The Long Game

I think I like romances better when it’s not just about people falling in love but also about people going through life while staying in love. Sure, you can’t stop thinking about them and there’s fiery passion and sneaking around, but will you actually enjoy each other’s company and make efforts to enjoy mundane life together?
This book was very much focused on that aspect and I liked it a lot. Shane and Ilya are secretly dating and they are very happy with each other, but the secrecy starts to grate and they both have individual struggles that the other is not sure how to help with. They’re doing their best, and sometimes they hide things or say the wrong thing, but they keep trying anyway.
There’s still the element of how show more being a public figure is a facade. Back in book 1 their dislike for each other and competition was hyped up by the media. Now Ilya’s team has a social media manager following them around and Shane is worried about how he is seen and how he can decide his own image. show less

ok first of all I cried like an actual baby several times throughout this, so it's an automatic 5. holy shit, this book was insane. loved how every other storyline ties into this one, too.

watching their relationship develop and watching everything come to a head was wild. Felt absolutely horrible for Ilya for like 90% of this book, my poor boy 😭😭 They're both just struggling so much to communicate their feelings and dealing with everything else going on in their lives. Very happy that Ilya got some professional help for his deteriorating mental health! felt awful when he confessed to Shane that he was depressed 'like his mother' like omg

I love how Ilya specifically has grown as a character, and how Shane shows his love to Ilya so show more deeply 😭 the sad/distressing parts of this book made me genuinely upset, like I had to take physical breaks from reading cuz I was so stressed for my boys

I mean obviously there's a happy ending and everything turns out great, but oh my god was it stressful to get to that point!!

I also just thought it was such a good choice to have Ilya and Shane's teams be so different, like the Ottawa team sucks and basically always loses and the Montreal team is amazing and they always win. BUT! The Ottawa team is much more close-knit and supportive while the Montreal team accuses Shane of throwing the game for Ilya and are very unsupportive of their relationship. Watching Shane's team completely betray him actually broke my heart.

It just gave Ilya some found family stuff, and showed Shane that there's things more important than being on the best hockey team!

Loved that they ended up on the same team, that actually melted my fuckin heart ❤️ And the plane scene???? actually devastated, that was the scene that made me cry the hardest by far, oh my god.

Anyway obviously it's a 5. Also fuck the Voyageurs!!!! Justice for Shane!! And I literally cannot wait for s2 of the show, and the last 2 EPS of s1!! show less

Rachel Reid's creations, llya and Shane, are among the most perfectly romantic leads ever. I can make this claim after reading six or seven hundred romance novels.

We have already lived through their romance in earlier books in the Game Changer series.

So a lot was riding on this sequel. Reid nails it! I loved the sequel as much as the heart stoppingly good Heated Rivalry, Shane and Ilya's story from the time they meet at 17 till they are about 28.

I was astonished that The Long Game wasn't narrated by Tor Thom. Yet Cooper North won me over - he's different from Thom but almost as good - that's very high praise! Perhaps Tor was slightly better with Ilya's accent.

(Later - July 2023) At the conclusion of maybe my third listen to this show more audiobook, I can say that it is still in my top 5 romance novels.

With each listen, I hear more -it may be only a phrase that I haven't caught before - but I love it that there is still more to find, and still plenty to ponder afresh about these two leads.

I'm flummoxed that I haven't written acres about this series in my comments across the books. I acknowledge that I've had difficulty putting into words why they appeal to me so much.

It's something elusive about the note that Reid strikes. You know how tone is everything in a singer's voice - greater than skill and technique? Reid has that gift - her books are full of warmth, and sweetness and longing, like a voice with beautiful tone.

May 2025 - yet another run through of this incredible audiobook. Obviously, it's taken on special meaning for me, which is why I can throw around the word "incredible".

What struck me on this read was Shane and Ilya's longing to be settled. To share a home, have a dog, have friends who know about them. They long to be boring and comfortable and enjoying simple pleasures. They are dying for it ... to live in the belly of deep, soft, supportive, old-married-couple type love. Wow. Who doesn't want that ... ultimately.

