Boozy Bookgasms - Puck Yeah! Heated Rivalry Part 1

Episode Date: April 15, 2026

Heated Riverly by Rachel Reid This week the cousins are switching up the format! We’re trading paperback pages for power plays and diving headfirst into Heated Rivalry on HBO Max based on the MM romance by Rachel Reid. We'll be joined by a Heated Rivalry superfan, Miranda to recap and review episodes 1-3 and let’s just say, the ice is not the only thing melting. Mix up a Pretty Russian and join us for some laughs!    Signature Cocktail: The Pretty Russian Tonight’s cocktail is the Pretty Russian — a dangerously smooth blend of vanilla, marshmallow, and just enough kick to keep things interesting. At first sip it’s sweet, creamy, and a little indulgent… but much like a heated rivalry, Pretty on the outside… chaos underneath Ingredients: 2 oz vanilla vodka 1 oz coffee liqueur (Kahlúa) ½ oz marshmallow syrup 1 oz half & half or heavy cream Ice Optional “Pretty Factor” 1 drop pink food coloring in the cream Mini marshmallows White chocolate syrup Graham cracker crumbs or vanilla sugar for rim Prep the Glass (makes it look amazing) Drizzle white chocolate syrup inside the glass. Rim the glass with marshmallow fluff then dip in graham cracker crumbs or vanilla sugar. Add ice. Build the Drink Pour vanilla vodka + coffee liqueur + marshmallow syrup over the ice. Stir lightly. Slowly pour the cream (with a tiny drop of pink coloring if you want the swirl effect). Garnish Toasted marshmallow on a cocktail pick Optional: tiny dust of edible shimmer Flavor Creamy vanilla latte Toasted marshmallow sweetness Rich coffee finish Basically this is a grown-up marshmallow latte that looks like it belongs in a romance book scene.

Tidbit from the book. Oh, ha, crazy. Jacob Tierney, I owe you my firstborn child. I love that man. Oh, I could never shut up about the show. Book Love Literature fans. We're in for some boozy bookgasms today. Join three cousins creating a titillating headspace

where steamy romance novels collide with strong cocktails. So, sit back, sip slow, and enjoy the ride. Hey, all you boozy book lovers. Welcome back to Boosy Book Gasm. I'm Jen. I'm Lynn. And I'm Kim. We are joined today by another cousin. We actually have quite a few cousins. We have a lot of them. Say hello to Miranda. Miranda, welcome to the show. Hello. So we invited Miranda to join us because she is a super fan of this highly requested book we're covering today. Heated rivalry. Miranda was actually telling me about this book back in December. How many times have you read this book and or watched the show? I've read the the first one and the long game, which is the sixth one, three times. And now I'm making my way through the rest of the books because each book is like a different couple. So I'm making my way through all the other couples now. That's commitment. I've seen the show like, I don't even want to admit how many times. I have it like basically memorized word for word. If I have a book series that

I like and I get in a rut, I will go back. Lindsay's a big rereader. Yeah, it's like a comfort book. I'm a big rereader. This is your comfort book? Girl, maybe. Interesting. And what if it was? Okay. I'm learning so. much right now. This is a Percy Jackson and they are very different. Very different. Very different. Very different. Okay. So we are doing something a little different for our season finale. We're going to do a two-parter. We are actually going to recap and review the television show. Based on books. Yeah. These are based on books, but we watched the show instead of reading the book, which we haven't done that before. So we're going to see how this goes. It's going to go great. I have confidence. But before we slide into this episode, Kim, what are we drinking? Night. Slide was crazy. Okay. So tonight's cocktail is actually called the Pretty Russian.

It's a dangerously smooth blend of vanilla marshmallow. And it's got just enough kick to keep things a little interesting. It's kind of a take on the white Russian, a little less on the nose. At first sip, it's very creamy, sweet, a little indulgent. But much like our book tonight, it's pretty on the outside. But there's a lot of chaos happening underneath. And there's some consequences. So we've got some vodka, some Kalua, marshmallow syrup, and half and half.

What makes it so pretty, which I love, is the pink food coloring that you drop in it and swirl. Oh. And make it all pretty and top it with some white chocolate syrup, a toasted marshmallow, and some graham cracker crumbs. Are we rimming the glass with graham crackers? You always like a good rim, 10. So to Shane. Yeah, you can do it with the graham cracker crumbs. You can do it with the white chocolate.

