane's relationship. Similarly, it feels very intimate because we spend so much time with them, either together or thinking about each other (in various contexts). There isn't really much else but them, and though on occasion I did want a bit more hockey, or to see scenes like Ilya in the club with Scott, or even as much as letting us know who won that day (the last part drove me a bit mad. Like, tellll meeee), it still works.