I think it's time to change my rating - honestly, I can't believe I've left it at 4.5 stars up till now! show less

ok i really did have fun and a lot of this was very sweet, however i think im struggling with it because it felt a little bit like reading fanfic of the original characters?? and soooo many scenes just did not need to be there in my opinion. it was like a bunch of fluffy one-shots all put together like omg what if ilya x shane did this, what would they be like in this scenario, etc. and i am positive that was very enjoyable for a lot of readers but idk i just didnt need all that!! maybe it was also because the BULK of the book was like that, and the big reveal / accidentally outing happens in the last third of the story and then just kind of speeds through it?? idkkk i’m an angst girly who loves pain and suffering so i think it was show more just too nice tied up with a bow for me but shoutout to everybody i had fun! show less

I listened to this book with the goofiest smile on my face. It was truly embarrassing. The banter is just so cute. Enemies to ✨buddies✨to lovers is the stuff dreams are made of.

This is the sequel to Heated Rivalry and the fellas are still secretly dating and afraid of outing themselves to everyone they’ve ever met because of potential repercussions to their careers.

In this book, Ilya is dealing with depression and I was so proud of him for taking steps to manage it. He loves Shane but Shane was being unintentionally cruel with his words and actions in several parts. He would never hurt him intentionally but oh boy he was doing it. I was so pleased to see how hard they worked on communication because miscommunication tropes are my show more least favorite.

All I wanted for my birthday was to know what was in the texts Ilya sent Shane as the plane was going down in Role Model and we got it.

If you’re looking for me, I’ll be curled in a ball smiling at myself relistening to this one.

Thank you to @harperaudio for a copy in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.

Pub date: 4/26/2022

#thelonggame #rachelreid #gamechangersseries show less

Whenever I start RR's book I think it's going to be good, and yet I ended up surprised by how good.

This story, in particular, is so easy to do wrong and the stakes are so high. A couple who has decided to remain closeted for their careers isn't always relatable, a superstar isolated from everything he once knew but hockey playing for a team that sucks. One so uncompromising ppl with disordered eating should beware-Shanes's athlete's diet is such a focus it smacks of orthorexia.

But this couple is always on the knife's edge of pain and joy. They are so raw and understandable. This was very much Ilya's journey for be, his symptoms of depression forcing him to rest, isolate, put on the face to move forward--these were SO well done. It was show more also interesting to see the life of the party as lonely and needing connection.

I mean it's also very very hot. But it's so emotional that those breaks provide us (along with the humor) just the distraction and helps remind us what and who this couple is behind closed doors. show less

Letting Shane know he was solid and real and alive and extremely interested in fucking him.

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Plot: 5/5
Spice: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
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Overall reco:
I love Ilya. I have loved him since the moment he stepped on the page in the first Game Changers book and honestly? the amount I enjoyed the books in the series directly depended on Ilya page time. I cannot explain how much I just enjoyed spending time in is head. Is he an asshole? Everyone seems to think so, but I don't care.
This book was perfect Shane/Ilya.
If HR was all about Shane and his dealing with his own issues (being gay, learning to find happiness) this one was really about Ilya and depression and god damn I loved it. Its not often we get an established show more relationship that is so long into it's story that it gets to evolve. Ilya learning to deal with and live with his depression. I loved that representation, specifically about how its not always truly gone. Some people they get over the thing and its not a long term issue but some of us it cycles.
The resolution of the story was so nice and since we now know that this is the last book I am so very sad about it. I didn't want to put this down but I was happy with how it ended. I hope one day that she gives us a novella or something so we'd get to know how things ended up. (not that it's a cliffhanger.) but I think I'll always be hungry for more from Ilya.

(Other Notes)
If you have read HR and enjoyed it, you should read this, it was even better. I struggled if I should skip right to this book after HR and I ended up reaching Common Goal, then Role Model, than this. Each book builds on the world a bit. I skipped book 3 and while I don't regret it and it didn't really ruin my experience, I would recommend against skipping anything in the series simply because there are a few long running plot lines. show less