Whatever floats your both. Well, cheers. Cheers. Thank you, Kim. Okay. So I do want to start by saying this romance takes place over the course. course of nine years. So there's a lot of time jumping. We start in 2008 and we meet our two main male characters. Ilya Rosanov is leaning against a garage smoking and Shane Hollander walks up to

introduce himself. They are both rookie phenoms and Shane tells Ilya that he looks good on the ice and tries to make small talk but Ilya's kind of standoffish. And Shane says, I got to get back and he reaches to shake his hand and there's like this awkward beat. But Ilya finally shakes his hand and says, you won't be so nice when we beat you. And that's what they do. They beat them. They win the hockey game. Six weeks later, they're at a signing and they are like stealing glances across the room at each other all night. And we meet Rosanov's dad, who is kind of an asshole. I hate that man. It's also very sad. His dad and his brother are both Russian police. I don't know how much y'all know about Russian history or like homophobia in Russia. Yeah, it's huge. But a lot of it comes from the prison system. So it like all ties together.

That's also part of why it's like, because Russia, they kill people who are gay. Like, it's not a safe place to be. Which we get into later in the season. So Shane goes to the hotel gym to work out, and he's joined by none other than Ilya. And they start racing each other on the stationary bikes. I did feel like Ilya was winning. I don't know what you guys thought. Well, they were definitely competing with long glances and lots of sweaty bodies.

There was tension in the room. And then they cool down. Those hotel workout rooms are always like very tiny. So they're kind of facing each other in this very small space. Definitely checking each other out. You see Shane kind of giving him a once over. We find out Ilya was the number one draft pick and Shane was number two. So they were pit against each other in the press right out of the gate.

From the beginning. But Rosenoff is definitely the pursuer, I feel like. He's the alpha. Certainly. And Shane doesn't quite know what to do. Ilya's this playboy. That's his whole thing is he's like the womanizer, hot sexy Russian who like just wants to fuck all the time. So they like definitely set it up that way.

And he's sort of devil make hair. He has this sort of persona that is just like he doesn't give a fuck what anybody thinks. He's just going to do what he wants to do. Or that's the persona. I think he's trying to perpetuate it. But he's really just a little sensitive angel baby. He's a little like similar in the middle. And he's just damaged.

Angel team. Probably a mixed bag. He's intense. He is damaged. And I think you do get that pretty early on that he's fighting some inner demons. So they have a pretty intense exchange. If they share a water bottle. and somehow it's very sensual.

Sexual. At this point, my husband, oh, by the way, I watched with my husband, I said, hey, you want to watch a hockey show? That's how you get him. Don't tell them anything. Rodoc. This is weird. Like, not a lot of hockey, it seems. Six months later, Ilya is talking in Russian to his brother.

Ilya is an American actor. He's actually from Texas. I felt like he did an incredible job. Incredible job. Miranda, do you know, did he live? Learn Russian for the role. Do you know how he was so good at this? Yeah. He had two months to learn Russian and he had a dialect coach and like all of that. And he talks about it so much in like interviews and stuff. And that's also like part of why I love Hudson and Connor because they give so much credit to people who worked on the movie.

Their intimacy coordinator, hit their dialect coach, all of that. But yeah, he did not know Russian. He did know French. Yeah, very similar. Right. I'm sure it aided the role. Not even a little. If you know one language, you know them all. I've always said that. Sure. But is dad's calling because. He lost another game and his brother's hitting him up for money. He's just under a lot of pressure to win for Russia from his dad. His dad puts that on him. You're doing this for Russia.

But they did lose that night. It was kind of sad. You see the dynamic of his family. You do feel for him. You start to get pretty quickly that like it's a defense mechanism. He's acting out. Yeah. And too, he's only like 17 or 18 when that call happens.

You're like, oh, he is a baby. Mm-hmm. The weight of Russia. And his family is on his shoulder. placed obviously by his dad and then feeling like he's responsible for his family because he makes a crap ton of money that like no 18 year old will ever see. Right. It's insane. It took me a while to figure out the brother dynamic. It would just like float in. You could see that there was something there, but they never really explained that backstory, which I felt like was a miss. In the books,

because you get their POV because it switches between Elia and Shane. That phone call is Ilya's POV, so you get it a little bit more. The show does a great job of trying to, like, show the dialogue that's going on in their head. But I do think the family dynamic is really hard until the end. We're like, oh, I get it now. They're like planting the seeds of the family trauma, I feel. Yeah. It was hard to like really connect in some ways the first few episodes. They weren't diving deep enough into the vulnerability. I felt this same way, Lynn. They was like, okay, a lot of sex, a lot of sex. Yeah, I mean, cute, a lot of sex, a little more sex, little hockey. Oh, I feel. Oh, he has a personality.

Aw, you know, that's like on this mountain road. Six months later, they're doing a photo shoot together, and Ilya calls Shane pretty. And Shane's like, you're wearing makeup too. He doesn't know what to do. Ilya is a smart ass. Shane is awkward. He's autistic. He is?

He is? He is? He's. Confirmed by the author, that's not me speculating and being abelist. No, I did not know that. People speculated. He has his little things like the folding of the clothes. and the cleanliness.

