Sylvia Barry Reads: January 2026

Heated Rivalry: 5 tuna melts out of 5 (help, we’re still at the cottage)

Sylvia’s heart might churn with the sea, but it isn’t cold. And she is not immune to mainstream hype, especially when it comes to romance. Sylvia’s meat puppets are even more vulnerable to it. The final read of 2025 was none other than Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid, which was the best possible end to the year. 

Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov are hockey superstars playing for warring teams, and whose professional rivalry is the talk of the league. But behind closed doors, Shane and Ilya embark on a rivals-with-benefits situationship that spans nearly a decade. Inevitably, their feelings shift to something more than just a casual hookup, and their secret becoes harder and harder (heh) to hide. 

With tropes galore (rivals to lovers, fast burn, secret relationship), heavy spice, memorable characters, and swoon-worthy romance, Heated Rivalry (as well as the show adaptation, which Sylvia has binge-watched no less than three times already — the seagulls are so into it) was the perfect comfort read to round out the year — we laughed, we cried, we had to take a cold shower. In a political climate trying desperately to squash queer voices and stories, seeing an unapologetically gay romance full of hope and joy explode into mainstream popularity warms the cockles (and mussels) of Sylvia’s heart. 

If you want to curl up with a rich, sexy hot cocoa of a book (and obviously follow it up with a stunning and faithful film adaptation), then we enthusiastically recommend Heated Rivalry as the sports romance of choice to ferry us gently into 2026. We cannot stress enough what a delicious balm of a read this was. Now to snuggle in with the Heathcliffs and reread…