Yeah, he does have a bit of OCD. And people were speculating and the author was like, well, yes. And everyone was like, oh, wait, cool. It's not so clear in the series. No, that's why people speculated. But I honestly think it's kind of cool in that way in terms of representation. Obviously, high functioning, very savantish on the hockey. But he was very intense.

He says that in one of the episodes. It got more intense, so I got more intense. Yes, he takes social cues from others, a lot of. of the time. I thought it was adorable. He didn't know what to do with these jokes. I wanted him to just get more comfortable. He never felt like he was comfortable until the very end. And I think part of that, which until he came to terms with his sexuality and his identity, he wasn't comfortable in himself. And I honestly think you see it lifted and can be more himself around like episode five. Yeah, that's fair. I just think everything is so intentional. So they can't hold it together at this photo shoot,

though. They're like laughing. And Ilya says, how long have you known you were going to do a commercial with me. And Shane says, two days. How long did you know? And he says, oh, it was my idea. Oh, cute, cute. He asked him to come. So we meet Shane's mom who's definitely giving Mamager vibes. 100. She's telling him he has to be a good example to kids and get endorsements. I mean, she really drives those endorsements. His career. Yeah. Well, in the books, there's less focus on him being Asian POC in hockey. And I think it's really cool the way that the show does emphasize. it because yeah, that is a really big deal. And it almost drives home more the importance of him like being closeted because hockey is still to this day a very homophobic sport, unfortunately.

Oh, totally. So it's even more of this like, oh my God, I cannot ruin this. Like I'm a role model. I'm an Asian role model for children. So I feel like it almost ups the states more so than it is in the books because she doesn't really touch on it as much. But she's definitely driving his career. Like he's a good hockey player, but like all of the endorsements. Like Miranda said, they were babies when they started. So she just kind of put herself in that role and continued it. I respect a good momager. I happen to be one myself. I bet you do. So next week at a shower scene and this is when my son said they were breaking guy rules because they're staring at each other in the shower and they're sudsing up and looking at each other longingly. Glances down to the nether regions.

Apparently this is a no-no in men's locker rooms. You don't look. Eyes forward. And we can only speculate. So Ilya starts stroking his manhood. The pause. Manhood. What are we going to go? I wrote cock and then I'm like,

I feel aggressive. And then you just didn't want to say. And then said it anyway. Cool. It's all good. So what do they say in the smut books? Like member. So many names.

There's all sorts of names. A sword. Sword. Sword. You should go with that. Well, this is two guys. There's sword crossing in this one. Let's call it a stick.

That feels appropriate. Back to Ilya stroking his cock. Shane says not here. But they clearly like each other and he asks for his room number. And Shane gives it to him. I'llia says, I might come by and I might knock. Shane is very cute while he's waiting for him. He's like, first he gets way dressed up and like a suit.

Oh, yeah. He comes to sit on. That was adorable. He's so awkward. He feels like an idiot. And then he's like, what am I doing? And then he dresses in a T-shirt. And it's very cute.

Ilya gets there. He's late, though. At some point, I don't think he thinks he's coming, but he shows up and he says, are you going to chicken out? And Shane says, this is a bad idea. But then they start kissing. Shane drops down to his niece to give Ilya a blowjob. This is when my son left the room. I said, I've had enough. It was good. But Ilya stops him. And he's like, no, no, no. I don't know what your take on that was, Miranda. But I wonder why. Because gay men usually jump into sex really quick. They are like nice to meet you. I'm attracted. You're attracted. Let's get going. Well, another fun little book tidbit is that Rachel, the author, her husband is by. I think she's by as well.

Her husband is by. And allegedly, she ran every single sex scene by her husband to fact check it for accuracy, gay sex accuracy. And period. I owe her my second poor child. You're not going to have any tints after this. I don't need them. I don't need them.

So the scene. their first hookup or whatever is from Shane's POV, which I think is like obviously so intentional. And it's him being like, oh my God, I'm so turned out by this guy. Oh, but he's a man like this is so wrong, but I'm really into it. Even the thing like you can see Ilya in the show is like, oh, he like looks down and it's like, oh, he's on his knees right now. I did not expect that.

And it's Shane literally just like wanting him so bad that he's like, it's second nature. In his brain, he's like, I don't know what I'm doing, but like I think I'm doing it right. But I think probably Ilya knew that Shane was a little on edge, too. So he's trying to kind of ease him into it. I think it was also, he was like too much too good. And that's like in the book too. It's like that where it's like, oh, I guess he was like, let's slow it down. Oh, we didn't want to go too soon. Yeah. They're laying next to each other in the bed and Ilias starts giving Shane a hand job and then the blowjob continues. My husband Keith at this point asked if we could turn it off and watch the wild game. You said, no, let's put it in slow-mo, actually. I'm trying to see something. It's very graphic. The show is very graphic and I wasn't ready for that. It's just a lot of butts and abs.

Oh, no, the sex is pretty grap. I mean, you. Abs are nothing. It's so hot, though. Like, they're both very hot. The men are beautiful. But I just wasn't. Turn the fan on.

Maybe because I was sitting there with my husband and my son. Awkward, yeah. I made my husband watch every episode because he was so obsessed with us doing this show. Like, I can't believe you're not doing heated rivalry. Like, this is what everybody's talking about. Like, it's in the show. the Zikeyes. I can't believe you're not doing it. And I was like, okay, fucker. You're going to watch every fucking episode. Good. I won't name names, but one of my co-workers said that him and his partner

would watch it and they're like, and we did pause quite a lot. Okay. You can infer why they needed to pause. Popcorn break. Yeah. I kept saying like, okay, we got to go back. We've got gay porn to watch. Let's go. And he's like, okay. I have to go see my gay hockey boyfriends, obviously. It is hot. It is really, really well done. The men are beautiful. Yeah, it would be a totally different show if they were not hot. I would not have enjoyed this as much. They have to be hot. True story.

Do you know in the book, Ilya does not look like Connor. And God bless Jacob for knowing that Connor was our Ilya. He's supposed to be this like rugged, super hairy, hairy. Oh, like a bear. Yes. And he has a giant bear tattoo on his chest.

Shane is like, that's fucking weird. Why do you have that? And Ilya like got it when he was young. He thinks it's stupid too. But there's even a scene where like, Brush and bear. Ilya's like, give him a kiss. And Shane's like, what the hell? And Jacob knew that that was cringe. That's not what the girls want to see. No. Or anyone, for that matter. At any rate, they seal the deal. Afterwards, Shane says, you aren't going to tell anyone, right? And Ilya says, of course not. Ilya had an early flight the next day, so he gets dressed and leave. And it's awkward. It's like first sex awkward. Well, and mind you, there's no music. It was silent. There's no music for the scene. Just grunting men. And it's so intentional. It's intense. So three months later, we're in Montreal and it's. Ilya's playing to the cameras.

He's winking at the newscasters. He's talking smack about beating Shane. Shane's watching the whole thing. Shane signs a Rolex deal. So Mommager is really running the show, as I mentioned before. The mom talks about the video of Ilya, talking smack to the cameras and saying he is going to score 50 goals this year. And Shane's like, yeah, he's an asshole. But he's like smirking to himself.

She's like, fuck him. Right up the butt. And then Shane has that little like smirk and you're like, actually it's the other way around, right? So then we're at the game. They're actually playing each other. And the announces are asking if they're going to give the people what they want. So Shane scores a goal on the face off. He's very humble afterwards when they're interviewing him.

They're trying to go to him and get him to talk smack back. But he's just too classy. And that's just not his nature. You know, he's just too sweet. He's just a little baby. Meanwhile, Ilya's deadbeat brothers hitting him up for more money. Oh, this guy. It's gross.

To me, it was just very sad. It was so sad. And you just want to know why he was. won't cut the guy off. Having not read the book, I'm watching him like, just cut the guy off. Why are you letting him treat you like this? Oh, it's just awful. I do think the show is a lot more of a slow burn on the family trauma. Obviously, mom's not in the picture. We haven't seen mom. So you know something's up there. I think it's indicative of he feels like responsible for his family. It's guilt to. He just feels like he has to. He has to. And like Shane can't clock it because he has such a healthy family

relationship. He loves his home. He loves Canada. He loves his mom. He loves his mom and that's so different. Something that I loved, every scene where Shane is with his parents is very evident that there's an empty seat next to Shane. That's another little Easter egg, the ginger ale of it all. There's always an empty seat next to Shane. It's like Shane's parents and then it's Shane. And it's like, because that's where Ili is supposed to be. But it just shows like this emptiness in his life. Yeah, he has some loneliness. Because he's in the closet. He's not even realized he's gay until very recently. No, because he keeps trying to push it away.

So four months later, we flashed forward, and the guys are facing off again. Again, the press is petting them against each other. And they're at a press conference, and they're calling out Ilya because he was so cocky, saying he's going to get the 50 goals, and why can't you make the playoffs if you're that good? Shane comes to the rescue,

answers the question for him and saves him from that awkward moment, and then they're like playing footsie under the table. They're like... The awkward moment, It's not even about the question. I think the show does a decent job at showing it. Ilya is very insecure about not being fluent in English. You can actually see his English get better throughout the show, his accent lessons.

He knows bigger words. He looks up words. He's like, I look this up and compatible. And he is looking things up, isn't he? Episode five, clock it, clock it. So the question, it was more that the interviewer gave him this long-ass question in English. And Ilya's like, what the fuck did he even just say? And if you watch the scene, you can see he's like,

He's trying to translate it. Yes. And that's why Shane clocks that and is like, oh, well, if I can step in and answers it for him. And in the book, it's Shane's POV saying, I can tell that he's trying to translate it. He's uncomfortable, yeah. And he steps in for him. And I'm like, yes, like, protect your man. So next, we see them at a skills competition.

And Shane beats Ilya. And Ilya says, good job. Shane says he's going to bed early and gives Ilya his room number because Ilya shows up. But Scott Hunter is right next door. and he's very self-conscious of being too loud. Little do we know that Scott is also very, very gay. We don't know this at the time. Yeah, you don't know this in the episode.

You don't, but it was kind of funny to me. So they make a plan to meet up next time Ilya's in Montreal, and Shane gets weird about it, but Ilya says, it's just a plan to meet up and fuck. It's fine. That was so hot, by the way. Oh, my God. He just really diminishes it, though,

and puts Shane on the back foot the whole time. Shane needs that. He can't be emotionally vulnerable. He's taking the pre-examination. pressure off of Shane too. Exactly. This is just a meetup. Don't dig into it.

We're just going to fuck. It's fine. Don't stress. It's just a one-nighter. He can tell that Shane's freaking out. This is where he puts the names in the phone. And I thought this was so great. Oh, I loved this.

He puts his name in Shane's phone as Lily and Shane is in his phone as Jane. It was so cute. And then the whole show, they're texting each other. He's getting all these texts from Lily. And their friends start to notice that they're texting the same. Yeah. Who's this Jane? You're like always smiling when you're texting her.

The Montreal trip gets canceled and Ilya's pretty sad about it. Because of a storm, right? Which, by the way, would never happen in real life. They would never cancel a hockey game for snow. It's literally like walk. It's just snow. Like, get to the game. But Ilya gets home and there's a woman in his place and he ends up having sex with her.

This is Svetlana. We see a lot of her in the series. I like her. She's his best friends with benefits. They're childhood friends, yeah. She's his person. We keep flashing forward. They go months and months. So four months later, we're at an award show. Shane wins Rookie of the year. And he actually beats Ilya for the award. He runs into Scott at the bar. And Scott asks about Ilya. He gets really defensive. Like, what do you mean? What are you talking about? He's not my boy. It's like, they know. The gay panic. Thou doth protest. But he is looking for Ili. He'd been looking for that man all night. He said, where's my husband? He's upset about it. He's like butt hurt because he's like, oh, he can't even celebrate my accomplishment. He's so butt hurt. He's so butt hurt. that I won over him.

But then he finds him out on the terrace. Ilya's being a dick. He's like, oh, good for you. You won. He's good at that. And they argue, and Ilya admits he's going home in three days. Shane says, must be nice, but Ilya looks really upset. So anytime he's about to go to Russia or he's dealing with his family, he gets really growly.

Shane's a little drunk at this point because he did shots with Scott and the guys back at the bar. Such a cutie patootie. He tries to shake Ily. hand and says see you next season. Ilya pushes him against the wall and they make out in their tuxedos and it's very risky. It was hot for like five seconds till Shane's like, what are you doing? What are you doing? When Shane shoves him and like turns him around, Ilya's like clutching his pearls, his little smart because he's like, oh my man. But Shane's not fucking around. He's actually mad. And then Ilya's like, oh, fuck, he's mad at me. Whoops. He's like, oh, my dad. He's like, we're in public in

Toxitos. What are you doing? So they part ways and this is the end of episode one. Episode two opens with the guys working out. The year is 2011. So we've been at this for three years. They're using Blackberries, which I appreciated. And the technology advances, the clothes, the technology. It all tracks. All the details are so well done. They are. They're like messaging while jogging. The texting is very flirty. Ilya's team makes the playoffs and Shane's doesn't. And Ilya says, this is fun. Why aren't you here? So he's kind of goading him a little bit. Yeah, playful. He does send a dick pick. I think this might be the part where I lost my husband episode. They're dropping like flies. He's like, I'm out. Well, even Shane was a little taken aback by the

dick pick. Like he was like, because he was in the room with his teammate. Maybe this is the difference between guys and girls. But if I'm in a hotel room with my girlfriend and she was looking at her phone and she immediately like slaps the phone down and panic, I'm finding out what was on that screen. Oh, I got to see that. Fuck yeah. I will rip that. phone out of your hand and Hayden's like he just gives him a side look and then moves on. Is this just a man thing or is this for the plot? It's a man thing. Don't ask, don't tell. It's a man thing. Oh, I think the men would want to see it. They would assume it was probably like a boob. Oh, no, I think they'd get it later. Oh, you left this on the counter? Let me just slip through real quick.

Meanwhile, Shane's growing the endorsements. He's getting Rolex. He's getting all these really big names. Growing was a choice word there. I did God clothe that too. Shane is now the team captain and Ilya's having a great ear. They're about to play each other. And Ilya texts Jane and asked how many times he can come in one hour. And they have this back and forth. And one of the teammates is watching him text Jane. And he accuses him of blushing. I'm like, Russians don't blush. Russians do not do this. Never in my life have I blushed. They meet after. And he says, why did you think it was okay to sex me before the game? And he's kind of like a little mad about it. Feels like it's intentional. It feels like it's to throw him off his game. He's trying to get into his head. I disagree. I don't think he's trying to throw him off his game. I think I just likes messing with him. I don't think it was, but I think that's how Shane took it.

Yes. People talk about part of the reason why do women like this gay show so much. Like, why is it so popular with women? And one of the biggest points that I personally agree with is they are equals in every sense. Talent-wise, they're both men. They're at the top of their game. They're both rich. They're both famous.

All of that. There's no power dynamic. Even when they have sex, they have the same. mutual respect and equality between them. And I think that's also why it's so hot. It feels safe for a woman to watch it in a way that you don't feel when you're watching a girl like, I'm going to be vulgar, getting like fucked from behind, tears running from her eyes, mascara running, screaming, crying. You don't like that. Snire thing. There's a time and a plate. A hundred percent. We talk about that all the time. All the time. It's so different because it's like

they're even. It's equal. So they're at Shane's place in Montreal. They're run up the stairs together and they're kind of shoving each other and it's really cute. They're so cute. Shane's house is nice. He's hired a decorator. Well, it's not even his house though. The book opens with a sex scene that's like in the future. In Ilya's brain, he's like he literally bought his condo so we could book. Again, they are so incredibly filthy rich for how young they are. They're in the condo at one point and he talks about how he bought the condo next door too so they can combine them. Mr. Landlord. But he's giving him shit because he's got throw pillows. And Ilya's like, what the hell is the point of the...

Did you get enough? I think there's enough. That was so good. But I did feel like these sex scenes, they were getting more intimate. Because the first one was almost transactional. Yes. This is getting more romantic. And you can tell they're starting to have feelings for each other.

And this is when they're actually supposed to like, well, they haven't fucked yet. Seal the deal. This is the big one. They're very cute. It's so beautiful. The really cute part is after they're done, Shane says, oh, now the bed's all dirty. And Aaliyah's like, what? Shut up.

They do tell each other to shut up a lot. And they tell each other to fuck off a lot. Shane always being like, fuck you. I tell my husband to fuck off all the time. Is that not normal? It's your love language. I tell you guys to fuck off. You do.

That's very fair. For sure. Everyone's like Ilya consent king. I'll always being like, is this okay? Can I do this? Like, you're so good. You're so good. I'm like, oh.

He does ask a lot like, can I fuck you? It's so refreshing. It's so lovely. I love that. Chivalrous. Can I fuck you? So Ilya asks Shane if he was worth the weight, and Shane doesn't really answer. He doesn't know how to answer these feelings questions. Because he doesn't even know that he's gay yet.

He knows, but he won't admit it. Yeah. He's like, he is not admitted to himself. They start talking about the Olympics, and Shane's just, I've dreamt of this my whole life. And Ilya's just kind of like, he doesn't even want to think about it. And it's in Russia, and he doesn't really want to go home. Right. this is the part of the first two episodes that drives me crazy is that there's a lot of, there's a lot of long looks and a lot of sex and a lot of I want you, but there's not a lot of

vulnerability. And I think it's purposeful because that makes it real. And Ilya keeps that barrier. That stairwell scene. I don't know if I could get that put on my tombstone. I don't know how I can imprint that on my life, but I need it. Oh, where they kiss? Oh, my God, the kiss?

Your Uber's definitely here. The kiss. Oh, my God. I'm going to start, like, clawing at the bars of my enclosure. Like, I can't. They're, like, kiss is so cute, perfect and intimate. And that's the part. I feel like in the series, we were like, oh, fuck.

Yeah, they're going to do each other. This is more. That's when I think they both were like, oh, fuck, this is not. This is not good. You see it changing in this scene. We're at the Olympics, and Ilya is chosen as Russia's captain. He has a bad game, and you can tell the pressure is just killing him. It's weighing him down.

Shane's watching ice skating with his friends. Shane sees Ilya and goes up to talk to him and he's really mean to him. Yeah, because they haven't been talking either. He's been like radio silent to Shane. So Shane's like, what the hell is going on? He's really mean to him and he calls him boring and tells him to leave. It's a little heartbreaking. He's just always miserable when he's in Russia.

So next we see his dad be raiding him because they lost to Latvia. And he asks, who tied your tuxedo tie? Your mom? He says, mom's dead, remember? He says, oh, I meant your stepmom. And we're realizing now that there's some dementia. It's very sad. They leave to go to a gala and they meet the prime minister. And at the gala, his dad is continuing to just make him feel like shit. Like, he can't do anything right. And he gets rescued by Svetlanush. And they go into this giant bathroom. I've never seen such. It's like the size of the ballroom. It's very palatial. And we meet a guy named Sasha. And they clearly have history. He's coming on to Ilya, but Ilya can't get into it. So he kind of tells him to scram. That's the guy that Ilya, whenever Shane is like, oh, have you ever been with another guy before in their first hookup?

That's him. So why do you dislike him so much? I felt like we met him for five minutes. Because he's not Shane. Well, he's also like a fuck boy himself. He's a coke addict. Yeah, the coke was crazy. That's not in the book, by the way.

I don't know where that came from. Trying to get him back into the party scene. Which like, period. I mean, if it's your old situation ship, he's probably like, yeah, this is an easy fuck. So I don't really blame him. I'd be trying to fuck him too. Hey, you're here. So next it's spring, 2004.

And we see Shane hanging out with the hockey guys. Ilya's on a streak after losing at the Olympics. And he's stepping up as captain. We see him in the locker room giving these inspiring speeches. And they're making a run for the cup. And eventually they win the cup. Which if you're not a hockey fan, that's the biggest prize you can get. Like, you won the whole thing.

Stanley Cup, baby. Shane's watching. And he's secretly proud, even though they really haven't talked. And he's kind of sad. He misses his friend. They keep tabs on each other. They keep watching each other. Is they're in love?

Their entire relationship, whether they're talking or not, they're watching each other. Yeah, so that summer we're in Vegas at the Hockey Awards and they're presenting together. Ilya shows up late and Shane looks like he's going to puke because they're about to go on stage and Ilya wasn't there on time and they present and it's a bit. It's scripted. It's all scripted. Scripted banter. Part of it is that Ilya takes a selfie of them together.

And while they're doing that, it kind of copse a feel of Shane. Yeah, he does. He grabs his ass. Yeah. Not kind of. He totally cops at feel. It's not like I kind of. And I'm like somebody backstage can see you.

Someone's going to get that on camera. So they meet in the bathroom after and Ilya's flirty and Shane is so confused. He's like, what the fuck do you want? You haven't answered my text in six months. And I'llia says, I want you to suck my dick. And he says, you're unbelievable. You suck mine. Ilya says, if you ask nicely.

And then Shane's like, please. Please. He's so down bad. He's like nicer. He goes, no, ask next. And he does. And Shane says, please get on your knees in this filthy bathroom floor and suck my dick. And Ilya says, no, but you can meet me after this boring award show in my room and I'll do whatever you want.

He wishes him luck and it was emotional for Shane. When Ilya leaves a bathroom, he wipes a tear away. He thought he lost him. Ilya coming into the bathroom and like trying to banter and then Shane being serious, you can see Ilya shift his approach and be like, oh, he's mad at me. I'm not going to be playful. The way, like, they understand each other. I appreciate that so much. And then obviously, like, the iconic when he's like,

when did your English get so good? It's like, I read New Yorker now. That's, like, the iconic scene. So they go up to the penthouse and he congratulates Ilya. He must have won an award. And he was like, yeah, thanks. Take off your close. Shane says you're an asshole.

And then he proceeds to strip down to his boxers. And Shane points out that there's a lot of windows in here. And Ilya's like, good. Now get on the bed and touch yourself. I want to show. It's way harder than that. He was hot. This was fucking hot.

Very alpha. And Ilya could get it every day of the week. And that man is by, so I can say that. Oh, he was so hot. And he sat at the end of the bed. And he got the chair. He had that whiskey or he had something on the rock. It's vodka because he's Russian.

And then he's like, well, at least give me some vodka. And he's like, no, it's for after. Oh, my God. Shut up. This is your reward. I cannot. It was very hot. Alpha.

Alpha. Oh, Alpha energy. That's what I wrote down. he has got alpha energy. So they're hanging out in the bed after this little strip show. Shane asks Ilya if he's going to go back to Russia after the summer and he says yes. And Shane's like, why? He said he doesn't think it's safe and it doesn't seem like you really like it there.

Ilya says, what difference does it make? And Shane says a really big one. And Ilya shuts down and then Shane just leaves. He's trying to think of what he can text him. He's in the elevator and he wants to say something because they know they're not going to see each other for a while. And he types out, we didn't even kiss. And then he deletes it. And it was like, oh, end scene.

This is the end of episode two. I did not even clock that they hadn't kissed. As a viewer, it hits you too because you're like, oh, my God, they didn't. And you didn't even clock it because it was so steamy. It was heartbreaking. But you knew it was going to be heartbreaking as soon as Shane walked into that penthouse and Ilya was standing there with his cocktail and ordered him to the bed. Like, you knew that he was disassociating.

Especially with the cigar and the not the end. It was hot, but it was not, yeah, it wasn't emotionally intimate. He was disassociating from the very moment that Shane walked in that room. Episode three, we are backtracking to the Olympics and one of the teammates says it's not safe in Russia for gay guys. So we've talked about this a little bit. They really hammer it home in this episode. And now we get the Scott Hunter backstory. So I actually read this book.

Yeah, this is the first one. This is book one. He falls in love with a smoothie. girl store clerk i called him the smoothie guys i was trying to explain it to someone else like smoothie man it was boring i liked it i loved it the guy that got to play kip was adorable i thought he was a cutie he is so cute episode one and two was Shane and Ilya fine but then the kip Scott hunter episode they were so much more vulnerable and cute that i actually until i got past that episode into the last three i actually like Scott and kip better like they have same some vulnerability and some emotion

It's a real story. It's not just based on like fuck buddies. They're cute. So the story is Scott goes into the smoothie shop and he gets a smoothie. He'd been in a slump. After the smoothie, he has a great game. And this is true. Athletes are very ritualistic, right?

Superstitious, yeah. He keeps going back for the smoothie and they start developing this friendship. He invites him to a game. He waves at him at the game. That was a really big. In the book, Kip doesn't even know if he's gay. He's like, I'm not even sure if he's gay. Well, he's checking out Kip every time he's in the store. He's like checking him out.

One thing I loved about what the show did was they really gave you more of the relationship he had with his dad. His dad was a sweetie. Cute. It was really touching, I thought. They didn't go into that as much in the book. So the show really highlighted that. And it was really good to see that this is a dad supporting his gay son and helping him through some heartbreak. Really, really sweet. The dad knew. he was seeing Scott Hunter, even though he had to be secretive. But the dad kind of knew. Well, and all of his friends obviously knew. But I think that that's why I like this episode so much. It felt very real. Yeah.

It was angsty in like a cute way, but not in like an annoying way, which in some ways Shane and Ily is yanks just makes me annoyed. Because the yo-yoing. Yeah, the yo-yoing and the pulling away. I mean, I get why. It's a different situation. Doesn't make it less annoying. Scott and Kip.

I thought it was very real and cute. I agree, Lynn. I was more into Kip's story because I felt like they actually were trying to build a relationship from the get-go versus like maybe this works. Maybe it doesn't. It's good hookup. It's not a good hookup. Granted, a situation ship. They moved fast. Shane's story was hot, but Kip's story was sweet and enduring. You felt like you grew with them versus Shane and Ileana. You're like. Like, this is hot, this is hot. I want them together. Do I? Yes, I do.

No. Maybe I do. Push, pull. I do. Push, pull. Oh, like you're breaking up again. Good. Yeah, it makes it entertaining.

But if I have to pick a couple to follow, I'm following the sweet little juicer guy. Yeah, smoothie man. It had a banana in it. The peeling of the banana was very, very interesting. Oh, my God. How about a banana? I'll add a banana. It's not supposed to be in there, but I'm going to make him more interesting. I'm not even going to charge you. So in the book, you realize this is really unusual that Scott's seeing someone locally because he is so closeted and he has never actually had a boyfriend. Kip moves in with him.

They finally get to a breaking point where Kip is like, if you're going to stay in the closet, I don't know if this can work for me. And he's like, this is beating me down. I'm keeping secrets from people. It was because of his birthday, though. That was where I hit home. That was the breaking point, right? Because the best friend meant well and I think probably did the right thing. But like really was hammering Kip, you're not happy.

You know, you shouldn't have to hide. And then she hammered Scott and said, you're not doing right by my friend. So it put them both in like a funk. It changed their mental state. Both of their mental states. We actually, in episode five of the show, you get the end of the first book. I won't give any spoilers.

We in this episode, three-fourths of the way through the first book, where basically Scott is terrified of getting caught. He's really sad without Kip. Doesn't go to Kip's birthday. All Kip wanted for his birthday was Scott to come out with him and Scott couldn't do it. He's longing for Kip. And that's sort of where we end episode three is he's looking in the window. I was really happy to have their story.

It was kind of a fun little interlude. Yeah. I was too. They give you a little break. This is adorable. Yes. So that will wrap up what we're covering for this episode. We are going to hold our ratings until we've recapped the entire season. So please tune in next week when we break down episodes 4 through 6 of Jacob Tierney's heated rivalry on HBO Max based on the Game Changer book series by Rachel Reed. Thank you. This has been really fun to recap these first three episodes. If you haven't already, head out to Boozy Book Customs.com. to check out episodes of the show, reading lists and cocktail recipes and follow us on Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. Thanks so much. And until we meet again, happy reading.

Happy reading. Bye. We hope today's episode was the climax of your day, leaving you breathless and wanting more. Until next time, remember to indulge in the pleasures of life and to keep the passion alive. You can find more tantalizing episodes. episodes at boozy-bookasms.com.

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